Alright, this chapter will seem wildly different, but it is an important one, as it will dictate the rest of the story, so enjoy!

So what do you like to do in general?"

"You know, play sports, go outside and take walks in the park." Max said as he sat down against the brick wall.

With a small sigh, Mark did the same and gently placed a large hand over the young boy's shoulders.

"Jeez, we haven't done this in quite a while, haven't we?" "Yes! I waited for you to come!" The hunter smiled and ruffled his hair, which the other didn't take too kindly to, "Hey! Stop it!"

Now Mark laughed fully and patted his knee. "I missed doing this. But tell me, how are you?"

Max shrugged his shoulders, tapping his foot against the ground, "Same as always. The matrons at the orphanage let us go out more often now, and school is over."

"You enjoy that don't you? Not having to sit down all morning and read from old boring books, hmm?" Mark teased him and poked his side, the boy laughed and swatted his finger away.

"Oh, and remind me again, how old are you?" "Nine! I already told you the other day!" "My bad, I just keep forgetting Max, my bad."

And then he went quiet.

Mark enjoyed these small moments that he spent with Max... they were nice, and calming.

He had first met the boy by sheer chance as he was rounding a corner and quite literally knocked the six year old child over. The caretakers of the orphanage had been so worried and embarrassed that they offered to pay him in cash, but Mark had only laughed and told them that it was fine.

'And who would have ever thought that that diplomatic mission would become so meaningful?'

At the moment, they were relaxing in an abandoned building, a couple miles away from Chicago. Mark had made sure to promise the caretakers that he would return Max come the end of the day, but at this point they were used to it, as he came around once every month.

But there was something else to this: the primal hunter had formed a bond with this child, a strong one... and he cared for Max, he truly did.

His quietness did not go unnoticed by the little one, as he called to him, "Hey, are you sad?" Mark gave him a content smile.

"No, I'm just thinking about a lot of things... I'm doing a lot of stuff, between here on Earth, and on Yaut, reinforcing relations between humanity and the yautja." "The predators!" "Yeah yeah, you keep calling them that."

"Tell me more about their planet!" He chuckled at hearing his enthusiasm; they would always spend hours like this: talking, with Mark telling him of some of his most fearsome and glorious hunts, while the boy would listen on, starry eyed and fascinated.

"Well it's hot, hotter than it is here on Earth, there are a lot of jungles, some dangerous creatures too, but there are a lot of cities as well with big, massive pyramids at the center. Here, take a look." Be activated the hologram on his computer wrist to show him a picture of the Fire Skull's territory. "Wow."

"Pretty cool huh?" "Very cool! Man, I want to be like you when I grow up! I want to save planets and do all of those cool things!" "Come on now, take it easy, one step at a time. First, you have to learn some more from school, so you'll be smart and wise; then we can starting looking into some action."

Again, he lightly shoved him in the shoulder as a playful gesture, mindful of his enhanced strength.

"Mark?" The boy asked him suddenly, which caused him to look away from the scenery, and noticed that his scent was worried, as if asking him this next question a tricky subject. "Yes?" "How did you get those scars on your face? And what happened to your eye?"

He touched them, softly trailing the edge of the most external one, Max saw his hesitation and began to apologize, "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if- "No no, don't worry, it's fine. You see Max, I got these from another person."

His eyes widened, "Oh... did you fight?" "What? No, dear god no, it's just that... this person just so happens to be my wife." "What?!" Mark rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "Yeah I know, sounds bonkers doesn't it?" "Yes!"

"But... she is your wife, why did she do that?" The hunter shuffled his feet a little, "Hmm, let's see... at the time we still weren't in love, we barely knew each other actually. We basically had a misunderstanding, keep in mind that this was a long time ago, I had just become a blooded hunter and those were my first years among the Yautja."

"Yes, but why?" "I'm getting there, let me finish." He told him, "So, I had just become a blooded hunter, and because of yautjan tradition, I was supposed to go see her, but I didn't." Max nodded unsurely, "She sought me out, and when he finally met again... she wasn't exactly happy, more like... angry, like really angry." "And so she hurt you because she was angry?"

"Well, let's not jump to conclusions, I kinda pushed her and made her more wrathful, so I definitely had a part in that, it's just that this was all just a big misunderstanding, due to the fact that our worlds are so different."

The boy looked confused, "But then," He began to talk, fiddling with his thumbs, "How did you fall in love?" Mark chuckled heartily, "It took a long, very long time before we were on speaking terms, but during that period, she had reflected, realized that her actions were wrong and had come to apologize and... come to think of it, that spark of love just originated there, like that."

Max made a face, "It sounds like a fairy tale, like those that they show at the orphanage for friday movie night." The hunter thought about it for a moment, "You know what? You're right... I had never looked at it that way." "It sounds a little lame." The young boy confessed.

