Marco stared at the ceiling of the apartment, trying to get back to sleep. The first time he’d fallen asleep on the couch with Sarah. The second they’d moved to the bed but he couldn’t sleep. The third he was back on the couch but nothing could get him back to sleep for long. He kept hearing Jack’s voice echoing in his mind.
Fake or not it was his.
He left their apartment after the fourth try.
Sitting down on the edge of the tower, he looked at the city. He could see the lights from the city. Even after suffering an alien attack and having a section of the city entirely wrecked it didn’t sleep. He and the team did their best to help repairs but they had things to do. Who needed New York when you had Chicago.
He looked at his phone and saw the articles, the tweets, and posts. All about their actions. Menace to the city or saviors? Protectors of Chicago. Protectors of Earth. #TerranKnights #CelestialKnights It made him laugh. Jack would love seeing this.
Putting his phone away he stared at his finger. Stared at the ring on his finger. He remembered picking out the golden band with them. He wanted something simple but they pushed him to get something a little special. A small ruby in the band was the most they could get him to budge on. Emerald in Jack’s. Yellow quartz in Sarah’s.
They weren’t supposed to wear them until they exchanged vows but they all snuck them out here and there. They’d been caught so many times it was a running joke and game.
Turning the ring in his hand slowly he sighed and let his head hang between his hands. The guilt was hitting him hard and he couldn’t figure out what he was going to do next. He didn’t understand Legion. Didn’t understand what that thing wanted. All he knew was that his husband to be was being held hostage and he didn’t know how to save him.
As he sat in his own thoughts, he heard something. It was like someone stumbling over a transformer. Complete with the expletives needed for that type of situation. Marco sat up straighter and looked over his shoulder. He tensed, ready for a fight but once he heard all of the swearing he realized that they were just a normal person.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know you were here.”
Marco looked over his shoulder and stared at the girl who had been the yellow Astro Knight. He hadn’t met her formerly outside of the temple. But when he looked at her again there was something very familiar about her.
Marco stood slowly as he looked at her and his expression softened slightly, “Hi. You’re Jenny right? Co-captain for the Astro Knights.”
She nodded quickly and he was sure that she was trying not to look at him directly. Fiddling with her choker she said, “Yeah. And you’re Marco. Leader of the Celestial knights.”
He nodded and they remained in silence for a moment. The wind rolled over them slowly. It was a cool breeze this late at night that felt good. Something that despite the summer Marco was wearing a jacket because the cold would get to him easily. Especially this high up.
“What brings you out here?” she asked finally hugging herself.
He looked over the edge of the skyscraper and shook his head, “Being up here helps me to clear my head. Especially when something stresses me out.”
“Funny,” she said and smiled. “My papa always said that.”
Marco chuckled, “He sounds like someone that I would like.”
“I think so too,” she replied. “Can I sit with you?”
He looked at the roof near him and chuckled, “Despite what social media would say, I don’t own the Sears tower.”
Him saying that made her beam and she sat down near him resting her hands between her legs. She looked out in front of her and sighed contently. “It’s so beautiful up here.”
“It is. You’re from the future, right?” When she nodded he smiled. “Do you have Chicago still. Mostly like this?”
Jenny looked out over the city and nodded slowly. “It looks a lot like home. We’re missing buildings. The Obama building for starters. And the second Chicago river. But It’s a lot the same. I mean, I’m only like twenty years from the future it doesn’t change that much.”
Marco laughed softly, “Come on there’s gotta be something interesting about the future you can tell me about.”
She shook her head, “There’s not much to tell. Well I guess we went to mars properly. And Ley is a bit more well known on Earth though not by a lot. Governments know they exist but not exactly what they are. Ley’s never been that transparent so I blame them.”
“No they haven’t been,” Marco smiled then frowned again. “Honestly I’m up here because I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m the leader of my team but I don’t have much of a team anymore. There’s just the few of us now. You guys have more experience dealing with Legion than I do.”
Jenny frowned, “We do but it’s not like it’s easy. We’ve been chasing Legion for months. It makes sense that it’s hard for you to handle.”
“I appreciate that,” he chuckled and leaned back. “You know. Sarah talked about you a lot. Said you and her had a great talk. I’m glad that she stumbled into you first instead of Legion.”
That made her laugh for real and she nodded, “I’m glad I ran into her too. She’s great. I want to hang out with her more actually. Without a crisis going on.”
“With everything going on I’m sure you’ll get the chance to spend more time with her,” Marco looked toward the sky and sighed. “Your leader. Ya’Cahin. She seems confident. Sure, of herself. A lot more than me.”
“You’re just as confident if not more,” She said leaning over to stare at him closely. “You’ve been leading your team through all kinds of trouble. The Taq-Law invasion. The Dark Knights. And a lot more. You’re just as great as Yaya if not more. This is just another challenge for you to overcome. I know you will papa.”
Marco’s eyes widened slightly staring at her, “So you’re my daughter,” he said and she nodded slowly. “Am I really that great in the future for you?”
She blushed slightly and looked away. Finding her words, she finally said, “In the future you’re more than my dad. You’re my hero. And I’ve always wanted to be able to help you.”
Staring at her he looked down and smiled again, “Well you did help me through tonight. And that counts for something. Thank you, Jenny.”
She hugged him quickly as her blush got deeper, “You’re welcome Papa.”
The Harlequin Library 