So I know I left this story hanging for basically forever. I really had no idea where to take it at all. Sorry to my readers who were following it, I decided to scrap it. It was kind of a half baked idea. I promise this one is way more baked and I have a clear vision of where it's all going. I hope you guys don't hate me too much and that you like this one just as much or more than the last one.

PART ONE

The last year had been a whirlwind for Marcus Kane. In a matter of months he went from a bachelor living comfortably alone to being the guardian of a teenager and a preteen. Two children who knew very little of him, yet he was the one entrusted with their lives. Kids were never apart of his life plan. He was almost engaged once at the young age of twenty, but even then kids were never going to happen.

But here he was trying to get through the LA traffic as quickly as possible to reach the community hospital in his city. He was on autopilot, following the route back home that he drove at least once a week. On a typical day the drive would be his hour or so of silence, but today he cursed the cars in front of him.

A chain of events he never expected to occur led him to this moment. His family moved from the east coast to the west coast when he was thirteen. Next door to Aurora Blake, who quickly became his best friend. She was a year younger than he was yet seemed to understand the world more than he did. The two went through high school together and their first few years of college. He had met a few of her boyfriends, some he was fond of others he wasn't.

At the young age of twenty he was in love with Shari Grant and Aurora remained his best friend. He had an engagement ring in his sock drawer just waiting to be put on Shari's finger. But when Aurora showed up on his front porch in tears Shari wasn't sure how she felt about her boyfriend caring for another girl so much. Then Aurora told him she was pregnant and his instinct was to let her stay with him, Shari left the same day.

Aurora's boyfriend at the time Robert was a couple years older than Marcus and had seemed to be a stand up guy. That is until Aurora had decided she wanted to keep her unborn baby. Robert then informed her that he had never wanted kids and if she did, it wasn't going to work out for them. Marcus found himself sharing his place with his pregnant best friend for the next six months until she got on her feet and made a home for herself.

The two remained friends for the rest of Aurora's life. Marcus had stayed down south and she had moved up north for a fresh start. When Aurora had called Marcus a year ago she hadn't sounded like herself. When he asked her what was wrong she told him her diagnosis. Her body was covered in cancer cells and she needed to know that her kids would be taken care of. He didn't want to agree to be their guardian, he had seen them grow up from afar. But he loved Aurora and knew she had no one else to look after them.

She passed away in the spring and by the end of fall he finally found a new routine in his home. Octavia was quiet for the most part. The ten-year-old kept to herself, but if Bellamy was home she followed him around. She was her brother's shadow and he didn't seem to mind. Bellamy had spent more time with Marcus when he was younger so he was more comfortable with the situation. He had taken to southern California easily and made friends through his high school baseball team. Aurora would spend hours talking to Marcus about Bellamy's baseball team and how he had taken to it like a fish with water. So the first thing he did before the kids came to live with him was figure out where Bellamy could play. He needed some kind of stability in his life and he'd spent his whole life playing the sport.

Marcus was just getting comfortable having the kids with him and now this happened. The traffic would not let up and Marcus replayed the conversation in his head from earlier. His phone is always on silent when in a work meeting, but today he had it on. When it rang he had a gut feeling to answer the call so he excused himself from the room. The voice on the other end was calm as they informed him the kids had been in a car accident. He couldn't remember what he asked or if he had even responded to the person on the other end. Everything was a blur, he told his coworkers that he needed to leave and ended up stuck in this traffic.

The ringing in the passenger seat pulled him from his thoughts. Jake Griffin flashed on the screen of his cell. He had told Jake the kids were in an accident before rushing out of work. Marcus leaned across the seat to grab the phone and answer it.

"Hello," Marcus said, his voice not sounding like his own.

"Kane, are you okay?"

"I'm not sure. This fucking traffic is horrible and I'm not sure how either of the kids are. I don't think I processed anything that was said to me over the phone."

"Hey, it's okay. I have Abby checking on them. She hasn't heard much on Bellamy, just knows that he's in a surgery right now. Octavia is with her right now."

"Is he okay?"

"She's going to find out more information. I asked her to keep Octavia with her until you get there."

"Okay."

"Take a deep breath. It does them no good if you get in an accident on your way there," Jake reminded his friend.

"Okay," Marcus breathed out.

"I'll call you if I hear anything from Abby."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Marcus hung up the phone and put it in the cup holder. He wasn't sure how he was going to manage to keep his cool on the way to the hospital, but Jake was right, he had to keep it together and pay attention to the road.

