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He had always been fascinated by shadows. Those curious pockets of Dark in the Light. He recalled his mother once telling him that everyone had Dark within them. She was in a hospital bed, dying, at the time. Being a naive you boy, he hadn’t believed her at the time.
~~~
"But Mommy! You are good! That can’t be true!"
The sickly woman smiled weakly at her son’s determination. “I’m afraid that it is my Darkness that is killing me.” The boy started crying and his mother pulled him into a weak hug. “Don’t be afraid, Frankie. It’s my time. It’s alright.”
The boy crawled into his mother’s bed and pulled her into a tighter hug. “I love you Mommy.”
"I love you too, my precious little angel. Promise me that you will remember something for me." The boy nodded. "Dark and Light are twins. One cannot exist without the other. So don’t force it to. And try to get along with your father. He loves you, even though he doesn’t always act like it." The boy nodded again, more slowly this time. He laid down next to his mother and the both fell asleep.
He woke to the sound of a flatlining heart monitor and doctors were pulling him off of his mother. He was fighting them. Kicking and screaming to get back to the person he loved most in the world.
He vowed never to fight again after that day. For his mother had died.
~~~
Back in the present, his head rested against his former enemy, now his closest friend and love. O’Malley was sleeping, his arms wrapped possessively around his medic. There was a faint smile on his face.
It seemed that he had found his Dark. And his Dark had found him, his Light.
And he wasn’t going to lose him again.