Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hey there!

As you guys probably have read, Patton will no longer be updating this blog. Instead, you will have to deal with me (: For now, I’ll stay anonymous, so I hope you guys are okay with that!

So… I think it is time for an update. Because… a LOT has happened in the past weeks. I am sure most of you will have heard about all of it, but I will post it here anyways, for those who don’t… read too much. And it’s nice to have a little archive here. 

Either way… Caesar is dead. At least… we think he is. No one knows exactly what happened. But, fact is that there has been no sign of Caesar. Now, he was always a hidden figure and we never really saw him. But we did see suspicious deaths that were (unofficially) attributed to Caesar. People having died of seemingly no cause. Very likely to do with Caesar’s powers to drain people of their energy. But in the past weeks, we haven’t seen any of that. Maybe he’s just… taking some time off. I don’t know. No one knows. But what we DO know, is that it's weird. Caesar has never taken time off. So where is he? And why would he be taking time off? No, I think it's quite likely that he's dead. And I know I'm not alone in that.

On top of that, it seems that Crocodile and Alibi have died too. Or… disappeared. No kills have been attributed to Crocodile lately, and I think we have all noticed the lack of Alibi’s presence in the city. He was always there, even if you didn't see it. Like a protective presence. And that presence is now gone. But maybe he’s just taking a break. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that he deserves that. And I truly hope that he is. I hope he will come back. Kingston without Alibi is almost unimaginable.

Now, something else we know about is a car chase that happened a few weeks back, most likely related to what I mentioned beforehand. What we know is that Dragon was involved, flying after two cars that drove away from the city at a fast pace, before being hit by lightning (Alibi?), which she did survive. Guns were fired, but what happened and who else was involved, we can’t be sure. But it’s almost definitely linked to Caesar’s organisation. After all, what else would Dragon be doing there? She must have had a job there. It must have been related to the organisation. And likely, to Alibi. Maybe it's related to the disappearance of Alibi, maybe even to Crocodile's and Caesar's.

I wish I could answer your questions about what happened that day, but I really can’t right now. I’ve tried to do some research and some investigation, but I really haven’t been able to find anything. That doesn’t mean I’ll give up, though. I’ll keep investigating and hoping to find more about what happened that night and what happened to Caesar, Crocodile and Alibi. 

The last thing I’ve gotten some questions about, is a new hero popping up. Questions about who he is, what he does. I’ve heard people call him Aura. I don’t know exactly what he does, but he seems to be a capable fighter. People have said he’s an empath, or at least has some sort of psychic or mental power. I'm not sure either. But from what I;ve heard, there is a sort of presence around him, a comforting feeling going wherever he goes. People have said his mere presence reassures them and comforts them in a way. Of course, the best we can do about the nature of his powers is guess and wait. This is a new hero, and we don't know a lot about him. So we need to wait until more gets out about his powers. Of course, we might never be sure. But I promise you that I will keep you updated and let you know the moment we find out anything else about the mystery that seems to be Aura.

That’s all I have for now. I just wanted to give you a quick update about what happened and about the future of this blog. Thank you so so much for sticking around. I hope I will be able to live up to Patton’s legacy on here!

NF

Chapter Text

Virgil blinked a couple of times as he woke up. It didn’t take him long to realise where he was. Of course it didn’t. He was sitting in a chair, hands bound behind his back. The room was illuminated, but only vaguely. He could barely see the wall opposite him. Other than that, there was nothing for him to see. But he didn’t have to see anything to know where he was. 

He was back at Brand Tower. The same as always. 

Suddenly, Virgil felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore. Something was wrapped around his neck and it pulled him back, lifting his head slightly. He could see figures in front of him, he could hear their voices, but he didn’t see their faces, he didn’t see their words. The light was too vague, the pounding in his ears was too loud. But he didn’t have to see their faces to know who they were. He didn’t have to hear their words to know what they were saying. His mind replayed it over and over anyways. 

He felt the shock travelling through his body from the whip around his neck. And even though Virgil had expected it, it still came as a… well… a shock. His body still tensed up, to the point where his muscles almost ached just from the tension. He tried to pull away but he couldn’t break the chains binding him to the chair and just ended up hurting himself in the process. 

It didn’t seem to stop. He heard someone called out his name, someone outside of all of this called out to him and he tried to respond, but he couldn’t get himself to move or speak up. He was completely paralyzed by the energy travelling through his body. He tried to fight it, but it was so strong and so powerful and he-

Someone called out to him again, slightly louder this time. And another time. It seemed to drown out at least part of the pounding in his ears and it seemed to lessen the flow of energy. It made a bit more bearable, at least. He tried to get free once more, and- 

Virgil woke up with a start, Remus sitting next to him with a worried look on his face. The light on their bedside table was still on, casting a vague light across the room. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to see the furniture; the closet, the bookshelf, the desk and the three picture frames on the wall. 

"Same dream, huh?" Remus asked softly as he brushed Virgil’s hair out of his face, his touch surprisingly gentle. 

Virgil simply nodded, leaning into his boyfriend’s touch. His heart was pounding in his chest, matching the rhythm of the pounding in his ears not too long ago. 

It had been two weeks. They had been staying here for two weeks, with Janus and Patton, trying to find somewhere to live permanently. The house was nice and Virgil loved it, but it was just a bit too small for the four of them. So they had been trying to find a place nearby that the two others could occupy, but so far, they hadn’t had any luck. 

And almost every night had been the same. The dreams varied, but it was always the same thing. It was always about Roman and the organisation and the torture. Virgil hated it more than words could express. He wasn’t sure if he had gotten a full night’s sleep since they got here. 

Remus was always there for him, and Virgil appreciated it. He never left his side and was always there if Virgil woke up in the middle of the night again. It was nice. It was nice not having to be alone all the time. 

"It’s okay," Remus murmured as he laid back down, wrapping his arms around Virgil’s waist. Not so tightly that it would become restricting, but still enough to offer comfort and security. "You’re okay, V. I’m here for you." He rested his head on Virgil’s shoulder and kissed his neck softly. 

"I know." Virgil placed a hand on top of Remus’ and leaned against him, almost as if he was trying to fuse together with the other. "I know. I just… I don’t…"

Remus hummed softly, noticing the frustration in his voice. He had personally rarely dealt with nightmares, but he understood the feeling. He knew the organisation and its members well enough to know that his week at Brand Tower couldn’t have been an easy one. And even when he had gotten out of there, he still couldn’t leave it behind him. Remus couldn’t imagine how difficult that had to be. Especially since these nightmares had occurred almost every night for the past weeks. Virgil was strong, he knew it. Even without him having resisted Parasite’s abilities, it was clear that his mind was strong. There were people who hadn’t even lasted a week. But he shouldn’t have to be strong. He shouldn’t have to go through this. 

"It’s okay, Virge," he repeated, pressing a kiss to Virgil’s shoulder. "It’s understandable that you’re dealing with this. Maybe you should follow Pat’s advice and see someone, hm?"

"And tell them what?" Virgil protested as he turned around, careful not to move Remus’ hands too much. "That I’m an ex-superhero and I tried to take on one of the most dangerous villains of our time and his organisation, which ended in me getting kidnapped and tortured by said villain?"

"For example," Remus said with a small nod. He understood how ridiculous it might sound and he also understood how Virgil might be reluctant to reveal himself to someone he didn’t even know. But a part of him also felt like Virgil needed actual help for this. For fuck’s sake, getting tortured wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, was it now? There were people who could help with that and they were much better at it than Remus was. "I know it’s difficult, but-"

"I don’t know, Re," Virgil muttered, wrapping his arms around Remus to allow himself to be a little closer to his boyfriend. He buried his nose in the other’s shirt to take in his scent, something that was weirdly comforting to him. 

He understood that actually getting help from a professional would help. But he really didn’t want to explain his entire story to someone. He didn’t want to reveal himself, he didn’t want to endanger himself. If the wrong people found out about him being here… As hard as it had been to get away from the city, now he was away from there, he didn’t want to get involved anymore. He didn’t want the organisation to be able to track them down after all this. He just wanted a normal life. And yes, part of him realised that he would likely never be able to move on if he didn’t at least get some help for it. But that was easier said than done. Virgil really didn’t want to tell someone about this. They’d have to delve into the events and he’d have to talk about it and literally none of that felt good. At least not right now. It had been two weeks; for now, he really didn’t want to be reminded of it too much. He knew he could never deal with this properly if he didn’t talk about it. But he didn’t know if he could handle that right now.

"Consider it?" Remus asked with a small pout, making Virgil huff. He couldn’t say no to that, could he? 

"Fine," he muttered, his voice muffled by the fabric of Remus’ shirt. He finally pulled back so he could lock eyes with the other again. "Just for you."

Those words were followed up by a short peck on the lips, getting a smile out of Remus. After that, Virgil settled down again, his forehead resting against Remus’ chest, content with feeling the rise and fall with his breathing. 

Remus hummed softly, rubbing Virgil’s back gently until both of them fell asleep again.  

The last bit of the night passed by. Virgil didn’t have another nightmare, or any dream to begin with. When he woke up, Remus was already awake, yet neither of them had moved to break their embrace. As he noticed this, Virgil hummed softly and closed his eyes again, pressing himself just a bit closer to Remus. He loved these mornings more than anything. It had only been two weeks since they came here, but it was probably the most comfortable Virgil had been in years. In these mornings, they could just be together, without having to worry about any outside threats. It was just them. In these mornings, before reality had hit, Virgil could make himself believe he had a normal life.

From the moment they had arrived here, it was clear that Remus spent more time in this house than any of the other houses they had visited in the past few months. And not just when trying to hide, but he actually spent time here. While the other places had been furnished, that was all there could be said about it. They were never personal. There was never any decoration, nothing that wasn’t completely necessary to survive. 

This house was different. There were clothes already in the closet, there were small plants everywhere — most of them dead by now, or just holding up — and even simple paintings and pictures around the house. Especially the pictures where something Virgil loved to look at, mostly when Remus wasn’t in the room, since he didn’t seem to want to draw too much attention to them. 

Virgil had found a few pictures of a young couple that had to be Remus’ parents on top of the small bookshelf in their bedroom. A few pictures of a younger Remus and some friends in the living room and the hallway, though Virgil recognized none of them. Other than two family pictures taken a few years apart that occupied the space over the couch in the living room, Roman was nowhere to be seen. 

And Remus still said he wasn't the nostalgic type.

It was an odd thing to see these pictures. Remus didn’t mention his family much. And he definitely didn’t say much about his childhood, his youth. Over the past week, Virgil had learned some bits and pieces. Remus went to university, he had had a few jobs, but he’d spent a lot of time in the organisation. His parents died when he was nineteen, at the hands of Roman — literally. But he never got many specifics. He never got any embarrassing childhood stories or weird happenings. Remus didn’t seem to want to think about the past too much, and Virgil respected that. But seeing these pictures, seeing this evidence of Remus’ youth, that was weird. It made it real, somehow. As if it was proof that Remus didn’t just pop into existence as he was, backstory and all. But he actually did have a childhood. 

The two of them went downstairs not too long after they woke up. By the time they entered the living room, Janus was already sitting on the couch with probably the biggest mug he could find, filled to the brim with coffee — he wasn’t much of a morning person. 

"Well, look who it is," he muttered softly, raising an eyebrow with a small smirk playing on his lips. "Sleep well?" He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Still nothing happened, huh?”

This comment caused Virgil to choke on seemingly nothing. "What- no, nothing happened," he sputtered out, turning around to grab himself a drink and avoid this conversation entirely. He wasn’t going to discuss this with anyone, especially not Janus. No offense. 

Remus, on the other hand, just raised an eyebrow, mimicking Janus’ expression as he waited for his friend to speak.

"Oh come on," Janus huffed. "I can’t just tell when people are lying, you know? You two were all over each other last night. It’s disgusting."

"I’m sorry you can’t handle a little affection, JJ," Remus sighed as he fell down on the couch dramatically, leaning his head on Janus’ shoulder and draping an arm around the other. "But I love my boyfriend. And this is my house. Meaning that you can’t stop me from doing that." As he spoke, he brought his face a little closer to Janus, who just rolled his eyes and looked at him for a second or two. 

He would never admit it — he had a reputation to uphold —  but seeing Remus like this meant a lot to Janus. In the years that the two had known each other, Janus had never seen him this comfortable around someone else. Remus had always been closed off, careful to reveal anything, even to Janus. He had never heard Remus say he loved someone — but then again, Remus had hardly ever formed a bond with someone that was more than just ‘one night stand’. Yes, Remus had dated from time to time, but it was never for a long period of time. It was never permanent and Janus could see the end coming from miles away. And he was pretty sure that Remus was well aware of this himself, but he still kept them around for a little bit. It would be a couple of weeks and then, Janus would never hear of them ever again. 

But it was different with Virgil. 

Janus could see it in the blink of an eye. The way Remus looked at Virgil when he thought no one was looking, how he absentmindedly ran a hand through Virgil’s hair when they were watching TV, the way that the two of them seemed to be able to communicate just by locking eyes. It was more than obvious that they were meant to be together. They understood each other better than anyone else seemed to. Remus knew how to help Virgil through his night terrors and Virgil was able to talk reason into Remus like no one else had ever been able to. Not even Janus himself. It was incredible. 

"Yeah," he finally sighed, tearing himself away from his thoughts. "Not all of us can have whatever you have, right?"

"I suppose not." Remus sighed and leaned into Janus a bit more, his eyes floating back to the kitchen, where Virgil was making himself some tea. And again, Janus noticed those eyes. He was joking earlier when he had called their affection disgusting, but it really was sickly sweet. But as long as Remus was happy…  

There was a moment of silence between the two, Remus released Janus from his hold and shifted his position, although he still leaned into his friend. This got him a brief look and an eyebrow raise from Janus, but he didn’t comment on it. It seemed that Remus had gotten more comfortable with the whole… affection thing than he used to be, definitely with Virgil, but even with Janus. Not fully comfortable, but definitely more than before. And while Janus wasn’t necessarily overly fond of it, he also didn’t mind it coming from Remus.

Virgil came back into the living room with a mug of tea in his one hand and coffee in the other. He silently put the coffee mug down on the table before Remus and sat down on the armchair next to the couch, pulling his legs up as he warmed his hands on his own mug. He bit his lower lip and looked at a point on the wall, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Janus noticed how Remus studied his partner for a few seconds before shaking his head and sitting up, thanking Virgil as he grabbed the coffee off the table. 

"I saw there’s a house for sale a few streets over," Remus mentioned offhandedly after a few seconds of silence. "Might be something for you and Pat?"

Janus hummed softly. "Maybe," he nodded, sipping his coffee slowly. He didn’t say anything otherwise, but it was enough for Remus, who contently settled back down with his own coffee. 

“You might wanna check it out, then,” he commented with a small shrug. 

“I understood that, Remus,” Janus responded, managing a small smile. “I’ll discuss it with Patton when he comes downstairs. If that’s okay with you.” The last sentence was added mockingly, accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

Remus grinned, nuding Janus slightly. “Perfect.”

Chapter Text

A couple of days passed and Janus and Patton were able to view the house. It wasn’t too big, but good enough for just the two of them — even though Janus still felt weird about moving in with Patton. Patton wasn’t a bad guy, but it was… odd. Patton just wasn’t the kind of guy who Janus would often choose to hang out with. And here they were, moving in together. 

"Hey, you should help us move in," Patton said as they were making preparations for the move. "It’s probably good for you to have something to do, take your mind off of- things." 

"And so you won’t have to carry the heavy stuff, right?" Remus asked, only partially teasing the other. 

"I mean… maybe," the younger one shrugged, unable to suppress a mischievous smile. "But I’m serious! You should do more! That might make everything a little bit easier, huh?"

"I know, I know," Remus huffed softly. Patton had been nagging him forever about finding new things to do, getting hobbies — as if he had ever had one. He’d decided to stop smoking, on Patton’s insistence. And ever since he had made that decision, Patton had been adamant about helping him deal with all of this. Which, sure, was nice and he meant well, but it could also get a little bit annoying at times. Remus was old enough to deal with this himself. He had done everything himself for years and years. He didn’t need someone to hold his hand for this — much less someone who was almost half his age. 

That being said, the offer was appreciated. Remus didn’t have much to do anyways, that was true. It was just difficult to find new things to do after spending so much time on his job, killing people, contacting the gangs and even when he wasn’t doing anything, he was looking over his shoulder, making sure no one would stab him in the back. So to be in a situation like this, where he didn’t have to worry about anything, other than maybe the organisation finding him… that was quite a switch. And the stress of trying to quit smoking didn’t help much. 

Nevertheless, Remus was not going to refuse Patton. Even if the other hadn’t asked him to help, he would have decided to do that. Janus and Patton were his friends, after all. Virgil said he’d help too, also offering to help with painting the walls, and Patton asked him to help with choosing the colours for some rooms as well — he figured the only artist in their group would know his colours. Which he definitely did. It was a smart way of getting out of doing the difficult stuff —  luckily his friends were happy to help out. Even if some of them tried to pretend they only did it because they had to. 

It took a little bit, but they managed to move into the new house. Janus ended up having to pay for most of the furniture and accessories. Something Patton seemed to feel bad about, despite Janus insisting that he was very much fine. Even though he didn’t earn as much as Remus did, he still used to be one of the most important individuals in the organisation and he earned more money than he had use for. So in all honesty, he didn’t mind having to spend a little here and there. 

Most of the furniture had been moved into the house. It looked nice. Not quite done, but it looked good and it was liveable. Patton was just happy to finally move into a place he could modify however he wanted, since he hadn’t really had that chance with his old apartment. 

When the house was about done, Patton insisted on a house tour, as if Virgil and Remus hadn’t helped with most of it. Janus didn’t seem to understand it either, but he shook his head and went along with it. He and Patton definitely got along much better now than when they first met, and it made Remus weirdly happy to see. Janus needed more people to hang around with, more good people. Just as much as he himself did. Even if he liked to act stoic and level headed, Remus knew Janus was hurting too. He had to be. He’d had to witness dozens of people being tortured, just to tell Roman if they were telling the truth or not —  if they even spoke up. Even though Janus pretended like it didn’t affect him, Remus didn’t think that doing something like that for years and years didn’t get to someone. After all of that, Janus deserved this. He deserved some peace and quiet, and he deserved to be around good people.

"So," Remus started as they came back from the house tour. "Finally got the place to ourselves. You know what that means?"

Virgil didn’t look at the other as he took off his shoes. "That we can finally have those Sunday morning pillow fights every movie ever has been advertising?"

Remus chuckled as he walked up to Virgil, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. "Oh, for sure," he mumbled, resting his chin on Virgil’s shoulder. "But I was trying to say that we don’t have to worry about the others, if you know what I mean." He finished his sentence with a soft kiss to Virgil’s neck. 

As a response, Virgil just hummed and patted the hands wrapped around him. "Sure do," he said softly, though he gave no other response. He did, as best as he could, turn around, while allowing Remus to keep his arms around him. He cupped Remus’ cheeks and kissed him softly. "But let’s get something to eat first, huh?"

"If you insist." Remus gave him a soft smile, before grabbing Virgil’s hand to pull him in the direction of the kitchen. "I could never say no to food."

