Sheriff Marcus x Reader

Thirty-Four

Silently, you squatted in one of the shafts and handed out bombs to the other workers.

At regular intervals, they placed the explosives to expand the mines. The air was so stuffy that it felt like your lungs were filled with water, even though the magic was already supporting your body.

But the others didn't seem to mind. Most of them were born in those mines and never saw the light of day. And those who were allowed to climb up were used to the bad air.

As you fished the last bomb out of the barrel, you paused.

"They look strange.", you said casually, so as not to arouse suspicion.

A worker snatched it from your hand and shook his head.

"You really are new.", he growled, and placed the bomb in a niche between the rocks. "Down here, you don't ask questions."

You smirked, glancing up to him.

"I didn't ask a question. I was just thinking out loud."

"You're a really smart one, aren't you?", he pulled a face.

You shrugged and let your eyes wander down the shaft.

"They look pretty special. Never seen something like those before."

"They are provided by the boss."

"The boss?"

Sceptical, one of his eyebrows rose.

"You know. The boss."

Curling your lips, you threw a glance over your shoulder and pretended to be nervous to say out loud what you were thinking. Carefully, you leaned towards him.

"Like... the eye of Zaun?", you made it sound more like an unsure stutter than a question. "Silco?"

Without saying a word, he eyed you from top to bottom before nodding.

"You're a weird one.", he growled and wanted to turn away. "Who has to ask who's the boss down here?"

"I'm just curious.", you admitted.

He shook his head, his eyebrows drew together. Suddenly he seemed nervous, his gaze jumped from one corner to another.

"Curiosity kills.", he muttered and wiped his dirty face. "It's time to leave. The bombs will blow up in a few. Stay behind."

Frowning, you hesitated.

"Why?"

A grin appeared on his wrinkly, pale face.

The sight made a shiver crawl down your spine.

"Curse of the new ones.", he said and shrugged. "You're the last to leave. Make sure everything is where it belongs. And if somebody left something behind... just leave it be. Their problem."

"Ah...", sceptical but not wanting to ruin your chances, you slowly nodded and remained behind.

But as he was about to vanish, he stopped, seemingly surprised and began to talk to someone who was waiting in the shadows for him.

It was hard to tell what they were talking about but from the distance you were able to spot the outlines of a man.

Struck by surprise you turned your back on them as the man pointed into your direction so that it didn't seem suspicious that you were standing all alone, watching.

Steps echoed and the man disappeared while the other steps approached. They sounded heavy and tense, quite familiar.

Frowning, you listened, trying to figure out why they sounded like you knew the one coming closer. As you threw a quick glance over your shoulder, just jumped in surprise.

With a grim expression on his pale face, Marcus looked down on you.

"What the fuck?", he asked in a forcefully calm yet nervous undertone. "Why are you down here?"

With a sour grin, you wanted to take a step back.

But his hand jumped forward and wrapped around your arm, forcing you to stay close to him.

"I'm working.", you said as if it was obvious. "We still need proof."

He rolled his eyes.

"You took the evidence from my desk!"

You freed yourself in a harsh manner.

"Why are you so mad? It's not like we could have offered the council this one bomb and then things would magically solve themselves."

"This bomb would have been enough for the council to get off my back. They need someone to put the guilt on and this thing would have given them the possibility."

Pulling a face, you crossed your arms in front of your chest like a child that wasn't having it. With one eyebrow raised, you looked him up and down.

"Why would you be satisfied with such an easy solution, huh?", you asked, raising your chin so his gaze wouldn't feel too much as if he was looking down on you. "Don't you want real evidence? Something that can support your theory that the attack came from the firelights?"

He rolled his eyes, sighing, then squeezed them shut to massage the bridge of his nose.

"(Y/N).", he had to put all his strength into not loosing his patience. "The council makes the ultimate decisions. I just provide physical information to satisfy their rich people fears."

"You're doing half-baked work."

An amused snort escaped Marcus.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you.", he hissed, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're doing some fact checks down here? In a shaft that isn't even firelights territory?"

"It's Silco's property."

"Exactly! You're getting both of us into shit!"

You frowned.

"You're here too though."

"Yes, because someone had to knock some common sense into you. You can't just climb down here and spy on Silco. He's the eye of Zaun, for fucks sake! If someone finds out, you're fucked."

"Oh? But you walking around with your enforcer uniform and that stupid little sheriff mark on your chest won't cause trouble?", you chuckled, flipping two fingers against the metal emblem that he was wearing at all times when he was at duty.

Grimly, Marcus eyed it before looking at you again. The look on his face was so dark, it could have killed.

"The title comes with some form of respect.", he explained. "Or fear. Call it what you want. But even I don't have unlimited time before they call for Silco himself. We're leaving. Now."

He turned his back on you, but stopped as he noticed that you weren't moving a single bit. A deep sigh made his chest shiver. His mouth was already open, in a last attempt to talk some sense into you, but closed in confusion as the walls started to shiver.

Startled, your gaze jumped to the ceiling. Sand rained down on you.

"Fuck!", you hissed. "They want to blow us up?!"