And So It Begins, 9

Marcus inhaled deeply and immediately felt his mouth water. His apartment had not known the smell of breakfast cooking since… well, since the last morning he and Dara had been a 'couple'. He leaned over her shoulder and looked down into the skillet where a golden brown omelet was taking form. "My favorite," he murmured.

The small gesture of familiarity touched Marcus and he felt an unwelcome tightening about his chest. All the confusing emotions of the past day came rushing back and threatened to break the dam of self-protection that he had so carefully built around his feelings regarding his newfound father and half-brother.

"There is a hot cup of coffee waiting for you." Dara unwittingly came to his rescue. "And breakfast is just a minute away."

"Thank you," Marcus grunted and sat down at the table. He took a sip of the steaming hot coffee. It was just as he liked it. "I mean it," Marcus repeated quietly. "For everything."

"I am still your friend, Marcus." Dara slid a plate onto the table before him. "I thought you knew that."

Dara placed her plate down across from Marcus and took a seat. She did not prompt him to continue, but instead remained silent and allowed him his thoughts.

"Eat your omelet," she told him when it seemed that he would stare into space indefinitely. "It won't be any good cold."

Without comment the detective began to eat. It was obvious that he performed on autopilot, bringing the food to his mouth out of sheer reflex.

"From the first moment I met him," Marcus said suddenly into the quiet, "I have hated Sonny Corinthos and all that he stands for. Oh, I knew that it was pointless and unhealthy." He put his fork down and shook his head. "But bringing him down was the first thought I had when I woke up in the morning and the last thought I had when I went to bed at night."

"Now, thanks to the explosion, my mother drops this bombshell on me and tells me that a lowlife scumbag like Sonny Corinthos is my brother. And I'm supposed to suddenly stop hating him." Marcus' eyes suddenly grew focused. "I can't do it, Dara."

"Marcus," Dara gently said, "there is time for you to figure out how you feel about Sonny now that you know he's your brother." She bit her lip before continuing. "Maybe you should concentrate on how you feel about finding out that Mike Corbin is your father."

"What is there to concentrate on?" Marcus pushed angrily away from the table. "He's dead! Whatever I think or want or feel isn't going to change that!"