"The DID isn't the problem", Steven said strongly, his nervousness fading further as he seemed quite intent to make Samson believe him. To make him believe that one of the most serious mental disorders in the handbook was not a problem.

"I get along fine with both my alters. Jake was the first real friend I ever had. And well, yes, the memory gaps, those were scary, once I realized they were there – I had somehow managed to not notice for years. But Jake and Marc are great." Steven was starting to fidget again, his voice sounding more pleading now. "I've read about the condition, and about therapy and – and that's not why I'm here. I don't want them gone, I don't ever want them gone, - I… I don't want to merge or something. I learned how to be co-conscious with them and they with me and we're fine. That's not why I'm here."

"Alright", Samson allowed and took a moment to stare down at the pages filled with his own shorthand-handwriting, trying to keep up with everything Steven had just revealed to him. "Then… Why are you here?" he wanted to know.

XxX

Chapter 3 - Jake&Steven, meet Layla El-Faouly

Steven was still a bit overwhelmed by the time they reached the London Eye and willingly left Jake in control.

"This isn't so bad", he muttered as Jake was making his way through the crowd "It's like... Like being on a piggyback ride. You do this often? Just watching Marc or me?"

"It's not usually this easy", Jake replied with a frown, pulling his baseball cap a bit further down. "It would cost me a lot of energy just to be able to hear things, never mind see. Maybe you're particular strong. Maybe it's because we've been getting to know each other, trusting each other. Or maybe..." He trailed off, uncertain.

"Maybe?" Steven nudged him.

"Or maybe whatever happened to Marc was so bad it echoed through our whole head, affecting us too. Weakening the barriers that used to separate us", Jake whispered darkly. "I swear if that's it, if someone hurt him, I'll find out who and I'll fucking cut out their heart and shove it down their throat!"

"Whoah mate, slow your horses!" Steven warned him. "There will be no carving out of hearts here!"

"You don't understand", Jake replied, the worry now clear in his voice. "Marc is pretty strong in his own way. There's not much that could throw him off his game. But it happened before, a couple of years ago. I was suddenly out for months and I couldn't go back, even when I tried. It was exhausting."

"Months?" Steven asked, his voice wavering. "When was that? What happened?"

"2015. And I don't know, I can't read his mind. My best guess is that there was some kind of paradigm shift. Something that shook him up so much it changed one of his core beliefs." Jake sighed and shook his head. They were almost at the Eye. "I can tell you more later. Now we have to find Layla. I have no idea what she looks like so help me look for someone that seems to recognize us, alright?"

But Steven didn't seem to be listening. "2015...Where was I 2015? Oh my, that was so long ago. What was I doing? Work and travel? I think? Or was that later?"

"Steven?"

"Huh?"

"Pay attention!"

Jake and Steven started to keep a look out for anyone searching for them. And indeed, after a while they saw a woman with dusky skin and frizzled dark brown hair approach them. She was wearing a brown leather jacket and a pair of form fitting dark jeans that had Jake smirk appreciatively.

"Marc!" she called out relieved, rushing towards them. "You're really here!"

"Sure am, cariño", Jake made with a grin, looking her up and down. His alter had good taste, he decided.

"Cari-what?" Layla asked confused, then shook her head. "Marc, what is going on? You owe me an explanation!"

Jake snorted, "Yeah, you're not the only one. Come on, let's head somewhere less crowded." Jake started to lead Layla away from the people surrounding the Eye, aimlessly at first until Steven started whispering directions to him. They ended up in a little café in one of the side streets with tall separators granting them privacy. Steven, who was once more reduced to having to watch from a little metal paper towel holder, grimaced when Jake ordered a black coffee, and then again when he dumped three spoons of sugar inside.

"Alright", he said once the waitress was gone and Layla too had overcome her shock of Jake consuming sugar with coffee rather than coffee with sugar. She herself was only taking a sip from her cappuccino.

"Start talking. What happened?" Jake asked bluntly.

Layla stared at him. "You're asking me?!"

"Am I stuttering?" Jake asked, raising a brow. "You said I send you papers. Was that via courier or the post? Did you hear anything from me afterward until I called you yesterday? When exactly did you receive those papers?"

