It had been a long and unpleasant day for Mark.

He had received very little sleep the previous night, and had consequently slept through training in the morning. Of course, his commander had not been very pleased. Although Mark had tried to argue his way out of punishment ("what need does a tactician have for magic anyways?"), the merciless Valkyrie had ordered him to clean out the horse stables. Hours later he had emerged from the stables covered in hay and dung, and much to his irritation the Hurricane had happened to be walking by. Upon catching sight of the brunette tactician, he had doubled over in laughter and wouldn't stop taunting him until Nino had come by to serve as a distraction.

Mark adored Nino. Everybody did; it was impossible to dislike her. She always had a hop in her step and a smile on her face. She was, quite simply, a ray of sunshine. So it had brought a smile to his face when she had come hopping along, radiating with her youthful energy. After giggling at Mark's appearance and scolding her 'Uncle Legault' for teasing the poor tactician, she had proceeded to show the two men the magic she had recently begun to learn. Mark had hidden his grimace, having had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Predictably, Nino's magic had gone awry. A tactician's gut is always right, Mark had thought while he had stomped away on his cloak in an attempt to quell the Elfire eating away at it. After he and Legault had finally quelled the fire, they had then turned to comfort poor little Nino, who wouldn't stop apologizing while tears poured down her face. Her tears seemed to have had an effect on the weather, because soon afterwards the sky had begun to cry as well. Legault, Nino, and Mark had hurriedly rushed inside as the wind and rain picked up and the thunder began to rumble. Just before Mark had made it into the warmth and safety of the building, however, he had lost his footing and had tripped face-flat into a pile of mud. Oh, how Legault had howled into laughter, the bastard! Mark had contemplated throwing mud at the assassin. Perhaps said assassin had noticed the all too familiar tactical gleam in the brunette's eyes, because he had quickly stopped laughing and had helped the tactician to his feet.

Once the two men had finally made their way indoors, Mark had quickly excused himself so he could go wash up. Nino had watched him walk away with her eyebrows crinkled in worry, while Legault had snickered and said that Mark needn't wash up, since he had clearly been bathed by the rain. After having sent Legault a vicious glare and muttering curse words underneath his breath, Mark had stormed away. The remnants of his black cloak were clenched tight in his fist.

Mark had given up all hope after that. It didn't surprise him when he later received a black eye and a bloody nose and got his ass chewed out for arriving late to a meeting. He was steaming with anger by the time he got back to his room. Just when he thought he finally had a moment to himself, there was a knock on the door.

"What now?!" Mark practically screamed, marching over to the door. "Is everyone trying to make my life a living hell?" He flung open the door, red-faced and furious, only to see the three Reed siblings standing most innocently before his door. The first thing he noticed was that each of them held something in their hands. Nino was holding some sort of green cloth, Lloyd was holding a steaming mug, and Linus held a book.

"Of course we're not trying to make your life a living hell," Linus said, feigning surprise. He grinned. "It already is without our help."

"Linus," admonished Lloyd, giving his brother a stern look. "Mark's had a rough day. Give him a break."

"Yeah, Linus," Nino added, pursing her lips. "Be nice."

"Alright, alright," Linus groaned, throwing back his head in exasperation. "You two act as if you're gonna throw me in the dungeons for making a joke!"

"Maybe we'll do just that," Lloyd agreed, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. "What do you think? Nino? Mark?" He turned to them expectantly.

"I don't know," Nino replied, pretending to think as she tapped a finger against her chin. She was barely holding back her laugh. "What do you say, Mark?"

"I say we feed him to the Wyverns." He paused, eying Linus up and down. "Actually, that's too cruel; the poor Wyverns don't deserve such punishment."

Nino burst into a fit of giggles and Lloyd chuckled. Linus did not seem so amused. He scowled and folded his muscular arms across his chest. "If I didn't feel so bad about messing up your face earlier today…" he grumbled, referring to the black eye he'd accidentally given Mark. He waved the book in Mark's face menacingly.

Mark raised an eyebrow. "What are you gonna do? Whack me with a book and blind me in both eyes? I really won't be much use on the battlefield then."

"No," Linus sighed. "I'm giving it to you."

Mark's eyebrow only arched higher when Linus shoved the book into Mark's hands. Mark's first impression was that it was very thick – though he'd read books twice the thickness of this one – and that it felt brand new. "What's this for?" He eyed Linus suspiciously. "It's not my birthday."

