Chapter 2: New York City

"Status report", you demanded, lifting your glass of orange juice to your lips as you rotated on your chair to face the four monitors in front of you. God, you loved your new setup. The body was shown in the center, the biggest screen. It was currently framed in blue, Steven's favorite color, showing the adorable boy just waking up from sleep, hair still tussled. The smaller screen next to it on the upper left had a green frame and was currently showing Marc's reflection as he woke up alongside Steven. The one below that, Steven's screen when he was inside, was now showing black. On the opposite side of the center screen, in Jake's red rimmed monitor, your best friend was already wide awake. He wore his usual top hat already and his mustache was especially long today. It had been a while since he clipped it. Jake was a night owl and rarely ever bothered to login during the day but today he did, if only to not miss important plot.

"Okay, so yesterday night I was out again, standard moonknighting job", Jake gave you a recap, lifting an energy drink to his lips. "I got back around 3am-ish."

"Godsdamn Jake, I told you you need to be back before 1am or the boys won't get enough sleep", you chided him.

Jake held up his hands. "I know, I know. But it's not always that easy, you know that. Khonshu had me chasing this target all the way to the other side of town. I was done on time, it was getting back that was the problem."

You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. On screen, Steven rubbed his eyes in an adorable way, then grabbed his phone to check the time and groaned. A small digital clock started ticking in the upper corner of the screen once you had access to the information.

"So the boys only got about 5 hours sleep. How many times in a row was this?" you asked.

"Yesterday it wasn't my fault, it was Marc who came home late. And Steven always takes forever to go to sleep."

"Fine, I'll keep an eye on Steven and if he drags his feet, I'll push you forward so you can go to sleep at a decent time next time", you decided.

"..." Jake looked a bit uncomfortable.

"What?" you asked him.

"I... don't really go to sleep quickly either."

"Oh come on!" you groaned. "What's the problem?"

"I just can't sleep when I'm feeling... watched", Jake admitted.

"But it's just me", you made, baffled. "Everyone else is out when you're front."

"It's not just you. It's... It's the fish and, and the window with no bloody curtains so anyone can look inside and the TV and all those damn mirrors-"

"Okay, okay, I get it", you said. "We have to do something to make sure they get enough sleep though. I don't want them to start taking sleeping pills again."

You watched as Steven prepared himself some breakfast, munching on a salad like a bloody rabbit. He had a small cosmetic mirror propped up next to his morning tea. Instead of Steven's reflection though, it showed Marc's screen instead. Huh. That was new. You'd seen Jake move in reflections before when you were fronting but it was odd to see Steven communicate with Marc like that. After all this time trying your damnest to make sure Steven never found out about any alters and Marc not finding out about any alters other than Steven, it was so odd to see them together without majorly freaking out like you'd always expected they would. Then again, according to the recap Jake had given you earlier about what happened while you were offline, there had been major freaking out involved when the boys first met.

With the hand not holding the fork, Steven was scrolling through the browser on his phone. Of course neither him nor Marc could hear you and Jake talking. You could probably light some dynamite in your room and they wouldn't hear. The game could let players communicate with the boys, but of course never on accident. After all, the win conditions clearly stated you should prevent anyone from finding out you were even there.

"Morning, mate", Steven greeted Marc sleepily. "Grand day ahead, huh?"

"Not that grand", Marc muttered. "We've moved plenty of times before."
"Well maybe you have but I sure as hell didn't", Steven replied.

"Move?" you echoed, turning a questioning glance at Jake.

Jake winced. "Marc was, uh, kinda ambushed the other day by some of Harrow's old cultists. He took care of it on his own but that sort of reminded them that not only does the cult know where they live, they've also infiltrated the police, so…"

"So they want to move", you said.

Jake nodded. "Which sucks but whatever, I can work from anywhere on the globe. The only problem is the flat."

"The flat?"

"Don't you remember, David?" Jake asked. "We set it up together, under my name. You called Steven and pretended to be Mom who allowed him to live 'rent free' in 'her' flat."

"Oh, right", you made and blushed. "That could be a problem. When they try to dissolve the contract, or even just talk… They'll know your name."

"They haven't gotten that far yet. Marc probably assumes Steven rented it under his own name. I think Steven knows by now that Mom's definitely not the kind of person to give him anything. If pushed, he'd probably think Marc gave him the flat first but it's nowhere near fool-proof", Jake said.

"What do you think about San Francisco?" Steven asked, showing a few pictures of the city to Marc.

"Ugh, really?" Marc made.

"Then… Chicago? Isn't that where you're from?" Steven asked.

"We are from Chicago", Marc corrected him. "We were born there. But we moved around a lot."

