Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Picture a building. A grand, hulking, beautiful, white building with large pillars and windows out front. Then, within, marble floors, vaulted ceilings, and dazzling chandeliers. Bank tellers sit in cushioned chairs behind mahogany desks. Entrepreneurs, business people, and plenty of others stand in line, sit in wait, or walk to destinations, carrying black suitcases. Then, further back in the building, there are several high-security vaults with heavy, impressive doors.

This building is the Druthers City Bank. Druthers City is one of the largest cities in a world of superpowers. Superheroes, and supervillains, occupy every inch of the city. Because of this, the bank is robbed, on average, twice a month.

Another instance was about to be added to this record. A figure was preparing to rob the bank. They appeared to be dressed in dark gray, blending into the shadows around them. They wore a hooded cloak, and underneath the hood a black raccoon’s mask framed dangerous gray eyes. When they moved, the discerning eye might spot that the inside of the cloak was actually a dark purple. The even more discerning eye may notice the way that their hands shook within their gray fingerless gloves. However, no such eyes bothered to pay attention to the figure in the shadows as they crept towards the bank. If anyone had bothered to know, the figure’s name was Virgil Argus, and he had dreaded this day for a long time.

Becoming a supervillain isn’t something that Virgil necessarily planned on. It all had to do with his stupid Propensity. Around 25% of the world’s population possess a Propensity, or a special ability that they’re born with— a superpower. Those who are discovered to have a Propensity are sent to the nearest Propensity Education Academy, where students are taught to understand and control their powers, as well as a regular education alongside it. The majority of these academies are boarding schools, in order to keep students in a controlled environment where they won’t cause trouble with their powers. Virgil spent most of his life in one such school. There are two ways kids are sent to a Propensity Academy. The first way is by an expensive DNA test. However, most can’t afford such a luxury. Virgil was sent there the way that most kids are: his Propensity started to manifest.

Ever since he was a baby, Virgil has always had nightmares. He doesn’t know what it’s like to dream. As a child, every night he woke up screaming, or crying, or simply trembling in fear. His parents tried their best to console him, buying a fair amount of products and searching methods on the internet, but the nightmares never ended. On one of these many nights, when Virgil was maybe six years old, he woke up screaming, tears running down his face, and utterly terrified. He doesn’t remember what he had seen in his nightmare. All he knows is when his parents came in to comfort him, it only terrified him even more. He felt something deep inside lash out, and suddenly they both began to tremble as much as him, eyes widening in terror. This caught Virgil by surprise enough for his fear to be temporarily replaced by confusion.

“Mommy? Papa? What’s wrong?”

His mom stayed in place, sinking to her knees and still staring at the empty space ahead of her. His dad, on the other hand, started screaming, scrambling as if to get away from something.

“What are you guys looking at? What’s happening? Is it a monster?!” Virgil asked as his parents seemed to only get more terrified.

They wouldn’t answer him, they were just staring into nothingness. Why wouldn’t they answer him?! What was wrong?!

“MOM! DAD!! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP, I’M SCARED!” He ran to his mom, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her frantically, “STOP STOP STOP!!!” He repeated the phrase over and over and over again, demanding it to happen.

His mom’s eyes continued to stare straight ahead, her head jerking back and forth as Virgil shook her.. Until finally, she blinked. Once. Twice. Blinking as her eyes finally focused on her son standing in front of her, tears running down his face, yelling with a hoarse voice. She wrapped her arms around him, though she was still trembling.

“Shh, shh.. It’s okay. It’s okay Virgil. Mommy’s okay now. She just had a.. A bad dream.” Virgil allowed himself to relax, taking shaky breaths at his mom’s instruction.

As he did, his dad finally stopped screaming. His mom wordlessly pulled him into the hug, too.

After they had all calmed down, Virgil saw his parents exchange a somber look.

A month later, he was sent to the Druthers Propensity Education Academy, where he spent the next thirteen years of his life. He didn’t want to go there, but his parents told him he’d “be able to learn how to control his.. Gift” in the tone of voice that had become common to him in the time since that night in his bedroom. Every time he got remotely upset, his parents would flinch, immediately doing whatever it took to calm him down. He wanted to learn how to control it, so that when he got back, things could be normal again. Besides, it would be just like school, but everyone would have powers just like him!

...Or so he thought.

It turns out, the majority of the other kids in the school had fun, cool, exciting Propensities, like flying, or invisibility. Virgil would love to have invisibility. Instead, his Propensity was making people see visions of their worst fears. When he talked to the school Counsellor with his parents, and they told her what Virgil’s ability was, she simply raised her eyebrows and said, “I see.” She checked a special box on his forms, which he’d later learn said “DPC” which stands for Dangerous Propensity Control. That meant that during his time at the academy, he, among almost half of the other students, had a curriculum specially-designed to keep students in check as they learn to control their dangerous Propensities. Bomb-proof classrooms, extra supervision, and the majority of class time spent on learning “control”. At first, as a six-year-old kid, Virgil made friends in the way that all little kids make friends: everyone mutually agreeing to play together. Of course, when it came to nighttime in the dorms.. it wasn’t good. After Virgil woke up screaming for the fifth night in a row, the administration of the school decided to have him moved to a solitary dorm, which there were quite a few of in order to contain some of the Propensities that are dangerous even in sleep. The kids were slightly freaked out at the idea of a kid who only has nightmares and had to sleep in a special room, but at the end of the day, they’re all kids, and they can always use another person for freeze-tag.

However, as they got older, Virgil’s friends slowly began to drift away. The majority of Propensities manifest or get stronger through age, and that was true for Virgil. During the first three years of his time at the school, his Propensity didn’t show up at all, other than in his own sleep. When he was nine, it began to show up in short, unpredictable bursts, usually when he was feeling strong emotions. That was how he lost his few remaining friends, leaving him with none at the age of ten. That was when Virgil’s time at the academy really began to go downhill. As his Propensity grew stronger, he grew older, and as he grew older, he began to understand the hidden division between students. This division wasn’t the obvious one, between the DPC students and the regular ones. For the most part, they got along fine, when they came into contact with one another. The real, large, menacing divide was within the DPC.

The students outside of the DPC generally were only at the school for a few years, learning about how to control their Propensities and utilize them safely for everyday life. They went on to get jobs as mostly normal citizens, with some special qualifications. However, the students of the Dangerous Propensity Control curriculum had much higher expectations placed on them. They often spend the majority of their lives in the academy, and when they finally had control of their Propensities, they generally had two occupation choices: becoming a superhero or becoming a supervillain.

The mindset of the majority of people was that a person with dangerous and remarkable powers shouldn’t put them to waste, and should instead use them to change the world. Of course, the majority of people mean changing the world for the better, by becoming superheroes.. But a significant amount of people who grow up with these powers disagree. These people, instead, choose to be supervillains. That was the division between the students of the DPC.

The issue with Propensities is that while they are not inherently good or bad, they can often be aligned in such a way that they might as well be. For example, if you have a healing Propensity, you’re automatically set to be a superhero or just a skilled doctor; but if you for some reason wanted to be a supervillain, you’d have a much harder time. On the other hand, if you, hypothetically, had a Propensity for, just a random example, creating visions of a person’s worst nightmare, it would be difficult to see any path other than villainy. Which, turns out, was exactly Virgil’s problem.

He really, really didn’t want to be that kind of person. He hated having people fear him, the way that his parents did. He didn’t want that to be his life. He envied the people with neutral and harmless Propensities, those who could choose what they wanted to do. Still, he tried his best to go against his own Propensity. He focused all of his effort on control, and on all the lessons that the DPC taught. The lessons on calming down when strong emotions came around, on learning to use Propensities in small, accurate ways in order to gain mastery, and on understanding the capabilities of a Propensity. It was difficult, but he didn’t have any friends to spend his time with anyways. There was no way to “safely” show someone their worst fears, though. He mostly attempted to learn how to know when that primal energy inside was churning, and how to stop it before it could lash out. He thought he was doing relatively well, for the first few months.

That is, he was doing well, until he met Roman Reyes.

Chapter Text

Virgil slunk through the hallways of the Academy, sticking to the sides. It was a bad day for his anxiety, so he had his headphones in and his head down as he made his way to class. The last thing he needed was to crash into someone in the hallway, so that’s exactly what happened.

“Excuse ME.” A high-pitched voice said.

Normally, Virgil would’ve muttered “Sorry” and moved on, but that voice had an air of self-importance that he recognized.

Virgil looked up at the face of Roman Reyes.

Everyone knew who he was. Roman, the adopted son of the two most well-known and powerful superheroes in the city: Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular. The cocky, loud-mouthed Mexican kid who traipsed around the school like he owned the place- and he basically did. Virgil had seen him around, making smart-ass comments in class, strutting through the halls, on TV interviews.. it was all very loud. Roman wasn’t the type of person who seemed easy to ignore, though Virgil had tried his best. He’d thought that his natural trait of being avoided would help him, but apparently not.

“Are you planning on apologizing, Doom and Gloom, or do you just plan to keep staring at me?”

Fuck. “I- Um- I uh- I’m um- Sorr- Sorry. Sorry.” Virgil felt his face heating up as he stammered and stumbled over his words. He ducked his head down, moving to get away before he could embarrass himself further, but he realized that he’d found himself surrounded by Roman’s entourage that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. “Um, um, um excuse me, I need to get through-“

“Gonna need a better apology than that, Villain.” One of the more muscular students sneered.

Virgil felt the panic rising in his chest and his breathing becoming shallow and shuttering as he turned back around to face Roman. He tried to keep himself from trembling, but he couldn’t tell if he was succeeding.

“Look, I’m sorry okay! It was an accident! Can I please go?!” Virgil’s voice was frantic, and it cracked multiple times as he spoke. He internally grimaced. He hadn’t meant to sound as panicked as he felt.

“Woah woah woah, it’s alright, it’s alright! Look, I should be the one apologizing. My friends are just a bit overprotective. We got off on the wrong foot here, I believe. Roman Reyes.” Roman held out a hand, flashing a blindingly bright grin.

Virgil lifted his own hand up ever so slightly, but realized just how much it was trembling, and how full of panic he was. In this state, he might end up accidentally using his powers.. he imagined the grin on Roman’s face turning to horror as terrors consumed his mind- no. Virgil’s fight-or-flight reflex kicked in, and he pushed out of the circle and ran for it.

“Hey, wait—!”

Virgil dove into his classroom and was saved from further confrontation, for the moment.

A few hours later, Virgil had thought he’d be safe from dealing with Roman again. That is until he walked into class to see him, grin at full brightness and goons at full capacity. Virgil cursed under his breath, pulling his hood on to cover his face more, tilting his head down as he walked in. He knew Roman was in his Superhero Studies class, but it hadn’t actually mattered before. Now, though... yikes. He didn’t want a repeat of the hallway incident.

Thankfully, Roman seemed too caught up with his friends to notice Virgil as he walked to the back of the classroom pretending he didn’t exist. Roman was gesticulating wildly, his eyes lighting up as he told some elaborate story. His energy seemed to attract everyone in the room, and they leaned closer as if to absorb some of his light. Virgil was so enraptured that he tripped over a backpack, running into someone’s desk. The students at the surrounding desks stifled laughter as Virgil, mortified, muttered an apology and sunk down in a desk in the back. Class went on as usual from there, and Virgil was grateful that he’d never introduced himself to Roman so he didn’t recognize his name in role call. It suddenly occurred to Virgil that Roman may not have even remembered their weird interaction. After all, he was basically the most popular kid in the school. He probably had dozens of interactions with new people every day.

Somehow, the notion that Roman wouldn’t even remember their meeting felt worse than if he did.

Virgil shook the thought of his head and paid attention to the lesson instead.

“Today we are going to learn about the historic defeat of The Intruder. As I’m sure you all know, The Intruder was one of the most notorious and evil super villains in history. He possessed the ability to create illusions and alter reality in the minds of people,” Virgil winced, the words hitting a little too close to home. “The Intruder had a terrifying reign over the city for more than a week before he was finally stopped by the one and only Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular.” The entire group sitting around Roman let out whoops and cheers, while Roman’s ever-present grin somehow widened even more as he waved to the class like a king in a carriage. Virgil couldn’t help but snort as he watched the teacher roll her eyes and proceed with the lesson.

There were several more of these interruptions throughout the lesson:

"Did you know it only took my parents a few hours to defeat the Intruder?"

"Actually, MRS. Spectacular delivered the final blow."

"My dad says that the battle wasn't even hard."

"The Intruder isn't even scary, I should know, I saw him in person."

This last comment silenced the class.

"You did?!" A girl next to Roman said.

He preened at the attention, "Of course I did! My parents visit his holding facility twice a year, and they let ME go with them." He tilted his chin up with a self-satisfied grin as the class gasped and chatted and interrogated him. Roman answered and went on enthusiastically, completely taking over the room with his wild gestures and expressions.

Virgil laughed, and he couldn't help but blurt out, "Yeah, right." To his horror, this came out incredibly loud, and every pair of eyes in the room fell onto him, including the bright brown ones of Roman.

"What did you just say?" He said, his voice pitching.

"I said 'yeah right'! You really expect me to believe that your super-duper mommy and daddy let you go and see one of the most dangerous criminals on Earth with them- like some sort of family road trip?"

Virgil had no idea where this burst of confidence had come from, but he really wished his mouth would stop talking.

Roman stared at him incredulously, almost certainly wishing the same thing. He made a series of high, offended noises, each with different inflections. Then, he attempted to respond, "Wha- I- I have never- you-"

Virgil snickered at Roman's stammering, and several other students joined in. Roman's face began to grow red.

"Virgil! Roman! Is my lesson interrupting your conversation?"

All of Virgil’s newfound confidence immediately drained away as he muttered an apology and sunk low in his seat, keeping his mouth shut for the rest of the class.

Virgil’s least favorite class in the academy, by far, was PE. Unfortunately, it is quite important that superheroes (and villains) are in good physical condition. So, in the DPC, PE is a required class. The most dangerous members of the DPC aren’t allowed to take it until they have control over their powers, in order to prevent incidents. For this reason, Virgil was able to avoid taking PE for a long time. However, with his intense focus on control and study, he was deemed responsible enough to take the class. Yippee. With his head down and his hood up, Virgil slid into the gym, hanging back from the crowd of students as the gym teacher walked in.

She was a large, buff woman named Mrs. Harlow and Virgil hated her. She was loud and mean and she made Virgil exercise, which made her basically the Devil.

“Today we’re playing Heroes and Villains!”

A lot of the class cheered, but Virgil groaned along with a couple other kids.

“Now, who’s going to be the first Villain?” She asked. Her eyes analyzed the room for a victim, and the students all shrank back and attempted to look inconspicuous and non-villainy. Virgil looked around, realizing too late that he had separated himself from the crowd, and now he was far away from everyone else- “VIRGIL! You’re up!”

Typical.

The game was basically Sharks and Minnows, where the Villain stood in the middle as the Heroes attempted to run across to the other side without being tagged. If the Villain tagged a Hero, they became a Villain.

While normal gym class was already awful, DPC gym class was even worse, because there were people with super speed, super strength, invisibility, and all kinds of other extremely unfair advantages. For Virgil, though, he was basically a normal, scrawny teen, because he could not and would never use his Propensity in PE.

Virgil sighed, and sulked over to grab a bright yellow penny to put on over his hoodie. He stood in the middle as the rest of the class excitedly lined up at one end of the gym.

Mrs. Harlow blew her whistle, and Virgil didn’t even try to catch the two super-speed students as they zoomed by in two blurs.

“Pick it up, Virgil!” Mrs. Harlow yelled.
Virgil grit his teeth.

More students ran by him, all in different directions, and Virgil went one way, then another, then another, so he didn’t tag anyone yet again. More and more students started to run across. By chance, Virgil ran into a kid who had been walking across invisibly, and they groaned before running to get a penny. Virgil tagged a couple more, as well, but he was doing pretty awfully as students went back and forth across the gym floor. Virgil ran helplessly, indecisively changing directions as he tried to catch people. He stopped momentarily, catching his breath with his hands on his knees.

"Greetings, Villain." A nearby voice said from behind him.

Virgil turned around to once again find Roman. He didn't even bother to say anything to him, he just rolled his eyes and lunged to tag him.

At the last second, Roman soared upwards easily, avoiding Virgil's outstretched arm and staying floating above him.

Because of course he inherited his parents' ability to fly. (Not inherited, but.. whatever.)

Virgil grit his teeth, just barely keeping his footing after the momentum of his attempt. He glared up at Roman, who smirked back at him.

"Oh, actually, screw you." Virgil said.
He tried to jump up and hit Roman's shoe, but he swerved away effortlessly.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, Villain."

"Stop calling me that!" Virgil jumped up again, swatting at Roman.

This time when Roman dodged he pretended to yawn, looking bored. "Sorry, did you want something?"

"What I really want is for you to stop being a dick, Peter Pan, but we can't all have what we want can we?" Virgil turned his back to Roman, walking away. Only once he'd turned away did Virgil notice the small audience surrounding them. He had no idea what Mrs. Harlow was doing, but apparently this was now a superhero Drama class. Virgil suddenly turned around, once again leaping at Roman, who had been slowly descending. Vrgil had thought he would still be in the air, and so his momentum took him crashing into Roman, effectively tackling him to the ground.

This incited a multitude of reactions from the crowd, including gasps, laughter, and a few cheers.

For once, Virgil wasn't interested in what other people thought. He picked up his head slightly to meet Roman's eyes- who he was still laying on top of- with a steely glare. Roman respond with a dazed, slightly baffled expression, staring up at him with wide eyes. Virgil was about to say something witty about how they were both villains now, but Mrs. Harlow interjected with her booming voice, "Boys, get up! Everyone! Get back to the game!"

Funny how now she says something. Virgil got off of Roman carefully, who just continued to lay on the floor, looking confused. After a second, Virgil held out a hand to help him up, which Roman simply looked at with the same expression as before. Virgil sighed and took his hand away after a few seconds, assuming Roman wouldn't take it, but unfortunately just as he took his hand away Roman went to grab it, which made it seem like Virgil had intentionally pulled his hand away at the last second. A few students still watching laughed, but Virgil didn't feel as good about it as before. He went to give his hand to Roman again, feeling unable to speak, but this time Roman sent him a glare and made a show of getting up himself.

For the rest of the class, the game went on, and Virgil and Roman stayed away from each other. Even so, Virgil couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Virgil left the class, feeling uneasy, and spent the rest of the day keeping under the radar. Then, after his last class, while he was walking back to his dorm, the other shoe dropped.

Chapter Text

I have to do this. I have to do this. I have to do this.

These were the words coursing through Virgil's brain as he approached the entrance of the bank. He walked by the guards, giving them what he hoped to be a friendly, inconspicuous smile as he walked in. He had put on a tear-off suit over his outfit, which made Virgil incredibly grateful for the power of buying things online. He wouldn't have been able to handle paying a cashier for his $29.99 "Stripper Businessman" costume. Virgil was also carrying a medium-sized briefcase. This briefcase did not contain money, but soon enough it would be deposited- though not at the front desk.

Virgil went over his plan in his head. Supervillains had a sort of unspoken code about the crimes they committed. Any plan commenced by a supervillain is 1) extravagant and 2) dramatic. Virgil was more one for sticking to the shadows, but it was practically useless to be a supervillain if not to catch the attention of a superhero. You needed a good story. You needed something that would go on the news, something that would get people talking about you- people afraid of you. Virgil needed as much attention as possible if he wanted to achieve his goal. He wasn't after fame, or glory, or riches- he was after making the life of one superhero as miserable as possible. This hero being the most infamous, most adored, and most annoying: The Prince, AKA Roman Spectacular.

Virgil thought back to walking through the hallways of the Academy, ready to get back to his dorm and go to sleep. He was stopped when a voice yelled,

"Hey, hoodie!"

Virgil desperately hoped they weren't talking to him, and he decidedly walked faster. He heard running footsteps, and a quarterback-sized student stepped in front of him. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"To my dorm?" Virgil tried.

More buff guys swaggered over, and Virgil found himself once again surrounded. Virgil looked properly at them and soon realized that they were the guys who followed Roman around all the time. They were his goons.

"The thing is, we can't let you go without having a little.. talk first." One of the guys said, cracking his knuckles. He was a true master of the art of subtlety.

"We can't let you just get away with humiliating Roman like that. You're gonna have to pay for your couple of stunts today." Said another.

Virgil tried to run, but someone grabbed his hood, jerking him back. He found himself being grabbed by several more pairs of hands and dragged, kicking and screaming, into a nearby room. Virgil didn't know when he started screaming, probably because he could hardly hear himself over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

He was thrown onto the floor, and he did hear the sound of the door slamming. His entire body flinched, and he heard snickering.

The first kick felt like a sledgehammer to his back. Soon enough, the blows increased like rain; it started with just a few, and then they got faster and harder as time went on. Virgil tried to roll, tried to dodge, do something, make the pain stop, but nothing worked. The pain was blinding, flaring, and man did it hurt. Virgil could hardly think with the pain. He felt tears streaming down his face, and he didn't know when he had begun to cry. The hits only kept coming, and coming, and bringing more pain. Blow after blow delivered to his head, stomach, arm, legs, back. The assailants were yelling things to him and to each other, but Virgil couldn't register the words being said. He screwed up his eyes and waited for it all to stop, and he tried to breathe. Then, after a while, it was over.

"Alright, I think he's learned his lesson, for now. Eh, Villain?" Virgil felt someone nudge him with their foot, and he whimpered.

Virgil didn't open his eyes until he was sure they were all gone. Even then, he lay there, shivering and trembling, his entire body aching, for a long, long time. Finally, painstakingly, he dragged himself to his dorm room, passing out immediately in his bed.

That night, he dreamt that he was on fire. When he woke up, the burning pain of the dream, of the night before, was still there.

During the day, Virgil passed by Roman, alone, in the hallway. Roman had the audacity to smile and wave at him, and Virgil glared back through a black eye. Later, in class, Roman approached him.

"Hey, um, Virgil, what happened to you? You seem kind of uh, battle-torn, there. Fight a dragon last night?"

Gloating. What was this guy's deal? He was too cowardly to go after Virgil himself, but he had the nerve to gloat afterwards for the work his cronies did for him.

"Something like that." Virgil spat.

Roman left him alone.

That was the first of two incidents.

The second was a month later, at lunchtime. Virgil got his lunch at the Academy cafeteria, then went outside to eat. It was raining, but the amount of people inside was too overwhelming. Ever since incident number one, Virgil's mental state had been worse than ever. He struggled not to flinch when someone spoke too loudly to him.

So, he was outside, alone, in the rain, eating a soggy ham sandwich, when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Well if it isn't- what's your name again? Virgin?"

A chorus of laughter.

Virgil turned around, already trembling slightly as he recognized the voice. Once again, it was Roman's goons, with Roman himself nowhere in sight.

One of the boys walked over and knocked the sandwich out of Virgil's hands and onto the wet concrete. Virgil felt his pulse quicken at a staggering pace, and he got up from the small table, taking steps back, away from the bullies, and he felt unable to speak. They stepped closer.

"All you ever do is run when it gets to the real danger, huh? Is that your Propensity? Being scared all the time? It can't be running away, because you're not even good at it." The big one, the one who had stopped him in the hallway last time, laughed.

"Yeah, do you even have a Propensity? Maybe that's why you never even try to defend yourself."

Suddenly, the bully rose his hand to strike, and it happened.

The air around them crackled with electricity, and Virgil felt a familiar lurch in his stomach. The impulse took over, and the one who had been raising his hand stopped in mid-air, beginning to tremble. Soon enough, all of the cronies behind him began to look fearful, their eyes widening one by one in a domino effect. Meanwhile, Virgil felt all of his own negative emotions, his pain and fear, draining away. He felt a sense of calm overwhelm him, and as he watched the group of bullies sink to the floor, he felt the corners of his mouth tilting up into a smile.

For once, he was the one in control of the fear, and he was pushing it outward. They were the ones feeling his suffering, his pain, his anxiety. He had a lot to spare.

"Don't. Test me. Again." Virgil said threateningly.

Then, he left them on the floor, in the rain, shivering and trembling, just like they'd left him. It was the best he'd felt in a long, long time.

For the rest of Virgil’s time at the Academy, Roman's cronies stayed well away from him. Virgil took some amount of pleasure in occasionally running into them in the hallways or coming up behind one of them and going "boo", just to see them flinch. Word seems to have somewhat gotten around school about him, because generally everyone seemed to stay away from him.

There were only two exceptions.

The first was Roman himself. He seemed either to be completely oblivious of what had happened or simply choosing to ignore it. He occasionally would yell something across the classroom at him, wave at him in the hallways, or pester him in PE. None of it seemed necessarily malicious, more like teasing, but it was irritating to Virgil, because they both knew who had sent those goons to teach him a lesson.

The second exception were the groups of kids who everyone knew would grow up to be villains, who generally hung around each other. After word got around about Virgil, they started not-so-subtly trying to recruit him into their little group. Virgil generally ignored them, because when it came down to it they were as bad as Roman with the dramatics and self-entitled attitudes.

Virgil didn't mind being left alone, he really didn't. Honestly, he enjoyed it. It was just…

When he dropped his pencil and asked the girl next to him to grab it for him, and she physically flinched when he spoke to her.

The increased attention, the familiar feeling of being watched that he often felt because of his anxiety, but now he was being watched by wary eyes everywhere he went.

The whispers about the boy who had left twelve people trembling on the floor. (It was only seven.)

The rumors that he was the son of the Intruder, that he could read your mind, that he had his own dorm to make his evil plans. There's only so much you can ignore for three years. From the moment he felt the rain on his face as he walked away from his actions, Virgil had begun down the winding path to villainhood. There's only so much feeling bitter you can stand for three years. There's only so much self-control you can have for three years. There's only so much being alone you can stand for three years. There's only so much, and in three years, Virgil had enough.

What was the point of fighting against being something that everyone thought you already were? They wanted a villain? They'd get one.

Chapter Text

Virgil didn't know what the hell he was doing. Did he do it now? Did he do it later? Did he reveal his costume first or did he pull off the plan and then monologue? The bank was packed. Virgil felt like everyone was looking at him suspiciously, and he tried not to let his hands fidget too much as he sat in a waiting chair with his briefcase. There were so, so many people. Virgil hadn't imagined this many people.

Virgil heard the great clock chime twelve times, and he decided that it was probably time to do his thing. He walked to the middle of the room, and he tore off the ridiculous costume of a suit-

The room went silent, and all eyes turned to Virgil.

He gulped. He felt even more ridiculous than before, now, in his stupid black mask and his black cape and gloves and purple accents… ugh. He must look like some kid at Halloween.

"E-everyone," Virgil cleared his throat, "Everyone out! This is a robbery!"

His call was met with blank stares. He wasn't armed, he simply stood with his hands up, hopefully threateningly. The citizens knew the dangers of an "unarmed" supervillain, however, and they started cautiously filing out of the bank.

Security guards, however, were more foolhardy.

Two charged at Virgil, guns up, and the sheer panic at that was enough for that gut-clenching sensation to lurch out. Virgil held up a hand, and both guards stopped moving. One of them started to scream. As the remaining citizens witnessed this, they realized the danger, and the exit became more frantic, people scrambling to get away as Virgil strolled past the two trembling guards. He made his way to the big, intimidating volts at a leisurely pace. He had the same calmness that always accompanied using his Propensity. He set down his briefcase, opening it to reveal a small bomb. It wasn't complex, just some explosives and a small remote with a red button. He laid it outside the vault, and then made his way back to the large main room.

When The Prince arrived, Virgil burst out laughing.

All of his self-conscious thoughts disappeared, because there was NO WAY in HELL that he looked even HALF as ridiculous as Roman did. He was wearing a white shirt that could really only be described as a tunic, with ridiculous gold padding on his shoulders, just for show. He also wore a bright red cape with a golden brooch- but Virgil was wearing a cape, too, so he couldn't complain much about that. The worst of all was the bright red sash across The Prince's chest, like he was the winner of some pageant. Virgil laughed so hard his stomach hurt, and he had tears in his eyes. As The Prince hovered slightly above the ground in front of him, Virgil heard that familiar offended scoff, and he was quickly sobered by it.

Virgil took a deep breath, "Sorry, I-" Virgil dissolved into another fit of laughter, "You just- HA! I just didn't expect you to look even stupider in person."

Roman made another offended sound, this time louder. Virgil felt completely at ease. A light buzzing filled his mind, because he had that power, that control. He had already thrown the hero off balance. He felt superior.

"Villain!" Roman began, his voice ringing out confidently, self-righteously, despite his embarrassment. Virgil didn't know how he did it. "You have terrorized the citizens out of this bank on the pretense of robbery. Is this not true?"

"Geez, careful there, if you hold your chin up any higher your neck might snap! I don't know if it can handle the weight of your gigantic head." Virgil smirked, "That would make this way too easy."

The Prince scowled, "Answer the question, Villain!"

Virgil really hated that word. He yawned, "What, a robbery? Well, that too, I suppose."

The Prince froze, "That.. too? What else?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you, Your Highness?" Virgil felt the all-too-familiar creep of hatred towards this pompous figure. He held up the remote with flourish, making sure the big red button was in clear view.
The Prince's face fell. "What is that?"

Roman's usual regal cadence was gone as he spoke.

"Well, I've hidden a bomb under the bank. It's on a timer for two minutes. I activated it.. maybe a minute or so ago." Virgil grinned. "And this remote," He gestured to it again, "Is the only way to stop it."
The Prince's eyes widened, and Virgil could feel his fear.

In a moment, the hero flew at him, literally, going straight for the weapon. He was panicking however, and Virgil felt cool as a cucumber. He was all too familiar with panic, and he gracefully sidestepped the lunge, watching The Prince speed by. Apparently, Roman had gotten quicker than the last time they'd done this, and he twisted around, grabbing the remote from Virgil's hand in an instant.

"Oh no! My evil plan is foiled! Curse you!"

Now The Prince smirked, hearing exactly what he wanted to hear as he pressed the button.
The bomb detonated.

Virgil got a glimpse of the hero’s dumbfounded expression just before the explosion knocked him off his feet. The Prince, who was already in the air, was pushed backwards with force. Virgil rolled with the impact, getting on his feet and trying to ignore the ringing in his ears as he made his way to the site of the blast: the vaults. The explosion may or may not have been a bit bigger than he expected it to have been, but Virgil couldn’t dwell on that now. He coughed his way through the blast-site, where a giant hole had been blown into the side of the vault, and once the smoke had cleared, Virgil was met with the sight of more riches than he’d ever seen in his life. (He hadn’t seen much in the first place, but still.) Adorning nearly every surface were stacks and stacks of incomprehensible amounts of money. It was amazing, it was overwhelming, and it was.. Sobering, to say the least.

He had hardly even thought about the money. Really, as he stood among it all, Virgil realized that he probably hadn’t expected to make it this far. It was more the concept of the robbery than the actual reward that drove him. The ability to get on the nerves of the people who pushed him down and feared him for his entire life? That was nice. All of this money? He’d take that too.

Virgil reached out, not even to take some of the money, but to just to run his hand along it, feel his victory, when that nerve-grating voice sounded behind him, “Stop right there!!”

Roman sounded nearly hysterical, and when Virgil turned to face him, he began to wonder whether it was such a good idea to pester one of the most powerful heroes in the city. Roman’s eyes were no longer filled with the slightly excited glint, and his voice didn’t sound nearly as playful, now. Nevertheless, Virgil always had a gnac for making things worse.

“Oh, sorry, partner, I thought I’d take a little of the winnings while you made your way over here!”

Roman looked confused, a look that was apparently constant in Virgil’s presence, “Partner..?”

“Oh, don’t be humble! I really appreciate you detonating that bomb for me,” Virgil smirked.

“The AUDACITY of you to even HINT that I would want-”

“Oh, of course, you want your portion,” Virgil snatched up a bundle of bills, “Here you go, Your Highness.” Virgil tossed it to The Prince, who lurched away from it, looking disgusted and affronted.

Apparently, that was the last straw. Before Virgil could think of another clever thing to say, The Prince had rushed at him, pinning him against the wall in seconds. They were silent for several seconds, the only sound being their heavy breathing and the blare of an alarm that Virgil hadn't cared to notice until now. Their eyes were locked, Roman's glaring and full of intensity, Virgil's wide and full of terror and rage. After an agonizingly long period of time, The Prince stepped back.

"Fool me once, Villain. Fool me once. I won't be fooled twice. Surrender now. You're clearly outmatched." That damn voice was back. That, and that word. The two combined snapped Virgil out of his fear enough to realize that he wasn't helpless.

Virgil, for the first time, actively reached out for his Propensity. It was nearly instantaneous, like his power had been waiting for him to call. He felt a coolness in his stomach, a calm buzz in his mind, and he felt that something within slowly edging towards The Prince- towards Roman. It felt so much more controlled than usual; it was less like a dam breaking, more like pouring from a pitcher. Virgil let a small amount creep out, enough to keep him out of the way, "I think, Princey, that you may have underestimated me."

It was slow. The Prince took a few more steps back, blinking rapidly, like there was dust in his eyes. Then, he froze. He just.. stopped moving, completely, and stayed that way. Virgil frowned, wondering if it was a trick, taking a few tentative steps forward. Roman wasn't even blinking, though, thankfully, he was breathing. Virgil wasn't quite ready to have a murder on his conscience.

He took a few more steps forward, waving his gloved hand in front of The Prince's eyes. No reaction. Then, Virgil shrugged, turning around and beginning to walk away, before turning around and yelling, "Boo!"

Nothing.

Virgil felt a little stupid after that. As a precaution, though, he carefully unclasped and removed The Prince's cape, once again getting way too far into his personal space. Once he had the cape, he used it to tie The Prince's hands together. That would at least make it harder for him if he woke up. Once Roman was secure, Virgil returned to the money. He retrieved a fallen briefcase, stuffing it with cash until it was so full it could barely close.

Virgil took one more look back at The Prince, and then he slipped out of the bank.

Chapter Text

The last thing Virgil expected when he exited the bank was the press. The instant he stepped through the doorway, Virgil was blinded by the flashes of cameras, and he was bombarded by questioning voices. He went to cover his face, hoping he wouldn't be identified this way.

"Did you somehow manage to defeat The Prince?"

One question somehow stuck out in the clamor.

"I.. uh.. yeah.."

Virgil immediately regretted answering, as the press responded loudly, jarringly, shouting out follow-up questions and introductions galore:

"This is Talyn with the Propensity Press-"

"How did you defeat such a powerful villain?"

"Where is The Prince now?"

"Hi, I'm Travis with the Druthers Times-"

"Was this your first encounter with The Prince?"

"I'm Joan, I'm here for the Propensity Press, what exactly do you call yourself?"

Virgil could feel familiar panic rising- not his Propensity, not yet, just good old anxiety.

"I- um- I uh.. I.. I…"

Yeah, being feared sounded pretty good.

His power lurched out, all of his rising fear forcefully extracted from his body as he used his Propensity. Virgil took a deep, relieved breath as the questions slowed to a halt, and he relished the calming buzz in his mind. Anytime he used his power, his confidence seemed to rise to Spectacular levels- pun intended. So maybe that's why he snatched a microphone out of one of the reporters hands.

"Who am I? ...I guess you could say that I'm your worst nightmare."

Then, Virgil slunk home to his apartment, making sure to stick to the shadows, making sure he wasn't followed. By the time he got there, the buzz had worn off, and he could truly appreciate how cheesy that line was. As he changed into a normal-looking hoodie and jeans, Virgil wondered if maybe Prince had rubbed off on him a bit.

Then, Virgil sat on the bed, just staring into space.

He was a criminal now. In the past hour, he had robbed a bank, assaulted two security guards, bombed a bank, used his Propensity against an entire crowd of innocent people, and performed generally villainous actions.

And he'd gotten away with it all.

He stared down at the briefcase, which he'd left leaning against his bed. That case contained copious amounts of money, but he didn't even know how much. He considered counting it for a moment, but ultimately decided that he wasn't emotionally ready to feel like Scrooge McDuck. Virgil looked away from the case, feeling overwhelmed. His hands automatically moved to fidget with the strings of his hoodie, and he sat there, a rich villain in his ultra secret ruddy apartment lair. The strings of the hoodie were purple, the ends black.

What were those called again? Virgil couldn't remember. Angles? No...Something starting with A. Jesus Christ, he was officially a supervillain now.

"Shit." He muttered, flopping on his back to stare at the ceiling. He traced the patterns made by the paint with his eyes, taking deep breaths.

Aglets! That's what they were called.

Virgil found himself laughing. He was wheezing, coughing with breathy laughter as he lay there. For a moment, he managed to get a hold of himself, before the laughter resumed, louder and more explosive than before. It was just so funny!

"I'm your worst nightmare!!" Virgil mocked, dissolving into another fit of laughter.

"Ooooo it's the emo supervillain, here to steal your MCR cds!!!" He was literally rolling around on the bed, tears in his eyes. What was he doing?

Finally, after a pitifully long amount of time, Virgil managed to calm down.

He shook his head, "Wow. I'm maniacally laughing AND I'm talking to myself. I really am a crazy supervillain now."

He spent the rest of the day at home, too afraid of being recognized to go anywhere, though a walk might have helped his nerves. Once the initial shock was over, Virgil was just restless, jumping from activity to activity, nothing being able to keep his attention. He tried watching maybe six different tv shows and movies before he gave up, and then he tried pacing, and then doodling, and then scrolling through social media. The social media was put to an abrupt halt when he was met with an image of his own masked face.

Eventually, Virgil gave up and resigned himself to just calling it an early night. Using his Propensity was a bit like eating a lot of sugar in some respects- he had a rush of adrenaline and energy, and then an inevitable crash of exhaustion.

Virgil changed into some sweatpants, kept the same hoodie on, and went to sleep.

As always, he had a nightmare.

In this one, he was trapped in some sort of a dark cocoon. He squirmed and writhed, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't escape. What was this thing made of? Virgil looked down to see a white, silky material wrapped around him. The moment he noticed, his surroundings seemed to become clearer, and he saw that he was trapped in a spiderweb. Honestly, not that bad. He'd had much worse nightmares before.

The moment Virgil had that thought, he heard the sound of something moving, something getting closer. It was a sticky, disgusting sound, and Virgil swore he could hear mandibles opening and closing. Virgil couldn't stop the dread overtaking his body as the noise drew closer. Soon enough, he saw the source, a huge, brown, horrifyingly furry tarantula, all eight legs moving purposefully his way. Spiders were never something he feared, but god. Virgil watched it get closer and closer, helpless to stop it, and he felt sick anticipation building in his chest. It seemed to take eons for the thing to reach him, it's steps deliberate and disgusting. When it finally reached him, Virgil realized that he'd never seen the creature's face. He really didn't want to, but he felt his head tilting upwards to see the tarantula's face. Virgil's horror deepened as he slowly realized that the face was that of a human- and then he swore his heart stopped beating as he realized that it was his face grinning down at him.

Virgil awoke jarringly, sweaty and gasping. He hated nightmares so much. He screwed his eyes shut for a moment, calming his breathing. His alarm was blaring next to him, and he carelessly slapped at it until it shut up.

Virgil then dragged himself out of bed, yawning. He pulled on his jeans and his bright green apron- his uniform for work. As he walked to grab his matching green cap, Virgil's pinky toe ran into the corner of an object next to his bed. Virgil yelled a number of curse words, looking down to see what item had caused such torture.

The briefcase.

Oh.

So that hadn't been a twisted nightmare, then.

So he'd really done all that, huh.

He really didn't need to go to work, did he?

A shock of concerns ran through his head immediately. It would be suspicious if he didn't show up for work. On the other hand, what if he was recognized? Not showing up to his low-paying coffee shop job would only be helping to blow his cover, though. A man with hundreds of thousands of dollars didn't need to work as a barista. Besides, he didn't think he could stand being alone at home for an entire day.

When he arrived at Green Tea: Greenery & Brewery, Virgil struggled to calm his nerves. He had to pretend that this was just another normal day. Supervillain who? What? Druthers had a bank? Virgil shook his head at himself, walking into the shop. He instantly felt more relaxed once inside. The place was absolutely covered in plants: succulents, small trees, shrubbery, flowers, and most especially tea and coffee plants. Virgil breathed in the sweet fragrances, forcing a smile onto his face as he made his way to the front counter.

"Heya, kiddo!" A voice piped.

From behind a large leafy plant emerged Patton, his manager. The man was pale, much taller than Virgil, and covered in freckles. He had light brown hair, and he wore large glasses and a green cardigan. His hands were currently busy, moving up and down like he was conducting a choir, and following his hands was a green sprout, slowly growing taller as Patton coaxed it.

"Um, hi, Patton."

"You okay there, buddy? You're looking kinda tired there." Patton gestured with his hands to the area underneath his eyes in demonstration, spreading dirt there.

"Oh, I'm fine. That's just my eyeshadow, I've told you before." Underneath the eyeshadow there were enormous bags from his lack of sleep, but Virgil wasn't going to say that.

"Oh, well, that's alright then. Go ahead and man the cash register. I've still got some gardening to stick to," Patton waved one of the branches of the tree he was tending to, "I'll be over there in a few minutes."

Virgil rolled his eyes, a half-smile on his face as he went to wait at the front desk for orders.

Patton was the closest thing Virgil had to a friend, and that was because Patton was friends with everyone. The guy was like a living ray of sunshine, so of course it made sense that his Propensity was making plants grow. (But what did that mean for Virgil's ability?) Virgil sorted the money in the cash register until the first customers arrived. The shop was fairly popular, because people liked the natural feel and loved the cheerful owner. Still, it didn't gain much profit. Buying all those plant seeds was expensive for Patton. Virgil didn't really have any other options, though. Not many places would have the patience to deal with his attitude, frequent lateness, his general vibe, and frankly, his terrible work ethic.

He was overwhelmed easily, and he had a tendency to panic when too many customers were around. Over time, though, he had gotten pretty used to his current job.

The day went by routinely slow. That is, until..

Virgil was pouring a cup of coffee for a customer, and he happened to glance up at the TV positioned in the upper corner of the room, where the news was playing. Virgil stared into the eyes of his own masked face. Underneath, read "Upstart Villain: 'Nightmare'". Above, a woman was interviewing..ugh..The Prince, who at least was wearing an outfit from this century. Virgil couldn't hear the words being said, but he could just imagine. Oh, the fiend caught me by surprise.. THIS TIME! Fear not, citizens, for I shan't allow it to happen again. Virgil swore he could feel the heat of his hatred, and- "Kiddo, snap out of it!"

Virgil looked down to see that the cup he was pouring was overflowing, and his hand was currently being burnt by searing coffee. Virgil yelped, removing his hand from the pool and reaching to grab a towel to clean up the mess.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Patton raised up a hand, "I won't hear another word! I'm sending you home."

Virgil paled, "But I-"

"You're not fired! You do, young man, have an assignment that you need to complete at home, which is to GET SOME SLEEP! I knew you seemed tired!"

Virgil attempted to stammer out a response, but each was hushed or shrugged off. Patton practically kicked Virgil out of the shop before he finally went back to his apartment.

So apparently he was Nightmare now.

That was ironic.

Exhaustion hit Virgil like a sledgehammer, and he nearly fell over on the spot as he entered his apartment building. The trek up the stairs felt like a marathon, and when he made it to his room, he stumbled to his bed before passing out.

As he drifted off, a passing thought floated into his subconscious. What was wrong with him?

Chapter Text

Virgil woke up from a nightmare. Nothing new there. The subject matter escaped him, but he knew it was a nightmare from the lingering paranoia. Virgil's vision was bleary as he rolled over to check the time. It was 12:03 PM.. great. Why had he slept so much? Apparently being a supervillain was tiring work.

Speaking of work, evidently he wasn’t going to that today. He hoped Patton wouldn’t be too worried. He knew the guy was too nice to be mad, but concern was somehow worse. So, Virgil had a free day. He had a bad feeling he was going to have to do some evil scheming.

First step to evil scheming: get out of bed. This was arguably the hardest step. Begrudgingly, Virgil did it, stretching and yawning the whole time.

Second step to evil scheming would be… Virgil looked around until he spotted the TV. Ah, okay, so the second step to evil scheming is.. evil research? Virgil grabbed his phone, perching on the arm of the brownish couch. He went to the Internet, searching for the interview that had freaked Virgil out so much yesterday. He needed to know what The Prince was saying about him, because he needed to know if the hero was scared yet. Plus, seeing that stupid face was bound to put him in a more villainous state of mind. (Ugh, what was he doing?) When Virgil searched up “The Prince Nightmare Interview” he found not just the one video he was looking for, but countless others.

Apparently, the moron had organized an entire press release to make him look better after Virgil kicked his ass. Virgil chuckled under his breath. Virgil clicked on a particular video titled “The Prince Doesn’t Fear New ‘Nightmare’ Villain”. It opened with the camera panning over to a male interviewer in a t-shirt and slacks, sitting in a plush chair across from Roman Spectacular himself, dressed in a yellow striped shirt and purple jacket, really over-selling the royal theme.

“I’m Don Derek with Superhero Scoops: The Hottest Stories on Your Favorite Heroes. Today, I’m joined by The Spectacular Prince, Roman Spectacular.”

Roman stage-laughed at the pun, a hearty, rehearsed sound that grated on Virgil’s nerves.

“May I say that is such a pleasure to be here, Don.”

“It’s a pleasure to have you, Roman. Now, we’re here to talk about the new formidable villain who the media has named..’Nightmare’. This new villain staged a robbery at the Druthers City Bank two days ago, and he successfully stole over $1,000,000 dollars in cash from the bank’s vault,” Wait, he did?! Before Virgil could process that sheer amount of money, the interviewer continued, “You, Mr. Spectacular, arrived at the scene, and soon a bomb was detonated from inside,” Virgil noted how Roman’s smile grew strained, “And the villain emerged unharmed from the bank, before using his Propensity to terrify over a dozen civilians and escaping. You were found inside of the bank, standing in place, your hands bound together with your own cape,” An image of this popped up on the screen, The Prince standing in a decimated bank, his eyes vacant and his hands bound, “The people want to know, Roman, what happened inside of that bank?”

Virgil could almost see the script in Roman’s head as he spoke, “Well, Don, I traveled to the scene as soon as the bank notified me that there had been a security breach from an unknown villain. On arrival, the villain was waiting for me. When I told him to stand down, the villain simply continued to mock and provoke me, and I attacked. We fought, and I had no trouble immobilizing him. Once I had done this, he revealed that he had placed a bomb in the bank which had been set on a timer. As soon as he revealed this, the bomb exploded, and I was blown backwards, freeing the villain,” Virgil scoffed, “I immediately attacked again, which is when..” Roman paused for a fraction of a second, “Which is when he used his Propensity on me.”

The interviewer looked at the notebook he was holding, clearly waiting for that subject to be brought up, “Yes, Nightmare’s Propensity is quite an interesting case, isn’t it. Here’s an audio message from one of the reporters on the scene, who would like to remain anonymous.” The visuals switched so that the interview was placed in a small box in the corner, and the main screen would display the text of the audio.

Soon enough, the audio began to play, a clear voice effect put on it for anonymity, “I was a reporter asking questions for my employers, and I was in a large crowd. The villain seemed frightened or overwhelmed by our questions, understandably, and then he seemed to freak out, and used his Propensity on all of us. It was terrible. It was like I had suddenly stepped into a refrigerator, I got so cold, and goosebumps covered my whole body… And I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, I wasn’t in front of the Druthers Bank anymore, I was in a dark, narrow room, and when I yelled out all I could hear were the echoes of my own voice…”

The speaker took a deep breath, “And then the walls were closing in on me, and I started screaming, but no one was there, and I’m claustrophobic, it was awful. It was like my worst fears had been personified, and I was trapped, watching as it happened.” The audio ended.

Virgil stopped the video, his hand trembling over the screen as he did. He felt like that every night, every night of his life. The setting changed, but never the fear. He hated his Propensity so, so much. He hated himself.

Virgil was digging his fingernails into his palms, watching the crescent-shaped imprints it left, feeling the small pain of it. His eyesight was blurring, and he felt pitiful. What kind of creature only lived to project its own terror onto others?

Silently, Virgil vowed to never use his Propensity out of anything but necessity again. That, he could do. He’d done it before, after all. He could do it again. A better person, a good person, would stop being a villain, but he knew deep down that he was too far-gone to stop now. Villainy had been the only driving force in his life for so long. It had been a promise, a future, a goal. It was his purpose. Without a purpose like that, driving him forward.. He probably wouldn’t have made it this far in life. He wasn’t a good person. But, he would at least try not to be a truly cruel person.

Once Virgil had calmed down, he resumed the video. He still had some evil scheming to do.

Thankfully, that was the only eye-witness account for the interview. After a short moment of shocked silence, the interviewer cleared his throat, “We have heard other, similar accounts from eye-witnesses. Clearly, Nightmare has some sort of ability to display visions of a person’s worst fears- their worst nightmares. Would you agree with this statement?”

Roman looked uneasy, “Um.. Yes, I would agree.” Clearly, this wasn’t on his script.

“So, then, Mr. Spectacular, what exactly did you see that left you so paralyzed?”

Virgil leaned forward in his seat. Virgil had gotten good at reading people over the years. When you’re quiet, afraid, and have no friends, it’s a helpful skill to learn. He could detect the smallest microexpression or change of voice, so that he could know when to have his guard up, or when to get away. This went badly with Patton sometimes, when he would raise his voice and Virgil would flinch, but for the most part the trauma was helpful.

That’s how Virgil noticed the way that Roman’s eyes grew dark, his face falling like he’d just seen the grim reaper itself, in the span of a nanosecond. Roman was a good actor, he could give him that. If Virgil didn’t know better, he’d think he’d imagined that expression.

Roman plastered on a smile, “Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s wise to share that information with the public. As much as I’d love to share my deepest fears with you, Don, I don’t want my enemies to have possession of that type of information to use against me.”

The interviewer acknowledged this reasoning, and the rest of the video stayed on-script. Roman returned to smiles and bravado, and he answered questions graciously and seemingly honestly. Virgil rolled his eyes and laughed at the idiot’s claims, and he felt around back to normal towards the end of the video.

One question in particular stood out, as it came from the title, “Do you fear Nightmare?”

Roman stage-laughed again, “Do I fear him? Absolutely not! The villain simply managed to catch me by surprise. It shall not happen again.”

Roman looked at the camera, and it felt like he was looking right at Virgil.

“We’ll see about that, Princey.” Virgil muttered.

Chapter Text

Virgil was taking a stroll through the city. Granted, this stroll wasn’t nearly as inconspicuous as his normal ones, as he was dressed from head to toe in his very loud villain costume. Virgil did his best to look confident as he walked down the street. Everywhere he went, people scrambled to get out of his way, which was kind of convenient. He walked to the city square, feeling eyes and seeing the flashes of cameras around him as he did. The reporters didn’t dare to get too close again. After some amount of walking around, laughing maniacally, and presumably plotting his villainous schemes, Virgil heard someone approaching behind him with no footsteps.

“Halt, evildoer!”

Virgil turned, “Ah, I was wondering when you’d turn up.”

There The Prince was once again: cape flowing, mouth running.

“Whatever you are up to, villain, I will stop you!”

This was over-theatric, even for Roman. Apparently, the audience made him worse.

“I’m just taking a walk. Is that a crime now, Princey?”.

“Robbing a bank is a crime.”

Virgil paused, “Touché.”

“What exactly are you doing here, Robbie Rotten?”

Virgil snorted, “I’m sorry, Robbie Rotten?!”

“Answer the question!!” Roman’s voice cracked as he spoke, and Virgil had a brief realization that they were both just 19-year-olds in silly costumes with too much power.

...That didn’t mean it wasn’t fun, though.

“Well, I was on my way to get a new cape. Since I have all of this new money, I might as well, right? Do you have a cape-fitter you can connect me to? Your people call my people?”

A mix of emotions crossed Roman’s face.

The Prince cleared his throat, and Virgil could tell he was concealing a laugh.

“I um-“ He ‘cleared his throat’ again, “I don’t think he’d accept stolen money, Debbie Disheartening.”

Virgil laughed disbelievingly at that one for a moment, trying to think of how to react to this ridiculous conversation. Why hadn’t The Prince attacked yet?

“Can we stop with the pet name schtick? I have a name now, you know.” Virgil said.

“I see no need to call you anything else but what you are: a villain.” The Prince said.

“Ohhh, I see now!” Virgil stepped forward, “You’re afraid.”

The Prince stiffened, “I’m not afraid of a bad dream.”.

“Of a..” Virgil raised his eyebrows, “..Nightmare?”

The Prince didn’t respond, and the levity of before dissipated.

So..The Great Prince feared powers that Virgil wasn’t very interested in using right now. They were at an impasse.

“Why was it such a bad dream, Prince Charming?” Virgil took another step forward.

“What,” Step. “Are you,” Step. “So afraid of?”

“Nothing!” Then, The Prince lunged.

It happened so fast, Virgil hardly had a moment to react. Come to think of it, stepping closer to his enemy had probably been a bad idea. Virgil raised his hands up in self-defense, but nothing hit him.

Virgil looked up to see The Prince frozen in midair. Whoops.

Cameras flashed around him, and Virgil suddenly felt very exposed. 

“Better luck next time, Princey.” He muttered.

Then, Virgil threw down a smoke bomb- harmless, but effective- and dashed away into an alley. After taking enough twists and turns to make sure he wouldn’t be followed, Virgil changed into his normal clothes, and he headed back to his apartment, his hood up. 

It was a cold day outside. He hadn’t noticed until that moment.

Chapter Text

Virgil didn’t bother to take his costume off before flopping down on his bed, face-first. He felt odd, restless in a weird sort of way. His Propensity had left some sort of effect on him. He had that calm sensation, but at the same time all jumbled up inside, full of potential energy. That encounter had been a weird one.

What exactly has he thought would happen? How did he expect to defend himself without his Propensity? There was no line of reasoning to any of it.

Virgil couldn’t help his mind drifting to that one moment, that flicker of understanding with Roman. The conversation had been so effortless, and they had complimented each other so well. Virgil could almost believe that if things were different, they might’ve been friends.

Almost.

There was just the whole being an annoying dick and also, ya know, sending his cronies to beat Virgil up. TWICE.

How could Virgil have forgotten about that, even for a moment- even for a second?!

The Prince just infuriated him in a way that no one else could. Really, it was just-

KNOCK KNOCK.

Virgil’s entire body flinched as someone knocked on the door.

“Virgil! Inspection day! You busy? No? I’m going to come in, so if you’re naked or something you’d better fix it!”

Virgil began to panic, looking around his room to make sure nothing was suspicious. There was, of course, the giant suitcase of money, but that was shut and tucked under the bed. As he was securing it, Virgil realized he was wearing gloves, and a mask, and a cape- he was still in his damned costume!

He dashed to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door.

“I’m in the bathroom!” Virgil yelled, and at the same time, he heard his landlord open the door to his apartment and come in.

Virgil was trembling from the close call, full of adrenaline. He could feel his heart beating much too fast in his chest, and his breathing was shaky, though he tried to be quiet.

He heard his landlord rustling around through the rest of the apartment, “Everything looks up to code, I suppose. You almost done in there?”

Virgil could feel the panic jumping around inside of him, “NO! Uh- I uh- I might be a while! I’ve been- I’ve been sick!”

Virgil heard the landlord make a disgusted sound, “Oh, well, er, I guess I’ll come back tomorrow. You better not be hiding something in there, though.”

“Bet you a million dollars of stolen money you couldn’t guess.” Virgil muttered under his breath as he heard the landlord walk out and the door shut.

Virgil waited in the bathroom for a long time before he felt sure that the coast was clear. He opened the door just a crack, peeking out, and then he darted to grab the nearest clothes he could find and change. Then, he crumpled up his costume and threw it into his closet violently, slamming the door behind it.

His legs buckled, and he crumpled to the floor, chest heaving.

“Fuck.” He whispered.

That had been way, way, way too close.

He was just so reckless.. so reckless and impulsive and stupid. All of his actions were based on a bunch of nothing. Causes and effects. Something to keep him from giving up completely. He has a unique and dangerous Propensity, his parents send him to a unique and dangerous school for Propensities. He’s terrified of his own power, he stops using them. He’s forced to use them- fine, he becomes a villain. There was never anything else to fall back on.

Pathetic. Said The Prince.

Virgil jolted up, eyes darting around in panic.

No one was there.

Do you seriously call yourself a villain? Please. You can’t even function has a human being. You’re pathetic. Then Virgil understood what this was. He’d heard his own mind speak to him in such a way before.. but never sounding like anyone but himself. The Prince’s voice was distorted and exaggerated, like an impersonation played on a record player. For some reason, he’d become the spokesperson for Virgil’s anxiety. It was just in his head.

With how messed up it is in here, I’m surprised you haven’t put yourself out already. That would have saved me a lot of trouble.

Virgil flinched at that, wrapping his arms around himself as some sort of shield against the words. They echoed and reverberated in his mind, and he shivered.

“It’s just in my head. It’s just in my head.” Virgil reminded himself.

Am I?

And then the floor was pulled out from underneath him, and Virgil was falling, falling falling.
Without warning, he stopped.

He was in a completely dark space, standing on what looked like nothing.

You're pathetic, Virgil.

Virgil turned and saw The Prince standing in front of him.

All at once, his surroundings shifted, and Virgil found himself back in the halls of the Academy.
Virgil recognized this scene.

This time, though, it wasn’t three meat-head boys he never knew the names of- instead it was The Prince, in full attire, who pulled him aside.

And Virgil was fifteen again, struggling against a far stronger opponent as blows rained down, too painful to comprehend. All the while, he could hear the words echoing in his head: Pathetic. Weak. Useless.

Virgil gasped awake.

He was curled up on the floor in front of the closet, and his heart was pounding in his ears. He’d kicked a hole in the wall.

He really needed to find a new place to live.

Chapter Text

Virgil ended up speaking to a real estate agent over the phone. It was one thing trying to explain a supervillain lair without making it too obvious he needed a supervillain lair; it was another thing to do it face-to-face. Thankfully, the real estate agent was kind and didn’t ask any questions, which was appreciated. Privacy was the most important part.

The real estate agent recommended the “perfect” place. Virgil took a cab to the small one-bedroom, one-bathroom house, and he had to agree. It was well within the city, but isolated by trees on all sides. The inside was bigger than any apartment he’d had, and after only a few minutes of checking it out, it already felt like home.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, Virgil had mailed the real estate agent a wad of definitely-not-stolen money, and the house was his. Not only that, but the guy had arranged a moving truck to take all his stuff to his new address.

And so he stood, in a new house, surrounded by boxes containing all his possessions.

Virgil marveled at the thought. An entire building that was just his, with just him in it.

Then, his phone rang.

Virgil took it out of his hoodie pocket absentmindedly, not even checking the caller ID.

Most likely his real estate agent checking in.

“Virgil! It’s me!! Patton!!” Or maybe not so likely.

“Oh! U-uh, hey Patton, what’s up?”

“You moved out of your apartment!”

“Uh, yeah, I’m actually just about to unpack-“

Virgil’s brain caught up, “How’d you know that?”

“Well, you haven’t been coming to work lately, and you’ve been saying you’re sick. So, I baked some cookies for you! I was going to bring them by your apartment, but your landlord told me you’d moved out. Is everything okay? Where did you move to? Sorry if I seem invasive, kiddo, I was just worried about ‘cha.”

Virgil relaxed, “You’re fine, Patton. I’m.. fine. I’m still in the city, don’t worry, I just moved to a new house. It’s actually.. really cool.” He said.

“Oh, wow, really? That’s wonderful! Could you send me the address? You mentioned unpacking- I’d love to come help! Plus, I’ll bring cookies.” Virgil could hear his wide smile.

“Sure, I’ll text you the address.”

It didn’t take long for Patton to arrive at his doorstep.

DINGDONG! DINGDONG! DINGDONG!

Virgil could tell it was him- even the way he rang the doorbell was energetic and cheerful. Virgil smiled fondly, opening the door.

“Heya, Kiddo!”

When he saw Patton, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn’t realized how much that ridiculously wide, toothy grin brightened his day.

Not only that, but he carried a big plate of chocolate chip cookies that made his mouth water.

“Patton! Come on in.”

Patton walked in, carefully setting the plate of cookies on a nearby countertop before wrapping Virgil in a bear-hug.

Virgil struggled half-heartedly, but after a moment, he lightly patted his friend. It really was good to see him again

“Aw, Virgil, you gave me a Patton the back!”

Virgil groaned loudly, wriggling out of Patton’s grip, “Really?”

Patton only smiled, “I love your new house!”

“Oh, thanks.” Virgil’s eyes drifted to the plate,

“Can I, uh..?”

Patton chuckled, “Yes, you can have a cookie! I brought them for you!”

Virgil laughed, “Sorry.”

He grabbed a cookie and took a big bite.

He was in heaven. He had to be. The taste in his mouth, eating that cookie, the feeling it gave him, couldn’t be real. Wow. Wow. Wow.

So maybe he had eaten Patton’s cookies before, but that didn’t make them any less unbelievably delicious.

He finished the cookie and gaped at Patton.

“Are you sure your Propensity isn’t super-baking?” Virgil said, suspicious.

Patton laughed again, and Virgil took the chance to snag another cookie off the plate.

A little later, they were unpacking together, making conversation, telling dad jokes, and just enjoying each other’s company.

For a couple hours, Virgil lived in a world without Propensities, without nightmares, and without Roman Spectacular’s stupid face.

“So, are you feeling better?” Patton asked.

“Huh?”

“The other day you called in sick?”

“Oh, oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m feeling better. I had this really bad, uhh, stomach bug for a while. It was pretty miserable. Sorry for not giving you a heads-up about that, my body was in hibernation mode or something.” Virgil laughed nervously.
Patton looked at him sternly with bright blue eyes, “Virgil, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable, but what really happened?”

Virgil felt everything crashing down before he could even try to think of defending himself.
“I- I just- I’m sorry, Patton, I didn’t mean to lie, I just.. I’ve been in a pretty bad place for the past.. week or so. Worse than normal, at least. I didn’t lie about the sleeping, though- I’ve been sleeping like crazy lately. My mental state was bad. Pretty bad. So, I decided to.. duck out. For a little bit.”

Patton’s face was serious, “Quack?”

Virgil exploded with laughter. That serious face, combined with that stupid, stupid joke was just so Patton. That dry humor absolutely killed him every time. Virgil slapped his hand on his thigh, tears streaming out of his eyes. Patton was laughing, too.

It wasn’t manic. It wasn’t laying on his bed in his apartment, laughing about how much he hated himself- This laughter was real, and joyous, and alive. He was alive.

It took him a couple tries to get words out without laughing again, but he eventually managed to sputter out, “Thank- thank you, Patton. Thank you for being here for me. I needed this.”

“Of course, kiddo.” Said Patton, wrapping him in another hug, “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m just a phone call away. Okay?”

Virgil smiled softly, “Alright.”

Then it was later, and the house was all set up, and Virgil had said goodbye to Patton, and the cookies were nearly gone from the plate. Virgil sat on the couch and set up his TV, and he felt like he was going to be okay.

Chapter Text

Virgil entered the cafe (and greenery) with a lightness in his heart. Here, he was safe, his brain seemed to say. Immediately, he sought out Patton, who was preparing the coffee machine.

“Hey, Patton.”

Patton perked up at the sound of his voice, and Virgil gave him a small smile.

“Kiddo! You made it in! It’s so good to see you!”

“Good to see you too, Patton.” Virgil said.

“On what grounds are you in such a good mood for?” Patton said, raising his eyebrows and waving the coffee grounds in the air.

Virgil snorted, trying not to look too amused as he edged his fringe away from his eyes.
“I don’t know, I just.. feel better, I guess.”

“Well that’s great!” Patton responded.

And so Virgil began his day, helping Patton to prepare the store, and when the first customers arrived, greeting them with almost entirely genuine smiles. As the day went on, his mood did dampen a little, just because the work got tedious, but Virgil could take boredom any day of the week.

Still, even as he told a customer to have a great day, Virgil couldn’t help the dread building in the pit of his stomach. It had been there all day, and Virgil knew why. He was waiting for something bad to happen, waiting for the other shoe to drop, again.

But it never did.

The cafe was busy but not too busy that it stressed him out, and at his lunch break he walked to a nearby park, just enjoying the nice weather with his headphones in. The day went smoothly and quickly, until he was at his home, and it was over.

The next day was good, too, and the next, and the next. The sense of dread was still there, but that was normal. It was always there. He exchanged puns with Patton, watered plants, served a lot of coffee, and even started going to the gym. Money may not buy happiness, but when combined with a good friend it sure did help.