The two of them had a habit of preparing dinner together, as if they didn’t spend enough time together already. Occasionally, one of them would offer to do it alone, but both of them enjoyed the habit of being together in relative silence, each minding their own business as they occasionally exchanged some conversation. It was casual and comfortable. Especially now Virgil was starting to pick up art again, doing commissions here and there. Remus would take any excuse to be near Virgil, occasionally going up to the room that had been deemed his studio, just to ‘make sure everything was okay’, or to ‘check if he needed anything’. Virgil knew that was just an excuse, but he didn’t bring it up. He didn’t want to burst Remus’ bubble. Although part of him felt that he at least had to bring up this fact. He didn’t mind Remus being around, not at all. He loved Remus more than anything in the world. But he felt like there was more to this behaviour than just… love or infatuation, or whatever you want to call it. But he didn’t know how to bring it up in conversation. Maybe it was nothing. Remus hadn’t been in that many relationships, after all. None, in fact. And Virgil was pretty much the same. Both of them still had to figure out how to do this thing, they still needed to work out what worked for them. He was sure it was only natural. So he never brought it up.

The two of them prepared dinner together, eating it when they finished — as is usually with dinner. After that, they sat down on the couch, turning on some kind of movie that was on at the time.

It didn’t take long for Remus to notice that something was off with Virgil. He didn’t know what, but he could feel some kind of tension in his partner’s body that wasn’t usually there. And it definitely didn’t have to do with the movie they were watching. 

He looked down at Virgil next to him, still rubbing his shoulder slightly. "Everything okay down there, Ali?" he asked softly. He’d never dropped the nickname, even though Virgil wasn’t technically operating as Alibi anymore. At least not now. He just… felt like it fit. It worked and he liked it, so… it stuck around.

Virgil hummed softly, looking up at his partner questioningly, clearly too wrapped up in whatever he was thinking about to fully hear the question, so Remus so generously repeated it, getting another hum out of Virgil. "Yeah," he muttered, leaning his head against Remus again. "Yeah. Just… thinking."

"Anything I can help with?"

Once again, Virgil hummed. "That’s kind of the thing," he said softly. "I just… what you said earlier… I never knew how to bring it up in conversation, but… I’m asexual. And I know that you’re- well, not, and I don’t exactly know yet how I’d feel about- about sex. And I do love you but I- I might not… I get that it might be a dealbreaker to you but I’m just not… not sure, so-"

As he spoke, Virgil looked down at the sleeves of his hoodie, thinking they were just a bit more interesting — or rather, safer — than looking at Remus. But even without making eye contact, Remus could easily see and feel that his partner was clearly anxious about this, probably already going through all the worst case scenarios in his head. 

"Virge," he said softly, carefully reaching down to grab one of Virgil’s hands. "Don’t worry, yeah? It’s okay. It’s not a dealbreaker. At all. In fact, I’m glad you told me. That’s good! I’m glad you trust me like that. It’s never easy to come out, so I’m glad you did. It could never be a dealbreaker!"

Finally, Virgil looked up at Remus, his eyes wide with very clear anxiety. It looked like he was about to pass out. "But I know you-"

"Look," Remus interrupted gently. "I love you. And whatever you do or don’t want, I’m fine with that. I accept that. All that matters, is that you are comfortable, okay? I fell in love with you, not whatever I may or may not be able to do with you. It’s fine."

"But still-"

"Nothing ‘but still’," Remus interrupted once more. "It’s not like it’s the end of the world. I won’t die. Besides, I have hands. I can get around."

Virgil rolled his eyes with a small scoff, even though he very much appreciated his partner’s words. "Gross," he muttered, a smile carefully appearing on his face. 

"Oh you think that’s gross?" Remus challenged. "I’ve done far worse. You do know who you’re talking to, right?"

"Are you referring to Remus Silver, local idiot with weird interests that I will never understand, or the Crocodile, the most notorious villain alive?"

Remus nodded. "Yes." 

Virgil chuckled softly and leaned against Remus’ chest a bit more, the television long forgotten. "Alright," he mumbled under his breath. "Indulge me. What is the worst thing you’ve done, then?"

"You really wanna know?" 

Virgil hummed in confirmation. The two of them hadn’t spoken much about their respective alter egos — Crocodile least of all. And he had to admit that he was quite curious what Remus had done in his time as the notorious supervillain. He knew that it was bad, everyone did. Everyone knew that the Crocodile was one of the biggest threats walking around. 

They all feared Caesar. Everyone knew that Caesar was everywhere and that he knew everything that happened in the city. But everyone also knew that the Crocodile was the real terror. Caesar was dangerous like a snake, hiding in the grass and striking out of nowhere. He waited for the right prey to cross his path, the one who would be important enough for his attention, and then he would strike. Then, he would slink back to the shadows. That’s all he was. A shadow. 

The Crocodile was dangerous like a lion, or a… crocodile. Everyone knew he was a predator, everyone knew that he was lurking. He would come out of hiding and strike, toying with his prey before he would deliver the final blow. Death wouldn’t come quickly if it was up to him — and it very often was. He was just as lethal as his brother was, but far more dangerous and far more terrifying. 

While Caesar was like a constant threat, looming over everyone’s head, Crocodile was the true dread. For the common people, it was far more realistic they’d have to deal with him compared to Caesar in his ivory tower. Everyone had a certain respect for Caesar, born out of terror more than anything. But the Crocodile was the one everyone always feared, the one everyone dreaded to see.  

And Virgil would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious to find more about the Crocodile firsthand. 

"If you’re sure…" Remus remained quiet for a few seconds as he dug through his memory to think of the worst thing he would have done. There were a lot of memories to go through, so this would likely take a while. The worst thing? That was difficult. What would be the standard for ‘worst’? The amount of pain inflicted on the other? The amount of blood? The lethality? He was sure he had to feel some kind of guilt for all those things he had done, but he truly didn’t. Something was probably wrong with him for that, but he didn’t care too much about that. He’d lived this life for twenty years, what was he supposed to do? Regret wouldn’t get him anywhere at this point. "I guess the worst thing could be tearing someone’s guts out with my bare hands."

Virgil raised his eyebrows and pulled away a bit to get a good look at Remus. "You’re kidding right?"

But Remus gave him a simple look and shook his head. "Oh no," he said, "I actually did it. Multiple times, actually. It was… not my greatest moment. Any of those moments." Virgil scoffed softly. "I also pretty much tore someone’s throat out. But that was an accident."

"An accident?" Virgil asked incredulously. He’d thought that, after living with these powers for years, he had heard about everything he could. But being around Remus, he quickly learned that, no, there was so much he hadn’t heard. He was so sure there was something he was missing here. "How do you even do that by accident?"

"I tried to choke them," he answered matter-of-factly. "They were being an ass. I squeezed a little harder and before I knew it, I broke the skin and crushed their larynx. Then I just went with it. I’d gotten this far anyways, so might as well."

Virgil shook his head. He couldn’t believe that he was actually dating this guy. And living with him. Remus was more than the Crocodile, he knew that. Remus and the Crocodile were completely different people, Virgil was well aware. But in moments like these, he remembered that Remus really was the Crocodile, which was so incredibly weird to him. Even though they had been together for a relatively short amount of time, Virgil knew that the real Remus was so different from that villain. He liked the actual Remus Silver much better.

"I can’t believe you," he muttered. 

"There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, babe," Remus said softly, getting a soft snort out of Virgil. 

"Yeah, I don’t doubt that."

Virgil was very well aware that there were many things in Remus’ past that he didn’t know about. Remus was reluctant to talk about it, other than some casual comments here and there. And while Virgil was, admittedly, quite curious, he respected that. He could see that it was difficult for Remus — he couldn’t even imagine just how difficult it would be. He was fairly sure there were at least a couple of traumas Remus wasn’t dealing with, but it was hard to bring that up if he didn’t want to talk about it. And even if Virgil did manage to mention it, Remus seemed to insist that he was fine. Stubborn little shit — all meant in the most affectionate way.    

The conversation died down again and Virgil pulled Remus a little closer, burying his nose in Remus’ shoulder. He closed his eyes, seemingly forgetting all about the movie on the television screen. Not that Remus minded, because he himself couldn’t seem to focus on the movie himself. He was far too content to sit here with his boyfriend. Even if there was nothing else in the world, as long as he was with Virgil, it would be okay. He would be okay.

Remus wasn’t quite sure when it happened, but at some point during the night, not too long after the movie had ended, he became aware of the fact that Virgil had fallen asleep. As he realised this, his heart made a little leap. Virgil just… looked impossibly adorable. His arms curled around Remus’ arm, his head resting against his boyfriend's shoulder. He looked so comfortable and sweet with his guard down like this. It almost broke Remus’ heart to gently pry his arm away and disrupt that peace. But as much as he liked sitting down here, he really couldn’t sleep on the couch. It wasn’t big enough for the two of them. 

As expected, this sudden movement caused Virgil to slowly blink awake. He opened his eyes slightly and looked up at Remus, still looking impossibly adorable in his half awake state. 

"I’m going upstairs," Remus told him as he got up, holding out his hand to Virgil. "You coming? I bet the bed will be more comfortable."

Virgil muttered something under his breath and rolled his eyes, but he still grabbed the outstretched hand, stumbling slightly as he got to his feet. The two of them then slowly made their way upstairs, still holding hands. 

A few months ago, both of them would have claimed to ‘not be too fond of physical contact’. Now, neither of them seemed to be able to get enough of it. 

Later, when they both had settled into bed, the two immediately found each other again. There was some sort of magnetic pull between the two of them, one that they couldn’t resist —  nor did they want to. They found comfort in the presence of the other and neither of them wanted to deny that. There was something in working towards a common goal, fighting by each other’s sides that forged a bond unlike anything else. There was something in sharing experiences like theirs, like saving each other’s lives that created a sort of understanding  and a sort of trust that not everyone else had. There was something in the thrill of almost dying together that brought two individuals closer than even they would have thought.

Remus would say that Virgil had saved him. In more ways than one. Yes, Virgil had saved his life. Multiple times. But more importantly, Virgil was the only reason he was able to leave the past behind him. Or at least make a start. Virgil was the one who made him realise that, maybe, there was a future for him after all. Maybe he could have somewhat of a normal life, even though he had missed out on so much. Virgil was the one who made him realise that he was not alone. Virgil gave him the comfort, the confidence and the security he needed to try and move on.

Virgil would say the exact same. Remus saved his life. He had offered support from Virgil when he hadn’t expected it. He had given Virgil something more valuable than he had ever experienced in his life. Remus helped him realise there was more to life than Alibi. Remus made him want to leave all of that behind, something he had never imagined he’d be able to do. As difficult as it was to do, Virgil knew it had been the right decision. He would finally be able to settle down. Make a life with someone else. He had never thought that was something for him. He had never thought anyone would care about him like that. He had accepted he’d be alone. But Remus made him see differently. 

Both of them had been lost. Alone. But somehow, they found each other. And neither of them would have it any other way. 

Chapter Text

Remus and Virgil had quite quickly decided that their house was nearly perfect. It was a little big for the two of them, but that just meant that Virgil had a place for his drawing and his painting, and there was enough space for them to be without constantly having to be around the other whatever they did. It was comfortable, it was well decorated and homey. But still, something was missing. 

Virgil had been the one to suggest getting a dog one day. 

He had always loved dogs, and the only reason he had never gotten one, was the fact that his landlord would not allow it. But he didn’t have to worry about a landlord now. It was just him and Remus. And Remus seemed to be just as enthusiastic about that idea as he was. He’d never even thought about getting a dog, because… well, his lifestyle didn’t allow it. But with that all behind him, there was nothing holding him back. And he could never say no to Virgil. 

It took quite a while to find a good place. Remus wanted big dogs — he was never a fan of those tiny, aggressive little bastards. Bigger dogs had always had his preference. And he wanted multiple too, if possible. Something that Virgil wholeheartedly agreed to. In his opinion, they couldn’t have too many dogs. 

(They definitely could. He didn’t think that a dozen dogs would fare well in their house, but he would happily get a dozen dogs if they could take care of that many dogs and if they had enough space.)

After discussing things a bit, the two decided to get Doberman Pinschers. After that had been decided, they just needed to find the dogs. It took a little bit of time, but finally they found a breeder who seemed to know what they were doing. From all the sources, they seemed like a reliable one, too. So the pair took off to talk to the breeder. 

The talk was good. The breeder did know what they were doing, they understood the breed — Virgil had made sure to know what to do when talking to a breeder, so he came prepared — and they cared about the dogs and their wellbeing, too. They figured Remus and Virgil were capable of taking care of the dogs, and the pair in turn deemed them trustworthy as well.  

Even though they had initially decided they would get two dogs, there were still three puppies when they went to talk to the breeder, and all of them were absolutely adorable. Virgil also felt rather bad leaving just one behind and Remus couldn’t say no to his partner. And even he wasn’t immune to adorable baby dogs. So they ended up getting three.

"I already know what to call them," Virgil said on the way home, a mischievous grin appearing on his face as he looked up at Remus, who raised an eyebrow in a silent gesture telling him to continue. "Cerberus. You know, continue the mythology train."

Remus chuckled softly. "All three of them?"

"We can call them Cer, Be and Rus," Virgil shrugged, biting his bottom lip slightly to fight back the smile playing on his lips. He didn't expect Remus to go along with his ridiculous idea, but it was a fun suggestion, right? "Please? Come on, it’s fun!"

"I can’t believe we’re going to call out dogs Cer, Be and Rus," Remus said with a shake of his head. He offered significantly less resistance than Virgil had expected — he hadn’t expected Remus to agree at all, so this was far quicker than he would have thought. 

"Is that a yes?"

"It’s a very reluctant, ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this, you are an idiot’ yes." 

"It’s a yes," Virgil said with a grin. "I’ll take it."

It still took a bit of time before they could take the dogs home; they were still quite young and spending a few weeks with their mother would be better for them. On top of that, this meant that Virgil and Remus could spend some more time making their house and garden puppy-proof and making sure they had everything required to properly take care of a dog. Or three.

But finally, the day they came back with their three dogs, Patton seemed almost as excited about it as Remus and Virgil themselves. Maybe even more. Of course, the two of them had talked about their plans for a little while, and Patton had been wildly encouraging them. And on the day itself, he was basically bouncing all over the place. Janus had been watching him with a balanced mix of amused and hopelessly annoyed by the younger male’s energy. It was a mystery how he ever kept up with Patton, especially on days like these. But he did. Somehow.

After Remus and Virgil got the dogs back home, they spent a little time by themselves, just wanting the dogs to get adjusted to them and to their new house. But, of course, they couldn’t keep the others back forever — ‘the others’ meaning Patton. Though if he came around, Janus would definitely follow. 

Soon enough, Patton stood in front of their door, bouncing with excitement. As expected, Janus stood behind him, a little less excited. Though he had to be somewhat excited. It just wasn’t as visible, mostly because he was Janus.

“Can we see the dogs?” Patton pouted as Virgil opened the door. 

“Great to see you guys as well,” Virgil said with a chuckle. “Come in. They’re still getting used to everything, so be gentle.”

“Always.” Patton was eager to get inside and enter the living room, where he found Remus sitting on the couch, one dog laying at his feet while the two others explored the living room and kitchen. Upon his arrival, the three dogs looked up, eyeing this new person cautiously. 

“Hey, Pat,” Remus greeted as the dog at his feet slowly got up. He smiled upon seeing his friend; even without the other having said a thing, it was easy to see why he was here. “How are you doing?”

“Good, good,” the younger nodded. “How about you? The dogs settling in?”

“They’re doing pretty good.” Remus got up and moved in the direction of the kitchen, the dog following him closely. “You want anything?”

“Tea sounds good,” he said as he slowly approached one of the dogs, crouching down slightly. “Which one is this?” 

Remus looked around, teapot in his hand. “Oh, that’s Be,” he responded. He turned around to grab a mug, gesturing to the dog following him around. “Rus is the bastard over here. And Cer is back there.”

Patton hummed, softly talking to Be as Remus poured some tea into the mug. Virgil and Janus had finally finished their conversation in the hallway and they entered the living room. Upon seeing them, Remus immediately grabbed a second mug for Virgil. 

“Dee,” he called out. “Coffee or wine?”

Janus eyed him for a moment before responding that he wouldn’t say no to a glass of wine. He sat down on the couch and everyone fell silent for a few moments. Everyone but Patton, who was talking to Be. Or rather: he was carefully petting the dog, who seemed to have accepted him, repeating the phrases ‘who’s a good boy? Are you a good boy? You are, aren’t you? Yes, you are!’ over and over again. 

Until he stopped his movements, realised something and looked at Virgil. “Is it a boy?” 

Virgil confirmed this with a nod and Patton immediately turned around to continue his one-sided conversation with Be. The others were watching him with barely hidden amusement. Be looked up as Remus — followed by Rus — passed him with their drinks, but other than that, he seemed to be content getting to know Patton. Cer nudged Virgil slightly, moving on to Janus next to him rather quickly, although he was still very careful in getting to know the stranger.

After a little bit, Patton finally pulled away from Be, albeit very reluctant. He knew he couldn’t spend all his time here with just Be, there were two very good dogs who also required his attention, after all. But that didn’t mean that it wasn’t difficult to make the decision to pull away from the dog. If he had his way, Patton would never stop petting Be. 

In case it wasn't quite clear yet, Patton absolutely adored dogs. 

However, he did make the decision to join his friends and drink his tea. His friends were good company too, after all. And on top of that, by sitting in this chair with his tea, he could talk to them and there were dogs walking around. So that might even be better. Even though dogs were very good. 

The four of them started talking. Patton asked a bunch of questions about the dogs, to which the new dog owners happily responded. Janus mostly listened, sipping his wine — yes, it was hardly afternoon, but he deserved this after dealing with Patton. He loved Patton, truly, but that didn’t mean that the kid was a lot to deal with sometimes. 

(A few months back, he never thought he would say that he loved Patton. Oh, how people change. Even in such a short timespan.)

“I think we should take the dogs out for a walk,” Virgil announced with a look at Remus. “I don’t know if you-”

“Can I join?” Patton interrupted quickly. He was living his dream of owning a dog through his friends. He had grown up with dogs and he absolutely loved them. He hadn’t owned a dog while he lived in Kingston for a few reasons — money, the fact that he didn’t have time, and he wasn’t sure if he was even allowed to have a dog in his apartment. But now that his friends had a dog… he would take as much advantage of that as possible. 

“Of course,” Virgil nodded. “Dee?”

“I’ll join,” Janus nodded with a look at Patton. “It would be unfair to ask you to watch the dogs and babysit Patton on top of that.” 

“Thank God for you, Dee,” Remus sighed dramatically as he wrapped an arm around his best friend. “Finally someone who understands me.”

“Yeah, I imagine it’s hard being so old,” Patton said with a small chuckle as Janus tried to push Remus away — he liked the show of affection, Patton was sure he did. But Janus was Janus and he never liked to show it. A byproduct of his time in the organisation, Patton reasoned. 

“Watch your mouth, Heart,” Remus tried to threaten. Janus finally managed to free himself from his friend’s arms, getting a pout out of the other. “You know who you’re talking to right?”

“No, should I?” Patton asked innocently, tilting his head.

