under my wing (septiplier fluff)

[3] Identity

The ride to the emergency centre, as he'd been told by one of the backup carers sitting nearby, was expected to take a mere fifteen minutes. The centre was closer to the alleyway than Mark had thought, so it was no wonder that the ambulance had arrived so quick to pick up Jack.

It took him about five minutes to finally get used to the irritating, blaring sound of the sirens which didn't seem to bother anyone else; not even Jack. Jack occasionally made faces at Mark to entertain the both of them while the carers were not looking and Mark couldn't help but to do the same. He was surprised to see such a pick-up in Jack's attitude - It'd only been about twenty minutes ago that Jack had smacked his phone out of his hand and given him threats. Now he was being somewhat childish. He guessed that the knock in the head was probably affecting his mood and making him a little incoherent.

While Mark was watching the carers run tests on Jack and clean his injuries up it suddenly dawned on him that he was now dangerously late going back home to his mum for dinner. He felt his stomach begin to churn butterflies, similar to the feeling he'd gotten when he'd found Jack in the alley.

There were only two possible ways that she was going to react to his absence - She was either going to be worried, or she was going to kill him.

Mark awkwardly pulled his phone out from his pocket again and turned it on. He braced himself to see the words 'Missed call from Mom' with an oddly high number next to it, but to his surprise, there was nothing.

And so he went into his messages and began to type. In most cases he would've called her, but with the damn sounds of the sirens in the background he doubted that his mum was going to believe that he was just 'walking home.'

Mark: Hey mum, i'm sorry i'm late

Mom: Where are you, Mark? You should've been home ten minutes ago.

Mark had to pause for a few seconds to think of what he was going to say

Mark: Something just came up and i had to head back to my place a day early, i'm sorry

Mom: But.. you haven't even said goodbye.

"Everythin' ok there, Mark? Why're you frowning?" A croaky voice asked him from the other side of the van.
Mark glanced up at Jack and gave him a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I'm just checking some stuff." He lied. In reality there was a huge knot of guilt in his stomach. He hated disappointing his mum, especially when he was lying to her as well. He hated disappointing anyone, really; but it was the same reason why his focus was now on helping out this Jack person. He'd committed, so he couldn't let him down.

Looking back down at his phone, he began to type again.

Mark: I'm really sorry, i'll mail you some flowers or something once i get home. love you

Mom: Okay then. Stay safe please.

Mark: I will. bye

As soon as he sent his final message he immediately switched his phone off and shoved it back in his pocket. He didn't want to get too caught up in guilt right now, not when he still had so much to sort out.

After every few minutes Mark found himself imagining what might've happened if he'd just given his name to the lady and let the officials take Jack away without him. He would've been home on time, that was for sure, and he also would've avoided more trouble than he'd ever intended to get himself into in the first place.

Eventually fifteen minutes flew by and they had arrived. Two of the carers opened up the back door to the emergency van while another escorted Mark outside. Glancing over his shoulder he saw another two carers helping a now grumpy Jack into a wheelchair - his expression had gone glum again and he didn't seem as perky as before. To be honest, Mark kind of missed the childish Jack, but he was probably going to come back in another fifteen minutes anyway.

As soon as he stepped outside the van he was greeted with a brilliant gust of the chilly, night air. Mark was caught off guard by it and before he knew it goosebumps had formed on his arms. Quickly he began to button up his flannel while he waited for Jack to be brought outside with the other crew.

The reaction he got from him wasn't at all disappointing.

"Holy fook, did we take a detour to the arctic or something?"Jack sneered, shivering.
"Sure felt like we did." Mark huffed. He watched his breath cloud in front of him with fascination.
"It's going to take a whole night to convince me otherwise."Jack muttered, watching his own breath form in front of him with a look of distaste. "And mind you, a night lasts six months in Antarctica."

---

It was now about an hour later. Mark was sitting on his own in a plain, white room on a wooden chair that was positioned just before a desk coated in papers and documents. He was currently in a somewhat interrogation office and was waiting for someone to come question him. They sure hadn't wasted their time organising a time for him to be interrogated, he couldn't help thinking.

From what he knew, Jack was in a room on the same floor, also waiting to get questioned. Now that the medics had all the medical equipment that they needed to help him here he'd had his injuries attended to a little better and for now he was fit enough to be questioned. Obviously he hadn't fully recovered yet but he was stable.