Steven shrugged. "I don't really remember much from before I was… I don't know, just a kid. High school's pretty clear but that was Britain. Wasn't it?"

Marc nodded and said in an oddly gentle voice: "Yes, High School was Britain."

"That was a brilliant show", you muttered, remembering that time fondly. The beatings had mostly stopped by then and the series had adopted a much lighter tone with Steven out more often.

"We could do New York!" Steven suggested next. "Have we been to New York yet?"

Marc looked amused. "We lived in New York for two years."

"No way! When?" Steven asked.

"When we were 12, 13", Marc replied. "You don't remember?"
Steven scowled, trying to think hard. "I don't know… How many people even remember what happened when they were 12? I do remember that we moved, I think, I remember different houses… But I don't remember any actual move. Much less to a different country! I certainly don't remember New York."

Marc looked away. "They didn't let us see much of the city…"

An awkward silence settled over them.

"So, not New York?" Steven made.

"No, New York's fine. I don't mind going back there", Marc said. "Could be fun."

"I remember New York", you said with a faint smile. "Marc tried to run away from home. Do you remember, Jake?"

Jake scowled a bit. "No… Not that bit. I do remember Grandma though. She taught me Spanish. We moved after she died."

"Wait, Grandma?" you echoed incredulously. "I don't remember there ever being a Grandma."

Jake looked at you strangely. "I only... joined the game after you, way later. This is from Marc's memories. It was in his backstory. You should have a recollection of it. You were always there, weren't you?"

You were and you should. You scowled, trying to remember but you drew a blank.
"Well, obviously I wasn't there all the time", you rationalized. "I've only played the game for two years after all, yet Marc is over 30. Obviously, there were time skips and stuff. I was there for the important bits. If Grandma wasn't a monster then what would be the point of playing that section in detail? There would be nothing I had to intervene for. And the only summary of Marc's life I ever got was from the time before I joined the game." You nodded, that explained it perfectly. "You joined later so you might've gotten a more detailed summary of his years before you joined, including some unimportant bits that weren't actually playable."

Jake scowled and for a moment he looked honestly pissed off. "Those weren't unimportant bits. Our abuela was the only person in our childhood that treated us decently!"

"Alright, alright!" you said and raised your hands in surrender. "Grandma was cool. I believe you."

Mollified, Jake turned his attention back to the screen, which you recognized from him looking a little to the side instead of right into the camera. You'd never visited Jake in person and he'd never invited you over, though he'd visited you a few times. From what little you could see from the background of his place through his webcam, it looked like his room was very sparse, with ugly pale yellow walls and the edge of a metal bunk bed visible in the corner. It reminded you a bit of the bunks Marc slept in during the military arc of the story. You wondered, briefly, if he had multiple monitors as well or was just using a tiny laptop with multiple windows to play the game on. Knowing him, probably the latter.

Steven was looking at flights by now and further discussing the details of the move with Marc.

"We can't take the fish", Marc said with a sigh. "Just think about it, how would we even transport them?"
"Of course we can take the fish! People order them online in the post. If that's possible, then we can take them on a plane. We're not leaving Gus and Finn here!" Steven protested.

Marc rolled his eyes. "And how do you suppose we get them through security? Or convince anyone in whatever place we stay at until we find a place to let us keep a fish tank?"
Steven thought about that. "Bribery?" he suggested.

Marc did a face-palm. "Oh Steven, I've corrupted you..."

"They're kinda cute", you muttered. "Look how well they're getting along. And Marc was always so afraid Steven would hate him."

"I'm pretty sure Steven did hate him when he first found out", Jake grumbled.
"Well, they're better now", you stated. It was a relief, of course but at the same time, you felt strangely… disappointed. So many seasons trying to keep them apart and now they got along? ...why had you even bothered?

Eventually though, the boys did broach the subject that Jake and you had been afraid of.

"What about the flat? Our London flat I mean?" Steven asked.

"That's my cue", you said and hurriedly reached over to Marc's screen. You had no intention of knocking him out completely. So instead of pressing the button that would send him sleeping, you just touched it really softly. As if on command, Marc started to yawn.

"Sorry, what?" he made, blinking furiously.

You softly pressed the button a tiny bit more.

"The flat", Steven said, "we have to cancel it."

You readied your webcam, double checked that your virtual avatar was wearing the proper Marc-disguise and then, on Marc's next yawn, you pushed the button that would sent him inside while at the same time, activating your webcam to project your reflection into the mirror.

"Right, the flat", you said in Marc's voice, blinking fast and trying to appear similarly sleepy. "Sure, we have to cancel it. No use keeping it."
"You alright, mate?" Steven asked concerned.

"Yeah, just tired. I guess it's to be expected. Our sleep schedule is all messed up still. I can take care of canceling the flat. It's on my name and account anyway."