Remus narrowed his eyes at the youngest, but before he could say anything, he was cut off by his boyfriend getting up and announcing they should go out for that walk. The dogs were probably in need of some exercise as well. And on top of that, Virgil had figured out that going out and getting a bit of exercise helped Remus with his smoking tendencies*. He didn’t ever say that to his partner, because he felt like he would get a defensive comment in return, because Remus would never admit to having any sort of trouble, but he had made that mental note for himself. Luckily, the dogs gave him a good excuse to force Remus to go outside with him.

And so they did. The dogs were still young, so it’s not like they would be gone for hours, but it was a nice walk outside. Patton spent a lot of time fawning over the small dogs and bringing up how cute they were — just as everyone had expected. But even for the others, it was a good time, even though they weren’t freaking out as much. 

When they returned to the house, Janus suggested that he and Patton would probably be better off going back home. It was getting late, and there were some things he still wanted to take care of. Not to mention that someone — he said this with a pointed look at Patton — still needed to work on a paper that he said he had wanted to get done today. 

(Even though they were away from Kingston, Patton had decided to finish the remainder of his degree online. He was so close to being done, and he didn’t want to have wasted all that money on tuition either. Besides, he liked his study. He didn’t want to quit just because his life would be in danger if he ever went back to Kingston ever again. That couldn’t stop him.)

Patton pouted but had to agree. He was almost done with the paper that wasn’t due for a few days, but he wanted to have some time to edit and revise it. So the two of them said their goodbyes to their friends and left to their own home — although Patton snuck a few sneaky glances back at the dogs before they disappeared from his sight.

Chapter Text

It was almost odd how well Remus and Virgil had adjusted to living like this. Especially Remus had never thought he’d get so used to living what he would label a ‘normal life’. He had spent years and years thinking a life like this wasn’t meant for him, and to be living like this right now felt like a dream. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Moving from Kingston to Auburn was a big difference, especially for Remus, who had lived in the city his entire life. Now, Kingston wasn’t a gigantic city and Auburn wasn’t a ghost town, but it was definitely smaller than the city they came from. Not quite the place where everyone knows everyone, but it was a village and it was definitely a change from the bigger city. It was welcome, though. After their last few months in the city and how hectic they had been, a quiet village was exactly what they needed. 

When they took the dogs for a walk, the couple would often walk towards a park not too far from their house and they would often see the same people. There were a few stores in the town, and after a few months, the people there would start to recognize them and vice versa. They even knew their neighbours, which neither of them had done before. But that might be due to the neighbours actually making an effort to greet them after they’d just moved in. And from Remus’ point of view, it might have helped that he wasn’t involved in the organisation anymore. It did make interacting with others a little more comfortable.

(That didn’t mean there was no risk of them coming after him if they ever tracked him here, but he was fairly certain that no one in this village was a spy for the organisation waiting for him or any other member to escape here. That was too far-fetched, even for their antics.) 

Being away from the toxic environment of Kingston and the organisation had an effect on Remus, too. He didn’t magically stop looking over his shoulder wherever he went, he didn’t stop waking up at the slightest sound or movement, he didn’t stop making sure he had a weapon on him anytime he went out. But he started to relax a little. He stopped being the Crocodile as much as he used to and started being Remus Silver for once. But even with those changes, there was so much going on in his head. Virgil saw. Remus tried to push it away and dismiss it, but Virgil knew. And it made sense; Remus had gone through too much to just push it aside like that. But no matter how much he tried to get his partner to talk about it, or to see someone for it, he dismissed it. He felt like it would be easier to just pretend it never happened in the first place. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to be remembered of it. He just wanted to sit next to his boyfriend, hold him close and never let go. Was that really so much to ask? 

Remus made good progress on his promise to quit smoking, too. It was anything but easy and he would prefer not to even try at all, but he had told Patton he would quit and he knew how long Janus had told him to stop. And Virgil would appreciate it too, he was sure. 

Sure, it wasn’t as difficult now that he had left the organisation behind. He was sure that he wouldn’t even last a day in that environment. But that it was ‘not as difficult’, didn’t mean it was easy. The beginning was especially tough. By now, a few months after they moved here, he had already ‘quit’ a few times. If he picked up, it was never for long, because he knew how the others felt about smoking but it didn’t make it easier. 

About a week after his birthday, he picked up a cigarette. He hadn’t meant to at first. But Virgil was busy with a commission that needed a lot of work and since it was June, Patton was rounding off the last of his exams. Which made his and Janus’ house forbidden territory for a bit, with how much he was stressing out — even though he seemed to be doing just fine. Students and their finals. 

Either way, Remus didn’t have much to do. Even with Virgil in the room right above him and his friends a few blocks away. He just… didn’t know what to do with himself for a few days. Reading and listening to music became quite tedious after a while. And those cigarettes were very tempting every time he stopped by the convenience store. Just one wouldn’t hurt, right? 

Remus managed to pull himself away from the cigarettes for two days, but on the third day, he just couldn’t find it in himself to leave. It had been too long and his body was craving some nicotine. Preferably in the form of smoke. 

He bought one pack and told himself he’d get one cigarette before going home. After this, he told himself he wouldn’t buy another pack. Remus was confident in his ability to keep himself to that promise — despite having made that promise to himself a few times in the past. He bought the rest of the groceries for the day and made his way back home with the shopping bag in one hand and a cigarette in the other. 

Remus made sure to finish the cigarette before he entered the house. He knew that Virgil wasn’t a fan of the smoking and he didn’t want to bring it inside the house. Only after he had finished, did he come in. He put away the groceries and went up to brush his teeth, just before Virgil would be done with the work he wanted to get done today. Was he trying to cover up the fact that he had smoked today? Maybe just a little. But he also just wanted to get rid of the smokiness on his breath. So he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Just for a bit, to get rid of the smoke. He rinsed his mouth to get rid of the taste of the toothpaste and turned to leave, but he was stopped when he saw Virgil standing in the doorway.

“It’s the middle of the day,” the younger of the two commented, tilting his head curiously. There was no judgement in his gaze, just curiosity. “Why are you brushing your teeth?” Remus didn’t answer immediately, so Virgil continued rather quickly, already knowing what was happening. “Did you smoke again?” 

Remus considered lying for a second. But he couldn’t do that to Virgil. Besides, Virgil would know. He never brushed his teeth this time of day. “Just one.”

Virgil slowly walked closer. “Did you buy a pack?”

“One,” Remus nodded. “But I promise-”

“You’ve said that before,” the other interrupted gently. “You know it’s not that easy.”

He was right. 

“Maybe you should try those nicotine patches after all,” Virgil hummed as he grabbed Remus’ hand in both of his own. He could indeed smell some smoke on his boyfriend’s clothes. 

Remus made a face at the comment. He had always insisted that he didn’t need those to stop. Virgil didn’t understand why he was so insistent, but Remus was stubborn and he wouldn’t budge. No matter how much the rest of their group tried to convince him. But maybe he had to change his opinion on the matter. 

“I’ll think about it?”

Virgil chuckled. That was the closest answer to a yes he had ever gotten, so there was a little bit of progress there. “Sure,” he nodded, pulling away from his boyfriend. “I’ll just finish up the last bit of my drawing. I’m almost done. You should probably change.”

After a few more days, Remus half-reluctantly agreed to try out the nicotine patches. He still wasn’t enthusiastic about it, but if it helped… sure. He was willing to try for Virgil (and the others, of course, but a lot of it was Virgil). And he hated to have to admit it, but it did make things a little easier. Still not a walk in the park. But easier.

A few weeks later, the two were sitting on the couch, Remus reading a book while Virgil rested his feet on Remus’ lap, looking at something on his phone. He bit his lip as he read, looking over at Remus every few seconds, clearly thinking about something. Cer and Rus were lazily chasing each other through the living room while Be decided to lay next to the couch to keep an eye on the two humans. Some music played softly in the background, but it was more background noise; neither of the two were paying much attention to it. And the dogs weren’t listening to it at all either.

"Re?" Virgil asked suddenly, causing Remus to look up from the book in his hands with a questioning hum. "I was thinking...” He put his phone down and pushed himself up a bit so he could look at his partner. “This- this doesn’t mean anything, but I saw something online and I- I think it would be good to know if… I mean… what- what's your stance on marriage?"

"Marriage?" Remus closed the book, biting his lip slightly. What was his stance on marriage? In the past couple of years, he had never really thought about it. He’d never thought he’d be in the position to even consider marrying someone, so he didn’t think about it. It was just a waste of time to him. "I don’t know," he finally responded with a shrug. "I never really thought about it. I could never really… afford to do that. I- I’m not sure. If it’s something for me, I mean. I don’t know."

Virgil nodded, noticing a tension in Remus’ body that the other didn’t seem to want to show — if he was even aware of it himself. "It’s okay," he said softly, sitting up fully to carefully grab Remus’ hand. Would he personally like to get married? Part of him, yes, for sure. He was always raised with the idea of marriage being the ultimate sign of love and that part of him still felt like he should get married because of that exact reason. But he knew that he didn’t have to get married. Being with Remus was more important. He understood where Remus was coming from. Affection wasn't exactly something Remus was used to and Virgil understood if he wasn't quite comfortable with marriage. They didn’t need to get married to be good together. "I get that. No worries." 

Remus managed a smile at his partner, closing the book and putting it aside to get a better grip on Virgil’s hand. "I love you," he said, not knowing what else he had to say to this. How else could he respond? "I’m really no good at this cutesy kind of thing, huh?"

Virgil shook his head, bringing their intertwined fingers to his lips. "You’re doing great," he muttered — not that he had a lot of experience on the matter, though. "I love you too."

Chapter Text

A few months passed and not much of note happened. Maybe the fact that Remus accidentally crushed a couple of mugs again with his bare hands, after twenty years of being able to control his strength. He blamed the stress of trying to stop smoking for that one. Patton passed all of his exams and finally finished his study. The dogs were still dogs, but a little bit bigger now. 

One night, Virgil and Remus were sitting on the couch, once again cuddled up so closely they looked like an amalgamation of two people, rather than just themselves. There was music playing in the background, but they barely paid attention to it.

"You want another drink?" Virgil asked suddenly, already untangling himself from Remus as he moved to get up. 

"Because you asked so kindly," Remus responded. 

Virgil scoffed and grabbed their glasses from the table. "Same thing?" he called over his shoulder, already moving in the direction of the kitchen because he knew exactly how Remus would respond. Asking was just a nicety at this point. 

As expected, Remus confirmed this and Virgil let out a soft hum as he stepped into the kitchen to grab some drinks for them, Cer following him excitedly. 

Remus watched the dog run off into the kitchen and shook his head softly, petting Rus, who had settled at his feet. Be was sitting not far from where Virgil had sat not too long ago, looking around to wonder where he might have gone off to. 

Not too long after that, Remus could have sworn there was a change in atmosphere, so thick he could feel it. He didn’t quite know what it was, but he felt as if he was being watched. This wasn’t an unusual feeling. Back when he was Crocodile, he always felt eyes burning holes in his back and even this past year, he couldn’t shake that feeling. But this was different. It was as if, this time, it was real. Not just paranoia. It was real. 

And it wasn’t just him. The dogs seemed to sense it too. Rus got up, tensing up and Be looked around, barking softly. It was as if the two of them were trying to find something or someone and Remus did not like that one bit. 

He could have sworn the room just got a little bit darker, and when his eyes drifted to the far corner, he could have sworn he saw a red glow. Remus was sure it was just him, but then the dogs started barking and growling and Remus knew that he saw a figure appearing out of nowhere. It took a second or two, but as a figure, not unlike a human, appeared, Remus quickly recognized the brother he thought was dead. 

It was Roman, he knew it had to be. He looked exactly the same, except for the fiery red eyes and the red glow coming from somewhere underneath his skin, almost as if pure fire ran through his veins instead of blood. His nails were razor sharp and as he smirked, Remus saw he could say the same for his teeth. 

But how was he here? How was he alive?

If it wasn’t for the Be’s barking and Rus’ growling and whimpering, Remus would have called it a hallucination, but right now… he really wasn’t sure that it was. 

"Roman?" he asked, getting up slowly as his brother stalked closer. The television was showing ads in the background, but Remus couldn’t really find himself to care. "I thought you were dead."

"Oh, I am," the other assured Remus — his voice sounded exactly the same. "I just came to see you. I missed you, you see? Hell can be incredibly lonely."

"I’m sure," Remus nodded, deciding not to spend too much time thinking about what the hell that meant, or why Roman was here. He decided not to spend too much time thinking about the possible implication that Hell was real and just decided to spend time on the fact that, however it might have happened, Roman was alive and he was here and Remus had to get rid of him before anything happened. "I’d love to have a family reunion, but I’m a little busy at the moment. I hope we can reschedule?"

Roman paced closer and Rus took a few steps back as Roman passed, whimpering softly. 

"Shame," the older brother hummed. "I suppose we can always have our reunion downstairs, don’t you think?"

Before Remus could think to respond, Roman threw himself at his brother, trying to punch him, but Remus saw this coming and fell down to dodge. He hit the side of the couch, but he barely felt it — his skin had turned to steel instinctively. 

Remus kicked at Roman’s ankles and used this time to get up and get away from the couch, giving himself a bit more space to move, dodge and attack. He spotted Virgil in the kitchen, the barking of the dogs having caught his attention, and shook his head slightly. He didn’t want Virgil to get involved in this just yet. This was Roman they were talking about, Remus could take him. Hopefully, Virgil got the hint. 

Remus tried to punch Roman’s jaw, but surprisingly… Roman caught his fist and stopped him easily. It didn’t even seem to cost any effort. 

That was new. 

Every time Roman killed, he would gain a little more strength through the absorption of energy, Remus knew this. But even in his many years of murdering, Roman had never managed to match Remus’ strength. So either, he went on a full murder spree while he was in Hell — or after — or something else was going on here. 

"Huh, that’s odd," Roman commented smugly, not even phased by this revelation. He simply looked at their hands, his nails digging into Remus’ skin, though not even they could draw blood. "Just goes to show you what a little demon energy can achieve, doesn’t it?"

Demon- what? At this point, Remus truly did not know what was going on. He did not understand this, but he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to understand in the first place. 

Roman pulled Remus closer and wrapped his hand around his brother’s throat, picking him up with surprising ease. "I’m sure this is all kinds of foreign to you," Roman grinned, baring his unnaturally sharp teeth. He was clearly enjoying this power. "Such a shame."

It was definitely a first for Remus to be on this side of the fight for once. He’d always had the upper hand in a battle. Something had happened to Roman and he didn’t understand what. Hopefully, it would just be temporary. He didn’t like being on this side of things.

Roman didn’t even give Remus the time to think of a witty remark to this comment before pushing him aside, easily forcing him through the wall, into the garden. Luckily, Remus didn’t feel the worst of this, due to his steel skin absorbing most of the blow, but even then, he felt something as he made contact with the stone path in his backyard. 

He jumped up quickly as Roman stepped forwards, pushing aside some of the bricks with his foot as he did so. Remus took advantage of this and jumped forwards, trying to get a few hits in, but Roman blocked both of Remus’ attempts and managed to swipe Remus’ legs away, without his brother even suspecting a thing. Before Remus could get up, Roman landed a kick against his ribs, and Remus could have sworn he heard a crack — but that couldn’t be true, right?

Roman got a few more kicks in before Remus could roll to the side. He pushed himself up, even though he felt a dull ache forming in his side. He wasn’t going to give up that easily, but he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Roman was far better —  far stronger —  than he used to be and he didn’t know if he could defeat his brother the old-fashioned way. But he didn’t know what else to do. He doubted that one of his guns would help him. If he could even reach them in time.

Luckily, before he could start to think about it, a strong gust of wind picked up and pushed Roman aside. Remus didn’t see anyone around, but he knew Virgil was around there somewhere. No one else could pull such a trick. 

The half-demon was caught off guard and couldn’t maintain his balance. As he pushed himself up, Roman looked around, his eyes locking on something — even though Remus didn’t see anything but air. 

"Ah, Virgil," Roman smirked devilishly, "I should have known you’d be here as well. My apologies."

Virgil didn’t respond, part of him too surprised that Roman could actually see him. Somehow, Roman was looking right at him and he didn’t know why or how. There were many questions going through his head right now. 

Roman chuckled as he saw the pure shock on Virgil’s face. "Yeah," he just said. "Surprise."

With those words, he turned back to Remus with a punch that the latter could just avoid, but only by an inch, if even that. Roman was caught off guard for a second, and in that second, Remus hit him with an elbow strike to the side of his neck. Roman stumbled to the side, likely due to being surprised by the hit rather than the impact itself.

Right around that time, Remus looked up and saw clouds packing together ominously. He didn’t know where Virgil was, but he kept his distance. Good. Virgil wouldn’t be able to take Roman in hand to hand combat. He needed to stay away, use his powers instead — that was his strength in this fight. Virgil couldn’t even take Remus in a fight, and since Remus himself was struggling here… it wouldn’t end well if Virgil engaged. 

The two of them threw a couple of punches, though the other managed to block or dodge most of them. In the meantime, ominous clouds kept floating above them, accompanied by vague rumbling every now and then. It ended when Remus tried to punch his brother’s jaw. As expected, Roman blocked it, but Remus used this moment to throw a jump kick at his brother, meant to put distance between them. Remus himself took a step or two back, bracing himself, and Virgil in his turn gratefully took this moment to hit Roman with a lightning bolt. 

Remus had covered his ears and closed his eyes — though that was hardly enough to hide the bright flash of light and the loud bang that followed it. He mentally apologised to everyone in the area who’d be woken up by this. As soon as it faded away, Remus opened his eyes again, to see Roman still standing where he stood. He had clearly been hit by the lightning, judging by the blue glow that pulled through his body, lighting up his veins as it did, before fading away, and it definitely took him a few seconds to recover. It had affected him. But it wasn’t enough, since he was still standing. 

"That’s cute," he smirked, although it took him more effort than it did before, and there was the slightest slur to his words. "You think that can hurt me. I’m sorry to disappoint, but to get rid of me, you’ll have to send me back to Hell itself. And I’m not planning on going back."

He stretched his arms, clearly intending to go back, but stopped in his tracks as he focussed on something. Remus followed his gaze and saw something forming in the shadows, not unlike how Roman had appeared. He already balled his fists, exhausted at the thought of having to face another one of these creatures. 

The shadows pulled back and something emerged. They looked- mostly human, but they were definitely not. They had the same red eyes as Roman, the same red glow underneath their skin, the same sharp nails and teeth. But they didn’t seem to focus on Remus or Virgil, instead turning to Roman as they approached, their movements making it seem like they were floating instead of walking.

"Silver," they spoke smoothly. "You thought you could get out unseen?"

There was a strange sound to their voice. It was smooth and calm, but at the same time, it was threatening, intimidating and laced with a sort of fire. Almost as if two people spoke at once. 

"I believe I did get out unseen, didn’t I?" Roman challenged with a smirk. His eyes darted towards Remus, but the new demon now blocked his path. There was no way he could get to his brother without passing them. Maybe he could blend in with the shadows, but he knew they could do it just as well as he could. He’d have to wait. 