Of course, the one undesirable part was the nightmares, as always. Virgil had a god-awful sleep schedule after the first week, because he couldn’t stand to be plunged into terror at the end of each day. He bought nearly as much coffee as he helped to sell at the cafe.

So, when Virgil recognized a customer as the infamous Logan Clark, he wasn’t in quite a good enough mood to ignore it.

Logan was one of the most well-known businessmen in the city, with a multi-million technology and science corporation. He had manufactured some of the most revolutionary technology and weaponry of the decade- including technology made specifically for the Spectaculars.

He wore a crisp navy suit with a black and silver tie, and his hair was combed back scrupulously. His glasses framed icy blue eyes, and Virgil couldn’t help but distrust the guy.

“Yeah, hi, how can I help you?” Virgil monotoned.

Logan raised an eyebrow in a calculated way.

“I require a cup of your finest caffeinated beverage.”

Virgil pursed his lips together, struggling not to laugh.

“Did I say something humorous?”

“Hmm? Humorous? I am in all certainty that you made no such comments.”

“Then what is the matter with you?”

“I uh.. recognize you. Don’t you work for that-“ Virgil barely stopped the word idiot, “-superhero?”

“The Prince? I work with him, yes.”

“Hm. Well, anyways, I shall go and ask my managerial.. manager if he is aware of the beverage you seek. One moment.”

Virgil turned around and barely stifled his laughter as he went to get Patton.

“Patton! What drink has the most caffeine?” He yelled.

“What?!”

“What’s our ‘most caffeinated beverage?’”

“Espresso with twelve shots!”

“TWELVE?!”

“YES!! I MAKE IT FOR MY HUSBAND ALL THE TIME!”

Virgil blinked, “YOU’RE MARRIED?!!”

Patton’s voice drew closer, “Yes I’m married I-“

His head poked out from the back, “Logan?!”

Logan smiled, “Hello, Patton.”

“You two know each other??” Virgil looked back and forth between them.

“Well of course we’re acquainted- we’re married.” Logan said.

Virgil’s jaw dropped, and he looked to Patton, who giggled and pointed to a gold band around his finger.

“You’re- You’re married to one of the most successful businessmen in the world? How did I not know this?!”

Patton shrugged.

“So I assume that this is Virgil?” Said Logan.

“Yep!” Patton said.

Logan turned towards Virgil, sticking out a hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you. Patton speaks of you often.”

Virgil took his hand awkwardly, “Uh, it’s nice to meet you too.”

“However, I do need that coffee.”

“Oh! I’ll get it!” Patton chirped.

So Virgil and Logan were left alone in uneasy silence.

“So…. um… how long have you two been married?” Virgil asked.

“Four years.”

Virgil nodded, looking backwards to see if Patton was coming back.

“Do you have some issue with me, Virgil?”

Virgil’s head snapped back towards Logan, “What? No! Of course not.”

Logan gave him a disbelieving look, and before Virgil could defend himself, Patton returned.

“Alrighty, it’s bean nice seeing you here, Logan! Here’s your coffee!” Patton slid a steaming cup of coffee across the table. It read “Logan” with a little heart next to it.

Logan smiled and picked up the cup, beginning to turn to leave, “I’ll see you at home, Patton. Thank you.”

Oh. Huh. They live together. For some reason the thought hadn’t occurred to Virgil, despite learning how long the two had been married. He simply couldn’t imagine Patton living in- what, a mansion? Sure, Virgil had never been to Patton’s house, but… he thought he had known him.

As Patton turned away, Virgil found himself looking at him. It was like looking at a stranger.

Virgil let his many questions stir in his head until, finally, the store had closed, and the last customer had left.

“So…”

“What’s up, kiddo?”

Virgil squirmed, “How did I not know you were married to- to the Logan Clark?”

Patton smiled softly, “It never really came up, bud.”

Virgil stayed silent as he cleaned a table methodically.

“Does it bother you, Virgil?” Patton asked.

“That I didn’t know you were married?”

“That you didn’t know I was married to Logan.”

Patton looked stern.

“Well- I mean- he just seems.. kind of cold. Calculating. Not very emotional.”

“First impressions can be deceiving. You know that, Virge.”

He really did. If Patton hadn’t taken the time to get to know him better than Virgil would just be some emo kid with a bad attitude.

That wasn’t the real problem though.

“I guess you’re right. Uh.. doesn’t he work for that Prince guy?”

“Oh, Roman? Yeah! You’re obsessed with him, right?”

Virgil nearly choked on air, “Obsessed?”

“You freak out every time you see him on the TV! It’s okay, he’s really cool about that kind of stuff. I could even introduce you guys!”

“Introduce- you know him?!”

“Yes! He’s quite nice, he comes over every once in a while for brunch.”

The Prince. At brunch. With Patton.

Virgil felt nauseous.

“Hm. Well.”

Virgil considered the idea of sitting at brunch in some rich-person house, faking a smile through a mouthful of pancakes as Roman prattled in about his latest battle against the person who was sitting across from him.

Ugh.

“I think I’m good on the introduction.”

Chapter Text

Logan hadn’t come by the shop again, but now that the cat was out of the bag Patton gushed about his husband constantly. It was disgustingly cute.

Virgil lo- liked Patton, but he still held a base of distrust towards Logan. How could he not? The guy spoke and acted like a robot and worked for the biggest prick in the city, Virgil’s one enemy. On the other hand, though, Patton loved him, so he couldn’t be that bad.

“Hey kiddo, I know you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.”

Virgil started from his impromptu nap at the front desk. “I’m awake!”

Patton smiled, “Listen, Logan has done a lot of mental health research- he donates to an organization for it every month.”

“Um, okay?” Virgil said, rubbing his eyes.

“Well, he said that it might help you to know that.. one second,” Patton took out a crumpled piece of blue paper from his apron, “Regular exercise alleviates chronic anxiety and may reduce the frequency and severity of panic attacks. Exercise and other physical activity produce en-dor-phins and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress. It may help Virgil to take a trip to a local gym.”

Virgil blinked. He was surprised Logan would care that much about his well-being.

“Uh.. okay, tell him… tell him I said thanks.”

So that’s how Virgil ended up going to the gym.

As soon as he entered the door, Virgil hated it. He was treated by a cheerful woman in a tank top who asked him several times whether he’d like a membership, which he ended up signing up for out of sheer desire to get out of the conversation. After a ridiculous amount of paperwork, he received an unwanted membership card and a complimentary water bottle, towel, headband, and bracelet. He was given no place to put these things, so he awkwardly thanked the lady and entered the gym area.

The actual exercise was marginally worse than the front desk. Virgil found himself overwhelmed by the smell of sweat and the kind of energy drinks with names that could easily be confused with that of power tools. The walls were lined with treadmills, and there was a corner of weights, and there were all sorts of places to bench-press and leg-press and chest-press. And there was an assortment of people surrounding him on all sides. There were the moms in brightly colored tank tops who moved in packs, dude-bros showing off in front of girls, focused people who were clearly regulars, and, worst of all, the people with Propensities.

Virgil tried to go on the treadmill, thinking it would probably be a good start because he could keep his headphones in. Next to him, a woman ran so fast that she blurred. When he felt too tired, sweaty, and embarrassed to keep going, he got off and tried to scope out where else he could go and not be bothered. Unfortunately, while he was doing this, he found himself bothered. One of the middle-aged moms approached him and attempted to talk to him, to Virgil’s horror. He shut that down as soon as he could.

Then, he went to the weights. He felt ashamed grabbing fifteen-pound weights when everyone else seemed to be curling thirty. It didn’t help that a man and a woman in the center of the gym had been having a one-armed push-up contest for the past hour. Nothing like people with super-strength to make you feel ill-at-ease.

Virgil eventually left- though “flee” would probably be a better term.

This is what happens when you take advice from Logan Clark. He thought darkly as he took a shower in the safety of his own home.

Still, Virgil took a private investment in a treadmill for his house. It would probably be good for his safety if he stayed in shape.

The weeks drifted by, and Virgil was relatively content throughout. He went to work, relaxed at home, and generally lived a mundane life. Of course, the nightmares still plagued his sleep, but that was routine. There was nothing he could do to stop that.

Occasionally, he would try to plan some villainous feat, but he really didn’t have the motivation.

Then, he found it.

One day, Virgil was in the shower when he thought back to what Patton had said about Logan making a monthly donation to a mental health research organization. That was the sort of thing that people with money did- donated it. Virgil realized that he should probably do that.

He felt like an awful person for not having thought about it before. Though, many would say he was an awful person, and Virgil wasn’t sure if he would disagree with them. Still, he wanted to at least do this. Virgil researched and did some thinking, and after some amount of work to make sure it was untraceable, Virgil made an anonymous cash donation of $200,000 to the Druthers Orphanage. He had spent a lot of time choosing where he would donate to, but Virgil ultimately thought that he could relate to being a lonely kid in a strange government facility without his parents. If it were him, he would’ve appreciated all the help he could get.

He hoped it would help to make those kids lives a little better than the misery they probably were.
When he got to work that day, Patton gushed about the mysterious benefactor who had donated to the kids, wondering who it was, and Virgil smiled.

That evening, though, Virgil turned on the news. He figured his donation would probably be covered- and it was. On the screen in front of him was Roman Spectacular, and he was being interviewed.

“Hello people of Druthers City! It’s Don Derek with Superhero Scoops, here once again with Roman Spectacular!”

Roman waved off the audience’s cheers gracefully.

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Now, Roman, I’m sure you are aware of the generous donation made to the Druthers Orphanage this morning?”

“Of course.” Said Roman, with an oddly neutral expression on his face.

“Doesn’t it seem a funny coincidence, considering that orphanage is the very orphanage that you were adopted from?”

Huh. Virgil had completely forgotten that.

“I uh- Yes, it is where I was adopted from. I’m very glad to hear that it received this donation.”

“Well?” Don Derek said expectantly.

“Well, what?”

“Come on- everyone’s been talking about it! Were you the one who made this donation?”

Roman looked taken aback at the direct question. He opened his mouth to say something, and there was a suspenseful pause from the otherwise excitable audience. Virgil could imagine them all leaning forward in their seats with anticipation.

Roman started to speak, and-

The TV cut to commercial.

Virgil cursed loudly. Of course it did.

Chapter Text

Do you have trouble sleeping?
Do you toss and turn, all night, and just never feel comfortable?
Is your mattress just not doing it?
Then try Tempur-Pedic!

Virgil muted the TV as the commercial break droned on. He tried to calm himself down, breathing carefully. In, out. In, out. Maybe The Prince wouldn’t take credit for the donation. Virgil just had to see what he said. So, he sat carefully on the couch, fidgeting with the volume buttons on the remote. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. The enthusiastic voice of a car salesman faded in and out. Up, down. Up, down up, down.

Finally, the commercial break ended, and Virgil turned the volume definitively up.

First, there was a recap.

Were you the one who made this donation?” Don repeated.

The camera zoomed on Roman’s face, and then the audience, and then Roman again as he spoke.

“I won’t confirm or deny anything.” He said smugly.

Virgil threw the remote, but he at least had the reason to aim for a nearby pillow.

It hit with a thud.

For the first time in months, Virgil remembered exactly how much he hated Roman Spectacular.
Seriously, he was just such a piece of shit. Virgil was leaving him alone, minding his own business. He even tried to do something good.

Look where that got him!

And that comment, too. The ambiguity of it would mean that The Prince would be praised for being so humble, so generous. It made Virgil’s blood boil. He could imagine the headlines now: A Spectacular Donation, A True Superhero, Local Orphan Says “Thank You” To The Prince. Ugh.
And Roman would eat it all up. Would he even feel bad? Virgil remembered how it felt to be kicked, over and over again, helpless and trapped in a dark place. He remembered wondering how anyone could be so heartless. He remembered wondering what type of person could possibly do this.

Yeah, Roman probably wouldn’t feel bad about a little thing like taking credit for an anonymous donation.

Maybe it was about time he got an ego check.
Before he knew it, Virgil was changing into his costume. His movements were harsh and violent, which only made it harder, which only made him angrier. He wanted to scream. It was all coming back to him. He’d had it all semi-tucked into the darkest corners of his mind- the parts that only came out in his nightmares. He remembered flinching when someone bumped into him in the hallways. He remembered how he had to cover up two black eyes with makeup, and how no one even noticed how he limped. Obviously, he’d never forgotten, but he had concocted some kind of illusion in his mind where it hadn’t really been that bad. But it had been.

He finally wrestled his outfit on. The black material clung to his skin.

He slammed the closet door, smashing his finger on accident.

“Shit!” He cursed.

Yeah, he was 100% in a stable state of mind right now. He also didn’t care, so there was that.

Then, he was out of his house, and he realized he didn’t actually have transportation to the city. He had been getting a ride from Patton, lately, or taking an Uber. Calling an Uber was out of his question, because he’d have to give them his address. Calling Patton was even MORE out of the question.

Virgil was a master at thinking things through.
Whatever, he’d walk. It wasn’t that far, and it wasn’t like he was trying to be inconspicuous.

It was a long walk. He followed a route that would let him stay out of sight until he got closer to the city, and there were hardly any people around outside the city at this time of day, anyways.

The downside was that he was left alone with his thoughts, which was never good.

As he walked, his boiling rage cooled.

This didn’t mean he got less angry, of course. It just meant that his anger morphed into cold anger. The type of anger where movements go from violent to calculated, and a frown turns into a plastered smile.

He was filled to the brim with pent-up anger, and he had the quiet patience of someone who knew they would have their chance soon.

Chapter Text

Virgil cut through the woods to enter the city. Almost immediately, people began to notice him. It was all oddly silent. The sky was gray and cloudy, and the dim light seemed to mute sound as he walked. People gasped, or quickly walked away from him, or silently took out phones to record him as he went.

No one bothered him, though, and no one followed him.

He went to the house of Roman Spectacular.

To call it a house would be an understatement- it was a mansion, really, disguised as a house.

The house was three stories, wooden, and white. It had a beautiful green lawn that was separated from the rest of the city by a steel fence and an ornate gate. The house was grand, but not in a particularly showy way. It was simple.

Still, the sight of it made Virgil scowl.

He’d scoped out the place several times. Once, before he’d officially become “Nightmare”, he’d been just seconds away from storming the place when Roman had returned home, and Virgil had to hide in a bush for the next ten minutes until he was sure the coast was clear and that his heart wasn’t actually going to explode in his chest.

So, yeah, he wasn’t a fan of the place, but it was the quickest way to get the attention of The Prince.

But how exactly would he do that?

His plan had basically been to go to The Prince’s house, get his attention, and.. something. Annoy him? He couldn’t exactly admit to him that he was the one who made the donation. Specifics hadn’t been considered much.

Did he ring the doorbell? Should he commit some crime? Vandalize his yard? Should he have brought some toilet paper?

Virgil found himself out of time to ponder over it too much, as he heard a voice behind him.

“Er… do you need something?” Roman said.

Virgil turned around to see him, in a sweater and jeans, carrying several grocery bags.

That was unexpected.

“Uhh.. yes,” Virgil shifted into a fighting stance, trying to sound intimidating, “Yes! I need you to uh.. get out of my way, Hero!”

“I mean, I would say that you’re more in my way, you are at my house-“

Virgil flushed, “I meant metaphorically! Like- I need you to stop getting in the way of my evil schemes?”

Roman gave him a funny look.

“Alright..? Let me at least put my groceries up first.”

Virgil had no idea how to even begin to respond to that. He would feel kind of stupid destroying someone’s groceries. It was so.. mundane. It was weird imagining Roman as someone who went to the grocery store. Virgil figured he had a butler for that or something.

So, he stood there and let Roman fly over the gate with his grocery bags, which was a really odd sight. The Prince opened his front door with his elbow, edging inside with a cautious look at Virgil before shutting it behind him.

Virgil felt very much like he was the bigger idiot this time around.

After a little while, Roman returned, still wearing his sweater and jeans. He closed the door, locked it, and flew back over the gate.

Suddenly, Roman looked guilty.

“Listen, I know what this is about.” He said.

Virgil scoffed, “Oh, do you?”

“The donation.”

Virgil froze.

“I know it was you.” Roman actually looked ashamed, averting his eyes to look at his feet.

Virgil didn’t say anything. If he could freeze for a second time, he would be double-frozen.

“I don’t even know how, but my people found out. They told me. I was going to deny all claims of me making the donation-“

“Oh you’re just such a good person, you’re so morally just. Congratu-fucking-lations.”

Roman let out a choked laugh, “I know, I know, I’m sorry. Just- just let me finish, okay? I was going to reject everything, I swear! But when I opened my mouth, they cut to commercial. My entire team of lawyers and PR representatives pulled me aside, and they told me who really made the donation, and they told me that I had no choice but to claim it for myself.”

“No choice?! Did I miss the part where they put a gun to your head? You don’t have to do shit!”

“I know! I,” Roman made an exasperated sound, running his hands through his hair, “I fought them. We had a full-on screaming match about it. Then- well, they told me that it wasn’t their idea- it was my dad’s. I have to listen to him. He’s- he’s Mr. Spectacular!” His voice was wracked with desperation.

“What do you want me to say?” Virgil asked, “Aw, you poor baby, they called your daddy?”

“I was in a difficult position!” The Prince’s voice fluctuated to a dangerously high pitch on the word ‘difficult’.

Virgil scoffed again, rolling his eyes. Inside, though, his blue-flamed anger had simmered down. His udder befuddlement at the way this entire exchange had gone down was a good replacement. Roman had no need to tell him any of this. Yet he was practically pleading for him to understand, to forgive him.

“Look, Nightmare, I’m really sorry, okay. I wasn’t thinking. I tried to be kind of ambiguous, but I don’t think it really helped.” The Prince said.

For a moment, looking into earnest brown eyes, confused by groceries and sweaters and honest words, Virgil nearly forgave him.

But then he remembered what this was really about.

The donation thing- that was crappy, yeah, but that wasn’t why he had made this costume. That wasn’t why he was really here.

He was here because of big egos and dark bruises. He was here because of cowardice and a deep, deep pain that never really left him.

“You really expect me to forgive you? After everything you’ve done?”

“Everything I’ve done- what are you talking about? Who are you?! What’s your problem?!”

Roman didn’t know. Roman didn’t remember.

Virgil didn’t know why he was so shocked. The Prince had never said his real name or mentioned the academy, or given any indication of recognition, but it still shocked Virgil. How dense was he? Did he really not remember how his goons ended up? Did he not remember the one kid in the school who had his horrifying Propensity?

For Virgil, this had always been personal. He wanted revenge for what Roman had done to him- but Roman didn’t even know that. For Roman, this was never personal. He didn’t know why this mattered. He didn’t know why Virgil hated him. He didn’t even know who he was.
Storm clouds were building in the sky. They had good timing.

Virgil swung to punch Roman just as the first thunder strike rang out.

Surprisingly, Virgil’s fist connected.

Roman was floating when Virgil hit him. so he spun backwards wildly, with no anchor to keep him in place.

“Ow! Fuck!” Virgil said as he shook his hand wildly before cradling it. He had always thought that sharp cheekbones was a metaphorical description, but his knuckles would probably disagree.

Just as he looked up, a fist encompassed Virgil’s vision.

The Prince used his full momentum, practically flying through Virgil, knocking him down on his back.

OW. Fuck that hurt.

It had maybe not been the best idea in the world to try and throw hands with an infamous superhero.

Virgil felt a strange prickle at the back of his neck and looked up to see The Prince flying towards him at full speed. Virgil rolled away, just barely dodging the tackle. Evidently, The Prince hadn’t expected that, as his outstretched arms jolted painfully against the concrete, and he cried out.
Virgil winced, but then he realized that was kind of a win for him.

He scrambled to his feet. He had to get away from here. Virgil sprinted away as fast as he could, and ran into the first random building he saw.

Chapter Text

Virgil was in the hospital.

It was probably somewhere he could benefit a visit to, considering his bloody nose and aching head and back, but he wasn’t there for any of that.

Virgil had entered the hospital in a frantic escape, and somehow managed to not be noticed within all the hustle-and-bustle of the place. Doctors and nurses hardly had time to breathe, let alone notice when a notorious supervillain walked in. If they did notice, he’d probably have to go to the waiting room for them to address later.

Virgil found a bathroom to quietly take off his cape, mask, and more conspicuous costume elements, hoping that would be enough. The majority of his outfit was just black. With luck, he’d just look like his normal emo self.

He wasn’t sure if The Prince was still looking for him outside, so Virgil found a chair and a magazine to hide his face and sat. (Of course, this was ineffective, as his masked face was in fact on the front page of said magazine.)

No one paid him any mind.

So, Virgil relaxed, idly perusing a tabloid article on Roman’s love life with some superhero woman he’d never heard of.

And then the security guards ran in.

Virgil dropped the magazine and leapt up, heart pounding. How had they known? Had someone seen him and quietly called security?
He started looking around for escape routes. The main entrance didn’t seem to be blocked, and he didn’t see any police cars outside, or The Prince. Still, he couldn’t be sure. They could be waiting for him. If he was forced to use his Propensity, he would.

“Room 13! Clinger!” The lady at the front desk yelled.

The security guards rushed off, presumably to Room 13, and Virgil relaxed. He sat back down in his chair, sighing with relief. So he hadn’t been found.

Then, after only a few seconds, the front door opened to reveal The Prince.

Virgil was so shocked, he didn’t even stand up this time. His heart didn’t pound this time. He was pretty certain it had stopped. He was having a heart attack. This was it, then. Shocked to death.

He had been right in the middle of relaxing after the false alarm! Come on, Universe! Cut a guy some slack!

The Prince walked up to the front desk, and Virgil noticed how the whole hospital had gone quiet as people gaped at the glorious hero in front of them. The receptionist seemed to pull herself together after a moment of speechlessness.

“Um, how can I help you.. sir?”

Virgil eyed the doorway. Could he sneak out without The Prince noticing? He doubted it. Was there some way he could get out of this?

Roman smiled warmly, “Yes, I do believe you can. I’m fairly certain I’ve broken both of my arms.”

Virgil’s hectic thoughts slowed for a moment, and he took a closer look at Roman. His arms were very delicately limp at his sides, as if he was trying to avoid jostling them too much. The warm smile was a lot closer to a grimace of pain. He hadn’t once looked at the people in the room to try and find Virgil.

Wrong place, wrong time. Another false alarm. Virgil couldn’t tell if the universe was kinder than he thought or just took pleasure in watching him panic. Possibly some odd combination of both.

Virgil watched the lady fuss over Roman, calling over a nurse to escort him away. He noted how Roman refrained from swinging his arms when he walked.

As The Prince exited, another group pushed past him in the hallway. It was the security guards returning, and with them was a screaming woman and baby.

There were five security guards. One was holding the baby, and four were holding the woman back. As they drew closer, Virgil began to decipher what she was yelling.
“Four more minutes! I have four more minutes, you bastards!” She was waving her watch around like a weapon as she screamed, “I have four more minutes with my baby!”

Virgil winced. The Testing. So that’s what this was about.

It happened to every newborn baby.

The mother was allowed exactly 24 hours with the baby, and then it was taken to be Tested. This lasted two weeks. It had something to do with genetics and mutations and Propensities- Virgil had never paid much mind to it. Since Propensities were genetic mutations, other mutations were permitted more often in the body. This meant that there was a much higher chance of genetic disease.. or something.

The Testing was standard, but if you wanted to know right away if your child had a Propensity, you could put a huge extra fee that most people couldn’t afford.

It might be standard, but it was certainly discomforting to see a separation in action. The baby was screaming a feral sound just as loud as the mother’s accusations, and Virgil could see the unease in the faces around him as people sheepishly averted their eyes. Virgil frowned. It did seem like it was wrong. After all, 24 hours was the law.

There was nothing he could do about it, though. It’s not like it wasn’t for the kid’s own good- if they weren’t tested, they might have some undiscovered genetic disease. Still, it felt wrong.

When the guards, the woman, and the child had left the building, the remaining bystanders breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Virgil should probably get out as soon as possible. He couldn’t help but feel curious about Roman, though. He considered sneaking outside the door to try to hear his condition… but that would be too dangerous if he was spotted. His leg bounced as he thought about it.

It probably wasn’t worth the risk. He’d just have to check the news later.

So, Virgil left the building and took the long way home, holding his bundle of costume items close to his side and avoiding eye contact the whole way.

Chapter Text

Virgil rapped his fingers on the table, frowning at his computer screen. He refreshed the news tab again. No mention of The Prince being injured. He probably shouldn’t be so invested in his wellbeing; after all, the reason that The Prince had landed on the pavement with so much force was that he had intended to use all that force on him. Still- Virgil felt guilty.

The worst thing was, there was a part of Virgil that had gone into that encounter wanting to hurt Roman. That wasn’t him, though. He was just.. angry.. or something. But he’d never intended to physically harm Roman.. not really. He’d always just wanted to push him around a little bit, annoy him, but there was always that little nagging voice in his head that hoped Roman suffered. And Virgil was terrified of that part of himself.

Virgil looked down at his hand clicking the refresh button over and over. He still had his fingerless gloves on and the major part of his Nightmare outfit. Ugh. No wonder he was sweating so much.

He changed into some sweatpants and a purple hoodie, feeling much more comfortable. Virgil yawned, stretching. He was actually really comfortable.. Maybe refreshing his computer could wait. He didn’t get very much sleep these days.

Virgil got in bed, wrapping himself in a cocoon of blankets and curling up in a ball. He carefully avoided thinking about nightmares and, soon enough, drifted to sleep.

In tonight’s nightmare, Virgil was watching himself from up above. He hated these. It was uncanny to watch yourself do things outside of your control. Even weirder, wherever his body walked, his consciousness was angled so he could only see the back of his own head.

His body was walking down a shadowy corridor with generic-looking wall lights that emitted gray light. The floor was gray carpet. There were framed photos dotting the walls as well, but they were impossible to perceive. It felt familiar, somehow.

Suddenly, his body was dressed in his villain outfit, with the black cape flowing behind. Everything about the costume was impossibly black, seeming to absorb the little amount of light left. The hallway grew narrower, as if being drawn in by the blackhole that was Nightmare.

There was a metal door ahead. The hallway was getting darker with every step, but the door was still clearly visible, and the number above it: 13.

Rather than open the door, Virgil’s body turned to face him, and Virgil was met with eyes the color of gray storm clouds.

Virgil woke up surprisingly gently, stretching. He’d had a bad dream, as always, but he couldn’t remember the majority of it. He had gray eyes, or something? It wasn’t important.

What was important, though…

Virgil walked over to his computer, opening it. He checked the time. He’d been asleep for.. four hours! Geez! Surely there’d be some news by now. He mistyped his password twice before getting it right. The news tab was still open.

Virgil refreshed the page, and immediately it filled with images of Roman with two casts. Virgil’s eyes went to the familiar Superhero Scoops logo, and he clicked on the interview titled The Prince Fills Us In On His Current Condition.

The camera immediately panned to the familiar face of Don Derek, sitting across from The Prince. Seriously, did this company only have one interviewer?

“Hello everyone, it’s Don Derek, here again with everyone’s favorite Prince: Roman Spectacular!”

Roman flashed one of his winning smiles. He was wearing a yellow striped shirt under a denim jacket, rolled up to show off his two brand new white casts.

“Now, Roman, I can’t help but notice you look different since the last time we spoke. Did you change your hair?”

Roman chuckled in that hearty, staged way that grated on Virgil’s nerves.

“Yeah, do you like it? Thought I’d try out a new style.”

“It’s good, I do like it.”

They both laughed.

“Seriously, though, what happened?”

“Well, I broke my arms.”

Don laughed, “I can see that.”

Roman didn’t speak for a few seconds.

“I broke them in a fight with the ever-evasive Nightmare.”

Virgil snorted. He was ever-evasive, now.

“Yeah, but, what exactly happened?”

“Ah, well, I was flying to attack him- at full speed, mind you- and at the last second, he somehow rolled out of the way, and I hit the pavement.. I used my arms to stop myself.”

Don Derek winced, “That’s gotta hurt.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“How are you doing, now?” Don asked.

“Oh, I’m doing alright. I’m temporarily out of action for the moment, obviously, but with my super-healing I should have a swift recovery.”

He had super-healing?

“Well, that’s good to hear. Now, how about the Mayor’s commemoration?”

The what?

“Oh, yes! I’ve always respected Thomas so much- Mayor Sanders, I mean, and it was so kind of him to say that. It really meant a lot-“

Virgil paused the video. He had to see this.

It wasn’t hard to find a video- he was surprised he didn’t see it earlier, but he presumably just wasn’t paying attention. There one was- Mayor Sanders Commemorates The Prince On Valiant Effort.

Mayor Sanders was a very respectable man, with light brown hair and a friendly composure that easily won over the city. Even Virgil liked him. He was just an extremely likable guy. Now, he was standing at a podium in a beige suit with a blue tie, smiling.

“Hello, citizens of Druthers City!”

He paused as thunderous applause rang out below him. He had that sort of effect on people.

“It’s a wonderful day here in this wonderful city- don’t you agree?”

More cheers.

“Now, you all know that the Spectaculars-“

Wild, out-of-control cheers.

“The Spectaculars keep this city together, and keep everyone here safe. This city would probably not be here today without their help. Unfortunately, Roman Spectacular, also known as The Prince, has been injured in a valiant effort to stop one of the newest supervillains threatening us, Nightmare.”

There were some boo’s, and Virgil felt affronted.

“Though he is currently resting, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Roman and the whole Spectacular family for everything they’ve done for Druthers. I hope for The Prince to recover soon and go back to defending this city from evil. In light of this, I’d like to reveal that I have approved the construction of a brand new statue that will include all three members of the Spectacular family that will stand right here in the city square!”

The audience cheered wildly, and Thomas smiled.

“That’s all I have to say- thank you!”

Then, he walked offstage, and the video ended.

Huh. So Roman seemed to be doing just fine, then.

Chapter Text

It was a busy morning at the greenery/brewery, and Virgil was being kept occupied. Him, Patton, and some other employee who Virgil had never bothered to get to know, were racing around, struggling to make coffee, water plants, take down orders, and not bump into one another in the process.

Virgil was asked four times by angry customers to let them “speak to his manager”, which was awful. On the other hand, Patton was asked once, which was priceless.

Finally, at around 11:00 AM, business finally started to ease up. Virgil was still scatterbrained from the whole thing, massaging his temples from the migraine he had inevitably received as a reward for his hard work.

The bell rang, signaling the arrival of another customer. Virgil casually glanced up, and then he stopped in his tracks.

It was Roman. Here. At the coffee shop. In a mid-sleeved white and green shirt and black jeans. He thanked someone opening the door for him. His two plaster casts were plainly visible, like they were accessories to his outfit.

He was just strolling right in, like it meant nothing, and he was strolling right up to the front counter that Virgil was manning and-

“Hello there!”

Virgil picked his jaw up from the floor, “..Hi… Welcome to Green Tea: Breenery & Grewery- Brewery & Greenery, I mean. Um. How may I.. help you?”

“Ah, I’d like a-“

Virgil cut him off, “Let me guess, iced caramel latte?”

Roman blinked, “Uh, yes, that’s exactly correct. How did you know that?”

Literally everything about you. Virgil shrugged, “Just a guess.”

Roman raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked

“Me?” Thank god Patton didn’t require employees to wear name tags.

“Yes? I don’t see any other dashing baristas in my immediate vicinity.”

Was he- no, he wasn’t.

“Uhh.. my name.. is…” Crapcrapcrapcrap

“Virgil! You didn’t tell me Roman was here!”

Oh shit.

“Patton! I was wondering where you were!” Roman said, grinning.

He really was oblivious. Seriously- he didn’t remember him? How many people outside of Europe could possibly be named Virgil?

Virgil thought back to the events of a couple days ago. Who are you?! What’s your problem?! ..Roman really didn’t remember at all.

“-to see you. Oh- geez, bud, your arms- How are you doing?” Patton was saying.

Roman shrugged, “Oh, you know. I’m trying not to be too up in arms about it.”

Patton beamed like the sun and Roman grinned back. Virgil was completely, totally speechless. What was happening? Surely this wasn’t a real occurrence in his life.

“Oh, Roman! This is Virgil! Remember, the one I told you about?” Patton exclaimed.

Roman’s eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, “Oh, yeah! It’s nice to meet you! Logan and Patton talk about you all the time.”

Virgil blinked. He had really been hoping this was a nightmare, but he was beginning to have the awful suspicion that it wasn’t.

“Virgil is a big fan of yours.”

If Virgil had been drinking anything, he would have choked. As it was, he just quietly regretted his life choices.

“Oh, really?” Roman said, smirking.

“The biggest,” Virgil monotoned, turning away, “Look, I’m gonna go get your drink.”

Before anyone could say anything, he ran off to the safety of the coffee machines. As he left, he heard Patton say something along the lines of “Aw, he’s so nervous!”

He was nervous, but for very different reasons than Patton thought.

He made the iced latte, and then put three pumps of caramel in. On the outside of the cup, Virgil wrote “Ramen”. He just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. He stuck a straw in the cup and returned to the counter where Patton and Roman were chatting. The rest of the shop was oddly quiet, and Virgil noticed several people with their phones out, taking pictures or videos of the celebrity.

“Um, here you go.” Virgil said, sliding the drink across the counter to Roman.

“Thank you!” Roman said, smiling at him.

“Uh.. yeah, no problem,” Virgil brushed his bangs out of his eyes, “That’ll be $4.50.”

Roman looked surprised, his hand going to his pocket, “Oh, uh-“

“No need! This is on me, Roman.” Patton said quickly.

“Thank you, Patton. Er- do you think you could pull up a stool or something over here for me?”

“Oh! Sure thing, kiddo.”

Virgil did not like that.

Roman hung out for the next few hours, chatting idly and leaning down to sip iced coffees. (It was hard to pick up a cup with a cast.)

It was odd- it was wrong to have Roman here, with Patton, laughing and telling stories over the counter. This was supposed to be a place where Virgil didn’t have to worry about his.. other life. Yet, his other life seemed to leak in through the cracks at every turn.

Virgil tried not to let it get to him, but he felt like Roman knew his identity. Somehow, this was all an act to mess with him. Maybe he was stalling while the building was surrounded by authorities, ready to apprehend him.

It wasn’t much more than a nagging feeling, though. It was hard to imagine anything bad happening here, with the smell of coffee and dew intermingling, and sunlight shining through the windows onto bright green leaves. He felt safe, which was an odd contrast to the feeling of The Prince seeing him outside of his costume and learning his real name and where he works. Virgil would have to be very, very careful not to get too comfortable.

Roman and Patton talked a lot about Logan, which wasn’t a topic Virgil knew much about, but it was interesting to listen to. Apparently, he was a big fan of space, science, and jam. Virgil could’ve probably guessed the first two, but never the last.

Every once in a while, someone would shyly come up and ask Roman for a picture or autograph. He began having people sign his casts, too, with a pack of glitter-pens that Patton, for some reason, had in his purse.

Virgil tried to avoid talking too much, no matter how many times he was coerced by Patton and interrogated by Roman. He kept his answers short, and he stuck to helping customers and quietly listening in. He couldn’t risk telling Roman any more personal information than he already knew.

Roman laughed loudly at a dad joke that Patton made, and Virgil rolled his eyes at it.

He couldn’t help but wonder, though; was this another persona for Roman? He certainly seemed different than how he acted in interviews. Different from how he acted when he was The Prince. He was different from Roman Reyes, too. Virgil wasn’t sure what to think of this Roman.

As a rule of thumb, Virgil tended to trust people who Patton trusted.. but this was an entirely new situation.

Virgil resolved to make the occasional snide or sarcastic comment towards Roman, which was the most natural thing in the world at this point. He also made sure to misspell his name on all three of his iced coffees. The second iced coffee was for “Raymond” and the third for “Greek”. None of these ploys were acknowledged by Roman or Patton, which Virgil found offensive. He’d thought “Greek” had been pretty clever.

Eventually, Roman left the shop, thanking them and promising to “come back another day”, which Virgil was just so ecstatic about.

Before he left, he asked Patton and Virgil to sign one of his casts.

“Either one.” He said.

Patton squealed, immediately snatching up the blue glitter pen. He signed his name in curly handwriting with a little smiley face next to it.

Virgil stayed still.

“Virgil? Are you gonna sign one?” Roman asked.

“I, uh..” Virgil tried to come up with a reason not to sign without admitting how his hatred for Roman, but he couldn’t come up with anything. “Yeah, sure.”

Virgil used the purple glitter pen to write his name in a small font that would be inconspicuous in the mass littering the casts.

That was truly the most surreal experience of his life.

Chapter Text

After work the day that Roman visited, Virgil was still in a bizarre state of mind. He managed to mess up several orders, to the anger of the customers, and he was basically running on muscle memory and a half-assed customer service voice.

It was like he was in a dream.. not that he really knew what a dream was. But the only time he’d ever felt so dissociated was in his sleep.

Virgil looked to the window. The sky was bright and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It was midday, so it was likely high in the sky, out of his view. He blinked.

He was watching Patton flip the sign by the door to signal the shop was closed. Huh.

He blinked again.

He was cleaning a table. He stared down at his hand, watching it move in methodical circles with the cloth.

Then, Patton was putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, “You okay there, kiddo?”

Virgil stopped watching the circular movement. He slowly turned his head to face Patton. “Huh?”

“You’ve been cleaning that table for five minutes now, Virge.”

Virgil frowned. He had? “Sorry..”

Patton’s eyes twinkled, “No worries. You’ve been kind of out of it this whole afternoon..” He grinned, “Any particular reason?”

Virgil’s brow furrowed as he tried to comprehend, “..It’s been a weird day.” He settled on.

Patton’s grin was still there. “Are you glad I invited Roman to come visit?”

What..?

“You invited him?!”

“Of course! He could use the company with his injury.. and I knew someone who would love to meet him.”

“Me? Patton, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not obsessed with him?!”

“It doesn’t matter how many times you tell me if I know it’s not true! I mean, come on, kiddo, you’ve been in a trance ever since he left!”

“Well- yeah- but that’s- I mean I wouldn’t call it- ugh!” Virgil stammered.

Patton smiled at him.

Virgil glared back.

“Aww, don’t be mad at me! It’s cute!”

Virgil turned up the intensity of his glare from
annoyed to murderous. Patton didn’t seem to notice.

“You did a really good job of keeping your cool, though. I mean, you were so aloof the whole time.” Patton chuckled, “Writing the wrong names on the coffee cups was a little obvious, though.”

Virgil sputtered incomprehensibly.

Patton booped his nose, which resulted in more sputtering.

“I can handle closing from here. You should go get some rest, kiddo.” Patton said, laughing.

Virgil opened his mouth to say something. Then, he decided to spare himself the embarrassment. He turned and left the store, which allowed him to hide his tomato-red face.

When he got home, Virgil buried his face in his pillow and thought about the pros and cons of having a friend. Moreso the cons.

He groaned into the pillow. Why did Patton have to invite.. him?

He’d just wanted to have a mundane, uneventful day at work. He certainly hadn’t wanted to encounter.. that guy. He at least would’ve taken more care to fix his hair that morning instead of carelessly running a brush through it and calling it good.

He knew Patton wouldn’t judge him- wouldn’t judge anyone. And he didn’t care what the customers thought.

But it was just bad form to look bad in front of your archnemesis.

Especially when your archnemesis was Roman freaking Spectacular!

Although, if Virgil was being honest with himself, it wouldn’t have mattered to him how he looked going to work. If he had known Roman would be there, he wouldn’t have gone at all.

How oblivious did the guy have to be to not notice? To not seem phased at all? It wasn’t as if Virgil had pretended to be some big fan of his.. whatever Patton might say. It was just unnerving. Wouldn’t he recognize his voice?

Virgil sighed, finally pulling his face out from the warmth of the pillow. It was getting uncomfortable smushing his nose like that.

The Prince was an idiot- that was the beginning and the end of it. Virgil had always known that. There was no point in sparing much more thought on the matter.

Virgil made himself some Pizza Rolls. He had a bad habit of just passing out when he got home, but he did actually like to eat dinner.

Life as a supervillain seemed to be much more odd than evil.

If any given person was asked what they thought Nightmare was up to at that given moment, absolutely zero of them would guess that he was sitting alone in his house, eating pizza rolls.

(Possibly with the exception of a member of the Pizza Rolls marketing team.. but they still wouldn’t believe it.)

Because.. well.. you know.. he’s a supervillain. There was something about the concept that immediately stole his humanity.

Nightmare is an unstoppable fiend with nothing but evil intentions. Nightmare has the ability to show his enemies their greatest fear. Nightmare can paralyze The Prince using pure terror.

No one would believe that Nightmare has a day job as a barista where he works for his friend, who’s also the husband of Logan Clark. Or that Nightmare served The Prince three separate iced coffees, and instead of poisoning them, he intentionally misspelled Roman’s name. Or that Nightmare is terrified of himself and his capabilities. Or that Nightmare is sitting alone, in his kitchen, eating pizza rolls.

That just wasn’t how it worked.

Virgil let out a long-suffering breath, finishing his last pizza roll and putting his plate in the dishwasher. Oh, how surprised Don Derek of Superhero Scoops would be.

Although it was Superhero Scoops, so maybe he wouldn’t care very much.

When he went to bed, Virgil had the same nightmare as the previous night.

He was in a dark corridor. It was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was uncanny.

He watched himself from behind as he walked down the corridor, his footsteps muffled by the carpet. Indistinguishable portraits lined the grayscale walls like skulls in a crypt. Suddenly, up ahead, a door. Darkness closed in on him. The walls closed in on him. The door closed in on him. Overwhelming darkness and terror. The number thirteen, grim and dark, staring at him from above the door.

A pair of eyes, his own eyes, cold and gray and empty.

Blackout.

Then, finally, waking to a strange feeling and no memory but that of unease the color of storm clouds.

Something about it felt important.

Virgil rubbed his eyes, shaking the thoughts from his head. It was just a nightmare. It was probably better for him to forget it, anyways.

He yawned, forcing himself to get out of bed and ready for work.

This time, he did take care to fix his hair and eyeshadow. You never know.

Virgil began the long walk to the shop. He needed to get a car, one of these days. Still, it was probably good to spend some time outside in the cool morning air, without having to hold any false pretenses.

When Virgil arrived, he was shocked to find a crowd outside the entrance to Green Tea. Had he somehow managed to show up late? He glanced at the time on his phone and then back at the crowd confusedly. It was still a good five minutes before the store opened.

Virgil grimaced. He’d have to find a way to get through the bustling crowd and inside the shop.

He tentatively walked up to the nearest person.

“Excuse me, I work here.” He said, gesturing to his apron.

They begrudgingly moved out of the way, and Virgil found the strategy to be effective on nearly everyone.

Nearly.

One woman who he addressed perked up, smiling, “Did you get to meet him?!”

“Meet who?” Virgil said, his stomach sinking as his brain already supplied the answer before the woman spoke.

“Roman Spectacular!”

Chapter Text

“Roman Spectacular!” The woman said, and the crowd around her exploded with noise and questions.

This was all-too-familiar. Virgil breathed deeply, trying to push through as politely as possible. At least when he was evil he had an excuse to shove people out of his way.

“Are you the owner of this shop?” A man asked.

“Uh, no. Excuse me..”

“What’s Roman’s drink order?”

“Did you pay Roman to promote you?”

“Did you get to serve him?”

“How does it feel to know that the establishment you work at was visited by The Prince?”

“I.. uh.. Can I please get through?”

People started to take pictures with their phones, and Virgil yelped, trying to cover his face with his hands. He was beginning to breathe heavily, he needed to get out of this situation, he needed to get inside.

This wasn’t working.

“When’s Roman going to get here?”

“Fairly soon!” A voice rang out, and the entire crowd turned around.

Obviously, it was Roman. Who else had such a penchant for dramatic entrances? But if Virgil hadn’t recognized his voice, he wouldn’t have been able to recognize his face.

The crowd immediately moved away from Virgil, rushing to Roman in a teeming mass, completely blocking him from view.

Ironically, The Prince had saved him.

As soon as he could, Virgil dashed to the door, and Patton appeared from inside to let him in.

“Kiddo! You alright? I saw you get mobbed out there!” Patton said, closing and locking the door after him.

“Yeah, I’m.. alright.”

“Sorry I couldn’t help you, I didn’t want to risk letting them in. I’m not done setting up! I woke up late!”

Virgil snickered, “Good timing.”

Patton directed an intense look Virgil’s way, and he shut up and helped get the shop ready.

After a minute, Patton tentatively opened the door. Immediately a mob of people entered the shop, with Roman leading them.

“Good morning!” He called out.

“Morning, Roman.” Patton said wearily.

That was deeply worrying. Virgil rarely knew Patton to do anything wearily.

Roman didn’t answer him, as he was taking a selfie between two excited teenagers.

After a moment and another selfie, he began to walk up to the counter. However, he was interrupted by a request for yet another selfie and an autograph. Virgil shook his head, snickering.

Roman finally made his way to the counter, looking slightly more sheepish than before. Before Virgil had a chance to speak, Patton did.

“What can we do for you and your.. many friends, today?” Patton’s voice was hyperbolically cheery.

“Oh, uh, the usual? Please?” Roman said.

Virgil scoffed, turning around to make “the usual”. How pretentious can one person be?

As Virgil made the coffee, he heard the sound of shuffling that was presumably the crowd forming a line. One by one, Patton took their orders, and Virgil’s coffee-making became a little more frantic. Once Roman’s drink was finished, he hurriedly scribbled “Romaine” on the side and slid it across the counter without even a glance towards him.

After he had completed the orders for the crowd, there was a momentary slow, allowing Virgil to rest.

“Yeah, just put it right up here.”

He finally looked over at Roman, who was directing a fan to move a stool up to the counter. Right. Broken arms.

“I’m pretty sure that you should still be able to lift a cup.” Virgil said pointedly. Roman had situated himself at the counter, leaning down to drink out of the straw of his coffee and looking like an idiot.

“It’s not that I can’t pick the cup up, but I would rather not risk spilling anything in this fine establishment,” Roman smiled at Patton, “Besides, I enjoy the company.”

“That totally makes sense.” A fan piped up, who had pulled up a stool next to Roman. The little crowd surrounding Roman all agreed enthusiastically.

Virgil turned away, pretending to find something to do. The sight of Roman with an entourage like that was not bringing back pleasant memories.

The bell over the door rang, and a couple filed in. They were regulars, an old man and woman with English accents who ran a nearby plant shop. Patton had befriended them by stopping by every once in a while and helping their plants grow. In return, the couple often stopped by and bought some tea. They shared confused expressions as they awkwardly maneuvered past the crowd to the front counter.

“Hello Desmond, Carol. Sorry about the crowd, we’ve got a celebrity here today.” Patton said, gesturing to Roman, who grinned and waved.

Carol squinted at him through round spectacles, “Oh, you’re the Spectaculars’ adopted boy, aren’t you? Very good, very good.”

Desmond’s eyes glimmered with recognition, “Ah yes, indeed, indeed. Have you caught him yet?” He asked Roman.

Virgil turned around to hide his expression, pretending to check the coffee machine. His face, though no one saw it, conveyed the embodiment of regret and anxiety, with wide eyes and the implication that he’d rather be literally anywhere else in the world than there. He heard Roman start coughing behind him.

“Uh, caught- caught him? Caught Nightmare? Not yet, no. I’m working on it. But soon enough, he shall be caught! No villain is a match for The Prince!”

Virgil used his middle finger to scratch his nose. No one was meant to see it, but it made him feel better. Yeah, sure, he was no match for the great and ever-observant Prince. Sure, Nightmare was in a position to poison him if he felt like it, but The Prince could not be fooled!

Virgil tried to make his expression neutral, and turned around to take the orders of Desmond and Carol. They got chai and green tea, both with honey.

As they went to their table, more people entered, and several of them were greeted by the crowd around Roman. Apparently, they’d invited friends.

The bell over the door was ringing constantly.

Virgil continued to make order after order, Patton helping out when he could. This was gonna be a real handful.

Worse than customers were the large portion of people who didn’t even buy anything. Virgil spent his little amount of free time glaring at these people, and of course also glaring at Roman.

On one of the occasions where Virgil was glaring at Roman, he saw him, and raised an eyebrow.

“You know, Virgil, you seem really familiar.. have we met before?” He asked.

Be normal be normal be normal. “You came here yesterday, genius, remember?”

Roman rolled his eyes, “Yes, I do know that much. I meant before then.”

Virgil shrugged noncommittally, “I think I’d remember if I did.”

He turned to make some tea, but he could feel Roman’s eyes following him.

As it drew closer to lunchtime, the crowd dispersed a little, and business began to finally lull.

The shop closed at one o’clock for lunch, and Patton began to not-so-subtly start ushering people out as soon as the time hit.

“Oh- Patton- do I need to leave..?” Roman asked.

“No. I need to talk to you.” Patton said, and he..glared at Roman. Patton glared.

What was the big issue? Yeah, it had been a frustrating day, but they had had busy days before, and Patton had always seemed cheerful as ever. It made sense for Virgil to be mad- but Patton? That was unusual.

After a little bit, the fans and customers had been reluctantly emptied from the shop.
Patton turned to Roman with his hands on his hips. He looked like the movie definition of a stern parent.

“Roman, why did you post on your Instagram about my shop?”

So that was what had happened..

“I- well I just thought I might get my fans to meet me here-”

“Did I ask for you to do that?”

Roman hung his head, “No..”

“Did you tell me you were going to do that?”

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it would upset you-”

“Of course it would, Roman! You know it would! You know how important it is to me that I do this by myself! You know that! You know that Logan has intentionally kept his personal life extremely private so that I wouldn’t have to deal with- with this! I don’t want his help- you know that! Why did you think I would want your help?!”

“I-” Roman looked completely crestfallen.

Virgil glanced back and forth between the two. He was speechless.

Roman was staring down at his red Vans, and his shame was practically emanating from his body. It was really, really unnerving to see him without all of his confidence.

Patton ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “I’m sorry for yelling, kiddo. It’s just- You’ve ruined- My shop won’t be the same again after this. After I left the Academy.. This was what I did. This was all I had, and I’ve poured my heart and soul into keeping it. When I married Logan, I wanted to continue to make my own living, without his help. Now- Now this place that I’ve created from my heart and blood is going to forever be known as the place where you visited. That hurts, Roman. You know I’m not one to be selfish, but I built this place from the ground up, and people are going to come here, and they’re going to ask about you. My profits are going to go up, and my business is going to thrive, not because of the service, or the atmosphere, or the drinks, but because you said it was good.”

When Virgil tore his eyes away from Patton, he saw that Roman appeared to have been slapped in the face.

“Patton, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t think about it. My PR agent just recommended I could meet up with some fans while my arm was broken, and I wanted to come visit. It honestly wasn’t any attempt to promote your business, I thought I was just-”

“I understand, kiddo,” Patton took a deep breath, and his voice softened, “There’s nothing that can be done about it now. I’m sorry for freaking out on you. Just.. you gotta talk to me about stuff like that, okay? You can’t just do it. I could’ve told you how much it meant to me before you did this, and then this wouldn’t have happened. Still.. I forgive you, of course. Come here, bud. I’m so sorry for getting upset.”

Patton brought Roman in for a hug, and Virgil felt like he was heavily intruding. He began to shuffle away.

“Virgil?” Patton said softly, unwrapping his arms from around Roman.

“Um, yeah?”

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

“O-oh. It’s fine. I just felt like I was intruding..”

“Never.”

Roman tugged at the hem of his shirt, “I’m really sorry, again, Patton.”

Patton chuckled lightly, “It’s fine, Roman. You’re fine. I’ll be alright, I just got-”

Roman’s head suddenly whipped around, “Virgil!”

“Uh, what?”

Roman snapped his fingers with gusto, his face lighting up, “That’s where I recognize you from! We went to the Academy together!”

Chapter Text

“Wait, what? Virgil, you never told me you went to school with Roman!” Patton said.

Virgil let out a strangled laugh, “What?”

“Yeah! Remember, Virgil? The Druthers Propensity Education Academy?” Roman said excitedly.

“Oh, you went to DPEA? I went to DCAP.” Said Patton.

“We had PE together, remember? And history?”

Oh, Virgil definitely remembered.

“I.. I don’t think that’s right..” He said, carefully avoiding eye contact in favor of scoping out the exits. (There was really only one, though.) If he caught them by surprise, he could probably make it out of the shop.

As he tried to think of a good excuse to leave in a hurry, Patton spoke, “You know.. I don’t actually know what your Propensity is, Virgil.” He said thoughtfully.

Roman frowned, “Hm, me neither.”

Virgil finally made eye contact with Roman, tilting his head, “You.. don’t know..?”

“Not the specifics.. Didn’t you have a special room or something? I also had a special room, but that was for different reasons, I presume. Unless you’re secretly the son of two famous superheroes.”

Patton gave Virgil a questioning eyebrow raise.

“Uh… My.. propensity? My propensity. My.. propens...ity. It’s kind of personal, you know, I don’t really feel comfortable talking about it right now-“

“That’s fine, kiddo!” Patton immediately said.

Virgil’s shoulders sagged with relief, “Thank you so much for under-“

“Are you a werewolf?” Roman stage-whispered.

Virgil gave him a look.

“Yep! Yeah, you got me, Pr- Pri..vate Obvious! I’m a werewolf, because that’s a real propensity that exists. Every full moon, I LOSE CONTROL. I’ve had to hide for so long, because I don’t want the vampires to find out about me. Those are real too, just like me, a werewolf!”

Roman glared, “There are plenty of weird Propensities out there. It wouldn’t be that surprising. Also, it’s Captain Obvious, not Private.”

“I meant what I said! You don’t deserve to be called a captain!”

Roman made an offended, high-pitched sound, and Patton stepped between them.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough.” He said through laughter. He outstretched his arms between them as a buffer.

“Oh, I have more to say to Remus Lup-annoying here-“

Then, out of the blue, a tinny version of the Spectacular Theme Tune began to play, and Roman said, “Hold on, that’s my phone.”

Virgil made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, coming out as a sort of “pffttt” as Roman answered the phone.

“Hello?” He said, beginning to step away from Virgil and Patton, listening to someone on the other end.

“Oh, it is? I’m so sorry, I lost track of time, you know how fans are..”

He paused, listening for a long time.

“Yes.” He said, in a similar tone to that of when Patton had yelled at him earlier today- what felt like forever ago.

“Yes.”

Roman paused again.

“I understand. I’ll be there right away. Goodbye.”

Roman hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He walked back to Virgil and Patton.

“Who was that?” Patton asked.

“Oh, uh, just my father. I gotta go- I’ll see you later?”

Patton smiled, and nodded.

Roman looked relieved, “Wonderful. It was good seeing you both. Thank you for the coffee and.. stuff.”

“Bye!!” Patton said. Virgil waved half-heartedly.

And just like that, Roman left.

Patton and Virgil looked at the door for a few seconds, and then at each other.

“Huh,” Virgil finally said, “Weird day.”

“Yeah, I think that just about sums it up, Virge.” Patton answered.

They both laughed tensely, and they both understood each other a little bit more.

“...Are you gonna be okay, Patton?” Virgil asked.

Patton let out a long sigh and looked around at the shop, running a hand through his curls like he always seemed to do when he was stressed.

Finally, he answered, “I think so, kiddo. ...We’ll see tomorrow.”

Virgil gave him a sympathetic smile, and tried not to think too much about his own future, or the effect that the day would have on him.

“That sounds good to me. I’ll see you then?” He said.

Patton turned his eyes back to him, and nodded, “Yeah,” He smiled fondly, “Seeya, kiddo.”

Virgil smiled back, and went out through the same exit that Roman had gone out of just moments ago.

He walked home and couldn’t help but let his mind stray to what had been nagging at him all along. A loose thread in the back of his mind.

How could Roman remember him, but not his Propensity?

Was he faking it? That would make sense.

He knew where Virgil worked- if he asked Patton nicely, he could probably find out where he lived. Roman had pretended not to remember so that he would let his guard down. The joke was on him, though, because Virgil never let his guard down. He was practically made of guard.

On the other hand, he had seemed genuine.. but he was probably a good actor. All those interviews. And he must’ve had a reality TV show for himself at some point.

Virgil needed to be ready for anything. Of course Roman was faking it. He was an idiot, but he wasn’t that much of an idiot.

In the back of his mind, in one of the deepest, most hidden parts of his consciousness, an idea was beginning to form.

The loose thread was still there. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, something had slowly begun to pull.

Chapter Text

Virgil was becoming paranoid. If Roman did know his identity, he could strike at any moment. A surprise attack would be the best option for him, considering that Virgil could paralyze The Prince with minimal effort. Was there a way he could subtly ask Patton to never give away his address without his permission? He couldn’t think of one.

So he decided to follow his usual routine. Maybe, if he just kept going to work and acting normally, he could find a way to bring it up, or.. Do something.

Turns out, he never got the chance.

For that week, the shop was busier than it had ever been before. There were crowds and crowds and crowds of people, in and out, at every table, all the time. Usually, even on busy days, business let up after noon. Because.. surprise surprise.. normal people didn’t get coffee after noon!

These customers were not normal.

Well, some of them were normal. There were three types of new customers, and one of these was the relatively normal type. These were the customers who had learned about the shop through it’s growing popularity and decided to check it out. They enjoyed the coffee, tipped fairly well, and acted fairly normal, with the exception of a few Instagrammers who took highly-edited, highly-filtered pictures of their drinks and themselves.

“The Prince came here two days in a row! He’ll come back!” Virgil heard a customer say.

He’d witnessed a similar attitude among a different type of new customer. The type who eagerly asked what The Prince was like, what he ordered, what he said, what he touched. The type that Virgil had to avoid retching at. No, he did not have a picture, or an autograph. No, he would not tell him about them. No, he didn’t have his number.

The final type of customer was the worst one, because half the time they didn’t buy anything. This type was the press. They were a lot like the second type, except with different motivations. They had lots of personal questions for Virgil, Patton, and anyone else wearing a green apron or who looked like they knew anything. This is why they were clearly Patton’s least favorite type. The press liked to ask tricky questions about why The Prince had visited in the first place, and how Patton knew him, and all sorts of other things.

Virgil also hated it, at the same level as Patton if not more. If Patton’s personal life was discovered by the press, the worst that would happen would be a lot of paparazzi and uncomfortable interviews… Not that that wouldn’t suck. It would suck.

But if the press figured out about what Virgil got up to in his free time, his life would be ruined. If he wasn’t arrested, he would never be able to safely visit the shop again, never be able to see Patton again. He would probably have to move houses, and he would have to hide his face in public. He would never feel comfortable again. Worst of all, Patton and Logan would find out who he really was.

So there were slightly higher stakes for Virgil.

Still, Patton was irritable for the whole week. By “irritable”, he was really only slightly less genuine than usual in some moments. There was a certain weariness behind his eyes that hadn’t been there before, and his beam was just a tiny bit dimmer. It was most likely unnoticeable to anyone who wasn’t close with him, but Virgil did notice.

The good thing was that Roman at least wasn’t dumb enough to show up at the shop again and make it worse. He apparently had been checking in with Patton over text, asking how the shop was doing, and apologizing over and over again.

Patton seemed to have a notion of what’s done is done, and he didn’t blame Roman. Personally, Virgil thought he was too nice. It had been a grueling, anxiety-inducing week, and it was totally Roman’s fault.

When the last customer on Friday finally left the shop, allowing Patton to flip the “Open” sign to “Closed”, they let out a collective sigh of relief. One of the part-time employees, a guy with brown hair and round glasses, let out an audible whoop of joy. Patton and Virgil both turned to him, and then they all started laughing.

That night when Virgil got home, he went straight to his bedroom, changed into his pajamas, flopped onto his bed, and went to sleep.

When he awoke, he rubbed his eyes, yawning and stretching as he laid in bed. Then, he had the sudden feeling, an almost realization, that he was being watched. He turned his head in an exceedingly slow motion to look at the window. He willed his body to move faster, but it did not obey. Finally, he turned to look at it, and he nearly had a heart attack.

There were several pairs of eyes, staring through the blinds of his window at him.

Virgil stayed in his place, paralyzed by fear, not knowing what to say or do. Then, somehow, the blinds were thrown out of the way, leaving the window wide open, and-

And Virgil jolted up, gasping for air in his own, real bedroom.

As soon as he realized it had been a nightmare, he calmed down, flopping back down onto his soft pillow, trying to steady his breath. He forced himself to look at the window, though every nerve in his body was telling him not to, and his jaw unclenched gratefully when he saw that the blinds were still in place, and no eyes were watching.

It had been a dumb nightmare, just like always, but he still felt uneasy being in the same room as that window, and so he grabbed his laptop and went to the living room to browse the web until he felt better.

He sunk into the couch, slouching over his laptop as he typed in the password, yawning. If he lived long enough to be an old man, he was going to have some serious back problems someday. He scrolled through Tumblr a bit, and then gave in to the inevitable temptation to check out the news.

Most of it was bland, some minor villain had been captured, Mayor Sanders had made a speech about the importance of Propensity Academies, blah blah blah…

Virgil finally saw an article that caught his eye: Roman Spectacular’s Arms Are “Better Than Ever!”. Honestly, his browser should know by now to put the media mentioning The Prince at the top. Virgil clicked on the link. Sure enough, there was a picture of Roman holding up his cast-free arms in two triumphant thumbs-ups. Virgil skimmed the article deftly. Basically, his arms were healed, and they were healed at a faster rate because of super-healing, or whatever. Neat.

Virgil went back to the news page, scrolling further down.

He’d had a rough week. Who had caused his rough week? Roman. Who also happened to now be miraculously good as new? Roman.

The next course of action was clear enough to Virgil. He’d been itching to get out of the house ever since his nightmare, and it had been a while since he’d done something fun.

He just needed something conspicuously villainous enough…

His gaze landed on an article advertising the addition of a brand new modern art exhibit to the Druthers Museum.

To hell with it. Virgil had been meaning to get some decorations for the house, anyways.

Chapter Text

It had been a prosaic ordeal getting into the museum.

Virgil carried a small drawstring bag that contained his costume, and, because he was paranoid, a couple old t-shirts at the top of the bag to conceal it. Upon entering, there was a small security area with a metal detector and two security personnel. Virgil could feel his pulse quickening as he got in line. His hands fumbled to pull his phone out of his pocket, preparing to put it on the table next to the metal detector. He couldn’t afford to draw any attention to himself. Slowly, person by person, the line moved forward. He saw a woman ahead suddenly have her purse unzipped and searched through, and he wiped his hands on the sides of his pants, feeling the sweat building on his palms. Soon enough, there was only one person ahead of him, and he placed his bag behind the detector for the bags, wiping his hands on his pants again and trying his best to look casual and unassuming. As the guard pushed his bag through the detector, Virgil prayed to anyone who might be listening for the security guard to not look inside. The other guard motioned him forward, asking him to place his phone and any other metal objects onto the table beside him and step through the metal detector. He wasn’t carrying anything suspicious on his person, and yet Virgil felt himself tense up as he stepped through the metal arch. When nothing went off, he inwardly sighed with relief, and picked up his phone from the table. Thankfully, the guards didn’t look through his bag either, and he grabbed it and entered the museum. He followed the signs and arrows leading to the brand new modern art exhibit, blending in with the crowd.

His secret identity was something unique and powerful for just this reason. If he were practically any other villain, his face would be in constant danger of being recognized. Because his identity was secret, he could hide among everyone else. Nightmare could be any passing white guy on the street, and that kept Virgil safe. All he needed to do, in that moment, was try to act normal. This was admittedly hard, but not nearly as hard as it would be if his identity wasn’t a secret.

The art was truly beautiful. The pieces were mostly abstract, colorful works that made the room seem alive. Virgil liked abstract art. He appreciated things that were open and up for interpretation. He liked how each piece seemed to speak to him in words of color and shape that could be completely different then the person standing next to him. It relaxed him. So, Virgil spent a genuine amount of time just admiring the art. In the back of his mind, he knew he was scoping out what he wanted, though he felt a little guilty about it.

Eventually, he figured it was time to get things going. Virgil slipped out of the modern art exhibit and headed to the conveniently nearby bathroom. He pulled his hood up, and tilted his head down, just in case there were cameras. He had checked on his way in, and he had seen online that cameras had not been installed in this area yet, but you could never be too cautious. As Virgil entered the bathroom, there were unfortunately already several men within, who Virgil walked past, keeping his face out of his sight and ducking into the sanctuary of a stall.

This was the part where things got a little more.. conspicuous.

Virgil changed into his costume, wincing every time he felt the fabric rustled too loudly. It was silly of him to feel anxious about being noticed now, considering what he was about to do, but he couldn’t help it. He carefully tucked each of his old items of clothing and his phone into the bag. Finally, the only costume piece remaining was his black raccoon mask. He stared at it in his hands, going over his plan in his head silently, screwing his eyes shut as he braced himself.

