(Invincible) Invincible Bond: Chapter 1 - A Choice of the Heart

A/N: Hope you will enjoy this story. Let me know in the comments what you think of the next couple of chapters so I will know if the keep this going as my third weekly update.

Summary: What if Mark didn’t call Amber right away and was available when Eve discovered Rex was cheating on her and called Mark to talk? What if, during that conversation, they made a decision about their relationship that would change the status quo? And how would this decision affect a certain alien’s timetable? (Mark/Eve ship)

Chapter 1 - A Choice of the Heart

Mark Grayson sat on the edge of his bed, staring intently at his phone. His room was cluttered with schoolbooks, superhero action figures, and posters of his father, Omni-Man, along with other heroes. The afternoon sun streamed through the window, casting a warm, golden glow on everything, but it did little to lift the weight from Mark's shoulders.

In Mark's right hand, he was clutching his phone tightly, while keeping in mind his new super strength and the fact he couldn't afford a new one right now. In his left hand, he held carefully a note he received earlier that day with the number of one Amber Bennett on it.

There was a part of Mark that kept pushing him to dial the number and see where things could go with her, while another part of him kept pulling him back from making that decision.

He let out a heavy sigh and fell back on his bed, the note still carefully held at his side while his phone, covered by his hand, rested on his chest. Mark could feel its weight with every breath he took.

The last couple of weeks were the craziest days in Mark's entire life.

And yes, one can argue he was just 17 years old and didn't have much reference to go by, but what most of them won't know was the fact that his father was the most powerful man on the planet, a superhero almost everyone looked up to, Omni-Man.

Even his best friend William only knew his father as Nolan Grayson, a best-selling fiction author. And in turn, he didn't know about his latest and biggest secret.

Mark felt bad about that; he never had any secrets from William before, well except the one of his dad's, and he hated that he had to lie now. Mark also knew that now without the Guardians of the Globe, his life would get more chaotic, and he would have to lie to his best friend a lot more to keep his other life a secret.

And that is problem number one. If Mark can't even tell his best friend about his life as a superhero, how can he justify telling a girl he talked to only once before, and how will their relationship go if half of their time together Mark will have to lie about where he was and what he was doing?

Actually, it was more than that. From the couple of big fights he already had, not to mention his father's training, he always ends up with bruises all over for a couple of hours at least, even with his accelerated healing. How will he be able to explain those without looking like a mindless thug who looks for every fight on the street?

The world was in chaos right now. The people know about the death of the Guardians of the Globe. Villains will take advantage of it and innocent people will pay the price, even if Cecil will really want to help there's so much he and his soldiers could do against someone like those green aliens from before.

Hell, in the last invasion even the entire Teen Team with his help were outmatched; if it wasn't for Omni-Man coming to save their asses in the last second, they would have died there and then.

There were three times in the last couple of weeks when the reality of being a hero dropped on Mark like a ton of bricks and shattered his world.

The first one was when he had to watch people die in front of him, their blood covering his face and he was powerless to do anything other than to freeze, and if it wasn't for Eve, he would have ended up in the bed next to his dad's in the hospital.

Then it was when the nurse in the hospital told him that the old lady, the only one he managed to save from the slaughter of the aliens, didn't survive her injuries either, making his success rate on his first big mission a big, fat zero.

And finally, it was when he watched the portal closing with his dad on the other side of it. He was so distraught at that moment that without even thinking he just called out 'dad' instead of his superhero name, revealing to the Teen Team the connection between them.

Fortunately, none of them knew his real identity. Well, no one but Eve, that is. And he is so glad he has her to talk with about all of his other life things.

Back to the main issue, Mark scolded himself, unable to stop his thoughts from drifting toward a certain heroine. The last thing showed him that even his dad could one day lose and leave this world unprotected; when this happens, it will fall to him to take the place of Omni-Man as the most powerful man on the planet.

The problem was that the first two examples showed him how far away from it he was. If he couldn't even save the people that are mere meters from him, how could he hope to protect entire cities, let alone the entire planet?

He had to get better and fast, and he knew it; that was why he was pushing himself with training, even going beyond his sessions with his dad. He could feel himself improving even in the last alien attack. Yes, they kicked his ass in the end, but it was because they had decades to modify their technology after they saw his powers the first time, and still he held his own and managed to save a lot of people with the help of Eve...

TEEN TEAM! He meant with the help of Teen Team!

Mark released another deep sigh and closed his eyes, trying to shake his rogue thoughts, but even then, instead of darkness what he saw as he closed his eyes was Eve. Her face smiling back at him as both of them flew around the city after school.

With a frustrated sigh, Mark decided to give up and admit to himself the second and equally problematic thing that stops him from calling Amber, and that is Eve Wilkins.