"We saw you now, didn’t we?" The glow underneath the demon’s skin seemed to light up a little redder. 

"It’s a bit late, but I suppose you did."

Roman saw the demon approaching him. He knew that if they could get a hold of him, they’d drag him back to Hell. And he couldn’t have that. Not before he managed to kill Remus and his sweet little boyfriend. But he couldn’t kill Remus now. Not with this demon around. No matter how long he waited. He’d have to lay low. 

"Look, I’d love to catch up," he said as he took a few steps back. "But I simply don’t have the time. Tell the big guy down there I’ll be late for dinner."

"Silver, don’t-" But before the demon could even try to get him, he disappeared, fading into the shadows around him. They narrowed their eyes, looking around. His signature lingered for a second or two, but it faded away as he pulled back into the shadows more and more. By that time, he could be anywhere. "Shit." Their boss wasn’t going to be happy that they’d let Roman get away. "Sorry about that."

"That’s… quite alright," Remus said slowly, too confused about all of this to know what to say. Virgil — fully visible by now — joined them, worriedly rushing over to Remus. "What the hell is going on?"

The demon opened their mouth, closed it again, and repeated this a couple times. "You see- I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say. Usually we can’t say much to humans but, since you’re directly involved…" They bit their lip, the red glow becoming a little more intense where their sharp teeth dug into their skin. "Your brother killed a couple of demons and escaped from his cell. It was never supposed to happen, we just never experienced someone with his powers on his side of the… the job. I’m supposed to be getting him back but- you saw how that’s going."  

Remus nodded, although none of that helped to make this situation any clearer. "So you’re- what the fuck does any of this mean? Roman mentioned Hell. Is that real?"

Again, the demon hesitated. "Yes and no," they said. "A place like it exists, but not like you humans seem to think. I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you any more, though. Living beings aren’t supposed to know about the Afterlife. You’re only an exception because you’ve gotten involved through your brother. Now, I need to go back and… report." They didn’t seem to be looking forward to that. "Again, I’m sorry. We will do our best to find him before he tries to attack again. It’s a little harder now that he’s…" They made a vague gesture to the air around them. Remus didn’t know what that meant, but he just nodded. "Yeah. So… bye. I don’t doubt we’ll meet again."

The demon faded into the shadows and disappeared, leaving to very confused men in their backyard. 

"What the actual fuck," Remus breathed, noticing the ache in his side had evolved into a more than stinging pain. He tried to hide it, but it was getting more and more painful by the second. Even though he didn’t want to admit that. It was pretty damn painful.

"You can say that again," a now visible Virgil muttered, looking up at his partner. "Are you okay?" The two of them started moving towards the house and the hole in their wall that they needed to get fixed. The dogs felt a little safer now that Roman had left and Cer carefully ran outside to greet the two of them, Be and Rus following at a distance.

"Fine," Remus nodded, noticing how every breath he took felt like a thousand knives stabbing into his side — hardly even an exaggeration. "I do think I broke a rib or two."

"You broke something?" Virgil asked dumbfounded, the pure idea of Remus breaking something was ridiculous to him. "You broke something? Are you sure?"

"I’m pretty damn sure that it shouldn’t feel like I’m getting stabbed every damn time I breathe in," the other responded softly as the two of them entered the house again. Rus tried to jump up against Remus, glad to see he was okay, but Remus gently pushed him aside, not feeling like dealing with the dog right now, as much as he loved him. 

"Yeah, that sounds broken," Virgil muttered, leading his partner to the couch. "Or pretty bruised at the very least. So I guess you’re lucky you’re dating me."

Remus frowned slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"You’ve broken my ribs more than once, remember?" Virgil teased slightly as he helped Remus sit down, despite soft protests from the other insisting that he was fine. "To the point that Rem-" He stopped for a few seconds, his eyes widening as he found his train of thought wandering towards Remy — someone he’d rather not think of. They had been quite suspicious of why he got hurt so often, but they’d always stop asking questions when Virgil brushed them off. He’d been relieved at the time, but he couldn’t help but think that there was a little bit more to it. "Anyways…" He shook his head to distract himself. "You’re lucky I know exactly how to deal with broken ribs. Stay here, I’ll get you an ice pack."

"I’m fine," Remus tried to protest. 

"No, you’re not," Virgil responded, already getting up. "Shut up, you. And you might want to call a hospital, make sure everything else is okay."

"I’m fine."

"Remus, you broke a rib," the other pressed from the kitchen. "You’re not fine."

"I’ve had worse."

Virgil rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s stubbornness. He grabbed the ice pack and made his way back to the living room. "I doubt that," he responded. "Because you’ve had bulletproof skin your entire criminal career. I doubt you’ve experienced much more than a bruise here and there."

Remus chuckled as Virgil came back to him with the ice pack —  though he quickly stopped, as it hurt him even more than just breathing. "You’d be surprised."

"Do we want to get into this now?" 

"I’d save it for later if I were you," Remus advised. Virgil nodded as he sat down and dropped the subject quickly. 

"Remember to take deep breaths," he told his boyfriend gently, taking Remus’ free hand in his. "It hurts, but it prevents pneumonia. And you might wanna try to sleep in a more upright position, laying down for a long period of time can be pretty bad too, apparently. And, no smoking."

"I haven’t touched a cigarette in months."

Virgil nodded. "I know," he said, "and that’s great. But if this means we’re gonna have to deal with Roman all over again, you might wanna… pick it up again. But don’t. At least not for the next few weeks. It’s not good for you to begin with, but with your ribs, it doesn’t get much better."

"Fine," Remus muttered, leaning his head against Virgil’s shoulders. "Did I really break your ribs that often?"

"Yeah, I think it must have been at least five times or so," the other responded. "Very often in the same area. You have a mean punch, Re."

"It’s all part of the superpower lifestyle," Remus said with a small scoff, telling himself to take a couple of deep breaths at the sharp sting in his side. "I’m sorry, though."

"Don’t worry about it," Virgil said, kissing the back of Remus’ hand. "I won’t hold it against you. Have you called a doctor yet, though?"

Remus shook his head. "It’s almost midnight anyways, so…"

"Hate to break it to you, but the world doesn’t stop spinning after six pm."

It took a little bit — Remus was about as stubborn as people could get — but Virgil finally managed to take him to see a professional, but not after making sure the dogs stayed out of the living room. X-rays were made and, as expected, it turned out Roman had caused multiple broken ribs. A first for Remus, who had enjoyed the protection of his strong skin for the past twenty years.  

Virgil drove the two of them back home after a long wait to finally be helped. He cast a glance towards Remus every now and again, after which the other would pretend to be annoyed by his partner’s protectiveness — which he wasn’t. Not really. In a way, he liked the thought that someone cared about him and his safety. After everything he had done, everything he went through, there’d still be at least one person who cared. And he knew that Patton and Janus would argue they cared too, and he didn’t doubt that. But it didn’t feel the same. 

"You’re best off sleeping sitting up," Virgil told him as they came back, reaching for his keys. "So, maybe you should take the couch. Though then you’ll have the dogs running around… and the hole in the wall, so…"

"Oh no, I’m not leaving you," Remus protested. "I’ll be fine."

"Trust me, you won’t," the former hero said with a shake of his head. "Lying down puts pressure on your ribs. You really shouldn’t do that just now."

Remus sighed in frustration that was only exaggerated. "Fine," he conceded. "But I’m not taking the couch. You think we can get a chair up or something? I wanna be there with you, just in case- you know…"

Sleeping in a chair wasn’t something he was looking forward to, but if he had to, he’d like to be near Virgil. Just in case his boyfriend had a nightmare again — he hated the thought of Virgil being all alone, in the middle of the night… he wanted to be there for his partner. 

"I suppose," Virgil said softly, "maybe we can get one of the garden lounge chairs up? I’ve heard that’s a good… thing."

"As long as I get to be with you." 

Virgil rolled his eyes in an attempt to hide the slight blush that made its way to his face. "Nerd," he muttered. "I’ll get one of the chairs up. You might want to grab an ice pack for a bit."

"Sure thing, mom," Remus muttered with a teasing grin at his boyfriend. Virgil scoffed softly as he walked towards the kitchen, opening the door that led into the garden to grab one of the lounge chairs standing on the small terrace directly behind their house.

"What do we do about the dogs?" Virgil asked as he carried the chair inside, shaking off a few leaves before taking it in. "I mean, we can’t keep them in the living room, with… you know…" He nodded his head in the direction of the hole, thinking that it didn’t need any further explanation. He was scared they might run out if they were left in here the entire night. The hole wasn’t exactly ground level, but the dogs could jump. He didn’t want them to jump out.

"We should cover up the hole,” Remus mumbled to himself. He grabbed an ice pack as Rus nudged against him. He looked around in the living room to see what could work. “Maybe one of the bookshelves?”

"I suppose." Virgil set the chair down in the living room and walked back to join Remus in the kitchen. "I’ll get to that in a bit, then. How are you doing?"

"Never better," Remus said with a small smile, even though Virgil was sure he had to still be in pain. He’d experienced a broken rib often enough and it wasn’t fun. "Honestly- I’m sorry for breaking your ribs all those times. If you had to go through this every time..."

Virgil chuckled as he leaned against the counter. "Don’t worry about it," he said with a shake of his head. "You were… doing your job. I guess. And I’m sure I was a real pain in your ass."

"That you were," Remus nodded. He laughed softly, making a face immediately after. "Damn it. Don’t make me laugh, you."

This only caused Virgil’s smile to grow. "I can’t help it," he muttered, leaning in a little closer. "It’s what I do." He closed the gap between the two of them, kissing Remus gently. When he pulled away, he stayed close to Remus, still practically feeling the other’s breath against his lips. "We should talk to the others tomorrow."

"Don’t ruin the moment," Remus answered softly, kissing Virgil once more. He knew that Virgil was right. He knew they needed to discuss what happened, that they needed to figure out how to end this, how to make sure Roman went back to Hell or- whatever place it was he came from. But he didn’t want to think about it right now. He just wanted to be with Virgil, have a little bit of peace. 

He thought he was done dealing with his idiot of a brother when he killed him. Apparently, that had been a tad optimistic. Again, this was a first for him. He had never been an optimist. 

"They need to know, though."

"I know." Remus cupped Virgil’s cheek with his free hand, closing his eyes as he leaned his forehead against Virgil’s. He was too exhausted to deal with all of this. His side hurt, his hand was cold from holding the ice pack, his eyes stung and he felt like he was unable to stand for even a second without passing out. The emergency room had taken just a bit longer than he had hoped. 

It seemed that Virgil had noticed this. He grabbed Remus’ hand that held his cheek, lacing their fingers together. "Let’s get some rest first, shall we?"

"That sounds great."

Virgil nodded. "You go upstairs, I’ll cover up the hole in here and take the chair upstairs, yeah?"

“Not a chance,” Remus said, “I’ll help.”

“Remus, your ribs…”

“Those shelves weigh nothing,” he insisted. “I’ll help.”

Virgil sighed. He hated how stubborn Remus was, but what could he do against this? He was sure that, no matter what he said, Remus would help him the second he even touched the shelf. So there was no arguing there. 

It would be great if Remus had a little more care for himself. 

As Virgil had predicted, Remus insisted on helping. No matter what he tried, so the both of them ended up moving the shelf together. Virgil didn’t like the thought of Remus doing something like that with his broken ribs. But he couldn’t argue. 

The two of them made sure the shelf covered up the hole in the wall and once they had made sure everything was in order, they decided to get some rest. 

Virgil picked up the chair and made to leave, before he realised something. "Maybe take some extra pillows with you?" he called back to Remus.

"Way ahead of you there, babe," Remus called as he made his way over to the couch in the living room, grabbing a few pillows. There was no way he would spend the night in that chair without anything to make it a little more bearable.  

They turned off the final few lights before making their way upstairs.

Chapter Text

Being in Hell was… well… hell. It sounded logical, if you put it like that. And it was. After all, Hell was supposed to be the place where all the sinners were punished for the crimes they had committed in their lifetime, right? That wasn’t going to be a retreat, it wasn’t going to be fun. But even for Roman, this was bad. And he’d been through a lot of shit in his lifetime. 

First of all, the accident that got him his powers. The changes his body went through after that. And then, there was everything that had come after that.

He had fought people much bigger and stronger than him. He had been shot, stabbed, injured. He’d been bruised and he had broken bones. He had been on the verge of death more times than any human being should be in their lifetime. Roman honestly thought that he had seen everything. 

But of course, he had forgotten about Hell. 

They were tricky down there, those sneaky little demons. Even Roman could learn a thing or two from them. They knew exactly what to do, where to hit and how. They knew exactly what tools to use, what words to say, what gestures to make to be the most efficient at their job. As was expected of course, since they’d had ages and ages of training. If they hadn’t been so good at what they did, Roman would have been concerned. 

Now, he wasn’t sure how long he had been down there. Everything felt like one long day, stretched out over eons and eons, stretching into eternity. Demons didn’t need to sleep, they didn’t need to rest. And, as it turned out, neither did the souls of the damned. After all, what would they need it for? They didn’t have a body to maintain anymore. 

Even though the demons of Hell used a lot of different techniques, it didn’t take long for Roman to find out the pattern. He spent a lot of his time strapped to a medical table. Hooked up to multiple devices as outlandish serums were injected into his body, causing his skin to burn from the inside out. The demons replicated the various experiments he had ordered upon some of the members of his organisation. 

And when it wasn’t that, it was fire, thunderstorms or electricity. His guts would be ripped out of his body, his throat slit, his body torn to shreds. Every bone in his body would be broken, every drop of imaginary blood spilled. They copied what he had done to others. Of course they would. Everything was already laid out for them; it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Roman would have held it against them if they hadn’t done it. 

But, one fateful day — or night, not that it mattered here in Hell — Roman discovered something. It must have been months since he came down here, so he didn’t know why he didn’t figure this out any sooner. Maybe he just never made physical contact with any of the demons. But this one day, he did. 

He was strapped to a medical table again, staring up at the white ceiling above him. So far, they hadn’t been able to break him yet, even though they were so desperately trying. Roman wouldn’t let them get to that, but he also knew he’d be here for eternity. He hated to admit it, but they’d get there sooner or later. As much as he hated that. 

He looked at the demon with him in the room with him. Demons were weird creatures. They had some sort of physical form, but it wasn’t fully physical either. It was almost as if they were some kind of shadow creatures. Their regular form was somewhere halfway between physical and some smokey kind of shadow, although they could make their form more or less physical, depending on what fit their job description best. It also seemed that they could merge with the shadows and use them as a form of transportation allowing the doors in the cells to be mostly closed. They only opened if there was a need for equipment that couldn’t be conjured up by the demons themselves. Something grounded in the reality of Hell. However, those weren't used much. So the door remained tightly shut for most of the time.

This time around, the demon had decided on a fully physical form. They looked almost like a regular human being, except for the fiery red eyes and the red glow coming from somewhere underneath their skin, almost as if pure fire ran through their veins instead of blood. Their teeth and nails were razor sharp — Roman knew from experience that they were even sharper than that. 

The demon had their back turned to him, preparing whatever it was they had prepared for him this time around. Roman noticed that, if he stretched a little, they were just in reach. His arms were tied down over his head and he didn’t have a lot of movement. But with a bit of straining… 

They turned around and moved closer. Roman didn’t know why he was doing this, but in the blink of an eye, he reached out as much as he could and felt his fingers brush past their skin. 

He felt an energy surge, so familiar yet something was off about it. It was so, so much more powerful than what he was used to. It was almost as if the energy burned as it travelled through his system. It burned, but it didn't hurt. No, it felt good. It felt so much better than what he knew. So much stronger and so much more addicting. 

And much to his satisfaction, the demon froze in shock and fell down before they could even make a sound. Their body reverted back to its regular half-shadowness. 

Now, Roman was left alone. In this cell. With a dead demon. He didn’t even know that demons could die to begin with.

For a bit after that, Roman could still feel the energy burning in his veins. It was much longer and much stronger than he was ever used to from any human victim. It became clear to him that there was a big difference between humans and demons. He had always known this, of course, but now he felt it. 

Deciding that he wanted to try out just how far this difference stretched, Roman pulled against the straps tying him down, resisting as much as he could. And to his surprise, the bonds that once seemed unbreakable snapped, surprisingly easily. It did cost a fair amount of strength, but it was a surprise to realise just how easy it was. In all these months, he’d never managed to make even the smallest tear. And now he managed to set himself free after just a few attempts. 

Roman wasn’t complaining, though. He sat up and contently stretched his arms and legs, enjoying the most freedom he had had in months. Or however long he had been down there. It might as well have been an eternity; it wouldn't surprise him. 

As he dropped his arms next to him, Roman noticed a black smoke swirling around the tips of his fingers and along his skin, almost as if he was coming undone. It reminded him of the way demons looked. Not quite physical, but not quite a shadow either. 

But if that was the case… 

Roman looked up with a grin. If this was what happened after killing just one demon, he wondered what would happen if he managed to get away with killing another. He’d have to be careful, of course. After all, he was surrounded by the most ruthless creatures around. Not to mention Satan himself keeping an eye on everything. 

(Roman was sure he’d heard people referring to devil under a different name. He didn’t speak demon, but he had heard the name of Haldur being dropped once or twice. There was no doubt in his mind that it was referring to the devil. But he didn’t care about that. He still used Satan if he had to refer to the big guy.) 

But even with everything he could do, Roman was sure that even dear old Satan couldn’t see everything. He couldn’t be everywhere at once. So if Roman found the right timing, he might be able to make it to the Gates of Hell and get out of this damned place. Hopefully, he’d be able to pay his brother a visit to give him a piece of his mind.

It took him a little bit, but it was okay. Roman reasoned he would have some time until the late demon’s shift ended, so he had some time to figure things out. If anyone else came in, he'd just kill them.

He figured out he could blend in with the shadows, much like the demons around here could, even though it wasn’t as seamless as the others. He thought that he would be able to go unnoticed to someone passing by, but he would definitely stand out if they were actively looking for him. Demons had supernatural senses, so he would have to be quick if he wanted to get out of here. At least his newfound abilities would help, as well as the fact that his own powers still worked down here. If he needed to defend himself, he knew he could. 

As it turned out, he didn’t face much resistance, oddly enough. He had never been outside of this cell of his, so he didn’t know what Hell looked like or what it would be like. But, as he passed through the dark hallways, that, despite the torches on the walls, were surprisingly void of fire, it seemed like most demons were still inside the other cells, torturing other damned souls. Every now and then, one of the demons passed, but they didn’t see Roman hiding in the shadows cast by their own forms.

Eventually, after having navigated the halls for a while, Roman spotted a bright light around the corner. In the darkness of Hell, it seemed almost artificial, but Roman was sure it was more natural than the blue light of sulfuric fire that illuminated the halls around him. He followed the light, to what he assumed were the gates of Hell: seven sets of heavy, iron gates separating Hell from the Earth. A regular human wouldn’t be able to open them, and for a damned soul it was only a one way trip. But Roman wasn’t a regular human. And at this point, he wasn’t sure he was a damned soul either. 

