I don’t think Mondo’s ghost would leave Taka alone for a second dude. Like he’s on WATCH and also yelling at Taka 24/7 to lock in, despite it never reaching him :’)
(Completely unserious ghost au stuff under cut)
Ghost Taka because I can definitely cope with his death coming up in my playthrough! These are completely and utterly ooc he would be mortified. Just need him to be silly. Making terribly timed morbid jokes 🥹
Platonic River AU, but where River and Mark are just... Robin and Mark (codependent, insane, morally loose, etc) and everyone misunderstands it as romantic. And, promptly, freaks out
I do love some platonic but dubious as heck relationships. So I used an adjusted Viltrumite War to make it worse :D Mark's brain is...doing some messy spirals, all right. On top of the obvious PTSD he's rocking.
Less on the other people's POVs side, but you can see how it'd be ripe for misunderstandings xD
It’s been different since they came back from space.
‘Overwhelming’ is a good word for it. Mark thought the war was bad - and it was bad. It was horrific.
He’d never…He didn’t get it, going in. He thought he’d just be fighting Viltrumites, not their armies - because if he didn’t, more people would die. The Coalition told him who was worth saving, and who wasn’t, and too many fucking times he had to just-
He had to believe them. If he didn’t, if he hesitated and let the Empire gain the upper hand, Oliver could get hurt. He was hurt, and every single time Mark wasn’t there, or was too slow, or fucked up in some other way…
Every time, he knew it was his fault. He could’ve made Oliver stay on Earth.
God, he tried to. They ended up yelling at each other, and it felt awful to see Oliver so angry with him. Not angry like a kid would be, or even a teenager pissed off over his older brother getting on his case. Oliver was furious with him, and he was still more in control of himself than Mark was.
“I can’t lose you. I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“I-I, Oliver, please-”
“If you don’t take me with you, I’ll fly after your ship. I’ll track you down, and all this will have accomplished is a delay. You can’t stop me…So stop trying. No Invincible without Robin, remember?”
It feels unreal to be back home. Not like he’s dreaming, exactly, but…Was Earth always this loud? Did people always get so close, whenever he’s in public?
And it’s bright. Even just people’s clothes feel like a lot to have all over the place, in different colours and styles and- Just, a lot. He was either on battlefields, or in bunkers and spaceships and empty space. Bright and hectic always meant the former.
If he’s in the city, there’s so much happening. It’s loud, and chaotic, and unpredictable. And there’s glass everywhere despite it being so easy to shatter, send it falling down to the pavement and all the people below, and-
It freaks him out. It sucks, but he can’t pretend he’s adjusting well. Even after the truce with Thragg - like that isn’t just one more thing to have nightmares about - and knowing Earth is safe for now, Mark can’t go back to normal. If he was normal at all, before they left for the war.
He doesn’t know what he’d do if he didn’t have Oliver.
But today, he has to share his brother. It’s a GDA-organised event, gathering up a whole bunch of the top heroes; supposedly to get them more familiar with each other, so they’ll work better together in the field when the time calls for it.
Oliver said it sounded like a good idea, but Mark thinks it’s just an excuse for Cecil to get more data on them. Oliver shrugged and didn’t disagree, so he’s pretty confident he’s right.
It’s whatever. Not like anyone can do much to a Viltrumite except another Viltrumite. Oliver developed these nifty earplugs that can block the vibrations which mess with their heads, a few months into the war. Sure, Tech Jacket helped, but it was really all Mark’s brother.
Mark knows because he supervised every time the two of them met up, and he was usually in the room whenever Oliver was on a call, too. They’re keeping it a secret now they’re back, since Cecil already proved he’ll use this weakness against them. Mark can throw Cecil a lot further than he trusts him.
Oliver says he’s more paranoid recently. Mark doesn’t see what the big deal is, if it keeps the people he loves safe.
Maybe it makes him antsier now, when people keep trying to talk to them. It’s fine. Mark’s been Invincible for long enough that he can deal with chatting to other heroes, and it’s- fine. Great.
Sure, he can’t muster up much excitement about meeting the people he used to idolise, but that was ruined for him ages ago. Plus he’s already met most of them. It’d be dumb to give a shit now, when none of them were strong enough to join the war against the Viltrumites other than Tech Jacket.
“Hey, Zoe.” Oliver brightens when she shows up, and Mark barely restrains an eyeroll at the wide grin Zoe gives his brother.
Her crush is so obvious, he feels sorry for her, really. If it wasn’t stupid to get a crush in the middle of a war. And on Oliver, who already looks at least a couple years older than her now, closer to Mark’s age. It’d be plain creepy if Oliver was even interested, which he isn’t.
