#original mark

you remember the first time mark flew.

it was clumsy, chaotic, and beautiful. you were standing on the rooftop of your apartment. watching him wobble through the air like a baby bird. he landed beside you with a grin that could melt steel.

"i did it!" he laughed as he hugged you out of pure excitement.

you smiled, but your heart ached. you already knew- you were falling for him.

but then came amber. she was so smart, and grounded. she was everything mark thought he needed to stay tethered to a normal life. you watched him chase her, watched him lie to her, watched her eventually walk away. and the eve- eve- powerful, radiant, and always just a little too close. she was perfect essentially though, at least perfect enough to be better for mark than you.

you were the one who always stayed though. through bloodied battles, sleepless nights, and the crushing weight of responsibility. you were the one who held his hand when he couldn't breathe after Nolan's betrayal. you were the one who whispered, "you're not him," when he doubted everything. it was always you.

but he never spared you more than a glance, never looked at you the way you looked at him.

-

it started with tremors.

reality itself began to crack. the guardians scrambled to contain the damage, but it was too late. a tear opened above earth- shimmering, unstable, and pulsing with energy.

from it came mark- or- the first variant.

he looked like mark, but older. his suit was torn, his eyes hollow. he collapsed in front of you, whispering your name like it was a prayer.

"i can't believe it's you- i- i lost you..." he said. "never again."

you froze. mark, your mark, stood behind you, silent, watching.

then came another and another.

each one different- some scarred, some smiling, some who looked like the shell of mark. broken. but all of them knew you. all of them seemed to have loved you.

mark watched as they surrounded you, drawn to you like moths to a flame. and for the first time, he felt it- fear. not of losing a battle, not the fear of fighting his father, no.

the fear of losing you.

-

you tried to ignore it. tried to stay focused on the war, on the collapsing dimensions, on the mission.

but how could you, when one variant always seemed attached to your hip like you were sacred? when another whispered stories of your life together in his world- how you saved him from himself, how you were his light?

but you also noticed how distant mark grew. he held a short fuse now, always snapping at others. flying off alone. you confronted him one night after a brutal anomaly in Paris, where half the city had been swallowed by a dimensional quake.

flying towards him on a rooftop, you slowly made your way towards him. the silence was loud. very loud.

"you're angry." you accused, although you didn't really need to. nor did you need any confirmation on the deal. his actions always did show what he truly felt.

"i'm not," he lied with a pout.

"you're jealous."

the silent stretched on even longer. he didn't deny it.

"i see the way they look at you," he said quietly as he turned to fully face you. "and i see the way you look at them..."

"mark..." you sigh, closing the gap between you two, your hand now on his shoulder. "i've only every looked at you though."

-

the final war came fast.

a coalition of corrupted variants- twisted versions of heroes and villains- descended on earth. they sky turned red. the air buzzed with energy. you fought beside mark and his variants, each one a reflection of what could've been. or what had been in their universe.

you were everywhere- teleporting between collapsing cities, shielding civilians, taking hits that honestly should've killed you or knocked you out at least. mark was always just behind you, watching, protecting, longing.

of course someone had to ruin it.

a corrupted mark- his suit black, his eyes glowing- struck you down. you fell, bleeding, your body broken.

you could hear mark scream from the other side of the battlefield.

he tore through the battlefield like a comet, fists blazing, rage uncontained. he didn't stop the variant was nothing but a mush of blood, guts, and broken bones.

then he was beside you, cradling you, sobbing.

your blood was seeping into his suit as he tried to apply pressure to your biggest wounds.

"don't leave me," he whispered. "i never said it. i never told you because- because i was scared but i love you (y/n). i love you. i always-"

you touched his cheek, blood on your fingers. "took you long enough grayson."

-