While he was studying one of the trinkets sitting on the desk the door suddenly creaked and was swung open to reveal a lady in a white, professor-like cloak. She looked almost identical to the lady who had driven them to the centre except for the fact that her hair was a different colour.

"Hello, sir." She greeted, closing the door behind her and taking a seat in the chair behind the desk.
"Evening." He replied with a nod of acknowledgement.

Following after that was a long line of questions, including some about his personal information, how he find Jack and what he knew altogether. He answered honestly to everything she asked but felt as though he was giving more information than he was really comfortable saying. His address and his phone number weren't even the worst of them.

Once the interview was finished the lady began to organise some papers for him to fill out. But as she was in the middle of doing so the door suddenly opened up again. This time a man carrying a red clipboard stepped in.
"Evening, chief, sir," He said with a smile. "We've finished with the patient and are just waiting on some DNA results. He doesn't seem to remember very much at all. He appears to have amnesia, but we will have to wait to see if it is permanent or temporary." He glanced over at Mark expectantly and for a long moment Mark felt very uncomfortable. So the he had amnesia, huh? Had Jack said something about him too? The last thing he needed right now was more trouble.

"Oh, and he said he'd also like to see the boy with the flannel and the rooster hair."

Mark snorted loudly with amusement. Both of the adults stared at him and he began to feel his cheeks grow hot.

"Uh, am I allowed to see him?" Mark mumbled awkwardly. It was more of a silence breaker than a question.
"Of course, sir. Just follow me." He motioned for Mark to follow him. Hurriedly he took his papers from the lady and headed after the doctor. That was probably the most awkward interview he'd ever been involved in. Not even his first teenage job interview had been that bad.

After a couple of hallways and corners turned Mark was led to a private room which had the green-haired boy lying on a hospital bed. He seemed cheerful again, just as Mark had predicted. He could tell by the way he was both smiling and waving at him.

The doctor opened the door for him and said they were both able to have some time alone to chat until the DNA results came back to confirm Jack's identity. Mark farewelled him with a curt wave before he took a seat in one of the uncomfortable visitor seats. It had plastic peeling off of the seat cushion in certain areas, making it evident that it needed to be replaced.

"Maarrrk!" Jack chirped, continuing to wave at him. He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead and some plastic tubes taped to his arms. Most of a single, pale green bed sheet was draped over his body.
"Hey there, carrot top." Mark snickered.
"Carrot top..?"
"Well, if I'm going to be rooster hair, you're going to be carrot top."
"Oh, I see they directly quoted me." Jack huffed. More sarcastically he added on, "But does it have to be 'carrot top?'"

"Well, it could be pea-pod string if you really wanted," Mark muttered under his breath, smiling at Jack to see if he'd heard him.
"Huh..?" Jack pondered. "Did you say peepo ring?"
"No, I-" Mark stopped himself and expressed an amused smile."Actually, yes I did. Peepo ring. You like it?"
Jack snorted. "What in the bloody hell's name is a peepo ring?"
"Who knows. But I guess you could say it has a nice... ring to it."
"Mark, that was terrible and you know it." Jack chuckled.
"Fine, we'll just call you pineapple."

Before any of the boys could say anything else the door was opened and yet another man came in. Not the one from before, that was for sure, but he also held a red clipboard like the other one had.

"Hello again, Jack, Mark," The man said, closing the door behind him. "The results for Jack's DNA have come back."

Well, that was quick, Mark thought. He guessed the results had just finished being finalised. Both Jack and Mark shifted themselves around to look at the man with wide, curious eyes.

"So?" Jack pushed. "What's m'name?"

"Well, although these results are indefinite," The man hesitated to take in a deep breath. "sir, I'm afraid you have no identity."

/ aaa i'm sorry if this chapter wasn't the most exciting one but for the storyline to flow i'm going to need it, aha ^-^

also, i should probably mention that when i tried replying to the comment(s) on the other chapter i was having some trouble :c whenever i tried to type the keyboard wasn't appearing (on an ipad) and bleh. i can try again today though.

but again, thanks4reading and i hope you enjoyed and have a lovely day ! <3