He only needed to take care of the two demons guarding the gates. Sure, he could kill them, but he needed to be smart. He needed to kill both of them at the same time. If he killed one, the other would try to subdue him. They would either succeed or they’d fail. And if they succeeded, there would be a chance they’d get the devil involved. That was something Roman wanted to avoid; if Satan got involved, he’d never get out of this. Roman had only met Satan once, when he just arrived. It wasn’t a regular thing, but apparently the devil himself just really wanted to meet Roman. A questionable honour, but Roman decided to take it as a compliment. However, if this meeting told him anything, it was that Satan was not a fun guy. If he caught Roman trying to sneak out, this past time would be nothing compared to his future. No, he needed to avoid that no matter what. 

As quietly as he could, Roman snuck up to the two demons. He stuck to the shadows and it felt… so weird. It was a new feeling, as if the shadows were an extension of his body and he was an extension of them. It felt natural, but at the same time, he knew that it wasn’t. Not to him.

Once he got close enough to the first demon, he reached out and grabbed them, making contact with their skin, and he felt an energy surge. It was just as fiery and powerful as the first time he did this. It still burned, but it was as if his body had adjusted to it this time and the burning sensation seemed to fade away a little more quickly this time around. 

Even before the first demon hit the ground, Roman lunged at the other and killed him without much effort. His newfound powers helped him ambush them before they even realised what had happened.

Roman looked around to make sure that no one else was around. Surprisingly enough, the hall was empty. But he knew he needed to be quick. Demons could notice his absence in his cell any minute now. 

He felt the fire coursing through his veins and he looked around, feeling like Hell had never been this clear to him. But he was all alone. And if anyone tried to stop him, Roman knew that he could handle them. He wasn’t some helpless human anymore. Not that he ever had been helpless, but demons didn’t necessarily share that point of view. But now… he was sure he could overpower any of them. He had never been better. 

Roman turned around and grinned, baring a set of new, sharp teeth. He was alone now. Just him before the Seven Gates of Hell.

Chapter Text

It was a restless night for the both of them. After Roman’s return, there was a lot to think about. If he was here, if he wasn’t forced to go back to Hell… he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. He wouldn’t stop until they were dead. 

So, it seemed like they had to kill Roman once again. Great. 

That morning, neither of them mentioned it. Virgil fussed over Remus, making sure that he was still okay. Of course, it still hurt like hell and while Virgil did hand his partner some painkillers, it didn’t do a whole lot. 

They went downstairs, had breakfast and tried to talk about anything other than last night’s events.But they both knew they had to talk to the others. Roman could attack at any given moment and they needed to figure out what to do about this, preferably before that happened. Janus had already texted both of them asking about the thunder and lighting from last night, knowing that Virgil had to have caused that event. Virgil just said they’d explain later. 

They walked the dogs — mostly Virgil, since he didn’t want Remus to strain himself too much. Movement was important for recovery, but too much wouldn’t be good either. After they came back home, the two of them took a moment to themselves before going over to Patton and Janus’ house. Virgil had told them they needed to talk and Patton had immediately invited them over for lunch. So here they were.

Virgil rang the doorbell and almost immediately, Patton opened the front door, almost as if he had been waiting in the hallway. "Hey guys!" Of course, he immediately hugged Virgil. He then hugged Remus, but when he noticed the other flinched slightly, he quickly let go, immediately apologising as he let the two inside, eyeing Remus worriedly. "How are you guys?"

"Oh, you know…" Virgil started, not sure how to answer this. "Same as always. I mean- stuff happened, but…"

Patton hummed as the three of them walked into the living room. "That was you, right?" he asked. "That lightning last night?"

"Unfortunately, yeah."

The trio entered the living room and Virgil and Remus greeted Janus, who was sitting on the couch. 

After a bit of pleasantries, Patton announced that he had made some soup for their lunch. He served it to his guests, and got some for himself and Janus as well, of course. It was clear he was just excited to be able to play host for a little bit, even if it was for his friends who he saw regularly. He made sure everything was in place, checking nearly three times, before he sat down to eat his lunch. And as they ate, Remus and Virgil explained what had happened the night before, the other two just listened in silence. 

"So you’re saying that’s Roman?" Janus asked, clearly still having some trouble believing it. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, no you’re right," Remus answered sarcastically. "My own twin brother, who I killed, came back from the dead and tried to kill me, but I was mistaken. Maybe it’s my other twin who I killed, you’re right."

Janus gave his friend a brief look. "You could have just said yes."

"I could have." Remus just shrugged and gave his friend a grin. 

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" Patton asked, looking at Remus with wide eyes. He was still processing the fact that Roman had managed to break Remus’ bones and he clearly already regretted the hug from a few minutes before. 

Remus nodded, eating some of the soup. "Fine," he said. "Hurts like a motherfucker, but I’m fine."

"We do still need to figure out what to do," Virgil added. "About Roman. He can still attack at any given time. So we need to work something out. They’re trying to get him back to Hell, but… just in case they can’t get him back before he tries again…"

"We could just try to summon Satan," Patton said with a simple shrug. "I’m sure he’ll be able to do something if we get him here and ask nicely."

There was a silence in the room. 

"I’m sorry," Janus said slowly, "what?"

"I mean, it’s obvious, right?" Patton asked, looking at the others. "Roman died. He went to Hell. He came back. Surely, if we summon the devil, he’ll be able to get him back in an instant? I don’t think he’ll be happy to hear that someone escaped from Hell."

"I…" Virgil stopped for a second. "I don’t know if that’s such a good idea." 

"What?" For some reason, Patton actually seemed surprised at Virgil's conclusion. "Why not?"

"You really think summoning Satan, the devil, is a good idea?" Virgil questioned. "I mean… even if there's a thing like the devil. You think he'll want to help?"

This was utterly ridiculous, but Patton seemed to be the only one who didn't realise. For a few seconds, the others hoped he was messing with them, but that seemed more unlikely with every passing second. 

"I mean if someone escaped from my… place, I'd be pretty pissed," Patton said, trying to convince the others. 

"Even if we would do that," Remus started as he shifted in his seat. "How the fuck would that go?"

"Oh, I know how to do that!" Patton assured him. "It's pretty easy, don't worry!"

"You what?" Janus was already so tired. He had gotten used to Patton's… everything, but this was something else and he was not willing to deal with this. The suggestion of summoning the devil was something he might have expected from Remus, in a wave of chaos that he'd later forget about. But he hadn't expected this from the baby of their group. "We aren't actually considering this, are we?"

"No," Virgil said resolutely. "Absolutely not. Let's not summon the devil today. Or any other day."

Patton pouted. "But-"

"There has to be a better solution, right?"

Another silence followed. Was there a better solution? There probably was; there had to be something. But they couldn't seem to think of it.

"Well…" Remus spoke after a while. "If there is anyone who could create something that can kill a demon…" He looked over at Janus, feeling like he would understand what he was trying to say.

"It's gotta be The Inventor," Janus continued as his friend trailed off. 

"Going back to Kingston?" Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where everyone wants us dead?"

"Everyone is a bit of an exaggeration," Remus retorted — after all, there had to be at least a few people who wouldn’t want them dead, right? "But yeah. Pretty much."

"That's insane."

"Well, it's either that or getting my throat ripped out by my demon brother." Remus shrugged. "It's an easy choice for me."

"I think he has a point,” Janus spoke up, “If we stay here, we’re dead. Or… Remus is. Going back to Kingston gives us a chance to take matters in our own hands.”

“You’re forgetting about that… demon… guy, though.” It was very clear that Virgil did not like the thought of going back there. Even though he loved Kingston, even though it was the first place that felt like a home to him, the thought of going back there was nothing but bad to him now. It was a place he’d like to avoid, and not just because of the people wanting him dead. “They’re after Roman too, so-”

“And what happens if they’re too late next time he shows up?” Janus asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “From what I heard, they weren’t exactly quick to arrive last night. We can’t risk it.”

“But if they find out we’re in Kingston-”

“Oh, they will,” Remus interrupted. He had already made his decision; he was going back there, whether the others would join him or not. He was not risking anything this time. He couldn’t let Roman win. “So we’ll just have to be ready for them.”

Virgil sighed. He hated this idea. This was going to be nothing but bad news. He barely survived his last encounter with the organisation, and a repeat of that encounter was the last thing he wanted. Just the thought of it made his stomach clench in anxiety. But he realised that Remus and Janus were right. Sitting here and waiting for Roman to show up was not going to end well. If they at least tried to do something… 

But the thoughts of what could happen if he- if they went back made him sick. He didn’t know if he could manage being back in that place. But he had to be there for Remus. If Virgil didn’t join him there, and something happened… he’d never forgive himself. 

“I don’t…” Virgil ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to say yes, but he couldn’t say no either. No matter what he’d say, his anxiety would consume him. “Fine.”

He was making a huge mistake, he was sure of it. 

“If you guys are going, I might as well join,” Patton said finally. “My plan is still better, though.”

“We’re not summoning Satan,” Janus sighed, rubbing his temples. 

Patton pouted. “Whatever,” he muttered as he got up to take some of their plates to the kitchen. “You guys are boring.”

Chapter Text

Virgil quickly regretted agreeing to go to Kingston. He was terrified, couldn’t stop thinking about what might happen once they got there. He knew he was overthinking this, but he couldn’t help it. 

Part of him thought about bailing out and staying behind. But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t let the others go there and then stay here himself. It was a big risk to go into the city. Not just for himself, but for the others as well. He couldn’t let them go back there and then cop out himself. He needed to be there for his friends. He needed to be there because it was such a big risk. He needed to be able to protect the others. There was no choice.

As they were getting ready for their departure, Remus noticed that Virgil was tense and on edge. Now, he was on edge very often, but this time, it was even worse. And it couldn’t be a coincidence that all that started now, not too long after Roman attacked, not too long after their decision to go back into the lion’s den. Remus immediately knew that something was going on.

“Virge?” Remus had packed a bag — just a bit; for safety’s sake, they couldn’t carry too much stuff around — and carried it downstairs. “Are you okay?” 

Virgil was sitting on the couch, absentmindedly petting Cer while Be sat next to him. He looked up when he heard his name. “Yeah- yeah,” he nodded. “Just a- a lot going on, you know? Lot on my mind.”

“You don’t have to go along, if you don’t want to.” Remus walked over to his partner and sat down on the couch. He understood that going back to Kingston was scary. He didn’t like it either. All the pain, the trauma, the memories. And he didn’t think Virgil was any different. But there was no choice. Not for Remus; Virgil could still choose. He didn’t have to go back. “You can stay here.”

Virgil shook his head stubbornly. “No,” he said. “No, I’m going with you. It’s just… I don’t know. It’s weird. I haven’t been back since…”

“I know.” Remus grabbed one of Virgil’s hands. “There’s no shame in-”

“I’m coming along,” he insisted. No matter how anxious he felt about this, he would feel worse if he stayed here. At least now, he had some sort of control over the situation. Or he’d feel like he did, anyways. “That’s final. How are your ribs?”

“Still broken,” Remus responded casually. “Still hurts. But I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me.”

“I always do.” 

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Neither of them wanted to move, but both of them knew there wasn’t much of a choice. They had to go back, and it had to be sooner rather than later. 

Remus didn’t want to admit it out loud to anyone —  or even to himself — but he didn’t want to go back either. Kingston had brought him nothing but misery. And the few good memories he had, were easily ruined. He didn’t want to go back there. It was a corrupt hellhole and he had been glad to leave. He didn’t want to go back, but he had no choice. 

“I should talk to Edith about the dogs,” Virgil said after a little while, already pushing the dogs to the side so he could get up — this earned him a couple whines. “Then we should probably get ready to leave.” 

“I’ll check in on the others,” Remus hummed as Cer moved over to him, hoping he could get some more attention. 

“Sure.” Virgil put on his shoes and walked to the front door. “Be right back.”

He walked outside and to the house of their neighbours, an elderly woman named Edith and her son Gus, who recently moved in to take care of his mother — she was getting rather old, and he didn’t trust her being by herself all day. 

Virgil stopped in front of their door and rang the doorbell. He heard some talking coming from the hallway. It took a little bit, but finally, Edith opened the door, smiling up at him. “Virgil!” she greeted happily. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m well, thank you,” he said with a small smile. Edith was a little shorter than he was and was, in every single way, a typical old lady. Kind, seemingly knitting all the time and a keen baker. She was an absolute sweetheart, though. “How about you?”

“I’m doing just fine,” she nodded, “I suppose it could’ve been better. You heard the ruckus last night, too, didn’t you? And the thunder?”

Last night. Yeah. The noise from last night. That came out of nowhere. Yeah. He had heard. 

“I did, yes,” Virgil said, trying to act as naturally as possible. “No idea what it was. But… it was weird.”

“That it was.” Edith gave another nod. “Now, what is it, dear? Do you want to come in?” She already opened up the door to let him in, and Virgil just saw Gus sitting in the living room. 

“Oh, no, no, thanks,” Virgil shook his head. “I won’t be long. I just wanted to drop by to say that Remus and I need to leave for a while. It’s uh- family issues. And we can’t take the dogs with us. So we were hoping that you- or- well, Gus, could take care of them? They can’t sit inside all day, and they're young, so they can't stay alone for too long. And they’ll also need food, so…”

“Yeah, of course,” the old lady smiled. “I’ll make sure he takes care of them, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Good. Good, thanks.” Virgil looked down at his hands, thinking about what else to say. “We’ll leave a note with some instructions, then. And eh- oh. Yeah, there’s a hole in the wall, from… last night. Something- fell, I don’t quite know. But someone should come along to fix it one of these days, but just in case we’re not back by that time… would you mind looking out for them?”

“Of course, dear,” Edith said, her smile never faltering. “Don’t you worry about that.” 

Virgil managed a smile. “Good, thank you,” he repeated. “Are you sure Gus won’t mind?” 

Edith shook her head. “He loves dogs,” she assured him. “But I can ask him to make sure.” Before he could even respond, the woman had turned around and called her son over. Virgil could hear him mumbling something before he got up from his seat and walked over. 

“Virgil,” Gus said as he approached the two of them. “Hi. What's up?”

“Virgil and Remus are going away for a while,” Edith said, responding before Virgil could even think of responding. “They need you to take care of their dogs while they’re gone.”

“You- you don’t have to,” Virgil added, before Gus could respond. “If you don’t want to, I can ask someone else, but-”

“No, no, no, it’s okay!” Gus told him. “I’d love to take care of them. How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know. Hopefully no more than a few days, but it can take longer,” Virgil said with a small shrug. “I really can’t tell you. I’ll let you know when we do get back.”

“Sounds good! Anything I need to know, or-”

“We will leave a note with some instructions in the kitchen,” he responded. “That’s pretty much everything you need to know. And my phone number, in case anything happens, or you have questions, or- I don’t know. Something else. The dogs do need a fair amount of exercise, but other than that…”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Gus told him, “you guys go… do whatever you gotta.”

Virgil gave him a small smile. “Yeah, we will,” he nodded. “Thank you. I should probably go now. But thank you, a lot.”

He gave the two of them a wave as he started to head back. Edith and Gus assured him that it was nothing, wished him luck with whatever they’d have to deal with and headed back inside. 

Virgil walked back to his house and called out to Remus when he stepped inside. “I’m back,” he said, going into the living room. “They’re willing to take care of the dogs.”

“Good.” Remus stood in the living room, going through their bag. “Pat and Jan are almost done, so we’re leaving in… thirty minutes? Maybe.”

“Great,” Virgil muttered up, looking at his feet. This was really it, huh? “Do we have everything?”

“I think so,” Remus nodded. “You have your suit? Just in case?”

“Not yet, I’ll get it in a bit,” Virgil responded, realising that his watch and glasses were still in their bedroom — they’d gone through a lot of trouble in order to get them. He had been terrified that the organisation would be watching his apartment in case he came back, but there hadn’t been anyone around. And with his invisibility, he could get around unseen. That was the last time he stepped foot in his old apartment. “Do you have yours?”

“Sure do.”

“And the other shields?”

“Right here.” Remus fished two bracelets out of the back as he spoke. “I got a couple of guns and daggers, just in case. And the Crocodile Hunter, should we need it.”

He grabbed the gun, grinning at him. Something about being in possession of the weapon that was supposed to kill him was so satisfying. They had paid for this thing, wanting to use it to kill him. And now he had it in his possession. Just a big middle finger to the organisation, really. And on top of that, the weapon was useful as all hell. 

“Anything else we need?”

Remus tapped his chin as he thought about the question. “Don’t think so?” 

“Cool,” Virgil said with a nod. “I’ll get my suit, then. You should make a list of instructions for Gus.” 

“On it.” Remus got up as his boyfriend ran upstairs to retrieve the two accessories that would make his Alibi-suit. He hadn’t used this in a year, and the thought of potentially getting back into it was weird. He’d been so used to putting on the suit every day, but now- just the thought of putting it on was odd to him. Strange how quickly he’d gotten used to living like this. He didn’t even miss it anymore. Sometimes, he did truly wish he could go back to it. But he didn’t mind living a more peaceful life here in Auburn.

Virgil walked up to his side of the bed, opened the drawer and got out the only two things he kept in there; a watch and a pair of glasses. He looked at them for a second, lost in his thoughts again, before he decided to head back downstairs. 

“Don’t forget to write down my number,” he said as he stepped into the living room, seeing Remus working on the note at the coffee table. 

“I don’t get to add my number?” Remus teased, not looking up from what he was writing. 

“So, if he texted you, you’d respond?” Remus didn’t respond to that. “Exactly.”

Remus finished the note. The two of them played with their dogs a bit, both trying to distract themselves from the thought of going back somewhere where they were wanted dead. Remus had always felt like it was inevitable; Kingston and the organisation were a part of him. He’d lived in Kingston his entire life, he’d been part of the organisation for almost half his life. Somehow, he always felt like he’d be pulled back there sooner or later. He just didn’t expect it to be this soon. Nor did he expect Roman to be the reason behind it. But here they were.

About half an hour later, Patton and Janus appeared in front of the door. They’d agreed to take Remus’ car; it was bigger and a little stronger, a little safer than the one Patton had bought — Janus didn’t drive.

“Are you ready?” Patton asked, bouncing on his feet slightly. It seemed he was just as nervous as the others were. Janus didn’t show it, but there was no way he wasn’t anxious about going back himself.  

“Ready as I can be,” Remus nodded. 

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed. “Just… wait a second.” 

He slipped back into the living room to pet the dogs a little bit more, kiss their notes and tell them how much he loved them. The three were eager to jump up against him, seemingly knowing that something was going to happen. Virgil would do anything to take them with him, but it simply wasn’t safe. And they would have to be stuck inside all day, since no one would be able to take them for a walk without risking their life. The dogs wouldn’t like that either. This was the best for them. But Virgil really wished it was different.

He made sure they had something to eat and that they had enough water. Then, he finally tore himself away from the dogs and went back to the group. The dogs tried to follow him into the hallway, but he managed to close the door just before they could do something like that. 

“Okay, I’m good,” he nodded. “Let’s go?”

“Sounds good!” Patton already turned around and walked to the car. Janus raised an eyebrow as he looked at the youngest of their group. How he could be so eager to leave was a mystery. They were potentially going towards their death and he was almost running to the car. Maybe he was eager to get this over with.

