Work Text:
Love triangles are fun to read about, or to see portrayed in movies but not so fun to be a part of one. Especially not when the choice between suitors seems like an impossible one. The fact that they share not only their first names but some physical characteristics does not help the problem in the least. And the cherry on top of the cake is having to see both at work.
Scanning their names in the list the logical and rational part of you decided to write brings along the memories of the two men.
Marcus Pike is as sweet as the cinnamon rolls at your favorite local bakery. He listens when you speak, brings you coffee in the morning, and takes you out to art museums and fancy dinners. His passion for art and for his work is contagious, and you have found yourself stopping to admire art pieces more and more often.
Marcus Moreno, in the dessert metaphor, is also sweet, but there are more layers to him, like a tiramisu. A bit more private about his personal life, only opening up to a certain few, making you feel even luckier than he choose you to be a part of his inner circle, sharing his dreams and fears during the few moments you got to yourselves. He’s far from the person the papers paint him as, the only thing they get right every time is his sense of responsibility. He’d do anything to protect his team, not even caring about risking his own life in the process.
In the short time you have worked together you’ve learned he’s raising his daughter Missy by himself after his wife passed away. The girl has shown up in the FBI quarters a few times, doing her best to entertain herself while her father finished filling the reports on the latest Heroics mission.
As much as Marcus Moreno complained about the paperwork, he also admitted that teaming up was for the best. Getting the Heroics to work with the FBI resulted from a failed mission that would have become an international scandal had the government not stepped in. Most of the details are above your pay grade, very hush-hush confidential, but from the few scraps you’ve put together you’re pretty sure it involved Miss Granada, one of the leaders of the Heroics’ base of operations, and the former president of the United States being not quite as human as they seemed to be.
This is also what makes this love triangle all the harder.
Marcus Pike’s world is on the ground, solving art heists and doing paperwork, having movie nights, and ordering takeout. Meanwhile, Marcus Moreno has literally traveled to space and fought alien life, making you be on the edge of your seat with every word of his stories. One life is safe, predictable, and nice while the other has an edge of danger to it that’s oddly attractive to you, it makes your pulse quicken.
You can see both futures in front of you as clear as water.
If you choose Pike you’ll move in together after a few months of dating, he’ll ask you to marry him with the nicest of rings, one that will fit snuggly around your finger. You’ll buy a house, maybe have a couple of kids and a dog, and you know he’ll make you happy every single day. He won’t ever miss an anniversary or a birthday, he’ll always be there for you, both for the small and for the big things.
Choosing Moreno would be a bit trickier, having to juggle the unpredictable schedule of a superhero, being a dad, and being with you. But you know he’ll manage to do so, the precious few moments you get together being more than enough to keep you happy. And you’ll eventually move in with him and Missy, play a parental figure to the girl and share the joy of being a family with Marcus. But you’d worry every single night about whether he’d come back from a mission.
In both futures, depending on who you pick, the other Marcus winds up heartbroken. It eats at your conscious and makes your stomach twist into knots. You don’t want to hurt either of them. They both deserve nothing but love and happiness, but you’re only one person. You can’t have them both. You can’t keep only offering them half your heart while you hesitate to make a choice.
For all three of your sakes, you must decide and break this love triangle. Especially because during the last few weeks there had been a growing amount of tension in the office. Both men going stiff as soon as they saw each other, their brown eyes lingering on each other’s gaze before subtly turning to you. So you decide you’re going to go on one last date with each of them hoping that will help with your verdict. Taking out your phone you text each of them and settle on a date and a place. You’ll see Marcus Moreno on Saturday morning while Missy is at her soccer class and you’ll meet Marcus Pike that evening in an art museum he had been wanting to check.
You’re nowhere closer to taking a decision but at least you have a plan in place now.
Except sometimes plans have a way of falling apart when least expected.
Such as when the latest supervillain of the week decides you’re the perfect civilian to kidnap. You don’t know what it says about you the fact that you are more annoyed at missing your dates than about being kidnapped, but oh well. You play your part well by sitting tied to a chair while you listen to the evil monologue, zoning out for the entirety of it until something she says catches your attention.
“What did you say?”
“That your true love is on his way,” she looks genuinely offended at your question, “aren’t you listening?”
“What true love? Who are you talking about?” Well, this is a new low, asking the woman who just kidnapped you for answers regarding love, yet you stay silent as you wait for her response.
“Marcus of course, who else?” Well, that didn’t help. And just as you’re about to ask more questions a man breaks the door and comes in, and recognition dawns on your face.
Of course! your mind wants to scream. It’s obvious. Only one man makes your heart feel like it’s catching fire every time he looks at you. Only one man knows how to calm you down when you’re stressed, what to say to quench your anger and what to do to make you laugh. All this time you’ve been scared to make a decision, but really, it’s so clear to you now that you’ve made this choice a long time ago. It was always going to be him.
“It’s you.” You’re tied up, with a villain laughing to your right, and yet you can’t stop the smile growing on your face. “You came for me.”