Mark looked at the much smaller human and placed a hand to his chest and feigned surprise, "So you don't think I'm cool anymore?" "What? No! I didn't say that! I didn't mean- He laughed and suddenly picked him up, surprising the boy.

Mercilessly, he began to tickle his sides, causing the child to shriek and giggle, desperately trying to escape from his un breakable hold. "Stop! Stop it right now!" He laughed, unable to do anything, "It's not funny!"

"Oh, but I'm having lots of fun Max! I haven't laughed this much in ages." Luckily for the boy, the primal hunter stopped the actions of his hands, and settled him down on his lap.

The boy pouted and looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. "Come on now, you enjoyed it too, didn't you? Admit it, you did." Mark touched his side again and the boy skittered away.

"Ok, ok I did!" The joyful smile returned on his face.

It was then that Mark took notice of the setting sun and he sighed.

"We'll have to head back soon; the caretakers are expecting you." "Aww, do we have to? Can't we stay here some more?"

The experienced warrior snorted, "You're damn lucky that you've got such a cute little face. Alright, we'll stay five more minutes, sounds good?"

They settled in comfortable silence, with Max sitting besides him as they watched the sun slowly set over the horizon.

"So... what are you planning on doing next?" Mark gave a shrug, "Hunt, I guess. But it's most likely that I'll be needed elsewhere. What about you?"

"I don't know. Can I tell you something Mark?" "Yeah sure, go ahead." "I'm not really happy at the orphanage... I mean, the ladies are nice, they cook for us, take care of us, but... I feel a little sad."

"Why?" He gently asked and folded his arms, giving him his full attention, "I want to go outside more often... and I want to have a home... a real home... I never knew who my parents were..." Smelling his sadness, Mark reached over and pulled him to his side in a one-armed hug.

"I know buddy... it can't be easy." Max sniffled, "It isn't." He curled himself up against his side. "Sometimes other people will come and adopt some of the other guys... I've seen a lot of friends go away... but no one ever wants me."

"Hey," The hunter said, lightly shaking him, "Don't say that, someone does want to see you." Max looked up at him un surely, "Really? Who?"

"Me Max. For as long as you want, I'll always come visit you if you need it, or if you want me to. Always." "But... if the other parents never want to see me, does that mean that I'm a bad person?"

"God no Max," Mark said as he hugged him a little tighter, "They're just not capable of understanding that you're different, and that doesn't mean that you're worse for wear, you're only more particular."

"I did not have a good relationship with my parents." He spoke then, admitting a truth that he had sworn not to speak about ever again. "Really?" Max looked up to him, clearly surprise.

"Yes," He nodded, "We hated each other, we were always fighting and it kept going on until the day that I left their house for good and went to be drafted in the military." "Wow..." The boy said.

Mark sighed, "I know that that's not the same as not knowing who your parents really are, but I can relate to your situation, in a way."

Then he noticed that it was getting late, "Alright champ, it's time to get going." This time, Max did not complain because he realized that it was late as well.

"Come on, I'll treat you to a little ride on the ship, and we'll fly over the forest. Sounds good to you?" "Yes!" The boy exclaimed with excitement, and Mark could not help but ruffle his hair some more.

The craft was a very small one, but unbeknownst to Max, the area around them was surrounded by ships manned by his personal guards, though they were all cloaked.

"Right, so remember to listen to the caretakers, they know what's best for you." Max rolled his eyes, "I know, you always tell me too."

The hunter kneeled down in front of him and patted his shoulders, "I'll come back in two weeks. So don't worry too much. And remember, be a good kid, or I'll send a predator to hunt you down."

The last comment made the boy laugh, and he sent him off back to the orphanage.

Mark watched him go with a tinge of sadness, but it wasn't his place to tell the child what to do.

Using his cloaking device, he avoided any other meetings with other people and directly reunited with his guards.

A course was immediately set for Yaut via the portal technology... thanks to the Engineer tech it had improved a lot, and travel was even faster now.

That ugly feeling in his heart still remained though.

In truth, Mark was planning something... that would help him fix his problem.

He only hoped that the people at the government would be alright with his proposal and not reject it.

A small part of his psyche questioned it, and wondered if it was truly an honorable thing to do.

"I'll just have to wait and see... and maybe even pray to the gods... if they'll answer..."

And with that, he locked the door of his private quarters and began to strip of his awu'asa, planning to go and check over the latest news with his colony and the construction of his fortress.

And there it was!

I know that this chapter may seem strange, but it's really important, still comment what you think Mark will do (though I believe that it is pretty obvious) and let me know of your thoughts.

Until next time.