For The Many

Chapter 20

It's been a few days since Marta found my dad. She's been spending less time with Jonah, but more time alone. She's hardly spoken to me, which is a little weird, but my dad says she might just need some time. I don't know why she'd need time, she seemed fine when they caught up to me, but I'll do as my dad says. He knows more about girls than I do.

- Evan Durand, August 19th.

Evan had been asked by Dayoh to help with some of the maintenance of the Coms Units that littered the complex early that morning, so had left his dad to get to know some of the other humans who were in the Holding Unit.

James had wandered around the Holding Unit for about ten minutes when he bumped into Marta. "Ah, it's you!" He said with a smile, walking towards her and placing his hands on her shoulders. He had Evan's eyes, intelligent and experienced, and messy hair from his time in captivity. "I just wanted to thank you,"

"It's not a problem, it's kind of become my job," she muttered, half-heartedly. He frowned.

"Looking after my son is your job?" Confusion flushed her face.

"What do you mean?"

He smiled warmly at her, more of Evan's features showing their origin in his face, before he ruffled her hair and dropped his hands to his side. "He's told me that you were there for him when he needed you, no matter what." She didn't feel as if that was an accurate description of the way she had been acting towards him over the last few weeks, but she knew that to tell his father that would probably not be a good idea.

"I only wish I could have been there sooner," she found herself muttering.

It was James' turn to give her a look of confusion.

"I... ah, I don't know if you know about... That he..." Unable to bring herself to say it, she crossed her finger over her wrist, trying to make him understand. His face darkened.

"I knew." He went on to explain that he had known since just before they had left for England, as he had caught him doing so late one night when he had assumed everyone was out of the house or asleep. "He had his reasons though, I suppose."

"How so?"

"Do not tell him that I have told you this, you understand?" He demanded, and she nodded.

"Evan's mother was by no means the kindest of women. She has anger issues which she refused to get help with, meaning that she always, always lashed out at someone. Unfortunately for Evan, he seemed to annoy her more than anyone else, so she would often end up blowing her top at him, and nothing I could do or say would stop her.

"On top of that, the poor boy never really fitted in." She could see the pain on James' face as he explained all this about the boy who she had originally labelled as a confident person. "He had been trying to make friends since starting high school, which had been difficult for him. No one was like him enough for him to become good friends with. So, when one group of kids decided to let him in, he was so happy-" he stopped himself, choking back tears

"They weren't really his friends, though. They strung him along, treating him as if he were one of them for about three months, before inviting him to a party. But it wasn't a party. They beat him up, calling him all the names under the sun and telling him they had never been his friends..."

She was stunned. She had thought she knew the whole story, that he and his father had come to England to help get him a replacement arm, but that wasn't the case, obviously. "We came here to start afresh." James concluded, smiling tightly at Marta. "And then he met you."

"He told me it was the NHS treatment..."James shook his head solemnly.

"No, it was the bullying and his mother. He needed to get away, or he wouldn't have been half the person he is now." She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her wrist, sniffling with a look of determination on her face.

"No one will ever treat him that way again," she vowed, backing away from James. "I promise!" She yelled, before turning and speeding down the corridor.

She raced around the complex, trying to find Evan, or even someone who would know where he was. She had thought to use the Coms Units, but they were all down so that the wiring didn't electrocute those who were working on them.She tried the Medical Bay, but found no one, then the computer room. Empty yet again. Even the hangar was void of people. "Where else could they be?" She muttered to herself, and then remembered the Energy Reserve room. She sprinted down the empty corridors, her breath ragged by the time she got there, only to see Evan and Dayoh kneeling next to the only Coms Unit in that corridor. It was right next to the room where the Shifter - who Click had apparently called Tarot - was being kept. Evan stood up and stretched his arms, his sleeves having been rolled up to reveal the scars.

Everything welled in Marta's chest, all the time they had spent together and all the things she knew he had been through turning into an angry torrent that refused to dissipate. Her lip quivered, and she couldn't stop herself from running down the corridor and throwing her arms around his neck.The shock coupled with the lack of preparation knocked the pair to the ground with a thud and some choice words from Evan, but Marta didn't care. "What the hell?" He laughed, staring up into her tear-filled face. His smile dropped immediately, his hand cupping her cheek. "Marta, what is it?"

"N-nothing, it's just that... That..." She started crying again, prompting Evan to hold her close to him.

"I've been horrible to you," she whispered hoarsely, tightening her grip on his neck."Marta," he said with a laugh. "No, you haven't, I get it."

"Huh?"

"If I'd found one of my friends-" Marta winced slightly, remembering what his father had said, "I'd want to catch up with them too."

She stayed there for a while, refusing to move, while Evan tried to convince her that it was fine. Dayoh watched from his kneeling position by the Coms Unit for only a second, before shaking his head and turning back to his work. "C'mon," Evan said eventually, wrapping his arms around her lower back. "I need to get back to work." He sat up, bringing Marta with him, before kissing her lightly on the jaw. His breath caught immediately, as he remember what had happened the last time he had kissed her, but she simply extracted her head from the crook of his neck and gave him a saddened look.

"I'm never going to let anyone hurt you again, Evan." His brows jolted up, mouth falling open, as she sat on his lap, vowing something that he felt she didn't understand the magnitude of. "I promise." A tear rolled down the side of her face as she locked her eyes with Evan's. He brushed the tear away, slipping his hand into her hair and holding her forehead against his own.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself in for," he muttered with a smile. She nodded, her mouth turning up at either side. Dayoh called Evan over at that moment, telling him that he was going to need his help with something, so he reluctantly released Marta and got up. "Thank you," he breathed, and continued his work.

Marta stood, dusting herself off, and watched him for a moment, seeing that he was happy working with Dayoh, and that there was nothing she wanted more than to see his smile. I'll make sure no one takes what you have left, she thought, before leaving him to his work.