He’s said so, whenever Mark teased him about it. His ageing has been slowing down more and more, and he said he’ll date when it levels out.
Okay, he actually said he’d ‘go to a few bars’, but Mark would much rather think about his brother going on dates with a nice girl - or guy; Oliver dropped the bisexual bomb like he thought Mark already knew, so he scrambled to pretend he totally did - than hooking up in a bar.
Zoe’s nice. They didn’t share many battles in the war until the end, since Mark was needed on as many frontlines as possible and the best he could do was insist Oliver stick with him, so Mark could look out for him.
He didn’t even see a lot of Dad at points, except a long stretch where Oliver was badly injured and Mark…didn’t handle it well, he guesses. Dad helped him out of it. Gave him something to direct all the helpless, terrifying rage at.
Dad’s helping the Coalition rebuild now. He said he’d visit soon, check in on them regularly since he can’t stay on Earth after what he did. Like it matters now, when Thragg and the rest of the Viltrumites are here. It’s over. They lost, and it’s only a matter of time until-
Oliver’s hip bumps against his, and Mark takes a slow breath in through his nose. Lets it out through his mouth. He slips his hand under Oliver’s cape and rests it on Oliver’s lower back to reassure…both of them.
He isn’t gonna lose his shit at a party.
The fucking cameras probably already caught it - never mind all the GDA agents pretending to be waiters and handing out drinks that definitely have something in them - but Mark isn’t giving Cecil a reason to say he needs to see a shrink again.
Therapy, sure. Like anyone could understand what he’s been dealing with ever since he got his powers without living it. It’s basically what made his relationship with Eve break down, and she’s one of the kindest people he knows.
God, he put her through hell, and he’ll always regret not ending things sooner. He was just dumb enough to think he could have it all, without someone paying the price.
It’s…getting better, slowly. They might be friends again one day. But today, she’s across the room with more heroes he doesn’t recognise, and they haven’t breached the distance beyond a fleeting, awkward smile.
He’s relieved Oliver isn’t in a rush to get into a relationship. Mark would have to warn him about all the problems there, if it was a civilian. And dating a superhero didn’t make them all go away. Especially not for them - half-Viltrumites, and now the war too, and whatever will happen in the future-
They have each other. Oliver doesn’t need anyone else.
It isn’t like the people here will make much of a difference when everything goes wrong the next time. It’ll fall on Mark’s shoulders again, because he’s the strongest. It’ll fall on Oliver, on his little brother who never got a real childhood, because he thought he needed to be everyone’s hero.
Mark chews on the inside of his cheek, distantly aware of Oliver promising Zoe he’ll come visit soon (Mark’s been trying to get better about giving Oliver space. He’ll stay outside the orbital base while Oliver is in there, or something. As long as it’s a quick visit).
He’s…angrier lately. Again. Mom told him so, one morning in the kitchen. She said she was worried about him, and Oliver.
Mark didn’t get it - Oliver’s fine. He’s dealing way better than Mark is, and he’s the only reason Mark can get out of bed most mornings. They still share after the habit started during the war. It just made sense to them; one of them could sleep while the other kept an eye out, and they both actually slept at all that way.
Coming home doesn’t make it any less of a smart tactic, right? And it isn’t like Mark could sleep alone now, and it needs to be Oliver because- he’d hurt anyone else. They both would. They need each other. No one else understands it, because they weren’t there.
Mom doesn’t understand. She thinks there’s something…wrong with them. With them. She acted like Mark was gonna mess Oliver up just by being his big brother - a good big brother, the one fucking thing he’s good at, and Mom thought he couldn’t do it. Or shouldn’t do it.
She didn’t say it, but Mark knew she’d separate them if she was strong enough.
Except, no one is. No one. Not Mom, not Dad, not Cecil - nobody.
So, it’s okay. It’s okay. Mark will chill out, and he’ll look after his brother. Whatever it takes.
He promised. He felt Oliver’s crumpled spine healing slowly, so fucking slowly, under his fingers and Mark begged him to wake up. He made very promise he could think of, and all Oliver had to do was wake up. Come back to him.
His fingers slide up now, the tightness of Oliver’s suit making it easy to feel his spine. All back in place. Perfect again.
Mark flattens his palm between Oliver’s shoulder blades, and Oliver leans into the contact. He looks over at Mark, a brief, questioning tilt to his head, and Mark shakes his while offering Oliver a smile.
It’s all fine. It will be fine, one day.
They didn’t survive everything the war threw at them just to lose each other now.