"Why are you asking me that? You should know it!" Layla wanted to know.

"I have a very selective memory. Just answer the questions", Jake shot her down annoyed.

Now Layla looked even more worried. "Are you saying you didn't sent me those papers?"

"What papers?" Steven asked but Jake ignored him for now.

"I'm not saying I didn't, I'm saying I don't remember doing it", Jake clarified. "I woke up... London, arrival date...?" Jake stared out of the window as if he had to think hard, catching Steven's eyes in the reflection.

"Oh. Oh!" Steven made when he realized Jake was talking to him. "That was about three weeks ago, April 3rd. I... I don't remember traveling to London... I was just, I was just there, in some street, don't even remember where exactly..." Steven looked a bit disturbed as he recounted that and continued muttering to himself even when Jake looked away. "Why can't I remember that? Why did I even come to London? I wanted to move here, I think... No, no, I was just gonna stay a while but it was such a beautiful city and I decided to stay..."

"I woke up here on April 3rd but I don't know how or why I came to this city", Jake repeated. "When did you last see me?"

Layla still looked worried but not as angry anymore. Instead a determined glint had appeared in her eyes.

"I saw you last on March 16th, in Cairo. We... had an argument."

Jake's eyes narrowed dangerously. "About what?"

"You don't remember that either?" Layla asked incredulously.

"No, I don't, now tell me!" he snarled.

Layla looked at him shocked, as if she didn't recognize him. When she spoke, her voice was biting and sarcastic.

"Oh it was nothing, really! Just the same one we've had for years. How you'll never tell me anything that's bothering you. You won't talk to me, not about anything that's going on in your head, just about work! You ask me questions all the time and I tell you! I told you all about my family, about my father, about my friends, my struggles, but you never tell me anything about yourself! We've been married for two years now and it's still like I'm living with a stranger!"

"Wait, MARRIED?!" Steven exclaimed, shocked.

Jake though relaxed a little. "That does sound like him..."

"Are you saying - is she saying - we're married to that woman?!" Steven asked aghast.

"So you had, we had this argument on the 16th. Did you say anything unusual to me? Did I react any different than I usually do? And how long after that did you receive the divorce papers?" Jake continued his questioning.

"Divorce?" Steven was even more shocked at that news. "I wanted to divorce - a woman like that?! No way!"

Jake huffed and turned the metal holder upside down, hoping Steven would get the hint to shut up.

Layla regarded him strangely but answered his question. "There was nothing unusual about it. Our anniversary was coming up so I asked if we didn't want to take the opportunity to visit your parents."

Jake stiffened immediately but Layla was still talking: "I know you don't have the best relationship with them. But they weren't at the wedding and... It's been two years, could it really hurt to at least introduce me to them? You were against it, there was shouting and then you stormed out. That was it. I got the papers eight days later, on the 28th."

For once, Steven was quiet and Jake was glad for it. He was gritting his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.

"Marc? " Layla asked warily.

"You shouldn't have asked that ", Jake ground out, pointing a finger at her with enough force to almost take out her eye, making her lean back. "You should never, EVER have asked that of him!"

"... Him?" Layla asked confused.

"Yes, him!" Jake empathized. "I'm not Marc, I'm Jake, I'm one of Marc's alternate personalities and you get three guesses why he needs us!"

With that outburst, Jake jumped to his feet forcefully, his chair clattering to the ground loudly before he stormed out of the café, fuming in anger.

He was already on the street, speed walking just away, away, when the woman started to follow him. She called out Marc's name twice, then called out Jake's but he didn't react to either.

"Jake? Jake, stop. Please", Steven made in a small voice.

"I can't", Jake growled, walking faster. "If I do I'm breaking her fucking nose. That stupid fucking perra! Why did she have to go there?! No wonder Marc freaked!"

"Jake. We have to-" Steven said and then Layla caught up to them. She grabbed Jake's shoulder and whirled him around. Jake's instincts kicked in and he aimed a fist at her face and then suddenly he was shoved back and watched as Steven tried and failed to abort the movement. Their fist met Lalyas face but at the wrong angle and Steven cried out and stumbled back, holding his throbbing hand just as Layla held her throbbing cheek.