He took a deep breath before placing the mask on, shouldering the bag. Honestly, the whole changing-in-the-bathroom plan had been an awful idea. What was he going to do with this bag? What if it was recognized?! He shoved the thought away. He’d figure it out later.

Nightmare exited the stall, and chaos ensued. Immediately, someone yelled, and the men began to notice his presence there. Several of them ran out. Virgil heard someone yelling for guards.

Nightmare strode from the bathroom into an already-panicking mass of people. They parted around him, yelling and pushing and scrambling.

To his surprise, someone ran from the crowd, straight at him. They were trying to fight him. Virgil was so shocked that they actually managed to land a punch to his gut. They must have had superstrength, because it hurt like hell. In an almost immediate response to the pain, Virgil felt his Propensity wrench up inside and leap at the attacker, stopping them in their tracks.

“No! No! Please- Please no! Don’t!!”

Inwardly, Virgil winced. The corners of Nightmare’s mouth tilted upwards.

He walked past the yelling attacker, and the crowd, which had been stopped for that moment by pure shock, resumed its passage away from him. Someone, in their rush, had dropped a large gray backpack. Nightmare smiled, unzipping the bag, emptying its contents, and putting his own bag inside. He could feel the empty haze of his Propensity rising up within him, making his objective clear and sharp in his mind. Go to the exhibit. Wait for The Prince.

So, he went to the exhibit, and he waited for The Prince.

“Nightmare!” The voice eventually shouted accusingly from behind him.

It hadn’t taken long. Maybe Roman had been in the area.

Virgil spun to face him, turning away from the painting he’d been admiring.

“Princey, fancy seeing you here!” He said, cringing at his own words, “Awful to see you, as always.”

“I don’t have time for this, evildoer.” The Prince snapped.

“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you had important business to attend to. Is it staring at your own reflection? Having a fan meeting in a coffee shop?”

Roman’s eyes glinted with recognition. Virgil hadn’t meant to say that.

“You must leave this establishment immediately!” Roman said, as if reciting a line from a Shakespeare play.

Virgil rolled his eyes, “Has that line ever worked for you? Do you really expect me to say oh, well, I was going to rob this museum, but since you told me to leave..”

Roman scowled at him.

Virgil turned back around, placing his hands at the edges of the painting behind him.

“Wait! Stop right there, R..Rocky Racoon!”

Virgil did stop, letting out a sputtering laugh at the name, “Really, Ro- Uh- TS..Idiot!”

He heard Roman muffle a blurted laugh.

Then, out of nowhere, a blue-and-gold blur rushed into the exhibit room. It was the police, and they were surrounding Virgil. They were holding guns. They were pointing them at Virgil. He didn’t even think, hardly even felt it as his Propensity lashed out, like a sudden shower of hail on a seemingly nice day. Virgil found himself dropping to the ground on instinct as gunfire rang out. It was probably not a good idea to scare people holding guns. Virgil clutched his (stolen) backpack, crawling away, leaving the painting behind in favor of living to steal stuff another day.

That was the bad thing about controlling fear; everyone reacted to it differently. Most people screamed, or ran, or curled up. And The Prince, well, he made it easy, becoming paralyzed and perfectly still. But sometimes a natural reaction to fear was to attack. After all, that was what Virgil had done, all those years ago. What he still did, sometimes.

Fear was unpredictable, which usually helped Virgil, but not then.

He could still hear gunfire as he got further from the room. Once he was a safe distance away, he could finally stand up, but before he did, he stared at his arm in shock. He was bleeding. When had that happened?! Quickly, Virgil opened the backpack, then the bag inside of the backpack, and pulled out one of the old t-shirts he had brought. He pressed it against the wound at his upper arm, gritting his teeth. It didn’t feel good. He wrapped the t-shirt around the area, watching the blood already begin to seep into the cotton material.

Then, he stood up.

The good thing was, Virgil thought as he took the long way home, the pain could’ve been a lot worse. It was covered, though, like yelling underwater, by the rush of adrenaline he got when he used his Propensity. Something surprising about Propensities was that- in Virgil’s experience, at least- they didn’t feel.. natural. His Propensity had never felt like a part of himself. It didn’t feel like seeing, or tasting, or moving his arm. It felt like.. letting something free inside of him. Maybe it was just because his Propensity sucked so much. He could see feeling more connected to it if he had super-speed. It didn’t matter, really, though. The numbness, the rush of energy after he used it was welcome, now. The pain was a dull background noise to the rush of the icy river in his mind. He had used his Propensity on a room full of people. He hadn’t felt like this since he’d used it on those reporters, outside the bank, on his very first undertaking.

At last, he saw his house in the distance, and let his eyes quit darting around like a madman. He entered, slamming the door behind him, too loud. He locked the door.

And just like that, he was exhausted. That was the other thing with his Propensity. It was a glimmering firework in the night sky. It was buckets of candy on Halloween. First, he had the burst of adrenaline, of dopamine, of cold and numb. Then, the moment that he had finished whatever he was doing, it was gone. The rush, and the crash. Or was it crush? He didn’t know, and he honestly didn’t care.

Virgil took his mask off, and then unwrapped the t-shirt dyed red with blood from his arm. He carefully took off his costume, and examined his wound. It was ugly, matted with blood. He went to the bathroom, wetting a washcloth, cleaning off the wound. Each time the cloth touched the spot, he winced. Once the wound was cleaned, he stared at it.

It was red and long, edging along the outer edge of his right arm. It looked like a red fire from a flare, with spiking flames glancing off symmetrically along the edges of the wound. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep. It looked like the bullet had only grazed his arms, though he couldn’t be sure. It also wasn’t ugly, really. Well- it was, but once you got past the disgusting sight of an area with the skin ripped from it, it was almost.. beautiful.

It looked like the red stroke of a paintbrush on canvas.

Chapter Text

The news had been abuzz ever since Nightmare’s escapade into the art museum.

Reporters, politicians, celebrities, everyday citizens- everyone was asking the same question: who was Nightmare?

He was “a dangerous individual” or a “threat to society”. He was a mystery, a shadow over the city. He could be anyone. He could be the person next to you.

But where had he come from? How had he managed to maintain a secret identity, something that was so rare and coveted, and yet continue to commit such high-profile crimes? Was anyone really safe? Would he be stopped? Could he be stopped?

Who was he? Who was he?

The question echoed in Virgil’s head like a gunshot. Low-quality pictures of his masked face were being circulated around. For the first time in their lives, white guys all over the city were having a rough time. Everyone was looking for Nightmare.. for Virgil.

He was in danger. He paced through his house, thinking and sweating and panicking like crazy. He’d gone too far. He’d gone too big, and now he was in too deep. For the next few days at the very least, he knew that everyone would be looking for him. His little eye mask wasn’t exactly the disguise of the year. If anyone bothered to look at Virgil and wonder if he was Nightmare, it would be a pretty easy conclusion to make.

Virgil stopped in his tracks. He stood stock-still in the middle of the kitchen, thinking.

He’d have to make sure that no one would look closely. He’d make sure no one would be able to make that connection, draw that conclusion.

The first step was a costume adjustment. Virgil knew that in order to keep his identity secret, he needed more than just his small mask over his eyes. He had a cool idea for an addition to his costume which would help to cover his face more. He’d seen those hoodies with built-in cloth masks before, and he had always wanted to have an excuse to wear a hoodie as Nightmare. Virgil found a good-quality one on the internet, and silently thanked whoever invented online shopping as he ordered it.

So, with that over with, that left the.. next step. Unfortunately, Virgil hadn’t thought that far ahead in his step-by-step plan.

What was he even planning? How to.. not get caught? Okay. Okay. So, how could someone find him? The mask was a good start, obviously, but what about when he was just Virgil?

He needed alibis. He needed to have a foolproof defense that would stop anyone from ever suspecting him- and if he ever was suspected, he needed it to be clear that there was no way he could be Nightmare!

Virgil went to work.

He literally went to work, a few weeks later, entering the coffee shop/greenery with his apron on and greeting Patton with a small smile. Meanwhile, his nerves held a full gymnastics competition in his mind.

It was going to be fine. Except for the fact that it could very, very easily not be fine, and there was actually a much larger chance that this would ruin everything.

Still, Virgil somehow managed to make it through the first section of his work-day without screaming. As soon as his lunch break hit, Virgil very deliberately walked over to Patton.

“Hey, uh, Patton, I’ve been really craving some pizza- Is it alright if I go pick one up for us?”

“Oh! Sure thing, Virgil- I’ll pay, though.”

Oh no. Virgil had seen this before. It was not a good idea to get into a kindness war with Patton. He wasn’t doing this.

Virgil raised his hands in surrender, “Okay, sounds good. I know better than to argue.”

Patton laughed, “You should!” He took a moment to retrieve a $20 bill from his wallet, “Here you go, kiddo. Good luck!”

Virgil smiled, taking the money, “Thank you!”

As soon as he got out of the building, Virgil allowed himself a small celebratory fist pump.

Virgil took a sharp turn into a nearby alleyway where he had stashed his newly-improved costume. This was going to be the hard part.

There was no way that Virgil could be Nightmare. After all, when Nightmare had been vandalizing a building, Virgil had been waiting in line for pizza on the other side of town, angrily texting Patton the whole time.

And when Nightmare had been seen walking the streets of the city in full apparel, terrorizing citizens, Virgil had been in the back of the shop, tending to the plants.

And when Nightmare had been mockingly signing autographs in the park, Virgil had been sick in the bathroom, making retching noises that several customers heard. (He’d felt pretty bad for Patton on that one.)

Sure, his eyes dashed to find all the exits when he entered a room. Sure, his body twitched from lack of sleep. Sure, he seemed to be the shop’s most reliable customer, consuming cups upon cups of caffeine. Yeah, maybe the paranoia and the constant hopping back and forth was getting to him.

But the important thing was that the plan was working. He looked like a regular citizen, or at least he desperately hoped he did.

The plan was working, which made it all worth it.

Virgil was on his way home after work, severely regretting the fact that he’d decided to walk. It was pouring rain. He was drenched from head to toe, and he was shivering, and he was just exhausted and ready to go home. His phone buzzed in the pocket of his soaked purple hoodie. He’d have to check that when he got indoors. A car drove through a puddle next to the sidewalk where Virgil was, splashing him with water. He cursed vehemently, flipping the driver off.

Ugh.

At last, Virgil got to his front doorstep, and made an effort to wipe off his shoes before stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. He never thought he’d be so grateful to be dry. Normally, he was a fan of rain, but that was probably because he didn’t go out into it most of the time. Rain was pleasant to look at, and it was tolerable in small doses, but there was a point where it crossed the line.

Virgil dug his phone out of his pocket, praying for it not to be water-damaged. Thankfully, it seemed to be normal when he turned it on.

However, when Virgil saw the text notification on the phone’s lock screen, he nearly dropped it.

I know who you are.

It was from Patton.

Chapter Text

The rain pounded on the roof and windows of Virgil’s house with malice. He was standing in the entryway to his house, eyes fixed on the screen of his phone.

I know who you are.

The message was still there.

His immediate thought when he saw it was that he was dreaming. It would make sense, as it was on-theme with his recent nightmares.

He tried shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, and when that didn’t work, he pinched himself.

“Ow!” He yelped.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be awake.

Which meant this was real.

Patton knew. The mere idea sent Virgil’s mind spiraling. How did he know? How much did he know? How long had he known?

Virgil knew he needed to confront him immediately. He couldn’t lose Patton. That felt more important than his stupid indentity- Patton was an anchor in Virgil’s life. Where a lot of things were inconsistent, Patton was there for him.

He had to explain himself.

So, that’s how Virgil ended up standing at the front porch of Patton and Logan’s house, shivering and drenched with rain.

The mid-century modern house was beautiful, with dark wooden features and ginormous windows. Sometimes, Virgil forgot that Patton was married to a millionaire.

He stared at the imposing doorbell, which seemed to be taunting him.

This had been a huge mistake. What on Earth was he going to say to Patton? He should just go home.. But he couldn’t go home! Patton knew everything!

On the other hand, what could he possibly say to make Patton understand? Virgil didn’t even understand why he continued to be a villain, half of the time. What if-

The door opened in front of him.

To Virgil’s surprise, it wasn’t Patton standing in the doorway, but Logan.

“Virgil?” He said, giving him a confused eyebrow raise.

“I- Uh- I wanted- I- Look, I-“ Virgil stammered, his teeth chattering from the cold and his thoughts sluggish. He had no idea whether Logan knew.

“Please come inside, Virgil. You’ve been standing out there for far too long. You’re increasing the likelihood of catching a cold.”

Virgil opened his mouth, shivered, closed his mouth, nodded, and stepped inside.

When Logan closed the door, the heat of the house made Virgil realize just how cold he’d been. He self-consciously took his shoes off, not wanting to mess up the nice hardwood flooring.

“Virgil.” Logan said.

He looked up from his shoes.

“What brings you here?” He sounded concerned.

Just like that, it all came crashing back. Virgil’s eyes widened, and he suddenly felt cornered; he was trapped in this house. He wanted to run away. His breath quickened. What did he say? This had been an awful idea. Where was Patton? Could he not stand to face Virgil? Was he calling the police- or Roman?

Virgil felt a hand on his shoulder, and was suddenly met with icy blue eyes. At some point, Virgil had sunk down to the floor, and now Logan was kneeling down in front of him.

“Virgil, I need you to try and calm down, okay? You’re safe here. Do you know the 4-7-8 breathing technique?”

Virgil nodded.

“Okay, that’s good. Just inhale…”

Virgil inhaled for four seconds.

“Hold for seven..”

He held it for seven seconds.

“Alright Virgil exhale for eight.”

He exhaled for eight.

“Okay breathe in again..”

Logan led Virgil through the exercise several times, until he no longer felt like the walls were closing in around him.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked.

Virgil shrugged. Logan seemed to take this as good enough, and stood up.

“I’m going to get Patton now-“

“No!” Virgil yelled.

Logan frowned, “Why not? I assume you didn’t come here to speak to me, and he is far more acquainted with you than I am...”

Virgil stood up and stuffed his hands into his wet hoodie, “I wanted to talk to him about.. something.. but I can’t.. I just… I’m not ready.”

“Okay. He’s going to come in here eventually, though, Virgil. He’s just in the garden. It might be better for you if you choose to speak to him instead of him just walking in.”

Virgil thought about it. What Logan was saying made a lot of sense, of course it did, but Virgil just.. couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t bring himself to look Patton in the eye knowing that he knew.

“I think I’d rather wait.. thank you, Logan.”

“You’re welcome, Virgil. It was no inconvenience to me.”

They stood in semi-awkward silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Logan spoke up.

“The thing you want to talk to Patton about.. does it have anything to do with.. being a lycanthrope?”

Virgil gazed at Logan with an incredulous expression, “...What?”

“Did you want to talk to Patton about how you are secretly a lycanthrope?”

“A lycan..? NO! FOR THE LAST TIME- I AM NOT A WEREWOLF!”

Logan laughed lightly, “I know, Virgil- it was simply a humorous comment to break the tension. I was informed of your conversation with Roman.”

Virgil laughed, “Oh, thank goodness.”

There was a comfortable pause in the conversation, and they both smiled.

Then, they both turned as a door opened from another part of the house, and a voice rang out.

“Logan! I’m all done in the garden!”

Patton walked into the room, and the smile melted off of Virgil’s face.

“Patton!” Logan and Virgil both exclaimed at the same time, though Logan also added “Honey!” to the end.

“Virgil? What are you doing-“

“Patton, I can explain everything!” Virgil said, scrambling over to him.

“I never meant to hurt anybody- I swear! I didn’t mean to do anything very bad! Please- don’t hate me! I have a good reason- I do! Roman- he-“

“Woah woah woah, kiddo, slow down-“ Patton said.

“No! Listen! Remember how he said we went to school together?”

“Yes, but what does that-“

“Well he was a bully! He bullied me! He- well he didn’t do it himself, but he sent his.. friends to beat me up, and it was awful, and then they did it again, and then I lashed out and they left me alone, and he gloated, and I hate him! You have to believe me- just wanted to get back at him!”

A diverse array of expressions crossed Patton’s face as he tried to process Virgil’s words.

“Please, please don’t hate me- you’re basically the only person in the world who doesn’t hate me- I don’t know what I’d do-“

Patton took a step forward, “Virge, I don’t hate you, okay? Why would you ever think I would?”

“Be- because- because I’m Nightmare!”

The room went silent. For a moment, the only sound was that of the rain hitting the roof.

It only took Virgil one glance at Patton’s shell-shocked expression to know that he had made a huge mistake.

“Oh my- you didn’t know.” Virgil said, wanting to punch himself in the face.

“Wha- of course I didn’t know! How- what- How could I have known that?!” Patton yelled.

“But- but- why did you send that text?!” Virgil asked, his desperation clear in his voice.

“Text..?” Patton let out a choked laugh, “I was worried about you! You’d been acting really distant and disappearing all the time- I guess now I know why!”

“‘I know who you are’? Really?”

“I meant it metaphorically!! I didn’t know who you were which is why I didn’t think it would freak you out this much!”

They both stared at each other, catching their breath.

Virgil hit himself in the head, “Fuck, I’m such an idiot!”

“Falsehood.”

Well, shit, not only was he an idiot in telling Patton his identity for no reason, but he’d also completely forgotten that Logan was there, too. He turned around warily.

“What?” Virgil said.

“That’s a falsehood. You’re not an ‘idiot’,” Logan did air-quotes, “You were simply under an immense amount of stress and pressure- and clearly you have been paranoid. You received a text that, in your state of mind, could only lead to one conclusion, and your anxiety and paranoia caused you to inadvertently make a mistake. Plenty of others under your conditions would’ve done the same. I cannot attest for your personal intelligence, as I do not know you well enough to do that, but this act alone does not make you an idiot.”

Virgil felt his expression shift into a soft bewilderment, “Thank you?”

“You may want to hold your gratitude. I would say that becoming a supervillain is an act of idiocy.”

“I second that.” Said Patton, walking to Logan’s side.

Virgil glared, “Okay, thank you redacted.”

Logan shrugged at him. Patton gave him a searching look.

“Kiddo.. you said Roman.. bullied you?”

“Yes.” Virgil said darkly.

Logan and Patton shared a disbelieving frown.

“That doesn’t sound right.” Patton said.

“Well it is! I don’t care who he is now- you didn’t know him back then! He was a dick!” Virgil snarled. Of course they were on his side. Precious, precious Princey.

“Well- I suppose I trust you, kiddo. You mean a lot to me.. and I could never not love you, let alone hate you, no matter who you are.” Patton said.

Virgil stared at him.

“Don’t get me wrong- you have a lot more explaining to do- but I just want you to be happy, okay? I know you, and you are not a bad person, Virge.”

Logan nodded in agreement at Patton’s side, and it was so much to take in.

Virgil could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he looked at the two honest, caring men whose support he didn’t deserve.

He wanted to tell them that they were insane. He wanted to tell them that they should yell at him and report him to the proper authorities. He wanted to tell them that they were the idiots for trusting someone like him.

“Really?” He said instead.

“Really.” Patton responded.

And Virgil burst into tears.

Chapter Text

Virgil told Patton and Logan everything. In the past, he had heard the expression “a weight lifted off your shoulders”, but he’d never known just how true it could be. It felt like he’d been.. carrying this around with him for so long, so long that it was crushing him, and now he could finally breathe.

For some insane reason, it didn’t even go that badly.

Obviously, the couple had tried to convince him to stop being a villain, but Virgil had always been pretty stubborn, and they eventually gave up on that part, instead shifting the conversation to important moral guidelines to follow.

Once Virgil had explained that his only real goal was to annoy Roman and that he only used his power when he absolutely had to, Patton and Logan’s main concerns had been satisfied. Patton also told Virgil that he shouldn’t steal, which Virgil conceded, “I’ll try not to.”

Then, when the conversation had lost its steam, Patton and Logan had insisted he not go out in the rain. Instead, Virgil stayed the night in a guest room at their house, where he felt more comfortable than he had in years. His nightmare hadn’t even been that bad.

In the morning, he enjoyed homemade pancakes and coffee, and he watched with amusement when Logan did indeed put twelve shots of espresso into his drink.

When it was time to leave for work, Patton
gave Logan a quick kiss on the forehead, and then headed out to the car with Virgil trailing behind him.

Before Virgil could get there, though, he felt a hand on his arm.

“Hey, Patton, don’t drive off- I’m gonna talk to Virgil real quick!” Logan said.

“Okay!” Patton said back before shutting the door.

Virgil turned around, already nervous.

“Um.. what’s up, Logan?”

Logan didn’t say anything for a moment, which only made Virgil more tense.

“Virgil..” Logan sighed. “Look, I trust Patton. I love him- that is why I married him.”

Virgil could see where this was going.

“But you don’t trust me.” He said.

“Yes.” Logan said.

They both made eye contact, even though Virgil wanted to squirm away. He considered saying something like “that’s fair” to break the silence, but Logan spoke first.

“However,” He said, “Patton is a great judge of character. I’ve never known him to be wrong, when it comes to who he puts his trust in.”

Virgil scoffed, not bothering to conceal it, and Logan glared at him.

“..No matter what you might think. All I want is for you to do one thing for me, Virgil.”

“..What’s that?”

“Don’t give him a reason to be wrong about you, okay?”

Virgil looked into Logan’s stern, blue eyes, and nodded.

Logan patted Virgil on the shoulder and straightened up.

“Okay. Don’t let me detain you.” He said, waving Virgil away.

When Virgil entered the car, Patton smiled at him.

“Well, that took a little while! What were you two talking about?” He asked.

“Oh, it wasn’t anything important.” Virgil said.

Virgil couldn’t help but feel a little happier than normal, a little lighter, at the shop that morning. Obviously, he was still hiding from the rest of the world.. but he had two people on his side, now, which was pretty nice. Business was steady, but not overwhelming, and Virgil felt at ease with the day ahead of him.

As lunchtime drew nearer, a man walked into the store wearing a plain white hoodie and jeans, along with sunglasses and a baseball cap with the letters “DPEA” on it. Something about him.. the way he held himself.. seemed vaguely familiar.

He walked up to Virgil, who offered a customer-service smile and said, “How may I help you?”

“Oh, I’ll have the usual.” The man said.

The cadence of his voice was immediately recognizable.

“Roman! What are you doing here?!” Virgil hissed.

“I just wanted to stop by, check in, see how everything’s going.” Roman said casually.

“You just said the same thing in three different ways.” Virgil deadpanned.

“Where’s Patton?”

“In the back.”

“Can you get him?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Please?”

“One sec.” Virgil turned away to walk to the back of the shop, where the newer plants were kept. “Patton!! There’s someone here to see you!!”

Patton popped out from behind a plant, making Virgil jump.

“Oh! Who’s here?”

“Roman.” Virgil said, and before Patton could say anything he added, “He’s in disguise.”

“Oh? Okay, then…” Patton began to walk to the counter, and then stopped.

“Wait. Since you’re.. you know.. and he’s… isn’t that kind of weird..?”

“Yeah.” Virgil said dryly.

Patton made a “yikes” face, and then proceeded to greet Roman.

“Hi, buddy!” Patton said.

Roman immediately brightened, “Hi! Sorry- um- I just wanted to see how everything was going around here. I’m in disguise, though.” He gestured to his sunglasses and hat.

Patton chuckled, “Well, it’s good to see you. Thanks for,” Patton also gestured to Roman’s disguise, “That.”

“So, how’s business been? It doesn’t look.. super.. busy? Which is good?”

“Yeah, it was rough at first, but things have cooled off since the whole thing with you.”

“Glad to hear it! And how have you and Virgil been doing?” Roman asked.

Virgil watched Patton’s eyebrows fly upwards.

“Me.. and Virgil? Us? We’ve been doing… normal. Normally. We’ve been doing normally.”

Roman laughed, “That’s.. good to hear? I’ve been doing normally, too.”

There was an awkward silence, which was a very strange thing to have with Patton. Virgil wanted to hide his face in his hands. He should’ve known that Patton would be weird about this.

“Um, could I please have an iced caramel latte?” Roman finally asked.

Virgil sighed, “Why don’t you handle that, Patton.” He said pointedly.

Patton turned from Roman and offered Virgil a sheepish expression before heading to the coffee machine. Thank goodness.

“Crazy storm last night, huh?” Virgil said offhandedly to Roman, breaking the tension.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m glad that I didn’t have to do any heroism- would’ve been a real nightmare if I’d had to go out in that.” Roman said, grinning with pride at his pun.

Virgil rolled his eyes, and he heard Patton knock something over behind him.

“Patton.. are you alright today?” Roman asked, concern clear in his voice.

“Me? I’m just peachy! I was just astonished by how good that pun was!” Patton laughed, his voice pitching dangerously.

He was the worst liar Virgil had ever heard.

“Um.. Okay?” Roman said, perplexed.

“So, Roman,” Virgil interjected hastily, “Uhh.. where do you think Nightmare will strike next?”

Might as well get some intel out of this.

Roman straightened, “Well, I, uh.. His recent appearances have been.. confusing, to say the least. He’s mostly been committing very small acts in random locations, which makes me think that he’s probably planning something big, or he’s trying to distract me from something else going on.. So, his next big crime might be somewhere big, like my house, or town hall, or something like that.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Virgil said. Yep, he had big, devious plots ahead, like donating some more money to charity. Muahahaha!

“That Nightmare does seem awfully clever!” Patton said, bringing Roman’s drink over.

Virgil looked up at the ceiling, wondering why he had managed to tell his secret to the most understanding but least subtle confidant.

“Oh, he may be, but as Mr- as my father always says, good always triumphs over evil, in the end!” Roman paused as Patton handed him his drink, “Oh, thank you, Patton. Hey, look, it’s my name!” Roman pointed at his correctly-spelled name on his cup.

“Oh, is that how you spell it?” Virgil said, feigning innocence.

“You may act like you dislike me, but I know that’s not true. Patton says you’re a huge fan of me! Right, Patton?”

Virgil braced himself.

“What? Yeah! Big fan! Virgil? He’s a big.. big fan. He’s like a ceiling fan! Haha. Get it? Because-“

Virgil rubbed his temples, “Mmhmm, yeah, uh, good one, Patton.”

Roman looked between them, clearly picking up on the weird energy. He handed Virgil the money for the coffee.

“Keep the change. I guess I’ll be going then?”

“Bye.” Virgil said.

“Seeya later, Roman..gator!” Patton said.

Roman shot them one last confused look before leaving the shop, coffee in hand.

The moment the door closed behind him, Virgil and Patton burst out laughing.

“You have got to be more subtle, Patton!” Virgil finally said, between laughs.

“I know, I know, I’m really sorry. That was the most I’ve ever lied in my whole life!” Patton answered.

Virgil shook his head, “Maybe next time.. just go for a lie of omission?”

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best.” Patton said, chuckling.

That afternoon, after the workday was done, Patton gave Virgil a ride home. Virgil waved goodbye to the car as it drove away.

Then, he strolled up to his mailbox, opened it, and grabbed the letters within. As he walked to his front door, he shuffled through them idly. Junk, junk, junk, blah, blah, blah… and a letter from the Druthers Propensity Education Academy.

Huh.

Virgil unlocked his front door, stepping into his house and shutting the door behind him. He set the junk mail aside, and ripped open the envelope from the Academy. The letter within read:

Dear Virgil Argus,
As a former student of the Druthers Propensity Education Academy in the year of.. Yada yada yada..

We at the Academy will have the honor of inviting you to our annual Reunion Party.

Reunion Party?! It had only been a year!

Whatever. It didn’t matter, because there was no way in hell that Virgil would ever go back to that place.

Virgil laughed, threw the letter in the trash, and went to go make a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.

Later, when he was drifting off to sleep, Virgil remembered the letter. A school reunion.

Yeah, right.

Chapter Text

Virgil was plopped down on the couch, scrolling through his phone as the news played on the TV. It was Sunday morning, and he was glad for a moment to simply relax. It had been almost a week since he’d accidentally revealed his identity to Patton and Logan, and things were still going pretty smoothly, somehow. It had certainly brought him closer to the couple. Yesterday, he had gone to their house for brunch, just like he’d envisioned before- minus the Roman part, thankfully.

Speaking of Roman… Virgil noticed that the TV had the words “New Spectacular Statue Completed” at the bottom of the screen. Curious, he turned the volume up.

“-proudly announce that the statue of the Spectacular family is officially finished! You can now see it for yourself, right here in the city plaza!”

Virgil grinned. At this point, they were really just asking for it.
And it just so happened that he knew The Prince would be busy tonight at a certain reunion party.

Quickly, he went through the guidelines he’d set with Logan and Patton. Don’t steal, don’t hurt people, don’t use Propensity unless absolutely necessary…

He was good to scheme.

He had done some minor vandalism on several occasions at this point- simple things like “Your Worst Nightmare” sprayed onto walls in bright purple paint. So, he had some spray-paint on hand.

All he had to do was wait for night to fall.

At around five o’clock, Virgil’s phone rang. It was Patton, so he answered it.

“Hey, kiddo, how’s it going?”

“Oh, pretty good, just sort of hanging out.. what about you guys?”

“Logan and I are doing good! Actually, we’re making dinner right now- we wanted to know if you would want to, uh, come over and have some? It’s Logan’s chicken pot pie recipe- it’s really good.”

“Um. Thank you, Patton, but.. I’m actually.. busy tonight.”

“Oh! With what?”

“...Important stuff.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then.. you remembered what we said, right?”

“Yes.”

“So.. what are you..” He trailed off, sighing, “Be careful, I guess.”

“I will be. Enjoy your dinner.” Virgil said.

“Okay! Bye, Virgil!”

“Bye, Patton.” Virgil hung up.

It was really going to take a while to get used to not being the only person who knew his secret. He glanced at the clock.. 5:13 PM. The reunion was at seven.

Maybe he’d play some Tetris or something to pass the time.

Finally, an alarm he’d set on his phone signaled that it was seven o’ clock. That meant it was time to start getting ready. He pulled on his improved costume, a black hoodie with a built-in mask, a black cape with purple on the inside, and his good old black mask. Then, he grabbed a gray messenger bag, and put a couple cans of spray-paint in it, along with a change of clothes. He’d learned that it was always best to be ready to change back into citizen-mode when he was trying to make an escape.

Once he was all ready, he left the house, making sure to lock the door behind him. He took his usual route to the city. It was nearing half-past seven, and the sun was setting when Virgil arrived at the plaza. The sky was just dark enough to see the full moon.

The city was relatively crowded with people, but the plaza was quickly emptying as Nightmare was spotted. Judging by the screaming, people seemed to be getting the message. He quietly hoped the cops wouldn’t show up again, his hand absentmindedly brushing against the healing bullet wound on his arm.

Once the plaza was sufficiently devoid of people, Virgil took a moment to get a good look at the new statue.

The bronze pedestal stood at the center of the plaza, and it gleamed in the light of the moon and streetlights. Engraved into it were the words “In the end, good will always triumph over evil.”

Upon it stood three figures, lined up side by side. All three were in the same pose, with their hands on their hips and prideful grins on their faces. Three bronze capes flowed behind them.

On the leftmost side stood Mr. Spectacular, a masculine figure, tall and strong. In the middle was Mrs. Spectacular, who looked like the definition of feminine, all curves. Virgil rolled his eyes at the blatant sexism.

Then, he finally let himself look at the rightmost figure: The Prince. He looked nearly unrecognizable in this caricature of a statue. It was like the statue of his dad had been copied, scaled down, and pasted onto the stand. He certainly looked a lot whiter than Virgil remembered, even when he was made of bronze. His signature grin didn’t look quite right, either.

He’d have no problem vandalizing this piece of junk.

Virgil took out a can of purple spray paint specifically made for metal, picturing his plan of action. His eyes landed on the pedestal. That’d be first.

He shook the can and gave it a quick test-spray on the pavement. The bright purple color stood out in the moonlight, and Virgil smiled. Then, he set to work on fixing the message on the pedestal. He sprayed one thick line across the middle of the quote, then sprayed over that line several more times to cover the words properly. When he was done, Virgil stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

Now, the quote read “In the end, evil.”

That was a major improvement.

Next, Virgil addressed Mr. Spectacular. An angry unibrow and a frowny face matched his general look perfectly, as did long purple hair.

Satisfied with Mr. Spectacular’s new look, Virgil moved on to the Mrs. Honestly, it was hard to come up with something that would make that statue look any more ridiculous than it already was, but he would try his best. Virgil resolved to give her a mustache, beard, and eyepatch, which was good enough.

Which left The Prince.

First things first, Virgil colored his entire sash purple. That was probably the sort of minor thing that would get on Roman’s nerves. What else?

Virgil stared at not-really-Roman’s face, trying to come up with something dramatic enough. He considered exing his eyes out, but that was too dark. He didn’t want to kill The Prince.

An idea popped into Virgil’s head. He could draw a big clown nose and mouth, and then add polka-dots to the costume to complete the look. Virgil let out a little laugh. Ah, yes, his true identity: a clown.

Virgil raised the can up to the face of the statue, preparing to spray, when someone spoke up behind him, making him flinch.

“Full moon out tonight.” The Prince said.

Virgil tried to hide the fact that he’d nearly dropped his spray-can, and he pointedly didn’t turn. “Why is that relevant, exactly?”

“I should’ve known you’d be out here. You did warn me that you lose control when the full moon rises.”

What was he talking about?

“Right, Virgil?”

Virgil froze.

“Surprised?” The Prince said.

“How..?” Virgil started.

“Didn’t see you at the reunion party.” Roman said flatly.

Had he seriously managed to deduce who was just from the fact that he hadn’t been at the reunion? That could’ve been for any number of reasons!

“I spoke with some old.. acquaintances. They told me who you were.” Roman explained.

It dawned on Virgil. Them. Those guys who had bullied him, all those years ago. Of course they knew. He’d used his power on them!

But why now? Why hadn’t they spoken up before, if they knew? Why had they waited to tell Roman in person?

“What did they say..?” Virgil asked.

He couldn’t stop staring at Roman. His expression looked so.. blank.

“Why should I tell you?” Roman said, crossing his arms.

Virgil just rolled his eyes and waited; he knew that The Prince couldn’t resist hearing the sound of his own voice.

“It was.. the usual, I guess. We were talking, and they asked me if I’d caught that Virgil guy yet.. it was just like that. Apparently they thought I knew already. I don’t know why. I just sort of.. played along.”

A tense silence rang out, and Virgil’s eyes were locked with Roman’s. There was something.. searching there. After he couldn’t take it anymore, Virgil spoke.

“Huh, well-“

“Why? Why all of this? What did I ever do to you?” Roman blurted, “I mean- we hardly ever talked in school- I always thought you were.. cool.”

Virgil made a disbelieving face.

“What?!” Roman shouted. “You always do that! I don’t know what I did! You always act like I should!”

“Geez, you- how dense are you?” Virgil said. “Let me tell you a story, Roman.” He spat the name out like it was a disease, “You might want to have a seat, because it’s a long one.”

Chapter Text

Once upon a time there was a little boy with powers he couldn’t control. There was a little boy whose parents were terrified of him, so much so that they sent him away at the first opportunity. Even when the little boy had sent letters to them, they’d never answered.

Things weren’t that bad at his new school, though- the kids were his age, and they had powers, too. None of them were like him, but they were too young to care much. As they grew older, the boy’s friends grew scared, too. They left the boy, and he was alone again.

He realized that the only way to keep people from being afraid was to control himself. He studied long and hard, and he became a very scholarly boy. But he’d isolated himself in the process, and he was still alone.

That was fine, though. He was at school- the whole point was to focus on his studies. He’d make friends later, once he was under control. So he stuck to the sidelines, stayed in shadows, and kept to himself.

Until, one day, he ran into a cocky little loud-mouthed prince named Roman Reyes, who smiled at him while his followers glared. Suddenly, the boy’s quiet life was filled with an annoying, high-pitched voice at every turn, and he couldn’t seem to escape it. He couldn’t help but speak up against this prince, who rambled on about all the dragons he’d slain and just how great the King and Queen were.

Then, the prince decided to taunt him and target him. The boy tricked him, and he humiliated the prince in front of everyone.

“What I didn’t realize is that people like you, Roman, don’t like looking inferior.”

The prince’s feelings were hurt, so he sent his most loyal followers to teach the boy exactly how much it costs to make a fool out of royalty.

“What- Virgil I-“ Roman started

“Shut up. I’m not done.”

At least it was over, the boy thought. He’d learned his lesson.

He was wrong.

The prince’s followers found him again, outside in the rain, because it was fun for them now. But just as they started to attack the boy, he felt the presence inside of him, the thing that scared his friends away, the thing that he fought so hard to control, defend him. And when the prince’s followers screamed and ran away, the boy didn’t feel very sorry for them.

After that, the boy never got a chance to have fun again. His power had scared off the whole school- except for the oblivious prince, who gloated over him.

After a while, the boy wondered: why had he tried so hard to control this power? After all, he was alone no matter what he did. He was never going to fit in.

So, instead, he focused on how much he hated the prince, and he thought about revenge.

The entire time Virgil spoke, Roman had only tried to say something once. The rest of the time, he stayed silent and listened intently. At first, his face was carefully blank, but as the story progressed, it was a myriad of unreadable expressions.

Finally, Virgil took a deep breath.

“And that’s it. Do you remember now?” He said.

Roman blinked several times, seemingly stunned.

“It was my fault.” He said softly, like he didn’t quite believe the words he was speaking.

“Um.. duh?” Virgil said back.

“I mean.. I didn’t.. It wasn’t on purpose.”

Virgil scoffed, “What do you mean?”

“I.. I remember the day you were talking about. In PE, with Mrs. Harlow? I remember that. I’d never had anybody.. challenge me like that, before, if that makes sense. I’d definitely never been humiliated like that. At first, I was just sort of.. impressed? I wanted to be your friend. Then, everyone kept going on about it, and laughing at me for the rest of the day.. which made me kind of bitter. I was talking to a couple of my friends.. the ones who.. um. Yeah.”

Roman inhaled, “Anyways, they kept talking trash about you, and I was feeling sorry for myself and did the same..” He seemed to be curling in on himself with shame as he spoke, “I suppose.. I guess.. one of them did mention beating you up for me. And I agreed. But- but- I really thought they were kidding! I never would’ve thought- I really thought it was a joke. It was just a sort of offhand comment, you know? ‘Haha, want us to beat him up for you?’ I didn’t think they were serious, even for a second!”

There was that desperation in Roman’s voice again, the kind that Virgil had encountered several times now. He believed him.

That had been the little tug in the background noise of his mind nagging at him for so long. The facts had never quite lined up with Roman and the attacks. The truth that Virgil hadn’t wanted to face was that, in that time in his life, he had needed someone to blame. He had needed something to do with all the hate he directed towards himself, and Roman had been the answer.

He didn’t want to acknowledge that he had needed a reason to keep going on.

Virgil averted his eyes from Roman.

It was too much.

“I’m so, so sorry, Virgil.” Roman said, his voice cracking slightly.

It was like a slap to the face. Virgil felt something within him recoil. He couldn’t deal with this. He couldn’t. There was too much to take in.

Virgil put his can of spray paint back into his bag. He finally met eyes with Roman, who was looking at him like a lost puppy. Virgil took a step towards him. He could practically feel how much Roman wanted him to get an answer.

But Virgil wasn’t ready to give one.

He took another step forward, and then he ran.

He ran to the side of Roman, brushing past him on his way to escape.

“Wait!” Roman called after him.

Virgil shut his eyes tightly as he ran, trying to block out Roman’s voice.

He heard the swoosh of Roman flying to catch up, and he felt a hand grab his arm.

“Get off!” Virgil yelled, shaking him off violently.

“Wait! Virgil- please- I’m really sorry-“

“Leave. Me. Alone!” Virgil said, looking back at Roman’s pained expression.

The world went slow, and he felt it. He felt his power lash out.

There were tears running down Roman’s face, and tears pricking at the corners of Virgil’s eyes. He was just so overwhelmed, and he felt trapped, and he just wasn’t ready to face this.

But Roman didn’t deserve to have Virgil’s emotions shoved at him.

So Virgil mentally reached inside himself, and he stopped his Propensity.

It felt like reaching a hand out and trying to pull a speeding cab backwards. Virgil lurched forward with the effort, nearly falling on his face, but Roman’s hand on his arm steadied him.

“Are you okay?” Roman asked.

“I’m.. fine.” Virgil said, even as he felt his body buckling underneath him.

Roman chuckled nervously, “You’re clearly not, my friend-“

“I’m not your friend. Get off of me.” Virgil said, cutting him off with malice. He attempted to shove Roman away, but he ended up falling on him.

Roman sling an arm around his shoulder, supporting his weight. “What happened to you?!”

“I don’t know.” Virgil said, gritting his teeth and begrudgingly leaning against The Prince.

Thank goodness there weren’t any reporters around. Lately, there hadn’t been any reporters on the scenes where Nightmare struck. Apparently, the big news companies had gotten some nasty lawsuits involving putting their employees in danger. Virgil was glad of it, because it would ruin his reputation if someone got a picture of this.

Virgil sighed, “Alright, I just need to get to Patton and Logan’s house.” There was no way he was showing The Prince where he lived. “I assume you know where that is?”

Roman looked surprised, “Uh, yeah, I do. So they know about.. you?”

“As of late, yeah.”

Realization dawned on Roman’s face.

“So that’s why Patton was acting so weird the other day!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, forcing them to stay open, “Yeah.”

They walked in silence for a while, Virgil struggling to get a grip on his own limbs.

They’d taken around thirteen steps before Roman stopped abruptly.

“This isn’t working.” He said.

“Just.. give me a second, I’ll get it.” Virgil said, not putting much energy into it.

“No- this is ridiculous. Listen.. this would be a lot easier if I just flew you.” Roman suggested, so quickly that Virgil almost didn’t understand him.

“You.. flying.. me? How would that work?” Virgil asked, his stomach flipping.

“Um. Well. I’d probably have to.. carry.. you? Or you could just sort of.. hold onto me.” Roman said, flushing and scratching his nose.

“I think I’m good.” Virgil said, “Honestly, I can maybe even walk on my own- here, let go.”

Roman, removed his arm from around Virgil, and stepped back, hovering nearby like Virgil might collapse at any moment.

Virgil took a few shaky steps forward, his ledden legs screaming in defiance, “See? I’m fi-“ His knees gave out, and Roman caught him clumsily.

What had Virgil done? What god had he angered to deserve this?

Virgil groaned in exasperation. “How would flying help?”

“Well, gravity certainly seems to be an.. issue in our current situation.” Roman gestured to how he was practically dragging Virgil, “When I fly, it becomes less of one. I don’t really know how to describe it. It would make it a lot easier and a lot faster to get you to Logan and Patton’s house.”

“Alright.” Virgil muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“I said alright. Let’s just.. get it over with, okay?”

Roman nodded carefully, his face beginning to redden, “Okay, then, Fred Noonan, I’m going to wrap my arms around you.. um, is that alright?”

Virgil closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Just do it, Princey.”

“Right, okay, okay.”

Roman had already been gripping both of Virgil’s shoulders from catching him, and so it only took a small adjustment to move his arms so they wrapped around him in a sort of stiff hug.

What made it worse was that Virgil was only maybe an inch shorter than Roman, which
put them at around the same level height-wise. For a mortifying second, they stared at each other, their faces uncomfortably close, before they simultaneously tilted away gracelessly.

Then, Virgil robotically moved his arms to go
around Roman, mimicking the not-quite hug. He could physically feel his face heating up. This was beyond demeaning.

There was a moment where neither of them spoke or moved, and they both composed themselves.

“Okay,” Roman’s voice was right on the edge of shaking, “I’m gonna count down from five and then I’m going to lift us up. Make sure you hold on tight.”

Virgil choked out a laugh. What was he doing with his life?

“Five..”

Virgil inhaled sharply.

“Four.. three.. two..”

Virgil tightened his grip on Roman.

“One.”

And just like that, Virgil’s feet slowly left the ground, as they hovered just above it.

“Ohshitohshit.” Virgil murmured, shutting his eyes. His tiredness was quickly replaced by bone-chilling fear.

“You okay?” Roman’s voice asked.

“Y-yeah.”

“You ready to really fly?” Roman asked, and Virgil could hear his grin.

“Wait, hold on, I meant to ask earlier- Who’s.. Fred.. Fred Whatshisface?”

“Fred Noonan?”

“Yeah, him.”

“He’s Amelia Earhart’s copilot, obviously!”

“Oh, okayyYYYAAHHHH!!” Virgil’s words dissolved into a scream as The Prince took off without warning.

Flying.

Roman would probably say it was “exhilarating”.

It was fucking terrifying.

As they soared into the sky, Virgil held on for dear life, all previous reservations immediately thrown out the window.

He couldn’t help but remember that the person who now held his life in his arms was also technically his arch-nemesis.

After they’d been moving at a steady pace for a while and Virgil had stopped screaming, Roman spoke up.

“So, what happened to you? Are you like one of those fainting goats?” He asked.

Virgil risked opening his eyes up, just so that he had the opportunity to roll them, but he was distracted by the view below.

It was insane. The city was a colorful display of lights and buildings spread out underneath them that shimmered and flickered like stars.

Virgil stared at it, his eyes widening, “Woah..” He whispered.

“Pretty cool, right?” Roman said.

Virgil remembered his current situation and did his best to shrug, “Yeah, I guess.”

Roman had been right- the trip didn’t take long at all. Soon enough, they descended down to Patton and Logan’s house. The moment they were safe on the ground, Virgil pushed away from Roman, blushing profusely.

“Okay, thanks, I guess.” He said, in the tone of someone who was ending an interaction. He took a wobbly step forward and rang the doorbell. Then, he leaned against the wall for support. Now that his life wasn’t in danger, his exhaustion had returned.

“Uh, no problem. I guess I’ll.. go?” Roman said uncertainly.

“Yes! It’s time for you to leave- go on!” Virgil said, shooing him away weakly.

“But I wanted to-“

“Go go go!” Virgil said urgently.

Roman flew upwards just as Patton opened the door.

“Virgil! It’s a little late for dinner!” Patton exclaimed. “..Are you okay?” He added.

“Yeah.. I’m just.. really.. tired..” Virgil said, the feeling washing over him stronger than ever, all at once. His eyelids drooped downwards.

“Woah there, hold on kiddo.. Logan!! I need some help!”

As Virgil’s consciousness drifted away, he was aware of Logan rushing over, and Patton supporting Virgil’s weight in an attempt to bring him inside. He struggled to keep awake, blinking and trying his best to step forward with Logan and Patton on either side, but he could barely think, let alone walk.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was turning his head backwards and seeing a red cape disappear into the night.

Chapter Text

Virgil was flying with The Prince again.

The Prince was laughing as they soared upwards, higher and higher into the night sky.

Virgil didn’t get the joke, and he frowned.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

The Prince made eye contact with him, and he laughed again.

“This!” He said.

And then he dropped Virgil.

He screamed as he fell down, down, down, plunging towards the city below. All the while, he heard Roman’s laughter echoing around him.

The ground grew closer and closer, and Virgil shut his eyes, bracing himself for impact-

And then he jolted awake.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that he wasn’t in his bed. He looked around. He was on a blue couch, and he had a polka-dotted blanket draped over him. His shoes had been laid on the floor next to the couch.

Oh, right- he was at Patton and Logan’s house. He remembered now. His interaction with Roman, and then his weird engulfing wave of exhaustion caused by stopping himself from using his Propensity. He had honestly thought that was all a part of his nightmare, but apparently it had been real.

Virgil stretched and got up, carefully folding the blanket and setting it onto the couch. He yawned, and noticed the sound and smell of cooking coming from the kitchen, following it.

Logan stood at one of the counters with a frying pan and a spatula in hand.

“Good morning.” Virgil said sleepily.

Logan looked towards him, “Oh! You’re awake.”

“Um, yeah. Sorry for just.. showing up last night. Thanks for letting me stay here.” Virgil said.

“Oh, it was no problem at all. Do you enjoy eating scrambled eggs?”

“Um.. yeah..?”

“Wonderful, they should be finished soon. Patton would likely appreciate it if you let him know you’re awake- and that it’s almost time for breakfast. I believe he is in the garden.” Logan told him.

“Oh, okay.” Virgil responded, and he went back to the couch to put on his shoes.

Once he had his shoes on, he headed to the backyard, which he’d actually never been in. It was a good-sized yard, with green grass and flowers everywhere, and a good portion of it was encompassed by a sprawling garden. There were bright yellow sunflowers, and there were dark green spices growing in little clusters, and there were vibrant bushes of blueberries and strawberries.

Patton was standing by a planter of tomatoes, gently moving his hands over them like a blessing as he coaxed the vegetables to grow.

“Hey, Patton!” Virgil called out.

Patton whipped around, beaming.

“Kiddo! You’re up!” Immediately, he went to greet Virgil, carefully stepping around the plants as he did. Once he’d reached Virgil, he wrapped him in a suffocating bear hug.

“Agh, Patton!” Virgil said, but he hugged him back.

Patton stopped hugging him, but he still held onto his shoulders like he might try to make a break for it.

“You really worried Logan and I last night, Virgil! What happened?” He said.

“Oh- uh- it’s a long story. Logan says breakfast is going to be ready soon- I’ll tell you both while we have that..?”

Patton let go of his shoulders, smiling, “Alrighty, sounds good to me! I guess we’d better wash our hands!”

Not long afterwards, Virgil sat at the dining room table with Logan and Patton, all three of them enjoying some truly delicious scrambled eggs.

After a few minutes of small talk and complimenting Logan’s cooking, Logan cleared his throat.

“Let us address the metaphorical elephant in the room; Virgil, I think my husband and I are warranted an explanation for the events of last night. Would you care to provide this?”

Virgil, who had just stuffed a mouthful of egg into his mouth, said, “Mm, mmf.”

“Pardon?” Logan said.

Virgil chewed and swallowed, “I said ‘oh, right.’”

“Ah.”

“Well, um, where do I start.. there’s bad news, weird news, good news, and news I’m not sure how to feel about yet.” Virgil said, taking a sip of coffee. He still felt tired, even after going to sleep so early the previous night.

“What’s the bad news?!” Patton asked.

“Well. Roman found out who I was.”

“What?!” Patton said.

“Are you joking?” Logan said at the same time.

“Uh.. yeah.. no good. Don’t worry- I know it wasn’t one of you two. There was a, um, reunion party for our school last night. Apparently, those kids who beat me up as a kid told him.”

Logan and Patton both frowned.

“What did he do?” Patton asked.

“Um, I kind of went to vandalize that new statue yesterday? And then he showed up and sort of.. confronted me.”

“What exactly did he say?” Logan asked.

“He mostly wanted to know.. why. He wanted to know what I had against him. So I.. explained everything, even though I figured he already knew. And.. well.. there’s the news I don’t really know how to feel about.”

“Which is..?” Logan prompted.

“Well- apparently Roman hadn’t actually meant to have me.. attacked. It had been his friends’ idea, and the only involvement he had in it was agreeing to some offhand comment one of them made. He thought it was a joke, though- he was pretty insistent about it.”

Virgil watched both of their expressions, expecting them to react in complete shock, but they both just nodded.

“This is not very surprising to hear.” Logan said.

”Roman really isn’t the type to do something like that on purpose.” Patton added.

Virgil looked down at his shoes, “Um, yeah, I guess you guys were right. It’s not just that, though.” He said, pausing. “He also.. apologized. Several times, actually.”

“Did you forgive him? What did you say?” Logan and Patton said simultaneously.

Virgil gave them a look, because they were apparently that type of married couple.

“Um.. I kind of.. ran away? Or I tried to, but he caught up with me, obviously. And then he grabbed my arm, and it kind of freaked me out and I- oh wait, this is the weird news, by the way. Sorry, I forgot I was telling it that way. What was I saying?”

Logan went to speak, but Virgil continued first.

“Oh, right, so I was freaked out and I like.. felt my Propensity.. do its thing it does before it attacks someone-“

From the moment Virgil had said the words “my Propensity”, Logan’s interest had intensified tenfold.

“Hold on, hold on, this about Propensities?! I need to write this down, hold on..” He said, rushing off to presumably get writing materials.

Virgil gave Patton a confused look.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s just really interested in Propensities. He does a lot of research on them. Apparently, they’re a bit of a mystery in the scientific community. No one really understands where they came from or how they work.”

Logan returned briskly, carrying a pen and a small notebook that looked like it had once been owned by Sherlock Holmes.

“Alright, alright,” Logan said, flipping to a new page in his notebook, “Please continue.”

“Well- you two know that I try to only use my Propensity when I absolutely have to. And I didn’t want to use it on Roman just because I was confused and not ready to face my past- he had just apologized to me! So I kind of.. stopped myself?”

“Can you please elaborate?” Logan said, his pen scratching on his notebook hurriedly.

“Uh- sure. When I use my Propensity, I sort of get this feeling in my, like, gut. It’s this sort of lurching sensation- do you guys know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I get that as well, kind of.” Patton said.

“Okay, cool. Well, I sort of.. felt around for that? Mentally? And like.. pulled it back? I don’t really know how to explain it. It was like.. trying to stop a boulder rolling down a hill? It had a lot of momentum, and I was yanking it backwards with all my force.”

“Fascinating..” Logan muttered.

“And I stopped it from lashing out, but then my entire body just.. gave out. I just got super, super exhausted. I guess it took a lot of energy to stop it? I’d never stopped it before then, so I don’t really know.”

Patton tilted his head, “That’s.. weird.”

“Yeah.” Virgil answered.

Logan was still writing away in his notebook.

“Wait- if you were so tired, how did you get ho- here?” Patton said.

Virgil felt his face reddening, “I- Uh- Well, I- Roman sort of- I couldn’t really walk- Honestly, it was his idea-“

“What was his idea?” Patton asked.

“Heflewme.” Virgil muttered.

Logan looked up from his notebook, “Pardon?”

“He flew me!” Virgil blurted.

His words didn’t echo, but it felt like they did. He could nearly hear them repeating back at him, over and over.

“Oh my goodness,” Patton finally said, grinning, “Did he have to carry you?”

Next to him, Logan let out a short laugh, attempting to mask it with a cough. Virgil’s face reached critical levels of heat.

“No! I mean- no!”

“How exactly did it work, then?” Logan asked, his lips tightly closed and his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“We just.. sort of..” Virgil started, and then stopped, “I don’t want to talk about it!” He said, the pitch of his voice much higher than he intended.

Logan and Patton burst out laughing.

Virgil buried his face in his hands, “I hate you both.”

“I’m sorry, Virgil, it’s just- I mean it is a pretty unique situation.” Patton finally said, still chuckling slightly.

After a sufficient amount of time, Logan adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, “This is quite a lot to process, I’m sure, Virgil. However, I do have to ask- have you put any more thought into Roman’s apology?”

Immediately, the room sobered.

“I have.” Virgil said.

“And?” Patton prompted softly.

“Well, honestly.. being a villain is mostly just a lot of stress. I mean- some of it is fun- but, honestly, not too long ago I got shot!”

“You got what?!” Patton said.

“Uh, anyways,” Virgil said hurriedly. “Being a villain- it was something that I used to give myself a purpose. When I was at the academy, I hated my life. I didn’t have any friends, and I just.. there were times when.. when things were bad... I wondered if it was even worth living for.”

Virgil avoided eye contact with both Logan and Patton. He couldn’t dare look them in the eyes.

“But.. now.. it’s different. I don’t feel that way anymore. I have a house, and- and a job, and I have..” He wrung his hands, “Well, I have you guys. And.. learning that Roman didn’t even do the thing that I’ve been blaming him for all these years- it just seemed sort of final, to me. And I think…”

Virgil straightened up, and he looked between his two friends.

“I think that I don’t need Nightmare anymore.”

Chapter Text

Patton had the.. unique idea to throw a sort of going-away party for Nightmare. Surprisingly, Logan wholeheartedly participated. They were both clearly ecstatic that Virgil had decided to give villainy up. In fact, he had the feeling that all of their little lunches and get-togethers had only been a ploy to try and distract him from going to commit crimes- a sort of “see how fun it is when you’re not out being a notorious supervillain?” campaign.

Virgil supposed it had technically worked, in some ways. He wouldn’t have made the decision if he didn’t know he had the two there to support him. Still- if it wasn’t for the whole Roman thing, he would’ve been happy to stay Nightmare for the foreseeable future.

Well.. happy might not be the right term, but he would’ve done it without hesitation.

He had been subconsciously making the decision in his head all morning. However, it didn’t really hit him until he had put it into words. The moment he did, his world went hazy.

Logan and Patton reacted, and he could hear them, but it was like they were underwater- or maybe he was. But he nodded along, trancelike.

Not being Nightmare anymore… the prospect was shocking. It felt like a fundamental part of who he was, at this point. At the same time, though, everything he had said to Patton and Logan had been true. He needed to let go.

But it wasn’t going to be easy.

The truth was, it wasn’t just that being Nightmare had given him a purpose.

The truth was that there was always a part of him that had thought it was really fun.

Still, the haze slowly dissipated as the day went on. He helped Patton and Logan bake a cake, which was certainly an experience. Three people is probably too many people to be participating in one activity, especially when two of them keep throwing flour at each other and laughing, and one of them is frantically yelling about the recipe. (Hint: Logan takes baking very seriously.) Somehow, the cake turned out pretty well, with maybe a little too much flour, but nothing that a crap-ton of icing couldn’t cover up.

Later, they played board games. Virgil soon found that any game to do with guessing was unfair due to Patton and Logan’s apparent psychological link. He also found that a certain individual in their group could not handle losing at Scattergories. (Hint: It wasn’t Patton. The thing he couldn’t handle losing was Operation.)

Finally, after maybe thirteen different activities, Virgil was ready to go home. He waved Patton and Logan goodbye, thanked them for everything, and set off for home.

Once he was there, he spent a lot of time staring at various parts of his house. The most popular subjects of interest were the walls, ceiling, and TV.

He donated the remainder of his stolen money to various charities anonymously. That was something, at least. It felt like a weight off of his back to be rid of it.

He remembered that first day, when he had robbed the bank.

He had been so full of trepidation, and he had felt so ridiculous in that- Virgil immediately tried to push the thought from his head, but that only made it worse. Nonononono. He couldn’t think about it. Not now. He wouldn’t be able to sleep for the next week.

It was too late, though.

Virgil remembered the tear-off suit.

He cringed. Christ, he had been such an idiot.

He continued to cringe painfully for the rest of the evening. When he went to sleep, visions of awful tear-off suits danced around his head, and he dreamt of the horror of embarrassing decisions.

He awoke the next morning as just.. Virgil. Hm. It’s a jarring feeling when all your illusions and walls are stripped away, and you find yourself face to face with the singularity of your own mind.

He stared at the ceiling. He didn’t want to get up. Sometimes, life felt like a series of events in which you had to get up, until you inevitably never had to get up again.

Virgil chuckled to himself, and forced his legs to swing over the side of his bed and navigate the rest of his body into a standing position. He was apparently feeling existential today. At the same time, though, he felt kind of.. free. Freedom also felt somewhat like vulnerability, but it wasn’t like the two weren’t related. He was exposed, but when he looked in the mirror to brush his teeth, he actually felt like he recognized the person looking back.

That strange juxtaposition of weakness and strength was the theme of his emotional state for the day. He stayed away from the news, and he stayed away from his phone. He felt a sudden urge to seep life in- every bit of it.

He went to a restaurant and enjoyed an overflowing plate of pancakes drowned in syrup. He strolled through a park. He nearly went to the art museum, but he decided against it when he remembered the sound of gunshots and alarms blasting in his ears. He winced.

He went to a library, and he spent a lot of time there. He wanted to learn everything- he wanted to consume it all.

Why did he feel like he was on death row? Why did he feel like the walls would come crashing down any minute?

He stopped by an ice cream stand, and he bought a cone for himself and for the little boy behind him.

It wasn’t so bad, being normal. People liked to place a stigma around normalcy. They went on and on about being extra-ordinary. Virgil maybe wouldn’t mind being just.. ordinary.

That’s what he told himself, anyways. Inside, he kept having to resist the urge to laugh maniacally.

So, maybe, that’s why it was almost a relief when it happened.

Virgil had finally found himself back home after a long day. He checked his phone, and immediately his thoughts grew frantic.

There were ten messages and three missed calls from Patton.

Chapter Text

CHECK THE NEWS!!
Virgil you need to check the news ASAP
Virgil?
Are you getting these?
Are you okay?
You need to look at the news
The whole world knows who you are
Virgil???
Virgilllllllll
Please answer!

Ten texts. Three missed calls.

Virgil stared at his screen blankly.

The whole world knows who you are.

He had a feeling, derived from nothing in particular, that he needed to check the news.

The moment he looked up the word “Nightmare” in his search-bar, “identity” was the first autocomplete option. He clicked it.

Immediately, he was bombarded by articles, videos, blogs, pictures- every viable way of spreading information was reporting the same thing. He stared at the headlines, eyes wide.

Nightmare’s True Identity: REVEALED!, NIGHTMARE SECRET IDENTITY UNCOVERED, Nightmare’s REAL NAME and More!, Notorious Supervillain’s SECRET IDENTITY… the list went on. Virgil scrolled through them all in shock. He felt like he was watching his body from the outside as he clicked on a link.

He skimmed through the article, ignoring the beginning build-up, searching for one thing.

His eyes landed on two words, and they stayed on those two words, transfixed.

Virgil Argus.

The villain’s true name is Virgil Argus.

Virgil felt like he was going to throw up.

He picked up his phone clumsily. He couldn’t feel his hands.

Holy shit. He texted Patton.

He turned off his phone and laid it back on the table, even as he saw Patton begin to respond. He stared at the article again, this time really reading it.

“Three anonymous people who had gone to school with Virgil” had been the ones to bring his identity into light. Virgil leaned back in his chair and made a sound somewhere between a groan and a hysterical laugh. Wow, he wondered who that could possibly be.

But why wait? Why now?

He read further.

“We were just so scared of what he might do to us if we told.” One of the former students said. “But we agreed that the world deserved to know who this monster is.”

Virgil glared at the screen, gritting his teeth. If it was paper, his eyes would have burnt a hole into it.

They were calling him a monster. Cowards.

Apparently, once the goons had come forward with Virgil’s name, the government and Academy had found his records, found out everything about him, and confirmed his identity.

Virgil clicked out of the article.

His description was all over the internet.

6’ Caucasian Male, Lanky Build, Brown Hair, Brown or Gray Eyes, 19 Years Old…

Virgil frowned. He was 5’11”, and his eyes were definitely brown.

Before he could think on that much more, though, something caught his eye.

Nightmare Identified As Local Barista.

Virgil’s heart stopped.

He clicked the link, despite his better judgment.

It was a video.

A female reporter was in the center of the screen. As all reporters do, she waited the appropriate awkward three seconds before speaking.

“This just in: the identity of notorious supervillain Nightmare has been revealed! Through anonymous and government help, Nightmare has been revealed to really be Virgil Argus.”

A picture of Virgil taken at his graduation from the Academy showed up on screen. He had a forced smile on his face, and he had a lot more eye makeup on then he did now. He looked like he was on the winter side of a seasonal depression.

Virgil cringed, and then the reporter stepped in front of a very familiar building.

“Now, you may recognize the Green Tea brewery from one of our previous stories. It’s a well-known fact that The Prince himself visits this coffee shop every once in a while, and it’s become quite a hit in Druthers City. However, right now it’s closed, and we know why.” Virgil felt the pit of his stomach fill with dread. “Virgil Argus is actually a barista at this establishment.” A low-quality picture of Virgil talking to Roman over the counter popped up on screen.

Jesus.. where had they gotten that? It made him shiver to see a picture of himself like that, in what he thought was a safe place, broadcasted out to all these people.

Not only that, but they were bringing Patton into this.. even more publicity that he didn’t ask for.

Speaking of, Virgil’s phone buzzed beside him.

We’re coming over. Patton texted.

As soon as Virgil read the text, the doorbell rang.

“That was quick.” He said to himself, and he got up to answer it.

When Virgil opened the front door, he was surprised to find not Patton or Logan, but Mayor Sanders.

Immediately, he began to panic.

“Look, whoever you think I am, I swear-“ Virgil started, but at the same time, the mayor spoke.

“Hello! I’ve been going door-to-door to ask people if-“

They both stopped talking.

“Oh! I’m sorry, you go first.” The Mayor said.

Virgil slowly let himself calm down as he processed what Mayor Sanders had said.

“No.. you go, Mr. Mayor. It wasn’t important.”

“Alright, then! And, please- call me Thomas. The election is coming up soon, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions?” Thomas said, smiling.