Linus rolled his eyes. "Just read the title."

"Alright, alright," Mark muttered, glancing at the title. It read, A Brief Look into History, Part II: The Scouring. Mark's mouth dropped. His eyes lit up with the fascination of a child, and he caressed the book as if it was his lover. "How…how did you get a hold of this?!" he questioned disbelievingly. "I've been searching for this edition for months!"

Linus grinned mischievously. He shrugged. "I've got my connections." There was a devious glint in his eyes that told Mark he shouldn't pry.

He narrowed his eyes. "So what's the catch? It's unlike you to suddenly hand me a gift…let alone one as nice as this."

"What exactly is that supposed to – ow!"

Linus glared at his brother while he rubbed the back of his head. Nino giggled and Lloyd was barely able to conceal his amused smirk.

"We heard that you'd had a pretty tough day today, so we thought we'd drop by and remind you how much we all appreciate you. The Black Fang wouldn't have been nearly successful as it is now without you, Mark." Lloyd smiled genuinely and clasped a hand on Mark's shoulder. "Don't forget that."

Mark shook his head and laughed. "You give me more credit than I deserve, Lloyd. I just come up with the plans."

"And if weren't for your plans, half of us would probably be dead. Don't downplay yourself, my friend; you are far more important to us and our operations than you realize." Mark appeared to be embarrassed and said nothing. Lloyd grinned and lifted the mug he had been holding. "I made you your favorite tea. I'm sure it doesn't taste as good as it does when you make it, but…I"m afraid it's the best I could do." He shrugged and handed Mark the mug. "Be careful, it's hot," he warned.

Mark took a sip of it. Though it wasn't as sweet as he would've liked (it could've used a drizzle of honey), he was nevertheless touched by his comrade's gesture and thanked Lloyd.

"I never got a thank you!" Linus growled childishly, crossing his arms across his chest. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for the book, Linus."

"That didn't seem very sincere," Linus grumbled.

"Here's my gift!" Nino interrupted before Mark could retort. She handed Mark the green cloth, and it was then that Mark realized it was more than just fabric. He gasped as he unrolled it.

"Nino! You shouldn't have!"

"Of course I had to!" Nino chirped, beaming at Mark's reaction. "I was the one that ruined your old cloak, after all!"

"Still, this is amazing! Where did you get it from?"

"I made it myself, actually," Nino said proudly, puffing out her chest. "I've been working on it for weeks now, and I finally finished it today! I hope you like it!"

The color was definitely different from the black cloaks of his comrades, but perhaps it would help distinguish him as the tactician. He supposed it would be his new signature look. (Though, from a tactical standpoint, it might not have been the best idea. The reason the Fang wore black cloaks was to blend in with the night, and this green cloak was practically screaming for enemies to find him. But he didn't want to hurt Nino's feelings.) "I love it! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome!" Nino embraced Mark, and he laughed.

"Well, we best be off." Lloyd smiled and ruffled Nino's hair affectionately after she had released the tactician. "Give you a moment to yourself, shall we?"

"Are you sure? You can come in–" Mark gestured to his room, but Lloyd just chuckled and shook his head.

"No, I think you could use a moment to breathe. We'll see you at dinner, shall we?"

Mark grinned and nodded. "I'll see you all then."

Nino waved goodbye and Linus punched Mark on the shoulder lightly before they departed. Mark smiled to himself as he watched them leave. It might've been a hellish day, but at least he had friends that helped him pull through it. He reentered his room and closed the door behind him. As much as he cared for and appreciated his friends…

Mark put all his new gifts down on his table (being careful not to spill the tea on any of his maps and blueprints) and fell face-first onto his bed. Finally, a moment to himself.

That was when he heard a knock on his door. "Tactician," called out the silky voice of Sonia, "my husband calls for you."

Well, Mark thought as he threw on his new cloak, at least I can go in style.

This story has been sitting dormant on my computer for a year and a half now, and the idea of Mark as the Black Fang's tactician for even longer. I think I never ended up publishing this because I wanted to show more of a 'day in the life' of Mark in the Black Fang as opposed to what I wrote...but I can always write something like that another time. I've been looking through my old story ideas lately that have been waiting in my notebook for years to be written, so I've decided to finally get around to writing them. Keep an eye out for them! They'll mostly be FE7 and some FE7/FE13 cross-overs (which I think will be really fun to write.) Also if there are any FE13 fans out there, feel free to check out my story, Redemption. Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought of this one-shot!