"Oh my days, I am so sorry, so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!" Steven exclaimed. He shook his hand, wincing at the pain but was more worried about Layla. He fussed over her, asking how much it hurt, if she needed ice and kept apologizing. Nervously he took off Jake's cap, remembered it was stolen and threw it away with a wince.

Layla gave them that by now familiar stare, the one people gave when they doubted their sanity.

"Who are you?" she asked Steven.

Steven wrung his hands, looking quite miserable.

"I... I'm actually not quite sure anymore?" he made nervously. "My name is Steven, Steven Grant. A-And I was just here, minding me own business, I'd just gotten myself a job at a gift shop a-and suddenly there's this little Spanish guy, controlling my body. And then Jake said he was around already forever and that there's a third one, called Marc and we have to go look for him but it's not making much sense, how to do you go looking for people that live in your head? I, I found this ID card that has my picture but it reads Marc Spector but I also have my ID card, my proper one but Jake said he's good at forging things so who knows which one is real - I, I kinda don't remember how I got mine..."

Layla's eyes went wider with every word Steven spoke. "You're not joking, are you? Because that's... That's really not funny."

"Oh, believe me, I wish I had that kind of imagination", Steven made with a nervous chuckle. "I know it's bonkers. I was normal just a few days ago. Or, I think I was but the more I try to think back, the more I realize I just have these huge memory gaps, I mean, I have no idea where I was in 2015. I think I was in Cairo, once or twice? But I never lived there. I, I don't remember you, and I definitely would have, I mean look at you, and Jake said he's never met you before either and - and I'm so sorry about, whatever Marc did. Sending divorce papers like that, that's just rude, I mean, I don't even understand how he could divorce someone like you in the first place, but like that? He sounds like a right asshole, he does!"

Layla took Steven's hands in her own, stopping Steven from wringing them nervously.

"Steven, right?" Lalya made, to which Steven nodded, suddenly captivated by her beautiful eyes and calm voice. "So you and... Jake. You both woke up after Marc left and neither of you have any memory of... of me, of our life together? And you don't know what happened to Marc?"

"Y-Yeah, that... that's right", Steven made. "I think..." His voice trembled. "I think I need help."
"Oh Ma- Steven", Layla caught herself and then she wrapped her arms around Steven. He was stiff in her embrace for a moment but then tears gathered in his eyes and he hugged her back, clutching at her quite desperately and he kept muttering into her jacket with a high, almost whining noise:

"I don't know why he said that. I... I don't know why he would say that, Jake, why would he say something like that? I love my Mum and Dad and they love me and I talk to them every day over the phone. If I ever had a girlfriend, they'd be elated to get to know her. They would love you! I would never even think to not invite them for my wedding, I don't know why he said that!"

"Shh, it's okay. We'll figure it out", Layla soothed him, rubbing his back.

Jake slunk back into the darkness, filled with guilt and disbelief. Either Steven was the most sheltered alter he'd ever seen or he'd split apart from an adult Marc with a very selective memory of what home had been like. Either way, he seemed to honestly not have a clue. And it was painful for Jake to see Steven so distressed but at the same time - he couldn't allow him not to know. Not knowing something this important was dangerous. Jake just wished he didn't have to be the one to tell him. This would be so much easier if Marc were here.

Up front, Steven was taking Layla to his apartment. He called out for Jake several times but he remained unresponsive, far back inside their head. He listened but he could barely see anything. Layla might've send Marc into a spiral but she'd done so out of ignorance. She obviously still cared for him or she wouldn't have flown all the way to Britain for him and Steven seemed to want to soak up her kindness like a dry sponge. So he left the two to figure things out, lurking, trying to calm himself.

Layla wondered at how different Steven's flat was from anything she would imagine Marc's place to look like as much as Jake first had. Steven nervously showed her all of his books and they discovered they liked the same authors and they laughed together. He showed her his one-finned goldfish, Gus and all the postcards pinned to the tank his Mom sent him.