“Uh.. sure.” Virgil responded. His heartbeat began to slow down.

“First of all, how old are you?” Thomas asked.

Virgil considered lying, but decided against it, “Nineteen.” He said.

Thomas smiled, “Great! And do you plan on voting in the upcoming election?”

Not anymore. “Yes.”

“Good for you! And who do you plan on voting for?” He asked.

“Uh.. you.” Virgil said, and struggled to keep the question out of his tone.

“Well, thank you so much! That’s great to hear. What’s your name?”

Shit. Virgil tried to keep his face neutral as his mind raced, “I- Uh- Pat..rick Ro..wan. Patrick Rowan.” Virgil stammered out.

Thomas looked at him for a moment before writing something down and saying, “Well, nice talking to you, Patrick! Have a nice day!”

Virgil nodded and smiled uneasily, and then he gratefully shut the door as the mayor moved on.

He leaned against the stable wood and felt his heart pounding as he breathed deeply. That had been- he had thought- fuck. Was this what his life was going to be like, now? Constantly panicking?

Well, that was normal- after all, he had anxiety, but even more panicking than usual. He had enough trouble staying cool as is; this was going to be hell.

He sighed and stood up properly, trying to calm down his breathing.

Why now? Why did this have to happen the moment he’d decided to be done?

Sometimes he wondered if the universe had specifically chosen to make his life miserable. It was like every time he thought he could live his life in peace, his turmoil pulled him back and said oh no, we’re not done with you yet. His existence felt like a cosmic tragedy- or maybe a joke. Either way, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

He thought he was paranoid before- now he’d really need to be on edge. Did they know where he lived? Evidently not yet, but what if they found out? Where would he go? If he went with Logan and Patton, he’d only be putting them in danger!

What if he got caught? How much would it really take to stop him? How much pain was he going to make others endure before he took responsibility for his own actions? Should he turn himself in?

What would happen to him?

He remembered a story Roman had told back at the Academy. He’d said that once a year, he went with his parents to check in on The Intruder in the high-security facility where he was kept. Was that the only time The Intruder saw people?

Virgil tried to imagine sitting in a cell, day after day, living off of trays of food and watching the guards change shifts. He imagined his only company being his own thoughts. How long would it take for him to be driven mad?

He shuddered, but he couldn’t stop picturing it. Living out the rest of his life in a cold glass room, all alone.

Would Patton miss him? Would Logan? How long would it take for them to move on? How long would it take for them to forget about him? How many tallies scratched on the stone floor of a barren cell?

Would Roman visit him?

Virgil tried to imagine it. He could practically feel the vast array of chiseled marks under his bare feet as he counted down the days between visits. Would Roman talk to him, or would he be too afraid- too ashamed? Would he gloat? Maybe at first. Maybe at first, Virgil would bang his fists against the glass and curse The Prince. But maybe eventually he’d grow to cherish the visits, even when Roman hardly said a word to him. Maybe he would find himself glad just to break the monotony.

Or maybe he would simply turn away. He wouldn’t say a word. He’d sit and stare away from The Prince, and he’d ignore any words spoken to him in an act of sheer defiance.

But maybe.. maybe Roman wouldn’t visit him at all, and Virgil would have nothing left. He would sink into his own mind without a trace, if he was forced to be alone with himself for years on end with no change in routine. Even if, five years later, someone came to visit, he would be too far-gone. The nightmares would blend into real life, both equally terrifying and unending.

Virgil became vaguely aware of a sound resonating. He blinked. He was at home- of course he was. He wasn’t in a prison cell. The sound was the doorbell, and he realized that it had rang out several times now.

He turned around and looked through the peephole. Thankfully, it was indeed Patton and Logan outside. They looked to be deeply worried, on the edge of panicking. Logan was standing closer, and he was presumably the one who had been ringing the doorbell. Behind him, Patton was pacing back and forth. Virgil could see them talking to each other hurriedly.

Virgil opened the door.

“What if something’s happened to-“ Patton was saying, but he immediately stopped when he saw him, instead yelling his name and rushing past his husband to hug him.

Virgil shared a small smile with Logan as his internal organs were slowly crushed.

“Patton.. I’m okay.. you can let go now..” Virgil wheezed.

Patton obliged, and they all went inside, Logan closing the door behind them.

“We were so worried about you!” Patton said.

Virgil flushed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, “Oh.. thanks. I’m alright.”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Despite the fact that your identity has been publicly revealed to the entire world?”

“Oh, uh-“ Virgil let out a hollow laugh, “Right, yeah, obviously I’m not alright, but I’m alright physically. No one’s come and arrested me yet.”

“Ah.” Logan said, which conveyed his understanding well enough. Patton looked like he wanted to wrap Virgil in a warm blanket.

“Uh- do you guys want to sit down?” Virgil said, gesturing to the couch.

They both said yes, and they sat down on the couch. Virgil took a seat in a nearby armchair. Logan had a reassuring hand on Patton’s knee, and the entire setup made Virgil feel like he was their couple’s therapist, when it was really much closer to the other way around.

“Well,” Logan said after a short bout of silence, “Suffice to say that the situation you are in is.. not ideal, Virgil.”

Virgil snorted into laughter, and Patton soon joined in.

“I think that’s a bit of an understatement, Logan.”

Logan smirked, “Undoubtedly.”

“So.. Virge.. what are you going to do?” Patton asked.

“We-ell..” Virgil said, “You guys aren’t going to like this, but it’s impossible for me to live a normal life, now..”

“..So you’re going back to being Nightmare?” Logan finished.

“..Yeah?” Virgil said, “I haven’t gotten the chance to think about it much, but, I mean, what else can I do?”

Neither of them seemed to have an answer, so Virgil allowed himself to think for a moment. He’d lost his chance at a normal life, now. What’s the point of being in hiding if you don’t even get to occasionally go out of hiding and be dramatic?

Sometimes he really worried about how much of an influence Roman had on him.

“I don’t want to.. really.. I don’t want to, like.. hurt people anymore. Or even commit crimes. I get that Roman didn’t do that thing I thought he did, which is cool, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s.. really annoying.”

Logan laughed loudly, causing Patton and Virgil to both look at him.

“What? You’re correct.” He said.

Patton gave him a look, “Don’t say that about Roman!” He said.

Virgil sniggered, “Anyways, my main goal has always been to just get on Roman’s nerves, and I stand by that goal, apology or not. I’m just gonna stick to that.”

Patton sighed, defeated, “Just don’t commit any major crimes, okay?”

Virgil grinned, “Patton, I don’t even plan on committing minor crimes, except for maybe loitering.”

He then raised his right hand as if he was giving an oath, “From this day forward, Nightmare’s only goal is to be a mild-to-severe annoyance to Roman Spectacular.”

Patton clapped, “Hooray!”

“Hear, hear!” Logan said.

And that was that.

Chapter Text

“This is ridiculous- Virgil, you’re going to stay with us.” Logan said

“Agreed!” Patton said.

“Absolutely not!” Virgil yelled, “You guys are crazy- I’m a criminal! That’s aiding and abetting!”

“Well you can’t stay here!” Patton said.

“Patton’s right- it’s not safe here. This house is under your name, correct?”

Realization dawned on Virgil, “Oh, shit, yeah..”

“Language, Virgil.” Patton muttered.

“Sorry,” Virgil said, and then, “Do you think they already know where I am?!”

“I doubt it. If they did, they would have no reason not to come here and arrest you.” Logan said.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“But if you stay here there’s a good chance they will search to find property under your name-“

“Which is why you need to move to our house!” Patton interjected.

Before Virgil could disagree, Logan spoke.

“Actually, Virgil has a point. That wouldn’t be safe for any of us. They already know that Virgil worked for you. If they were looking for a place where Nightmare might hide, they would probably put our house under surveillance.”

“Under what?!” Patton said.

“Surveillance. To see if we’re harboring Nightmare.”

Patton looked disquieted by that, but he didn’t say anything else.

“So what do you suggest, Logan? If I can’t can’t stay here and I can’t go with you guys?” Virgil said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“I can just buy you a new house.” He said.

“What?! No way am I letting you do that for me!” Virgil responded.

“It’s the logical thing to do. Money is not an issue for me, and this way your name will not be attached to the property.” Logan said.

“But YOUR name will be!” Virgil said.

“This is irrelevant. Your connection is with Patton, not me. My marriage with Patton is not public knowledge, nor is your friendship with me. It is unlikely that anyone will think to look at houses under my name, and it is not unusual for millionaires to purchase a second home.”

Sometimes Logan’s blunt logic grated on Virgil’s nerves. He explained everything like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“This sounds like a good plan.” Patton said.

Virgil sighed, giving in, “Alright, you win. I can’t think of anything better to do. Are you sure the money won’t be an issue?”

“I’m positive.” Logan said.

So, that’s how Virgil ended up moving into Logan’s second house.

It had only taken a few days for Logan to secure a house and for the three of them to subtly move Virgil’s stuff out of his current house and into the new one.

Two days later, Virgil sat in his- or Logan’s- new house. Despite only living there for a couple of days, Virgil found himself growing a little sick of the place.

It was nice, of course. It was nicer than his old house, and certainly nicer than his crummy apartment from way-back-when. The location was perfect- it was secluded by trees, but close to Patton and Logan’s house, and it wasn’t too far from the city, either. There were huge, clear windows that let in the sunlight perfectly, and the layout was open and easy to move through.

There was really only one problem, and it was that Virgil wasn’t allowed to leave.

Logan and Patton insisted that he stay home. Patton brought him groceries, and anything he needed. Sure, Virgil normally didn’t leave the house much, but with the option taken away from him, he felt trapped.

He understood the concern, of course- he couldn’t risk being recognized in public. He definitely couldn’t risk being traced back to the house.

Still, he was desperate to get out.

His par- Logan and Patton had even forbade him from doing any villainy until “things have blown over a bit”.

Unfortunately, the subject of Nightmare’s identity seemed to be made of bricks; it refused to blow over. Almost two weeks had passed, and the media was still obsessing over it. Virgil was itching to get out of the house, but every day when he checked the news, his least favorite story always seemed to be shoe-horned in. Alleged sightings of Virgil, famous superheroes talking about how they would find him, and even a crazed copycat who had tried to turn himself in as Nightmare. When Patton had tried to open the shop back up, he had been bombarded by interviewers asking him about Virgil, and he’d been forced to close up again. People were calling it a “media craze” and a “cultural phenomenon”.

Not only that, but Virgil’s nights were haunted by visions of him being captured or found out. Sometimes the paparazzi were flooding into his home, sometimes the police. Other dreams were more personal, and they showed The Prince catching him, or Patton and Logan turning him in. Whenever he closed his eyes, Virgil found himself plagued by the exact topic he spent all day trying to avoid.

So that’s why, when Logan came over to visit, Virgil snapped.

“I can’t do this anymore!” He yelled in the middle of Logan explaining the history of the concept of zero.

Logan looked taken aback, “I’m sorry, have I been going on for too long? I do have a tendency to ramble on, but I thought you’d find this subject to be interesting.”

“What?” Virgil said, “Oh, I didn’t have any problem with your explanation- sorry, it didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“Oh? What is the matter, then?” Logan asked.

“I can’t handle being cooped up in this house anymore!”

“Ah.” Logan said.

“I mean- ugh! There’s only so many shows on Netflix, Logan! I want to go do something!”

“That’s understandable.”

“Thank you!” Virgil said.

“Give me a moment.” Logan pulled out his phone.

“What- What are you doing?” Virgil asked.

“Texting my husband to see if you should be allowed to go on one of your.. escapades.” Logan answered.

Virgil shut up, and tried to subtly lean over to see Logan’s phone.

“He says it should be fine-“ Virgil let out a whoop, “-as long as you don’t commit any crimes. You don’t want to draw that much attention to yourself right now. Just make a brief appearance.”

“I can do that.” Virgil said, grinning.

Logan gave him a discerning look, “You really want to get out of the house.”

“YES.”

They talked for a bit longer, and then Logan left him alone. The moment he did, Virgil rushed to get ready. He was finally going to do something exciting.

He changed into his hoodie costume. He obviously didn’t need to hide his face anymore, but he just found it to be more comfortable and less ridiculous then his old outfit. He’d keep the mask down.

He looked in the mirror at his reflection and grinned. He never thought he’d be so happy to see himself in his Nightmare costume.

As soon as he was prepared, Virgil left his house. He’d spent a significant portion of his multitudinous free-time plotting out the perfect route to the city he could take without being spotted, and he followed this route easily.

He enjoyed the walk immensely, his body gratefully embracing the sunlight and the cool breeze. He had a smile on his face as he went along.

As he entered the populated areas of the city, things began to get interesting. The first people to notice him was a group of teenagers who were talking outside of a restaurant.

“Oh my god, hold on- is that- HOLY SHIT- GUYS IT’S NIGHTMARE!” One of them called.

Immediately, the others turned to look at him, and they gawked as he passed. Virgil, who was in too good of a mood to be embarrassed, waved at them in his best impression of The Prince. Several of the teenagers took out their phones to record.

More people began to notice, and most of them just stared. After all, this was the person who they’d been obsessing over for the past two weeks.

It wasn’t Virgil’s ideal scenario to be stared at, but he’d take anything over sitting alone at home.

As he entered a more open area, people casually cleared out, away from him, many of them taking pictures as they went.

Then, some of them began pointing upwards and even cheering. That could only mean one thing, and Virgil looked up to confirm that- yes, The Prince had arrived. He flew gracefully to land in front of Virgil with a confident grin aimed his way.

Virgil rolled his eyes.

Once the people around them had moved a good distance away, The Prince spoke.

“Greetings, Virgil!” He said.

Virgil wrinkled his nose, “No.” He said.

“What?”

“You calling me Virgil- that’s weird.”

Roman laughed, “Okay, then, Clark Discontent.”

Virgil gave him an unimpressed look.

“You’ve become quite a sensation lately! Uh- you know that wasn’t me, right?” Roman said.

“Yeah..” Virgil said, “But, if you see your old buddies, give ‘em a punch to the face for me.”

“First, they’re not my buddies. Second, I would be glad to.” Roman gave him a small smile.

Then, after a moment, he tugged on his sash nervously, “Speaking of.. have you thought about my apology?”

Virgil looked down at his feet and said, quietly, “It’s.. fine.”

“Oh, really?!”

“Yeah, it’s whatever.” He said dismissively.

“Okay!“ Roman said, and then he seemed to remember something, “Then.. if you don’t mind me asking.. why exactly are you here..?”

“It’s a nice day to go for a stroll.” Virgil said, smirking as he took a few steps forward.

“Oh.” Roman said.

Virgil continued to walk down the street, past Roman, but turned when he didn’t follow. The Prince was still standing in place, and he looked to be debating something.

“Um.. you do know that I.. that if you’re still a villain.. I am going to have to apprehend you?” The Prince said.

“Bold of you to assume that you’ll be able to.” Virgil said with a grin, and then he broke out into a sprint.

“Hey!” He heard Roman yell behind him, and Virgil laughed as he ran.

Chapter Text

Virgil’s shoes pounded against the concrete as he ran.

“That’s not fair!” Roman shouted from behind him.

“Fair?! Whatever you say, Peter Pan!” Virgil called back.

He mentally cursed himself- he’d used that one before, back in school. The nickname had leapt out on instinct.

He heard The Prince gaining on him- the flying really wasn’t fair. He had a plan, though.

Virgil grit his teeth, forcing himself to try and go faster, even as he was growing tired. He chanced a look backward and saw that The Prince was catching up fast. He only had a few more seconds.

Just as he heard the sound of The Prince right behind him, Virgil pushed off one of his legs to make a complete ninety-degree turn into an alley.

He heard a whoosh as Roman careened by. The combination of the fact that he had been building up a ridiculous amount of momentum and that he had nothing to anchor himself on made it incredibly hard for him to make a sudden turn like that. Virgil grinned.

Now, he just needed a place to hide. He’d only bought himself a little bit of time. He looked around. The only thing occupying the alley were a couple of large, green garbage containers against one of the brick walls.

There was no way Virgil was going to hide inside of the garbage containers, but maybe he could go behind them..

Virgil curled up on the other side of the garbage cans, tucking his feet towards him to make sure they wouldn’t be seen. If someone entered the alley and casually looked around without actually walking too far in, they hopefully wouldn’t see him.

Just as he was ducking his head down, Virgil caught a glimpse of The Prince entering the alley.

“Ha! You won’t get rid of me that- ..easily.” The Prince trailed off.

Virgil kept his head ducked down, breathing steadily and trying not to laugh.

“..Nightmare?”

Virgil breathed as quietly as he could. He heard The Prince land on the ground and take a few steps around.

“How in the world..?” He said.

More sounds of walking around.

“Hello?”

After a beat of silence, Roman laughed disbelievingly.

“You win this round, Virgil..” He said, so softly that Virgil only barely understood. His voice had a certain quality to it.. like he was almost wistful.

Virgil furrowed his brow from his spot behind the trash cans, his blood pounding in his ears. He felt like he was intruding on something important.

A few moments later, The Prince sighed and took to the sky, his red cape flowing behind him.

Virgil sat in his spot for a little while longer. He wanted to make sure The Prince didn’t pull something where he returned the moment Virgil thought he was safe to come out.

But when his back and neck began to hurt from being curled up, Virgil figured it had been long enough. He got up, and his body released a cacophony of cracking noises as he stretched his limbs.

Once he felt less uncomfortable, the corners of Virgil’s mouth tilted upward. He’d beaten The Prince, and he hadn’t even needed to use his Propensity. In fact, he’d had a lot of fun, and he’d done it without committing a crime.

Maybe this whole toned-down villainy thing could work.

Virgil headed back to his new home, avoiding people as much as he could by taking the long way.

By the time he arrived, he was tired from the long walk and the chase. He took his key out from its hiding spot under a rock, and he turned it to unlock the door.

When he opened it, he noticed that the lights were on. He distinctly remembered turning them off when he left.. right? He did that, right? Maybe he didn’t. He was fairly certain the lights had been off.

Either way, it put him on edge.

He stepped into the house quietly, looking behind him to make sure he wasn’t being followed before closing the door.

He looked to his left and found everything to be normal. Then, he slowly turned his head to the right, and felt his heart leap out of his chest when he was met with the face of an invader.

“Virgil, you’re-“

Virgil yelped and slapped the face in front of him.

“Ow- what the-“ Logan said, reeling backwards and clutching the side of his face

“Oh my- Logan, what are you doing here?!” Virgil yelled.

Patton ran in from the kitchen, wielding a house plant.

“What happened?!” He asked.

“Virgil hit me in the face.” Logan said.

“Patton, you’re here too?! You guys scared me half to death!” Virgil said.

“Remind me not to scare you in the future.” Logan said with a huff.

“Oh, geez- I’m really sorry, Logan. It was just a reflex- I thought you were someone here to arrest me or something! I’m just glad I didn’t use my Propensity!”

“In that we are in agreeance.” Logan muttered, taking his hand off his face. There was a red mark there.

“You poor thing!” Patton tittered, reaching up to angle Logan’s face towards him and look at the mark.

Virgil winced, “I’m so sorry.” He said again, and he tried his best to convey how genuine he was.

“It’s quite alright, Virgil, I- I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.” Logan said, and then softly added, “I’m fine, dear.” And gently removed Patton’s hand from his face.

“Why are you guys here, though?” Virgil asked.

“Well, Logan has the spare key for the house, and we figured we could wait here for you to come back- Wait, didn’t you see my texts?” Patton said.

“Oh,” Virgil grimaced, “I didn’t take my phone with me. Why were you waiting for me-“ His mind suddenly filled with anxieties, “Did something happen?”

“Oh, no, kiddo, nothing happened-“

“Patton was worried about you.” Logan said hurriedly.

Patton rolled his eyes fondly, “Yes- I, the person who wasn’t anxiously waiting by the door, was the only one who was worried about you.”

Virgil chuckled as Logan sputtered about why waiting by the door- not anxiously waiting, just waiting- had been the logical thing to do.

“Logan’s right.” Virgil said.

“Thank you, Virgil.”

“I mean, one sure-fire way to tell that you’ve done the logical thing is getting slapped in the face- that’s what I always say.” Virgil finished with a smirk.

Logan scowled as Patton broke into a fit of laughter, and Virgil felt himself relax into the familiarity of it all.

The rest of the evening panned out similarly domestic. Patton warmed up a frozen pizza he’d apparently brought, Virgil told them about his encounter with Roman, Logan and Patton asked him questions as he spoke, and Virgil apologized several more times for hitting Logan.

Yeah. He could definitely get used to super-villainy like this.

Chapter Text

“I want to dye my hair purple.” Virgil said.

“What?” Logan’s voice said from the other end of the phone, “Is this why you called me? Virgil, it is 1:13 in the morning.”

Virgil frowned and looked over at the clock. It was, indeed, 1:13 AM.

“Oh, sorry- I had no idea.” He said, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s alright- I was already up late working. Why do you want to dye your hair purple?”

For the past few months, Virgil’s existence had been perpetuated by long periods of staying at home that were broken up by visits from Patton and Logan and exploits as Nightmare. Patton had opened the shop back up, and Logan was doing some sort of research, which meant they usually only visited in the evenings and on weekends.

Which meant that Virgil had spent a lot of time alone.

“I’ve been thinking,” He said, which was true, “I mean, since my identity is just public knowledge now, what’s the point in trying to blend in? It’s not like I ever go outside unless I’m in costume. Dying my hair has always been something I’ve wanted to do, but I’ve always been worried about people judging me or whatever.. In the Academy, all I wanted to do was be invisible, but now I’m.. basically as visible as you can be. I figured I could just.. own it, you know? People already stare at me.”

There was no response within the couple of seconds after Virgil spoke, and he spoke again, hurriedly.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s stupid. Nevermind. It’s a bad idea-“

“No, Virgil, it’s not stupid at all. I apologize, I was just thinking.” Logan said. “I think that the points you made are valid. I could never see myself doing something like that, but I am not you. If this is something you’re certain you want to do, you should do it.”

Virgil smiled, “Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while. Do you think you or Patton could maybe pick some hair dye up for me when you get a chance..?” He said.

“Of course.”

After arguing with Patton over who was paying for dye, watching several YouTube videos, and accidentally dying his own hands purple, Virgil looked in the mirror.

His hair was bright purple.

When he’d first dyed it, he hadn’t really been able to see the effects much. He had mixed the color with some chemical, rubbed it into his hair, and washed it out after thirty minutes, just like he’d read and heard online. When he looked in the reflection after that, it was kind of hard to tell how it turned out, because his hair was still really wet. So, he had folded up a towel, put it on top of his pillow, and decided to take a nap.

Now, his hair was dry, and the color was vibrant and much brighter than he’d imagined it would be. He ran his hand through it, staring.

He loved it.

He’d really started to doubt himself while he was doing it. After all, it was kind of a big decision. He’d thought that it would turn out wrong, or he’d miss his old hair- but it actually looked really good.

“Huh.” He said to his reflection.

He was dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, and the pop of color made him look a lot less depressed and a lot more cool.

Virgil styled his hair and excitedly sent a picture of himself to Patton and Logan.

Immediately, Patton sent a barrage of excited, all-capital messages with lots of emojis about how fantastic his hair looked and how much it suited him. Logan sent a single text that said he was glad to see that the dye had worked so well and that Virgil liked it.

Virgil smiled to himself as he read their kind messages.

Thanks, guys. He texted.

It was a pretty great way to wake up. Patton had gone and bought the hair dye after he’d closed up the shop for the day, and when he dropped it off for Virgil, he had elected to use it right away. That had been late afternoon, and after dying his hair and taking an hour-long nap, it was nearing nighttime.

Virgil poured out some cereal for dinner. He was in too good of a mood to worry about what was and wasn’t a “breakfast food”.

Then, he turned on the TV.

And he saw The Prince. He was doing some grand-opening for some store, it looked like. Had done, that is. People were inside of the store, milling around while Roman was interviewed.

It was too late to crash the opening, but the news story would probably be ending soon, which likely meant that Roman would be going home..

If Virgil went and changed now, he might be able to be waiting there when he did.

Not much later, Virgil was leaning on the fence outside of The Prince’s house with his hood up, his mask on, and his head down. He wasn’t wearing his cape because he actually wanted to look somewhat subtle. Even though he was making his whole standing-out hair statement, having the press monitor his interactions with Roman was unnerving, and he didn’t really want that. So, he leaned on the fence while scrolling through his phone and waited.

Virgil had apparently timed things perfectly, because after only a few minutes, a limousine (a limousine) pulled up, and Roman Spectacular stepped out.

Virgil scooted to the side and made sure to keep his face angled down while Roman talked with someone within the limo. Finally, Roman thanked the driver, and the limousine drove away, leaving Roman seemingly alone.

Virgil began to panic. Geez- he had really not thought this through. He’d been so excited about his new hair color, and he’d thought “Messing with Roman? Sounds fun!” Other than that, though, he hadn’t put any thought into this. Did he dramatically flip his hood down and reveal his purple hair? Did he take his hood off first and then get Roman’s attention? Virgil groaned in frustration at his own impulsive nature, and immediately realized his mistake.

Roman turned and noticed him leaned against the fence.

“..You alright there?” He asked.

Virgil mentally shook his head at the lengths of Roman’s obliviousness.

Oh well, at least he set up some good dramatic reveals. Virgil deliberately flipped his hoodie down and turned to look at The Prince.

“Sorry- that’s just the sound I make when an arrogant, dramatic idiot gets too close.” He said with a small smirk.

Roman’s eyes widened with realization at Roman’s face and then with surprise at Virgil’s hair.

“Your- Uh- I- That- I uh-“ He blinked sporadically, staring at the top of Virgil’s head.

“Have you never seen someone with dyed hair before?” Virgil asked, a little defensive.

“No! I mean- yes! Of course I have!” Roman said.

“Are you sure? You don’t sound sure.”

“Yes, I’m sure, Purple.. Um.. Violet…”

Virgil raised a judgemental eyebrow.

Roman flushed, “It’s hard to come up with nickna- with these things on the spot!”

Virgil raised his other eyebrow, now extremely amused, “Does that mean that you usually prepare them in advance?”

Roman’s face grew redder, “What?! No!!”

Virgil smirked, “You’re a really bad liar, Princey.”

The Prince huffed, “What are you doing here, Purple..Panther..? Nope.” He hid his face behind his hands for a moment, “I’m just gonna stick with Nightmare.” He muttered.

He removed his hands from his face and tried again, “What are you doing here, Nightmare?”

“Just passing by.” Virgil said vaguely.

The Prince frowned, “You know, you’ve been doing that a lot lately. You haven’t actually.. committed any real crimes in months. Not that I’m complaining, but.. what are you doing?”

“This is all a distraction for you while your true nemesis devises an evil plot to take you down, obviously.” Virgil monotoned.

“What?!”

Virgil gave him a Look, “I was joking, Sir Literal.”

“Oh. Right. I knew that, of course.”

“Of course.”

At some point during their conversation, Roman had leaned against the fence next to Virgil. They both stood there, maybe a foot apart from one another. For a moment, they both looked ahead at the passing cars in silence.

The Prince promptly broke that silence.

“What’s a purple thing, other than grapes?”

Virgil turned to face him, “What?”

“I’m trying to think of things that are purple, and all I can think of are grapes. What else is purple?”

“Huh,” Virgil thought for a moment, “Eggplants?” He said.

Before Roman could even begin to think about saying anything, Virgil rushed to say, “PLUMS are purple, too.”

“Oh, plums!” Roman said, “That’s a good one.”

He was wearing red pants and a white button-up shirt. The top button of the shirt was buttoned, and it was driving Virgil crazy. Everyone knew that you didn’t button up the top button.

“I feel like red has a lot of things attached to it,” Roman continued, “Fire hydrants, cherries, stop signs, apples…”

Virgil didn’t have a response to that, and he didn’t try to come up with one. Sometimes, it was better to just let the silence settle. Logan was good at that.

Roman, however, was not good at it.

“Purple- I mean there’s hardly anything that’s consistently purple- Other than.. plums, I guess.”

Virgil laughed, making a ttss sound.

“I guess that makes it- purple, I mean.. kind of unique.” Roman finished, and he turned towards Virgil.

Though they were both leaning on the metal fence, the hero and villain’s positions differed. Virgil was closed up, with one foot against the bars of the fence so that his knee stuck out in front of him, and his elbows were propping him up. Meanwhile, Roman was open, with his back supported by the fence and his arms splayed out beside him, only his fingers hanging off the edge.

Because of this arrangement, the majority of their forms were far from one another, while their hands were nearly brushing.

In the silence of the night, their eyes met for a moment.

“I mean, the things you’re saying are right, but they also mean fucking nothing.” Virgil said.

They both laughed, and the tension broke.

“My point was that you’ve managed to choose the one hair color that is really hard to come up with clever names for.” Roman said.

Virgil raised one arm from the fence to mock-salute Roman with two fingers, “That’s my job, Princey.”

The Prince exhaled a small laugh and looked up at the stars. His white shirt glowed in the moonlight.

There was always this quality, with Roman. This flawless sort of beauty that got under Virgil’s skin. It wasn’t just his outward appearance, either. He had this inherent grace and sense of righteousness about him. He was just so perfect.

Maybe, when you deconstructed Virgil’s repellency to Roman, it all boiled down to that. Here was this person who was so opposite to Virgil- where Virgil hid in shadows, Roman took up entire rooms, entire buildings with his presence. Where Virgil was afraid, he was bold and brave. Where Virgil was confused, The Prince seemed to be so steady. He had been set up for greatness, and Virgil had been torn down at every turn.

Propensity- it was a funny term, in the way that a funeral was funny.
It meant a tendency or a natural inclination for something. The Prince was naturally inclined to fly- he soared through life gracefully. Which meant that Virgil was naturally inclined to live in fear.

Everyone adored The Prince. People gravitated towards him like moths to light. Virgil considered the three goons- they had been drawn in, just like everyone else. They had been drawn in, and they had found themselves friends with the perfect excuse to put down others.

The thing was, Virgil wasn’t as different to them as he liked to think. He wasn’t immune to The Prince’s thrall- he was its worst victim.

That’s why he spoke out against him in school. That’s why he kept finding himself pulled towards Roman. That’s why, even after The Prince apologized, Virgil kept coming back as Nightmare, time after time.

The Prince gave people purpose, and man, had Virgil needed one.

“I’m surprised at you.” Virgil said.

The Prince looked down from the heavens to meet Virgil’s eyes.

“Why?” He asked.

“I’m surprised you haven’t tried to ‘apprehend’ me yet.” Virgil said, impersonating Roman’s cadence.

The Prince sighed, and looked up again, “I’m too tired.” He said, “Any chance you come back in the morning?”

Virgil laughed, because it was a joke.

“No, sorry.” He said.

“Curses! Foiled again!” The Prince shook a fist at the sky, and Virgil rolled his eyes.

Roman was joking- of course he was. But it was all about phrasing.

If he had formed his joke as a challenge, Virgil would have come back in the morning with no questions asked.

Chapter Text

Virgil sat criss-crossed on the living room floor. He had a piece of paper on the coffee table and a pencil in his hand, and he was writing a list.

It read:

Nicknames

Princey
Prince Not-So-Charming
Sir Talks-A-Lot
Sir (insert adjective)
Drama Queen (King? Prince?)
Spectacular Idiot
Spectacular (insert adjective)
Royal Annoyance
Royal (insert adjective)
Egotistical ????
James Yawn (like James Bond?)
Prince Dumb?

“No- that’s stupid.” Virgil muttered to himself, crossing the last one out.

In the background, the news was playing.

“..A deliberate statement of defiance towards the authorities of Druthers city…” A reporter’s voice said. Onscreen, a picture of Virgil- or Nightmare- in costume with his new purple hair was shown. Shortly after his encounter with The Prince at his house, Nightmare had made a more public appearance in the city center, and the press had eaten up his new look.

Apparently, by dying his hair he was “taunting the good heroes of this city” and “flipping the metaphorical bird towards the Spectaculars”. Virgil couldn’t say he didn’t like the sound of that.

It was odd, though- Nightmare had become almost as famous as the Spectaculars themselves. If he so much as breathed, it was front-page level news. He had become the mysterious, cunning villain in The Prince’s story, and everyone loved a good fairytale.

Virgil stared at his list, trying to come up with some more names for The Prince. Since Roman had admitted to coming up with them in advance, Virgil knew he had to do the same. He couldn’t let himself be outdone.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Virgil looked up with a start, getting to his feet. He grabbed the remote to mute the TV, and he turned the list of names over so it looked like a blank piece of paper. Then, he scrambled to answer the door.

Logan stood in front of him. To Virgil’s surprise, he looked completely unprofessional. His hair was disheveled, his tie askew, and his blue eyes had a wild look to them.

“Virgil, hello.” He said.

“Is everything okay?!” Virgil asked.

Images of Patton in danger- or worse- were flashing through Virgil’s mind.

“What? Yes, of course everything is okay. Sorry if my outward appearance worried you- may I come in?”

“Uh, sure.” Virgil stepped out of the way to let Logan pass.

Logan’s head began turning in all directions as he searched for something.

“Uh.. what’s up?” Virgil asked.

“I’ve just made an amazing discovery!” Logan said.

Ah. Science stuff.

Virgil relaxed, “Oh, okay-“

“Aha!” Logan said, snatching up the paper and pen from the coffee table.

“Why do you need that..?” Virgil asked, eyeing the list uneasily.

“I need to show you what I’ve discovered on paper- you’re a visual learner.” Logan said offhandedly, clicking the pen several times. Virgil didn’t know how he knew that.

“Oh- I can get you a different piece of paper.” Virgil said hurriedly, walking to grab it.

“Why is that necessary? This piece seems to be sufficient-“ As Logan spoke, he flipped the paper over, and noticed the writing on it.

“Ah,” He said, halting his overactivity for a moment in order to raise an eyebrow at Virgil, “You devote your free time to coming up with monikers for Roman?”

Virgil flushed and snatched the paper out of Logan’s hand, “Not usually, I just-“ He felt his face heating up more as the corner of Logan’s mouth tilted up, “Just tell me about your discovery thing!”

At this prompt, Logan resumed his frantic countenance immediately, “Right!” He said.

Virgil breathed a small sigh of relief and went to get him a piece of paper. Once Logan had it, he slammed it against the table and began to write.

“It’s vital that I tell someone this information- Patton is at work, so I figured I could tell you.” He said. Virgil realized he wasn’t writing, but drawing- he was sketching out what looked like a strand of DNA onto the paper with an expert hand.

“This is the double-helix structure- I’m sure you are familiar?” Logan said, looking up from the paper to get Virgil’s response.

“Uh, yeah. Like DNA, right?”

“Exactly! Now, Virgil- how much do you know about where Propensities originate?”

“They’re.. genetic mutations..or something?”

“Or something.” Logan echoed

He stared into the distance for a second.

“Yes!” He yelled. Virgil jumped, startled.

“Sorry, Virgil- I have not slept in several days, and I have been staying alert by consuming large amounts of caffeine. According to my husband, this has made me ‘a tad hyper’.”

Logan’s famous twelve-shot espresso- of course.

“But that is beside the point- I’m here to tell you what I have figured out. As you said, the general concept of how Propensities manifest is a vague idea of genetic mutation.” Logan began to draw rectangular sections inside the helix.

“A genetic mutation is a permanent alteration in one or multiple genes. Human beings generally have twenty three pairs of chromosomes, and each chromosome stores important genetic information for the body to use. This information is stored in genetic sequences- the arrangement of adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. A genetic mutation occurs when an error occurs in the copying or the formation of these sequences- this can be in either DNA or RNA.” Logan had sketched out several drawings across the paper, but he stopped to check on Virgil, “Are you following?” He asked.

Virgil nodded.

“Good. Now, there are both somatic and germline mutations. Somatic mutations occur after conception, and they cannot be passed to offspring. However, germline mutations occur in the twenty-third pair of chromosomes- what will become the zygote- and can be passed down to the next generation. Because of this, in the common theory of evolution, germline mutations are the focus.”

“Okay..? Where are you going with this?” Virgil asked. He was having trouble focusing on what was being said.

“The thing is that the majority of genetic mutations are extremely rare, and yet Propensities manifest in around 25% of people. Not only that, but through my research I have found that in almost every case, Propensities are not passed down through generations. While it is not uncommon for the offspring of an individual with a Propensity to also have a Propensity, it is rarely ever the same power as the parent’s, and thus it cannot be the same genetic sequence. So why are they so common?”

Virgil frowned, “I don’t know.”

“It seems impossible for a genetic mutation to act so randomly- and that is because it is. I have compiled a list of conclusive evidence and experimentation that proves that Propensities do not, in fact, manifest in the form of a genetic mutation.”

Virgil’s eyes widened, “What?”

“I said that I have compiled a list-“

“No- I heard you- I’m just.. shocked.” Virgil said.

“As was I.” Logan said somberly, “You would think that information like this would have been discovered earlier.” He said quietly.

“So.. what does it mean?”

Logan gazed at him for a few seconds without blinking.

“You are an enemy of the city.” He stated.

“Uh, I guess that’s true… What does that have to do with anything?”

“I believe that means I can trust you with this information.” Logan said.

Virgil began to understand where Logan was going with this. He leaned closer to hear.

“I believe.. I believe that someone, out there, doesn’t want the subject of Propensities to be looked into.” Logan said slowly, “I am an influential figure in this city- you know this. That means I have the ability to keep my private research.. private. Throughout my study, I have found that there is almost no information on this matter- I have spoken to Patton about this frequently. Any scientist or notable scholar who attempts to delve into Propensities.. abruptly switches tracks. The few papers on the subject are.. flimsy, to say the least, and hardly any more than common propaganda.”

The room was eerily silent around them, and Logan gripped Virgil’s shoulders.

“I believe.. that something is being covered up. I just don’t know what. This is the first metaphorical piece in a vast puzzle.” He said.

Virgil looked at him for a few moments, speechless.

“I apologize- I know this is a lot to take in, but I had to tell someone.” Logan said, letting go of him and beginning to pace.

“I…” Virgil started, and then trailed off. What the hell was he supposed to say to all of that?

He took a deep breath, his eyes perusing the room.

They landed on the TV.

The Prince Holds Press Conference To Address Nightmare Issue the text at the bottom of the screen read. Above that, The Prince stood at a wooden stand, multiple microphones angled towards him as he spoke. Virgil couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he could see by his self-assured expression that it was probably very annoying.

Virgil exhaled and ran a hand over his face.

“I’m going out.” He said to Logan.

“What?”

“I’m going out.” Virgil repeated.

“But aren’t you alarmed by what I’ve just told you-“

“Of course I am! I don’t- I don’t know how to process that. I just.. I don’t know what that even means.” Virgil sighed, “I need to go.” He turned to go get his costume.

“Virgil- hold on a moment.” Logan called.

Virgil turned back around, “What?”

“You should add Supercilious Superhero to your list.” Logan said.

“What?”

“Supercilious Superhero- it would be a good addition to your list of monikers for The Prince.”

Virgil let out a small laugh, “Okay.”

After a moment, he added, “Hey Logan?”

“Yes?”

“Get some sleep.”

Chapter Text

Roman Spectacular (AKA The Prince) was holding a press conference.

It wasn’t hard to miss. He stood on a raised stage, behind a podium with microphones attached. He wore a fashionable yellow jacket over a white shirt and pants. The entire area around the stage where he stood was surrounded by a mass of reporters and journalists and all sorts of people looking for a scoop. Then, outside of the press were the citizens, struggling to get a good view of The Prince and trying to record him with their phones.

“Roman! Over here! Robert Jones with Druthers Sun!”

“Er- yes, you there, what’s your question?”

“What are your thoughts on the recent statement of defiance displayed by Nightmare’s new look?” The reporter asked, resulting in a burst of noise from the crowd.

“Uh- I’m sorry- you’re asking me about what I think of Nightmare’s hair?” Roman said.

The crowd laughed like a studio audience.

Once it had died down, the reporter responded, “Yes.”

“Um.. alright then. I think his hair looks.. Very purple. Kind of like a plum?” The Prince said with an amused smile.

The crowd laughed again.

“I meant- I meant in regards to how it is a deliberate taunt towards you and the authorities of the city.” The reporter tried.

“Ah, well in that case- I think that it doesn’t much matter how he decides to make fun of me now. In the end, I think purple is going to clash with an orange prison uniform.”

The crowd laughed for the third time, and Roman moved on to the next question

“Brian Hill with the Druthers News Five- why is it you have been unable to take Nightmare into custody for such a long period of time?”

The area suddenly went silent.

“Well- he is a very formidable foe-” The Prince started.

“Do you think that you will ever be able to stop him?”

“Certainly so! After all, no one is unstoppable. At some point, Nightmare will make a mistake, and when he does, I’ll be there to apprehend him. Next question.”

The press exploded with noise at this, the silence of earlier completely flipped as they scrambled to be heard over each other.

The Prince, imperceptible to the crowd, sighed to himself.

It was at this precise moment that a commotion began in the very back of the mass of individuals. If one was to look down on the crowd from far above, they would see something like a ripple, starting from the back of the crowd and moving forward. This ripple was one of fear. It started with a few people beginning to yell and to flee, and then the people around them noticed, and they began to yell and flee, and the people around them noticed, and so on. The source of this ripple was a single purple dot in the mass of bodies, and it was not yelling or fleeing- it was moving forward confidently.

Another figure who was not afraid was Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun. In fact, he believed it was his lucky day. Rather than push away, he began to push towards the figure dressed in black, his microphone held in front of him like Liberty’s torch.

He reached the figure, and tapped him on the shoulder, “Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun- what are your thoughts on the fact that The Prince insinuated you will make a mistake?”

The figure turned his head, and he blinked in disbelief at the eager man shoving a microphone in his face.

“Pardon?” He said. His voice was slightly gravelly, and the look he leveled at Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun suggested that he was severely low on patience.

“Uh- I- Um- Well I was wondering what you thought about..” Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun began. In the period of time between tapping Nightmare on the shoulder and being addressed by him, Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun began to consider just how much his big break was worth.

Nightmare raised an eyebrow.

“..Nevermind.” Robert Jones with the Druthers Sun muttered, and he skittered away.

Virgil had learned the eyebrow raise from Logan, and it was incredibly efficient, like most things he did. He watched the reporter’s retreating form for a moment before continuing his journey to the foot of the stage.

Roman Spectacular was still standing behind the podium, watching the crowd disperse with a blank expression. As Virgil reached the stage, The Prince’s eyes found him.

“Are you here to ask some questions for the press conference, Fallout Boy?” He asked.

“Oh, not this time, Sir Talks-A-Lot. I just wanted a front-row seat to this very interesting press conference! By the way, I find it offensive that you think I wouldn’t look great in a prison uniform.”

The Prince made an incredulous noise.

“I guess we’ll have to see.” He said, and then he dove off the stage towards Virgil.

Virgil reflexively leaped out of the way, and he ran for it as soon as he had his footing.

He had a bit of a head start, considering that Roman had only barely avoided face-planting onto the concrete by stopping himself in the air. It felt good to stretch his legs and feel the adrenaline coursing through him as the thrill of the chase took over. This was what he needed after his talk with Logan.

He dashed through the crowd that had just moments ago fled from him, inciting a chorus of shouts. He could already hear The Prince catching up behind him.

Virgil had no plan. This often seemed to be the case.

Virgil’s run was interrupted by The Prince, who not only caught up with him but flew around in front of him, forcing him to skid to a halt.

“Going somewhere, Dark Vader?”

Virgil grit his teeth, “Trying to, Your Travesty. And- by the way- it’s Darth Vader.”

“What? I know it’s Darth Vader! It was supposed to be a fun nick- ugh!” Roman sighed, “What I wanted to say was thank you.”

Virgil’s expression melted into pure bafflement, “What?”

If The Prince had been aiming to throw him off of his rhythm, he had been 100% successful.

“Thank you.” Roman repeated with a grin.

“For what..?”

“You rescued me.”

“What?” Virgil said. “What are you talking about?”

The Prince’s smile widened, “You saved me from the horrors of that press conference!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, his posture relaxing, “Oh.”

“I mean- who knows how much longer that may have lasted without the help of a valiant hero such as yourself!” At the word “hero”, Virgil made a retching sound, “I might have died of boredom if it wasn’t for you!”

“Are you done?” Virgil said, crossing his arms.

Roman ignored him. He was clearly enjoying being the annoyer for once.

“There would have been so many more questions that were specifically designed to get a reaction out of me, and I would’ve had to smile and pretend that I cared- but you courageously leaped into the jaws of danger and saved me!”

Roman flashed him a smirk, and Virgil flared back. Fine- he wanted to play theatre? He could play theatre.

“You fool, you absolute fool!” Virgil said.

Roman stopped, “Huh?”

“I didn’t save you- this was all part of my plan!” Virgil laughed maniacally.

“How so?” Roman asked, his eyes twinkling.

“Why do you think I came to your press conference? I have.. questions for you.”

Roman gasped, “No! Anything but that!”

Virgil cleared his throat, and he attempted his best reporter impression, “Mr. Spectacular, how does it feel to-“

“Mr. Spectacular is my father, call me Roman.”

“Alright. Rome, was it?” Virgil said, “I was wondering- how does it feel to be a complete and utter idiot all the time? I mean, how do you do it? It’s truly impressive.”

The Prince glared at him, “That’s an interesting question, but I honestly don’t think I’m qualified to answer it. I’m sure you could tell me all about it, though!”

Virgil glared back, “Oh, I assure you that you’re the expert..”

And so they went, slewing insults and nicknames back and forth in an easy rhythm.

Time ticked by.

Far from where they bickered, Logan Clark was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. His glasses were askew on his sleeping face, and in the reflection of their lenses, the flashes of the television screen could be seen.

The news was on, and it was live. The scene showed notorious villain Nightmare and infamous hero The Prince, and they were having what was being called by some “a battle of the wits” and by others “a dramatic banter session”. At the beginning of the event, the live footage had been mostly composed of far shots. However, as it drew on, cameramen began to get more and more ambitious and competitive, and now the press was in a tight circle around the two celebrities. Nightmare either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

In the house, the front door opened and shut, and Patton entered the house.

“Logan, I’m ho-“ He began to shout, but then he noticed his husband on the couch, and immediately quieted down.

Patton smiled to himself, and he put his car keys on a nearby table. Then, he walked over to the couch and looked down at Logan’s sleeping form. He was snoring softly, which was a well-kept secret of Patton’s. If his husband ever knew he snored, he would likely die of embarrassment.

Patton reached down to carefully remove Logan’s glasses and set them on the nearby coffee table. He picked up the TV remote to turn down the volume, but he stopped when he saw what was on the screen.

Patton laughed and took a seat on the vacant section of the couch. The remote was still in his hand, and he turned the volume up.

“You wish you could be James Bond, Princey!” Nightmare said, and Patton wondered how the conversation had reached this point.

The Prince made an affronted sound, “James Yawn can’t fly! If anything, I’m better than him! Besides, you-“

Roman suddenly stopped talking as a tinny horn noise rang out. The camera zoomed in on The Prince, and his face morphed into a sheepish expression.

“Oh, er, that’s me.” The Prince reached into the pocket of his white pants and pulled out a red cell phone.

He pushed a button and held the phone up to his ear, “Hello?”

The camera panned back over to Virgil- or, Nightmare, who looked confused. He seemed to finally notice the crowd of people around him, and he waved awkwardly. Poor kiddo.

The camera mercifully switched back to The Prince, who was talking to someone over the phone. His words weren’t picked up by the microphone, but he was clearly not thrilled to be interrupted.

Eventually, he sighed and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Duty calls, then. Unlike you, Patrick Down-In-The-Dumps, I do have other engagements in life than just this. You don’t appear to be committing any actual crimes, so I’m going now.” Roman said.

The camera zoomed out so that the two of them were both in frame.

“Let me guess- your daily ego-inflation appointment?” Virgil said.

“No, those appointments are monthly.” Roman grinned, “Come on, Nightmare, you should know that.”

“Agh- foiled again!” Nightmare said, clutching at his chest dramatically. “Someday I’ll come up with a quip that you won’t be able to combat- someday!” He shook his fist at the sky.

Patton chuckled. If things had been different in school, Virgil could really have thrived in a good drama class.

Back at the scene, Virgil was thinking something fairly similar. He couldn’t help but enjoy himself when it came to one-upping Roman. Now, though, The Prince was turning and flying away, off to some “urgent” obligation- though, seriously, what could be more urgent than dealing with the city’s most popular villain?

With Roman gone, Virgil began to feel increasingly ill at ease. Around him, dozens of bystanders were staring at him, and several cameras were ominously pointed towards him.

It was time to leave.

Virgil picked a direction and stalked towards that area of the crowd. Immediately, the people in that area cleared a path for him. Virgil stared ahead and walked past them all. Once he was farther away from the crowd, he began to run. He could tell that he was being trailed by eager cameramen, and he needed to lose them.

It didn’t take long. After all, Virgil was used to having to lose a far more difficult foe. Thankfully, the paparazzi couldn’t fly.

Chapter Text

When he reached an intersection, Virgil chose a road at random, his shoes squeaking as he turned. He had hoped the sudden, random turn would slow The Prince down, but he saw from the corner of his eye that The Prince was gaining fast.

If he didn’t come up with a solution quick, he was going to be in-

Virgil felt the impact as The Prince tackled him from the side, and his eyes shut on instinct. When his head hit something hard, he cursed, and he opened his eyes again. Virgil scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, but The Prince was a step ahead of him. He grabbed Virgil’s right arm, twisting him around so that he was trapped against the wall.

“Nowhere to run now, Shrinking Violet.”

Virgil struggled to break the hold, but he failed. In the end, The Prince was far stronger than him. He grit his teeth. He needed to bide his time while he found an escape route.

“I guess you caught me, then?” He asked.

“I guess so.” The Prince said.

“So.. what now?” Virgil said. He tried to feign casualty, but that can be a difficult feat when your face is being pressed against cold metal.

“Uh.. I suppose.. you come with me to the mayor.” Roman said.

Virgil couldn’t see his face, but he could feel his uncertainty. His grip on Virgil’s arm loosened a little, giving him more leeway.

“What, I just stroll along with you?” Virgil asked.

“Ideally. Otherwise, you’ll come with me forcefully.”

If Virgil couldn’t find a way out, he’d have to use his Propensity.

“Hm..” Virgil said with exaggeration, “What if I tell you I’ll go peacefully, and then run away once I’m not trapped?” As he spoke, he looked around as much as he could, and then he spotted the solution.

Aha.

There, literally right in front of his nose, was his way out. He wasn’t being held against a wall- he was being held against a door.

”Well, um, of course, then I would have to-“

Virgil tested the doorknob with his free arm as Roman stammered through a response. It was unlocked. He grinned, and he opened the door.

It swung inwards, sending Nightmare and The Prince tumbling into the building. Virgil had planned on preventing himself from falling, but he hadn’t accounted for just how much of Roman’s weight he had been supporting. So, instead, he fell forward, and The Prince fell after him. As they fell, Roman relinquished his grip on Virgil’s arm, which fortunately allowed him to avoid falling directly on his face. Unfortunately, Roman landed on top of him, both of them making small oof sounds on impact.

“Why did there have to be a door there?” The Prince muttered, his voice muffled by Virgil’s cape.

“Ugh.” Virgil responded. “Get off of me.”

“Oh, right- sor- right.” Roman said, getting up awkwardly.

As soon as he could, Virgil got up as well. Above them, motion-detecting fluorescent lights flickered on. They appeared to be in some sort of archive building, with shelves and shelves of files surrounding them on all sides.

Roman dusted himself off, “Well-“ He started to say, but Virgil made a break for it to get to the cover of the nearest shelf.

“Hey—!” Roman yelled after him.

And the chase resumed.

As Virgil skirted by one particular shelf, he clipped a file jutting out, sending it to the floor. He kept going, his feet carrying him forward with echoing thuds on the floorboards. He took a cursory glance backwards to see how far The Prince was, but was surprised to find that he had stopped. He was standing with a file in his hands- presumably the one that Virgil had knocked down.

Cautiously, Virgil walked back.

“..What’s up?” He said.

“Where are we?” Roman said, looking around.

“Uh..” Virgil glanced at their surroundings, “I have no idea.” He answered, frowning. The building had been a nondescript, signless place squished between several others.

“Why?” Virgil asked, coming closer to see what Roman was looking at.

On the cover of the file, the words TOP SECRET were spelled out in red ink.

“Subtle.” Virgil said with a chuckle.

“Yeah..” Roman responded.

Virgil looked at his face, frowning. Roman wore an expression of.. curiosity.

Virgil’s frown melted away, quickly being replaced by a smirk, “You wanna read it, don’t you, Your Royal Spyness?”

“What? No! That would be.. illegal. ...Right?”

“Oh, come on, Princey. I’m sure you’ve committed a crime before.”

“Of course not!” Roman said, affronted.

“You’ve never jaywalked?”

“No!”

Virgil laughed incredulously, “Wait, seriously?”

“I’m a hero- a pillar of the community!” Roman said. Virgil was seriously impressed by how the guy managed to keep a straight face when he said stuff like that.

“Aren’t you trespassing, like, right now?”

“Nope! I was in pursuit, which makes it legal. Nice try, Robin Hood.”

Virgil began to say a retort, but stopped, “Hold on- Robin Hood?”

“Uh.. yes. Because of your hoodie?” Roman said, gesturing towards Virgil’s hoodie.

“Wha- okay, that seems like a stretch, but that’s beside the point- Robin Hood is a notorious hero!”

“Well.. yeah, but.. I mean.. he did.. steal?”

Virgil gave him a disappointed look.

“Alright, fine, you’re right,” Roman conceded, sighing dramatically, “But it was such a perfect name!”

“Debatable.” Virgil said, and he casually took the file from Roman’s hands.

“I thought it was good, and why should I care what you-“ The Prince’s eyes drifted downwards comically as he realized that he was no longer holding anything.

“Hey!”

Virgil whistled to himself, opening the file easily.

“Reports of Dr.. the first name is blacked out, but the last name is Anthony.” Virgil read, his voice exaggeratedly cheery.

“Give that back- you’re not supposed to read that- it’s top secret!”

Virgil gasped dramatically, “Oh no! I suddenly care!” He said.

Then, he licked his finger and turned the page.

“...It is my honest recommendation that, in order to avoid mass hysteria or unnecessary questions-“ He paused, “You know, it’s funny, since I’m reading this out loud, that means that you’re hearing restricted information. Just thought that was funny. Anyways, where was I-“

“Agh- Vir- Nightmare, stop!” The Prince said.

Virgil raised his voice, “...WHEN involving the administering of my Anthony Bacteria, it would be most beneficial to avoid informing the test subjects. We may achieve this by staging a front of sorts-“

Roman made a grab for the file, but Virgil avoided him easily, beginning to walk away as he read.

“-a system in which the subjects will be willingly given at infancy. It is vital for the development of the advantages and the Bacteria that the subjects are at an age where the Bacteria can be assimilated into a natural symbiosis as the subjects grow older. This way-“

Roman was chasing him and grabbing for the folder repeatedly as Virgil laughed. He tried to both cover his ears and take the file from Virgil at the same time.

“-THIS WAY, THE BRAIN AND BODY WILL NOT CONSIDER THE BACTERIA AS A THREAT, BUT AS A PART OF THE BODY ITSELF. I HAVE CONSIDERED THIS FRONT AND THINK IT WISE TO PRESENT IT AS A REQUIRED TESTING PROCESS FOR GENETIC.. diseases..”

Virgil trailed off, frowning. He stopped moving, and Roman snatched the file from his hand with a triumphant “Aha!”

Virgil looked at him, then at the file.

“Do you realize what that’s saying?” Virgil said.

Roman blinked, “I wasn’t paying attention, to be honest. Something about science?”

Virgil exhaled a small laugh, “Yeah. Something about science.” He took the file back from Roman, meeting no resistance as he opened it up to the page he had been reading from.

“Look,” He said, pointing at the words, “It’s talking about some sort of experiment.”

Roman frowned, looking over his shoulder to read it in his head. Virgil watched his eyes widen as he processed it.

“What- it’s not talking about.. people, is it?”

Virgil pursed his lips, “..I think it might be talking about..”

“..The Testing.” Roman finished.

Their eyes met, and they shared equally horrified expressions of realization.

Chapter Text

“That can’t be right!” Roman said, stepping even closer. He grabbed Virgil’s hands to angle the file towards him.

“..the body itself.. required testing process.. blah blah blah..” Roman muttered, “By presenting it in this way, our purposes will not be questioned, and the parents will not give tedious..” He shook his head in disgust, “..resistance to our research..”

“I.. I don’t want to hear any more of this.” Virgil said, nudging Roman’s hands off and closing the file. He started to pace.

“Why.. why would they lie like that? Who.. who’s they? What is this.. this Anthony Particle?” Roman said.

Virgil threw his hands up, “I don’t know!!”

Then, he stopped pacing. “Actually.. there was something Logan said.”

Roman stepped towards him with wide eyes, “What? What was it?!”

Virgil took a step back, “Why do you expect me to trust you, Spectacular Ego?” He narrowed his eyes, “We’re enemies, remember?”

“..Uh..right..” Roman said, remembering himself. “Still- this is..” He made a vague gesture, “...outside of all of that. This is.. important. This is big!”

Virgil stuffed his hands in his pockets, “Yeah. Shit.. yeah. This is big..”

Logan had been right- of course he had been. The government- or at least someone- was covering something up- something big about Propensities. This was it. The connection wasn’t hard to make, but Virgil really wanted it to stay unmade. The Testing…

“Virgil!”

Virgil’s head snapped up. He had apparently zoned out, because The Prince was directly in front of him now, and he was waving his hand in Virgil’s face.

Virgil frowned in annoyance and caught the hand, forcing Roman to stop.

“I told you not to call me that.” Virgil said, glaring.

Roman rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, “Whatever. Why so glum, Mr. Plum?”

“I’m not ‘glum’,” Virgil did air-quotes as he spoke, “This might be difficult for you to understand, but I was doing this thing called thinking.”

Roman sent him an unamused look. It was clear what he wanted to ask- he wanted to know what Virgil was thinking about, but he didn’t ask aloud.

They were both quiet for a moment, and then Roman’s eyes drifted to the file that Virgil was still clutching in his hand.

“I’ve got to tell my parents about thi-“

Before he could get out another word, Virgil advanced with fury, startling The Prince into stepping backwards until he was blocked by a shelf.

Virgil didn’t have a physical weapon, but he didn’t need one. He held up a hand threateningly.

“Don’t even think about it.” He growled.

The Prince stared at him, seeming more confused than intimidated.

“Why not? They’re heroes- they could find out who’s behind this!” He said.

“We have no idea who we can trust.” Virgil said urgently, “Clearly, the authorities of this city are the exact people who we can’t trust. Last time I checked, Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular,” Virgil spat their names like a curse, “Have quite a bit of power in the government of this city. Wouldn’t you say so, Princey?”

The Prince’s expression sombered, “I understand where you’re coming from, Nightmare, but-“

“I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone outside of this room about the information that we both learned.” Virgil said.

“I assure you that my parents would do nothing but help-“

“Roman.” Virgil said, and he saw The Prince’s eyes flash with emotion, “Promise me.”

He raised his outreached hand higher, “Or else.”

The Prince sighed, “Fine. I promise.” He said, making direct eye contact with Virgil.

Virgil nodded and stepped back, “Okay. Good.”

He turned his back to Roman and began to look around.

“What are you doing?” The Prince asked.

“I need to put this back,” Virgil held up the file, “And I need to get the hell out of this place.”

Virgil found the disturbed shelf, slipping the file back in place carefully. Logan would probably want him to take pictures, but Virgil was a paranoid motherfucker, and he didn’t trust his phone to be secure enough to store this kind of information. Virgil turned to leave, but as he took a few steps forward, The Prince’s footsteps followed hurriedly behind him.

“Hold on a moment!” The Prince said.

“What is it?” Virgil sighed.

“You never promised not to tell anybody!”

Virgil smirked, “And?”

“You need to- I can’t be the only one to promise- that defeats the whole purpose!”

“Does it?” Virgil said, resuming his exit.

“Yes- hey!” The Prince grabbed his arm, “You need to promise!”

Virgil turned around, “Or what?”

“Excuse me?”

“Or what, Drama Queen?”

“Or- or-“ Roman let out an exasperated groan, “Why does there have to be an or?! I made a promise for you, and the honorable thing for you to do is to return the favor!”

“Since when have I been honorable?”.

Roman scoffed, “Cut the bullshit, Angst-agonist.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows, “Alright.” He said, and he tugged his arm out of Roman’s grip, “I promise that I won’t tell anybody about what we just learned-“

“Thank you-“

“-Except for Logan.”

The Prince opened his mouth to shout something, stopped, closed his mouth, opened his mouth again, closed it, and sighed.

“Fine.” He said, to Virgil’s surprise. “Maybe the nerd can.. figure this out.”

Approximately forty-five minutes later, the nerd was trying his very best to do just that.

After being woken up from a well-deserved nap, Logan had rushed to Virgil’s house, accompanied by Patton. The moment he had arrived, Virgil told Logan everything he and Roman had discovered.

If Patton also happened to be in the room, that wasn’t Virgil’s fault.

Logan’s reactions to Virgil’s findings started as small facial expressions, and gradually shifted into astounded exclamations and rants. At the end of it all, he paced back and forth, occasionally yelling things to himself while Patton looked shocked and Virgil stood by.

“The Testing—!”

“This could mean.. you don’t think this means..?”

“Propensities are not a genetic mutation- they’re a bacteria!”

“How does that even work?!”

Then, Virgil stepped in front of him with a raised hand, stopping Logan in his tracks.

“Wait- so, let me get this straight-“ Patton laughed, and Virgil hurriedly moved on, “The government is- what- injecting bacteria into babies that give them superpowers?”

“Well.. loosely, yes.” Logan answered.

“Why?” Patton said, and the other two turned to face him.

“That’s a good question, Patton..” Logan said.

Though he didn’t say it, Virgil could hear the omitted “my dear” before he said his husband’s name. Clearly, Logan was a fan of Sherlock Holmes.

“What do you mean by why, Patton? Specfically, I mean.” Virgil said.

“Well.. lots of things. Why do only a fourth of the population actually have Propensities? Why did they make it involuntary? I mean- these are superpowers we’re talking about! I’m sure that if whoever this Dr. Anthony is asked for volunteers, they could get them.”

“You are absolutely correct, Patton. That’s a horrible way to run an experiment!” Logan said, “An experiment with so much unpredictability needs to be held in a controlled environment- you can’t just allow subjects to interact with any number of-“ Logan shuddered, “-uncontrolled variables. Running an experiment in that way is just.. for lack of a better word, sloppy.”

“..And completely inhumane.” Patton added.

“Of course, of course.” Logan said. “I wonder if… It is possible that the reason only a fourth of the people have it is that the success rate of the experiment is.. lacking. Perhaps that is also the reason that it is kept such a secret- negative results.”

Virgil crossed his arms, “I think I have some pretty good evidence for that theory.” He said.

“Really? What is it?” Logan asked.

Virgil gestured towards himself with one hand, his arms still crossed.

“Ah.” Logan said.

Apparently, something interesting happened on the ceiling of the house at that moment, because all three of them looked up at it in unison.

After a brief inspection, the ceiling was found to be up to code, and they looked down. There was some amount of throat-clearing and fidgeting.

“Logan.. what is your Propensity, anyways?” Virgil asked.

“Heightened intelligence.”

“Wow.” Virgil said, “How do you figure out you have that Propensity?”

“My family was wealthy enough to pay for the additional test.” Logan answered flatly, “Though I suppose that test is rather obsolete, given this new knowledge. I suppose it would be akin to paying for your child to be injected with this.. Anthony Bacteria.”

“Oh, right.. The Clarks. I kind of forgot that your family is all rich or whatever. You never actually.. talk about them.”

Logan stiffened and visibly grit his teeth.

Behind him, Patton grimaced.

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“..Yes, well, let’s just say I am not on good terms with my family.” There was a steely look in his eyes. “They did not approve of certain.. Preferences of mine.”

“Oh. Sorry, Logan, I didn’t mean to-”

“Roman is the only other person who knows about what you’ve learned?” Logan interrupted.

“Uh.. yeah.” Virgil said, taken aback by the sudden subject change. “I made him promise not to tell anyone, though.”

Logan nodded, “That is satisfactory.”

There was a moment of tense silence.

“We’re going to require more information on this matter in order to metaphorically see the full picture.” Logan said.

“Oh, uh, okay. I can try to.. keep an eye out? Poke around?” Virgil said.

“Fantastic.” Logan said. “This information that you’ve told us.. it’s quite the.. thinker.”

Virgil watched Patton’s face split into a wide grin, like the calm before a storm.

