under my wing (septiplier fluff)

[8] Plans

Mark was unable to fall asleep at all that night, to say the least.

As far as he knew none of the hospital staff knew what happened between him and Jack, and if they did know they hadn't said a word about it to either of them. Yesterday (when the tears had all dried without a trace) they'd been escorted back to their rooms until further notice. Now he was laying in bed being riddled over by a whole heap of emotions ranging from guilt, to shame to frustration. There was even some embarrassment in the mix. 

The main thing on his mind was what happened in the hallway after he'd run out. Mark couldn't help but to feel a twinge of shame every time it crossed his mind. Not only had he made a fool of himself in front of the hospital's staff but the kiss had been such a spur of the moment act. Now his mind was starting to conjure up a number of regrets and worries around it. It was so ridiculous. His overclouded judgement had caused him to react on impulse and now.. He just felt stupid. But at the same time he knew he was overthinking it way too much.

The worst part was that Mark hadn't even gotten a chance to outline his 'plan' to Jack. 

Although it might've seemed like it, the plan wasn't something he'd come up with on the spot. It was something he'd been thinking over plenty of times since arriving here. For weeks he'd been wanting to share his ideas with Jack but now he wasn't even sure if Jack was going to be willing to go through with the plan once he told him. He'd probably been so weirded out by what happened that he couldn't bare to look at him. 

He really hoped that wasn't the case. This plan was officially his last resort.

They hadn't even talked since the hallway incident which made things even more worrying for Mark. He hoped that Jack was alright, not just with the kiss but also the heart breaking news. He just couldn't believe that this had been the outcome after all of the hospital's tests. How can someone have no identity data AT ALL? It just didn't seem right. That was, unless, Jack had come from overseas, which would mean he had no genetic records here. He guessed that would make sense but it still didn't make the situation any better.

After hours upon hours of tossing and turning in his uncomfortable bed Mark decided he'd had enough. He was going to go and talk to Jack. He didn't care if he now hated him or would rather eat a shoe than see his face again (well, not really, Mark was just overthinking). 

He just needed to set things straight with him. 

Without bothering to look at the clock or even fix up his fringe Mark got up and headed down the hallway to Jack's room. The walls blurred as he stumbled past them half asleep. None of the nightly staff bothered to ask why he was awake; they often saw him going to Jack's room whenever the Irish boy was having a nightmare. Except this time a doctor hadn't fetched him. He was travelling alone.

When he finally reached Jack's door he gave it a tired knock. When he heard Jack answer with a grumbling 'Come in,' he opened it slowly and stepped inside. The look of shock on Jack's face told him he'd probably been expecting one of the nurses rather than Mark. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. He watched Jack stare at him for an uncomfortably long moment. 

Jack then let out a soft whimper that he quickly tried to cover up. It was painfully similar to the one Mark had heard the night he'd found him in the lonely alleyway. Mark pretended not to notice.

"Are you alright?" Mark asked with a nervous swallow. He slid into the usual chair he sat in.
For a while Jack didn't answer. When he finally spoke his voice was very small.
"I just.. I don't know."
Mark could feel a bit of an awkward tension between them both. He guessed it was for a number of reasons. His surprise middle-of-the-night visit had to be one of those reasons. He tapped the wood of the armrest with his fingers to try and break the silence.

He was just relieved that he was talking to him.

Jack then made an attempt to lighten up the mood. "What are you even doing here? It's like four in the fookin' morning."
Mark glanced over to the side. "Well.." He didn't know why he was suddenly being overcome by a nervous rush. Perhaps it was just the lack of sleep getting to him. He quickly asserted himself with a light cough.
"Well?" Jack mumbled expectantly. 
"Look, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know if they've already found a place to send you off to-" He looked away from Jack when he said this, obviously not wanting to see his reaction. "-or if we're even going to have time to see each other before then. The point is I want to talk to you about my plan. Remember yesterday? When I said I had one?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at this.
Mark couldn't tell if it was because he thought he was making a light-hearted joke about forgetfulness or if they were both thinking the same thing (which was the unspoken kiss). 

He hoped it was the first option.

"Yes, I certainly do remember." Jack muttered with a bit of a suggestive tone.

Okay. Maybe it was the second option. 

"Okay, good. Just let me explain-" Mark then went on to explain the plan. He went into as much detail as he could but this was a basic rundown of what the plan was:

It was no lie that the nursing home would be hell for Jack. Jack was very young and also very far from retiring age, unlike the other residents that he would be spending the rest of his life with. He couldn't be released onto the streets on his own, not when he had no recollections of anything about himself. Who was going to save him if he ended up in a mess again? 

There was no one else in the real world to take the amnesiac boy under his wing.

But despite his impending doom, he still had a chance to go back out into the world even if he didn't have any direct family relations that he could go to live with.

Mark lived alone in his little apartment. This meant there was no one who was going to object to the idea of Jack coming to live with him. Mark's savings from his part-time job (which he'd thankfully managed to get himself excused from his shifts during his stay at the hospital) were enough to keep the two of them happy for a while until Jack was able to get a job of his own.. though that would require getting himself re-registered at the agency so that he could apply. There would be a few complications here and there with the plan but they were something to worry about later.

So, in short - He was going to try and get Jack out of the nursing home to stay with him instead.

"..and that's all that I had in mind." When Mark finished explaining he sat back in his chair and let the information sink in for a long moment. 

"Do you really think this'll work?" Jack asked him once the silence was over. Though it was dark in the room Mark could see that he was starting to look hopeful.

He gave a slow nod. "I'm going to talk to the co-ordinator about it in the morning. The sooner I get to talk the better. So.. Are you up for it?"

Mark felt a huge weight lift off of him when he saw a tired smile cross his lips in an instant. Following that smile he mouthed the words 'Of course,' in a whisper that was just too quiet for Mark to hear.

It was settled. When the sun came up Mark would go and talk to the co-ordinator and the chief about letting Jack stay with him. Surely they'd allow it, right? He was no relative of Jack's but he was perfectly capable of keeping an eye on him while he rebuilt his new life or perhaps rediscovered his citizenship. There would be occasional check-ups with the hospital staff both for Jack's health condition and how he was going to resolve his supposed invalid identity.

He was depending on it. It had to work.

/ hope you enjoyed! 

i'm aware that there are a lot of loop holes in terms of government regulations and how an unknown identity would actually be handled but hey, this is a fictional universe, we'll just let it slide for now c':