Ali Delacroix's Links
Ali has absolutely no idea if Lydia is dead or alive. He wonders sometimes, and wishes well for her; while he never felt it was his place to intervene, it was clear to him when they were "business associates" that Lydia was frequently skirting the edge of life itself.
Lydia was never the easiest hitman that Ali did business with. She got good results, sure, but lots of other people could have done so without all the chit-chat, mooching and flirting. Yet time and time again it was her that he hired. This system went without fail for some time, but in as much measure as their relationship had slowly grew, it quickly ended, unceremoniously going from presence to absence. Ali's immediate assumption was that she had finally overdosed, or perhaps that a rival associate had done her in. He only wishes he could find some sort of closure. ...But would he even recognize her now?
In her early 20s, when she was strictly a hitman-for-hire, Lydia was frequently paid to kill or intimidate associates of Ali's business rivals. This gave the two a lot of time to get to know each other. Looking back, Lydia's not sure if it was his charming personality, or all the drugs he gave her, but they had a bond. There were some late nights shared between the two, where the cloud of intoxications cleared, and it genuinely seemed as though they liked each other.
Of course, they haven't seen each other in at least 5 years, and Lydia's got more pressing matters than thinking about some guy she used to know.
Ali hates Marcus. He hates the way Marcus squirmed into his brain, wedged himself right in the middle of his thoughts, and refuses to leave. He hates that Marcus Freaking Smith, of all the evil bastards in the world, is the one who has seen him at his most vulnerable, that it was Marcus who was the first to give him comfort and attention after years of abuse and neglect.
Every time he questions it, he comes to a different conclusion: Was Marcus faking it all? Was it just the calculated charm of an older guy trying to get hero-worship from a neglected fool with skewed standards? Or was the comfort, the romance, the sex, all a ploy to make a dedicated assistant? Was there ever something there or did Marcus just enjoy the attention?
He can't be 100% certain, but he knows Marcus enjoys the attention, because even now he makes clear attempts to remain in Ali's thoughts, stealing and sabotaging and interfering with everything Ali does for his company.
Ali may have been the only man Marcus ever felt genuine romantic love for. That's not saying much, however, when even the tiniest speck of warmth is more than nothing.
Marcus appreciated Ali's extravagant yet morally bankrupt ways, as well as his usefulness as a scientific collaborator, given that Ali had a background in medical science.
However this moral bankruptcy had one exception: Ali's personal experience with nonconsensual human experimentation quickly turned him against Marcus once he learned the scope of the KIE project. Marcus was primarily upset over the loss of an intelligent collaborator, but deep down a part of him also missed the affection.
He quickly turned this twinge of sorrow into a sore, angry vendetta. This was nursed in private during the many years where they were far apart from one another, but when Marcus returned from Khione to Hel to find Ali a wealthy, successful property baron, he turned to active sabotage of Delacroix's dealings.