“Think her? I hardly know her!” He said.

Virgil let out a long-suffering groan.

Chapter Text

It had been a cloudy day, and it was proving to be a cloudy night. The moon and stars were blocked by a mass of gray, making the sky over Druthers City pitch black. The city itself, however, was alive with noise and flashing lights. Cities never sleep. Car horns, lit-up skyscrapers, stoplights, and the sounds of urban life filled the streets and buildings of Druthers city to the brim.

But, deep within this bustling city, in a small, nondescript building called the Bureau of Research, nightmares lurked.

Or at least one nightmare lurked.

Or he at least liked to think that he lurked, but he really just occupied a supervillain-sized space with an average amount of curiosity and malice.

He was searching for something. His footsteps echoed on the concrete floor as he walked, and he stopped every few seconds to peer at labels on the cubbies and shelves of the building.

“Anthony, Anthony, Anthony..” He muttered under his breath, running a hand along the shelves. He was looking for some kind of record or any additional information he could find on Dr. Anthony and his work.

He’d been trying to find more information for a little while now. He’d dug around online, gone to the library and broken into a couple government buildings, all with nothing to show for it. He’d even gone back to the building that he and Roman had originally stumbled into, but he’d had no luck in finding the original file, either. It was getting a little ridiculous.

When he wasn’t looking for trouble, it hit him over the head until he had to pay attention, but when he was looking for it, it was nowhere to be found. Virgil sucked in the left side of his mouth in pensive annoyance as he stared at label after label of stuff he didn’t give a shit about.

Then, out of nowhere, he heard the door open.

Immediately, Virgil flattened himself against a shelf, drawing in a hasty breath as he listened. He heard footsteps as someone entered the building. They had surely noticed that the automatic lights were already on when they walked in, which meant they probably knew they weren’t alone.

The footsteps were drawing nearer. Whoever the person was, they were approaching the Virgil’s hiding place. By the sound of it, they were about to turn the corner-

As soon as a figure came into view, Virgil jolted forward with a yell, ready to tackle the newcomer to the ground. The figure screamed in fear, leaping into the air, and just as Virgil was about to attack, he stopped short.

“Oh, thank fuck, it’s just you.” He said, his posture relaxing, “You scared the hell out of me, Knight of the Astound Table!”

Before him was The Prince, clutching his sash and floating several feet above the ground from when he had jumped up in surprise. As he recognized Virgil, he breathed out a sigh of relief and floated downwards an inch.

“I scared you- I’m not the one who jump-scared the other, Frightmare!” He exclaimed.

“I didn’t expect anyone to be here!” Virgil tilted his head to the side, “What are you doing here, anyways?”

Roman’s eyes drifted away, and he tugged at his sash nervously as he muttered something.

“Huh?” Virgil said.

“I.. I wanted to look around and see if I could find out anything more on.. well.. you know..” He said.

A smirk crept onto Virgil’s face, “Really?” He said, his voice filled with glee, “You, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, broke into a government building to try and learn more about classified information?”

Roman sighed dramatically, “I would not put it that way, but I suppose so.”

“I’m impressed, Princey!” Virgil said, his smirk widening.

The Prince sent him a glare, “I’m certainly beginning to regret my decision.” He said.

Virgil stepped back, raising his hands up, “Oh, don’t let me stop you- lead the way, My Leige!” He outstretched one arm, indicating for Roman to do just that.

Roman gave him another look, but he brushed past Virgil and began to examine the labels around them.

“So.. have you managed to find anything new?” Roman asked, his tone trying so hard to be offhand that it ended up on a completely different hand.

“No, I haven’t.” Virgil said, “Whoever is covering this up is powerful.. and thorough.”

Roman scoffed, “They can’t be that thorough, considering that we found out about it by accident.” He said.

Virgil laughed, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

They walked along, both of them checking the labels around them with little luck. It felt uncanny to Virgil to be in a situation where he was working together with The Prince like this. Roman undoubtedly felt the same way.

“What I don’t get,” Roman said after a while, “Is what the point of injecting infants with some sort of bacteria is. The file mentioned, what, ‘advantages’? What does that mean?”

Behind him, Virgil blinked. He’d completely forgotten how much more in the dark Roman was in comparison to him.

“Uh..” He started, uncertainly.

“What?” The Prince asked, turning around at Virgil’s tone.

Virgil frowned. Should he tell him? Logan and Patton certainly seemed to trust Roman, but Virgil was not so convinced. Roman had always had a bit of a big mouth- what if he told the wrong person, even if it was accidental?

“What is it?”

Virgil sighed, “I’m not sure if I can trust you.” He said bluntly.

Roman made an offended noise, “What?!”

“You heard me!”

Roman let out an affronted huff, “Why not? I gave you my word that I would not tell anyone about this stuff!”

Virgil thought back to how he had pretty much immediately broken his word by telling both Logan and Patton about what they’d learned.

“And?” Virgil said.

“And I would never break a promise!” Roman said.

Virgil crossed his arms, “I’m sorry, but that’s just not good enough.”

Roman exhaled an affronted sigh, “How else can I gain your trust?” He asked.

Virgil thought for a moment.

“Tell me something about yourself.” Virgil said, “Something that you’ve never told anyone before.”

Roman blinked, and a dozen micro-expressions passed over his face, “Um, wow. Alright, Phantom of the Flop-era.”

He mulled over it for a while indecisively. There’s a unique balance to finding a piece of information that’s neither completely useless nor one that’s simply too personal to share.

Finally, he spoke up, “I.. I don’t..”

Suddenly, Virgil had an idea.

“Tell me what you see when I use my Propensity.” He said.

Roman recoiled, “What?!” He said. “I can’t- that’s too- that’s too much!”

Virgil shrugged, “Dunno what to tell you, Princey.”

They stared each other down until, finally, Roman spoke.

“If I tell you… you’ll trust me?”

Virgil hesitated. Trusting Roman.. it seemed so far off track from everything else in his life so far. Still, though- if Roman did this he would be revealing his worst fear to the face of his greatest enemy. That was a huge sacrifice.

Virgil uncrossed his arms, sticking them in the pocket of his hoodie instead, “Yeah, I will.” He said.

Roman looked into his eyes for a moment, searching, and then took a deep breath.

“..Alright.” He said.

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes as if he was gathering his courage.

“I.. When you.. use your Propensity on me, I see myself.. failing.” He said with effort. “I see.. people in trouble, people getting hurt, and I’m.. stuck, and I can’t move, and I can’t do anything to stop it, and I.. fail. I’m a failure.” His eyes were glazed over in a way that unsettled Virgil, like he could see his failure at that very moment, looming over him at all times.

He inhaled again, shakily, and went on, “And.. right before I come out of it.. I see my parents.”

His voice was trembling.

Virgil held up his hands, taking a step towards Roman, “Hey, Princey, you don’t have to keep goi-“

“And they.. they never say anything.” Roman said, pushing on. “They just.. give me a.. look. A disappointed look. And then I.. wake up.”

His brown eyes refocused and met Virgil’s as he withdrew from his own mind.

“There. That’s it.” He finished.

Virgil’s expression was one of utter surprise.

“I.. Ro.. I..” He shook his head, “Jesus, Princey, I thought it would be snakes or some shit!”

Roman chuckled, “Yeah, sorry.” He said. “..Not snakes.”

”Yeah!” Virgil laughed, “Not snakes!”

He ran a hand through his purple hair.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to be so intense, I seriously thought it would be something dumb-“

The Prince waved him off, “It’s fine, Ultra Violet. Just get on with it. This information of yours had better be good.”

“Trust me,” Virgil laughed knowingly, “It is.”

Chapter Text

In an otherwise-silent building, a shout resounded through the room.

“WHAT?!”

Virgil smirked with amusement, and he gazed at Roman’s stricken expression.

“You’re telling me- that can’t be right! That can’t be right! It’s a genetic mutation- everyone knows that!”

Roman grabbed Virgil’s shoulders, “Right?!”

“Wrong.” Virgil said off-handedly.

Roman stared at him with wild eyes, “But.. why?”

Virgil shrugged, “That’s what Patton asked, too- fuck if I know.”

“It doesn’t make any sense! Why would-“ Roman stopped as his ears caught up with his mouth. “Hold on- did you say Patton?”

Virgil’s expression melted into guilt, “..Would you believe me if I said no..?” He said with a sheepish smile.

The Prince threw his hands in the air and glared daggers at Virgil. “Seriously?!”

“Well.. come on! It’s Patton! Logan would’ve told him anyways!”

Roman sighed, “I mean.. yeah, but.. that’s not really the point.” He said. “You put all this emphasis on being able to trust me, and then you turn around and break my trust! I mean.. that’s just.. not right!”

Virgil could feel shame building in his chest. For some reason, it made him angry. There was this rage rising up, and he was angry, and he didn’t even really know why.

“What did you expect?” Virgil spat, “I’m a villain.”

Why was he so angry?

“What did I expect- what is your problem?!” Roman’s voice was rising. “What did you expect? Trust is a two-way street- you can’t- UGH!”

“It’s not even a big deal!” Virgil said.

“That’s not the point!” Roman repeated, and his feet left the ground as he began to hover. “I don’t care that you told Patton- of course I don’t care! I trust Patton- but why should I trust you?!”

“What do you want? Do you want me to apologize? Because I hurt your poor little feelings?”

“YES!” The Prince screamed. The sound echoed through the building. They had been gradually moving towards each other as they argued, and now they were mere inches apart. They were both breathing heavily.

“You can’t blame me for everything.” Roman said. “Sometimes, it’s your fault. I apologize to you all the time! All the time. And yet, and yet the- the moment I ask you to do the same, you act like I’m being ridiculous! I can’t be the only one who is held accountable for my actions.”

His feet touched back down and he took a step back, but he held eye contact with Virgil.

Virgil felt his anger sizzle away. Honestly, he knew he was in the wrong here, and maybe that was why he was mad. He took a breath.

“You’re right.” He said softly. “I’m.. I’m sorry, Princey. I should’ve kept my promise, and I shouldn’t have overreacted when you got- rightfully- upset. I’m really sorry.”

Roman smiled. “That’s all well and good, but could you repeat that first part you said?”

“That I’m sorry?”

“No, no, before that.”

“That you’re-“ Virgil narrowed his eyes. “Alright, don’t push it, Princey.”

Roman laughed and nudged him playfully. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

Virgil cracked a smile and pushed him back. “Prick.”

“Asshole.” Roman responded.

They smiled at each other, but then Roman’s eyes widened.

“Okay, hold on, I don’t feel like we’ve spent enough time on the topic of how we were LIED TO OUR ENTIRE LIVES!” He said.

”Yeah, it’s pretty wild.” Virgil agreed.

“It’s pretty wild,” Roman mocked, “It’s INSANE!”

Virgil chuckled, “Yeah, it is.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t.. like.. tell people about this? I can’t imagine just.. going about my life while everyone around me is oblivious.”

“I just..” Virgil sighed. “I don’t think we can do that. First of all, we don’t have any proof.” Roman nodded at that, “And second, the people in charge clearly have a lot of power- I don’t think it would be safe for any of us if whoever is in charge of this found out that we knew. We need more information before we do anything rash.”

Roman laughed, “You sound like Logan.”

Virgil put an offended hand on his chest, “That hurt, Princey, that hurt.”

“You’re right, though.”

“What was that?” Virgil asked with amusement.

“Oh, don’t start.” Roman said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t want to put y- uh, I don’t want to put Logan and Patton in danger.”

Virgil noted the slip-up, but all he did was look at Roman speculatively.

“..Right.”

The Prince cleared his throat, “Uh, so, yeah, I get what you mean with the not telling people. Still, it’s going to be odd, pretending like I don’t know a secret this big.”

“I can’t say I can relate.” Virgil said.

“How so?”

“Ever since my identity was revealed, I haven’t been able to talk to- well, anyone, outside of you, Logan, and Patton.”

“Oh, wow,” Roman said, “I hadn’t really thought about that. Is this.. the only time you ever leave your.. lair, or whatever?”

“Yes, Prince of Observation, this is the only time I leave my ‘lair’.” Virgil motioned air quotes.

“I can’t imagine being cooped up like that!” The Prince said, “What do you do all day?”

Virgil shrugged, “Not much.”

A smile twitched at Roman’s lips, “Evil scheming, mostly? Plotting my demise?”

“Obviously.” Virgil laughed.

“What have you considered?” The Prince asked.

“Ah, your tricks won’t fool me, Princey!” Virgil said, trying not to laugh too much, “I know better than to reveal my evil plan to infest the city with evil bats- oh no, I’ve said too much!”

Virgil watched as The Prince struggled to keep a straight face for a moment, before they both collapsed into laughter. The joke hadn’t even been that funny, but it had been just stupid enough to be hilarious.

They went on, talking and bickering, for a long time, investigation long forgotten. An hour passed by in what felt like minutes, and Virgil’s cheeks hurt from smiling.

After a while, they made their way out of the building, shouldering each other and calling out nicknames as they went. On accident, Virgil knocked Roman into a shelf, knocking a whole row of files to the ground.

“Geez, Princey, why’d you do that?” He said.

And they both laughed.

A month later, Virgil had three new texts from Logan.

Roman has texted me to text you that he has discovered some important information about the “secret stuff” and requests that you meet him at the following address as soon as possible:

The second text was a link to an address far outside of the city.

(This is the third time I have been used to convey such a message. I really must reinstate the advice I gave to you about simply exchanging mobile phone numbers with Roman. This way, I would not have to serve as a messenger.)

Virgil frowned at the last message, and he sent a quick response.

thx 4 passing tht alng lol

sry but i don’t trust princey not 2 track me or wtvr if i gave him my nmbr

Lately, Virgil had taken to intentionally using the worst grammar possible when texting Logan. After all, Virgil’s pension for annoying people extended far beyond just Roman, and with Logan, the results were priceless, because he retaliated by speaking even more formally.

Once Virgil had typed out and sent his response, he made his way to his room to go and change.

Apparently, he had a meeting with The Prince.

Chapter Text

The address Roman (or technically, Logan) had sent was around 45 minutes away. Thankfully, Virgil had finally let Logan get him a car, and so he could drive there on his own. Before he left, he changed into his Nightmare costume, even though he had no idea if he even needed it, but it was better to be safe.

Then, he left.

As the world blurred past through the car windows, Panic! At The Disco played through the speakers, and Virgil felt a sense of calm wash over him.

His relationship with The Prince had been pretty easy-going since their last screaming session. They both continued to investigate on their own and, on occasion, together. If Virgil didn’t know any better, he’d say they were friends, except he’d never be friends with such an annoying prick.

When Virgil finally arrived at the address, he was surprised to find a modern, white building in the middle of nowhere. There were no indications of what the building was other than a “No Trespassing” sign stuck into the grass.

Despite himself, Virgil couldn’t help but consider that this could all be some elaborate trap. Maybe this was some sort of prison, and The Prince had asked him to drive himself to his own holding area. It was a stupid idea, but no matter how much he tried to tell himself that, he still felt uneasy. Something about this place was.. off.

Virgil began to walk up the concrete path leading to the steel front door of the building. He glanced around him as he did, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be trying to take him by surprise. There were only trees, though.

When Virgil reached the door, he felt uncertain.

Was Roman already here, or was he supposed to meet him inside? Did he need to wait for him? Was this building empty, or were there people inside?

It was possible that Logan was right about the whole phone number thing, Virgil thought. It would certainly make moments like this easier.

Virgil frowned and bit the inside of his cheek. If anywhere looked like a high-security type of place, this did. What if he got caught? It had been so long since he’d been forced to use his Propensity, and he really didn’t want to break that streak now.

Where was Roman?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he heard the familiar swoosh of someone in a cape landing softly behind him.

“Fancy seeing you here, Patrick Grump.” The Prince said.

Virgil rolled his eyes, whirling around, “So, the great Sovereign Numbskull finally graces us with his presence.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry for the delay, but I had to come up with an excuse to skip this superhero meeting thing that I had completely forgotten about..” He trailed off, “Anyways, I’m here now.”

“Not a problem.” Virgil said. “But I’d appreciate it if you told me where exactly we are..?”

“Ah, of course!” Roman exclaimed. “So, I was doing some digging through old mailing records, you know, investigating, and I did actually find a record of a letter addressed to city hall, and it was from a- you guessed it- Dr. Anthony!”

“Oh, wow! Really?! That’s so-“ Virgil coughed, “That’s not bad.”

Roman smirked at him, which was something he was becoming far too good at for Virgil’s liking.

“Is that all we know, though? Did you get any information about what this place is?”

“Nope. I know absolutely nothing about this place other than that it might have something to do with a mysterious scientist who works for the government.” Roman said. Then, he gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”

Virgil bit his lip nervously, “I don’t know... What if there are.. guards, or something?”

“Relax, Jitterbug.” Roman said. “You can go in first, and if anyone is there, we can just pretend that I’m chasing you or whatever.” He grinned. “Like improv!”

Virgil looked at him skeptically, but he sighed. “Alright, then. Here goes nothing.”

And he turned the doorknob.

Then, he stopped, and he began to laugh.

“What?” Roman said.

Virgil laughed some more, slapping his knees with mirth. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his entire body shook.

“What is it?” Roman said, confusion clear in his voice.

“It’s locked.” Virgil said.

“..Oh.” The Prince said.

They both didn’t speak for a moment. The wind rustled the tree branches nearby.

“Whelp..” Roman said, “What now?”

Virgil raised and dropped his hands, “I don’t know- but I do know that you made me drive forty-five minutes for this!”

“How was I supposed to know it would be locked?!”

“I don’t know, maybe common sense?!”

“Since when have either of us had a speck of common sense?” Roman retorted.

Virgil made a thoughtful face, “You’re not wrong.” He said.

Roman smiled at the admission, but then looked at the door.

“Icouldprobablybreakitdown.” He said.

Virgil blinked, “Uh, what? I didn’t understand a word of what you just said.”

“I said,” Roman started, but then he groaned. “Nevermind, nevermind, it was a bad idea.”

“What? What was it?” Virgil asked, stepping towards Roman curiously.

The Prince sighed. “What I said was that I could probably break down the door.”

Virgil’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Really?” He said.

“..Yes. If I got enough momentum.”

“Well then, what are you waiting for, Prince Charming- do it!”

Roman raises an eyebrow at him, “Since when do you think I’m charming?”

“I find a man who can break down a locked metal door in order to find confidential information incredibly charming.” Virgil said.

Roman gave him a confused look for a moment, but Virgil only smirked back. Eventually, The Prince turned his eyes to the sky above.

“Alright.” He said. “I guess I’m doing this, then.”

Then, he took to the air and began to fly away from the building. Virgil stepped backwards hurriedly, because he definitely didn’t want to be in the way, but he kept his eyes intently focused on The Prince.

Once he had flown five or six feet away from the door, The Prince turned around, and he flipped over so that his back was facing downwards and his feet were facing forwards. He bent his neck and focused on the door in a way that implied he was lining up.

Then, like a bullet from a gun, he took off.

It happened so fast that Virgil hardly registered it. There was the whoosh of a cape, the wind of something passing by, and then the bang of something going very, very fast hitting something metal.

When it was all over, the door had been blown clean off its hinges.

Virgil stood agape as Roman, who had initially been lying on the floor next to the door, popped up easily, brushing the dust off of his white outfit.

Then, The Prince turned to Virgil with a smile.

“I told you I could do it.” He said.

Virgil blinked several times, his brain resetting from complete malfunction. He carefully picked his jaw up from the ground.

“I, uh... That was… wow.” He said, eloquently.

Roman’s smile widened, “Now that that’s over with..” He gestured to the now-clear doorway with flourish, “..Villains first.”

Virgil took a deep breath and shook himself out of his stupor.

“Uh.. right. Yeah.” He said.

Then, he walked past Roman and through the empty doorway.

Chapter Text

There were no guards inside the building. Logically, there were no people, because they would’ve heard the clang of the door hitting the ground and rushed over. That, and the fact that the place didn’t look to be made for human beings at all.

It was industrial, to say the least. The lighting was steady, bright, and LED, and it reflected harshly off of the metal in the entrance room. There were hardly any things in the room that weren’t metal- the walls, the tables, and the floors all had a steel sheen to them. Even on the ceiling, exposed piping contributed to the room’s unsettling aesthetic. The room itself was mostly empty, save for a few corners, which were cluttered with papers and books. There was a whiteboard placed at the center, and it had countless complex equations scribbled onto it.

The Prince and Nightmare wandered through the room, investigating.

Adjoining the front room was a hallway that was separated by a black and yellow line on the floor. Apparently, this room was just the beginning.

Virgil walked over to one of the desks, and he picked up a small notebook, flipping it open.

“What is this place?” Roman asked.

“I don’t know,” Virgil said, “Some sort of.. lab?”

Roman turned his head and looked around the room with intrigue.

“Huh.” He said.

Virgil tried to read the writing in the notebook, but it might as well have been written in Latin. The handwriting was completely unreadable. Eventually, he gave up and set the book down. Instead, he turned his attention to Roman, who seemed to be distracted.

He was looking at the hallway, and his entire countenance was laced with curiosity.

“What do you think.. is back there?” Roman said. His voice was expectant, like he was waiting for permission.

Virgil took the bait. “Should we go look?” He said.

“Yes.” Roman said, immediately moving forward.

Virgil followed closely behind him.

Once they stepped past the yellow and black line and into the corridor, they were met with two doorways, one on the right and one on the left. The rooms that these doorways led to were similar. They both had cabinets and black countertops lining the walls, various equipment pushed into the corners, and the general appearance of science labs. In fact, one of the only differences between the two rooms was that the room on the left was one big lab, while the one on the right seemed to be divided into two sections. The Prince and Nightmare, side by side now, exchanged a look. Then, in synchronization, they pointed to the room on the left, nodded to each other, and entered it.

It was a large, open room, like the first, but unlike the first, it contained a huge array of different items. The only reason that there was even any room to walk around was the meticulous organization of the stuff.

There seemed to be different areas for different things. Closest to the door was the safety area, which contained lab coats, goggles, and gloves galore. There was a computer area, which was composed of three monitors on a desk flanked by intimidating, box-like machines that Virgil guessed were probably for some kind of testing. Then, there was what looked like the main research area, which was full of microscopes and all sorts of fancy equipment that Virgil didn’t know the names of.

The biggest attraction was, by far, the test tubes.

They were everywhere. There was rack upon rack upon rack of countless test tubes of all different colors and consistencies. Not only that, but there were two clear-doored fridges full of the things, too.

“Woah.” Roman said. “What kind of Jurassic Park fuckery is this?”

Virgil choked on air, and he doubled down, coughing with laughter.

“Are you- are you okay?” Roman asked with concern.

“Jesus Christ, Princey,” Virgil coughed again, “You can’t just say stuff like that without warning me!” He said.

“I’m sorry.” Roman laughed. “I’ll try to be less funny in the future.”

Virgil calmed down, and shook his head with a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem, Hot Topic.” Roman said.

Virgil rolled his eyes at the nickname, but a smile played on his lips.

“We need to try and get some information.” He said, looking around the room rather than at Roman’s face.

Roman nodded, and he walked over to one of the racks, picking up a test tube. Inside of it was a cloudy, vaguely orange liquid. The Prince held it up to his face, examining it.

“Spec. #42, PYR.” He said, presumably reading the small label on the tube.

Virgil didn’t have a response to that, so he shrugged and headed over to the computers.

“Those are bound to have passwords.” Roman called after him.

Virgil sat at the chair in front of the desk, “I know,” He said as he moved to turn the computer on, “But maybe I can get some sort of clue.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know- a first name, for starters!”

“Oh, I know their first name.” Roman said.

Virgil whirled the chair around.

“What?!”

“Did I not say that earlier?”

“You most certainly did not!” Virgil exclaimed.

“Oh, my mistake.” Roman said. “It was on the mailing address.”

Virgil’s eyes lit up, “What is it?!”

“The name that the letter was addressed to, at least, was Dr. Janus Anthony.” Roman said.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, and Roman nodded in confirmation.

“Janice?” Virgil said, incredulous.

“That’s what it said.”

Virgil let out a laugh, “So, what, we’re looking for an old lady who knits?”

“What?” Roman said. He frowned, and then he seemed to realize the miscommunication. “No, no, not J-A-N-I-C-E, it’s J-A-N-U-S.”

“Oh.. weird.” Virgil said.

“I looked it up- I guess it’s the name of the Roman god of the crossroads?”

“Huh.” Virgil said. “Maybe it’s some sort of a pseudonym, or a code, or something.”

The Prince shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Virgil turned back to the computer, which had turned on by now. Sure enough, the username read “Janus Anthony” in white letters.

Obviously, the computer was password-protected, so Virgil didn’t have any more information to glean from it. He turned to Roman, who was now looking at another test tube with an intense curiosity that Logan would have appreciated.

Honestly, The Prince wasn’t really that bad, once you got past his ridiculous facade. Virgil stayed quiet for a bit, just watching the way Roman’s eyes focused as he carefully compared the two substances.

Then, something made Virgil turn to the entrance. His eyes widened.

Footsteps.

“Princey- Princey, we gotta- Someone’s coming!” Virgil hissed.

Roman immediately looked up from his analysis, nearly dropping the test tubes with surprise.

“What?!”

“Someone’s coming!!”

Virgil turned to the computer, heart pounding, and he put a finger to the power button. Just as the screen turned black, a figure appeared in the doorway.

Virgil stood up hurriedly from the chair, “I, uh, we were just, uh..”

“I was stopping this villain from robbing this fine establishment!” The Prince interrupted.

When Virgil looked back at Roman, he was glad to see that he had at least been able to put the test tubes back in their place. In fact, he was wearing an aggressively earnest expression, and, then, to Virgil’s surprise, he was advancing on him.

“You won’t get away with this, Evildoer!” He said, pointing a righteous finger at Virgil’s chest.

Virgil looked at the finger, and then at Roman, with great confusion.

Roman’s expression grew pained, and he cleared his throat pointedly.

Oh, right.

Improv.

“Uh.. YEs, yes, I WILL get away with this!” Virgil said.

Roman let out a small sigh of relief that was only just loud enough for Virgil to hear.

“Do not worry, Citizen, for I shall remove this Villain from your establishment immediately.” The Prince said.

“Oh, I believe you.” The figure said with a smooth, saccharine voice.

Then, they stepped forward, and their features, which had before been enclosed in shadow, were revealed.

He was a man around Patton’s age with light brown hair, pale skin, and a sharp jawline. He was well over six feet tall, and he was lean. He wore a bright yellow button-up with black pants, boots, and, oddly enough, blue disposable gloves.

And then, there was the obvious thing.

Scarred skin tissue spanned the entire left half of his face. It was red and mottled- greenish, in some places. It was inherently repulsive to look at, and yet it drew the eye, invoking a primal, morbid curiosity. The scarring survived in stark contrast with the smoothness of the right side- it was possible that its very existence caused the other side to look flawless.

What kind of circumstances led to a scar like that? Did it still hurt? Was it rude to look at it?

Oh, shit, it was, wasn’t it.

Virgil immediately averted his eyes from the scar, and he hoped the man hadn’t noticed him staring. Beside him, Virgil could tell that Roman was going through a similar shift in perception.

Thankfully, the man seemed unphased by their probable gawking. Despite his unseemly appearance, he held himself with an air of complete confidence. His hazel eyes met Virgil’s gaze with calm neutrality.

Roman cleared his throat.

“Well, since we’ve got that settled, then, I guess we’ll just have to go back to, uh, what we were doing before.” He said.

“What was that, again?” The man asked.

“We were- well, we were-“ Roman stuttered. He looked at Virgil, who shrugged in a ‘don’t look at me, theatre kid’ manner. Roman responded to this with a ‘you’re useless’ glare and turned back to the questioner.

“We were.. fighting, obviously.” Roman said. “Yeah. Nothing other than that! Just two guys.. fighting.. duking it out.. laying it onto each other. As you do.” Virgil felt his face and the back of his neck heating up at this disaster of an alibi. “Just your normal, everyday, hero and villain.. confrontation.”

It was obvious that Roman was lying, and it was equally obvious that he was trying to hide what they had actually been doing. And, obviously, Virgil knew that what they had actually been doing was breaking and entering onto private property in order to gain access to confidential information. However, the way that The Prince had said it really made it sound like he was trying to cover up something of a completely different nature.

The man looked between The Prince and Nightmare deliberately, “Right..” He said.

Virgil cleared his throat awkwardly, “As a matter of fact, I’ve just now realized that this building doesn’t contain the valuables that I came here to steal!” He exclaimed. “Agh, curses, foiled again... So, we’ll have to be on our way, now.”

“Oh, he’s right.” Roman said. “I apologize for any damage to this property- uh, what’s your name?”

“Oh, my name isn’t important.” The man smiled. “I’m just a janitor.”

Virgil nodded happily. That made complete sense.

Roman also seemed satisfied with this answer.

“Well then, goodbye, good janitor, we will not bother you any longer.” He said, beginning to head towards the doorway.

Virgil nodded, following The Prince gratefully. However, there was something wrong.

The janitor was blocking the way.

“Um.. would you mind letting us pass, if you please?” The Prince said.

The man stared at Roman with a blank expression. As the silence lengthened, Virgil began to grow nervous.

“Um.. did you hear me, sir?” Roman asked.

“Yes.” The man said.

The Prince shifted uneasily from foot to foot, and the janitor continued to show no intention of moving.

A few more tense beats of silence passed, and Virgil finally had enough.

“Are you going to move, or what?”

Those were the words he opened his mouth to let loose, but they never came, because in that very moment, the janitor stepped out of the way with a small smile.

It was stupid. Of course, he stepped out of the way. He was just a janitor, after all, and he would have no reason not to trust an infamous superhero. Still- there had been a moment, in the silence, where Virgil had been.. frightened, for some reason.

Whatever. He was just paranoid.

On their way out of the building, Roman and Virgil both had to step over the felled metal door. As they did, Virgil gave it a casual glance, and he stopped.

“What is it?” Roman asked, also stopping.

Virgil stared at it, his mind whirring. “It’s.. nothing.” He said, and he forced himself to keep moving.

Etched into the metal on the interior side of the door was the thing that had haunted Virgil’s dreams for months now- the number thirteen.

Chapter Text

The very first appearance of a superhero in the city had been by Mr. Spectacular. He had come from nowhere, yet he single-handedly defeated a skilled group of criminals that had been committing robberies all over Druthers. It had been a monumental occasion- one for the history books. Everyone knew the story.

After his appearance, Mr. Spectacular had been practically worshipped by the city. He was given countless rewards, commemorations, and praise.

Not only that, but it had resulted in a sudden boom in superheroes- and supervillains.

This was supposedly when the new genetic mutation that gave people Propensities had been discovered. Honestly, Virgil didn’t understand how he’d ever believed such a flimsy story. Maybe it was because the idea of superpowers was already so absurd. If superpowers were real, who knew what was believable anymore.

That was beside the point, though.

One of the earliest monuments to superheroes was a fountain. Many cities have all sorts of fountains, and they’re a fairly common way to honor the history of a particular city. Build a somewhat fancy fountain, stick an inspirational quote on it, and bam: automatic memorial. Druthers City had followed this formulaic process, and the city authorities had a fountain built, just in front of town hall.

As far as fountains go, it was fairly nice. The water consisted of three spouts- one main spout and two smaller ones on each side. This was enclosed by a circular ring of gray bricks. On these bricks were a series of shiny metal letters which spelt out the words “Thank you, superheroes of Druthers City.”

Currently, these words were partially obscured by two dangling pairs of legs. On the fountain’s edge, a hero and a villain sat side by side, laughing and talking like old friends.

“Did Logarithm manage to find anything on Janus Anthony?” The hero, better known as The Prince, asked.

The villain shook his head, “No.” He said. “He agrees that it’s most likely some sort of code name. There was absolutely zero record of anyone named that.”

“That makes sense.” The Prince said. “I can’t imagine someone actually being named Janus Anthony.”

The villain who went by the name of Nightmare raised an eyebrow at The Prince. “Oh, yes, and you wouldn’t know anything about unusual names, Roman Spectacular.”

That was the first time he’d ever called The Prince by his full name.

Roman huffed, “Alright, Virgil Argus.” He said Virgil’s name in a deep and gravelly voice. “Your name is possibly the most villainous name ever.”

“Hey! No it’s not!” Virgil said.

“Oh, really?” Roman hopped down from the fountain. “Virgil the florist doesn’t have nearly the same ring as Virgil the supervillain. Hi, I’m Virgil Argus, Lord of Darkness, and you’re watching Disney channel!” He mocked.

“Shut up!” Virgil said, but he was smiling.

Then, he reached his hand into the water and splashed The Prince.

“Hey!” Roman laughed.

He splashed Virgil back, who danced out of the way, to the other side of the fountain.

Virgil looked at Roman through the spout of water. “Admit that your name is more ridiculous than mine!”

“Never!” Roman exclaimed.

And then he splashed the main spout of water directly into Virgil’s face.

“Oh, no, sorry-“ He put a hand over his mouth to cover his startled laugh.

Virgil blinked as water dripped off his chin.

“Oh, it’s on, Prince Flair-ic.” He said, lunging at the hero.

The Prince dodged away, yelping. He turned and ran, with Virgil directly behind him.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Roman said, laughing.

“Get back here!” Virgil responded. He was laughing, too, but he was trying to muffle it.

He made another grab for The Prince, who flew up and out of his reach.

“Hey!” Virgil said, trying to jump and grab his leg, “That’s not fair!”

In response, The Prince continued to go up, and he landed on the roof of a nearby building.

“Come down from there, you coward!” Virgil yelled.

Roman looked down at him with a huge smile.

“Aw, you look cute when you’re all the way down there.” He called down.

“Oh, really?” Virgil yelled back. “You don’t!”

Roman clutched his chest, and Virgil could tell he was gasping dramatically.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that!” The Prince yelled.

Virgil crossed his arms and glared up at him.

“You’re the worst!”

Roman held up a hand to his ear. “What was that? I’m the best? I’m your favorite person? That’s so nice of you to say!”

Virgil groaned, burying his head in his hands. He began to search the ground around him fervently.

“What are you looking for?” The Prince called.

“A rock!” Virgil said. “To throw at you!” He added, just in case it wasn’t clear.

Roman pouted, “Well, that’s not very nice!”

“That’s the point!” Virgil yelled.

Then, he spotted something. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a rock, but there just so happened to be a fire escape on the building that The Prince stood on.

Virgil smirked, and he made a break for it.

“Hey- wait- where are you going?” Roman asked, all his theatricality melting away.

Virgil jumped the gate at the bottom of the fire escape, and he began to run up the metal steps. Overhead, he heard Roman say something. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it was probably along the lines of “oh, shit”.

The fire escape had three flights of stairs. Virgil clanged up the steps one by one, reaching the first landing, the second, and finally the roof.

And he came face to face with Roman, who was waiting for him. Virgil hadn’t expected that. In fact, he’d nearly run straight into The Prince, but he stopped just short, panting.

Which left them incredibly close to one another. Close enough that Virgil could be reminded of the annoying fact that Roman was an inch taller than him. Close enough that they were breathing the same air. Close enough that he could see each of Roman’s individual eyelashes.

It was only for the briefest of moments. It was only for a second- maybe two. It was only for an instance, but in that instance Virgil’s heart stopped beating. In that instance the world stopped turning.

Then, Roman hurriedly stepped back. The world resumed its spin, and the moment was over.

They both laughed.

“God- we’re so fucking stupid.” Virgil said.

“Yeah, you are.” Roman responded with a grin.

Virgil shoved him, “Shut up, you idiot.”

“Alright, alright.” Roman laughed. “I don’t want to have to go find some other roof to hide on.”

“That’s what I thought.” Virgil muttered.

Then, he sat down with a sigh.

“You okay there, Manic Panic?” Roman laughed, peering down at him.

“I’m fine- It’s just that I sprinted up three fucking flights of stairs.” Virgil said.

Roman chuckled and plopped down across from him, criss-cross applesauce.

“Did I tell you that I’ve been teaching Logan modern vocabulary words?” He asked Virgil.

“What?” Virgil laughed. “No, you haven’t.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty hilarious.” Roman said. “He’s taking it really seriously- he even made flash cards.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.”

Virgil shook his head, “Why am I not surprised?”

The conversation on the roof continued for another half an hour. They were far from the ground, far from the media, and far from anyone to overhear them. It was.. nice.

When the time finally came for the pair to reluctantly go their separate ways, Virgil’s cheeks hurt from smiling, and his heart felt light.

Three days later, he had dinner at Patton and Logan’s house.

The food was fettuccine alfredo with homemade crescent rolls, and it was delicious, as always. Patton and Logan, who had cooked the meal together, were in high spirits, as was Virgil. When they weren’t stuffing their faces with food, the three of them enjoyed pleasant conversation.

At one point in this conversation, Virgil mentioned Alan Turing, and Logan’s eyes lit up.

“Ah, Dr. Turing! I, uh..” Logan appeared to wrack his brain, “I stan him. I believe that is the term.”

“Holy shit-“ Virgil said, receiving a warning look from Patton, “Did Princey teach you that?”

Logan sat up straighter, “Erm, yes, he did.” He flushed a bit, “I was not aware that you knew about my.. vocabulary lessons.”

“Oh, Princey told me about it the other day.” Virgil grinned, “I wasn’t sure if he was exaggerating. I mean, you know him, there’s hardly any time when he’s not exaggerating. It’s like with his height- he’s always lording over me about how he’s so much taller than me- he’s really not! He’s only an inch taller than me! He just thinks he’s tall because he can fly, which isn’t fair at all- But it’s always ‘oh, sorry Nightmare, I should’ve brought a step stool for you’ and ‘oh, by the way, it’s raining- I know it won’t reach you for a while so I figured I’d let you know in advance’. I mean it’s just so infuriating because he knows how much it gets on my nerves-“ Virgil stopped, suddenly realizing that he was rambling. He sunk down in his seat a little, “Uh, sorry. Yeah, he told me about it.”

“No apology required, Virgil.” Logan said, the corner of his lip tilting up. He exchanged a meaningful look with Patton.

“So, Virgil,” Patton started. “You and Roman seem… close.”

Virgil’s face reddened. “Uh, what? Ro- Princey and I, close?” He scoffed, “Yeah, I’m close to killing him, if that’s what you mean.”

“Okay, kiddo, I just mean..” Patton paused as he searched for the right words. “You seem like you maybe don’t.. dislike Roman, anymore?”

“What?! Of course I dislike him!” Virgil lied. “He’s, like, the most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

Patton exchanged another look with Logan, and then sighed.

“Alright, kiddo. Whatever you say.” He said. “Now, can one of you two please explain to me who ‘Stan’ is, and what he has to do with Alan Turing?”

Chapter Text

Virgil had gotten the hang of the supervillain out-for-a-stroll routine ages ago. Yet, every time, he dreaded the beginning part.

He had walked into the city in full costume, and he was currently performing his usual show. Maniacally laughing, walking around with malicious intent, all the usual, incredibly embarrassing stuff. He could feel each and every pair of eyes watching him, and it made him want to curl up in a ball and shut his eyes. He held a particular hatred for the people who had the nerve to record him. If he was the type of villain to go around kidnapping or killing people, they would be the first to go.

He let out a small sigh as a woman dropped her shopping bags on the ground, taking off down the street in fear.

Just as Virgil began to wonder if Roman would ever turn up, the bystanders around him erupted into cheers.

“Stop right there, Nightmare!” The Prince’s voice called from behind him.

Nightmare turned around with a grin, “Look who finally decided to show-“

Once The Prince was in his sight, Virgil noticed that he wasn’t actually alone. Beside him stood another superhero.

If she wasn’t clearly working with The Prince, Virgil may have mistaken her for a villain. That was a compliment- her aesthetic was unusually stylish for a hero. She wore a predominately red outfit with an orange flame design encompassing most of the top part. Over this outfit was a bright yellow cape, and she wore fingerless black gloves, just like Virgil did. She had shoulder-length black hair and fire in her eyes.

“Who’s thi- wHAT THE FUCK?!” Just as Virgil began to speak, a huge ball of flame hurtled past him on his left side. The pure fear that overcame him when faced with the fireball caused him to dive away from it. He landed on the tarmac with a painful thud. Even as he distanced himself from the flame, he could feel its searing heat.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM?!” He heard Roman yell.

Virgil felt a surge of gratefulness at that, and he cautiously got to his feet.

“What? I threw it to the side of him- it wasn’t going to hit. This is a serious mission, Boy Spectacular- we don’t have time for chit-chat.” The superhero said.

“I guess, Flame, but we can’t go around killing people!”

Virgil nodded, “I’m with Knight Valiant on this one.”

Then, the name that Roman had used registered in his mind. “Flame” was short for “Flamethrower”. Cam Nguyen was her real name, and Virgil recognized it from a tabloid article he had read in a hospital while he hid from The Prince- a moment that felt like forever ago. The article had been about how she and The Prince were reportedly in a relationship- an idea that had seemed laughable at the time. Here she was, though, in the very intimidating flesh.

She looked Virgil directly in the eye, and he had the urge to take a step back. Her gaze had a certain quality to it- not cold, exactly- just.. intense, like a blue flame.

“I had no intention to kill you, Nightmare.” She said calmly. “I do, however, intend to apprehend you. If you surrender now, this can be easier for all of us.”

Virgil considered this.

“Yeah, no thanks. I’m gonna pass on that one.” He said.

The Prince chuckled softly at this remark. When Flamethrower gave him a confused look, he passed it off as a cough. Seeing this made the corner of Virgil’s mouth quirk up fondly.

Then, Flamethrower turned back towards him, and his almost-smile washed away.

“You ready, Boy Spectacular?” She asked The Prince.

“As I’ll ever be.” The Prince responded.

Virgil caught on to what was about to happen, and he turned to run. As he did, he heard the two heroes follow him.

The chase was on, and he had a head start.

It wouldn’t last long, though. Even as he gained momentum, he could hear The Prince’s footsteps cease as he took to the air.

It was a little jarring. Virgil hadn’t been a part of a real chase in a long time. For the most part, he worked together with Roman, these days. Sure, they still had “chases” of sorts, but neither of them actually tried- neither of them were serious. This time, though, it was serious, and Virgil hadn’t been prepared in the slightest.

Not only that, but he was running from two superheroes- and one of them actually seemed competent. If he wasn’t careful, he might actually get caught.

If he wasn’t careful, he might actually have to use his Propensity.

Virgil grit his teeth, pumping his arms and forcing his legs to move faster. He wouldn’t be able to do this with speed alone- he needed to use his brain.

What would Logan do?

Logan would’ve been ready. Logan would’ve had a plan.

..But if he didn’t have a plan, what would he do?

Virgil needed to think about.. his options. What were his advantages? What were his disadvantages?

He’d already thought about his disadvantages- he was rusty, he had no plan, he was going up against two people, one of whom he knew very little about..

He needed to find his advantages. What did he have that they didn’t? What did he know that they didn’t?

He knew Roman.

He knew how he worked, to some extent. Virgil knew that The Prince had also grown used to their friendly banter, which meant that Roman was also going to have to get used to a chase like this. That was something. Then, there was another thing- Roman had shown absolutely zero interest in capturing Nightmare as of late. They had found more important things to worry about, and those things were far bigger than heroes and villains.

Virgil didn’t know why this Flamethrower person was here, but it wouldn’t make any sense for it to have been Roman’s idea.

Virgil risked a glance behind him as he ran. The Prince was just behind him, his outstretched arm not quite reaching the end of Virgil’s cape. Flamethrower was further behind, thankfully, but her expression was determined.

Virgil had yet to make any sharp turns, yet to pull any tricks- yet to do much of anything but run as fast as he could. Despite that, The Prince, who could fly, still hadn’t caught up to him.

A grin slipped onto Virgil’s face, because The Prince was holding back.

That meant that the only person Nightmare really needed to outwit was Flamethrower. What did he know about her? Virgil took a sharp turn into a side street, his shoes skidding in on the asphalt. He nearly fell over with the change in momentum, but he managed to balance himself out, and he continued on, glancing over his shoulder as he did.

Unfortunately, the ol’ turning-the-corner trick didn’t slow Flamethrower down nearly as much as it slowed down a person with no anchor to the ground. She was only a couple feet back from the distance she’d been at before, and she was picking up speed. Virgil needed to get a plan, quick.

Flamethrower, Flamethrower.. she was a hero, she knew Roman in some capacity, and she had fire powers. That was basically all Virgil knew about her. Was there anything he could use in that? Maybe he could.. douse her with water, or something? He looked around. There weren’t any convenient water hoses for him to use. He’d keep that idea in mind, but he needed something else.

Superheroes.. what did they have in common? Virgil’s knowledge of them was limited to The Prince, his school history lessons, and the few comic books and movies he’d seen over the years. From his personal experience with at least one hero, Virgil could say that superheroes were arrogant, gullible, stupid, dramatic, charming, brave, kind, handsome…

Virgil hurriedly cleared his thoughts.

Superheroes almost always had a code of honor. Each hero had a personal, rigid set of rules that they stuck to at all times. The idea was that having this code was the thing that separated heroes from villains.

A small fireball passed Virgil, lighting a crate in front of him on fire.

“Woah!” Virgil said. He slowed down in order to avoid running into the flaming crate.

As quick as he could, he took off running again, but he could hear Flamethrower gaining on him. When he looked backwards, this was confirmed. She was mere inches away from lunging distance, with The Prince right behind her.

Virgil’s mind raced. Where was he? He followed his own train of thought, and he soon remembered. Codes, right.

Roman’s words from earlier surfaced in his head. We can’t go around killing people…

At the forefront of nearly every superhero moral compass was one ideal: no killing. This didn’t apply to every hero- and sometimes it came down to necessity- but for the most part, superheroes were against murder. (Virgil was also against murder, for the record.)

For a superhero with powers as dangerous as Flamethrower’s, that had to be difficult. She was literally playing with fire.

A lightbulb went off in Virgil’s head. That was it! He had a plan.

It would be risky- really risky, but he was almost maybe nearly 80% sure he would be fine.

The next time a crate in front of him lit on fire, Virgil did a complete 180.

“What the—!“ Flamethrower exclaimed. She skirted to a stop, just barely avoiding running into Virgil. Behind her, Roman did the same, grabbing a streetlight to stop himself.

“Give up already?” Flamethrower asked.

“Yep.” Virgil responded.

Her and Roman’s expressions both morphed into complete bafflement. Virgil wished he could take a picture.

“Wait- really?” Flamethrower said.

“Nope.” Virgil said.

And then he charged.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Flamethrower said, backing away with her hands up in pure surprise.

Virgil ran at her, and then he pushed past her. She was too shocked to try and grab him, and she couldn’t throw a fireball at him- it would kill him.

As Virgil ran away from Flamethrower, he encountered Roman, standing right behind her. The Prince’s expression was a mix of surprise and awe. They locked eyes for a moment, and then Roman stepped out of the way, smiling disbelievingly. Virgil smirked back, and then he continued his escape.

He dashed across a street, and just as he reached the other end a line of traffic rushed behind him. After that, it was easy to merge with the city’s bustle. He had succeeded.

The Prince and Flamethrower followed after him, but were stopped when a rush of traffic drove by. The Prince flew up and over the traffic, but it was too late. Nightmare was nowhere to be seen.

Roman drifted back to the ground, shaking his head, “He’s gone.”

Cam groaned, “Damnit!” She kicked the ground with her foot. “He made me look like an idiot!”

Roman grimaced sympathetically, “Yeah.. he’s good at that.”

“I just- I had no idea what to do- I’ve never had anyone pull a stunt like that. He’s a madman!”

Roman tried to hide a smile, “He really is.”

Cam sighed, turning to face him.

She put a hand on her hip, “So, what’s going on with you two?”

Roman stiffened, “What? What do you mean?”

“You and Nightmare- what’s the deal with you guys?”

“Deal? What deal? There’s no deal!” Roman sputtered.

Cam gave him a look, “Roman, come on. You were clearly holding back that entire chase.”

“What? No I wasn’t!” Roman lied.

“Seriously? There were like, three or four separate times where you could’ve caught him, but you didn’t. I know you, Roman. I’ve seen you fight for real- that wasn’t it.”

Roman didn’t respond. There was no use in trying to lie to her. She was right- she knew him. She’d known him since he was six.

“Don’t worry, though- I’m not going to tell your parents.”

Roman recoiled inwardly at the thought.

This had all been their idea. They thought that since he seemed to be having so much trouble catching Nightmare on his own, he could use some help. The whole thing was patronizing as hell, but he knew they had his best wishes in heart. They were probably just worried about him.

He was just grateful they had sent someone he actually liked- he knew he could rely on Cam to have his back. It made his heart ache that he couldn’t tell her what was really going on. Cam had the strongest sense of justice out of anyone he knew, and she would be a force to be reckoned with if she was on their side. Alas, he had given Virgil his word.

“Roman,” Cam said, causing Roman to look up, “It’s not a good idea to get.. involved with villains.”

Roman felt his face heat up, “I’m not involved with him, Cam!”

“Oh, really, Princey?”

“That’s just- that’s not-“

“Listen- I know it’s not my business, and you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me.” Cam said. Roman started to interject, but she hurried on, “I’m just saying this because I care about you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

A million things to say flew through Roman’s head, but he stayed silent.

“Just.. be careful, okay?” Cam said.

“You don’t need to worry about me being careful, because there is nothing going on.” Roman said.

Cam sighed, “Alright, Boy Spectacular. I won’t push it.” She began to walk away, but turned back. “It was good to see you, Roman. It’s been a while.”

Roman gave her a small smile, “It was good to see you too, Cam.”

He watched her walk away from him, her yellow cape flowing behind her. His chest constricted uncomfortably with a mix of emotions he couldn’t even begin to understand. He shut his eyes tightly, pressing his hand so hard against his forehead that it hurt.

Then, The Prince ran his hand through his hair, shook his head, took a deep breath, and flew home.

Chapter Text

There are a number of famous hours in the day. In Chinese Zodiac, there’s an hour for each of the zodiac animals: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig. Some other notable hours are Golden Hour and The Witching Hour.

A lesser known hour is The Villain’s Hour. The Villain’s hour can really be at any hour, but it is preferably at night for stealth and, more importantly, dramatic purposes. The Villain’s Hour can also be multiple hours at the same time, depending on the number of villains who decide to go out on the same day/night. It is possibly more appropriately named as A Villain’s Hour.

Currently, at least one Villain’s Hour was taking place at 11:30 PM. A villain named Nightmare was the culprit of this hour. This was a bit surprising, because, ironically, Nightmare usually went out during the day.

Nightmare was not known as a villain of stealth. As his name suggested, he was a villain of fear. Because of this, it didn’t take long for him to terrify the few citizens who happened to be out with his extreme lack of stealth and extreme surplus of intimidation.

And so, A Villain’s Hour became A Hero’s Hour, a time period which typically occurs ten to thirty minutes after the beginning of A Villain’s Hour. Unlike villains, heroes often work in pairs, or even in groups, so it is perhaps more accurate to call this hour One or More Hero’(s)’ Hour. However, the apostrophes in this adjustment are frankly repulsive to look at, so perhaps it should be named A Hero’s Hour for singular and Some Heros’ Hour for plural.

This was completely irrelevant to the current hero’s situation, because this hero was, in fact, alone, and he had just been woken up from his beauty sleep.

After spending fifteen minutes reluctantly getting into costume and making his way to the place that Nightmare had been spotted, the hour of The Prince finally began.

“Halt, villain!” He called out.

Nightmare whirled around, tensed to fight, but relaxed when he just saw The Prince.

“Oh, good, you’re alone.” Virgil said.

“What?” Roman rubbed his eyes. “Oh, Cam. You didn’t like her?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “I mean, she seemed fine I suppose, but I didn’t really like having fireballs thrown at me.”

“Oh. Right.”

Virgil gave Roman a sidelong glance, “So.. Are you and her.. Is she your girlfriend?”

Roman looked taken aback, “What?! No! Where’d you get that idea?”

Virgil flushed, “Oh, I, uh, read this thing a while back..”

“What were you doing reading about me?” Roman asked, smirking.

“Nothing! I just happened to pick it up- It was in a magazine.” Virgil answered.

“Uh-huh..” The Prince said, clearly not believing him.

Virgil glared at him and hurriedly thought of a way to change the subject.

“Do you have a girlfriend at all?” He asked.

“No.” The Prince answered. “Uh, I just don’t have the time, you know, with being a hero and everything..” He tilted his head at Virgil, “Do you?”

Virgil frowned, “Do I what? Have the time?”

“No- Do you have a girlfriend?” Roman said.

Virgil stared at The Prince for a moment, processing the words he just said.

“Do I have a..?” Virgil’s brow furrowed, and then he burst out laughing.

“What?” The Prince said. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m gay, Princey.” Virgil said.

Roman blinked, “You are?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Yes?”

“Oh.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Virgil shifted his mouth from side to side, looking at his surroundings.

Roman cleared his throat, “Uh, hey, do you want to meet up at Patton’s shop tomorrow? We can have coffee and talk in the back room.”

Virgil’s brain short-circuited.

“Like- Like a date?” He asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

Roman’s eyes widened, “NO! No, no, no, not a date! I meant, like, as a sort of, a sort of…” He gestured wildly, “A sort of meeting, so we can.. talk about all of this Shady Brady government stuff. Why would you think I meant a- a date?! I- It- It was Logan’s idea- He suggested it!”

Virgil exhaled a laugh, “Alright, sorry, I get it- not a date. Forgive me for being confused when your immediate response to me coming out to you was asking me out for coffee.”

The Prince sputtered for a moment, but Virgil put up a hand, “It’s fine, Princey. That sounds good. What time?”

Roman frowned, “I’m.. not sure. I’ll have Logan text you?”

“Yeah, that sounds-” Virgil stopped, considering something for a moment. “You know what? This is stupid. Just..” He sighed, “Just give me your phone, Princey.”

Roman looked surprised, “So you can put your number in it?”

“Yeah.” Virgil sighed. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, Princey- I’m just tired of Logan complaining about being the messenger. Plus, this means you'll actually be able to let me know if something happens- like another superhero being sent to help you catch me.”

Roman nodded, “Yeah, uh, okay- Yeah, that makes sense.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and entered the password, holding it out to Virgil. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Virgil said, taking it.

Roman’s homescreen was a group picture of him in his Prince costume standing in the middle of a group of children, all of them smiling. They stood in front of what Virgil recognized as the building that Roman had been adopted from- the place that Virgil had donated to. He smiled, and then he clicked on Roman’s Contacts app. He added his number to Roman’s phone under the name “Nightmare”. As an afterthought, he added a purple heart to the end of it, for irony. Then, he pressed the button to add a new contact, and he handed the phone back to The Prince.

“There you go.”

Roman smiled, “Thank you.” He said.

“No problem.” Virgil answered.

“No, uh- seriously. I appreciate that you trust me enough for this. I know you were worried about me.. Tracking you, or whatever.”

Virgil shrugged, “Well, you know. I noticed how you held back for me the other day. I.. I trust you, Princey- at least enough for this.” He smirked, “Don’t let it go to your head, though.”

Roman chuckled, “I’ll try not to.”

They both smiled at each other, and then Roman yawned. “Is that it, then? I’d like to go back to sleep.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Princey. I just wanted to check in on you without any unexpected company.” Virgil said. “I, um.. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Roman had begun to turn away, but he gave Virgil a small smile, “Yeah. I’ll see you, Sleepless Beauty.”

That was how, the next day, Virgil found himself sitting in the backroom of Green Tea: Greenery & Brewery, waiting for Roman to show up.

It was odd, being back at the shop after everything that had happened. Virgil had come in through the backway, keeping his head down and his hood up until he felt safe enough to relax. In the adjoining room, he could hear the morning traffic from the bell over the door and the idle chatter of customers. Virgil hadn’t been at the shop for any reason other than work since he was still going to school. He kept having the urge to go put on his apron and help Patton with the orders.

Instead, he was sitting at a table for two that Patton had set up out of sight, sipping a cup of hazelnut coffee. Virgil checked the time on his phone. Roman had texted to meet him at 10:30. It was 10:52, and so far, Virgil’s only company was the plants. He sighed, stretching out to put his feet on the chair across from him. If Roman wasn’t going to sit in it, he might as well put it to good use.

At that moment, Patton poked his head into the back, “Hey, uh, just checking in- gee, Roman still isn’t here?”

Virgil lifted and dropped his hands in frustration, “Yep!”

Patton gave him a sympathetic look, “Don’t worry, kiddo- I’m sure he just got caught up with something. He’ll be here.”

Virgil shrugged, “I guess we’ll see.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, someone knocked on the backdoor. Virgil jumped, startled, and Patton grinned.

“That’s gotta be him!” He said. “You go ahead and let him in- I gotta get back to the counter. Have fun!”

Virgil removed his legs from the chair ahead of him and got up, setting his coffee down on the table. He walked over to the door, and he stopped just in front of it for a moment to brush his bangs out of his eyes and pull down the sleeves of his hoodie. Then, he opened the door to reveal Roman.

He was dressed in a white shirt with a red blazer and red pants to match, as well as some brown dress shoes. His hair was combed immaculately to the side, and he smiled widely when he saw Virgil.

“How’s my biggest fan doing?” Roman asked.

“Ha, ha, ha.” Virgil responded, stepping out of the way to let him in. “What took you so long?”

“Oh, that- I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” Roman closed the door behind him, “On my way here I ran into a couple of people who wanted my autograph, and that made the people around them also want autographs, and some of them wanted pictures.. It was a whole thing. I can’t say no to fans.”

Virgil sat down, “Well, Patton made you an iced coffee,” He gestured to a cup on the other side of the table, “Though I think the ice has melted at this point..”

“Oh, that was nice of him,” Roman said, taking the seat opposite to Virgil.

He leaned down and took a sip of the drink, and his eyes lit up.

“Oh my goodness- I forgot how amazing these are.” Roman said.

Virgil laughed, “That good?”

“Yes.” Roman took a long drink. “Perfection. This is the only place where they taste this good- I don’t know what Patton puts in it!”

“He would probably say love.” Virgil said.

Roman chuckled, “He would.”

They both took sips of their respective drinks.

“So, uh.. now that you’re here, what did you want to talk about?” Virgil said, after a moment.

“Oh, uh… I’m not really sure honestly? I mean, um..” Roman rubbed at the back of his neck, “I think Logan’s idea was that we discuss our current thoughts on everything, and we come up with future plans?”

“Hm.” Virgil said. He fiddled with the cardboard on the outside of his cup.

“I think we should obviously go back to that laboratory.” Roman said offhandedly.

Virgil frowned, “Uh, hold on there, Lancelot, I don’t think that’s obvious at all.”

“What?” Roman said. “Why not?”

“Uh, remember how we were found last time?” Virgil asked, incredulous.

“Well, yes, but it was only the janitor, and we had a good excuse-”

Virgil scoffed, “‘Good’ is a hell of a stretch.”

“He believed it!” Roman argued.

“That was dumb luck- if we’re discovered a second time, we won’t be able to pretend we just so happened to stumble upon their lab in the middle of nowhere again.”

“But-”

Virgil raised a finger in the air, “Especially if we have to kick the door off of its hinges for a second time!”

“..Maybe they haven’t fixed the door yet?” Roman tried.

“I think that’s the kind of thing you get fixed pretty fast, Princey.” Virgil said dryly.

Roman made a discontented face, “You’re right, but-” Virgil let out a triumphant laugh, and Roman talked over him, “But if we can manage to get a second look at that place, or if we could take a sample back to Nerdy Wolverine, it would be worth it!”

Virgil crossed his arms, “Worth what? We don’t know who we’re really dealing with, but they obviously have a lot of power. If we got caught, it wouldn’t be a slap-on-the-wrist situation. We could be arrested, or killed, or who knows what. It’s too risky!”

Roman let out an exasperated sigh, “Well, then, O’ Great Mastermind- what do you suggest?”

Virgil shrunk down in his chair a bit, “I don’t really have any alternatives, persay- Just- Just not.. that.”

Roman pursed his lips and looked away from Virgil with a huff.

“Listen, Princey- I’m not shooting your idea down because I don’t like you or something- I just don’t think it would be a good idea to go back there, okay? It’s too soon. We at least need to gain more information on who we’re dealing with here.”

Roman sighed, “Fine.” He elongated the i in a way that made the corner of Virgil’s mouth turn upwards.

“Thank you.” Virgil said.

Roman turned his head so he was making eye contact with Virgil again, and he begrudged him a smile, “‘Twasn’t a problem. You made a good point, my Fatalistic Foe.”

Virgil raised an amused eyebrow, “‘Twasn’t’?” He mocked.

Roman flushed, “It’s fun to say!”

Virgil smirked, and he leaned back in his chair. He finished off his coffee, and as he did, he remembered something that he had been meaning to ask. He had his suspicions but..

“Princey, why was Flamethrower sent to help you? Who sent her?”

Roman raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by the question.

“Oh, that.” He rapped his fingers on the tabletop, “Well, she was sent by my parents.”

Ah. That was the answer that Virgil had expected, but he tried not to show it in his face.

“Really? Why?” He asked.

Roman sighed, “I’m afraid they are growing a little.. Impatient with me, in regards to your capture. They, uh, ask me about my progress a lot. I think they sent Cam because they thought that I required.. Assistance.”

He frowned, squirming in his seat a bit. He seemed reluctant to say whatever he was about to say. “I think- I think that they also had.. other reasons for sending her. I think maybe.. Well, they haven’t explicitly said anything, but I think they may suspect that something is going on. Flamethrower may have been sent as a sort of.. informant on my behavior.”

That, Virgil hadn’t expected. He leaned forward in his seat, “Wait, what? You think they’re suspicious- you think Flamethrower was a spy? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Roman looked at his own hands on the table, pulling at them. “I am not certain whether I am simply being.. paranoid.”

Virgil frowned, “I mean, I don’t know- It’s definitely.. I mean I don’t have very much experience with parents..” Virgil inwardly cringed at Roman’s curious expression. He hadn’t meant to say that. He rushed on, “I mean, um, you probably know them pretty well? What did they do to make you think that they’re suspicious- other than sending Flamethrower?”

“Well, like I said they’ve just sort of been.. Asking a lot of questions, lately. More than normal? They want to know where I’m going, what I’m doing, what I just did..” He trailed off, “You get the jist. It’s especially after I have encounters with Nightmare- uh, with you, sorry. They always ask for a lot of details, give me criticism on what I should do in the future.. That sort of thing.”

“That.. does sound like they’re suspicious.” Virgil said. He tried to keep his tone somewhat gentle- this subject seemed to make Roman uncomfortable. “I appreciate that you’ve kept your word on not telling them, though.. I know it’s probably really hard for you.”

Roman’s expression softened, “Of course.”

Virgil decided that it was probably time to move the conversation away from Roman’s parents.

“So, uh.. Do you think Fla- Do you think Cam noticed anything off about the other day?”

Roman’s posture relaxed a little bit, “Yes, she certainly did- she confronted me about it just after your escape.”

“She did?” Virgil said.

Roman laughed, “Yeah. She’s always been a very upfront person. She was like ‘Cut the bullshit- what’s going on?’”

“What did you say?” Virgil asked.

“I basically just denied everything. She could tell something was going on between- Uh.” Roman reddened a bit, “She could tell something was up, but she said she wouldn’t push it, and that she wouldn’t say anything about it to my parents.”

“And you trust her?” Virgil asked.

“Oh yeah.” Roman said. “With my life.”

“Wow, alright then.” Virgil said. Then, his curiosity took over, “How did you two get so close?”

“Cam and I? We’ve been friends for years. She’s the kid of a famous superhero, too- I’m sure you’ve heard of Whiplash?”

“Uh, yes.” Virgil said. The speedy superhero had been one of his childhood celebrity crushes.

“Yeah, he’s her dad.” Roman said with a grin.

“No way!”

“Yep. He fell in love with this woman with no Propensity, and they had Cam! The only reason her last name isn’t Ellsworth is because she changed it to her mom’s maiden name.. her mom and dad divorced.”

“Oh.” Virgil said.

“Yeah.. but, anyways, she took after her mom in her appearance- her mom is Viatnamese, and, you know, I’m Mexican. We kind of got pushed together by a lot of adults and by the media when we were younger, because we were some of the only kids of famous superheroes who weren’t white.”

“Yikes,” Virgil said, “That seems..”

“Racist?” Roman said.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, it was.” Roman said, shrugging. “The joke was on them, though- She’s probably the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

“Ouch, Princey.” Virgil said.

Roman laughed, “Whoops. Sorry, Nightmare Before Christmas- I’m not gonna lie. This one time, we were walking down the street, and some racist prick yelled at us to ‘go home’ or some shit- I don’t know if he was talking to me, her, or both of us- And I was just going to ignore it, but she stopped, walked over to him, lit a flame on her hand, and went ‘What did you say?’”