"What is it?" Steven asked when Layla picked up one of those cards, staring at it with a weird expression.

"This is Marc's handwriting", she said neutrally.

"What - no! No, that can't be!" Steven picked up the three post cards, each from a different city around Europe; Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, each with the same handwriting.

"No, no, that is Mum's handwriting, I'd recognize it any...where... Oh my days. The... The stamp..."

All three postcards had been send off from London.

Steven's hands were trembling. His panic made Jake crawl forward carefully, worried for his little brother, watching him closely.

"No... No, no, that can't be..." Steven kept muttering.

"You said you talk to your Mom every day via phone", Layla said. "Have you called her today yet?"

"No... No I haven't. I, I should do that, yeah, let me just-" Steven made and started looking for his phone.

"Steven. Don't", Jake said.

Steven froze, his eyes flickering over to the mirror at his door.

"Oh, now you're back", he huffed.

Steven pointed toward the mirror. "See, Layla, see that guy? He talks to me over mirrors and stuff. But I'm not listening to him anymore because he's crazy, and I'm going to tell my Mum about him and she'll recommend a nice doctor to me-"

"I'm serious, hermanito, drop that phone!" Jake exclaimed angrily.

But Steven was already opening his contacts and putting the phone to his ear.

"Don't hermanito me, Jake, you're a liar and a figment of my imagination and you know what, I think you're doing drugs, that perfectly explains all the memory gaps - Oh, yes, hi Mum! Yeah, hi, long time no see! How's Paris? Wonderful? Great, yeah, that's, that's great..."

Jake watched, baffled, as Steven started pacing up and down the flat, talking to... nobody, really, because there was no voice answering from the other side. There wasn't even a dial tone.

"Steven..." he said quietly.

"Yeah, you know, the oddest thing happened to me today", Steven kept rambling.

"Steven", Jake made again, pityingly.

"You know my sleeping disorder? Yeah I think it might not actually be a sleeping disorder. I don't know what happened, maybe J.B. was right, maybe I am not getting enough vitamins-"

"Steven, there's nobody on that phone."

Steven stopped. His hand holding the phone to his ear was trembling. He looked at Layla, then looked at Jake, both giving him the look.

And then he looked at the phone in his hand. It was still open on the contact page. But where there should be a telephone number under 'Mum', there was just a long line of zeroes.

XxX

AN: I thought the TV scene of Steven realizing he hasn't talked to his Mum all this time was so heartbreaking. I just had to adopt it here. Hopefully having Jake and Layla there to help him deal with the fallout instead of, we'll, being dead, will help him overcome it.

Steven and Jake's relationship is developing far better than the one between Steven and Marc did originally. That was the whole initial idea because if all you know of Jake is that he's the dirty fighting, violent alter who doesn't mind working for Khonshu, this would be the last thing you'd expect. So I set out to try and write a story where I made it work.

A few things to note for this to work: 1) Jake does not know that Wendy Spector is dead. Thus he believes it would be dangerous if Steven doesn't know because he might go home to try and talk to her and then he'd get hurt and probably traumatized by her. 2) Basically, Jake is incapable of feeling guilt unless it's about something that's hurting his tiny little in-group. When he sees an injustice he just gets freaking mad and violent and he won't feel a shred of regret over hurting people who he thinks deserve it. That's why he can kill without losing any sleep over it. And that's also why he doesn't bother to keep any secrets from Steven, because he doesn't think he did anything wrong. He wants to tell him about Khonshu, it's just a matter of timing so Steven won't be overwhelmed. Marc is terribly guilt-ridden, both about his trauma which he believes to be his fault as well as his work for Khonshu. Jake is not. He absolutely does not believe he deserved any of Wendy's shit and so he has no reason to hide it. He'd probably even complain about it at length like a kid complaining about too much homework, if not for the fact that he can tell Steven is hurt just by him talking about it.

That's not to say Jake has no deep-seated, soul-wrenching hurts. But this particular one, that isn't his hurt. It's Marc's.

Okay enough rambling, please leave a comment and look forward to more interaction between Jake and Layla next time!