The other three followed him to the car, dropped off their luggage in the trunk and took their seats. Remus took the driver’s seat, with Virgil sitting in the passenger’s seat. Patton and Janus sat behind them. 

“There we go, then,” Remus muttered as he backed out of the driveway. “Let’s hope things will go better than the last time we were there, huh?”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a long drive back to Kingston. Two hours at most. But even then, it seemed to last forever, while at the same time, the city came into sight far too quickly. Once they actually entered the city, Remus made sure to look around wherever he could, just in case he saw a familiar face looking at them. He’d bought a new car since the last time they were here — his old car didn’t seem to take well to being caught up in a shooting — so he didn’t think he'd be too noticeable. The car looked similar to his old car, but there were differences and the license plates were different. So hopefully that was good enough to trick the organisation at least for a bit. Just until they managed to get a weapon from The Inventor. 

The dark blue car stopped in front of an apartment block. It was about ten stories high; their destination would be halfway. After the four of them made sure no one was watching, they got out and followed Remus into the building. They avoided every camera as well as they could, until they got to the apartment. 

It wasn’t a big place. It had a decently sized living room and kitchen, two bedrooms and one bathroom. No secret hiding places, unfortunately, as it would seem that apartments weren’t quite fit for those. But hopefully, they wouldn’t have to use it anyways. If all went well, they’d be able to meet The Inventor tonight, get what they needed in a couple of days, and get out here again armed with a new weapon. Preferably before anyone even knew they were here.

“Huh,” Virgil hummed as he closed the door behind them. “Cute place.”

Other than a bit of furniture — a couch, two chairs, television, table — it was rather empty. No decorations, no clutter, no plants. It had likely never been used, and if it had been used, it hadn’t been very long. 

“Dusty, too,” Patton added as he looked around. He definitely had a point there; it wasn’t clean by any means. Even though he understood it, it drove Patton crazy. Maybe he should clean it a little.

“Yeah, well, I have barely been here in the past two years,” Remus commented simply. “I do hope you’re not expecting me to drive up here to clean every week.”

“Fair.” Virgil sat down on the couch, Janus took one of the red chairs. “Let’s text The Inventor and hope to be done soon, huh?” 

The others muttered in agreement and Virgil already took out his phone. He wasn’t willing to wait any longer than they had to, and it seemed that the rest of their group would agree. As much as they might like Kingston, none of them really wanted to be back here.

You: hey. been a while

You: need your help again. can we meet to discuss?   

“I texted him,” Virgil announced as he put his phone away. “Let’s see if he responds.”

“How long does it usually take for him to respond?” Patton wanted to know. 

“Not long. At most, it’ll be a couple of hours.”

“Right.”

They fell silent after that. All of them were tense. Remus paced around a lot, looking outside every now and then to make sure no one was standing outside of their apartment block. Patton was continuously tapping his feet or fidgeting with something in his hands. Virgil kept opening his phone, looking at something for a minute, before closing it. Only to grab his phone again a while later. Janus was unusually quiet, even for his standards. All of them were waiting. Whether it was for a response from The Inventor, or for someone to shoot up the place, they didn’t know yet. Just that they were waiting. And it was tedious. 

“How are we doing stuff with like… groceries?” Patton suddenly asked. They had decided against bringing anything along, because it would be difficult to carry around and they didn’t know how long they’d be gone, so it was difficult to bring food along. But, as he just realised, they couldn’t exactly go to the supermarket to buy something because if the wrong people saw them, things wouldn’t end well. The plan had always been to go outside as little as possible, to prevent anyone from sneaking up and killing them — even though, at this point, it would be exceptionally merciful if the organisation just killed them. 

“We can order,” Remus responded, sneaking another look outside. Still no suspicious cars or people outside. “There’s some good stores nearby that deliver. Do you want to do it now?”

Patton shook his head. “No,” he said. “Just wondering.”

Some more time passed by. They eventually ordered something, just to have food later on. And still, they hadn’t gotten a response from The Inventor, which was uncharacteristic for him. By this time, he usually would have responded. He could sometimes get absorbed by his work, but he still rarely took up more than a couple hours.  

Janus offered to try and contact him as well. Maybe he had just missed Virgil’s text, maybe it didn’t arrive. Maybe something else was going on. They had been gone for a year, after all. A lot could have changed in that time.  

By the time someone knocked on the door, they still didn’t have a response. 

“I’ll get it.” Virgil already got up and walked over to the door. He was just glad to have something to do other than sitting around. He hated waiting. He hated not being able to do anything. 

He opened the door, not bothering looking through the peephole. For a moment, he considered it, but he decided against it. After all, it didn’t seem they’d been caught by the organisation. They’d just ordered some food. Enemies wouldn’t bother knocking, right? They didn’t care about etiquette; they’d just break in the door. He had experience with that.

But, as Virgil opened the door, he wished he’d looked through the peephole. He really did. His blood ran cold as he saw none other than Dynamo standing in front of the door, joined by Red Bandit. A familiar sight, one that he didn’t want to be reminded of for much longer. He couldn’t do this. Not again. He couldn’t-

Coming back here had been a mistake. 

“Alibi,” Dynamo smiled sweetly, leaning against the wall in the corridor. “Long time no see.”

Virgil took a step back and his eyes darted over to the living room. Upon hearing Dynamo’s voice, Remus and Janus had tensed up, exchanging a few looks. Patton didn’t understand, didn’t recognize her voice, but he saw how his friends acted and that was enough to know that this was bad. Something was going to happen. 

Virgil nodded in the direction of the bedroom, hoping the others would be able to get out of here unseen. If he could get them to safety, that’s what mattered. Janus had already gotten up and pushed Patton in the direction of one of the bedrooms, having decided that it was most important to get him away from here. 

But before Virgil could do anything, he saw the bright blue of Dynamo’s whips appearing and he ducked away, the whip just missing him. He took a couple more steps back. He wanted to close the door right now. Just slam it shut, lock it and get out. But he knew that wouldn’t save them. The two villains would just break down the door and come in anyways. Just a door wouldn’t stand in their way.

Indoors, Virgil couldn’t use his powers as much as he could outside. There was airflow, sure, but it wasn’t as strong. He couldn’t make it rain, he couldn’t summon thunder. He could turn invisible, though. But not yet. He didn’t trust it, and he needed to be able to protect the others. Even invisible, he couldn’t take both Dynamo and the Bandit at the same time, and he figured that, if they could see him, they’d focus on him instead of the others. 

Dynamo took a couple of steps forwards, entering the apartment. She extended a hand and shot another whip of energy at Virgil’s ankles. He couldn’t jump away in time and the whip wrapped itself around his ankle, pulled it away. He fell to the ground and the two villains got in. Virgil kicked at their ankles to throw them off balance and give him some time to jump up. 

From the corner of his eyes, Virgil saw that Patton and Janus got into the bedroom, although Patton didn’t seem to want to go. He’d rather help Virgil however he could, even though he was the least equipped to help. 

As soon as he heard Dynamo’s voice, Remus had grabbed the bag they had brought here and looked through its contents, trying to find the shields they had brought. The first one was handed over to Patton, the other he tossed to Virgil as soon as he found it. Virgil caught it quickly and slipped it on his wrist. He gestured for Remus to get out, putting as much distance between himself and the two villains. But Remus didn’t seem to want to back out. Despite having broken a couple ribs just a few days ago. 

Dynamo looked back at her companion and nodded in Remus’ direction. Red Bandit seemed to get the hint and stepped to the side, moving over to Remus. Virgil made a move to stop him, but one of Dynamo’s whips wrapped itself around his waist, throwing him into a wall.

He fell to the ground, feeling like every bone in his body had just cracked. Despite that, he pushed himself up. He was dizzy as all hell, but he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t let the others down. 

Dynamo wrapped a whip around his neck, wanting to pull him down to attack, but he acted quickly. He grabbed the whip, feeling a small surge of energy hitting his hand, and pulled her closer to him. She stumbled forwards, having been caught off guard by this move. 

“I’m not doing that again, Dy,” he muttered to her as he threw a punch at her. She took a step back, surprised by his attack, but she recovered quickly and grabbed his wrist on his next attempted punch. 

“Don’t worry,” she hissed as she twisted his wrist. “It won’t be like last time.” She hit his ankle with a low crescent kick. This threw him off balance and the villain used this to knee him in the stomach and push him back into the wall. 

She raised an arm, ready to hit with an elbow strike, when a loud crash sounded in the room, the sound of glass breaking. Dynamo whipped around, seeing her companion flying out the window. She cursed under her breath and shot a whip of energy at him to catch him. 

“Remus,” Virgil hissed as he made his way over to his partner. “What the hell are you doing? Get out of here.”

“I’m not letting you take them on by yourself,” Remus responded. Even though he seemed fine as he was, Virgil didn’t believe he was fine. The idiot had broken his ribs, he needed to rest before he made this situation even worse for himself. 

“You should,” he pressed, trying to push the other in the direction of the bedroom. “You’re injured.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” Virgil looked around, making sure they still had time. Although Dynamo had almost pulled the Bandit back inside. “Now go.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

Virgil sighed. He didn't want Remus fighting with his broken ribs, but it just so happened that he was dating a stubborn idiot. On top of that, Red Bandit was back inside and ready to go once more, so there wasn’t much more time to argue. But Remus was an absolute idiot for even wanting to fight. 

Now that one of the windows was broken, Virgil could use his powers more easily; he immediately felt the difference in the energy surrounding him. He took one look at the two villains before him. 

"You got the Bandit?" he asked softly. He still wasn't happy with Remus fighting, but he couldn't do much about it now. So he might as well. 

"Yeah."

"Good," Virgil clenched his fists. "Be careful."

He jumped forwards, using his powers to give him a bit of a boost, just so he could jump up higher. He then turned invisible, hitting Dynamo with a punch to her jaw that made her stumble back. The villain blindly threw out a whip, hoping to catch Virgil, but she just missed him, barely an inch. 

As Virgil threw a few punches at the villain, she blindly cast a few more whips, hitting the couch and chairs and the table, just to try and get a grip on Alibi. Eventually, she did get a grip on his leg. She threw Virgil to the side, into the back of the couch, forcing the breath from his lungs. At this point, he was surprised his back hadn’t broken yet. 

He fell to the ground with a huff and he lost his focus for a second, becoming visible once more. Dynamo wrapped a whip around Virgil’s neck and his heart started beating a little faster. He’d been here before, he’d been in this position before, he knew how this would end. He couldn’t do this again. 

But everything was spinning, he was lightheaded, he couldn’t stand up. He couldn’t resist, as much as he wanted to. 

It seemed that Dynamo also realised the familiarity in their position.

“Not doing this again, you said?” she hummed as she sent a low current of energy through the whip. It wasn’t strong, it didn’t send a shock through his entire body like she could, it didn’t make him writhe in pain. It was nothing compared to what Virgil knew she was capable of. But it wasn’t meant to do any of that. It was meant to taunt him. It was meant to remind him of their past encounters. And it worked all too well. But Virgil still refused to give her what she wanted, biting back the panic that arose somewhere deep inside him and tried whatever he could to resist. Even though his head was still spinning and he could pass out. 

He heard a ruckus — not surprising, since Remus was still fighting Red Bandit — but he didn’t think it was anything he should be focussing on. He needed to focus on his own predicament for a moment. 

Remus had noticed Virgil going down, but he couldn’t help him, as much as he wanted to. Red Bandit was a real pain in the ass, with his falchion swords and his throwing daggers. Usually, Remus wouldn’t worry about those weapons, but it seemed like something had been done to them, causing them to be able to hurt him. Now, they still struggled to damage his steel skin and only gave him hardly more than a small cut here and there, but it made things a little trickier. He couldn’t just throw himself at the other blindly; there was a risk now.

Not to mention that his ribs seemed to be intent on murdering him themselves. Every move he made felt like a thousand knives cut into his chest. Every hit he absorbed, made his ribs hurt. Yes, it was a stupid idea to fight like this, but what was he supposed to do? Let Virgil handle this by himself? Not happening. Even if it hurt like hell. Losing Virgil would hurt him more. Something told Remus that he wouldn’t be able to rescue him as easily as he did last time.

Red Bandit jumped at Remus, his sword drawn. Remus managed to grab the villain’s wrist, twisting it to force the other to release his weapon. He then released the Bandit’s wrist and put some distance between them by a jumping push kick to the other’s chest. Before he could do anything else, someone else appeared on the scene.

They flew in through the broken window, immediately going for Dynamo. They quite literally threw themself at her, bringing her to the ground and forcing her to let go of Virgil. 

Remus took advantage of the distraction that followed in the chaos. Red Bandit made the mistake of taking his eyes off of him, even for just a second. A completely understandable response when someone just flew in from outside. But a huge mistake, however short.

Even if it was just a second, Remus pushed the Bandit back a little more with a jumping push kick. The villain threw one of his daggers, but Remus managed to dodge it rather easily and took a slight leap, jumping up and wrapping his legs around the Bandit’s neck. He flipped his body to the side and brought the other to the ground rather easily. Remus himself landed on his two feet again, with a slight stumble and a wince. Those ribs of him were really starting to get annoying. 

At least the Bandit was out cold. 

Someone softly called out his name from behind. Remus turned around and widened his eyes as he saw Patton, a dagger embedded in his leg.

The newcomer on the scene had tackled Dynamo and the villain glared up at them. She narrowed her eyes and, with a bit of a struggle, shot a whip around their neck. As she sent some energy through it, shocking the hero in the process, she was able to push them off and get up. She aimed a kick at the new hero’s ankles; meant to inflict pain and a fair amount of damage. As the hero fell back, hurt by these attacks, Dynamo stepped closer, aiming a number of leopard punches at the hero. However, she couldn’t get far, because Virgil used his powers to push her away, into the wall. The newcomer scrambled to their feet, cast one look at Virgil, seemingly confused, before they rushed closer to the villain, swinging their left elbow around to hit her jaw with it. She stumbled to the side and the hero finished the circle they’d started, bringing their left arm around and placing it on the ground behind them. From there, they brought their right leg up and made a sweeping motion, bringing their leg up to hit Dynamo’s jaw. She was already off balance and this kick seemed enough to knock her back again, seemingly knock out for real now. 

There was a small silence, both Virgil and the new hero standing still to recover, and to make sure that Dynamo was really out. But she didn’t seem to move. And one quick glance at Red Bandit proved that he was taken care of too. Good. They were safe, then. For now.

Chapter Text

Patton had sat down to put as little weight on his injured leg as possible. He rested against Janus, who had immediately come to his aid when he had been hit with the dagger. He’d just wanted to make sure his friends were okay. It was stupid, he knew that. But he couldn’t help it. He had to know. He just stepped out of the room. That was all. He didn’t mean to get hurt.

Remus was crouching in front of them, all three too afraid to touch the blade. That’s what everyone always recommended; leave it in. And Remus knew it was the best move, but they needed to help Patton. Someone needed to-

“Are you guys okay?” A voice asked the group carefully. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t-” They stopped as soon as they noticed Patton leading into Janus and their eyes widened behind their mask. “Patton? I mean-” 

Virgil came up behind the hero, his eyes widened as he saw Patton. Oh, this was bad. They had just gotten here and Patton was already injured. There was a lot of blood and Patton seemed conscious, but barely. This was bad, bad news. Maybe they shouldn’t have come after all. 

When the stranger called Patton by name, Virgil looked up at them, much like Remus and Janus, who eyed them in confusion. Despite their worry over Patton, this caught them off guard. How did this newcomer know his name?

“You know him?” Remus wondered, getting up to better study the person before him. It was definitely a new hero, but he felt like he should know whoever was behind the mask. If they knew Patton-

“I- I mean… yeah,” they finally said, realising they couldn’t cover this up. At the very least, they could change the subject. “You should go to the hospital, I can-”

“Not happening.” The new hero looked around, ready to protest when Remus continued. “They found us before. If we go to the hospital, they’ll find us there again. It’s far too dangerous. I know someone who can help. It’s safer.”

The hero still seemed confused, but they were determined. “I wanna join, then,” they spoke up, watching with wide eyes as Remus jumped out of the window without another glance —  he didn’t even take the time to listen to their response. They were on the fifth floor, was this guy even aware of what he was doing? He couldn’t just jump down like that.

“Don’t worry,” Virgil told them softly, seeing the stranger’s shock. He crouched down next to Patton to carefully pick up the younger one. “He’ll be fine. It’s just quicker. Can you get down from here?”

“Yeah.” It was clear that his reassurances did nothing. “I got this.”

“Cool.”

Virgil held Patton close as he walked over to the window and jumped down, using his powers to make sure both of them got to the ground safely. He also made sure to help Janus down while the hero flew down themself, using some tech in their suit. 

They got into the car — Remus in the driver’s seat with Janus next to him, while Virgil got in the back, Patton still in his arms. The hero looked at them for a second, hesitating before leaning in and asking if they could join. 

“Unless you wanna walk,” Remus huffed. “Get in if you must, I’m leaving in five seconds.”

This was so weird. It was weird and all of them thought so. But they didn’t have the time to debate this, so none of them even tried to do such a thing.

The hero just sighed and got in, their eyes constantly darting towards Patton. They couldn’t look at the other bloodied as he was, but they couldn’t stop looking at him either. The blood was everywhere and he was still breathing, but other than that, he didn’t seem to move. It was unsettling and terrifying, truly. 

“You might wanna hold onto something,” Remus announced as he started the engine. He had quite a lot of experience driving in stressful situations, so this wasn’t new to him. At least no one was shooting at him this time. Nor did he have to shoot at anyone else. So that made it a little easier. 

The ride was, indeed, quite bumpy. A bunch of sharp turns, near collisions and a lot of being honked at. Janus and Remus had some discussions about where to go, but finally they made it to their destination. A large house near the edge of town. It felt… sort of shady, to be fair.  

“Are you sure this is the place?” the hero asked softly. They didn’t know these guys at all, they didn’t know who they were seeing and they didn’t know anything about the situation. Maybe it was a mistake joining them.

“Positive,” Janus responded. 

“How do you even know this guy?”

“Work,” both Janus and Remus responded as they walked towards the house. Janus had already rang the doorbell a few times as the others joined him. 

“Of course,” the stranger muttered under their breath. Really couldn’t be shadier than this. They’d made a mistake coming here, they were sure. It didn’t feel quite right. But they couldn’t leave Patton here. 

It didn’t take long until the door opened, a bald and quite muscular man opening the door, sending a broad smile at Remus and Janus. “Hey you.” His eyes darted over to Virgil and Patton, landing on Nico for a second but finally settling on the two right in front of him. “Come in.” 

They didn’t hesitate and immediately entered, stepping into a large hallway. The man gave the hero one wary glance, clearly not sure what to think of this guy’s presence, before he turned around to walk towards a door near the end of the hallway.

“So,” he started as he walked into the room, “what happened?”

“Dynamo and Red Bandit attacked,” Remus responded. “Came out of nowhere.”

“I thought you’d left the city?”

“We did. But we have had some… issues. So we needed help.”

“Oh?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Fair enough.”

The guy didn’t ask any questions after that. 

They stepped into a small room, with just more doors. There were a few couches, a television and a coffee table. And the doors. The walls were white and it was awfully boring, to be fair. Other than the television, there wasn’t much to suggest it was a room meant to spend a lot of time in. It probably wasn’t.