“Holy shit, that’s amazing.” Virgil said, laughing.

“You should’ve seen his face. His voice got all high-pitched, and he was like ‘Uhh, uhh, n-n-n-nothing, s-s-s-sorry.’”

Virgil laughed hard, throwing his head back. Then, he said, “She sounds awesome.”

“She is.” Roman said.

“Does that sort of thing happen to you a lot? Like.. people saying stuff like that to you?” Virgil asked.

Roman sighed, “No, not very often. Especially not now that I’m so well-known.” He frowned, “It’s weird- I mean, I’m barely even Mexican, you know?”

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked.

“I just.. I don’t remember Mexico. I was raised here, in Druthers, by two white parents. I don’t know how to speak Spanish, I don’t know anything about Mexican culture- I don’t feel Mexican.. But I do look Mexican, which is enough for some, I guess.”

Virgil scowled, “Dicks.” He said.

Roman laughed, “It seriously doesn’t really happen to me anymore, though.”

Virgil shrugged, “Still dicks.”

Roman laughed again, “Duh.”

There was a brief, comfortable silence.

Virgil broke it, “Alright, I couldn’t help but notice that you called me ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ earlier. Are you a Tim Burton fan?”

“Can Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular fly?” Roman said. “Yes! Are you?”

“Princey. Take a moment. Evaluate my entire aesthetic. Is there any tangible way that I could not be a Tim Burton fan?”

Roman chuckled, “You have a point.”

“Alright, now, I’ve gotta ask- what’s your favorite film of his?” Virgil said.

Roman gasped, “Oh my goodness, how could you make me choose. I mean, they’re all so uniquely amazing! I mean, obviously Nightmare Before Christmas is a gem, but there’s also Corpse Bride, and- I assume you mean all of his films and not just the animated ones, so that includes Beetlejuice..”

His eyes lit up as he spoke, and he was gesturing excitedly in the way that he did when he was really passionate about what he was saying. Watching him like this was captivating to Virgil. It was like watching Logan solve a complicated math problem, or watching Patton garden.

Except.. it wasn’t quite like that. With Roman, everything felt.. different, in a way.

Why was that?

Virgil watched the way his expressive face shifted as he spoke, and then, all at once, something happened.

His chest was suddenly overtaken by a tumultuous feeling, so powerful that he felt himself unable to breathe, because..

Because...

He was in love with Roman.

Chapter Text

The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, suffocating him. When had this happened? How had this happened? How had he let this get past him? This was Roman he was talking about- didn’t he hate him, at one point? He did. He remembered hating him. How could hate turn into.. into this?!

Sure, Virgil hadn’t hated Roman for a long time. Sure, under the right circumstances, all alone, Virgil might even admit to himself that he liked Roman- that he considered Roman to be a friend.

But this? It was unthinkable! He couldn’t love Roman! He couldn’t.

Virgil realized that Roman was waving his hand in his face.

“-you listening to a word of what I’m saying?”

Virgil blinked, blinked again, and then he pushed Roman’s hand out of his face.

“Whoops. Sorry, Princey- I naturally tune out the sound of your voice when you’re speaking.” Virgil said. The jab came like second nature.

Roman pouted- actually pouted, and Virgil, to his own horror, couldn’t help but notice that he found that adorable.

“In summary,” Roman huffed, “I’d have to say that my favorite is Nightmare Before Christmas. I know it’s a bit basic, but, come on, the songs!”

Virgil nodded sagely, trying to pretend like his entire world wasn’t collapsing, “Good choice, Princey. It’s a classic. It’s.. actually my favorite, too.”

“Really?” Roman said.

“Yep.” Virgil said.

Roman smiled at him, and Virgil felt a surge of warmth in his chest at the very act.

Fuck. Virgil thought. I’m really in trouble.

Thankfully, Patton chose that moment to check in on them.

“Hey, kiddos! How’s everything going back here?”

“Good!” Virgil answered, his voice coming out much more high-pitched than he had meant.

“Yep- we’re doing good.” Roman confirmed.

“Do you guys want some more coffee?” Patton asked.

“I certainly wouldn’t say no to it!” Roman said.

“Agreed.” Virgil said.

“Alrighty!” Patton disappeared behind the vast array of plants, leaving Virgil alone with Roman again.

Which was fine.

“I don’t think we’ve actually done very much planning, or whatever.” Virgil said.

Roman let out a laugh, “Yeah, we really haven’t. I don’t know what Logan expected.”

Virgil had a feeling that this was what Logan had expected, but he didn’t voice this to Roman.

Instead, he said, “Holy shit, Princey- you have no idea the monster you have created.”

Roman tilted his head slightly, “What do you mean?”

“Logan said ‘yeet’ yesterday, and I swear to god, I nearly had a fucking stroke.”

Roman exploded into laughter, “What was the context? What was the context? I have to know.”

Virgil shook his head, “Oh my gosh, he was asking for clarification on Flamethrower’s powers- for his Propensity research, you know- and he was like ‘So, just to clarify- she has the ability to conjure fire at will and to yeet fireballs?’” Roman devolved into another fit of laughter, and Virgil couldn’t help but join in.

“He said it- just like that- he said-“ Roman clapped his hands with mirth, “That is amazing. I’m so glad to have caused that.”

Virgil shook his head, and he tried his best to look disappointed, but he honestly couldn’t help but smile, “You should be ashamed, Princey.”

As they both laughed, Patton returned with two new cups of coffee, and he set them on the table.

“You two seem to be having fun!” He said with a smile.

“Thanks, Pat.” Virgil said. “And, uh, we were just laughing about Logan’s new vocab terms.”

“Yeah, thank you Patton!” Roman said. “Let me pay for this- and the last cup..”

Virgil blinked. He honestly hadn’t considered paying for the drink- he had grown pretty used to Logan and Patton providing him with free stuff. Plus, he didn’t have a job anymore.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” Patton said.

“I insist!” Roman answered, taking out his wallet.

Oh no. Virgil had witnessed this before. When Patton offered to do something nice for you, rejecting it was not an option.

“It’s on the house, kiddo.” Patton said.

“Really, Patton, here-“ Roman held out a ten-dollar bill.

Patton put his hands in the air, “Nope! I’m not taking it!”

“Patton!” Roman exclaimed. “You’re already allowing us to eat in your backroom, I really think it’s only fair for me to pay for my drinks!”

“I won’t allow it! I’m glad to help you two- keep your money, Roman.”

Patton began to walk back to the main room. When Roman stood up from his seat, presumably to follow him and continue to try and give him the money, Virgil decided he was gonna put a stop to this.

He reached up and grabbed his sleeve, “Princey- just stop, okay?”

“But-“ Roman started.

“Just stop. Let him have this one, alright? You can out-nice each other some other time.”

Roman looked at him for a moment, and then he reluctantly sat back down. He put the money back into his wallet, and he put the wallet back into his pocket.

“Thank you.” Virgil said, taking a sip of his new hazelnut coffee, which tasted amazing.

Roman took a sip out of the straw of his own drink, and then his eyes widened, and his entire face melted into pure bliss. It was like all of his previous concerns were immediately forgotten.

“Holy mother of iced coffee- I think I just tasted heaven!” Roman exclaimed.

“Isn’t it the same as what you normally get?” Virgil asked, amused.

“Well, yes, but this time it’s fresh- and I think Patton added some extra caramel.”

“Well, glad you like it, but I really don’t get it. Iced coffee is disgusting.”

Roman gasped, clutching his chest, “How could you say such a thing?!”

“It’s just.. not very good. Coffee isn’t meant to be cold.”

“Virgil. I’m ashamed to be your- uh, enemy.”

Virgil shrugged, “Sorry, Princey. I just don’t like iced coffee.”

“Have you tried this iced coffee, though?” Roman asked.

“An iced caramel latte?” Virgil said. “I guess not.”

“Virgil, it’ll change your life. You have to try it.” Roman held the cup out to him.

Virgil stared at it, and he felt his face heat up, “Uh, I’m good.”

“Virgiiiiillll.” Roman begged. “I wanna know what you think of it! Pleeeaaasse?”

It was just sharing a drink. People share drinks all the time. It’s a normal thing. It’s not a big deal.

If Roman had asked him to do this just a little while ago, Virgil wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But no, he had to have feelings making everything confusing.

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” Roman asked.

Surely, anything would be better than enduring Roman’s puppy eyes.

Virgil gave in.

“Alright, alright! Just stop!” He said, taking the drink from Roman.

Don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it.

Virgil took a sip from the straw, and he tried not to think about it.

He wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, it’s not very good.”

“What?!” Roman said.

Virgil breathed out a laugh, “I’m sorry, iced coffee just really isn’t my thing! I told you I wouldn’t like it.”

Roman pouted again, which Virgil really wished he would stop doing for the sake of his own sanity.

Virgil rolled his eyes, setting the drink back in front of Roman, “Cheer up, Princey. Being the gloomy one is my job.”

On impulse, he leaned across the table and booped Roman’s nose.

Roman’s pursed his lips for a moment, and then a laugh escaped.

“Don’t do that! I was trying to be disappointed in you!” He said.

Virgil cackled, “I’ve ruined your plans, yet again.”

“Shut up, you miscreant!” Roman responded, making a swipe towards Virgil’s nose. Virgil dodged away, yelping.

Roman tried again to poke his nose.

“The coffee!” Virgil warned him.

But it was too late. In one swoop, Roman knocked down both of their coffee cups.

“Oh, shit-“ Roman said.

Quickly, they both got up and righted their respective cups of coffee. Unfortunately, the damage was already done. A good portion of Virgil’s coffee had spilled onto the table and the floor. On the other hand, Roman’s coffee had just barely spilled, because it had a lid that was less susceptible to spilling.

After reviewing the tragedy, Virgil crossed his arms, “Well, this is just great.”

Roman grimaced, “Sorry, Virgil. I’ll clean it up- if you’ll just help me find some paper towels..”

Virgil sighed, “Come on.”

They cleaned up the mess as best as they could, and when it was all done, they both ended up laughing.

“That was so stupid.” Virgil said.

“I know.” Roman said. “I’m sorry about your coffee, though.” He paused, “I would offer you mine, but you apparently hate it.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “You just had to add that last part, didn’t you.”

Roman grinned, “Sorry, sorry.”

Virgil waved him off, “Whatever.”

They both sat back down.

“I’m just glad it didn’t get on my phone.” Virgil said. “If that had happened, I wouldn’t have forgiven you so easily.”

Roman laughed, “I guess I should consider myself lucky, then.”

Virgil nodded, “You should.” He smiled, “I hope you’ve learned your lesson, Princey.”

“Ehh,” Roman said with a lopsided smile, “I’m not so sure I have.”

Virgil smiled, “Oh?”

“Whenever you least expect it- that’s when I’ll strike.” Roman said. He held up his right index finger threateningly.

“Oh, will you?” Virgil said, leaning forward and propping up his chin in his hands.

Roman leaned forward as well, “Definitely.” He murmured. “You’d better watch your back, Nightmare.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows, a huge smirk on his face. Inside, he was painfully aware of just how close their faces were. Part of him was terrified of breaking this moment, because he wanted it to last. The other part was equally terrified of the way his heart was pounding in his chest.

Virgil found himself shifting in his seat, even closer to Roman.

“I’m sooo scared.” He whispered.

“Kiddos! The shop is closed for lunch now if you want to- oh!”

Virgil and Roman both immediately launched themselves backwards, as far away from each other as possible. Roman lurched so quickly that he nearly toppled out of his chair. Both of their faces were beet red.

“Patton!”

“I, uh- We were just-”

“Whatever that looked like, I can assure you-”

“We were having a staring contest-”

“YES, that’s exactly it, we were having a staring contest, and we were trying to make the other person break-”

“I’m sure that it looked very strange from your point of view, haha-”

“Boys!” Patton said, shutting them up. “I believe you! I never even asked what you were doing. I was just letting you both know that the shop has closed for lunch, so you can come into the main room with me if you like.”

“Uh, yeah, that sounds good.” Virgil muttered, staring at the floor.

“Actually, Patton, I’m having lunch with my parents, so I have to leave.” Roman said.

“Wait, you do?” Virgil asked.

“Um, yes.” Roman said, carefully avoiding eye contact. “Sorry, I meant to mention it before. It was nice, um, planning with you! Thank you for the coffee, Patton- it was delicious!”

Roman rushed to the backdoor, all the while only looking at Patton.

He turned the handle on the door, “Bye!”

And just like that, he was gone.

The moment he was, Virgil felt the weight of his own emotions. He needed to leave.

“As a matter of fact, I need to get going, too.” He said.

“Really? But just a minute ago you were going to-”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just that seeing Roman go made me remember that I.. have.. laundry to do. Sorry, Patton.” Virgil was genuinely sorry, but he needed to be alone right now. He didn’t know what he might say or do if Patton asked him any questions about his little “meeting” with Roman.

“Alright, kiddo- it was nice seeing you!” Patton said.

“You too, Patton.” Virgil said, pulling his hood over his head. “Thank you so much for the coffee and the, uh, hiding place!”

“No, problem, kiddo! Bye! Have a nice rest of your day!”

“You too, Pat!”

Virgil walked home, and the entire way, his mind was a seething mess of all sorts of thoughts and emotions. He ignored them as well as he could.

When he finally, finally reached his home, he made a beeline for his room, flopped onto his bed facefirst, and screamed into a pillow until his throat hurt.

Chapter Text

Virgil pressed the call button on Logan’s contact. He listened as the call went through. It rang once, twice, and in the middle of the third time, Logan picked up.

“This is Logan Clark.”

“Hi, Logan.” Virgil said.

“Hello, Virgil. Why have you called me?”

If it had been anyone other than Logan, the response would’ve been rude.

“I was wondering if you and Patton wanted to come over for dinner? I’ll order pizza.”

“One moment.” Logan said. Virgil heard him calling for Patton, and then they exchanged a short conversation that Virgil couldn’t quite make out. “Patton says that would be wonderful. What time should we come over?”

“Uh..” Virgil looked around the house. It was relatively clean, actually. All he really needed to do was tidy a few things up. “6:30?” He said.

“6:30 it is.” Logan said.

“Is pepperoni pizza alright with you guys?” Virgil asked.

There was a pause. “I’m afraid that would not be alright, Virgil. I can’t eat pepperoni pizza.” Logan said.

“What? Why not?” Virgil asked.

“It’s not kosher.” Logan said. His voice conveyed duh, though he would never actually say that.

“Ohh, right. Sorry, Logan, I forgot.” Virgil, who had no idea Logan was Jewish until that very moment, said. “Cheese pizza, then?”

“That would be sufficient.” Logan said.

“Alright.” Virgil said. “See you at 6:30.”

“Yes.” Logan said, and then he hung up.

As soon as he did, Virgil slipped his phone into his pocket and looked around the room. In preparation for this, he had already put all the dishes up, as well as the several hoodies strewn around the room.

“Okay, okay, what else?” Virgil said to himself.

He put up a couple of pens he had gotten out. Then, he threw away various wrappers and other pieces of trash.

He went to his bedroom. Yeah, it wasn’t very likely that they would go in there at all, but on the off-chance that they did, he didn’t want them to think he was some sort of slob. Virgil adjusted the sheets and pillows on his bed, and he glanced at the clock: 6:22.

Was there anything he was forgetting?

Virgil rammed his palm into his forehead with a painful slap. He’d forgotten to order the pizza!

As quickly as he could, Virgil dialed the number of a nearby pizza place, hoping with all his might that there wouldn’t be too long of a wait.

One mortifying phone call later, the pizza was ordered.

At exactly 6:30, the doorbell rang, which is what Virgil had expected. He’d never known Patton to be late to anything, especially when it was something one of his friends had invited him to. Logan, on the other hand, was a bit more unpredictable, but if the word “meeting” was involved, he would be there at the exact right time. Once, Virgil had been talking with him when multiple alarms went off, warning him that he had a meeting in two hours. Logan had then rushed him out of the house while explaining how he had to account for preparation, traffic time, and how early he was expected to show up. However, with informal things, Logan was a lot more likely to get distracted by his research.

Still, Patton was never late, so neither was he.

Virgil opened the door to find the couple, “Hi, guys.” He said with a small smile.

“Virgil!” Patton said, immediately wrapping him in a hug. “It’s good to see you, kiddo!”

Virgil patted his back awkwardly, “Uh, yeah, you too, Pat.” He said.

Once Patton had freed him, Virgil looked to Logan, who nodded cordially, “Virgil.”

Virgil nodded back, “Logan.”

“It is good to see you.” Logan said.

“Uh, yeah, it’s good to see you too, Logan.” Virgil responded with a smile. He stepped aside, “Come on in- I’m getting cold just holding this door open.”

The weather in Druthers lately had been growing colder as autumn progressed. It wasn’t quite cold enough that coats were required, but it was still awfully chilly. Because of this, Patton was wearing a blue shirt with a gray cardigan- not around his shoulders- but actually on, and Logan was wearing a purple turtleneck sweater.

They both thanked him as they came inside, grateful to get away from the harsh wind.

Virgil shut the door behind them, “The pizza isn't here yet, but it should be soon.”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Patton said.

Virgil walked into the living room and sunk into a plush armchair. Following his example, Patton and Logan sat down on the couch adjacent to Virgil.

“So, how have you been?” Patton asked.

“Uh..” Virgil thought back to the soul-crushing, feelings-induced breakdown he had been experiencing for the past few days.

“Good.” He said. “What about you guys?”

“I’ve been good, too.” Patton said.

“I have also been well.” Logan said.

“..That’s good.” Virgil said.

Man, he hated trying to start up conversations like this. It was the worst.

Logan absentmindedly adjusted his glasses, “How did your meeting with Roman go?”

Virgil’s pulse sped up, “Uh, what meeting?” He blurted.

Inwardly, he groaned. What a stupid thing to say.

“The meeting with Roman at Patton’s coffee shop..?” Logan said.

“Oh! That meeting.” Virgil said.

Logan looked at him expectantly, as did Patton.

“Uh, it went.. fine.” Virgil said.

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Fine?”

Virgil panicked, “I mean, uh, it went great!”

Logan’s other eyebrow joined its friend at the top of his forehead, and Patton grinned.

“Great?” Patton said.

Virgil reddened, “Uh- I mean-“

Then, he was saved by the bell, or more specifically, the doorbell.

“Pizza’s here!” Virgil said, leaping up from his seat.

Never had he been so glad to go through the awkwardness of receiving a food delivery. The woman who had delivered his pizza was nice enough, and Virgil’s pitiful attempt at responding to her small talk was nothing when compared to the conversation he had just been a part of.

Finally, the transaction was complete, and Virgil thanked the pizza-woman one last time before shutting the door.

Virgil carefully held the pizza box up, “Tada!”

Patton and Logan both cheered, one with great enthusiasm and the other half-heartedly. Altogether, they balanced each other out.

Virgil set the pizza box next to a small stack of plates on the kitchen counter, “The cups are in the cabinet right here,” He gestured to the correct cabinet, “And I basically just have water and milk to drink, sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Virgil. Water will do just fine for me.” Logan said, opening the cabinet to grab a cup.

“Some milk sounds great.” Patton said, doing the same.

“Uh, cool. Milk’s in the fridge- uh, I’ll get it out.”

Virgil walked over to the fridge and opened it. He grabbed the milk carton and, as an afterthought, his container of Parmesan. He handed the milk carton to Patton, and he walked to the dining room to place the Parmesan at the table.

When he returned to the kitchen, Patton was putting the milk carton back in the fridge after having poured it into his cup. As soon as he did, Logan walked over and began to fill his water up.

Why hadn’t they gotten any pizza yet? Did they not like this brand? Did they not like this flavor- was Logan just trying to be nice when he said cheese pizza would be fine?

Then, Virgil realized that they were probably waiting for him, the host. Right. He grabbed a plate, and he placed a good-sized piece of pizza on top of it, his mouth watering already. He took the plate to the dining room and set it at the head of the table, and then he came back to get some water.

Sure enough, Logan and Patton were both getting their own slices now. Virgil felt the corner of his mouth quirk upwards. Those two had to be some of the most polite people he knew.

It was no wonder, though- the only other person he really knew was Princey. He was not a good role model for politeness. Sure, he was charming, but there’s a difference between-

Virgil shook himself mentally, dislodging all thoughts about dashing princes. The whole point of this thing was not to think about.. that guy.

(And seeing his friends, or whatever.)

He needed to focus on catching up with Logan and Patton. He needed to focus on delicious cheese pizza. He needed to absolutely not focus on a particular superhero who he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Virgil, who had been filling his cup at the fridge, was shocked out of his thoughts by the fact that the water was spilling out of the cup and onto his hand.

“Shit!” He whispered. He immediately stopped filling his cup.

Patton ran in from the dining room, “What happened?!”

Virgil shook the water off his hand, laughing, “Nothing, I- I zoned out like an idiot while I was getting water and the cup overflowed.”

Patton sighed with relief, “Oh, alright. You scared me.”

Virgil let out another laugh, “Sorry, Pat. I’m fine.”

Virgil grabbed a paper towel and dried his hand off, and he carefully sipped some water out of the cup until it was at a more manageable level. Then, he followed Patton back into the dining room.

Patton and Logan had taken the chairs on either side of Virgil, across from each other. Logan was taking a methodical bite of pizza when Virgil walked in, but when he took his seat, he lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgement.

In the span of the next few minutes, the flow of conversation finally began to run freely. Virgil had to admit, there was something so inherently comforting about just sitting and talking with these two men, and the pizza was a welcome bonus.

Everything was going well, until Virgil couldn’t reach the container of Parmesan.

“Hey, Dad, could you pass the Parmesan?” He said offhandedly.

Both Logan and Patton glanced up from their food, giving him surprised looks. Then, they both reached for the container and passed it to Virgil in unison.

“Uh.. thanks.” Virgil said, taking it with a hint of confusion.

As Virgil began dusting the cheese onto his pizza, Logan cleared his throat.

“Virgil, to whom were you referring to, just then?” He asked.

Virgil frowned, “Uh, Patton? Didn’t I say that?”

“Ah.” Logan said.

He and Patton exchanged a look. Patton had a huge, giddy grin on his face, like he might start squealing at any moment.

“..What did I say?” Virgil asked uneasily.

“You said ‘Dad’!” Patton said.

Virgil felt his face heat up, “What?! No I didn’t! I said ‘Pat’! I said ‘Hey, Pat, could you pass the Parmesan?’”

“No, Patton is correct,” Logan adjusted his glasses, “You said ‘Dad’. I believe that you may have committed the psychological error called parapraxis- more commonly known as a ‘Freudian Slip’. You may have meant to say Pat, but because you view Patton as a father figure, you unintentionally referred to him as such.”

Virgil’s face reached critical levels of heat, “What- That’s not true- I didn’t-“

“Aw, it’s okay, kiddo- I think that paraprax-IS really sweet of you!” Patton said.

Logan shook his head in disappointment from his spot at the table. Virgil buried his face in his hands.

After taking a moment to regret every decision that had led him to this moment, Virgil realized something.

“Hold on,” He said, looking up, “If I said.. that.. then why did you both reach for the Parmesan?”

Logan got up abruptly from his chair, “I’m going to get some more water.” He said.

Patton laughed and winked at Virgil, who smirked, glad to divert the attention away from himself.

The moment Logan came back, Virgil addressed him, “You dodged the question, Logan.” He teased.

Logan took a sip of his water, sending Virgil a cool look over the top of his cup, “Like how you dodged the question when I asked about your meeting with Roman?”

Virgil froze, “...Touché.” He said after a moment.

A self-satisfied smile appeared on Logan’s face. Virgil looked at Patton, and he saw a hopeful glimmer in his eyes as he took a bite of his pizza slice.

Virgil sighed, “Alright, fine, I’ll tell you guys about it.”

Patton and Logan both stayed carefully quiet, waiting for him to continue.

“Uh, the only reason I was reluctant is because not much actually happened, ha. We didn’t really get any planning done or whatever- sorry, Logan.”

“It’s quite alright.”

“We mostly just talked, honestly. The only important thing we were able to figure out is that we’re not going to go back to that lab.. place until we know who we’re dealing with.”

Logan nodded, and then Patton spoke up.

“What were you guys talking about, then?” He asked.

“Uh, not really anything important..” Virgil said. “Turns out we’re both Tim Burton fans, so that’s something, I guess.”

“Oh, fun!” Patton said.

“Yeah.” Virgil answered. He could feel a blush creeping onto the back of his neck, which he tried to fight off.

“So, nothing particularly remarkable happened?” Logan asked.

Virgil lost the battle as he felt his cheeks redden, “Uh, nope.” He said. “Nothing remarkable.”

The rest of the dinner progressed normally. Even after they all finished their pizza, they sat and talked for a good hour. Then, finally, Patton and Logan decided it was probably time to leave, and they did.

It wasn’t until much later that night that Virgil realized that Logan had managed to fluster him enough that he forgot to ask again about the Parmesan incident.

Chapter Text

It was midday in the city, but despite that fact, it was dark outside. The sky over Druthers was overcast, a plethora of gray blocking out the sun and chilling the air. The forecast didn’t indicate a chance of rain for the day, but not many people were out.

However, Roman Spectacular was out. He was pacing down the sidewalk, in fact. One of his hands was stuffed in the pocket of his zipped-up red jacket, and his other hand was holding his phone to his ear. He was talking to someone.

“..yes, I’m wearing it.” He said in an annoyed tone of voice.

The person on the other end of the call spoke for a moment, but Roman interrupted.

“I don’t need it! I have it under control!” He said.

He winced. Evidently, he hadn’t meant to yell.

There was a long pause as the person on the other end of the phone spoke in a raised voice.

“I- Yes, ma’am.” Roman finally said.

Another pause, this one much shorter.

“I know- I apologize.” Roman said to the person.

For a significant amount of time, the only things Roman said were “mhm”, “I know”, and “yeah”. His tone was polite, but his face conveyed mild irritation.

Finally, he sighed, “I understand that, but I assure you that I can do this on my own. I don’t require assistance from you, or from Mr. Spectacular, or from Cam, or from anyone else. I know that you’re worried about me, but I need to do this alone.”

There was another bout of chatter from the other end of the call. Roman approached a crosswalk and pushed the button for pedestrian crossing. Theoretically, he could just fly over the traffic, but he was trying to keep a somewhat low profile right now. Besides, he wasn’t completely sure if flying across the road counted as jaywalking or not.

By the time that the light had switched to WALK and Roman was crossing the street, he was still listening to the person on the other end of the phone talk. In fact, the person didn’t grant Roman the opportunity to speak until he had nearly reached his destination.

When the gates of his house were in sight, Roman finally had the chance to respond, “I won’t fail you, “ He recovered his keys from the depths of his jean-pocket as he approached the gate, “I have everything under control. Soon enough, I will capture-” Roman’s keys fell to the ground with a jangle. He stared at the figure ahead of him. “..Nightmare.”

Virgil smiled, flipping his hood down to reveal his bright purple hair. He waggled his eyebrows at Roman in an attempt to make him laugh.

Roman didn’t laugh. “What are you doing here?” He mouthed.

“Hang up the phone and I can tell you, moron.” Virgil mouthed back.

Roman gave him a baffled look. “What?”

“I said-” Virgil whispered, but Roman cut him off, holding up a hand.

“Yeah, I’m still here, sorry. There’s a, uh, big fan of mine here- I’m gonna have to let you go.” Virgil flipped him off, which Roman pointedly ignored. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

Roman tapped the button to hang up. The moment the call had ended, he addressed Virgil.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Mister-Sandman-Bring-Me-A-Scream?”

“I was bored.” Virgil said offhandedly, “Thought I’d come bother you- But I guess someone beat me to the chase?”

“Oh,” Roman said, frowning, “That was just my.. agent.”

“Ah.” Virgil said. He bent down and picked up Roman’s fallen keys, “You dropped these.” He said, holding them out.

“How kind of you to return them to me.” Roman said, taking them back.

As Roman stuck the keys back into his pocket, Virgil noticed something-

He was wearing a ring.

“..What’s this?” Virgil said, taking Roman’s hand to inspect the ring.

It was large, white, and it had a circular section with a gold S engraved into it.

“Oh, that,” Roman said, tugging his hand away, “It’s nothing.”

Virgil’s heart sunk a little, but he forced a smirk, “You’re not getting married without inviting me, are you, Princey?”

Roman laughed, “Married? No, no. Of course not. It’s just this dumb thing that my parents insisted I wear. Logan made it for them a while ago.”

Inwardly, Virgil sighed with relief.

“What’s it do?” He asked.

“Well, if I were to push this button in the center,” Roman gestured to the section with the S, “It would notify the authorities and superheroes of the city that I require aid.” He sighed, “It’s stupid, but my parents think I need it.”

Virgil grimaced. He didn’t know how to respond to that.

“..Oh.” He eventually said. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Roman said.

Virgil sweeped his bangs out of his eyes absentmindedly, and Roman laughed.

“What?” Virgil said.

“How long has it been since you’ve had a haircut, Sass-quatch?” The Prince asked.

“Oh, uh.. Huh, I guess it’s been a few months.” Virgil answered.

“MONTHS?!” Roman gasped.

Virgil crossed his arms self-consciously, “It’s a little hard to go to the barber when you’re in hiding!”

Roman chuckled, “I guess that’s true.” He gazed at Virgil for a long moment. “Your bangs are so long, I can hardly see your eyes anymore.”

Virgil smirked, “Aw, and you miss getting lost in them?”

He relished in watching Roman’s face redden.

“I mean.. yeah, actually. A little bit.” Roman didn’t meet his eyes.

“..What do you mean?” Virgil asked. He tried to keep his voice casual.

“I mean, um, your eyes are.. you know..” Roman tugged at his jacket, “Kind of.. mesmerizing.”

Virgil’s stomach flipped, startling a group of butterflies within him.

“Mesmerizing?” He managed to say.

“Well.. yes. They change color- did you know that?”

Virgil’s brow furrowed, “Wait, what?”

“Only sometimes,” Roman said. “They actually haven’t done it in a while, but when you use your Propensity, they change into this.. deep gray color.”

Virgil’s eyes widened. Gray eyes. Just like that strange, haunting nightmare.

“Huh,” Virgil said, trying to hide how much Roman’s words had affected him, “So that explains why I’ve seen people describe me as having gray eyes.”

Roman smiled, “Glad to have cleared things up.”

Virgil dismissed the troubled thoughts lurking in the back of his mind, instead focusing on this moment.

“There’s actually something else that I could use some help clearing up.” He said.

“What’s that?” Roman asked.

Virgil smirked, “I’m incredibly interested in hearing the extent of your infatuation with my mesmerizing eyes.”

Roman groaned, “Oh, lord almighty, you’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“No, no, I’m genuinely curious, Princey!” Virgil said, his smirk widening, “For the record, how often you find yourself staring into the depths of my beautiful orbs? One hundred percent of the time? Ninety?”

“What have I done?” Roman said, burying his tomato-red face in his hands.

Virgil cackled at his embarrassment and edged closer. He tilted his head so he could meet Roman’s eyes underneath his hands, “I’m serious, Princey! I’d love to hear more!”

Roman removed his hands from his face in exasperation, “Shut up!” He said, but he was smiling, despite himself.

Virgil grinned, “On a scale from ‘breathtaking’ to ‘the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen’, where would you say my eyes fall?”

Roman groaned, “I don’t know- like I said before, I can’t see them underneath your curséd bangs!”

They both laughed softly, and a brief silence followed.

In this silence, Roman did something completely unexpected. He reached out a hand and brushed Virgil’s bangs out of his eyes himself.

Virgil’s breath hitched, his smirk immediately melting away as Roman’s hand grazed his cheek. The action was apprehensive, deliberate- careful. Roman’s eyes locked with his, and Virgil’s world slowed, his entire being pivoting around this one instance.

He tracked every single twitch of Roman’s hand, every single point of contact between their skin. He felt each individual strand of hair travel across his forehead...

And at the very point at which the moment should have ended... it didn’t.

Instead, Roman’s hand lingered, hovering at Virgil’s cheekbone, Roman’s thumb just barely brushing against his face.

The world stopped turning.

Virgil swallowed thickly, staring at Roman, who stared back, saying nothing.

“Roman..” Virgil breathed.

And then, an indescribable force was pulling him forward, pulling them both forward, towards each other. They were both leaning in.

It was impulsive. But what wasn’t, with them? That impulsive nature, that recklessness- it was what made them so similar, despite everything that differentiated them from one another.

It was stupid, and bold, and neither of them were thinking it through. Yet, still, they were gravitating towards each other, microinch by microinch.

Virgil tilted his head, his lips parting. He closed his eyes as they continued to move nearer and nearer.

Because of that, he missed what happened next.

At the last possible point in time, at the very second when their lips were about to come into contact, The Prince’s eyes widened and grew panicked.

He stepped back, yanking his hand away from Virgil’s face, whose eyes snapped open in surprise.

Roman put a hand to his brand new ring, and he pressed the button with the golden S.

Before Virgil could even begin to process what that meant, The Prince gripped both of his arms, twisting him around so that he was facing the other way and restraining him.

Virgil was trapped. He tried to resist, but his arms were held so that they were wrapped around his chest uncomfortably. He couldn’t get out of it.

“What the hell has gotten into you?!” He gasped, struggling to break loose from Roman’s hold.

“Silence, Villain!” The Prince snapped.

“What the fuck are you doing, Princey?” Virgil snarled.

His initial shock was beginning to subside enough to make room for seething, unadulterated rage.

He heard sirens in the distance, growing closer.

“What does it look like I’m doing, Villain? I am apprehending you for the sake of Druthers City.” The Prince said. “We’re enemies.. remember?” His voice was hollow and empty, like he was reading from a teleprompter.

Even so, his words felt like the twist of the knife in Virgil’s heart.

So this is what Roman was going to do, after everything that had happened? After everything they had done, together? The same old motherfucking script with the same old motherfucking lines?

Fuck him, then. The Prince didn’t deserve Virgil’s mercy.

Virgil reached inside himself mentally, searching for the place in the pit of his gut where his Propensity was drawn from.

For some reason, though, he couldn’t find it.

He was angry, that was for certain. He felt angrier than he had ever been in his life. Angry, and confused, and heartbroken, and betrayed. He was trembling with raw emotion. Normally, that would be the perfect condition for his Propensity, and yet it didn’t show.

It had to do with the suddenness of it all. Just moments ago, he had been about to- They had been about to-

Virgil’s heart twisted painfully.

There was a screech of tires as several police cars braked violently around them. Virgil tried to count how many there were, but he saw nothing but a vague mess of red and blue light. Tears were welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision. He let out a desperate sob and threw himself forward violently, trying again to escape, but The Prince’s grip was like iron. He could hear The Prince’s voice as he spoke to one of the officers, but he couldn’t make out the words; the blood rushing in his head was overpowering.

He needed to get out, he had to get away, he couldn’t stand being near The Prince for another second.

Then, Virgil felt it. A tugging sensation within him, like something tethered was trying to break loose. But.. it wasn’t just coming from the pit of his stomach- it was also coming from his chest. It didn’t feel like his usual Propensity. It was familiar, but.. but it was different, somehow.

He didn’t care, though. Nothing mattered to him right now other than getting away.

So, he found the tugs, in his chest and in his stomach. He reached out for them, and he pulled.

Lightning struck in front of Virgil, jolting the ground and sending a shock through his entire body. Somehow, though, he was unharmed. Not only that, but it was pouring rain- when had that happened?

Even with the sheets of rain practically blinding him, Virgil could hear the screams, the cries of fear all around him. He could sense the terror. His Propensity was at work. He found no satisfaction in it, though.

What he did find satisfaction in was the point at which he finally felt the grip on his arms slacken.

Immediately, Virgil ripped himself away from The Prince, distancing himself as far from him as possible. Once he was free, Virgil nearly cried with relief, though he was already crying. His entire body quaked as he took deep breaths, trying unsuccessfully to calm himself down.

He just, he just..

He tried to breathe. The rain was deafening around him. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

He just needed to get away from here.

Virgil took a step forward, and then another step, and another.

He walked away from the scene. He walked away from the terror of people witnessing their greatest fears. He walked away from the hero who he, like a fucking idiot, had decided to trust.

There was no monologue going through his head. There was no train of thought. There was only rage, and heartbreak, and pain. The most he could do was let his feet blindly lead him along to a place that wasn’t here, and even that took all of his effort.

Virgil didn’t know how long he walked, but he eventually found himself at his destination.

He was at Patton and Logan’s house. In his mind, there was no other place to go. He rang the doorbell, and he waited an indiscriminate amount of time for the door to open. When it did, he didn’t even look at who had answered it. The concerned words spoken to him went unheard as he pushed past the individual and into the house.

The one thing he managed to think of doing before he passed out on the couch was to take off his shoes.

Chapter Text

Virgil woke up to sunlight streaming in from the window. He clenched his eyes shut and raised a hand, trying to block it out. His throat felt like he’d swallowed glass, and his arms ached. As he sat up and his eyes began to adjust to the light, Virgil realized where he was.

He frowned. No, that couldn’t be right. That would mean…

The events of the day before all came rushing back.

No. No, no, no, no.

The ring, the lightning, the police cars, Roman.. It had to have been a nightmare. It didn’t make any sense for it to have been real.

But how else could he explain the fact that he had woken up on Patton and Logan’s couch?

“Kiddo! You’re awake!” Patton appeared out of nowhere, rushing to Virgil’s side immediately, “What happened yesterday?! Are you alright?!”

When Virgil didn’t answer him, Patton kept talking, “You’re lucky that Logan was home when you showed up- He called me after you passed out. He said that your eyes were.. Gray?” Patton leaned forward to inspect him closer, “They look brown, now..” He said.

Virgil felt a pang in his chest as he was reminded of his conversation with Roman. It had been real, hadn’t it?

Logan walked into the living room, immediately spotting the two of them and walking over.

“Virgil, you are awake.” He said.

“Duh.” Virgil responded. His voice came out hoarse.

“Aw,” Patton said, “Do you want some water, Virge?”

Virgil nodded, and Patton went to go and get some water, leaving him and Logan alone.

Logan looked at him through his black-framed glasses, his blue eyes assessing him with interest.

“How is it that you stayed dry?” He asked.

“Uh, what?” Virgil said.

“You came here in the middle of a sudden thunderstorm, and yet you were completely dry. You were not carrying an umbrella, and even if you were, you still would have ended up somewhat damp due to the wind. How did you manage it?”

Virgil frowned, “I.. I don’t know. I don’t.. remember much about what happened.” That wasn’t quite true. He was actively avoiding remembering what had happened. “I remember walking here in the rain, though. Are you sure I was dry?”

“Positive.” Logan said.

“But..how could that be possible?” Virgil asked.

“..I don’t know.” Logan said.

Patton returned from the kitchen holding a glass of water. He handed it to Virgil, who gulped it down gratefully. Once the cup was drained, Patton spoke.

“So,” He said, “What exactly went down, kiddo? We saw some of it on the news- did something happen between you and Roman..?”

Just hearing his name made everything come back to Virgil. His blood boiled.

“Yeah.” Virgil growled. “Something happened.”

“Oh, no- did you two get into a fight?”

Virgil clenched his jaw, “Something like that.”

Patton gave him a concerned look, “You seem off, bud- Are you feeling alright?” He said, putting a hand to Virgil’s forehead.

Virgil remembered Roman’s hand brushing his bangs aside in the exact same place, so delicately- he swatted Patton’s hand away, “Don’t touch me!” He said.

Patton looked taken aback, “What did Roman do?”

“Why are you so nosy all of the sudden?” Virgil snapped. He was in the mood to pick a fight.

Patton made an affronted sound, “I’m not being nosy- I just want you to talk to me!”

“You do know you’re not actually my dad, right?” Virgil said.

“I- Of course I know that! That doesn’t mean I can’t be worried about you!”

“I can take care of myself!” Virgil yelled.

“Really?” Patton said, his voice raising, “You were the one who showed up to our home the middle of the day with no warning and passed out for twelve hours-“

“Patton, Virgil, you both need to calm down-“ Logan interjected, but his words fell upon deaf ears.

“Just because I’m at your house doesn’t mean I have to tell you about something that’s none of your fucking business.”

“I- I know that, kiddo, but as someone who loves you, I just want to-” Patton put a hand on Virgil’s arm, trying desperately to convey how much he cared, but it had the opposite effect.

Virgil leapt up, “I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Patton stopped talking, and for a moment, the only noise in the room was Virgil’s heavy breathing.

“Patton?” Logan said suddenly. “Patton, are you alright?”

Patton had begun to look at the floor in horror. When Virgil looked, he didn’t see anything.

Then, Patton started to scream.

“No, no, no- get away! Get away!”

What was going..?

Virgil’s eyes widened. He didn’t. He couldn’t have.

No. No, no, no, no, no. Shit, shit, shit.

He had-

He had used his Propensity on Patton.

Logan rushed forward, trying to calm Patton down, and Virgil looked at him in shock. Why hadn’t Logan been affected?

Patton didn’t register his husband. He was in his own world, his own nightmare, scrambling away from enemies that only he could see. His eyes dashed wildly around the room. Whatever he was afraid of, they were everywhere.

Virgil took a step forward, “Fuck, Patton- Patton, I- I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry-“ He stammered.

Logan turned around, staring at Virgil, “Did you do this?”

“I- I- I didn’t mean to-“ Virgil tried to say.

“You did this.”

“Logan, I’m so sor-“

“Get out.” Logan said firmly. His voice was trembling.

“What?” Virgil said.

“Get out of my house.” Logan commanded.

“But I want to-“

“Virgil!” Logan yelled. Everything else went silent. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he was physically trembling. “I will not repeat myself a third time.”

Virgil stared at him for a moment. Then, he took several steps back.

As soon as he did, Logan turned away from him, wrapping his arm around Patton. “I’m here, honey. It isn’t real, it isn’t real..” Logan said softly. The shift in tone was miraculous. His aggression had melted away the moment he diverted his attention towards his husband.

Virgil felt the weight of his guilt begin to set on. He had never seen Patton so afraid. He had never seen Logan so angry. He had caused this. Of course Logan wanted him to leave.

Virgil turned and exited the house.

Once he had shut the door behind him, Virgil started running.

He kept running, forcing his limbs to move until he started to feel sick. Then, he stopped, finally allowing himself to catch his breath. He was shaking, and his attempt at breathing felt more like drowning. Was he going to cry? Was he going to have a panic attack? Was he finally dying?

He let out a noise somewhere between a sob and a whimper. Somehow, he had managed to lose the last two people he had left.

It was bound to have happened eventually. It was inevitable- he knew that. He had just.. forgotten. He had forgotten what he was.

He was a villain. He was a monster. He always had been. Why had he ever thought he could pretend to be anything else? Who did he think he was kidding?

Was he really so idiotic to have thought that Roman loved him back? He was unloveable. He was pathetic. He was a monster. He was a monster.

It was no wonder Roman had betrayed him.

Chapter Text

Eventually, Virgil managed to drag himself home. He managed to change out of his stupid fucking costume. He managed to take a shower.

By the time he had done all of this, it was night. So, he put on his pajamas and lay in bed.

He didn’t sleep. He wasn’t tired.

For the entire night, he did nothing but stare at the ceiling, listening to the battlefield of his own mind.

When the sun began to rise, he stayed in bed. When he heard his phone ringing on his bedside table, over and over again, he stayed in bed, and he didn’t answer it.

Finally, he found himself needing to use the restroom, and he forced himself to get up. After he had done that, Virgil made his way to the kitchen. He was hungry.

He warmed up some soup, and he ate it methodically. It burnt his tongue, but he didn’t care.

Then, Virgil made the mistake of turning on the television.

Roman was on screen, because the world hated Virgil. When he saw what the news story was about, Virgil found himself wanting to grab the nearest blunt object and beat the screen until it was shattered to pieces. He didn’t, though. He just stared at it, too angry to even move.

The bottom of the screen read: “The Prince Accepts Key To Druthers City”.

Virgil watched the entire rest of the news story, his vision red. Apparently, The Prince had earned the key to Druthers City for his “valiant effort” and “near capture of the nefarious villain terrorizing the city”.

Near capture. Roman had failed. Virgil had escaped. Where was his damn key to the city?

Then, Virgil had an idea. He looked at the on-screen picture of The Prince, which showed him holding up the key with his annoying-ass staged smile. Virgil made up his mind, and a grin slipped onto his face.

Nightmare was going to steal the fuck out of that key.

It became his sole goal. Don’t think about Patton- think about the key. Don’t think about Logan- think about the key. Don’t think about how much you hate yourself- think about the key. Don’t think about what Roman did- think about the look on his dumb face when he realizes his brand new key is gone.

Soon enough, Virgil had a plan in mind. However, he was going to have to look at his phone.

Ever since he had gotten back to his house, it had been ringing off the hook, and he had been avoiding it stolidly. He dreaded seeing who it was more than anything, but he needed to use it.

Virgil stared at it on the bedside table. All he had to do was pick it up, turn it on, and unlock it. That was it. He just had to-

In a quick motion, Virgil grabbed the phone off the charger and turned it on, like ripping off a band-aid.

He had 2 texts and 5 missed calls from Logan.

He had 23 texts and 7 missed calls from Patton.

And.. and..

And he had 152 texts and 21 missed calls from Princey.

Virgil stared at the notification, his hand hovering over it. Should he say what he had to say..?

Virgil jerked his hand back. No. He unlocked his phone, escaping the glare of the notifications. Then, he found himself going to his contacts. He scrolled through the names- there weren’t very many. In the P section, there were two names: Patton and Princey. Virgil pressed on the second name forcefully.

When the contact came up, Virgil stopped short.

At the top of the contact was Princey’s contact picture. He remembered the first text conversation he had ever had with him.

Hi! This is Roman! He had said.

At the time, Virgil had rolled his eyes,

What do u want Princey

I figured I would text you so you can add my number to your phone. Roman responded, adding a string of emojis to the end of the message as well.

Virgil couldn’t really argue with that. He added Roman’s number into his phone under the name Princey with a red heart next to it, for irony, of course.

Ok you’re added. Virgil had texted.

Then, Roman had sent a picture of himself. In the picture, he was looking off to the side with a smile, one hand lifted in the air dramatically. Somehow, the lighting was perfect, turning his brown hair gold and highlighting his features expertly. Virgil remembered feeling something that he had assumed to be annoyance at how photogenic Roman was. He knew now that it had probably been a completely different feeling altogether.

Underneath the photo, Roman had sent another text.

^^ For the contact picture.

Looking at the picture now made Virgil’s heart ache all over again. After a moment, he scowled, and he decided to finish what he had been doing originally. He scrolled down to the bottom of the contact, and he blocked The Prince’s number.

After having done that, Virgil went to do something even more painful, but it would be necessary. He navigated to the Instagram app, and he opened it. Then, he went to Roman’s Instagram account, roman_spectacular. He tried not to dwell on how much it hurt to see so many pictures of him in one place, and instead he looked for something else.

Aha. Virgil smirked.

His most recent post was a picture of the key to the city, propped on a shelf in what had to be his home. The caption read: Found a place for it in the house!

Virgil had been relying on Roman to make a post like that. In that regard, Roman hadn’t failed him. Now, it was confirmed that the key was in Roman’s house. More than that, he knew what the place where it was being kept looked like. He could work with this.

Almost a week later, Virgil was ready. Things had taken a lot longer than expected, but it was finally time to get payback.

Under the cover of night, he made his way to Roman’s house, dressed again in his Nightmare outfit. No matter how much he tried not to, he couldn’t help but think about how this exactly like the night where everything went wrong.

This would be different, though. He’d thought this through. He had a plan. He wasn’t under the false impression of having Roman’s trust.

When he reached the gates of the house, Virgil took a deep breath. Okay. First step: climb the fence.

The fence was a little bit taller than he was. It was composed of tall, black, vertical bars. He’d watched some videos and read several articles on how to do this, and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t break any bones.

It took more tries than Virgil’s dignity would’ve liked, but he eventually managed to climb up and over the fence, landing on the other side with a roll.

Okay. Okay. Cool.

Second step: pick the lock at the front door. This was going to be the hardest part. This is what had made this plan take so long. Virgil didn’t have any experience with lockpicking, so he had ordered some practice locks and a lockpicking kit online. He.. hoped he would be able to pick it. If he couldn’t do it, he would have to find another way in.

Virgil approached the door, checking his shoulders. Okay, okay. From a small bag that he was carrying, Virgil took out his lockpicking tools. He could do this. What did he need to do first?

Oh, right. Virgil let out a laugh under his breath. First, he needed to check if the door was unlocked, just in case. He turned the handle.

Obviously, it was-

He turned the handle again.

It was unlocked?

Virgil blinked. He had not been expecting that at all. Was The Prince really that arrogant to believe that no one would even dare to try and break in?

Virgil put his tools away, trying not to laugh too loudly as he did. Alright, then. This was going to be a lot simpler than he thought.

Step three: get the key. Virgil entered the house cautiously, clicking his flashlight on. He took a few steps in, and then a few more. When no alarms went off, he smiled and walked a little more confidently forward.

All that Virgil knew about the key’s location was that it was on a shelf, which meant it would be fairly difficult to find.

Virgil shined his flashlight across the living room. Key, key, key.. Something glinted as he moved his flashlight over it, and Virgil doubled back.

Or, at least, he thought it would be difficult to find.

Virgil let out a genuine laugh. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The key was right there- it was one of the first things you saw when you got into the house! Apparently, Virgil had given Princey far too much credit.

Virgil walked over to the shelf. The key was at the very top, and in order to get it he had to stand on his tiptoes. Even then, he just barely managed to grab it, which annoyed him to no end. It was like Roman was taunting him on purpose. Still, he had it. It was ridiculously large, gold, and ornate. He was glad that he hadn’t seen anyone out on the walk here, because there was no way he would be able to hide it.

Now that he had the key, Virgil couldn’t help but feel shocked. All he had to do now go home. Was it really that simple?

It was. He left Roman’s house with the key, closing the door behind him carefully. The entire way home, not a single soul bothered him.

Still, Virgil didn’t let his guard down until he was safely in his own home. Only then did he allow the tension to leave his body. He stared down at the key in his hands in disbelief. He had been so sure that something would go wrong. He thought that he wouldn’t be able to climb the fence, or that he wouldn’t be able to pick the lock, or that the house would have an alarm, or that Roman would be awake- The only unexpected things that happened were things that made his job less difficult!

And now, standing with the key in his hands, he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or uneasy.

Virgil yawned. Apparently, he felt tired.

He’d had enough for the day. Gingerly, he set the key on the coffee table, and he walked to his bedroom to get ready to go to sleep.

In the morning, the news about the key’s disappearance would come out, and Virgil couldn’t wait to see the look on Roman’s face.

Still, even as he took off his mask and cape, Virgil couldn’t believe how easy it had-

BOOM.

Virgil’s thoughts were cut off by the house exploding.

Chapter Text

Roman Spectacular woke up to an earthquake.

This was odd, because Druther City didn’t have earthquakes. Roman frowned, removing his sleeping mask and opening his eyes. Then, he yawned and grabbed his phone from the bedside table.

Still no answer from Virgil. He hadn’t expected one, but it still hurt to see. He checked the time: 4:01 AM. He sighed, setting his phone back down. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up, stretching.

He made his way to the front door. He was still in his pajamas, but he figured that if he could get a look around outside he might be able to tell what had woken him up.

However, as Roman entered the living room, he couldn’t help but glance up at the shelf where his newly-gifted key to the city lay.

Then, he stared.

It was gone.

How- What- Where- Who could’ve possibly..?

It dawned on Roman: Nightmare. Of course.

He laughed and shook his head, “Good riddance.” He said to the spot where the key had been.

He had hated accepting it more than anything. He hadn’t deserved it in any way. He had betrayed his friend, and then he hadn’t even managed to capture him. He was an absolute failure in all regards.

..What was he doing again?

Oh, right. The earthquake.

Roman took one last look at the shelf, and then he left out of the front door. He stepped into his front yard, and he focused his energy, lifting up into the air.

He rose higher and higher, searching his surroundings for any sign of a commotion. Then, he saw it. Out in the distance, smoke was rising.

A fire? Maybe. But how would that explain the tremor?

..An explosion, then.

Roman’s eyes widened. Someone could be in trouble!

As quick as he could, he flew back inside and changed into his outfit. He was in a rush. In fact, he was in so much of a rush that he didn’t even bother to comb his hair before he left the house.

Roman flew at full speed towards the thick black smoke in the distance. Soon enough, he realized that it wasn’t coming from within the city- it was in the direction of the houses and neighborhoods outside the city. He frowned. He had figured this was the work of a supervillain, but it made no sense for a supervillain to blow up some random house. In that case, it had to be some sort of accident.

As he neared the source of the smoke, Roman began to hear sirens. The fire department was on their way, and hopefully the ambulance- good.

Finally, Roman arrived at the scene. It was a secluded house just outside of the city- or at least, it used to be. Now, it was a mess of shattered glass, collapsed walls, and caved-in ceilings. Whatever had caused the explosion had to have been near the front of the house, in what might have been the living room, because the sections of the house farthest from that area were the least destroyed. Roman searched the debris from above, trying to see any survivors, but then he saw two familiar figures.

“Mother! Father!” Roman said, descending towards them.

They both looked up at him with surprised expressions.

“Roman!” Mrs. Spectacular said, “What are you doing here?”

“I felt the explosion- I wanted to come and help, same as you two.”

“That’s kind of you, Roman, but we have the matter under control.” Mrs. Spectacular said, tucking her blond hair behind one of her ears.

“Do you know what caused this?” Roman asked.

His parents exchanged a look, “..We aren’t-” Mr. Spectacular started to say, but Roman interrupted when he spotted something.

“There’s someone down there!” Roman exclaimed. Indeed, he could see a flash of black and purple clothing down below. Someone’s legs were poking out from underneath a pile of debris.

“We’ve got to help!” Roman said. Immediately, he flew down to the figure. Thankfully, they were in one of the more intact rooms of the house, but the upper half of their body was covered by a large piece of wood. Roman grabbed the wood, attempting to hoist it off, but it didn’t budge.

He looked up at his parents, who were hovering above him, “Come on! Help me lift this!”

Mr. Spectacular frowned at the body, “Roman, don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way that he could’ve survived.”

Roman stared at his father, “We can’t know until we’ve checked!” He said.

“Roman, don’t talk back to your father.” Mrs. Spectacular reminded him.

Roman shrunk. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as rude, but.. there is a chance they could still be alive under there. Shouldn’t we at least check?”

When his parents didn’t respond to him, Roman looked down at the figure. Something about them looked.. Familiar, almost.

“Why shouldn’t we check?” Roman asked.

“Because there isn’t a point.” Mr. Spectacular answered, scowling at him. “Honestly, Roman, have you not been listening?”

“I’ve been listening, I just-” Roman inhaled, lowering his voice. “If there is the smallest chance that this person could be alive, we have to help them. It is our duty as heroes.”

His parents exchanged another look, and then finally floated down to assist him. With the three of them combined, the wood was lifted easily, mostly by Mr. Spectacular. Normally, Roman might have been impressed by that fact, but he was more worried about the person underneath.

Roman began to sweep plaster off of the body, and as he did, he began to recognize the person’s features. Pale skin. Black clothing. Purple hair..

No, no, no! Roman’s eyes widened, and his motions became more frantic. Then, he uncovered the person’s face and gasped.

His head was covered in blood, and his eyes were closed, but Roman would have recognized that face anywhere. It was Nightmare. It was Virgil.

Roman’s breathing began to quicken as he stared at his body- no, no, not his body. It couldn’t be his body, because that would mean that the last thing he had ever said to him, the last interaction he had ever had with him had been.. No. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be. He couldn’t.

Roman placed his hands on Virgil’s neck as gently as possible.

“Please, please, please..” He whispered as he extended two trembling fingers and began to search for a pulse. For a moment, he felt nothing, and he feared the worst, but- there! He felt a soft thrumming underneath his fingers, and Roman let out a sigh of relief.

“He’s alive!” He shouted.

Thank God. Thank God.

Roman gazed at Virgil’s unconscious body. He didn’t look peaceful in his sleep at all. In fact, he looked even more troubled than he did when he was awake.

“Well, this is a problem..” Mr. Spectacular said.

Roman’s brow furrowed, and he turned away from Virgil, “Wait, what? What is?”

“The fact that he’s still alive.” Mr. Spectacular said plainly.

Roman frowned, “What? I- I don’t understand. Why is that a problem?”

“We assumed that this would eliminate Nightmare permanently.” Mrs. Spectacular said.

“Wait- You did this?!”

“Yes, Roman, pay attention. The plan worked like a charm- He took the bait, just as we had expected, and yet he is still alive..”

“The- The bait? What bait?” Roman asked. Before either of his parents could answer, though, he came to the conclusion himself, “The key?!”

“Yes, Roman,” Mr. Spectacular said, “The bomb.”

“The-” Roman leapt up, “YOU HAD ME PLACE A BOMB IN MY HOUSE?!”

“Oh, do calm down, Roman. We were never going to detonate it while it was still in your possession.” Mrs. Spectacular said.

Roman stared at them both in horror, “You- You- The whole thing- It was all a- a trap?”

“Of course it was.” Mr. Spectacular snapped. “Did you really think you deserved to be rewarded for failing us yet again?”

In all honesty, Roman hadn’t thought that he deserved it, but that was beside the point. “But.. you can’t.. We can’t..”

“Spit it out, Roman.”

“We’re supposed to be the good guys!” Roman exclaimed. “Planting a bomb like that- that’s something a villain would do- not a hero!”

“Roman, you have to understand that sometimes, as heroes, we must do whatever is necessary for the greater good.” Mrs. Spectacular told him.

Roman looked between his two parents. It felt like he was seeing entirely different people.

“O..Okay, sure.. I may have understood if it was used in order to track down Nightmare, but.. this?”

“Oh, please,” His mother said, “We’ve known his location for months.”

“What?! You have?!”

“Yes, Roman.” His father said. “Nightmare was not nearly as careful as he thought himself to be.”

“Wha- Why didn’t you tell me?” Roman asked.

“Well, he was your responsibility, Roman! You told us time and time again that you didn’t need our help. Really, this is your fault. If you had been able to apprehend Nightmare earlier, we would not have had to stoop to such extreme measures.”

Roman couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “You’re saying that this is my fault?! Mine?!”

How could they say that?! How could they have done this? It went against everything they had taught him. It went against everything a hero stood for!

“I’m so done with you guys!” Roman yelled.

His parents stared at him in stunned silence. He had never, ever dared to raise his voice at them before.

Roman’s eyes fell onto the ring on his finger, and he yanked it off, “Is this a bomb, too?!” He asked furiously, holding it up. “Oh, wait- Why am I even bothering to ask? If it was, I’d be the last person you would tell, wouldn’t I?!” Then, he chunked the ring as far as he could.

He had wanted to do that ever since he had messed things up with Virgil, but he had stopped himself on the basis of what his parents might say. Now, though, Roman found that he was too angry to care.

He opened his mouth to tell them more about what he had to say, because he was on a roll, but he stopped when he heard a groan from behind him.

Roman whirled around. Virgil was clutching his head and his ribs, squinting at his surroundings.

“Virgil! You’re awake!” Roman exclaimed. Immediately, he bent down next to him, holding his head up delicately and clutching his shoulder. “Are you okay?!”

Virgil blinked blearily up at Roman. When his eyes finally seemed to focus on him, they narrowed.

“Get the hell off of me.” Virgil said.

He had always been quite the charmer.

Chapter Text

When Virgil woke up, his ears were ringing. Upon further investigation, he found that in addition to that fun tidbit, his head was aching, his vision was blurry, and he was having trouble breathing. He groaned, clutching at his head with one hand and his ribs with the other. The hand clutching at his head came off wet and red. His blood. He was bleeding. Awesome.

Then, out of nowhere, someone was holding him and speaking to him gently. Who was it? They seemed nice. Virgil squinted at the figure. At first, they looked like a blob of white, gold, and red, but eventually it all grouped together to form..

Oh. Nevermind, it was fucking Roman.

“Get the hell off of me.” Virgil said immediately.

Roman gave him a bittersweet smile and ignored him.

“I’m not kidding.” Virgil said. He tried to sit up, but it sent a stab of pain through his chest, and he lay back down. “Agh! Fuck.. what happened?”

“Uh.. well..” Roman said, “The key was a bomb.”

"I'm sorry, what?! The key was a fucking what?!” Virgil clenched his fists, “It wasn’t enough to betray me- you had to try and kill me, too?!”

Roman’s eyes widened, “No, no-“

“We were trying to kill you.” A deep voice said.

Virgil frowned, and he looked past Roman. Sure enough, there were two other people in the room who he had completely failed to notice. They looked to be a man and a woman, and both of them looked like white supermodels. The woman had long, blond hair and a lean, well-proportioned build. The man was tall and muscular, with dark brown hair and the rugged beginnings of a beard. His jawline looked like it could cut glass. They wore matching white and gold superhero outfits, each with a curved S on the front. The man’s outfit was white with a gold S and cape, and the woman’s was gold with a white S and cape.

“Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular?” Virgil said.

“Obviously.” Mrs. Spectacular said.

Virgil got over his original surprise, scowling, “You look just like your statues.” He said. “Horns and everything.”

Mr. Spectacular surged forward, “Why, you insolent little-“ Then, he stopped, seeming to remember himself. “You’re not worth my time, Villain.” He spat. “Roman, it’s time for us to leave.”

Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular lifted in the air, preparing to go.

“I agree.” Roman said. “We need to get to the hospital as soon as we can.”

“Excuse me?”

Roman gave them a confused look, “Uh, Nightmare- we need to get him to the hospital.”

“Why on earth would we do that?” Mrs. Spectacular asked.

“..Because he’s hurt?” Roman said.

At this point, both of Roman’s parents were back on the ground.

“So?” Mrs. Spectacular said. “He is the enemy, Roman.”

“What does that have to do with it?” Said Roman. “We can’t just leave him here to die!”

“We can, and we will.” Mr. Spectacular said sternly.

“I won’t!” Roman proclaimed.

“What did you say?”

“I won’t leave him!”

“Yes, you will.” Mr. Spectacular growled. “Clearly, your attachment to Nightmare is clouding your judgement!”

“I- You- My-“ Roman sputtered, “This has nothing to do with my attachment! It has to do with what is morally right!”

“Oh, please-” Mrs. Spectacular started.

Roman raised his voice, “There is an injured person who requires medical attention! It doesn’t matter who he is- all that matters is that he needs help.”

Behind him, Virgil scoffed. Yeah, okay. Now, it didn’t matter who he was. Okay, Roman.

Still, it wasn’t like Virgil was going to argue with him.

“We are not going to help him, Roman. He is supposed to be dead.” Mr. Spectacular said.

Roman ignored his father, instead turning to Virgil, “Can you stand?” He asked.

After a moment, Virgil rolled his eyes, “I hurt my head and ribs, not my legs. Of course I can stand.”

“Roman Spectacular! Are you listening to me?!”

“Come on.” Roman said to Virgil.

He held out a hand to help him up.

Virgil glared at the hand, but Roman didn’t retract it. Then, Virgil forced himself to sit up on his own, wincing as pain shot up his chest.

Roman took a step nearer, but Virgil shot him a warning look, “I can handle myself, Princey.”

Carefully, Virgil stood up, and he let out a couple of creative curse words as he did. For a moment, his head swam and his vision blacked out. He staggered, and then he felt an arm looping around his shoulder, “That doesn’t look like standing to me.” Roman said.

“Shut up.” Virgil responded, but he leaned on him begrudgingly.

They took a few steps forward, and Virgil winced when his side bumped into Roman painfully.

Roman stopped, “Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” Virgil said through grit teeth.

They began to move forward again, but Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular blocked the way.

“Roman. You are deliberately disobeying us.” Mr. Spectacular said.

“Nightmare is manipulating you. You cannot trust him.” Mrs. Spectacular said.

Roman looked between them, doubt flickering in his eyes, “I- I’m not just going to let him die.” He muttered.

His mother sighed, “Speak up, Roman.”

“I said that I’m not just going to let him die!” Roman yelled.

“So you’re going to help him?” Mr. Spectacular said.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Roman said. Then, he turned towards Virgil, “I’m going to pick you up, now.”

“You’re going to do wha- woah!” Virgil’s protest was interrupted by Roman sweeping his legs out from under him and lifting him up. With an arm under his knees and an arm around his back, Roman was carrying him in what might be described as “bridal style”, but Virgil would rather die than call it that.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Virgil asked, trying to squirm out of Roman’s grasp.

“Yes- what are you doing?!” Mrs. Spectacular said.