The rest of the drive seemed to happen in slow motion. But the minute the doors to the emergency room opened everything started happening at lightening speed. His eyes frantically scanned the room to find the front desk. He was running towards it before his mind even registered where it was.

"How can I help you?" the nurse asked.

"I'm here about Bellamy and Octavia Blake."

"Are you family?"

"I'm their guardian."

"Please have a seat and I'll page the doctor to come talk to you."

He nodded and found an empty chair to sit in. His leg bounced up and down with anxiety as he waited for someone to tell him what was going on. The only other time he could remember being this anxious about another person was when his mom was dying. She had been his whole family, until now.

"Marcus?"

His head snapped up at the sound of his name. Abby was walking towards him with paperwork in her hand. Octavia wasn't with her though.

"Where's Octavia?" Marcus jumped up.

"With a coworker of mine. I was getting information on Bellamy's condition."

"How is he?"

"They said they should be wrapping up his surgery soon. From everything that came in it looks like the kids were in a head on collision. Octavia is pretty banged up and anxious, she won't let anyone check her vitals. I think she needs a few stitches, but no one could calm her down enough to stitch her up so she's bandaged right now. I'd feel better knowing she's got them though."

"She just wants to be with Bellamy," Marcus frowned.

"That's what she said," Abby gave him a sad smile, "Follow me. I'll take you to her and maybe we can get that arm taken care of."

He nodded and followed her through the maze of hallways. His stomach was in knots at the thought of the kids being in such a dangerous situation.

"Bellamy broke three ribs on the left side. One of them punctured his lung causing it to collapse. They said that was an easy fix. What they were more concerned about was the fact that the ribs caused internal bleeding. The blood was putting pressure on his lungs as well as his heart. The surgery is to go in and find the cause of the bleeding to repair it as well relieve the pressure. He's also got some head trauma but nothing serious. The surgery seems to be moving smoothly and he should be in recovery soon enough."

"Okay," Marcus breathed out, still not feeling any calm wash over him. He'd feel better once he saw Bellamy.

"She's over here," Abby turned the corner, "She's still in shock." Marcus made his way to the other desk following close behind Abby.

Octavia sat on a chair next to a nurse, her left hand gripping a spot on her right arm. Her arm was going numb from how tightly she held the bandage. The doctors told her they wanted to numb her up to put stitches in but she refused. She needed Bellamy with her. Her eyes stayed focused on her shoes as the accident replayed in her head. The way metal hitting metal sounded, how her brother yelled her name, and small pieces of glass hitting her skin. Her tongue licked her bottom lip going over the cut that she bit into it the minute the cars collided.

Octavia looked smaller than ever sitting behind the desk, her eyes focused on the floor. Marcus' eyes met Abby's and she nodded at him. He went behind the desk slowly, not wanting to startle Octavia. Octavia didn't register when Marcus stood in front of her instead she stayed in her thoughts.

"Octavia," Marcus crouched in front of the little girl. She looked up at him and let out an audible sound of relief at seeing a face she recognized.

"Where's Bell?" Her voice shook and was barely more than a whisper.

"The doctors are taking care of him right now. He's going to be okay though. Alright?" She nodded. "Let me see your arm."

Octavia let go of her arm and Marcus gently removed the bandage. The cut was still bleeding and he could understand why Abby wanted to put a few stitches in it. It wasn't in dire need of being taken care of but he'd feel better knowing that it was.

"Octavia, can Doctor Griffin take care of your arm?" Marcus watched as she looked over at Abby and then back to him.

"Marcus can come with us," Abby softly smiled at Octavia. Octavia slowly nodded but remained seated in her chair.

"Come here," Marcus held his arms out to her. It was the first time he'd offered to hold Octavia, but he couldn't think of any other way to show her that he was there for her. He was no replacement for her brother. He'd watched the kids intently the last few months and had noticed the older Blake sibling had no problem holding his younger sister when she was in need of extra comfort. Octavia stared into Marcus' eyes for a few moments before reaching her arms out and wrapping them around his neck.

"All ready?" Abby grinned at him.

"We're all ready," he smiled back and stood up. Octavia comfortably resting her chin on his shoulder.

The day slowly turned to night and Marcus followed a nurse towards a room, Octavia still in his arms. Her small body was still full of tension and Marcus wasn't sure what other steps he could take to calm her down.