Of course, last week was not the first time he heard her name; he knew about her since they began high school, and how could he not? She was one of the most popular girls in school. She was beautiful, smart, outgoing, and cheerful. Mark will admit only to himself that he might have had a small crush on her for the past couple of years, but it was the same crush that most of the other boys in the school had for her.

He wasn't sure if that was the reason the moment he saw her and managed to connect the dots between her and Atom Eve, he went ahead and revealed to her a secret no one but his parents should have known.

But it might have been his best decision since he got his powers. To go through all of this, especially the funeral, was so much easier when he could talk with her every time he had a problem or needed a little pick-me-up. The only reason Mark wasn't in depression right now was Eve's words during the funeral.

During their flight toward the Teen Team base, Mark felt his heart skip when his eyes locked on her flying carefree rounds around him. In that moment, he knew his feelings for her were deeper than a simple crush on the popular girl.

She was the only one who knew everything about both sides of his life, and she was always willing to help, be it in school or out in the field. When the rumor of them dating began spreading, she kept smiling at him and talking with him in the hallways like usual, which he really appreciated.

For a moment there, he really believed he might have a chance with her, and that was when... The image in his head from their flight changed into the moment he saw Eve walking up to Rex and kissing him.

The image caused him to feel like his dad just punched him again in the chest; it did the first time he saw it as well. When William mentioned the possibility of him dating Eve, Mark had to hide a flinch while retorting calmly with the fact she already had a boyfriend, not that...

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when his phone began to ring. Thinking it was Amber, his eyes shot open and in his panic he sat straight up, forgetting about his phone being on his chest.

It's only thanks to his super reflexes that he managed to catch his phone mid-air, albeit after fumbling a lot with it.

Without even glancing toward the screen, he accepted the call and immediately stammered into the phone, "A...Am... Amber?"

A familiar chuckle sounded from the other side of the line before the voice of his best friend said amusedly, "Sorry to disappoint man, just plain old me. I take it you called her?"

Mark let out a sigh of relief; he wasn't even sure why, hearing William's voice instead of Amber's. Mark shook his head and began to rub the back of his neck before saying a little awkwardly, "Actually not. I've kinda just stared at the note for the last hour."

Mark could hear William's sigh through the phone before he heard his voice, "Come on man, the girl went through all the trouble of making Todd of all people hand you her number, why aren't you using it?"

Now Mark was frowning. He couldn't tell William the entire truth, and again guilt began to eat at him from within, but he could still tell a half-truth, "My dad and I started kind of a project together for his next book, and because his editor copyrighted it already I won't be able to tell even you anything about it, so how could I go into it knowing I will have to keep what I do half of each day a secret from her? Don't you think Amber deserves better?"

William hummed for a moment before saying, "I guess you have a point. But my senses are still tingling there is still something more that's stopping you."

Mark could feel cold sweat start to gather at the back of his neck and he was about to try and deflect his friend's observation, "William..."

But his best friend was having none of that and he cut him off smugly, "It's Eve, isn't it? You have been talking with her a lot lately; even heard she wasn't in school either today."

Mark let out a strained chuckle as he replied with another half-truth, "Well, Eve has something to do with the project me and dad are on, so she is the only one I can talk about those things with."

William whistled into the phone, causing Mark to flinch and pull his phone away from his ear a little, but he brought it back closer when William's voice spoke again, "It's fate, my friend! Fate, drawing you together."

Mark flinched a little again at the thought of Eve and Rex, before he took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and replied to William, "I already told you she has a boyfriend."

Then the voice of a notification distracted Mark. He pulled his phone away at the exact same time William said, "And I already told you what to do about it!"

Mark saw that he had a message from Robot and decided to end the call so he could check it out. Returning the phone to his ear, he sighed and retorted, "And I told you, I won't be that kind of guy. Anyway, got to go work with my dad on that project so talk with you later."

Mark could practically hear the shrug in his friend's voice, "Fine, see you."

Once the call ended, Mark pulled his phone to look at the screen. Without a second thought, he pulled up the messenger app and opened his chat with Robot.

'Entrance test for the Guardians of the Globe, tomorrow at 11AM at the following location,' said the message from the mechanical hero, with location attached to it.

Mark frowned and considered the offer. If he is to replace his dad one day, he should operate like him, which means that while he will help the Guardians, he won't be part of their team.

He decided that as long as he was locked on this choice, he would send the message back to Robot. He typed 'Sorry Robot, but I'm not interested in being on the team right now' and then sent it.

He was surprised when the response came almost immediately afterward. 'Very well. Would you still join and observe our new members?' Mark read.

With a smile on his face, Mark shot a message right back; it said simply 'Sure.'

Mark decided it was a long day and wanted to take a small nap because he planned on training later that evening into the night, but just before he could lay back on his bed, his phone rang again.