Roman grunted, “Nightmare, I am attempting to save you, so could you please stop being difficult for once in your life?” He whispered, his voice tinged with exasperation.

Virgil glared up at Roman, his eyes filled with hate. After a decisive moment, Virgil began to struggle more aggressively than ever, but another jolt of pain made him cry out.

Virgil stopped struggling, letting out a huff.

Roman sighed gratefully, and he addressed his parents. “We’re leaving.” He told them, and he began to move forward.

Virgil avoided eye contact with the two heroes as they walked past them, his face beet-red. This was fucking humiliating. Roman, however, didn’t seem phased at all. He stared ahead and walked with determination in each step.

Soon, they were making their way through what used to be the living room. It began to dawn on Virgil just how lucky he had been. If he had been in the living room when the bomb had gone off, he would’ve had no chance of surviving.

“Are you okay?” Roman asked, misreading his expression. “Am I hurting you?”

“Uh, no- I’m fine.” Virgil said.

Up ahead was the exit, an opening between two collapsed walls that was big enough to walk through easily. As they approached the exit, a whooshing sound behind them signaled that they were being followed.

“Roman, if you believe we are going to permit you to do this, you are sorely mistaken.” Mrs. Spectacular said behind them.

Roman didn’t turn, “I’m not asking for your permission.” He said.

“Roman!” Mr. Spectacular barked. “You-“

Before he could finish whatever he was saying, they exited the building, and dozens of cameras flashed, blinding them.

The press was waiting for them.

As soon as Virgil realized what was happening, he tried to cover his face, but the damage had already been done.

All around them, reporters were bombarding them with questions, all of them blending together and overlapping one another in an overwhelming manner.

“Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular! What-“

“Roman Spectacular! Is that-“

“Why are you helping-“

“Nightmare! Are you-“

Virgil closed his eyes. Maybe if he wished hard enough to not exist, it would come true. Now that the press was around, he could hear Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular explaining how it was their civil duty to protect everyone in this city, including villains. What a load of bullshit. They were playing up the exact sentiments that they had just been arguing against.

Roman didn’t seem to mind, though. Despite all of the questions being sent his way, he stayed calm.

“Excuse me, good people!” He called out. Every reporter fell silent immediately, and Virgil could hear the sound of a vast array of microphones being outstretched towards him. “As much as we would love to answer your questions, this man needs to get to a hospital!”

This caused an uproar of new questions, but Roman just stood, waiting patiently for the noise to die down.

When it had, he spoke again, “We will be heading to the Propensity Medical Center on 13th Street- any further questions can be answered after Vir- after Nightmare receives medical care.”

With that, Roman lifted into the air, the yells of reporters and flashes of cameras following him upwards. His ascent was gentle at first, but he soon began to pick up speed. Virgil clutched onto him, shutting his eyes tighter. Jesus, he hated flying.

The entire way to the hospital, Virgil kept his eyes closed.

At one point, Roman addressed him, “Are you okay?” He asked softly.

How many times was he going to ask that? “Oh, I’m fine, Princey.” Virgil said. “I just got blown up by a bomb. I’m doing great!”

Roman shut up after that.

When they arrived at the front doors of the hospital, Roman finally set him down, much to Virgil’s relief. He still leaned on him for support, but that was not nearly as humiliating as being carried. They entered the building, but they might as well have fired a gun, because the entire lobby of the hospital went silent.

Roman and Virgil walked to the front desk, the Spectaculars trailing behind them. Their footsteps echoed through the building.

“M-Mister- Mister The Prince!” The stunned receptionist exclaimed. “Wel- Welcome to the Propensity Medical- the Propensity Medical Center!”

“Hello there..” Roman glanced at the receptionist’s name tag, “..Mariah. How are you doing today?”

Mariah blinked, “I- I’m doing well. How may I help you today, Roman Spectacular?”

Roman smiled politely, “I’d like to check in Virgil Argus.”

The room erupted into whispers as people overheard this remark.

Mariah stared at Virgil, who raised his eyebrows at her. Quickly, she looked away, addressing Roman instead, “I- uh, of course! What- what happened?”

“He was the victim of an explosion. A large piece of debris fell on him and caused injury to his.. head and chest..?” He looked at Virgil for confirmation, who nodded. “His head and chest. He was unconscious for a short while, as well.”

“Oh, my, that’s quite serious- we’ll make sure to get him help right away, sir.” She said.

She meant it.

Mere minutes later, Virgil was laying in a hospital bed with Roman sitting in a chair next to him. After a very quick round of questions, the nurse had scrambled away to find a doctor. While the medical professionals were eager to help the Spectaculars, they were equally eager to get away from Nightmare.

After a while of waiting, Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular left to address the press, who were gathering outside the front doors of the hospital. Roman wanted to stay at Virgil’s side, but his parents insisted on him coming with them.

Which left Virgil blissfully alone.

Alas, though, this didn’t last long, as the doctor soon arrived.

She was a tall woman with dark green eyes and light brown skin. She wore a blue and white doctor’s uniform with a matching light blue hijab. She gave him a small smile.

“Er, hello.” She said. “I’m Dr. Haneef.”

“Hi.” Virgil answered flatly.

“So you’re.. Virgil?” Dr. Haneef asked.

“Yeah.” Virgil said. He tried to cross his arms, but laying them on his ribs like that hurt, so instead he put them back at his sides and tried to look intimidating.

Dr. Haneef didn’t seem phased. She spent the next thirty minutes or so questioning Virgil on his pain and giving him a series of tests. At first, Virgil was terse and on his guard. However, Dr. Haneef was kind and professional. By all accounts, she treated Virgil just like any patient, and after a while, Virgil allowed himself to relax. Keeping up a façade grew exhausting when you did it for too long.

Eventually, after running him through an x-ray scan, Dr. Haneef told him that she had all the information she needed. She consulted the clipboard in her hands one last time, and she assured him that he would be alright.

Virgil thanked her, and she left the room. However, just as she left, Roman entered.

“Hey.” He said quietly.

Virgil immediately tensed up, glaring at him, “What are you doing here?”

Roman didn’t answer his question. Instead, he said, for the gazillionth time, “Are you okay?”

Virgil snapped. “Why would you care?!”

Roman’s face turned to a stricken expression, “Virgil, I-”

“Don’t call me that.” Virgil interrupted.

Roman sighed, “Nightmare, I’m so, so sorry about what happened that night.”

“Oh, you are?” Virgil said, “Well, then, you’re forgiven, of course!” He said, his voice drenched in sarcasm.

Roman bowed his head, staring at his shoes, “I know I’m not forgiven. I messed everything up, I-”

“Yeah, you did.” Virgil snapped. “I’m done talking about this. Are you here to arrest me, or what?”

To his surprise, Roman didn’t seem affected by this comment. Instead, he just sighed, “Not yet.” He said, taking a seat at a chair by Virgil’s bed. “The best I could get my parents to agree on was waiting until you’re healed enough to walk on your own. There are police officers outside the door.”

“Well, that’s just great.” Virgil monotoned.

Roman gave him a sympathetic look, which only annoyed Virgil more. “..What did the doctor say?” Roman asked. “Are you going to be alright?”

Virgil let out a huff, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Minor concussion, a couple of cracked ribs. She said that there’s not much they can do but give me painkillers and let me rest.”

“Oh.” Roman said, “That’s.. good, I guess. I mean, I’m glad that it’s nothing serious.”

Virgil’s jaw clenched, and when he didn’t say anything, Roman started talking again. He could never pass up on a chance to hear the sound of his own voice.

“You should try and get some sleep, while you can.” He said.

Virgil grit his teeth uncomfortably. He hated the idea of falling asleep with Roman sitting right there. There was no way Virgil trusted him enough to be vulnerable in front of him again.

On the other hand, though, his head had been pounding ever since the explosion. He was exhausted down to his bones. Even now, he could feel his eyelids growing heavy.

Maybe he would rest his eyes, just for a few seconds...

Chapter Text

Virgil was in a dark, padded room. The only light source came from a tiny barred window, far higher than Virgil could reach. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating the only two objects in the room: a stiff cot and a rusty toilet. Virgil got up, looking around with confusion. What was this place? As he stood, he heard clanking noises coming from behind him. He glanced around to find that there were long chains attached to the wall. Virgil realized that these chains were connected to his wrists. He was a prisoner here.

“Hello?!” He called out. “HELLO?!”

His voice was absorbed into the padded walls immediately, leaving not even the faintest echo. He waited for a response, but he was met with nothing but silence.

After yelling for answers a few more times, Virgil sat back down dejectedly. Evidently, no one was going to answer him.

Then, out of nowhere, the room was on fire. When had that happened? He needed to get out!

“HELP!” He yelled, “LET ME OUT! THERE’S A FIRE!”

No answer.

The bright orange flames were drawing nearer. They had already engulfed the cot, and Virgil seemed to be their next target. He scrambled away from them, but the chains at his wrists stopped him from being able to go very far.

The flames were close enough so that he could feel their searing heat. Frantically, Virgil tried again and again to escape his chains, to escape the fire, but his efforts were futile.

“PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!” Virgil cried, desperately.

He was completely surrounded by fire. Virgil shut his eyes. This was it.

“Virgil! Calm down, it’s okay!” A voice said.

Someone was there!

Virgil’s eyes snapped open. “There’s a fire!” He yelled. “I’m trapped, I need-“ Virgil trailed off as he noticed Roman, who was standing over him, gripping his shoulders and shaking him.

Once he saw Virgil’s eyes open, though, he stopped, “Virgil! You’re awake!” Roman said.

Virgil’s frantic breathing began to slow as he recognized his surroundings. There was no padded room. There was no fire. He was in a hospital bed.

As soon as Virgil regained his composure, he shoved Roman away weakly, “Let go of me.”

Roman did, taking a step back with wide eyes, “I’m sorry for waking you up, but you were screaming, and I didn’t know-“

“Forget about it.” Virgil said.

“Are- Are you- Did you have a nightmare?” Roman asked.

Virgil took a deep breath, his chest aching painfully, “It’s none of your business.”

“Do you always yell in your sleep like that? You gave me the fright of my life! You were yelling about a fire, and you were screaming for help- I thought for sure that you’d freak out a bunch of nurses.”

“Princey, can you just.. drop it?” Virgil said tiredly. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“..Okay.” Roman said. He sat back down in his chair. Next to him, Virgil noticed a blanket and a pillow.

He frowned, “Did you stay here overnight?”

Roman wore a guilty expression, like he’d been caught stealing from the cookie jar, “..Yes, I did.”

“Why?” Virgil asked.

Roman turned his attention to the blanket, beginning to fold it up neatly, “To keep an eye on you.” He said carefully.

“..I see.” Virgil said. He rubbed his eyes, “What time is it?”

Roman checked his phone, “It’s almost noon.”

Virgil scrunched up his face, “I feel like shit.” He said.

Roman chuckled, “I bet.”

Virgil stretched in the hospital bed, letting out a high-pitched noise as he did. His joints popped loudly. Ugh.

“Oh, uh, Virgil-” Roman started. Virgil shot him a warning look. “Uh, Nightmare, I mean- The doctor left some painkillers for you.” Roman motioned to a nearby table, which had a glass of water and a small pill bottle on it. “She said it would help you feel better.”

“Oh, than-” Virgil stopped himself. “Tell her I said thanks.”

Roman’s shoulders sunk sadly, “Oh, okay.”

Virgil felt kind of bad, but there was no taking it back, now. He sat up, and he grabbed the pill bottle from the table, opening it. Then, he took two pills, washing them down with a drink of water. As he did that, Virgil realized just how thirsty he was, and he finished off the rest of the glass.

“And, uh, there’s something else.” Roman told Virgil. His voice said bad news.

Virgil sighed, setting down the empty glass and meeting his eyes, “What is it now?”

Roman opened his mouth to tell him, but he stopped at the sound of approaching footsteps. Both of them turned to the door. The knob turned, and in came Dr. Haneef.

“Ah, Virgil, you’re awake.” She said, giving him a warm smile.

Virgil gave her a polite smile in return, “Uh, yep.”

Her eyes fell on the empty glass next to him, “I take it you took your painkillers?”

“Yeah, I did- thank you.” Virgil said.

“Of course.” Dr. Haneef said, picking up the pill bottle. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh..” Virgil considered lying, but he decided against it. “Better than yesterday, but not great.”

Dr. Haneef nodded, “That’s to be expected. The painkillers should help, though.” She began to head towards the door, but stopped. She looked back at Virgil with a slightly sad expression. “I, er.. I have to go and tell the authorities that you’re awake.” She said.

Virgil’s heart sank, “Oh.. okay. Thank you.. For letting me know.” He said.

Dr. Haneef nodded at him, and then she left.

The moment the door shut, Roman leapt up, “You need to get out of here!” He exclaimed.

“Uh, what?” Virgil said.

“This is what I was going to warn you about! My parents said that as soon as you woke up, it was going to be time for your capture!”

Virgil groaned, ”Well that’s just perfect.” He said.

“Don’t worry, though. I have a plan!”

Virgil brow furrowed in confusion, “A plan?”

“To get you out!”

Virgil held up a hand, “Woah, woah, woah- hold up, you’re going to help me escape?”

Roman raised his chin with determination, “Yes.” He said.

Virgil stared at him. “But- But why? Isn’t that what you wanted- my capture?”

“No, of course not!” Roman said. He looked up, “Well, I mean- not anymore.”

“But you- What- What the hell was that night about, then?”

Roman’s demeanor shifted, his confidence melting into shame. He shuffled uneasily, “I.. I’ve never regretted anything more in my life. I acted without thinking, I- I panicked-” Roman looked over his shoulder. Distant footsteps were approaching. His eyes widened, “There’s no time to explain! Get up!”

“But-”

Roman rushed to the door, locking it, “Hurry!”

Virgil got up as quickly as he could, pushing through his pain, “How am I supposed to- There’s no way out!”

“Yes, there is!” Roman said. He rushed to the window. He struggled with it for a moment, but he finally managed to shove it open.

Virgil realized his plan, “Roman Spectacular, you are the most confusing-”

“No time!” Roman exclaimed. The door knob rattled as someone tried to open it. “Go!”

“But-”

“Go!” Roman repeated. “I texted Logan. He and Patton should be waiting for you down the block at that StateFarm building-” The door began to shudder as someone rammed against it. It wouldn’t hold for long.

Virgil stared at Roman for one more moment, and then he climbed out of the window. They were in the first story, thank goodness. He took a few steps away from the hospital, and then he broke into a run. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of angry yelling.

He couldn’t believe it.

Roman had saved him.

Chapter Text

Virgil was running. It didn’t feel as easy as it usually did.

His head was still groggy from waking up. His chest hurt with every breath. He was a mess of emotions.

Still, he had no choice but to keep running, no matter how hard it was. Where did Roman say he needed to go? The StateFarm building?

He looked around, still running- that way. He stopped, turning suddenly. He didn’t know if he was being chased. He was too scared to look. He just knew he needed to run.

Then, he saw it- a black car that he recognized as one of Logan’s. As Virgil ran towards it on the sidewalk, the car began to drive towards him. It pulled up next to him, and Virgil stopped, throwing open the backseat door.

As soon as he got into the car, Logan and Patton turned towards him from the front seats and started addressing him frantically. They were both speaking loudly at him, their voices overlapping one another and their words stumbling out. Virgil couldn’t make out a word of what was being said.

“Hey, hey, hey- slow down, slow down, I can’t understand you guys!” Virgil said.

Patton and Logan looked at each other for a moment, and Logan spoke up.

“You go ahead, Patton.” He said.

Immediately, Patton launched into a barrage of rapid-fire questions.

“Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m-“

“How badly hurt are you?”

“Just a head injury and a couple cracked ribs-“

“Virgil, when we found out you were in the hospital, I wanted to go over there immediately- So did Logan, obviously, but he knew that if we did we would just be getting ourselves into more trouble..”

“I’m glad he stopped you-“

“Oh, Virgil we were so worried about you! What happened?!”

“Well, it’s kind of a long-

“We heard the explosion, but we had no idea that it had come from your house until we saw you and Roman on the news- Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular said that you caused the explosion on accident while trying to create a bomb, is that true?!”

“What? They said that? No, of course not!”

“Oh, thank goodness it’s not, I didn’t think it was but I just didn’t know..” He trailed off.

Virgil had been growing increasingly overwhelmed and concerned over the span of the interrogation. Patton’s voice was getting more and more desperate with each question, and he hardly seemed to register Virgil’s responses in his clamor.

“Are you.. okay?” Virgil asked softly.

Then, Patton burst into tears, “Oh, Virgil, I thought you were going to die!” He sobbed.

Virgil stared at him, taken aback. “Patton- Patt, don’t cry! I’m okay!”

“I- I know, I’m so glad that you are, I’m sorry, it’s just-“ He sniffed, “We were just so scared, kiddo.”

Logan put a hand on his husband’s shoulder reassuringly. He didn’t look too good, either. His shirt was buttoned up unevenly, and he had dark circles under his eyes. While he tried to placate Patton, he kept looking back at Virgil, like if he looked away for too long he might disappear.

Once Patton was somewhat calm, Logan looked at Virgil again, and he spoke.

“Virgil, I-“ His voice cracked. Virgil was extremely concerned about what he was about to say. Seeing Logan this torn up was.. unsettling, to say the least. “Virgil, I never apologized to you in person for the way I acted the last time we saw each other.”

Virgil’s forehead wrinkled as he tried to think back to the last time he had seen Logan and Patton. It felt like it had been ages.

“I’m referring to the.. incident with Patton.” Logan prompted.

Virgil’s face fell. In the midst of everything that had happened, the incident at Logan and Patton’s house had managed to completely slip from his mind. He felt awful. How could he have forgotten what he did?

Logan continued, “I know you did not intend to use your Propensity, and yet I lashed out at you and dismissed you from my home..” He inhaled deeply. “I sincerely apologize. My actions were illogical and, quite frankly, unacceptable. If the words I said then had been the last words I had ever spoken to you-“ He stopped, overcome with emotion.

“What-“ Virgil started. “Logan, what are you- I don’t- I don’t- I don’t understand.. Why- Why would you-“ Virgil tried to formulate a sentence, “Why would you apologize to me?”

Logan looked confused, “Because I acted rashly. I-“

“Logan, I am the only person who should be apologizing. I attacked your husband-“

“You did not do it intentionally-“ Logan started.

Virgil held up a hand, “Intentional or not, I did it. No one in their right mind would be able to stay calm after that. I’m so sorry- Patton-“ Patton looked up, “I am so sorry. It was an accident. I- I was angry, and heartbroken, and I.. I lost control. There’s no excuse.”

“You’re completely fine, kiddo!” Patton said. His voice was ragged from crying. “I never blamed you. I never should have pushed you like that- It was my fault, really-“

As soon as he said that, Logan and Virgil erupted into disagreement.

“I love you, Patton, but that is the most ridiculous claim I have ever-“

“Your fault?! Are you fucking kidding me?!”

They all devolved into explanations about how it was their respective faults. Eventually, after some amount of arguing, they further devolved into laughter. The laughter may have been more than a little hysterical, but that was alright.

Virgil sighed happily, “I.. really missed you guys.” He said.

Patton smiled at him, “We missed you too, kiddo.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Even Logan?”

Logan looked back at him, rolling his eyes, “Yes, Virgil. Of course I missed you.”

Virgil grinned, and he glanced out the window, “As much as I’d love to sit here and be sappy all day.. I’m pretty sure this was supposed to be my getaway vehicle.”

“Oh! You’re right.” Logan said. He faced forwards, switching the car to drive. “Virgil, are you buckled?”

“Uh..” Virgil buckled his seatbelt. “Now I am.”

“Good.” Logan said. He started driving.

“So, Virgil,” Patton began tentatively, “Do you mind telling us what happened?”

“No.” Virgil said.

“Oh, okay. That’s fine, kiddo. You don’t have to-“

“What? No, I meant- No, I don’t mind telling you guys.”

“Oh! Alright, then.”

Virgil started by telling them what had started it all. He started by telling them about that night.

Patton assured him that he didn’t have to, but Virgil wanted to tell them. They deserved to know. He told them everything. It hurt, but he did it.

Throughout the course of the story, Logan pulled over the car twice due to not being ‘emotionally stable enough to drive’; the first time being whenever Virgil described Roman’s betrayal, and the second time being whenever Virgil revealed that it had been Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular who tried to blow him up. On the second, Virgil and Patton had to dissuade Logan from turning the car around to ‘go kill those traitorous bastards’ himself.

Patton squealed multiple times at the beginning, and he ended up crying again. Other than that, he spent the majority of the story staying uncharacteristically quiet.

When it was all over, they drove in silence, all of them taking it in. Virgil’s emotions felt raw all over again. He didn’t know how to feel anymore. On one hand, Roman’s betrayal was fresh in his mind. On the other hand, so was his help in Virgil’s escape.

Logan ended up being the one to break the silence, “Oy vey..” He said. It was a phrase he reserved only for special occasions.

Virgil chuckled hollowly, “Yeah, that just about sums it up.”

There was another long period of silence.

Virgil propped his elbow up on the car door and rested his head in his hand. He stared out the window, watching the scenery go by. Then, he frowned.

“Um, Logan, where are we going?” Virgil asked.

“Ah.” Logan said. “Well, you see, Patton and I are on the run now, too. It won’t take long for it to get out that it was a house under my name that you were living in. Besides, you say that the Spectaculars have apparently known that for a long time, now.”

Virgil felt a surge of guilt rise up. He had never meant to get them this involved in things.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“You have no reason to be. We made a decision to continue to support you, even when we discovered who you were.” Logan said.

“That’s right, Virgil.” Patton agreed. “And we’re going to continue to support you, no matter what.”

Virgil got a lump in his throat, “I don’t deserve you guys.” He said. He really didn’t.

“Don’t be preposterous, Virgil.” Logan responded.

“What? I’m not being preposterous! I’m being serious, I don’t- You guys are the most understanding, caring, wise people I know, and I.. I’m not. I don’t deserve you two. Patton, I attacked you! Logan, I got the house you bought for me blown up!” Virgil laughed, “Why do you put up with me?!”

Virgil watched Logan check his rear-view mirror. At this point, they were on a completely empty road outside the city.

Just as Patton opened his mouth to argue with Virgil, Logan pulled the car over for the third time.

“Virgil, what is your middle name?” He asked.

Virgil had expected Logan to say any number of things, but that had been none of those things. “Uh.. Reuben?”

“Virgil Reuben Argus.” Logan said sternly. “I cannot answer the question that you have asked, because it is not applicable. I do not ‘put up with’ you. Patton, would you say that you ‘put up with’ Virgil?”

“Of course not!” Patton said. “Virgil, being around you makes me happier.”

“Precisely, Patton. We enjoy your presence and company. You are intelligent, thoughtful, observant-“

“And funny.” Patton finished.

Logan smiled, “Yes, and funny.” He took a breath, “When I say you are being preposterous, I mean it. You are being absurd- you are being completely ridiculous in your unfounded claim that you are not worthy of Patton and I. You deserve Patton and I, and we deserve you. Every individual deserves other individuals that make their life better, and that is what you do for us, Virgil.”

“Surely, I don’t make your lives better.” Virgil argued. “I make you guys worried and upset- You both have to go into hiding because of me! How could that possibly be defined as making your lives better?”

Logan let out a noise of pure exasperation.

“Virgil,” Patton began, taking over for his husband, “Everything that.. changes unexpectedly in our lives as a result of caring for you is worth it. Do you know why?”

“No.” Virgil said. He didn’t.

“Because we love you, Virgil.”

The car was quiet for an instance.

Then, a smirk crept onto Virgil’s face, “Even-”

“Yes, Virgil, even me.” Logan said.

Virgil laughed, “..I love you guys, too.” He said quietly.

He still didn’t think he deserved them, but he figured it would be wise to keep that to himself.

Chapter Text

After a little while, Logan began driving again. After a longer while, he had Patton turn on some music- Tchaikovsky. Virgil slumped down comfortably in his seat, staring out the window. It was pleasant.

Then, he realized something.

“Logan, you never did say where we were going.” He said.

“Ah.. I suppose I didn’t.” Logan said. “We are going to a safehouse that I own under an alias.”

“Why.. Why do you have a safehouse?”

“I am a strong believer in contingency plans.” Logan answered.

“Oh, well, that explains it.”

“I’m glad.” Logan said.

Virgil suspected that Logan did that on purpose, and Patton’s laughter was in strong support of this suspicion. Still, Virgil decided not to confront Logan about it, and he instead just rolled his eyes.

Eventually, they reached a beautiful wooded area. Among the tall trees stood a large, wooden house. Its dark wood matched the forest around it nicely, and its multitude of windows reflected the sunlight.

“Woah..” Virgil said. “That’s quite the safehouse.”

The car pulled into the driveway and stopped. Logan unlocked the doors, and Patton got out. Virgil followed his example, but Patton frowned at him.

“Virgil.. You and Logan are just dropping me off here.”

Virgil did a double-take, “Uh, what?”

Behind him, Virgil heard a car door close. He turned to see Logan, who had just gotten out of the car.

“..I am now realizing that we neglected in telling you the plan.”

Virgil looked between them, “What plan?”

“You and I are going somewhere else- or just me, if you object.” Logan said.

“..Where are we going?” Virgil asked. He felt dread rising within him.

Logan’s blue eyes glinted, “The laboratory of Dr. Janus Anthony.”

Virgil stared at him in stunned silence. Surely, he had misheard him. He reviewed the words in his head, but they remained the same. That couldn’t be right.. That couldn’t be right!

“Why on earth are we doing that?!” Virgil exclaimed.

“It seems that we are running out of time.” Logan said. “At least two of the most infamous and powerful superheroes in the city are personally out to get you. All three of us are going to be in danger of being arrested. We need to know the truth. By going to the laboratory, we may be able to attain just that.”

Virgil stared at Logan, “You’re insane!”

“That is incorrect.” Logan said.

“I already made Princey promise that we- or, uh, he wouldn’t go back there until we knew more about who we’re dealing with. I never thought I’d have to worry about you!”

“Virgil, this is the most straightforward way for us to obtain the very information you claim we require. By going to Dr. Anthony’s lab, we should be able to glean more about who they are and what exactly they are doing. If we were to avoid going to the laboratory, we would be intentionally hindering our investigation. I am simply trying to be efficient.”

Virgil crossed his arms, “I hate it when you say things that make sense.” He said. “It makes you really hard to argue with.”

“That is rather the point.” Logan responded.

Virgil looked to Patton, “Do you really agree with this?” He asked.

“Logan and I already had a pretty long.. discussion about it.” His mouth said discussion, but his tone said argument. “..But I eventually gave in.”

“Why?”

Patton smiled, “Because I can tell that he really wants to see the fancy schmancy science lab.”

“What?!” Logan exclaimed.

Virgil snickered, “Now it makes sense.” He said.

Logan’s face grew red with embarrassment.

“That isn’t why!” He protested. “I only want to make the logical decision.”

“Sure, Logan, whatever you say.” Virgil said, smirking.

Logan huffed, “You two are insufferable.”

Virgil took another moment to try and grasp what he was probably about to agree to, but then his brow furrowed.

“Wait, Patton, why aren’t you coming?”

Patton sighed, “Kiddo.. secret labs, confronting bad guys.. that sort of stuff just isn’t for me.” He said. “I’m good at.. making coffee, and cheering people up, and growing flowers.. And, well..” He sighed again. “If things go bad, Logan knows how to defend himself.. and obviously you do, too, kiddo. But me? I wouldn’t be able to defend myself at all. If you had to use your Propensity, I would just be getting in the way. I don’t.. As much as I don’t like the idea of not being there to support you two, I think that the best place for me is right here.”

Virgil frowned, but he didn’t argue. If Patton didn’t want to come, then that was his choice. He looked at Logan, “So.. we’re really gonna do this, then?”

Logan nodded, ”We have to.”

Virgil let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh, “Alright, then.”

Logan walked over to Patton, and they shared a kiss.

Feeling like he was intruding, Virgil looked away, but he heard Patton say, “Be careful.”

“I will be.” Logan responded softly.

Then, after a moment, Virgil found himself engulfed in a crushing bear hug, “You’d better be careful, too, kiddo.” Patton told him.

“Mmf.” Virgil responded.

Patton’s grip relinquished as he shifted to just holding his shoulders.

Once Virgil could breathe, he grinned, “I’m always careful, Patton.”

“I mean it!” Patton said tossling his hair.

Virgil laughed, “Okay, okay, I’ll be careful!”

“Good.”

Patton let go of him, and Logan and Virgil began to walk away, both of them saying goodbye to Patton.

“Take care of Logan for me!” Patton called out.

Virgil chuckled, “Don’t worry, I will!”

They both got in the car, and they began to drive away, Patton waving at them the whole time. Soon enough, though, he was out of sight, and the safehouse was nothing but a dot in the distance.

Virgil ran a hand over his face from his spot in the passenger’s seat.

“Fuck.. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Logan didn’t respond with anything but a vague shrug. He didn’t shrug like most people- it was a mechanical, subtle raise and drop of his shoulders. If you didn’t know him, you might not even notice it.

The rest of the drive was quiet, save for the violin music playing quietly through the speakers.

At some point, Virgil nodded off. He dreamt of being trapped in a room full of snakes, which was scary, but honestly not that bad compared to some of his worse nightmares. When he woke up, they had arrived.

The lab looked just like he had remembered- or, he thought so. As they approached the front of the building, Virgil exhaled a laugh.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Nothing,” Virgil said, “It’s just that they got the door replaced.”

Logan nodded in understanding. Then, they both stopped walking. They had reached the aforementioned door.

Logan reached out a hand, and he knocked three times.

“We’re just going in through the front door?” Virgil hissed.

Before Logan could respond, the door opened.

A black woman with curly brown hair stared at them, “Uh.. who are you guys?” She asked.

Logan and Virgil exchanged a look.

“I’m Logan Clark, and this is Virgil Argus.” Logan said.

Her eyes widened in recognition, “Ohh, you two.” She said, which wasn’t quite the reaction Virgil had expected.

“Are you.. Dr. Anthony?” Logan asked.

“Who, me?” The woman said. Then, she laughed. “No, no. I just work with him. One second.”

She turned her head and yelled, “JANUUSS!! LOGAN CLARK AND THAT NIGHTMARE KID ARE HERE!”

Virgil didn’t know how much he appreciated being called “that nightmare kid”, but he was too anxious to finally see who Dr. Anthony was to protest.

“COMING!” A voice from the lab yelled.

Virgil frowned. The voice sounded.. familiar.

He peered anxiously at the room where the voice had come from, and when he saw who emerged, his jaw dropped.

“Wait,” Virgil said, his eyes widening, “You’re Dr. Anthony?”

It was the janitor. He had the same burnt face and the same disposable blue gloves, and he had added a white lab coat to his ensemble.

The janitor looked around himself as if he thought that Virgil was addressing someone else, “Who, me? Of course not! I’m a janitor, like I told you.”

“Oh.” Virgil said, relaxing. “Where is he, then?”

“There is no Dr. Anthony here. I don’t know who that is.”

“Oh..” Virgil said. That didn’t seem right. “Isn’t this his lab?”

“No, it isn’t.” The janitor said. “You have the wrong address.”

Virgil frowned again. He had been so sure that it was Dr. Anthony’s lab. It was the address on his letters, and his name was on the computer within.. That woman he had just spoken to said she worked with him.

There was something he was missing here. For some reason, though, whenever he tried to focus on it, it seemed to.. slither away.

“I.. I’m sorry.. I must have been confused.. We’ll leave you alone, then. Sorry for bothering you.” Virgil began to turn around, still trying to make sense of the fog in his head, when Logan put a hand on his shoulder.

“Virgil, what are you doing?” He asked.

Virgil looked at him, confused, “I’m leaving? We had the wrong address.”

Logan stared at him, “..No, we did not. He is clearly lying.”

“Lying..?” Virgil said, blinking.

The janitor stepped forward urgently, giving Logan a look, “Um, no, I am not lying. I’m telling the truth.”

Virgil smiled, “See, Logan? He’s telling the truth.” He said. Logan was just being paranoid.

Logan looked at Virgil with concern, “Are you alright, Virgil? It is unlike you to be so trusting.”

Virgil’s smile faltered a bit. Logan was rarely paranoid- he was incredibly intuitive. He wouldn’t make a claim like that without some sort of evidence.

Virgil blinked, trying to clear his head. Why had he believed the man so easily? The idea that he was lying hadn’t occurred to him until Logan brought it up. Something was wrong.. what was it?

Logan watched him, and his expression soon shifted into anger. He turned to the janitor.

“You’re Dr. Anthony, aren’t you?”

“What? Of course I’m not Dr. Anthony!”

“Falsehood.” Logan said. “What are you doing to Virgil?”

A crooked grin crept onto Dr. Anthony’s face, “I’m not doing anything.”

“Falsehood!” Logan yelled. “Is it your Propensity?”

Dr. Anthony rolled his eyes, “No, it’s just my innate charm.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, “Alright, that was just sarcasm.”

“Wow, Virgil, you’re so perceptive.” Dr. Anthony said.

Okay, he didn’t like this guy. He stepped forward, but Logan outstretched an arm and stopped him.

“Hold on.” Logan said. “How is it that I am not affected by your Propensity?” He asked Dr. Anthony.

The scientist gave him a disapproving look, “Your Propensity makes you immune.”

“Immune?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, mind-related Propensities don’t work on you. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have recruited you a long time ago.”

So that was why Logan hadn’t been affected by Virgil’s Propensity before.

Logan seemed shocked, “I thought that my propensity was heightened intelligence..” He said with a questioning tone.

Dr. Anthony laughed, “Oh, yes.” He said. “Because that’s a real thing.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “Are you always this patronizing?” He asked.

“Are you always this cranky?” Dr. Anthony shot back.

Virgil surged forward, and Logan held him back once again.

“I suppose that’s a ‘yes’.” Dr. Anthony said. Virgil sent him a scathing glare, and he waved him off, “Calm down, Virgil. I have no desire to fight you.”

Virgil looked at Logan.

“He’s telling the truth.” He said, letting go of Virgil carefully.

When Virgil looked back at Dr. Anthony, he was facing the other way, talking to the woman who had opened the door.

“-time for you to go home, Amina. Please tell your girlfriend the same.”

Amina frowned, “Alright.. You’d better not mess up the data while we’re gone.”

“I won’t.” Dr. Anthony told her. “I just need to talk to these two in private.”

Amina nodded and walked to the dual lab, presumably to get her girlfriend.

They stood in tense silence for a moment. Logan however, was unphased by this. He was preoccupied with staring around the room in fascination and awe.

After a brief conversation from the other room, Amina emerged, followed by a short woman with skin darker than Amina’s and tightly-braided hair pulled into a bun. This new woman looked mildly annoyed.

“Can’t you have your meeting some other time? I just put the samples in the centrifuge!”

“Sorry, sorry, Danielle, I know.” Dr. Anthony said. “I’ll get it finished, though.”

Danielle pointed a finger at him, but her brown eyes glimmered playfully, “You’d better!”

Dr. Anthony laughed, and then the two women headed towards the doorway. Virgil shuffled out of their way, feeling a little bad for interrupting their work. On the other hand, though, their work wasn’t necessarily something he supported.

Once the door shut behind the two women, Dr. Anthony turned to them.

“So, what brings you two here, of all places? Especially you, Virgil- weren’t you supposed to have been blown up?”

Virgil bristled, “None of your fucking-“

Logan lay a calming hand on his shoulder, “We’re here to find out what exactly is going on here, once and for all.”

“I see.” Dr. Anthony said. “So you’re here as- what- a living lie detector?”

“Not quite.” Logan said. His voice had a dangerous edge to it.

“Hmm.” Dr. Anthony said. He looked down at his hands, as if he were bored with the conversation. “What do you wish to know?”

Logan perked up. Neither of them has expected it to be this easy.

“Well, Dr. Anthony, we-“

“Call me Janus, please.”

The edges of Virgil’s mouth tilted upwards, “Is that your real name?” He was barely concealing a laugh.

“Yes.” Janus responded coldly.

Virgil looked at Logan, who nodded. “He’s telling the truth.” He said.

“Wow.” Virgil said. “I can’t believe that’s your actual-”

“Virgil, your cape is on fire.” Janus informed him.

“WHAT?!” Virgil said, whirling around. Shit, shit, shit. How had he not noticed?! He spun in desperate circles in an effort to get a good look at his cape. After maybe a few seconds of this, he heard Janus’s laughter behind him and stopped.

Carefully, Virgil gathered the fabric of his cape and twisted it around to examine. As soon as he had established that it was not, in fact, on fire, the effect of the Propensity was broken.

Virgil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, turning back to the scientist, “Very funny.”

“I thought it was.” Janus said, smiling.

“..Are you two done?” Logan asked. He had been standing nearby throughout the whole ordeal with a slightly perturbed expression.

Janus waved a gloved hand, “Go ahead.”

“Thank you.” Logan said, adjusting his glasses. “First of all, where and how did you discover the so-called ‘Anthony Bacteria’?”

Janus raised an eyebrow, “Exactly how much do you know?”

“Not nearly enough.” Logan answered.

Janus shrugged, not pressing the matter, “Well, then, to answer your question.. remember the meteorite that left a crater just outside the city around fifteen years ago?”

Logan brightened, “Yes, I do, I actually viewed it in my telescope before it hit! It was quite fascinating to see-“

“Yes, yes.” Janus said, cutting him off. “Anyways, I went to the site of the meteorite and found a whole bunch of magical alien bacteria that gave me powers-“

“Falsehood!” Logan exclaimed.

Virgil, who had been completely sold into the story, blinked. Once he realized what had happened, he crossed his arms, his blood boiling. He was getting pretty fucking tired of having his mind messed with.

“Seriously?” He growled.

“Whoops.” Janus said, smirking. “Force of habit.”

Virgil took a step forward, “Listen up. You are either going to tell us the truth or you’re going to have to deal with me.”

Janus seemed completely unphased with the threat, “That’s hardly necessary.” He said. “Come on.”

He turned around, heading for the room that Roman and Virgil had come across so long ago- his lab. While Logan marveled at the equipment, Janus pulled off his blue gloves and tossed them into a trash can. Then, he pulled out the chair from his desk, spun it around, and took a seat.

“You want the truth?” He said.

“Yes!” Virgil said, exasperated.

“Alright.” Janus said. “I’ll start at the beginning.”

Chapter Text

Janus motioned to a pair of stools. Virgil pulled one out and took a seat, and Logan did the same beside him.

“It started when I was in college- I wasn’t lying about that part.” Janus said. “I was, I don’t know, twenty? Around his age.” He gestured to Virgil.

“I was studying microbiology and marine biology.. fascinating stuff. For a project, I was meant to take several samples of ocean water in order to find different microbiological organisms and keep them alive- study them. I went out to the coast to get a sample, but it was fucking crowded with people that day. I’ve never been a fan of large crowds, even before I got this.” He pointed at the left side of his face, letting out a sigh. “So, I decided to try and get as far away from people as I could. I ended up sort of wondering around the coastline until I found this weird, secluded.. cave.. thing.”

Virgil snickered, “You obviously didn’t study geology.” He said.

Janus sent him a glare, “Do you want me to stop? Have you heard enough?”

“Oh, uh- No, no. I’m sorry.” Virgil said hurriedly.

“Thank you.” Janus said cooly. “As I was saying, I found a secluded area where I could collect some samples. So, I did just that. I took a few different samples, since that was what the project required, and I went back to the college lab to take a look at them. However, when I did, I ran into a problem.”

He took a breath, “You see, I was supposed to identify the different types of life and microorganisms that I found in my samples. I was free to use my textbooks, the internet or whatever other sources I needed in order to do this. Now, obviously I was able to identify some of the life that I found, but in nearly all of my samples, there was one type of bacteria that I just could not identify! Each time I thought I was close to identifying it, it turned out to have just one characteristic that was a little different, or just one thing out of place. I kept at my work until it was time for the lab to close, and I reluctantly went back to my dorm and tried to sleep. I decided that in the morning, before my classes even began, I would figure out what that bacteria was.”

“..It wasn’t that easy, though. You see, the next morning, when I went to check on the samples, I found that each and every one of the unknown bacteria had died overnight.”

Logan‘s brow furrowed, “All of them?”

“No, when I said each and every one of them, I only meant some- YES all of them!”

Logan did not take offense to the rudeness of Janus’s comment. Instead, he adjusted his glasses and asked, “Then what happened?”

Janus sighed, “Well, then I went to class, and I ended up telling some of my friends about it, and they all mostly made fun of me for managing to get the weakest bacteria ever, so that was obviously very helpful.. I wound up getting a new sample from a different area that I could use for the project, and I got another sample of the strange weakling bacteria, just for my own curiosity.”

Virgil pretended to cough, “Nerd.”

Both Logan and Janus sent him unimpressed looks. Virgil suddenly found himself wishing that Roman were there- he would’ve thought that was hilarious.

Virgil shrunk down, “Uh, sorry- keep going.” He said.

“..As I was saying, I got another sample of the unknown bacteria to study it during my free time. I still couldn’t manage to identify it, and neither could anyone I asked about it. Not only that, but I couldn’t find any way to make them stay alive for more than one day. My dorm mates figured I had somehow managed to find some failure of evolution, and I began to think the same. But then, something.. miraculous happened.”

Virgil heard the sound of paper flipping, and he looked over to see that Logan was preparing to take notes.

“While trying to further study the bacteria, and, more specifically, figure out a way to make them stop dying all the time, I decided to see how they would interact when put in an environment with a larger organism.” Janus said. “Basically, I put the bacteria in a tank with a goldfish.”

“Falsehood.” Logan muttered.

Janus rolled his eyes dramatically, “Fine- it was a minnow.” He said. “I put a fresh sample of the bacteria in a tank with a minnow. At first, there didn’t seem to be any difference, but when I went to get a sample the next day, I found that the bacteria hadn’t died, for once. Or, rather, I couldn’t find the bacteria in order to see if they were dead. They had all seemingly disappeared.”

“Keyword ‘seemingly’?” Virgil guessed.

“Yes.” Janus said. “There was no way they could have just.. disappeared. Especially when I had already tried a million different things to try to get them to live, and they had never disappeared in any of those instances. Because of this, it became clear to me that their disappearance had something to do with the fish. This was further confirmed when the fish’s behavior started to get.. strange.” He stopped, looking at them expectantly.

Virgil glaced at Logan, but he was busy writing things down.

“..Alright, I’ll bite.” Virgil said after a moment. “Strange how?”

“Well..” Janus fidgeted uncomfortably. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s what happened.”

“Okay, what is it?” Virgil asked, growing impatient.

“Well.. the fish.. The fish started to.. After a few days, the fish was..”

“Was what?”

“It.. When I checked on the fish, the way it swam was.. impossible. It moved so fast that it blurred, and it sent water splashing out of the tank like crazy. It was-”

Virgil choked out a laugh, “Hold on, hold on, hold on- Are you fucking kidding me?!” He said. “Are you trying to tell me that you had a fucking fish with superpowers?!”

Janus sighed, “I know it may sound insane, but-”

“No. No, I-“ Virgil shook his head with a laugh, “Sorry, but you’re going to have to do better than that. I’m not that much of a fucking idiot.”

Janus’s eyes narrowed with irritation, “I’m telling the truth, you moron. Just ask your friend the lie detector.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, letting out another laugh, “Yeah, okay.” He turned to Logan, “I mean obviously he’s lying, right?”

Logan’s blue eyes were entirely serious as he said, “He’s not lying, Virgil.”

“What-” Virgil laughed again, “Okay, seriously, though.”

Logan’s expression stayed stolid, “I am being completely serious.” He said.

The grin slid off of Virgil’s face. He stared at Logan, searching for any indication that he was fucking with him. He found nothing.

“What.. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.” Virgil said. “There’s no way he can be telling the truth..”

He diverted his attention back to Janus, who was sitting calmly in his chair.

“Jesus fucking Christ, you aren’t kidding.” Virgil muttered.

Janus shook his head, “I’m really not.” He said. “Although, I understand your disbelief. I had a very similar reaction to you, at the time. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. I thought I was somehow drunk, or high, or dreaming- anything but what I was seeing. I thought perhaps my dormmates were playing a prank on me. However, the fish was real. It reacted to stimuli, it ingested its food just as it would normally- it just did so at an incredibly high speed.” He pursed his lips, “My peers also didn’t believe it. After I realized what I was seeing was real, I tried to tell other people about it. They thought I was kidding, and when they saw I was serious, they thought I was insane. I showed people the fish in real life, I took pictures, I took videos- no one would believe it. They thought that it was just a weirdly fast fish, and always had been, or that it was a robot, or that the videos were fake.. Any number of things. Not a single person in the college believed me, and it decimated what little reputation I had. It didn’t help that, after a little over a week, the fish stopped moving altogether.”

Logan frowned, “It died?”

“I thought so, at first, but after closer inspection, I found that it was actually still alive, but it was.. Braindead. It was like it was in a coma.”

“Because of the bacteria?”

“Yes.” Janus said. “It wasn’t until my more recent studies that I understood, but I do now. You see, the bacteria.. The symbiotic relationship that they form with other organisms is a highly delicate balance. In the right circumstances, it is mutualism. The organism that the bacteria latches onto gains a great power- I have no idea how, and I might never know, but it does. Then, in return, the bacteria.. lives. It feeds off of.. Something in the brain. Chemicals, emotions- something like that. It might vary. I’m not sure. The point is, for an organism with such a simple and small brain, like a fish, the stress is too much, and the relationship becomes parasitic- the bacteria completely drains the brain.”

Virgil found his eyes widening with horror, “Wait, so the bacteria are feeding off of my.. brain.. juice.. right now?”

“Yes. All of our ‘brain juice’.” Janus responded.

“Is it possible for humans to go all.. brain-dead because of the bacteria?!”

“No, our brains are too complicated-” Janus stopped, pondering something. “Well, technically, yes, actually-”

“YES?!”

“Calm down, Virgil. It would only be possible if the brain found itself overloaded with too much bacteria for it to handle. You have no need to worry. I am very careful about my dosages.”

Virgil relaxed a little, but not much. He couldn’t stop thinking about little bacteria eating away at his mind.

“Can you please continue what you were saying?” Logan asked Janus.

“Yes, of course.” Janus answered. “The study of these bacteria became my life’s work. It became my obsession. I lost all of my friends and all of my connections, and I began to care less and less about what I was actually at college for. The final straw was when I attempted to publish a paper on the subject.”

Virgil winced, “Yikes.”

“Yeah. It went just about as well as you would expect. It was treated as a complete joke. Everyone assumed I thought it was funny to make up an entire scientific experiment. I was kicked out of the college for good.”

Logan frowned, “It seems uncouth of them to not even consider your research.”

Janus shrugged, “Would you believe it?”

Logan seemed to consider this, “..I’m not sure.” He said after a moment.

Janus raised and dropped his eyebrows, and then he continued, “Well, after I got kicked out of college, things started to spiral even more. I was a broke, gay, reckless scientist with nothing to lose. ..Which is how I ended up getting this.” He motioned to the scarred half of his face.

“..What happened?” Virgil asked.

Janus waved a hand, “It was nothing remarkable. Improper lab safety, cheap equipment.. Perfect ingredients for a fire.”

“Were the samples alright?” Logan asked, a master of tact.

“Yes, thankfully they were fine.” Janus said. Apparently, he didn’t mind the insensitivity of Logan’s question. “While they were intact, though, my equipment was not, and neither was the left side of my face. As I said before, I was broke, so there was no way I could afford the medical bill.” He looked between Logan and Virgil in a dramatic pause. “..And that’s when my employer stepped in.”

Virgil’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward in his seat. This was it. This was where they would finally find out who was behind all of this.

“Who was it?!” He asked, his voice more than a little desperate.

Janus looked him dead in the eyes, “Patton Clark.”

Logan stood up so quickly that his stool crashed to the floor, “FALSEHOOD!” He yelled. He surged forward so that he was standing in front of Janus, looking down at him threateningly.

Virgil stood up, as well. Even before Logan had spoken, he hadn’t believed Janus, not even for a second. There were some things that were unshakable in his mind, and his faith in Patton was one of those things. He glared at the scientist, but he didn’t say anything. He was too angry to even form words.

Janus looked between the two of them, and he put his hands up defensively, “Okay, alright.. Clearly, I went too far.” He said.

“Yeah, you did.” Virgil growled.

Janus raised his hands higher, “I get the message. Note to self: don’t talk bad about Patton.” He said. “I’m sorry.”

Slowly, Logan stepped backwards and adjusted his glasses, all the while holding eye contact with Janus, “Who..” He began. He took a deep breath, composing himself. “Who is your actual employer? I would strongly suggest that you tell the truth this time.”

Janus carefully lowered his hands, “Alright, I’ll tell you.” He said. Then, he muttered, “They’re not worth protecting, anyways.”

When Janus didn’t say anything further, Virgil found his foot tapping impatiently, “So? Who is it?”

“My employer was.. Mr. Spectacular.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Virgil turned to Logan, “Just checking.. He’s telling the truth, right?”

“Yes.” Logan said.

Virgil nodded, “Okay, cool.”

Janus stared at him with a confused expression, “‘Okay, cool’? Is that all you have to say?”

Virgil shrugged, “I mean, yeah. I’m not exactly.. surprised. They tried to blow me up.”

“I, too, suspected that it might be the Spectaculars.” Logan said.

Janus’s shoulders sagged, “Oh.” He said. “This is a lot more anticlimactic of a reaction than what I had expected.”

“Uh.. I mean.. I was kind of surprised. I just wasn’t.. super surprised.” Virgil tried. “It wasn’t like I knew it was them- honestly, if you hadn’t thrown me off so much with the Patton thing, I probably would’ve had a much bigger reaction.”

Janus pursed his lips, “Yes, well, I was just looking forward to seeing the looks on your faces..” He sighed, “Well, anyways, I suppose you want to hear the end of my story?”

“It would be appreciated.” Logan said.

Janus sighed again, “Alright. Since this has turned out to be an extremely boring interaction, and since I do actually have work to do, I’ll just summarize. Basically, Mr. Spectacular showed up, told me he read my paper and that he believed me, offered to pay for my medical bills, blah blah blah.. He funded this lab for me, volunteered to be the first human test subject for the Anthony Bacteria, blah blah blah.. I ended up using it on myself as well, and I used my newfound abilities to convince all the people at my old college that they never knew me or read my paper, blah blah blah.. We began administering the bacteria to others such as Mrs. Spectacular and many of the earliest superheroes, blah blah blah.. I began to administer it to children whose parents wanted their kids to have superpowers, blah-”

“Wait, hold on-” Logan started.

Janus ignored him, “..And then I had the whole Testing idea, which I think you already know about…” He took a breath. “And that’s really it.” He said.

“That was incredibly confusing. I have a lot of questions.” Virgil said.

“As do I.” Said Logan.

Janus rolled his eyes, “Well, I don’t have all day, and I’m frankly bored of this conversation, so, please, make it quick.”

Virgil and Logan took a moment to compose their thoughts. Then, just as Logan opened his mouth to ask something, he was interrupted by the sound of a phone buzzing.

He frowned, “I apologize, I am apparently receiving several text messages..” He said. He slid his phone out of his pocket, and he looked down at the screen. As he did, his face shifted into concern.

“Who is it?” Virgil asked. Unease rose in his chest, “Is it Patton?!”

“No.” Logan said. “It’s Roman.”

The name immediately caused Virgil’s heart to twist painfully, the churning mess of emotions rising up all over again, “..What does he want?”

He cringed when his voice came out defensive and brittle.

“Virgil, he says..” Logan trailed off as his eyes followed the words on his phone. “He says he is in danger.”

Chapter Text

Virgil felt the room spinning around him as Logan’s words echoed in his head. Roman was in danger. He was in danger, and he was asking for their help.

But why would he be in danger..?

“Fuck.” Virgil choked out. “The Spectaculars.”

Logan’s eyes widened as he realized what Virgil meant, “You think they would harm their own son?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed, “I’ve seen the way they treat him. They don’t exactly seem like model parents.”

Virgil watched Logan’s expression harden with hatred and disgust, “If that is the case, then we need to hurry.” He said.

Virgil nodded, “I agree, but how are we supposed to find Princey?”

Logan held up his phone, “He sent his location.”

They left immediately, the sound of Janus’s sarcastic goodbyes following them out the door, “Oh, no need to thank me for the vital information! Just hurry off to save your boyfriend or son or whatever!”

Neither Virgil nor Logan cared. Logan unlocked the car, and they both leapt in. It took Virgil several tries to buckle his seatbelt. The moment that it clicked into place, Logan floored the accelerator.

Virgil was immediately thrown against the back of the seat, and he yelled out, “Shit, Logan, can you give me a warning before you do stuff like that?!”

Logan’s eyes were intently focused on the road ahead as he sped forward, “I apologize, Virgil.” He said. “The situation is urgent. Normally, I would say I was too emotionally compromised to drive, but it appears I don’t have a choice. It is not as if you are any less concerned than I am.”

Virgil scowled, “I wouldn’t say concerned..” He said.

He pretended not to notice the way that Logan rolled his eyes.

At the speed Logan was going, the drive back to Druthers City was relatively short. They spent the majority of it in nail-biting silence, which gave Virgil’s mind the perfect opportunity to give him a full array of every possible awful situation that Roman could be enduring.

Eventually, the car came to a halt.

“We’re here.” Logan said.

Virgil looked at the building they had pulled up next to. It seemed to be a generic office complex several stories high. The only thing that made it distinguishable from any of the countless other office buildings in the city was the small grassy patch of landscaping surrounding it on both sides, which was dotted with a couple small trees. Overall, it looked like a nice place to work.

As they both got out of the car, Virgil frowned, “Are you sure this is it?”

Logan looked the structure up and down, “This is the location that Roman sent. We are supposed to meet him on the roof.”

“Oh, okay.” Virgil said, nodding. “That makes more sense.”

Logan scanned the building, “It looks like the only way to get to the top of the building is from the inside.” He said.

Virgil was glad to hear that. This building was significantly higher than the one he had once climbed the fire escape to in order to catch up with Roman. There would almost definitely be an elevator inside.

They approached the entrance to the building, which was composed of a circle of revolving glass doors. As they spun through these doors, they entered a nicely decorated lobby with abstract art, white furniture, and a receptionist’s desk. With the combination of the windows surrounding all sides and the intricate lighting hanging from the ceiling, the room was completely illuminated.

Logan grabbed Virgil’s arm, “We need to hurry.” He said. “You are beginning to draw attention.”

Virgil blinked and glanced around the room. Logan was right- though they had just entered the room, the blond woman at the front desk was giving them an odd look as she spoke on the phone.

It wasn’t hard to see why. Logan, with his button-up shirt, slacks, and dress-shoes, blended in easily to this environment. Virgil, on the other hand.. not so much. He was still wearing the grimy, ragged remains of his Nightmare costume, which he had yet to change out of since the explosion. Even if it was unrecognizable as a supervillain outfit at this point, it didn’t exactly scream Mr. Business. And, of course, he had the most conspicuous hair color possible, which didn’t help.

Logan ushered them forward quickly, and Virgil noticed how he kept the receptionist in the corner of his eye.

Logan didn’t let go of his arm until they had arrived in front of the elevators, and he reached forward to press the up button. They didn’t have to wait long for an elevator to arrive. The doors opened almost immediately, and they both hurried into the (thankfully) empty compartment.

The elevator panel showed that the building had six floor options. Logan pushed the button for the uppermost, and the elevator began to rise.

As it did, tinny easy-listening music played through the speakers, which Virgil found incredibly difficult to listen to. He watched the small screen in the elevator that indicated which floor they were on as it shifted from number to number. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Virgil’s foot tapped impatiently on the floor of the compartment. Couldn’t this thing go any faster?

Finally, they arrived at the sixth floor. The elevator’s doors opened with a ding, and Logan and Virgil exited the compartment. This floor was far simpler than the floor they had entered on. There was a hallway, and there were a series of doors branching off of this hallway. Each door was labelled with small metal plaques such as “Conference Room” and “Storage”.

“There should be a stairway leading to the roof.” Logan said.

Virgil nodded in acknowledgement.

Indeed, as they reached the end of the hallway, there was a door with a sign showing a picture of a stairway and the word “Roof” in large print. Logan went to turn the knob, but Virgil stopped him with a hand.

“Hold on.” He said. “I should go first. We have no idea what kind of danger Roman is in.”

Logan looked back at him with a conflicted expression, but after a moment, he nodded. It was logical for Virgil to be in front, because he had his Propensity available to defend himself with on instinct.

Virgil removed his hand from in front of Logan, who opened the door, then took a step backwards to allow Virgil to go in front of him. Virgil did so, and they both ascended the stairs.

Though there really weren’t many steps, Virgil could’ve sworn they were infinite. As he climbed upwards, he found that his breath began to come out unevenly- not from exhaustion, but from fear, and from anticipation. In that hospital room, Virgil hadn’t had the time to do anything but listen to what Roman was telling him to do. At the time, Virgil had abandoned him there with the presumption that he would pretend to have been paralyzed by Virgil’s Propensity, or that he had been threatened into helping him, or any number of things.

At the time, he hadn’t known exactly how dangerous the Spectaculars were. He had suspected, sure, but he suspected a lot of things. He had almost certainly caused Roman to end up in whatever situation he was now.

Virgili didn’t trust Roman, and he didn’t forgive him, but that didn’t mean he stopped caring about him. It wasn’t that easy. Despite everything, if something happened to Roman, Virgil knew he would be devastated. The very idea made him want to scream.

Finally, Virgil reached the door at the top of the steps. He had worked himself up enough at this point that he didn’t hesitate, he didn’t even stop to catch his breath before he was turning the knob, throwing the door open, rushing onto the roof with Logan behind him.

The first sign that something was wrong was when Virgil saw not one, but two figures on the roof. The second was that neither of them was Roman.

Instead, it was Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular.

Virgil stopped in his tracks, “Where’s Roman?” He snarled.

Had this been a trap that Roman helped his parents set up? Had he really been in danger, but they had taken too long to arrive?

The Spectaculars wore matching smirks, looking at Virgil like he was a confused toddler.

“He’s.. not around right now.” Mrs. Spectacular said.

Virgil’s brow furrowed, “But.. he.. he told Logan he was in trouble..”

Mr. Spectacular began to laugh, a deep, dangerous sound that made Virgil’s hair stand on edge. Soon enough, Mrs. Spectacular joined in.

“Is something funny?” Logan said. Virgil could practically hear him gritting his teeth.

Mr. Spectacular’s laughter died down, “Oh, Logan. I would’ve expected this from Nightmare, but you? You’d think that you would be smart enough to recognize a trap when you see one.”

Then, he removed a hand from behind his back and held something up for them to see. When Virgil realized what it was, his heart plummeted.

“Roman’s phone..” He murmured.

Sunlight glinted off of the screen of the phone, and the red case made it clearly recognizable as Roman’s.

“Look who’s finally catching on.” Mr. Spectacular said.

Virgil’s jaw clenched, and he took a step forward, “We’ve caught on to more than one thing about you, Mr. Spectacular.” He spat.

Mr. Spectacular’s expression turned peeved, “And what exactly is it that you know?” He asked.

“We know about the bacteria, and the Testing, and the lies that you paid to set up.” Virgil said.

For a second, fiery rage flashed behind Mr. Spectacular’s eyes. If Virgil hadn’t been watching closely, he wouldn’t have noticed it, but being as it was, he had the urge to take a step back. Even though the look only lasted for a second, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was the flash of a striking cobra, the glint of light on a killer’s knife. If there was a hell, Virgil had just witnessed a glimpse of its deepest pits.

The look was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, and Mr. Spectacular bore a mask of indifference.

“I always knew that Janus bastard couldn’t be trusted.” He said.

“Why did you have people experimented on against their will?” Virgil asked.

“Why does it matter?” Mr. Spectacular asked.

He sighed, “Honestly, Nightmare, you were such a great success of the program. But you couldn’t help but poke your nose into things that had nothing to do with you. Not only that, but you had to get my son involved. It’s such a-“

Logan cleared his throat. “Pardon me, but which ‘program’ do you refer to?” He asked.

Mr. Spectacular sent Logan an irritated glare, but he answered him nonetheless.

“The Propensity Academies.” He said. “They’re expertly designed to pit students against each other, to create high emotional tensions.. the perfect environment for testing the limits of Propensities.”

Virgil’s hands tightened into fists at his sides, “You mean..” He took a few heavy breaths, “You mean to tell me that you created me- you created villains.. on purpose?”

“Obviously.” Mr. Spectacular said.

“Why?!” Virgil asked. “What do you want? Why did you lure us here?”

Mr. Spectacular sent him a bored look, “To kill you. Why else?”

Then, he flicked his wrist vaguely at Virgil, “Restrain him.”

Virgil was so taken aback by the blunt indifference of the comment that he hardly had time to react before Mrs. Spectacular attacked.

At the last second, he registered what was happening, and he tried to fling himself out of the way, but he acted too slowly. The hero grabbed a hold of his arm with a vice-like grip, forcing Virgil to stop with a jolt.

He tried to think, but his brain was a scrambling mess. The best it could give him was run and, well, that didn’t seem to have worked out. So, he did the only other thing he could; he let loose his Propensity.

It was the simplest thing in the world to do. Ever since Logan had told him that Roman was in danger, Virgil had been either on the brink of or possibly having an anxiety attack. His emotions were on full-blast- especially his fear. The mere thought of using his Propensity was enough for the tug in his gut to immediately yank outwards.

He felt his power expel away from his body, as he always did. Logan would be fine, but the Spectaculars would bear victim to their worst nightmares. Virgil didn’t feel bad for them at all.

He waited for the moment at which the fear set in. He waited for their faces to shift, their screams to let loose, their pure terror to emanate from their minds..

But none of that happened.

Instead, Mrs. Spectacular whipped Virgil towards her and, in a series of quick, precise movements, placed him in a chokehold.

Virgil was dumbfounded.

“Uh, what the hell?” He said. He was too shocked to even begin to worry about the arm at his neck.

Above him, he heard Mrs. Spectacular laugh.

“Aw, did you just try to use your Propensity on us?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Virgil answered.

She laughed again, a melodic, patronizing noise, “That’s cute.” She said.

“How..?” Virgil inquired.

“I’m afraid you have Mr. Clark to thank for our new abilities.” Mr. Spectacular told him.

Virgil couldn’t turn his head, but he strained his eyes to the side in order to look at Logan. He stood stiffly, looking between Virgil and the Spectaculars with a lost expression plastered onto his face.

“What do you mean?” He said.

“Nightmare asked why I created the Testing and the Academies.. the answer is simple, really- I did it in order to pick out the most powerful Propensities for myself. When I found out that there was a possibility to gain superhuman abilities in the form of the Anthony Bacteria, I knew that I was immensely lucky, and I seized up the opportunity to volunteer as the first human test subject. In my time as a hero, even with only two Propensities, flight and super-healing, I have managed to become the most respected, most admired hero in this city. With enough power- with enough Propensities at my disposal, I will be unstoppable.” A grin slid onto his face, and Virgil could see the hunger lurking behind it.

“Great monologue, dear.” Mrs. Spectacular said from behind Virgil.

Mr. Spectacular barked out a laugh, “Thank you. I thought I would try one out.. I see the appeal.” Then, his expression turned somber. “But enough of that. I think it’s time that we got to the focus of this meeting.”

During the course of the interaction, Mr. Spectacular had almost entirely ignored Logan’s existence. Now, though, he gave him his full attention.

“Logan Clark.” Mr. Spectacular sneered, stepping towards him.

Virgil tried to struggle away from Mrs. Spectacular, but she held him steadfast.

Logan narrowed his eyes, “Andrew.” He said.

Mr. Spectacular’s eyes blazed again with that untamable fury, and Virgil blinked. All his life, he had assumed that Mr. Spectacular must have a first name, but he had never known what it was.

“I’ve always considered you to be a decent business partner. Why betray me for a..” Mr. Spectacular’s upper lip curled up, “..Villain?”

Logan adjusted his glasses, a familiar gesture, but the way he did it looked robotic. It wasn’t a habitual gesture, it was a deliberate motion to imitate casualty.

“I would hardly call it a betrayal.” He said. “I have not produced technology for you in over two years.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Clark. I’m serious.” He stepped closer to Logan, intruding in his space. “What is it about him? Does his complete lack of competence make you feel better about yourself?” Then, he seemed to have an idea, and he smirked. “..Or maybe you have some sort of sick attraction to him. It wouldn’t surprise me if you did. Is that it, Logan? Are you a pedophile as well as a-”

Mr. Spectacular was interrupted by Logan’s fist connecting with his face.