"His vitals are good and he surgery was successful. He's going to be a bit sore for a while especially since those ribs are going to take some time to heal. He's pretty banged up, but he's okay," the nurse said before she opened the door.

Marcus stepped inside the room and Octavia spun her head around to see the bed as fast as she could. The minute she saw Bellamy, Marcus could feel all of the weight she'd been carrying lift from her. He walked towards the boy and looked him over. There were bandages on his arms, his lip was fat, his cheek was bruised and he looked ten times worse than his sister.

"Bell?" Octavia whispered.

"He's just sleeping from the surgery. They gave him strong medicine and it'll be a little bit before he wakes up," the nurse reassured her and Octavia nodded. "There's a chair in the corner if you want to try to get a bit of sleep."

"Thank you," Marcus said as the nurse left the room. He moved the chair closer to the bed and sat down in it, leaning back as much as possible with the ten-year-old on top of him. She kept her eyes focused on her brother as she let out a yawn. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

For the first time since he received the call earlier today he finally felt at ease, both the kids asleep in the same room. He had never wanted kids yet these two had changed him in a matter of months. They weren't his but for the first time since they had moved in they were beginning to feel like they were.

Bellamy's head was pounding when he started to wake up. He raised his hand to his head putting pressure on his temple. His eyes fluttered as he tried to open them. Everything seemed to be in a fog as he tried to recall where he was. When he tried to turn his body pain shot through his side.

"Fuck," he mumbled as he tried to get comfortable. Every move had to be slow and calculated. Breathing was painful so he tried to keep his breaths shallow.

He eyes finally began to focus on his surroundings, the plain white walls, an IV in his hand and soft noises from monitoring devices. He tried to remember what had happened as he rested his forearm over his eyes. A car had hit his and Octavia had been in the front seat next to him.

"Octavia," his eyes shot open and he sat up, unfortunately too quickly. The pain in his side felt like fire and he inhaled a gasp, which only made things worse.

Marcus was woken up by Bellamy looking for Octavia. He quickly looked at the boy and could see him grimacing. "Hey, hey," Marcus stood up, a sleeping Octavia still in his arms, "She's right here."

Bellamy sighed and covered his face with a hand. He didn't remember if something had happened to her or not. Marcus sat on the right side of Bellamy's bed. He gently laid Octavia down next to her brother and she instantly curled into his side.

"She's fine," Marcus reassured Bellamy, "How're you feeling?"

"Like shit."

"Safe to say you look how you feel," Marcus smirked and Bellamy gave him a grin. "What happened?"

"I had Octavia in the front seat next to me. I know it's safer for her in the back seat, but she asked and I let her," he frowned. "The car coming the opposite direction blew a tire. Driver lost control and hit us. It's like I saw everything happen in slow motion. I hit the brakes as hard as I could, but it wasn't enough. So I leaned over to grab her."

"Explains all the broken ribs."

"Broken?" He groaned.

"Sorry kid. Doctor says you broke three. They caused some internal bleeding and one punctured your lung making it collapse. You're gonna have to take it easy for a while."

"What about baseball?"

"You're probably going to miss some preseason training."

"Okay."

"The better you let yourself heal the quicker you'll be back in the batting cages and lifting weights," Marcus gave him a reassuring smile and Bellamy nodded. The two sat in silence for a few minutes as Bellamy looked over Octavia.

"Thanks," Bellamy said softly.

"For what?"

"Being here."

"Bellamy," Marcus put a hand on the boy's shoulder, "There's no reason I wouldn't be here. I took you guys in because I wanted to. Your mom was my oldest friend and I loved her like a sister. And I've always loved you guys too. If given the option to take you guys or let someone else do it, I'd take you both all over again."

"You didn't have to take us."

"I wanted to, Bellamy. I know this isn't an easy situation for you guys and it's going to take a lot to get used to it. But just know I'm not going anywhere. I'm not father material, I know that. That's why I didn't have kids. I'm learning how this all works. We're all figuring this out together."

"You're more father material than either of ours ever were. They don't even know we exist."

"And that's their loss."

"You sure about that?" Bellamy looked up at Marcus.

"Positive. Now try to get some sleep." Marcus got off the bed and went back to the chair. Bellamy slowly moved in his bed so he wouldn't wake his sister. The three didn't take long to all fall asleep.