Marcus Keane

Marcus has been a bloody fool many times in his life, of that there's no doubt and he'd never claim otherwise, but he's also rarely been held accountable for his foolishness. Being who he is -- maybe who he was, even if he's not quite prepared to let go of the past -- he'd gotten away with most of his selfish and arrogant behaviour, right up until he'd found himself excommunicated.

That hadn't changed him, not in the way he supposes it should have, looking back at it now. He owes a lot of Bennett, despite also wanting throttle the man more often than not, and he's never give him enough credit for any of it. And so he'd continued to be a fool, right into Darrow, and he'd continued to get away with it, disappointing the people around him without a thought. Matthias had forgiven him for it, kindly and far more sweetly than Marcus deserves, but Neil hadn't been quite so willing. Marcus had needed to hear it, even if he hadn't wanted to at the time.

Seeing Mouse over and over for those weeks before going to watch that horrid film had only driven it home further. He's fifty-two years old and he's made a life out of pushing others away for fear of them being hurt because of his mistakes, but it becomes more and more plain with each passing day that he regrets doing do. He regrets having pushed Mouse, refusing to answer her questions, and abandoning her when she needed him.

He can't do the same to the people he loves in Darrow.

That first day, he doesn't bring anything with him, he doesn't have an expectations, he just sends Matthias a text to let him know he's coming by. It's funny, just how nervous he is, because he hasn't been really nervous about anything in a long time. Matthias has every reason to refuse him, though, Marcus is very aware of that, but he does his best not to consider that as he shows up at the house and raps gently on the door.

He's nervous and a little frightened, but this is the right thing to do. It's what he wants, to make this life, for all the time he has in it, as real as possible.

Marcus is sitting in the living room of Matthias's house, his Bible open in his lap, when he comes back to himself.

It's an odd sort of experience. One moment he feels as if he lives here, content and comfortable, as if he's home for the first time in his life, and the next he's wondering what the hell he's doing here instead of his flat. This isn't his home. The flat isn't his home either, but he's never really had a place that feels secure like he expects a home should.

He'd felt it earlier. He'd felt it here. But now he can't seem to get it back.

He's not even sure why he agreed to come stay here in the first place. Keeping his distance to a certain extent is paramount in keeping both Dutch and Matthias safe. Coming here, admitting openly to this sort of attachment, it puts them both in significant danger. Especially right now, with so much going on at the Children's Home.

This is stupid of him. Reckless. He ought to go right now.

Marcus stands, his Bible tumbling off his knees, and he stares at it for a moment, as if he hadn't realized it was there. He stoops to pick it up, then turns to go to the bedroom where he'll pack his things. He'll call later, explain everything to Matthias as best he can, even though he doesn't understand it himself, but for right now he needs to leave.