Sheriff Marcus x Reader

Twenty-Seven

A soft smile was on your lips as you sat on the pier with your head on Marcus' shoulder and your feet dangling in the water. A cold breeze stroked through your (H/C) hair.

A sigh left your lips.

Marcus chuckled.

"What? Why the bad mood?", he asked, sliding a hand under your chin so you had to look at him. "Now that the danger is over I'm boring, huh?"

Smirking, you shook your head.

"It's nothing.", you pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "This just feels so familiar."

Marcus leaned his forehead against yours and sighed.

"Just like our old place.", he closed his eyes. "Almost exactly like back then."

You nodded, but couldn't deny that it felt very different.

What was it?

Nostalgia?

Feelings?

The thought made you laugh. Without thinking, your arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer.

When he let it happen without resisting, it felt like this moment could fix everything that had happened. And everything that had not happened.

"You're drunk.", smirking, you pushed his head to the side.

Laughing, he buried his face in the crook of your neck. Pressing into your warmth, Marcus let himself fall backwards, pulling you with him. As you fell on his chest, he put his hands on your cheek to prevent you from escaping.

"I missed this.", he grinned, drunk. "Just the two of us and ideas so stupid that our parents would have died of shock if we had told them anything."

You giggled. His warmth stroked your body. Goosebumps grew.

"Will you still say that when you're sober again?", you asked, suddenly stung by the fear that tomorrow everything would be different again.

His eyes locked with yours. Carefully his fingers reached out and brushed a wet strand of your (H/C) hair from your forehead.

You did the same to him.

His hair was so dark it almost seemed like the light was being swallowed by it. The gray strands on the side of his beard shimmered like pure silver in the dull light of the lanterns.

He smiled, his arms wrapped around you. As he did so, the tips of his fingers stroked your back. The touch alone was enough to make you wince.

Startled, you pushed him away from you and freed yourself from his embrace.

With eyes widened in surprise, he looked at you, hands raised so you could make sure he meant no harm.

"(Y/N)..?", he lowered his eyes. "That wasn't... I mean... can you do me one favor? You don't have to say yes."

Hesitantly, you looked at him.

"Ask.", you slid your arm under your head to lie softer.

His lips moved, thinking. It was clear he was unsure if it would be smart to ask.

"Your back.", he murmured, taking a deep breath. "Can I see what it looks like? Something is different, I know it. At the bar... you were glowing like you were using magic. I just want to see it."

Swallowing hard, you closed your eyes. For a moment you thought about escaping this situation.

But at the same time it would have been unfair.

He had approached you.

It was not too much to ask to give him something in return.

"Promise me you won't touch.", your voice trembled as you asked him for the one thing. "Promise me. Please."

Without having to think, he nodded.

"Promise."

Again you had to take a deep breath. As you sat up and turned your back to him to pull your top up, you couldn't help but feel vulnerable, like an animal that had been beaten and left for dead.

Halfway, you stopped and hesitated again. The cold air stroked your skin.

But it wasn't the wind that made you shiver.

It was the feeling of his eyes digging into your flesh. It felt worse than a thousand knifes. Maybe you would fear knives less than him seeing what had become of you.

"You don't have to.", he whispered.

"But I want to.", you said in a silent voice, trembling. "But... the first step is always the worst."

Again, you had to close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Then, you pulled the shirt over your head.

Marcus inhaled sharply. With his eyes widened in surprise, he fought the urge to touch your skin. His fingers twitched but he didn't touch. All he did was to come a little closer to let his eyes wander over your spine.

Or what was left of it.

The skin was torn, shredded even, revealing a mechanism that was covering your spine and ribs for support.

Between every part, a small, blue orb was embedded into a hole. They shimmered whenever you breathed.

"Is- is that... Hextech?", Marcus asked, holding his breath. "Did the wonderboy..?"

You sighed.

"I suppose you already figured it out but I can't tell you everything. After the attack, my back was useless, shattered spine and ribs that dug into my lungs. Some... doctor found me. He gave me some weird, violett stuff to keep me alive."

"Shimmer?"

"I think so? It wasn't called shimmer back then but it was pretty close. Kept me alive but didn't fix anything."

"But the orbs..."

"After the doc was done, he threw me away. I had no use for him anymore. That was a few years ago. Maybe five? I lost track of time. Viktor found me, Jayce's partner. We made a deal. He could use me for some experiments. As you probably know, he has some health issues himself."

"So, you became his lab rat?"

"More or less. It wasn't bad, I thought his genius would make me normal again. And I wasn't wrong. A few months ago he came to me with those orbs. And as the firelights attacked... he saw an opportunity to make use of his new creation.", you threw a glance over your shoulder. "So, here I am. Dead but alive. An experiment."

There was so much guilt in his eyes. So much guilt and pain.

Without thinking, Marcus came closer and wrapped his arms around you to cover your shoulders with kisses.

"I'm sorry.", his voice was shaking, close to breaking. "I... did so much wrong."

Fighting back tears, you shook your head. It hurt but felt so good to finally be rid of this weight. It had crushed you for too long.

"We should take you home, grumpy.", you stroked his cheek. "This was enough for today."