"It is?" Steven asked surprised. Then his face fell. "Ah.. of course it is. It's not actually... Geez, I thought it was Mum's. Can you believe that?"

You raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. "You thought it was Mom's? I mean, I know I send you those postcards and everything - sorry about that. But you weren't suspicious at all that Mom would just give you a flat rent free? You're 30 years old."

Steven laughed nervously. "Well, I don't know. I guess my brain must've filled in the blanks or something. I could've sworn I was still talking to Mom over the phone, like almost every day. Well actually, I was only leaving voicemails for most of it but... yeah. I don't know. There are large chunks of our life I can't remember at all and I never thought about it. And some things I maybe remember wrong..."

Steven looked depressed and you tried to convey your sympathy as you said: "Hey, it's alright Steven. I can fill you in on everything you missed. Well... maybe not everything... But it's our life. You deserve to know our full life's history. If you're confused, just ask me."

Steven smiled a bit. "Thank you, Marc. You know, it's sad but I think you might be the first real friend I've ever had."

You swallowed a lump in your throat. That was seriously something Steven should tell the real Marc, not you.

"That's, err, nice. Anyway, I'll take care of canceling the flat, don't worry about it. You just focus on the flights and selecting a place for us to stay, alright? I'll take over after and you can have a rest."

"Okay", Steven made willingly. "Then you get some rest now. You still look tired."
"Yeah, I think I'll do that", you agreed, faking another yawn. "See you later."

With that your turned off the webcam, rotated on your chair so you could face Jake's monitor fully and spread your arms.

"How was that?" you asked.

Jake dramatically lifted his top hat.

"I draw my hat before your talent, Sir. You are an artist."

You grinned and bowed to your audience exaggeratedly, which made Jake laugh. Now all that was left was to take over after Steven was done with his task, quickly take care of the paperwork for the flat and then, while Steven was asleep, wake up Marc again. Conveniently Steven left some sticky notes in the flat, describing what he'd already taken care of and what was left to do. You only had to destroy that one note in which Steven reminded Marc to cancel the flat and instead replace it with one in Steven's handwriting, claiming that he had already done so.

With that you could cross one potential disaster off your list.
"Now you just have to clean out your secret garage", you told Jake. "And make sure you are back in bed before 1am!"

Jake sighed. "Khonshu won't be pleased. He really liked that limo..."

XxX

It was two days later and you sipped on a glass of banana juice, munching on some popcorn as you watched Marc trying to get a bag with two goldfish in more than 100ml water through airport security.

"Wait, did they get new papers?" you asked when Marc double checked his passport. Nobody answered you as Jake was not online today but that hardly bothered you. You were used to playing alone.

The boys must have indeed gotten new papers because the name next to Marc's picture now read 'Marc Steven Grant-Spector'.

"Aww, that's cute", you made, propping up you head on your hand as you gazed at the screen. Of course Marc was an international fugitive but only in Egypt and surrounding countries. He could've used his own passport to leave Britain and return to America. Instead he forged new papers that incorporated Steven's identity too. Now they could both introduce themselves under their own name without truly contradicting their official papers. You did wonder how long it took them to agree on the order of names though.

The flight to New York was uneventful. You logged off half way through it and took a nap in your hammock, though not before setting up an alarm that would wake you by the time the plane was scheduled to land.

Marc found himself a cheap motel in a horrible neighborhood. Steven complained but Marc's stash of cash wasn't bottomless and they'd need their savings until they had a steady income. Jake was elated - this meant he wouldn't have to fly very far to find victims for Khonshu's vengeance.

The alien invasion of 2012 had left its traces in the city but now, thirteen years later, new buildings had emerged out of the scars.

"Blimey. Look at all those headstones", Steven muttered when they passed one of many, many memorial squares. "It's so unreal. I mean, I've heard of the Snap or the Blip or whatever they call it but it wasn't this obvious in London."

"Yeah", Marc's reflection made from the window of the bus they were sitting in. "It was pretty crazy. We died too back then, I think - but there was no Duat back then."
"WHAT!?"

All the other passenger turned around to look at Steven, who hurriedly pulled out his phone to furiously whisper to Marc.
"What do you mean we died in the Snap?!"

Marc shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember actually dying. I just found myself in some street in France, where I'd had my last job, and Khonshu was there and saying something like 'finally you're back' and then he just picked it up right where we left off. When I first heard five years had passed I thought it was just a really long blackout, that maybe you had taken over without my knowledge. But that wasn't it. We were actually dead."

"How could I have missed that?" Steven asked incredulously.

"How would you know?" Marc said. "Layla was snapped too. She was the only person I was close to back then and for her, it didn't make a difference. You had even less of a reference."