“You can take him in here,” the stranger told the others. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Virgil did as he was told and followed the guy into another room. It looked like a low-cost, probably illegal hospital. He shouldn’t be surprised. If it was a guy Remus knew, if it was a place where the organisation wouldn’t be likely to find them… just how legal could it be? It definitely wasn’t a hospital he’d ever heard of.

There was proper equipment, though. But it seemed out of place in a room like this. Like it was taken from some hospital and shoved into someone’s bedroom without any other thought. It didn’t look like it belonged here. 

Let alone the question of how this guy had a low-effort hospital in his basement. But considering the fact that Remus and Janus seemed to know this guy… maybe Virgil didn’t even want to know the answer to that. He didn’t think that the answer would be anything good or pleasant.

“Can you help him?” Virgil asked softly as he placed Patton on the bed in the middle of the room. He wasn’t sure if he could trust this guy. He’d much rather go to the hospital, but Remus was right. It was far too risky to go to a hospital right now. This was their best shot.

“I’ve patched up people worse than this guy,” the other responded confidently. “I think he’ll be fine.”

“Think?”

“Look, I know what I’m doing. He’s in good hands.”

Virgil hummed softly, even though he wasn’t convinced just yet. “I hope so.”

He lingered in the room for a second before walking out of the room and joining the others. He wasn’t told to leave, but he’d rather be with the people he trusted than with this man he barely knew. Even if he wanted to be with Patton, make sure he was okay. Virgil wasn’t sure if he could be around a stranger all by himself right now. 

In the meantime, Remus gave the new hero a look. They still hadn’t introduced themself, and it didn’t seem like they wanted to do so either. They were here because they knew Patton, and they felt bad about leaving him. But they still weren't sure about who these guys were, about the nature of their business and how they knew someone like this. They wanted to see the best in them, and they did, but they had learned the hard way not to trust people in a business like this. As much as they wanted to, they couldn’t afford to just trust anyone they crossed paths with. They had seen too many messed up people to do that. 

“Flores?” Remus finally wondered, giving Janus a look. His friend looked over to the hero — who looked at the two of them with wide eyes — and gave an approving hum. 

“What?” the hero gave the two others a wide-eyed look — Virgil had wandered off, deciding he wanted to be with Patton either way. He couldn’t add much to the conversation the other three were having, so he might as well keep an eye on his other friend. It was clear that he was restless. Worried sick and there was probably even more bothering him.

“Is that you? Nico Flores?”

“How do you-”

“Patton told us about you,” Janus answered quickly — it wasn’t a lie. Technically. Patton did talk about his friends a lot. But it obviously wasn’t the full truth either. They had other ways of learning about him. “I mean- it is you, I would assume?”

Janus already knew the answer to this. He could see it in the shock written on the hero’s face, even behind his mask. But he wanted the confirmation. He wanted to hear Nico confirm his identity himself. Just for convenience. 

“Yeah.”

Nico opened his mouth to continue, but Virgil cut in, asking the others to come into the room. He had his arms wrapped around himself, looking at Patton’s body. His mind was all over the place, and it was visible in the way he looked at the other. It was as if he hardly saw what he was looking at. 

The guy — Craig, Remus mentioned offhandedly — mentioned that Patton had lost a lot of blood. Clearly. The group could have come to that conclusion himself. No vital organs had been hit, obviously, since he was injured in his leg, but the blood loss was concerning. Craig said he had to do a blood transfusion. For which he needed someone’s blood. So he wanted to know if anyone actually knew their own or Patton’s blood type.

It remained awfully quiet. 

Remus looked at the others for a second, waiting for anyone to say something. But none of them seemed to know anything. “I have O negative,” Remus finally said when no one spoke up. “Use mine.”

“Yeah?” Craig asked with a tilt of his head. “You know your blood is- affected, right?”

“All too well.” Remus rolled his eyes. “No need to remind me of that.”

“There might be-”

“It’s quicker than getting everyone tested,” he interrupted. “If you’ve got the right tools here, just do it.”

“Wait, can you… do that?” Nico asked Craig, tilting his head. “Just- just like that? I thought those things would take a long time.”

“Ideally, it would,” Craig nodded. He walked over to a door at the back of the room, leading into what seemed like a storage space. “But we don’t exactly have that time, do we?”

They didn’t. Or at least, Nico supposed they didn’t. He wasn’t a medical student, so he didn’t know. But Patton had lost a lot of blood and he knew that blood loss was bad. So… he supposed they didn’t have a lot of time. 

“I hope you don’t mind,” Virgil hummed softly as he followed Craig’s movements carefully. “But how did you get all this equipment?”

“I know some people,” the man responded as he rummaged through his stuff. “From a previous job. They helped me out.”

“And why do you do this?” 

Craig chuckled as he turned around, leaning against the doorframe as he looked at Virgil. It was more than obvious that the other didn’t trust him, but he didn’t mind. He was used to questions like this, so he handled it. 

“For people like you,” he said lightly as he grabbed a few bags from the storage. “Who can’t go to the hospital. Who are running from someone, or something. If you have nowhere else to go, who will help you? That’s why I’m doing this.” 

“Not a great way of doing business if most people don’t know about you,” Nico hummed under his breath. 

“If people know about me, this place will be just as dangerous as anyone else in Kingston,” Craig shot back. “Only a few people know about this place. No one else needs to know.”

He gestured for Remus to sit down on one of the chairs while he grabbed the last of his equipment and put it down on the table. 

“Now, I promise you, I’m just going to help your friend,” Craig continued as he realised no one was going to respond. He grabbed Remus’ arm gently to look at it. “If you don’t trust it, that’s fine. But I’m capable of what I do. I’m sure your friends could attest to that.”

“He knows what he’s doing,” Janus confirmed with a short look at the other. “We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Virgil hummed. That made sense. If Janus trusted this guy… Virgil decided he’d trust him as well. Janus was a good judge of character, so if he said this guy was good, he probably was. Virgil trusted him. 

“Sure.” 

Craig smiled and cleaned a spot on Remus’ arm, having found a good vein. At this, Virgil got out. Even though he decided to trust Janus’ judgement, he didn’t want to be here to see him at work. He didn’t need to see any of the process. 

Nico followed him, but Janus decided to stay in the room with the others, sitting down in a chair next to Patton. 

Virgil and Nico didn’t speak much; neither of them knew what to say to the other and both of them were too busy worrying over Patton. He’d probably be fine, but they still worried. 

Fragments of a conversation in the other room could be heard, but neither of them paid much attention to it. It sounded like old friends — or colleagues, it would seem — catching up, and neither Virgil nor Nico had any business with that. 

But then Virgil heard them mentioning Roman, and he heard a vague description of the events that had happened two days ago. And he heard Craig’s incredible laugh as he said: “You broke your ribs? Weren’t you the invincible Croco-”

Virgil looked up as Remus cut his friend off with a quick look in the direction of the still unknown hero on the couch and Craig nodded in understanding as he moved the subject, asking Remus if he needed anything else. 

Nico didn’t say anything. But he heard. He must have heard. Virgil saw how he looked in the direction of the other room, just from the corner of his eye. He saw how he looked over to Remus, Janus and how his eyes flicked to Virgil for just a second before they settled on his hands. He must have heard. And Virgil didn’t know what to think of that. He didn’t know if this hero would connect the dots, even if they weren’t all that difficult to connect. And if he did, Virgil didn’t know how he would react. 

But Nico remained silent. So it seemed that, at least for now, they had dodged somewhat of a bullet.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before Craig was done with Remus. He said he would just run a few tests before transfusing the blood. It was the bare minimum. In an ideal case, he’d have to do more and it would have to take longer. But they didn’t have that time. 

Remus and Janus then left the room, so their friend could do his thing, and they joined the two others in the living area, if one could even call it that. Virgil immediately leaned into Remus, who wrapped his unbandaged arm around his boyfriend contently. After that, a silence followed. 

Nico shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. He looked at Janus for a moment, at Remus, at Virgil and finally, at his hands. But after seconds of near unbearable silence, he finally spoke up.

"I hope you don't mind…" he started softly, pulling down his mask finally. "But since you seem to know my name, who are you guys?"

That was not the question Virgil had expected, but he responded anyways. He was the first to introduce himself, leaning into Remus, who introduced himself next. Janus took one more look at the hero before saying his own name. 

But it was obvious that something else was on Nico's mind. He didn't say it out loud, maybe he didn't know how or he didn't want to yet. But something was on his mind. It was glaringly obvious and it couldn't annoy Janus more. 

"Okay, spill," he said, crossing his legs. "What's on your mind?"

Nico looked at him for a few seconds, trying to pretend he didn't understand the question. But he quickly gave up on that. The way Janus stared at him just told him that he knew something was going on in his mind. Pretending that he wasn’t constantly thinking about this one thing would only delay the inevitable. 

"Well…" He tapped his hands together slightly as he looked over at Remus. "I heard, eh- Craig, mention… the Crocodile? I think? Maybe I heard incorrectly, but I thought he said that you were…”

He didn’t finish his question, but the implications were more than a little clear. He'd heard. Remus had hoped that Nico wouldn't have heard the conversation between him and Craig. But the hero had better ears than he had hoped. This wasn't really a conversation he wanted to have. But sure. He figured it would have to happen sooner or later, if they were going to get involved with this kid for a longer period of time. 

"You didn’t mishear,” Remus responded finally. “It’s me.”

"Wha- for real?" Nico seemed absolutely floored by this response. And he was. This was an unexpected answer in so many ways. It didn’t add up. This guy was the Crocodile? How did Patton know this man, then? And how was he here? "You're- so you… you're not dead?"

That wasn't the question anyone had expected after this revelation. Not even Nico Flores himself. There were so many questions running through his brain and this one just happened to push to the front first.

"I don't know. Do I look dead?"

"No, it's not… everyone thought you died. I mean after you disappeared… everyone kind of assumed you were dead."

“They assumed wrong.”

That wasn’t what Nico expected. Part of him still didn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that this man was the Crocodile. That guy killed dozens of people, hundreds, probably. How could he- why was he- 

Nico didn’t understand. At all. 

“I- does Patton know?”

Remus scoffed softly — fuck, that hurt, bad move. “If he doesn’t know, something is wrong.” 

He had to be dreaming, right? There was no way the actual Crocodile was sitting here, in some at-home hospital, helping some kid. How did he even know Patton? Why did he care about Patton? Why were the two others so okay with hanging out with a serial killer? And not just any serial killer, but one of the most feared and most terrifying individuals in the area? 

This situation was insane and Nico couldn’t wait until he woke up. He couldn’t wrap his head around any of this. 

“And you two…” He looked at Janus and Virgil, the end of this question dying away. 

“Are well aware,” Janus finished. 

“Right.” 

After that, no one spoke. Nico was still thinking about all of this and how crazy it was. This past year had already been the weirdest in his life; being a superhero was the best and strangest thing that had happened to him. But this beat everything he had experienced combined. 

“Is that why they attacked you?” Nico suddenly asked, thinking back to the situation in the apartment. “Because you…”

He knew that the organisation had wanted Crocodile dead. He had reasoned it, at the very least. No one knew what the organisation wanted, other than its members. But he had known something had happened with the organisation and Crocodile, especially after the villain disappeared for a few months. People theorized that he’d left, and from there on… it wasn’t difficult to think that the organisation might want him dead. The Crocodile wasn’t someone you wanted to turn on you, so it made sense. 

“Among other things,” Remus nodded. “They’re not happy with me. Or any of us, I would say.”

“Really?”

This was so weird. He helped the Crocodile out, though Nico was pretty sure that someone like him didn’t need any help. Although- he did mention being injured, which was yet another odd thing. He always thought the Crocodile was some big, invincible guy. But… well, perhaps he was just human after all. 

He didn’t understand why they were back, if the organisation seemed to want them dead. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He wasn’t too sure what to do about this whole situation either. They seemed to care about making sure Patton was okay, so… how bad could they be, right?

“That’s what you get for killing their leader, I suppose.”

“You killed Caesar?”

Nico didn’t know what shocked him more. The fact that he was talking to the man who had killed Caesar, or how casually Remus had alluded to it. 

“I had a little bit of help,” Remus said with a look at Virgil, one that didn’t go unnoticed. “But yeah. Pretty much.”

Another silence fell and Remus could see that Nico still didn’t know how to feel about the situation. Understandable. Honestly, the young hero had taken the news far better than he had expected.

“So how about you, hero?” he finally asked. It was only fair if he got some information about this hero. After all, he already knew his real name; information that was far more dangerous, that could get him so much more information. So there was no harm in getting this, far more public, information, right? 

“Well-” Nico thought for a second. “My name is Aura. I’m an empath, so I can feel, and… see certain emotions others are feeling. I can manipulate them to some extent, and draw energy from them. If they’re strong enough.”

“And you fight?”

“Yeah, I’ve been training since I was a kid.”

“What do you do?”

“Mostly kickboxing. But I’ve been getting into capoeira for the past few years.”

Now, that one caught Remus’ attention. Virgil and Janus had stopped paying attention to this conversation, neither of them particularly interested, but Remus’ interest just seemed to grow. 

“Oh, really?” he asked with a small smile. “Good pick.”

“Is it?”

“Certainly,” Remus nodded. “I should know.”

“Glad to know,” Nico said slowly. He wasn’t sure how to respond to this. To be fair, he wasn’t sure how to respond to anything he had learned these past few minutes. But how was he supposed to answer to a former villain telling him that his choice was a good one? That wasn’t exactly something he had prepared for.

The group didn’t say much after that. No one really had a lot to say, and all of them had too much on their mind anyways. They just focused on their own issues and waited for an update on Patton’s situation.

The silence was broken by Craig’s confused voice calling from the other room. “Uh- come back here, you guys.”

The four of them exchanged a few glances, wondering what the hell could be going on. All of them immediately feared the worst. Anything could have happened. Maybe there was more going on than just blood loss? No one said it, but they all thought it. 

They walked into the room, to see Craig sitting next to Patton. A Patton who looked much better than he did before, and who seemed to be… waking up.

“I think the transfusion might have had some effects,” Craig explained as the others walked in. “He’s healing quickly. I think it’s to do with the grey matter. It just… worked much faster than usual.”

“It’s already activated,” Remus theorized as he approached the bed. “Could that be it?”

“Potentially.” 

Nico frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Usually, when someone gets affected by grey matter, it takes a little bit to activate and enhance the person affected,” Craig said as he walked across the room, grabbing a notebook from the table on the side. “But the blood he got contained traces of grey matter that has already been activated. So it’s likely that that’s why it took effect so soon.”

“Shouldn’t he be getting the same powers as… Remus?” He gave Remus a hesitant glance as he said this. Nico couldn’t explain why, but it felt so wrong to address this man he barely knew by his name. Or maybe he felt like he wasn’t on a first name basis with one of the most notorious villains Kingston had ever known — he should probably stop thinking of Remus like that, but he was still not quite over it. However, it seemed that Remus was fine with it. So that was good. 

“Not necessarily," Craig said as he wrote something down in his notebook. “Grey matter affects every body differently. The way that it reacts to someone’s body is what determines their powers, not how you get it. People can be affected by the same source and be affected differently. And in that same thought, people can be affected by someone else and get different powers. I don’t think anyone has cracked the formula yet. If there is any.”

“Huh, interesting,” Nico hummed. He already made a mental note to try to investigate this a bit more. Maybe he could write something about it for the blog. That could be pretty interesting, and he was sure his readers would enjoy it. If he could pull it off. 

Patton stirred slightly, blinking as his eyes opened slowly. Now, none of them knew anything about situations like these, but surely, that wasn’t supposed to happen? He wasn’t supposed to wake up that quickly? Yet, he seemed okay. Like nothing had happened to him. 

But Patton hummed softly, slowly opening his eyes, squinting against the bright light in the room. 

“Pat?” Virgil asked, taking a few careful steps closer. “How- are you okay?”

“Think so,” Patton muttered as he tried to get up, “where are we?”

As he looked around, carefully opening his eyes, he noticed that he didn’t recognize where he was. He was in a bed, or on a couch, or something else soft and comfortable. He saw people standing around him, but he didn’t know where they were. 

His friends reassured him that they were somewhere safe, trustworthy, and that they were taking care of him. And among the voices — and, as his eyes got used to the light, the faces — Patton recognized someone he hadn’t seen in a year. 

“Nico?” he asked softly, frowning. Surely, that couldn’t be him, right? What was he doing here? And what was he wearing? 

“Hey,” the unmistakable voice of Nico responded as he drew closer. Patton definitely recognized his friend and he grinned. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a grin as he extended his hand to his younger friend, which Nico gladly took. 

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Fair enough.”

Patton rested his head back and closed his eyes for a second. He remembered what had happened in the apartment. He remembered Dynamo and Red Bandit, he remembered someone else flying in, he remembered the dagger burying itself in his leg. But Nico… 

Wait a minute… 

“You’re a superhero now, too?” 

Nico chuckled. “Maybe,” he answered, looking down at his attire. “Someone had to take over for Alibi, and no one else seemed to be doing it, so…”

“Makes sense,” Patton said with a careful smile. However, there were still too many questions going through his head, even though he was still waking up. He didn’t understand where they were, who the stranger in the room was and why Nico was here with the rest of them. “What happened?”

The group tried to explain everything as well as they could — though it was confusing to say the least. But they got the message across; Patton nearly died after being hit by one of Red Bandit’s daggers, but Remus gave his blood so now he was magically okay. As odd and confusing as it sounded, Patton was inclined to believe it. Remus and Janus had told him all kinds of weird stories about things they had encountered. So this wasn’t even that weird. 

“So you saved my life?” Patton grinned at Remus. “Again? You must really like me.”

“Professional courtesy.”

“Right.” Patton chuckled softly, looking down at his hands. The others had mentioned that he seemed to recover rather quickly and at first, he took their word for it and that was that. But… well, that was kind of strange, wasn’t it? He hadn’t studied medicine, but he knew that he felt fine right now, as if nothing had happened. And he didn’t think that it was supposed to be that quickly. “So what, I have powers now?”

“It does seem like it.” The stranger — Craig, right? — responded. “I think I wanna run a few tests, just to see that everything is okay and running as it should. But it seems that way.”

“Nice,” Patton said with a nod. “I’m one of you now.”

“I’m not sure that’s something you want,” Virgil considered. Looking at everything they’d been through… ‘one of them’ shouldn’t be a desirable position. Patton would be dragged into their affairs no matter what, as evidenced by their current situation, but that didn’t change much about the fact that no one should strive to be ‘one of them’.

“No, it is,” the younger man insisted. “Now I’m finally part of the group. Except- except Janus, I suppose.”

“And thank God for that,” Janus deadpanned. “I wouldn’t want to be part of the group.” He gave the others the slightest smirk, just to let them know he was kidding. Even though all of them already knew that. They were all used to his character by now. He loved them, even if he didn’t say it out loud.

Craig interrupted their conversation with the announcement that he wanted to take just a tiny bit of Patton’s blood, for research purposes. Patton let him, stretching out an arm and allowing the man to do his job. 

“So… what do we do now?” he asked, as Craig cleaned a spot on his arm he thought suitable. “I mean… where do we go?”

