Marcus comes home, and immediately he knows something is deeply wrong. The front door is open. His heart rises in his throat and he fumbles with his pistol as he steps inside the house. He’s trained to clear buildings and ensure rooms are empty, but this time his hands are shaking, his breathing coming in uneven pants.

The ground floor is clear, it’s upstairs where he finds signs of a scuffle. The carpet is rumpled, a vase shattered, paintings skewed on the wall. Marcus beelines for Ren’s bedroom door when he sees it’s open and the light is on. His knees almost buckle when he’s greeted by the sight before him.

Silco is seated where he has no right to be, calm as poison, and two of his goons lounge about like they have any right to be there. Ren is nearby and entirely unaware that the room is full of threats, serving Zaun’s favourite villain imaginary tea from her little toy teapot. Marcus freezes for the briefest moment, every muscle in him going taut when he realises you’re nowhere in sight.

Silco’s smile sharpens by a fraction, all polished menace and private amusement, “Ah, look at that, daddy’s just in time for tea.” His presence is a promise of violence, a reminder of what will happen if Marcus doesn’t keep up his end of their deal, and that violence will clearly be directed towards his little family.

Marcus doesn’t breathe properly until Silco leaves.

The moment the front door closes, he’s frantic, voice tight with fury and fear as he tears through the house in a panicked frenzy. He checks every room, every cupboard, every shadowy corner, calling for you with a desperateness that betrays how badly he’s shaking. By the time he finds you hidden away and bound in the pantry where Silco left you, the relief on his face is so palpable it almost looks like pain.

“Oh, thank God,” he exhales, and then the dam breaks all at once. Marcus’s at your side in an instant, hands frantic as he starts freeing you, apologising under his breath with each knot he undoes. “I should have known. I should’ve known that beast of a man would pull something like this.” Finally the ropes fall free from your wrist, the gag at your mouth removed. “Did he hurt you?”