You scowled as you listened to the conversation. You'd heard about the Snap and Thanos' armies from the news channel. But you too did not remember Marc ever dying. That didn't sit right with you. It was your job to prevent that from happening.

You pressed the button to wake up Jake, who only stirred the third time.

"Ugh, what is it?" he asked.

"Jake, do you remember Marc dying? He said he died during the Snap."

"Huh? Oh yeah. That happened to me. Was on some mission for Khonshu." Jake yawed.

"I don't remember that", you mused with a scowl. You did not like this lack of information.

"It was after the hospital and before Marc got divorced. You weren't awake all that often during that time", Jake reminded you.

"Online. I wasn't online all the time", you corrected him absentmindedly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, I don't like that Marc died while I didn't pay attention."

Jake rolled his eyes. "There was nothing you could've done. And actually, it was a good thing, sort of. Khonshu was really pissed off that we skipped on him so suddenly. Pretty much the moment I was back, he did a weird glowy thing and spouted some possessive nonsense, about us belonging to him even after death. I think that's why we ended up in the Duat the second time we died instead of any other afterlife. Human souls don't really go there anymore, not since nobody worships the Ennead anymore."

"...what do you mean the second time?!" you exclaimed. "How often did Marc die?!"

"Uh…." Jake made uncertainly. "I don't know. He got shot during the whole Ammit deal back in Cairo. I don't quite remember how we got back. I was sort of… tied up? It's all a bit fuzzy. I just heard Marc and Steven talk about it afterward. Apparently they had a look into each other's memories while traveling through the Duat or something."

"Why in Khonshu's name did I not get to play that?!" you complained. "It's the player's job to keep Marc alive! They can't just kill him off screen while we're gone and ruin 2 years of my work in keeping them separate without at least giving me a front row seat!" You huffed. "And you're saying it wasn't even the first time they died! Why did you get to play the Snap episode and I didn't? That's unfair. It's a major plot point!"

Jake sighed tiredly. "David, just stop it."

"I mean, I know in the MCU everything is technically connected and there are probably a few Avengers games out there. But still. This game is supposed to let you follow Marc's whole life from start to finish. You'd think something as important as him dying would be included, crossover or no."

"David...", Jake made helplessly. "Don't think too hard about it, hermanito."

"I just feel kinda cheated", you complained. "How many other episodes have I missed without knowing? First there's a grandma I've never heard of and now there are two deaths!"

"David, just... Damn, I didn't want you to see it, comprendre? I wanted nobody to see it", Jake said frustrated. "It was fucking terrifying, is what it was and you should be glad you didn't have to see it."

"What do you mean you didn't want me to see it?" you echoed. "It's my game! You couldn't stop me if you tried, it's not like you have a say to which episodes I have access to."

"No.. Of course not", Jake said and you narrowed your eyes at him, not liking his slightly mocking tone.

"Some things are just... Restricted for you", Jake said next, a bit softer this time. "It's just like... Like bedroom stuff between Marc and Layla. You don't watch that, do you?"

"Eww! Of course not!" you exclaimed, disgusted.

"See? It's a PG18 game and you're… too young for that stuff. So it's restricted. As are some more scary aspects of our life. That's not a bad thing", Jake explained awkwardly.

"But I watch you kill people all the time", you complained. "I sometimes help you do it."

"That's different. They're just nameless NPCs, aren't they? Bad guys. You're..." Jake trailed off, then groaned and pulled at his hat. "... Shit. I'm bad at this. You're... You're fucking dissociated from it, okay? The blood's not on your hands. And it shouldn't be. "

You looked back at him puzzled. Moon Knight had often been a rather dark game. You understood and appreciated an age restriction for explicit adult stuff, because eww. But death and murder and pain had always been part of the show. It was normal. When fighting as Moon Knight, it was exciting. Even earlier, when protecting Marc, it may not have been something you enjoyed but it was its own reward to know that so long as you took the beating, Marc didn't have to. It wasn't real for you after all. It wasn't your body and you didn't feel any pain. Sure, it was dark but you hardly needed to be protected from it. You didn't need to be protected from Marc's death any more than you needed to be protected from the death he brought to other people.

"I just... hate not knowing what's going on", you grumbled. "It's one thing to skip a few disgusting details but it's another to just not be a part of something important. If I ever skip an episode, I have to rely on you to tell me what I missed. You're the only other player in the game. I need you to have my back, okay?"

"...okay", Jake eventually relented, sounding defeated.

"Great. Now what was that about Khonshu messing with Marc's afterlife? Because that sounds important", you demanded.

Jake groaned and pulled down the brim of his top hat, trying to crawl inside.