Right. That was a good question. Their previous hideout was clearly compromised. Remus had one house near the edge of town that might be safe, but he didn’t like how far from the city it was. They needed to be able to see the Inventor if they had to; they still needed his help after all. 

He figured the best bet would be the semi-basement on Maple Drive. He hated the thought of going back to a place they had been to before, and even though he was fairly certain the organisation didn’t know about this particular apartment, there was still a chance that it was compromised. Virgil hadn’t told them the address, and he knew they hadn’t looked there for him yet, so Parasite probably hadn’t made the connection with him yet. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a risk. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a chance that she had seen it. And Remus felt uneasy taking that risk. But they didn’t have much of a choice. It was the safest option they had right now. 

“I think our best chances are going back to the semi-basement,” he voiced, though he clearly wasn’t in favour of it. “We can stay there until we get an update, or…”

“You can come to my place,” Nico interrupted, before even he knew what he was saying. “I mean… it’s a bit small. But you can lay low there.”

“That’s too big a risk,” Virgil immediately refuted with a shake of his head. “If they find out we’re staying with you, we’ll put you at risk as well.”

“I know,” Nico said stubbornly, “but I want to help. Maybe I can help you out with your… business as well. I’m a hero too, I know there’s gonna be risks. I want to help.”

In the background, Craig mumbled to himself about something and there was a bit of noise as he wrote something down and leafed through another notebook in search of notes he had made earlier. 

“I don’t see why not,” Janus cut in. “If we manage to get there unseen, they might not even think to look for us there.”

“And if we don’t get there unseen, we’re dragging someone else into our mess.”

“That someone is completely okay with it,” Nico said softly behind them. “Really. I’m fine, let me help you out.”

Patton would honestly like to go with Nico to his friend’s house. He hadn’t seen the other in a year and he would love to catch up with him if at all possible. But he also understood how the others — Virgil and Remus, anyways — could be against it. But if Nico was fine with it… 

Eventually, the group came to the decision that they would go to Nico’s place. Remus still didn’t like it but he realised that it was their best option. So, he finally decided to go along with it. He knew they could take care of themselves if anything happened, but the idea of dragging someone innocent into their mess didn’t feel fair. The fewer people involved, the better. He just wanted to arrive, get the gun and get out, but all of this had already evolved into something far bigger and more complicated. But fine. They didn’t have a lot of options anyways. 

After some tests, Craig came to the conclusion that Patton’s blood had indeed been affected by the transfusion. It had worked far quicker than it usually did, and Remus’ theory didn’t seem unlikely. The grey matter had already been activated, so it started to work and affect Patton almost immediately, while it would usually take a few hours at the very least — unless an outside force activated the matter. Craig couldn’t determine exactly what powers Patton would end up with, but healing powers seemed to be at least a part of the outcome. The rest would have no adverse effects. But he seemed fine. In fact, the longer they stayed there, the better he felt. Nothing seemed to be going wrong or changing, so they all decided that it was safe enough to go back to living their life. 

They thanked Craig for his help before they slowly made their way back to their car. As they walked away, Patton noticed a few small cuts across Remus’ arms. 

“You got hurt?” he gasped, immediately stopping to gently grab his friend’s arm. “How is that possible?”

“Seems like they have been busy while we were gone,” Remus brushed off, already trying to move on. “It’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.”

But Patton didn’t let go just yet. “I still need to thank you,” he murmured, not letting go of his friend just yet. “You did save my life, after all.”

“Again, no big deal,” Remus responded with a shake of his head. “What else was I supposed to do? Let you die?”

He was about to say more, but Patton shifted his grip slightly and, even if just for a second, his fingers brushed over some of Remus’ exposed skin. And something happened. Remus felt something- he didn’t quite know how to describe it. It felt almost warm, as energy travelled through his body, and it was all directed at those few cuts on his arm, the warmth nearly enveloping them. By the time the warmth pulled away, it seemed like the cuts had almost healed already.

“What was that?” Patton hurriedly pulled away, looking at the cuts before turning to Remus with wide eyes. “Did I do that?”

“I think so,” he mumbled, looking at the marks, “I think you healed it.”

“I what?” For a second or two, it looked like Patton was about to faint. His eyes grew wider than before and he eyed Remus’ arm. “I… are you sure it’s me?”

“I don’t think it was anything else.” 

“Oh my goodness.” It wasn’t clear if Patton was freaking out because he was excited about this development, or terrified of it. It was probably a bit of both. Because while it was awesome and incredible, it was scary to have powers like these. He didn’t know what this would mean for the future and which other effects it might have. But holy shit, this was awesome. “Wait, what if I…” 

Very carefully, Patton placed his hands in Remus’ sides, carefully touching his ribs. It took a few seconds this time, but Remus did feel that same warmth coming up, enveloping his broken ribs until something snapped in place. 

Clearly, Patton felt this as well, as he pulled away with a small squeak. “I’m sorry,” he brought out. “Are you okay?”

Remus moved around a little bit, very aware of the others watching them closely. “I… I think so,” he hummed as he noticed a clear absence of the stabbing pain in his sides. “I think it’s good.”

“Wait, you’re okay?” Virgil asked as he came up to the two of them. “Are you sure?”

“I think I’d know the difference between broken bones and non-broken bones.”

“You have more faith in yourself than I do,” Virgil teased with a slight nudge to his boyfriend’s side. “That’s great, though! It sounds like a great topic to discuss when we get back?” 

“Yeah,” Remus nodded. He noticed that Virgil was eager to leave and he couldn’t blame him. “The sooner we’re out of here, the better. I don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary.”

Everyone else seemed to share this sentiment and they were more than happy to leave. There was more to discuss here, but it was better to do that somewhere safe. This wasn’t the place to do that. Remus made sure that there was no one around who might be suspicious. There was no one on the roofs, no one weird in front of any of the windows or on the street. Everything seemed fine. For now.  

Chapter Text

Remus got into the driver’s seat, with Nico taking the passenger’s seat so he could give directions to his place. The others had to squeeze in on the backseat. It was never perfectly comfortable, but they made it work. At least it wouldn’t be for long; Nico estimated that it was about twenty-five minutes to his apartment. They could handle twenty-five minutes.

With Nico’s directions, they finally made it to a small parking lot in front of an apartment building, about five stories high. The apartment they’d be heading to was on the ground floor. Maybe not perfect, but at least they weren’t facing the road, so that was a little extra safety. And it was a roof over their heads.

“It’s not much,” Nico said as he let the others in. “And it’s a little small, but… it’s better than nothing.”

He wasn’t lying when he said that. They stepped into a small hallway with a coat rack and a small row of shoes against the wall. That hallway led them to a living room that would probably just be able to fit the five of them. Or- six, as someone else was sitting at the small dining table in the right of the room. In the living room, there was a red couch and a dark blue chair, a dining table to the right, four chairs around the round table. To the back, they could just see a kitchen through a half-open door. 

Even though the room wasn’t big, it was nice. Comfortable. Perfect for two guys living together, but it might be a little bit cramped for six people. At least it wouldn’t last long. That’s what they were assuming, anyways. 

The guy at the dining table looked up from the laptop in front of him, opening his mouth and ready to ask who the hell Nico was talking to. His expression only grew more confused as he saw the four people his roommate had brought in. As he noticed Patton, he lit up, but when his gaze fell on Nico again, the confusion was evident.

“Hey babe,” the guy smiled as he got up and walked towards the group. “Who did you bring home?”

“Oh,” Nico nodded, looking back at the others. “Right. Well- they’re Pat’s friends. The organisation came after them and they needed a place to stay. So… I figured they could stay here for a bit? Just until everything’s taken care of.”

The guy nodded. “Of course,” he said, turning his attention to the newcomers. “Well then, you’re free to stay as long as you need. Though we’re gonna have to figure out how to do it bed-wise.” That bit was directed towards Nico, who already nodded. He’d realised that himself. They didn’t have enough beds for all of their new guests. “I’m Thomas. Nice to meet you guys.”

He held out a hand to the others, who all introduced themselves. Once he got to Patton, the youngest of the group already threw himself at him, nearly knocking Thomas over as he wrapped his arms around the other’s shoulders. 

“It’s good to see you too, Pat,” Thomas chuckled softly, patting his friend’s back. “Surprised to see you back here.”

“Me too,” Patton said, squeezing Thomas a bit more. “But we didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I’m glad to see you regardless, of course.”

Patton hummed as he finally pulled away, though he leaned in close. “Did I just hear you call Nico ‘babe’?” he whispered conspiratorially, barely holding back a smile. 

“You did.” Thomas’ response got a small squeal out of Patton as he bounced slightly. 

“I knew it,” he grinned. “Finally. Took you long enough.” He nudged Thomas slightly. “I’m happy for you, though.” 

The rest had walked over to the living area, the three guests sitting down on the couch while Nico stood behind the chair, leaning on the backrest slightly. He was listening to Patton’s squealing with a small smile, having expected a similar reaction from his friend. Thomas and Patton continued to chat for a little longer, so Nico turned his attention to the three on the couch. 

“Can I get you guys anything?” he asked them with a slight tilt of his head. 

All three of them responded that they were fine for now — Virgil wouldn’t mind something to drink, but he was too anxious to ask for anything, even when offered to him. He decided he’d wait for a bit before he would ask. 

Nico nodded and sat down on the chair. It didn’t take long for Thomas and Patton to wrap up their catching up session and Thomas returned to the table. He said he just wanted to edit a video he had been working on, but that he’d join them quickly — which got a small whine out of Nico. Patton joined his friends on the couch. It barely fit, but luckily Virgil and Remus were practically one person at this point so they didn’t mind scooting together a bit. 

They quickly learned that Thomas knew about Nico’s secret hero identity. Patton knew him well, and even Janus deemed him trustworthy, so they caught him up on the situation.

“And, if you don’t mind me asking,” Nico started carefully, looking at the others in front of him. “Why are you back here? People clearly want you dead… why come back?”

“Long story short… Caesar came back from Hell as a demon and he wants me dead,” Remus shrugged. He had decided it wouldn’t be good for any party involved to get into the details of the how and the why of it all. Besides, they didn’t even understand it properly, so how were they supposed to explain it fully? “We figured there’s only one person who could make something that could kill a- demon, or whatever. So we came here.”

“We could just-”

“Yeah, Patton wants to summon the devil,” Remus said quickly as Patton started to talk, “but that’s ridiculous, so we’re not doing that.”

With the sheer ridiculousness of that suggestion, he had been sure the others would have responded in a fashion that would fit that. Shock perhaps, or a soft chuckle. But what he hadn’t expected was for Thomas to sigh and look at Patton. 

“I thought you were over that phase.”

No one said anything for a second or two. Did they hear that correctly? 

Thomas didn’t even seem surprised at Remus' comment. He just looked at Patton like a disappointed parent — even though he was a few years younger than Patton was. 

“Phase?” Virgil finally spoke, voicing the one question the three of them shared. 

“Oh yeah,” Thomas said with a nod, ignoring Patton’s half-hearted glare. “When we were in high school, there was this kid who was very big on the occult. And Patton had a crush on him-”

“I did not.”

“He definitely did. Either way, Patton got into occult stuff to impress him-”

“I did not try to impress him,” Patton huffed. “He just happened to introduce me to it.”

“Sure,” Thomas said, grinning at his friend, “either way, he got into it because of that guy, who he definitely had a crush on. And he got really into it for a few years. It cooled down eventually, but it took a while. He tried to convince me to summon the devil a few times.”

“I’m just saying, if we’re dealing with a demon…” 

“We’re not going over this again.”

“So,” Nico started before Patton could protest again — he wasn’t sure if this was a conversation they should be having right now. “Why are you here? I mean… it doesn’t sound like it’s such a smart idea to come here if everyone wants you dead.” 

“It’s pretty much our only option,” Virgil answered, clearly happy with the change of topic. “We were hoping to contact The Inventor, the- the guy at McKay Labs. If anyone can make a weapon to deal with a demon, it’s him.”

Nico nodded slowly, but a frown made its way onto his face as he connected the dots. “Oh- yeah, he doesn’t really… do that anymore.”

“He what?” Remus and Janus exchanged a look as they heard this. Now, that was uncharacteristic. The Inventor hadn’t stopped his business in the years since he started; no threat could make him quit. Had something happened, or… 

“He only works with the organisation now,” Nico elaborated. 

Now, if his first comment on the matter hadn’t raised any red flags, this one definitely did. If The Inventor was willing to commit to something like that, if he would be willing to work exclusively for the organisation, they would have made a deal like that long ago. They wouldn’t want their enemies to lay their hands on tech of the quality The Inventor offered and they had tried to make a deal more than once. But he never agreed, priding himself on being impartial — Remus always called it greedy, or money hungry. 

The bottom line was that he didn’t commit to just one party. And the fact that he somehow seemed to have changed his mind rang all the alarm bells. Something was wrong. 

“Are you sure?” Janus inquired, shifting his position and leaning forwards a little more. He knew just as well as Remus did that this was a bad sign and he was curious to know more. He didn’t doubt Nico’s statement, but he hoped that he would learn more about the situation because this was not looking good for them. 

“I’m pretty sure,” the hero nodded, “I had to get my tech and suit from someone else, so… yes.”

“That’s not good.”

“Well…” Nico started, clearly noticing the worry in the two men, though completely missing the why of this reaction. “Can that… Craig fellow help?”

“Oh no, he can’t do anything with anything other than people,” Remus dismissed. “Besides, that’s not the issue. The Inventor doesn’t choose sides. Never has. So if he did choose a side, something must be wrong. Something happened.”

“So then…”

“I think we should pay him a visit tonight.” 

“Tonight?” Nico asked, tilting his head curiously.

“Tonight,” Remus nodded. “The sooner the better.”

There was a moment of silence in which the others took in this suggestion. No one could say they disagreed with that idea, but especially Virgil and Janus knew how much The Inventor valued his rule for making an appointment before showing up. Sure, this could probably be labelled an emergency situation — for them, at least — but it wasn’t guaranteed that he would feel the same. He didn’t appreciate people barging in without making an appointment. But if he didn’t respond to them... that was easier said than done. 

“I agree,” Janus nodded. “I don’t trust this.”

“Do you ever trust anything, though?” Remus teased his friend with a small smile. 

“Occasionally. Just not this time.”

Remus grinned and leaned into his friend a bit, giving him a teasing stare. “At least you’re honest about it.”

“For what it’s worth, I agree,” Virgil cut in with a look at the two. “He’s the only one who can help us, and… it’s worth a shot.”

Since none of them had ever done any business with The Inventor, Patton, Nico and Thomas had very little to add to this conversation. Patton trusted the judgement of his friends and the other two trusted Patton’s judgement. So, it was rather quickly decided that they would stop by the lab the next night. The Inventor always spent long parts of his night in his lab, so they were confident they’d be able to find him there. If not… they would have to stop by day, though none of them favoured that. 

“So that… Craig guy,” Nico tried hesitantly after a silence between the group, “you knew him. Is he part of the organisation?”

“He was,” Remus nodded. He leaned into Virgil a bit more and it was clear he was happy with the change of topic. “He used to do experiments and… surgeries on people. But he retired. He managed to make a deal with Caesar so they wouldn’t come after him and he could continue doing what he does now. They can still call in some favours here and there, but he’s not officially linked to them anymore.”

“Favours?” Nico tilted his head curiously. All this talk about the organisation fascinated him. It was horrible. Everything the organisation did was horrible. The drug dealing, the murdering, the torturing, human experimentation. But it was so interesting and fascinating. Even before he ran the blog, he still followed everything Patton posted on there, wanting to know more. He just couldn’t help it.   

“Have you ever run into someone named Eve?”

Nico remained silent as he thought about this. He wanted to say he had heard the name before, but it wasn’t like Eve was such an unusual name. But other than having heard it once or twice, Nico couldn’t confidently say that he knew who Remus was talking about, so he answered with a shake of his head. 

“She’s a cyborg,” the ex-villain continued. “Or- at this point, she might be more robot than human. Parts of her brain and body have been replaced with technological parts. Craig performed the surgeries to make those modifications. And every once in a while, they’ll need an update, or something breaks down. He’s one of the two only people who can fix her. So he agreed to doing that, if they left him alone the rest of the time. I don’t know how much they know about the rest of his business, but the work he does on Eve is too valuable for them to break that deal so they won't harm him.”

“Didn’t you make a deal like that?”

Remus shook his head. “I never would have gotten a deal like that. I’m too much of a threat to them. Craig? He can’t do anything other than surgeries. He has information, sure, but he’ll never leak that, they made quite sure. He doesn’t have anything outside of that. No powers, no fighting abilities, nothing but a little bit of information. So they let him live. He’s hardly a threat. Unlike me.”

Nico had to admit that this intrigued him. He didn’t want to ask about it too much, since he reasoned that the others wouldn’t like talking about the organisation — and he sensed a lot of anger around that topic as well — but he couldn’t help himself from asking at least a little bit. It was too interesting!

There was a bit more conversation. Nico asked a few careful questions about the organisation and the group tried to figure out more about Patton’s new powers, but understandably, didn’t get very far. They had a few cups of coffee — even Virgil, who never liked the taste — in order to stay awake. It was around three o’clock at night that Remus felt like it was a good time to head out to see The Inventor. 

“Who's coming?” he asked as he got up. His eyes subconsciously wandered over to Virgil, who was already in the process of getting up himself. After all, there was no way he would let Remus go out alone. Not with the organisation out there. Not with Roman. 

“I’m in,” he smiled, grabbing Remus’ hand. 

“Can I come?” Patton asked carefully. He had to admit that he was pretty curious to see this Inventor they spoke of. The others had mentioned him a number of times, but Patton had never seen him. He was curious, okay?

“I… sure?” Remus looked over at Virgil for a second. He would like to say no, simply because he wanted Patton to stay out of this business as much as possible. But maybe it was better to have him with them. Maybe it was better to keep him close, where they could protect him. Especially with him being on the organisation’s kill list as well. 

Virgil looked at his partner, eyes widening slightly at the sudden question. He did not like the idea of being in charge of this. He didn’t know what he was doing either, but he didn’t see a big issue with Patton coming along. It didn’t quite sit right with him, but the thought of leaving Patton here — even if the two others would be here — also wasn’t a thought he enjoyed. 

“Of course,” he said with a nod. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Dee?” Remus turned to face his friend questioningly. “I’m sure we could use a people-reader in there.”

Janus didn’t respond immediately. He looked at Nico and Thomas for a second or two, biting the inside of his cheek. “Sure,” he nodded, turning to the two others. “The two of you should stay here. The less chance of you being seen with us, the better.”

“Are you sure?”

“He’s right,” Virgil said, stretching slightly. “It’s safer for you to stay here. If anyone spots us when we’re on our way…” He didn’t continue, but the implications were clear. He didn’t want the two to get caught in the crossfire.

“Fine,” Nico said, although it was obvious he was reluctant to concede. “At least let me give you guys my number. In case you need a little help.”

“Sure.” 

The others all agreed — minus Patton, who had known Nico’s number for years. They took some time to exchange numbers before the group headed out. Nico and Thomas promised to stay awake until the others came back, just in case something happened or they needed help. 

After that, the four left the apartment to pay The Inventor a visit.