It came out of nowhere. One moment, Logan was standing stiffly in front of Mr. Spectacular with a neutral expression, the next, he was punching him. Virgil had to admit it was cathartic to watch. He knew that he had wanted nothing more in that moment than to punch Mr. Spectacular, and he was glad that Logan had taken the initiative.

This catharsis did not last for long, however, because as soon as Mr. Spectacular recovered from the shock of the hit, his fist came at Logan like a sledgehammer. The blow was so powerful that it sent Logan flying through the air and crashing painfully to the concrete. Virgil’s eyes widened, and he cried out in sympathy. He once again tried to wrestle his way out of Mrs. Spectacular’s grip, but she tightened her hold on his neck, forcing him to either stop struggling or stop breathing.

Mr. Spectacular, swiped at his now-bloody nose, staining his hand red. He approached Logan’s form on the ground with a confident swagger, “Super strength.” He said. “It’s a handy ability that I picked up around a month ago.”

Logan began to get up, but Mr. Spectacular kicked him, hard, sending him tumbling back down.

“You know, Logan,” Mr. Spectacular kicked him again, “I did feel sorry about killing you,” He reached down, lifting him up by his shirt, “But now?” He half-dragged, half-carried Logan to the edge of the roof, “I’ll take pleasure in the act.”

He leaned Logan towards the edge precariously, “Though you might’ve been a good businessman, I’ve always hated you as a person.”

Logan stared at him steadily, “The feeling is mutual, I assure you.” He said.

Virgil was helpless. He was stuck. There was nothing he could do to stop this. Mr. Spectacular moved Logan forward so that his feet were dangling over the six-story drop. Despite the circumstances, Logan kept his chin up in defiance. His expression was carefully blank, and he stared at Mr. Spectacular, unafraid.

“Goodbye, Logan.” Mr. Spectacular said.

Before he dropped him, he was interrupted.

“L-leave him alone!” A voice squeaked.

Logan’s eyes focused on something behind all of them, and his calm facade immediately melted away into pure terror.

Virgil saw why when Mrs. Spectacular turned them to look at the figure.

There, standing by the fire escape, was Patton. He had a terrified but determined expression on his face, and the gray cardigan tied at his shoulders was flowing behind him in the wind like a cape.

“Patton, you can’t be here- you need to leave, NOW!” Logan yelled.

“Logan’s right- Patton, you need to GO!” Virgil said with urgency.

To his horror, Patton planted his feet. “I’m not leaving.” He said. His voice was trembling, but his resolve was clear.

“How.. sweet.” Mr. Spectacular said. Virgil could hear his smirk. “Who are you, again? Clark’s little.. boyfriend?”

Patton took a step forward, “I’m his husband.” He said.

Virgil looked at Mr. Spectacular, who sneered. “Ah, yes. Patton. I remember. He never did shut up about you. What do you want?”

“I- I want you- I want you to let him go!” Patton said. “Right now!” He added.

Mr. Spectacular smiled gleefully.

“Very well.” He said.

And he dropped Logan off the edge.

“LOGAN!” Patton screamed, running forward.

Mrs. Spectacular’s grip on Virgil finally relinquished, and he broke free, advancing on Mr. Spectacular with fury. Thunder rumbled as the sky turned pitch black.

“You’ll pay for that.” Virgil growled.

Mr. Spectacular laughed. “What? I did what he asked.”

Virgil let out a guttural yell, and he began to charge Mr. Spectacular- but, then, something impossible happened.

Logan’s head rose into view.

When Mr. Spectacular saw Virgil’s awed expression, he turned around.

“How in the hell..?” He said.

Logan continued to rise, and soon the majority of his body was visible, as well as what had saved him.

His waist was completely wrapped in ivy. He was standing on a tree branch, which was growing by the second to bring him back to the roof. Once he was level with it, the branch stilled, and the ivy carefully unwrapped itself, nudging Logan forward.

Logan, who had lost his glasses in the fall, blinked in shock, stepping forward off of the branch and onto the steady cement of the roof.

He kept staring at the plants that had saved him, and his own body, and the group on the roof. He clearly couldn’t believe that he was still alive. Then, his eyes fell on one person in particular.

“Patton.” He said. It sounded like a sigh of relief.

Virgil looked towards the aforementioned man. Patton was looking back and forth between his own hands and Logan, and he looked like he might faint.

Then, a small grin crept onto his face, and he looked at Mr. Spectacular, “I.. I did tell you to leaf him alone.” He said.

Chapter Text

In the few seconds after Patton’s pun, everyone on the roof was completely quiet.

Patton wore a self-satisfied grin, looking around as if waiting for a reaction. Mrs. Spectacular had one perfect eyebrow raised in confusion, like she didn’t quite get it. Mr. Spectacular looked as if he might as well have had a bucket of water dumped on his head- he appeared to be equal parts shocked and irritated. Logan, on the other hand, was staring at Patton with the fondest expression Virgil had ever seen. He looked like he was just barely holding himself back from leaping forward and kissing his husband right then and there, which was certainly a change from his usual attitude towards Patton’s puns.

Suddenly, Virgil heard a noise. It started off soft, but it grew louder and louder, and he soon recognized it as the sound of someone laughing. Everyone on the rooftop turned towards him, and Virgil realized that the laughter was coming from him.

His shoulders shook with mirth, and he found himself doubling over.

“That was-“ He devolved into another fit of laughter, “That was actually really good.” He said.

Mr. Spectacular let out a literal growl, “No, it wasn’t! That was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

“I thought it was quite humorous.” Logan said.

Spectacular rolled his eyes and pulled at his sleeve to reveal a slick black watch.

He looked down at it, “I don’t have time for this.” He said.

He pulled his sleeve back over the watch, and he began to hover a few inches off the ground. He motioned to his wife, and she floated to his side.

“What?” Virgil said. Lightning crackled in the sky. “That’s it?! You’re- you’re just going to leave?!”

“Yes.” Mr. Spectacular said. “I have a meeting to attend to. This was supposed to be a much quicker rendezvous than it has turned out to be.”

“But- What- What happened to killing us?” Virgil said.

Everyone on the roof gave him an odd look, and he grimaced. That had sounded a lot better in his head.

“Do you.. want us to kill you?” Mr. Spectacular asked.

Virgil clenched his fists, “I’d like to see you try.” He said.

He had told Mr. Spectacular that he would pay for trying to kill Logan, and he wanted nothing more than to make good on his word.

For an instant, Mr. Spectacular’s eyes blazed, and he moved forward as if to attack. Virgil and Logan both assumed fighting stances, and Virgil couldn’t help but notice the ivy that had climbed onto the roof raising up menacingly. However, Mr. Spectacular did not attack. Instead, he stopped, and he took a deep breath to compose himself.

“Another time.” He said. “I have more important things to deal with at the moment.”

Mr. Spectacular rose upwards, Mrs. Spectacular at his side, and they began to fly away.

“Hey!” Virgil yelled. The wind whipped at his face, and it was beginning to sprinkle. “Come back here, cowards!”

Neither of them looked back. Virgil started to rush to the edge of the roof, but a gentle hand at his shoulder stopped him.

“Virgil.” Logan said. “You are acting rashly.”

Virgil’s shoulders slumped, and he took a few deep breaths, allowing himself to relax. Then, in one sudden movement, he wrapped his arms around Logan’s waist in a tight hug.

“I thought you were going to die.” Virgil said into the fabric of Logan’s shirt.

Logan, who had at first received the hug stiffly, maneuvered his arms around Virgil, patting him on the back.

“..I thought the same.” He said softly.

A third pair of arms engulfed them both, squeezing them tightly, “But he’s okay!” Patton said.

“Thanks to you.” Logan said. He adjusted one of his arms to rest at the back of Patton’s neck.

“Oh, I- It was nothing.” Patton said. Virgil could hear his blush.

“Nothing?!” Virgil wrestled out of the group hug a little in order to look up at Patton, “Are you kidding me? It was amazing! You saved Logan’s life! Did you see the look on Mr. Spectacular’s face?”

Patton chuckled, “I was just as surprised as he was, to be honest.” Then, his smile fell, “I’m just glad I got here in time..”

“As am I.” Logan said. “But how did you know where to find us?” He asked.

“Oh!” Patton said, his eyes widening. “I, uh, got a text from Roman! He said he was in trouble..” He looked around, “Was he here? Is he- Is he okay?”

Virgil let out a sigh, “He’s not here. This whole thing was a trap- his parents have his phone. I don’t know how they got it exactly, but I’m sure he’s fi-“

He cut himself off, staring at something in the distance. The other two looked at him with concerned expressions.

“What is it?” Patton asked.

“Look.” Virgil told them. He pointed at a spot in the sky.

Quickly, Patton and Logan disengaged from the hug, looking to see what Virgil was pointing at.

Something was coming towards them, fast. At first, Virgil had thought it was the Spectaculars, and that they had changed their mind about leaving them alive, but after viewing it for a longer amount of time, Virgil realized that made no sense. It was a figure, alright, but there was only one, not two, and it was coming from the complete opposite direction from the one that the Spectaculars had left in. Not only that, but as the figure drew closer, Virgil began to see that it was predominantly white and red.

A white and red figure flying through the sky.. gee, who could that possibly be?

A little bit of the tension left Virgil’s body, “Relax, guys.” He said. “It’s Princey.”

And, man, was he hauling. In a manner of seconds, his figure was clearly distinguishable as that of Roman Spectacular, and he was closing in. Even as he slowed down, his speed was still way too fast. As the trio watched, The Prince came in for a landing, which, at the speed he was going, was much more akin to a crash. He landed rolling, which hopefully reduced the impact, but it still looked like a rough collision.

Virgil rushed over with Logan and Patton close behind him, “Jesus, Princey, be careful! Are you okay?!”

Roman was panting for air. He grunted, and, as he turned to face them, Patton gasped.

To put it plainly, Roman looked like shit. The first thing that Virgil noticed was Roman’s lip. It was busted- swollen up on the left side with a fleck of bright red blood that stood out against his face. On his left cheek, not far from his busted lip, Virgil could see a small bruise forming. His jaw clenched. Someone had hit Roman, and it looked like they had hit him hard. Aside from the physical harm, he looked incredibly distraught. He was sweating, and his eyes were red from crying. His eyes were frantic and wild, and as Virgil knelt down next to him, he spoke up desperately.

“I’m fine! It’s you- I- You need to-” He let out a few panicked breaths. “You all need to get out of here. It’s a trap! My parents, they-”

Virgil’s expression softened, and his hand reached out to hover above Roman’s shoulder, “Princey- It’s alright. Calm down, okay?”

“But- You- You don’t understand, you can’t-”

Virgil shushed him. “It’s okay, Ro. We know it was a trap. Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular aren’t here anymore, okay? They’re gone. We’re all gonna be alright.” As he spoke, Roman began to calm down a bit, his body going slack with relief.

“Oh, thank god.” He said. “Thank god. I thought- I’m so sorry, Virgil, I tried to stop them-”

Once again, Virgil shushed him. He tried to think of something to say. He wouldn’t know what to say if it was Roman in normal circumstances- let alone in a situation like this. Seeing him hurt, seeing him scared- it felt fundamentally wrong in Virgil’s mind. He wanted to comfort him, but he was too shocked and confused and angry to do anything but stare.

Thankfully, he wasn’t alone. Logan knelt down next to Virgil, exchanging a solemn look with him before turning to Roman.

“Roman, we can all explain our perspectives later, but right now, you need to calm down. You need to breathe. Can you do that? Can you take a deep breath with me?”

Roman nodded shakily, and he sat up, allowing Logan to begin to lead him through a breathing exercise. Virgil sighed gratefully. He didn’t know how Logan was managing to stay so collected, but he was glad to have him here. Virgil’s eyes wandered up to Patton, who was still standing with his hands covering his mouth in surprise. Virgil sent him a sympathetic look, and Patton shook his head sadly, removing his hands from his mouth.

It took a little while, but eventually, Roman calmed down enough to stand up and speak comprehensively.

“What happened?” He asked.

Logan and Virgil explained everything, starting with their encounter with Janus. Both Patton and Roman were absolutely shocked- though Roman obviously moreso.

“I can’t believe it..” He said. “They.. They were behind all of it. They..’’ He trailed off.

Patton wrapped an arm around his shoulders, but Roman hardly reacted, instead just blinking and telling them to tell him what else had happened.

Logan and Virgil told them about the text message, and the rooftop, and then, of course, of Logan’s near-death experience, which resulted in some amount of flustered blushing from Patton. Eventually, they had brought Roman (and Patton) completely up to speed.

The story was followed by a brief silence, which Virgil ended up being the one to break, “Uh, Princey, now that we’ve.. explained all of that.. Would you mind.. you know.. telling us what happened to you?”

Roman gazed at him, his brown eyes full of untold emotion, and Virgil gazed back, unsure of how much his conflicted emotions could be seen on his face.

After several seconds, Roman finally looked away, running a hand through his wavy brown hair, “Yeah.” He breathed. “Yeah, of course I’ll tell you guys.”

He inhaled sharply, giving them a small smile, “Though, I don’t think it’ll be nearly as exciting as your riveting tale.”

Logan let out an appropriate chuckle, and then Roman began.

“I, uh.. I really don’t wish to elaborate much on it, so I’ll just.. summarize. After I helped Virgil escape, I pretended that he had used his Propensity on me. I stood frozen in place, and, at the time, it seemed that everyone had bought it. As it turns out.. that wasn’t the case. Once we were in the car, my..” Roman’s eyes flicked between the three of them.

“It’s alright, Roman. Take your time.” Patton said, rubbing Roman’s arm.

Roman took a few deep breaths, and then he continued, “Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular said that they wanted to, uh, have a talk with me, and, uh..” He trailed off again.

Virgil bit at the inside of his cheek in contemplation. Then, he made up his mind, and he reached forward and took Roman’s hand, giving it a brief squeeze. Roman’s eyes widened, and he looked at Virgil inquisitively. Virgil didn’t have any answers for him, though. This was only temporary. For now, he would put aside his grudge, because he knew that Roman needed all the support he could get, but that didn’t mean he had made up his mind about anything.

The gesture was enough to propel Roman to keep going, “Well, it was relatively civil at first- our valet was driving the car, you see. I don’t think they wanted to make a scene in front of him. But, uh, once we were inside my house, things got rather.. heated.”

“..What were you talking about, if I may ask?” Logan said.

Roman looked to the floor, “Uh, Nightmare, mostly.” He said.

Virgil, too, averted his eyes downwards.

“They were angry at me for helping after the explosion, and they didn’t believe that he had really used his Propensity on me. They called me a lot of things.. a traitor, mostly. That wasn’t all of it, though. They were also angry at me for.. poking my nose into matters that were none of my business.. trying to undo their hard work.. A lot of stuff along those lines. I had no idea what they were talking about, at the time, but I guess I do now.” He took a breath. “Things just kept escalating and escalating. They were both so angry- my father especially. He was more angry than I’d ever seen him. Eventually, he told me to give him my phone, which I haven’t been asked to do since I stopped living with them. I wanted to say no, but- but- I mean- he was yelling at me, and I was scared, and so I just handed it over, and he started looking through it, and, and, and-”

Roman was working himself up again, his breaths coming out heavily. Virgil couldn’t help but notice that he was beginning to float upwards, and Patton was acting as an anchor, keeping him on the ground.

Logan opened his mouth, presumably to tell Roman that he didn’t have to tell them, but Roman moved on with determination.

“He found Nightmare’s number, and he yelled at me some more, and he gave the phone to my mom, and they both started talking about teaching me a lesson, ending this whole affair once and for all.. Then, my mother started sending those texts. I realized what they were trying to do. I yelled for them to stop, I begged for them to stop, but they didn’t! Then, I tried to grab my phone back, and-” Roman’s hand reached up to touch his busted lip. “Well, I.. I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”

Patton gasped, “He didn’t!” He exclaimed.

Roman shut his eyes in order to avoid having to look at any of them.

Virgil swore that he was going to strain something with how tightly his jaw and fists were clenched. He was seething with rage. Somehow, this was worse than Mr. Spectacular trying to kill Logan. This was.. This was unthinkable. This was someone who he claimed to care about. How could he? How could he?!

“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to fucking kill him.” Virgil growled.

Roman flinched away from the harshness of his voice, and that hurt more than anything. He looked at Logan, who appeared to be just as angry as he was. They exchanged a look, and Virgil could tell exactly what Logan was thinking:

Not if I get to him first.

After a long pause, Roman resumed his story without warning, “..I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was locked in my room, but I went out through the window and flew here as soon as I could.”

He looked up at them, pursing his lips.

Nobody knew what to say.

..Not even Logan.

Chapter Text

No one spoke as they climbed down the stairs. No one spoke as they stood in the elevator heading down. No one spoke for a long time.

As they exited the building, Roman was the first to break the silence.

“Well..” He said. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we’re going to need some help if we want a chance at stopping my parents.”

“Uh, help from who?” Virgil asked. “They’ve got the whole city in their pocket!”

He had been attempting to imitate their old dynamic, but it had come out harsher than he expected. It was too forced. He felt ashamed for not coming up with anything reassuring to say when Roman had told them about what had happened to him, but he just.. he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t think of one thing.

“Surely not everyone. There’s got to be someone in power who we can talk to.” Roman said.

Virgil thought about it for a moment, “Maybe.. oh, I don’t know, nevermind.”

“What?” Roman said.

“I don’t know, I just thought.. well, is there any chance that we could trust Mayor Sanders?”

“I mean.. I’m not sure.” Roman said. “Why do you want to trust him?”

Virgil frowned, “I.. I don’t know. It’s just a sort of.. gut feeling. I met him once- he was campaigning, and he just seemed like a trustworthy guy.
For some reason, I think that he might listen to us.”

Roman nodded definitively, “..Okay, it’s worth a shot. I trust you.”

Virgil’s stomach twisted with guilt. He appreciated Roman’s trust, but he still couldn’t bring himself to reciprocate it.

“Uh.. right.” Virgil said. “Okay, then. Do you know where we can find him?”

“Yeah. He should be in his office- in the town hall.”

Virgil nodded, “Okay, cool.” He said. “Let’s go.”

“I’m coming, too.” Logan said. He began to step forward, but Patton grabbed his hand.

“Nuh-uh-uh!” Patton said. “You’re not going anywhere, Mister.”

Logan frowned, “What? Why not?”

“You’re injured!” Patton said. “Did you think that if you kept pretending you’re fine that we’d all forget?”

Virgil blinked. He realized that, in his relief to see Logan alive, he had forgotten about checking to see if he was hurt.

He wanted to hit himself. Why was he such an idiot?

“I am fine, Patton. Your concern, while sweet, is unnecessary.”

Come to think of it, Logan had taken a suspicious amount of time climbing down the stairs. At the time, Virgil had put it up to shock, but it made sense- he was trying to hide how much he was hurting. Even now, Logan was standing stiffly, carefully, as if one wrong move would reveal how much pain he was in.

“No, Patton’s right.” Virgil said. “You’re not fine. You need to heal- You need to rest.”

Logan let out an exasperated sigh, “I really don’t think it is-”

Patton gave him a Look, “Logan, this isn’t a debate. You’re not going.” He looked at Virgil and Roman, “We’ll use the buddy system! You two can take my phone-” He handed Roman his phone, “And my car-” He handed Virgil his keys, “We’ll head to the safehouse in Logan’s car. After you two are done, you can meet us back there.”

“Patton, we don’t need to-” Logan tried. He was very nearly pouting.

Patton grabbed his hand, ignoring his protests. “Bye! Be careful!” He said. “Stay with your buddy!”

Roman and Virgil exchanged a partly amused, partly ueasy look, “Uh, we will!” Roman called.

Logan sighed, “I suppose I will see you both later.” He said.

Patton began to lead them both towards the car, Logan following reluctantly. Virgil noticed the way that he had to stop himself from clutching at his ribs. He was immensely lucky to have Patton to look out for him. Without him, he would be dead.

Fuck, he would actually be dead...

Virgil shivered, shaking the thought out of his head. Logan wasn’t dead- there was no point in dwelling on what could’ve happened.

Soon enough, the couple had both gotten in Logan’s car, leaving Roman and Virgil alone.

The two glanced at each other, then glanced away as soon as their eyes met. Instead, they opted to stand together and watch as Patton and Logan drove away. The back windows of the car were tinted, but the front windows weren’t, so Virgil could see the faces of both of his friends in the car. Logan was at the wheel, his lips pursed into an expression that could only be described as grumpy. Patton, on the other hand, was waving at Virgil and Roman with enough enthusiasm for the both of them. Virgil raised his eyebrow, raising a hand to wave back. Beside him, he heard Roman exhale a soft chuckle.

Virgil finally turned towards him, “So, uh..” He crossed his arms, “We should probably also get going pretty soon.”

Roman looked at him, eyebrows raised, “Yes! I- Yes, we should.” He said.

They stood there for a few seconds, Roman shifting his weight from foot to foot and Virgil chewing at the inside of his cheek. Then, Roman stuck Patton’s phone in his pocket and headed towards where his light blue car was parked. Virgil followed him from a few steps behind.

Roman immediately headed to the passenger’s side, which surprised Virgil.

“Oh- so, uh, I’m driving, then?” Virgil said.

Roman blinked at him, “Yeah?”

“Oh, okay.” Virgil said. “That’s fine- I just wasn’t sure if you would want to drive.”

A slightly embarrassed expression crept onto Roman’s face, and he fiddled with his sash, “I, uh.. I can’t drive.”

Virgil blinked, “You can’t?”

“Uh.. no. I’ve never really.. needed to. We have a family valet.”

Virgil scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Of course you do.” He said, unlocking the car.

He climbed into the driver’s side, Roman doing the same at the passenger’s side. Virgil turned the car on, and it hummed to life.

“Town hall, right?”

Roman hesitated, “Uh, actually- shouldn’t you.. I don’t know..”

“What?” Virgil asked.

“Well, we’re going to see the Mayor of the city- Don’t you think you should.. you know, don a new suit of armor?”

Virgil blinked, then looked down at his tattered, soot-covered costume.

“Shit, you’re right.” He said. “Should we go to the safehouse?”

Roman frowned, “I don’t think they would have any clothes for you there- besides, it seems like a waste of time to leave the city just to immediately come back. We need to talk to the Mayor as soon as possible.. Before.. Before anything happens.”

“Alright, then- what do you suggest we do, Mr. Fashion Police?”

“We can’t go to a store.. too conspicuous.”

Virgil imagined the sight of the two of them, a superhero and supervillain respectively, walking into an Old Navy together to buy some clothes.

“Okay, I could see why.” He said. “But.. what else is there?”

Roman contemplated it for a moment, “We could always.. swing by my place? My clothes would probably fit you well enough.”

Virgil tugged at the fabric of his ragged costume. As much as he didn’t like the idea of wearing Roman’s clothes, he also really wanted to get out of this damn costume.

“..Yeah, okay.” He said.

Roman’s eyes widened, “Oh, really?”

Virgil shrugged, “Sure.”

He backed the car out of the parking spot, switched it to drive, and set off towards Roman’s house. As Virgil drove, neither of them spoke. People and buildings alike passed by through the car’s windows. Fortunately, the building they had been at was already fairly close to Roman’s house, so the drive wasn’t too long.

Virgil pulled up alongside the curb in front of the house, shifting the car into park. He unlocked the doors, and the two of them exited the car.

Roman pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and approached the gate, the keys jangling in his hand. He unlocked the gate easily, and it swung open with a metallic creak.

“After you.” He said with a dramatic flourish of his hand. Despite the act, his heart didn’t seem to be in it.

“Uh.. thanks.” Virgil said, walking past him. It was weird to think that, just a couple of days ago, he had leaped that very fence in order to break into this house, and, now, he was being let in. His relationship with Roman was.. strange like that.

When Virgil turned the knob of the front door, he found it to be locked.

“Here, I’ll get that.” Roman said, holding up his keys again. He saw Virgil’s expression, “..Why do you look so surprised? I always lock my front door.”

Virgil’s fists clenched at his sides as Roman began to unlock the door. He remembered how taken by surprise he had been when he had found Roman’s door to be unlocked on his mission to steal the key to the city. At the time, he had just assumed it was a result of Roman’s ego.. but now a far crueler notion of the truth had formed in Virgil’s head.

Those damn Spectaculars.

“..Nothing.” He told Roman.

They entered the house. The entry room looked just the same as Virgil remembered it, but this time he could actually turn the lights on.

Roman led the way through the living room, into a hallway that Virgil hadn’t been in before. They passed a huge bathroom before stopping at the doorway of a bedroom.

Virgil entered the room, looking around. Compared to the rest of the house, this room felt the most.. Roman. First of all, the item that drew the most attention in the room was a huge, bright red canopy bed. If any one item could embody Roman’s entire aesthetic, that was it. That wasn’t the only thing, though. Other than the bed, the room was furnished with a white bedside table and dresser, both ornately carved from wood. The walls were adorned with several framed posters of famous superheroes, along with-

“Is that a sword?!” Virgil asked incredulously.

Roman, who was still lingering at the doorway, glanced over to where Virgil was staring, “Oh, uh, yes, it is.” He said.

It hung on the wall in a white sheath, which was intricately decorated with golden flowers and leaves which gleamed in the light.

“Why on earth do you have that?” Virgil asked.

Roman smiled, holding up a hand dramatically, “What is a prince without his sword?” He said, as if that answered the question.

Virgil shook his head with just a hint of fondness before turning towards the rest of the room. He walked over to a sliding door that presumably led to the closet.

He started to reach for the door, but stopped himself halfway, “Uh.. you want me to just get the clothes out of here or..?” Virgil trailed off, looking at Roman. Something was wrong. He was still at the doorway, and he was staring into space with a glazed-over expression.

“..Princey? Are you.. good?”

Roman snapped out of his trance with a start, blinking. It took him a few seconds to process what Virgil had said. When he did, he plastered on a smile.

“I’m fine.” He said. “Feel free to take whatever attire you require from the closet.”

Virgil began to slide the door open, but he kept his eyes on Roman, giving him a skeptical look, “Do you wanna.. come over here and.. I don’t know.. supervise? Make sure I don’t mess up your hanger organization?”

Roman’s smile wavered, “I- I can’t.” He said. “I mean I- I don’t want to.”

Virgil dropped his hand from the door, “What is it?”

Roman stiffened, “Nothing!” He said. “I just.. don’t feel the need to supervise! I trust you to pick out clothes without harming anything.” He let out a small, nervous laugh.

Virgil crossed his arms, “Roman.” He said sternly. “I know something’s up. You’re refusing to enter your own bedroom.”

Conflicting emotions flashed in Roman’s eyes, and he tapped his foot irritably. After apparently losing a debate with himself, he sighed, “Fine. You’re right. I don’t- Just a little while ago I was knocked unconscious and locked in that room against my will by my own parents- the people I’m supposed to be able to trust. ..Let’s just say that I’m not exactly eager to go in there again.”

Virgil suddenly felt terrible, “Oh, fuck, sorry- That makes complete sense- Of course you would- We didn’t have to come here-”

Roman waved him off with a hand, “Calm down, Fretful Fiend- I’m fine. Just.. pick out some clothes, alright? You won’t find any black skinny jeans, but you should at least be able to find something that doesn’t look like it’s been through a blender. I’m going to go wait in the car.”

Then, before Virgil could even begin to think of a response, Roman turned and left.

Chapter Text

Virgil heard the front door open and close as Roman exited the house. He sighed and pressed his fist against his forehead in frustration. He had managed to make a complete mess out of consoling Roman- not just once, but twice. Virgil had never known how to deal with sad people, and it didn’t help that a large part of his head was still tempted to yell at Roman rather than soothe him.

Virgil stared up at the ceiling, letting out a weary groan. This was too much to deal with right now. He just needed to focus on what they came here for.

He turned to Roman’s closet. It was partially opened from earlier. Virgil grabbed onto the side of the door and slid it all the way open.

“Holy shit.” Virgil muttered.

It was a walk-in closet. It wasn’t super large or anything- just a narrow space a few feet long, but.. still. Virgil had only ever seen those on television, and he had a weird obsession with them as a kid.

The back wall was plastered with posters from famous plays and musicals. To his left, white shelving was attached to the wall, containing shoes, hats, and accessories. To his right were two rows of shirts on hangers, organized by color. Red, white, and gold dominated the clothing- the colors of The Prince.

Virgil’s face wrinkled in distaste. When it came to his own outfits, Virgil usually stuck with black and gray outfits, and if he wore other colors, it was almost always in dark or muted tones. Never in his life had he ever worn anything as loud as the items in Roman’s closet.

Thankfully, there was a small section of purple clothing. It is a royal color, after all. Virgil sifted through the selection. There was a short-sleeved v-neck, a Mickey Mouse shirt, a horrendously magenta button-up, a purple and white letterman jacket, and a shirt with the words “Druthers City Super-Marathon”. None of them were ideal, but they were the most tolerable.

After a moment of consideration, he plucked the letterman jacket off of its hanger. It wasn’t exactly Virgil’s style, but it was the best option. It was a dark shade of purple, the kind that was Virgil’s personal favorite, and it would actually be warm enough for the crisp fall weather. He had been freezing his ass off on that roof. He picked out a plain white t-shirt to wear under the jacket, and he went to Roman’s dresser to pick out some gray pants. He would’ve preferred black pants, but, like Roman had said, there were none available.

He changed into the outfit, keeping the same black tennis shoes he had been wearing before, as they hadn’t been damaged. He had to admit, it felt good to get out of his Nightmare costume. He threw it directly in the trash. It was beyond repair.

There was a full-length mirror with a red frame in the corner of the room. Virgil walked over to it, and he watched his own eyes widen.

Looking at his reflection was like looking at another person. Roman was an inch or so taller than Virgil, which meant that he had to roll the sleeves of the jacket up in order for them to be the right length. Roman was also quite a bit more muscular than Virgil, which meant that the clothes hung around Virgil a bit loosely.

Altogether, though, Virgil no longer looked like an anxious, slightly intimidating emo. Instead, he looked like a preppy, stylish jock. He could definitely imagine Roman wearing this outfit.. Which made sense, seeing as they were his clothes.

Virgil’s face turned slightly pink at that thought, and he turned away from his reflection. This whole thing was.. strange.

He was about to leave when he remembered that Roman had said he could take a couple extra shirts as well. He grabbed some tolerable long-sleeved shirts, and then he left the room, turning off the lights as he went.

Virgil approached the front door of the house, and he took a moment to brace himself. This was going to be embarrassing.

Before he even got to the car, Virgil could see Roman staring at him. He felt his face and ears heat up, and he stuffed his hands into the pockets of the jacket, trying his best to glare at Roman.

When he opened the driver’s side door, Roman continued staring at him.

Virgil crossed his arms from where he was still standing outside of the car, “Do you need something?”

Roman looked away quickly, clearing his throat, “Uh, no. Sorry, no.” He said.

Virgil climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled his seat belt, all the while feeling his face continue to heat up. Neither of them spoke as he began to drive the car. After a few moments, though, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Roman was staring again.

“Do I really look that ridiculous?” Virgil asked, feeling humiliated.

Roman let out a laugh, “What? No! No, uh- You just look.. different.” He said.

“Gee, thanks, Princey.” Virgil deadpanned, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

“Wait- No- I just mean-” He stammered. He turned to look out the side window, “..You actually look pretty good.”

Virgil glanced at Roman, but he couldn’t see his expression, “Oh.” Virgil said.

No one spoke for a long time.

In fact, no one spoke until Virgil was pulling up to the ornate form of the town hall.

“We’re here.” He announced.

Virgil parked the car, and they both got out. The chilly air sent a shiver down Virgil’s spine, and he once again stuffed his hands into the pockets of Roman’s jacket. It was actually really comfortable.

The town hall looked just about like any other town hall. It was a tall, white building, with pillars surrounding the front entrance, and a domed roof that led to a steeple. Technically, it was called the city hall, but no one called it that. “City hall” just didn’t have the same ring to it.

Roman went in first, Virgil following him. They entered a high-ceilinged room furnished with chairs and framed pictures of the city. As they stepped further into the room, Virgil heard a frail, quiet voice to his right.

“Ex- Excuse me.” Someone said.

Virgil and Roman both turned. In the corner of the room was a small desk with a small chair, and in that small chair sat a small old woman. She had pale, wrinkled skin, gray hair, and gray-blue eyes. She had been so small that Virgil had completely missed her in his surveyance of the room.

“Greetings, Janice.” Roman said warmly.

The woman leaned forward, squinting. Then, her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Ah, Roman! It’s you!” She said.

Roman leaned towards Virgil and whispered, “She can’t see very well.”

Virgil nodded in acknowledgement, and Roman leaned away, smiling at Janice.

“Yes, it is I!” He said in his special “The Prince” voice.

“What brings you here, young man?” Janice asked.

“Uh.. well.. Me and my, uh, friend here need to speak to Mayor Sanders. Is he in?”

Janice frowned, “Well, yes, he is, but typically, you need an appointment to speak to the mayor. You know that.”

Roman nodded. “I do know that, Janice.” He sighed, “However, I assure you that this is of utmost importance. Do you think you could make an exception, just this once?”

Janice thought about it, her long fingernails tapping on the desk, “We-ell.. If it’s that important..” She smiled. “Alright, I’ll let him know. Just for you, dear.”

She pressed a button on the phone next to her and spoke into it, “Mayor Sanders? Mr. Spectacular’s boy is here to speak with you. He says it’s urgent.” She paused for a moment, listening for the response. Then, she said, “Alright, I will.”

She set the phone down with a smile, “Go right ahead to his office.” She told them.

Roman smiled, “Thank you, Janice.” He said.

Then, he led the way to the mayor’s office.

Once they were out of sight, Virgil smirked at Roman, “You’re quite the charmer.” He said.

Roman laughed, the first genuine laugh he had uttered since he had crash-landed onto the rooftop, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He said.

They both stopped as they reached a wooden door with a bronze plaque that read “Mayor’s Office”.

Roman placed his hand on the doorknob, and he turned back to look at Virgil.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

Virgil shrugged, “I mean, not really, but we don’t have a choice.”

Roman sighed, “Alright.” He said.

He opened the door to the mayor’s office.

Chapter Text

The man known by most as Mayor Sanders sat at his desk, his pen scratching against a piece of paper. He wore a black suit with a green tie, and he was intently focused on what he was doing.

However, this focus was interrupted when he received a call from his assistant, Janice, letting him know that Roman Spectacular had something urgent to speak with him about. He told Janice to send him in immediately, and she responded that she would.

Carefully, he set his pen down on his desk, straightening up in his chair. After a few moments, the door opened.

“Roman!” He said, greeting the boy as he entered his office. Soon enough, though, it became clear that Roman wasn’t alone, which was unexpected. Janice hadn’t mentioned a second person.

Roman stepped out of the way, and the identity of this person was revealed.

“And..” The mayor of Druthers City stood up from his seat, “Nightmare?!”

Virgil raised his hands up, “That’s me.” He said.

“What are you doing here?!”

Virgil looked at Roman, who stepped forward, “Uh, don’t worry- he’s.. he’s with me.”

Mayor Sanders raised an eyebrow, “With you..?” He repeated.

Virgil and Roman both flushed.

“Not like- I wasn’t implying- I simply meant- We’re not-“ Roman stammered.

Virgil stepped on his foot.

“Ow!” Roman yelled.

Virgil put on a forced smile, “What he meant was that the information we’ve discovered is something that we both thought was crucial for you to know. That’s how important it is.”

Mayor Sanders looked between them a few times, taking a moment to process the situation, and then he sighed, “Alright.” He gestured to the two chairs on the other side of his desk, “Have a seat, I guess.”

Virgil pulled out the left chair, and Roman the right. They both sat down.

Mayor Sanders ran a hand through his hair, “Okay, so.. what’s this super important thing that you both have to tell me about?”

“Uh..” Virgil began.

“Well..” Roman tried.

“It’s.. kind of a long story. It’s going to sound.. kinda nuts.” Virgil said.

“..Okay..” Mayor Sanders said. “Can you please just, ya know, tell me?”

“Yeah- Yeah, of course.” Virgil said sheepishly.

He took a deep breath. Where did he even begin?

“First of all, Propensities are not what the city has been led to believe they are..” Virgil began.

Over the course of the next half an hour, Virgil and Roman explained everything. Well- not everything- but the important bits. They told the mayor about Janus Anthony, the true nature of Propensities, and the Spectaculars. It took a long time, and a lot of Roman and Virgil interrupting and talking over one another.

Surprisingly enough, Mayor Sanders was almost completely silent throughout the entire explanation. Instead of speaking, he conveyed all of his emotions through elaborate facial expressions, tired sighs, and skeptical laughter.

“..So uh.. that’s it.” Virgil finished lamely.

“..That’s it?” The mayor asked.

“That’s it.” Roman confirmed.

Silence. Roman began bouncing his leg up and down.

Mayor Sanders let out a long sigh, “You really.. You really expect me to believe.. That Propensities are not, in fact, the result of genetic mutations, but are instead.. What? Marine bacteria? AND you expect me to believe that this bacteria was discovered by a scientist who was hired by Mr. Spectacular, the most respected hero in Druthers City who I know personally-” He looked at Roman, “You expect me to believe that your parents are.. trying to take over the world? Lying to the entire population of Druthers City?” The mayor threw up a hand, “Am I getting that right?”

Virgil looked down at the desk in front of him, tracing the patterns of the wood with his eyes. Hearing the mayor repeat it all back to them like that.. It really did sound insane.

Did they really expect Mayor Sanders to believe this? They had absolutely zero proof. They had nothing.

Once again, Virgil had rushed into a plan without putting any thought into it.

“I know.. I know it may seem unbelievable,” Roman began, “But we.. we had to tell someone. We had to at least warn you. I.. I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t know that it was completely true. I don’t.. I don’t want it to be true, but.. it is.”

The mayor picked up his pen and began tapping it against his desk contemplatively.

“Under normal circumstances.. I wouldn’t believe a single word of what you have just told me.” He said carefully.

Virgil and Roman exchanged a hopeful look.

“But..?” Roman prompted.

The corner of the mayor’s mouth twitched, “But.. Considering I already knew all of it.. I believe you.”

At first, the only thing that registered in Virgil’s mind were the mayor’s last three words. He believed them! But, then, the rest of the sentence began to sink in. Virgil went over it again in his head. Surely, he had misheard him.

“Uh.. sorry.. What did you say?” Virgil asked.

A smile began to creep onto the mayor’s face, “I said that I believe you.”

Virgil frowned, “Uh, no- Be- Before that..?”

“But?” The mayor said. His voice was beginning to take on a nasally timbre.

Roman leaned forward in his chair, “No..” He said. “After that.”

The mayor’s face split into a wide, crooked grin, “You mean the part where I said that I already knew all of that.” He said. It wasn’t a question.

Virgil’s jaw dropped. He had heard him right. He was too stunned to speak. He assumed that Roman was in a similar state, because he didn’t say anything, either.

The mayor of Druthers City let out a high-pitched laugh, “Oh, this is just priceless!” He exclaimed. “Did you really think that the Spectaculars could control the city without help from the person in charge?”

Virgil’s eyes widened. No, no, no.

“I mean- Really?!” The mayor giggled. “I’m the one who gave Prince Barmy over here his explosive little gift!”

“You.. You knew about the key?” Roman said.

“Of course I knew about the key!” The mayor said shrilly.

Virgil’s mouth opened, spilling out half-formed questions, “What..? Why..?”

“Oh, you want an explanation?” The mayor said.

“..Yes.” Virgil choked out.

“Well, if you insist, I suppose I’ll tell you.” The mayor crossed his legs, “Barmy is a British word that means crazy or foolish.” He said. “..But it originates from yeast.” He regressed into a fit of laughter.

When neither Virgil nor Roman joined in, he stopped laughing.

“That’s not the explanation you were wanting, now, is it?” He said, pouting at the two of them.

He sighed dramatically, “Well, first of all, my real name isn’t Thomas Sanders.” He said. “The real Thomas Sanders is locked up in some cell somewhere. My name is Remus.”

Remus? Virgil’s frown deepened. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where from.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking.” Remus said. “Remus? Who is that, other than the sexy man I see before me?” He spun his chair in a circle before speaking again, “The truth is, I’m a performer.. and I don’t mean the fun kind right now.” He winked. “I’m an actor.. And I bet you two know me for my most famous role.”

Suddenly, something happened. It was like a mist clearing from Virgil’s vision, and he could finally see clearly. The man sitting at the desk in front of them no longer looked like Mayor Thomas Sanders; instead, he looked like an entirely different person. His face became gaunt, his features became far more angular. His hair changed from light brown to black with a bold streak of gray. A curled black mustache appeared below his nose.

Something clicked in Virgil’s mind. Remus. Remus Green. That was the true identity of The Intruder. He had read it in a history book, once. And that mist that had cleared- that had been an illusion.

“You’re The Intruder.” Roman said, reaching the same conclusion as Virgil.

Remus pointed at him, “Bingo!” He shouted.

Virgil stood up from his chair so quickly that it tumbled to the floor. He took a defensive stance, his hands held up.

“Don’t even think about trying anything.” He growled.

Remus gave him an unimpressed look. “No need to get all hot and bothered, Virgil. If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done so a long time ago.” He said.

Virgil didn’t move, “Why are you helping the Spectaculars? I thought you were their enemy!”

“Were you even listening?” Remus said. “I’m an actor. They needed a bad boy, so I played the part.” He smiled, “Just like the two of you! ..Except I’m getting paid.”

Virgil stiffened, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Remus shifted position on his chair so that he hung upside down, his feet at the headrest and his head dangling off the seat, “You both have your little roles to play in Mr. Spectacular’s game: daddy’s little boy,” He pointed at Roman, “And the big bad villain.” He pointed at Virgil.

“Well, we’re done with that, now.” Roman said, his voice harsh. Evidently, he didn’t appreciate being called “daddy’s little boy”.

While Roman reacted with anger, Virgil found himself frowning with discomfort. The Intruder was right. Time and time again, he had fallen directly into the role that Mr. Spectacular expected from him. He’d allowed himself to be the spiteful, predictable villain. He hated it so much, but he had. How different was he from Remus- from The Intruder?

“I find it hard to believe that you only did it for money.” Virgil’s mouth said. “A real-life supervillain isn’t exactly your typical acting role.”

“Oh, it wasn’t just for the money.” Remus said. “That would be boring.”

“..Why else, then?” Virgil found himself asking.

Remus narrowed his eyes for a moment, thinking. He gazed at Virgil intently, unblinkingly, until it was uncomfortable. A crooked smile slipped onto Remus’s face.

“There’s a certain.. rush that comes from using my Propensity.” He said. “It’s like getting shocked in the nipples- it’s exhilarating!” He cackled. “It’s hard to describe, but.. there’s nothing else like it.”

Virgil swallowed thickly. He knew exactly what he was talking about. That feeling that washed over him after he used his Propensity. To Virgil, it wasn’t exhilaration, it was deadly calm. It was pure confidence.

Remus had been watching his reaction. Suddenly, all his theatricality, all his attitude melted away, and he looked Virgil dead in the eye.

“The nightmares.. do you get them too?”

Chapter Text

Virgil froze.

He never talked about his nightmares. Never. Not to Patton. Not to Logan. Not to Roman. The last people he had talked about his nightmares with were his parents, and that was a long, long time ago. Even when he had been assigned his own room in the academy, he had refused to talk to any of the teachers or principals about what he was experiencing. It was too personal. It made him look too vulnerable. There was no point in talking about them, because there was no one who could understand what it was like.

..Or so he had thought.

Virgil stared at Remus, “What?”

“The nightmares.” Remus repeated. “Do you have them?”

“I-” Virgil’s eyes flicked towards Roman. “Everyone has nightmares.”

Remus raised an eyebrow, “I think that you and I both know what I mean.”

Virgil swallowed, and he once again found himself inadvertently looking at Roman. This time, he noticed.

“What?” Roman said. “What’s he talking about? Does it have to do with the nightmare you had at the hospit-”

“It’s nothing.” Virgil interjected.

Roman crossed his arms, “Alright, it’s clearly not nothing, or else you wouldn’t be getting so defensive.” He said.

“Fuck, Princey, maybe I just don’t appreciate being interrogated-”

“I’m not interrogating you, I was just asking a question! I don’t know why you always have to turn everything into-”

“Will you two shut up?!” Remus shouted. “This isn’t couples therapy!”

Roman and Virgil promptly stopped talking, turning away from one another.

“Thank you.” Remus said. “Roman, it’s time you leave the room.”

“What?!” Roman said. “Why?!”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Because I need to talk to Virgil alone.”

Roman crossed his arms, “How do I know you won’t just attack him? There is no way I’m leaving you alone with him.”

“Fine.” Remus said. He glanced at Virgil, “Sorry, Virgil- I guess you’ll never know how to make the nightmares go away.”

Suddenly, everything slowed to a halt.

“Roman, get out.” Virgil commanded.

“But-“

“If he tries anything, I’ll call for you. Right now, I need you to get the fuck out of this room right now.”

Roman opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but he stopped when he saw the look in Virgil’s eyes.

“Fine.” He huffed. Then, he turned and left the room with a swish of his cape. The door slammed shut behind him.

Virgil turned to Remus, “You better not be lying.”

“Why would I lie?” Remus said. “I want to help you. I haven’t had a nightmare in years, but I remember what it’s like.” For a moment, he trailed off, staring into space. Flickering green tentacles began to rise up from the ground, writhing horribly. Virgil knew that they were the result of an illusion, but it didn’t stop him from stepping back in fear. Then, as quickly as it had come, the moment passed. Remus snapped out of whatever flashback he had been having, and the illusion disappeared. “If I had continued to experience that every single night, I would’ve.. I don’t know what I would have done.”

Virgil believed him. He knew it was probably foolish- maybe definitely foolish, but he did. He just.. he couldn’t help but relate to The Intruder. He couldn’t help but feel that he was the one person who understood him. And, besides, if he could really learn a way to put an end to his nightmares, he would be prepared to trust anyone.

“..How did you make them stop?” Virgil asked. His voice came out gravelly.

“I’ve noticed that you deliberately avoid using your Propensity.” Remus said, dodging the question.

Virgil‘s foot tapped impatiently, “Yeah, and?”

“That’s your problem.” Remus told him. “The Anthony Bacteria feed off of emotions, chemicals, and thoughts in the brain.” Right before Virgil’s eyes, he saw images of bacteria, brains, and different emotions pass in front of him like a projector screen. “It varies from person to person. Oftentimes, this can be attained in a way that is completely unnoticeable to the host..” He paused, and the images flickered, “These are Janus’s words, not mine.” He explained.

“But anyways.. You and I.. we’re not that lucky. From what I’m able to tell, my Propensity feeds on fear. Not just my fear, though- somehow, it can be fueled by the fear of other people, too.”

In his mind’s eye, Virgil saw people screaming and running. He shook his head and leaned forward, “Where is this going?” He asked.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there. Hold your whores.” Remus answered. “When-“

As impatient as he was, Virgil found himself snorting.

“What?” Remus asked. His illusions disappeared.

“Sorry, I just- ‘Hold your whores’?”

Remus tilted his head, “..Is that not right?”

“Uh, no.” Virgil said. “It’s ‘hold your horses’.”

“Huh,” Remus said, “I like mine better.”

Virgil let out a small laugh, “O-kay, please go on with what you were saying.”

“Right.” Remus said. “When my Propensity- and I assume your Propensity- isn’t fed enough fear, it creates fear through-“

“-Nightmares.” Virgil finished. His eyes were wide.

Remus dropped his hands onto the table, “Exactly.” He said. “So, if you use your Propensity enough on other people, the bacteria will be satisfied, and the nightmares will stop.”

Virgil felt like he was in shock. His nightmares. The thing that had been haunting him every night since before he could remember. They could be stopped. He could actually experience what it was like to sleep without fear. All he had to do was-

All at once, Virgil’s heart sunk to the bottom of his chest.

“I can’t do that.” He said.

“What? What do you mean you can’t do that? Of course you can!” Remus said.

Virgil shook his head, “No. I can’t.” He said.

“Yes, you can!” Remus shouted. He was angry, now.

“No.” Virgil said. “I won’t make others suffer unnecessarily just to help myself.”

Remus’s expression shifted into irritation, “Oh, I see.” He said. “You won’t. You can, but you won’t. Well aren’t you noble.”

“I’ve seen the effect of my Propensity firsthand.” Virgil said. “It would be selfish and cruel of me to do that to anyone without cause.”

“So what?!” Remus snarled. “What have they ever done for you?! They made you an outcast! They wrote you off as a criminal!”

“That doesn’t mean that they deserve to suffer.” Virgil said.

His voice was calm, because in the face of The Intruder, Virgil didn’t feel afraid. Really, he felt sorry for the man.

He could practically see Remus’s life story laid out in front of him. He must’ve been disliked as a kid, like Virgil was. Who knew why. Maybe he was too loud, or too small, or too weird. Unlike Virgil, who wanted nothing more than to blend in and be ignored, Remus wanted to be famous. He wanted to be an actor.

Except it couldn’t have worked out too well. Even after he got out of school, he was still an outcast. They didn’t like him in the acting business, either.

With no money and no career, he ended up getting a Propensity. Maybe he volunteered, maybe he was told it was something else, but the point was that he suddenly had power.

..But it came with a price. Every night when he went to sleep, horrors seeped into his mind. For Virgil, this had been normal. He’d never experienced anything but nightmares, so he was used to them. But for someone who wasn’t used to them, it would be agonizing. It would be enough to drive someone insane.

So when it came to the point where Mr. Spectacular offered Remus a starring role, of course he took it. He didn’t have anything to lose.

Then, lo and behold- as Remus became The Intruder, as he used his Propensity more and more, the nightmares faded. He was freed. Not only that, but it felt good to use his Propensity. He enjoyed it.

And, when the time arrived for Mr. Spectacular to “defeat” The Intruder, Remus didn’t hesitate to accept his new role as the mayor of Druthers City.

Looking at The Intruder, picturing his story, Virgil realized how lucky he had been. He had been fortunate enough to have people who cared about him at an early enough point to be able to realize that he didn’t have to let his life be ruled by bitterness and fear.

If he had never met those people, he could’ve ended up just like The Intruder.

“You can control your powers, Virgil.” Remus said. “You simply lack.. creativity.” A rainbow manifested above his head, but the colors were faded and wonky. After a few seconds, it morphed into over a dozen bright pink salmon. The fish appeared to fall to the floor, and they flopped there for a while, helpless, before dissolving into mist.

Virgil gave Remus a sympathetic look, “I’m sorry, but I’m not like you. I can’t do that,” He stood up, “And unless you plan on helping us take down your boss, I need to get going.”

He watched Remus for a few seconds to see what he would say. His jaw was clenched, and his green eyes seemed to flame, though maybe that was just another illusion.

“Fine.” He said, his nasally tone more prominent than ever. “Run off and get yourself killed with your boyfriend, if you like. Mr. Spectacular can’t be defeated.”

Virgil pursed his lips, and he turned his back on The Intruder, placing a hand on the doorknob.

“Oh, and Virgil?” Remus said.

Virgil stopped.

“Sleep well tonight.”

Virgil slammed the door behind him so violently that it shook.

Chapter Text

Roman had been grudgingly sitting at a chair outside the mayor’s office. As soon as Virgil turned the doorknob, he was on his feet.

He flinched at the slam of the door, frowning, “What happened?” He asked.

Virgil let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. There was a long, ranked list of things he was not in the mood for right now, and having to give Roman a little recap was at the very top of that list.

“Can we talk about this.. later?” He asked.

Roman sucked in a cheek, “I.. I guess.” He said.

Virgil exhaled gratefully, then led a wordless walk to the town hall’s exit.

He wasn’t quite sure why he felt so shaken up after his conversation with The Intruder. It wasn’t as if Virgil hadn’t been dealing with his nightmares for his entire life. But.. now, with the knowledge that he had the power to put an end to them, the burden weighed more heavily on his shoulders than ever. He had the power, but he couldn’t use it. He knew it was the right choice, but that didn’t make it any easier.

They left the town hall to find that it was raining. Virgil didn't really care, so he kept the same pace, sinking back into his thoughts as he headed towards Patton’s car. However, he was interrupted by Roman stepping in front of him, blocking his path.

“Alright.” He said. “What happened in there? What was The Intruder talking about with the nightmares?”

“It’s nothing!” Virgil said hurriedly. “Or- I mean- It just- It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

Roman let out an exasperated groan, “I hate when people do that. Clearly, whatever it is, it’s important.”

“It’s not.” Virgil said.

“Then why are you acting so weird?”

“I’m not acting weird!”

“You freak out every time I bring it up!” Roman argued.

“No, I don’t!” Virgil shouted. Dark clouds gathered overhead.

Roman pointed at him, “You’re doing it right now!”

“Will you just shut up?!” Virgil yelled. Lightning flashed.

“Why are you acting like this? Why are you so angry?! Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?!” Roman had to shout to be heard over the furious wind.

“I don’t know, Princey- Why did you break my fucking heart?!”

The words escaped from Virgil’s lips before he had the chance to think them through. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been thinking it. Truthfully, the thought had been echoing in his mind ever since that night. Why, why why? Even after everything that had happened, the question ate away at him. It was what made every interaction with Roman so tense, so unfamiliar. It was the elephant in the room, and Virgil had just addressed it.

Virgil breathed in and out heavily, fighting back against the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. God fucking damnit. So much for not being vulnerable.

Roman was quiet for a long time. His face went through a rapidfire array of emotions, some of them readable, some of them completely arcane. In the end, he landed on frustration, of all things.

“You’re still upset about that? How many times do I have to apologize to you?!”

Virgil’s jaw dropped, “I’m still- Are you- Are you fucking kidding me?”

The change was immediate. Roman’s eyes widened with regret, “Shit, I- I don’t know why I said that. I’m so sor-”

Virgil cut him off with a hollow laugh of disbelief, “No. Nope. That’s it. I’m done. I can’t. This is- This is too much for me to deal with right now. I’m fucking done with you. I can’t believe I-” He let out another laugh, “I can’t believe I thought I could handle being around you again. I’m done with you. I’m done.” Virgil began to move to walk past Roman.

“Wait, what?” Roman’s voice pitched dangerously. “What do you mean you’re done? Where- Where are you going?!” He reached out to stop Virgil, his hand catching the right sleeve of his purple jacket.

Virgil grit his teeth. Instinctively, he tugged away from Roman’s hold, and he managed to pull his right arm out of the sleeve, “Get-” He removed his left arm from the other sleeve, discarding the jacket completely, “-Off!” He snapped.

Once he was freed, he set off at a brisk walk towards Patton’s car. If he could just get there, he could drive far away, and he could avoid ever having to see Roman’s face or his stupid jacket ever again.

He heard scrambling behind him, and he picked up the pace.

“Wait- Wait, no, no, no- Don’t leave!” Roman’s voice was wracked with desperation, “Please, please, please don’t leave.” Once again, he made a grab for Virgil’s arm, but Virgil shoved him off. His heart screamed in protest, but he had to do it. He had to leave. He had to! If he didn’t, he would just be setting himself up to get let down all over again. Roman couldn’t be trusted. He had to leave.

“Virgil! Virgil, don’t go!” Roman said. “Virgil, please! I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Virgil clenched his eyes shut. Sorry wasn’t enough. It just wasn’t.

“Virgil, you can’t leave. Not now, I- I need you.”

Virgil kept walking, step by step, but his pace was noticeably slower. Tears streamed down his face.

“I love you, alright?” Roman said. “I love you!” His voice cracked.

Virgil stopped.

Why did he have to say that? Why couldn’t he have just shut his mouth, for once in his life? If he had, Virgil would have been able to walk away, to drive away, to leave him here. It would’ve hurt like hell, but he would’ve been able to do it.

..But now?

Virgil let out a defeated sigh, and he turned around. Roman was standing maybe a foot back, farther away than Virgil had expected. At some point, he must’ve given up on chasing him. He was soaked from head to toe from the rain, causing his costume to cling to his body and turning his brown hair black. He looked like he was crying, but it was difficult to tell.

Looking at him, Virgil’s heart ached painfully. “How could you do that, Princey?” He asked. “How could you do that to me, if you- if you feel that way?”

Roman exhaled shakily, “Because.. Because I’m not supposed to love you. Because you’re-” He took a breath, “Because you’re a-“

Virgil’s fists tightened at his sides, “Because I’m a what, Roman? A villain?!”

“No, because you’re a guy!” Roman yelled.

The words seemed to hover between them. Virgil frowned. His anger melted away. His tears were completely forgotten.

“Because I’m a.. guy?”

“Yes!” Roman exclaimed. “And I- I’m not supposed to love a guy! It’s- It’s not right!”

“Roman, I-” Virgil began.

“I am The Prince!” Roman said. “Do you understand what that means? Do you even understand how much fucking pressure I am under? I’m the son of Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular. I have been under the spotlight since the day I was adopted. Do you even know how hard I’ve tried to be the perfect son- to be the perfect hero- only to fail?”

He took a few shaky breaths, sniffing, “I’m not like you, Virgil. I don’t- I don’t have these- these two separate lives. I don’t get to go home and take off my costume. I’m Roman Spectacular. I have meetings, and signings and motherfucking press conferences. I have a team that picks out my entire wardrobe. Do you know how difficult it is to find time to meet with you in private? When I’m not being watched by the press, I’m being watched by my fans. When I’m not being watched by my fans, I’m being watched by my parents-” His voice broke on the word.

He took a deep breath through his mouth, “So, yes, when you- when we were about to- when I realized the extent of my feelings for you, I- panicked, and I betrayed you, and I just-“ All at once, he broke down into sobs.

The rain let up, the storm cleared, and sunlight beamed down on The Prince.

Virgil stared at him, stunned, because.. fuck. He’d known Roman for so long now, and yet, for the first time, he felt like he was really seeing him.

He was a scared, confused, anguished teenager, just like Virgil, who was being crushed alive by the weight of an entire city’s expectations. And Virgil had taken this long to realize it.

“Roman..” Virgil said.

He approached The Prince, approached Roman, trying to find the right words, but he didn’t even know where to begin. So, instead, Virgil opened his arms to him.

Roman stared at him. His eyes tracked both of Virgil’s arms, and then his face. He wore an expression that held so much confusion and hurt that it made Virgil’s heart ache even more than it already had been. Then, finally, The Prince stepped forward and sunk into Virgil’s embrace, burying his face into his shoulder.

Virgil wrapped his arms tightly around him, and Roman did the same in return. He sobbed into the fabric of his white shirt, and Virgil moved one of his hands to rest on the back of Roman’s neck. He shut his eyes and tried to convey all the things that he didn’t know how to put into words with the way he held Roman as tightly as he could.

They stood like that for a long time. Then, eventually, Roman’s sobs began to quiet down, and he removed his face from Virgil’s shoulder, allowing himself to breathe more easily. Virgil rubbed circles up and down Roman’s back, trying to soothe him.

“I’m so sorry, Virgil.. Please forgive me, I’m- I’m so sorry..” Roman said.

Virgil shushed him, “I forgive you, I forgive you- Jesus Christ, of course I forgive you, Roman.. Of course I do.” He took a deep, shaky breath, “I should be the one apologizing, not you. I.. I was a selfish dick.”

Roman chuckled weakly, sniffing and clutching onto Virgil like a lifeline, “Yeah.. you were a bit of a dick.” He said.

“Hey!” Virgil said, feigning annoyance. He wasn’t very convincing. His voice sounded terrifyingly fond.

“What? You said it!” Roman teased.

“Yeah, but you weren’t supposed to agree!”

Roman laughed again, and the sound made Virgil feel warm inside.

“Hey, Roman?” Virgil said.

“Hm?”

“Do you think we could get in the car now? I’m fucking freezing out here.”

Roman let out a laugh, “Yes.” He said.

Chapter Text

It was a long drive to the safe house. Rush-hour was at its peak, and the slick road wasn’t making things any easier. Cars clogged the streets of Druther City. Virgil had been driving for ten minutes now, yet they had made almost no progress.

Surprisingly, he didn’t mind the traffic. It gave him time to think.

There was certainly a lot to think about. So much had happened in the last few weeks- hell, so much had happened in the last few days, and it was frankly difficult to process it all. You could pick any one event that had happened to Virgil recently, and any one of those events would be something notable enough for him to think about for months.

Despite that fact, there was one thing that was currently in the forefront of Virgil’s mind. It had to do with Roman. This didn’t come as much of a surprise to Virgil, as Roman never seemed to be far from his thoughts. In particular, though, he was thinking about everything that Roman had told him.

He had poured his heart out to Virgil. He had trusted him with secrets that he had never told anyone before, despite the fact that, in that moment, Virgil had shown nothing but distrust towards Roman. Opening up like that must have taken a huge amount of courage- an amount that only someone like Roman possessed.

It was more than a little inspiring. He had trusted Virgil with so much, and it- Well, damnit, it made him want to trust Roman in return.

Not about everything- he wasn’t brave enough for that, not yet, but.. Maybe about one thing. He had seen Roman at his most vulnerable, and he felt compelled to allow Roman to see the reverse. Did he have enough courage to tell Roman about his nightmares?

Virgil glanced over at him. Currently, Roman was sitting comfortably in the seat next to him with his hair still dark from the rain and his feet on the dashboard-

Virgil nearly slammed on the brakes, but considering he was in the middle of driving on a busy road, he stopped himself from doing that.

He did, however, yell, “WHATTHEFUCKAREYOUDOING?!”

Roman, who had been quite peacefully looking out of the passenger window, flinched and turned towards Virgil with a baffled expression, “What?!”

Virgil’s eyes were wide, and he looked back and forth between Roman and the road, “Your- your feet- Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!”

Roman’s brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to decipher what Virgil was talking about. Eventually, his eyes followed Virgil’s down to his feet.

“What- putting my feet on the dashboard?” He said.

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Is it really that bad?” Roman asked.

“Yes!” Virgil said. “You can- If you- Your knees can go through your eye sockets!”

“No way.” Roman said, doubt in his voice.

“It happens! I’ve read about it.” Virgil told him.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. And, at the very least, you can break your legs-“ His eyes dashed to Roman again, “Look, will you just- Will you just put them down? You’re stressing me out!”

Roman held up his hands in surrender, “Alright, alright. I’m putting them down.” He said. He uncrossed his legs and removed his feet from the dashboard, placing them on the floor of the car instead. “There.” He said. “Is that better?”

Inwardly, Virgil sighed with relief, “Much.” He said.

There was a beat of silence.

Then, Roman and Virgil both began to talk at the same time.

“I didn’t realize that-“ Roman started.

“Look, about my nightmares-“ Virgil started.

They both stopped.

“You go.” Virgil said.

“Oh, no, it’s not important.” Roman said. “You go, please.”

“No, I- You go first, Princey.” Virgil insisted.

“I- Alright.” Roman said. “All I was going to say is that I didn’t realize that putting my feet on the dashboard was that dangerous.”

Virgil snorted, “Oh, okay. That really wasn’t important.”

“I said it wasn’t going to be!” Roman said.

Virgil chuckled, “I thought you were being polite!”

“Come on, Virge- You should know me better than that.” Roman teased.

Virgil let out a loud laugh- a guise to hide the way that his heart jumped at hearing Roman call him Virge.

“You’re right, I should.”

Virgil slowed the car to a stop as they approached a red light. He allowed himself to look over at Roman. He was smiling at Virgil, fondness in his eyes, and Virgil was sure he wore a similar expression. For an instant, their eyes locked, and Virgil’s heart swelled in his chest with a sweet, aching feeling. Longing. Want.

He wanted to watch the way his eyes lit up when he told a story. He wanted to bicker with him, while they both bit back smiles. He wanted to listen to the way that his voice pitched when he got passionate about something. He wanted to feel the warmth of his hand in Roman’s. He wanted to hear every single one of his strange nicknames, until he ran out. He wanted to know everything about Roman. He wanted Roman to know everything about him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Virgil saw the cars ahead of him begin to move, and he blinked, turning back to the road. As he drove, he could feel Roman watching him still. Time passed. Virgil didn’t know if it was seconds or minutes, but he eventually found himself speaking.

“I’ve had them as far back as I can remember.” Virgil said. “The nightmares, I mean.”

He glanced at Roman, who didn’t answer, but simply raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned forward just a little.

Virgil diverted his attention back to the road, “The thing is..” He said. “It’s not.. It’s not just every once in a while, for me. I’m not sure exactly how often normal people have them- I think it varies? I’m not sure, but.. For me, it’s every night.”

“Every night?” Roman asked. Virgil could hear his frown.

“Yeah.” Virgil breathed.

Roman paused for a few seconds, “So, you’ve.. never had a good dream?”

Virgil shook his head, “Not that I can remember.”

“..Wow.” Roman said. “That.. I can hardly imagine what that must be like.”

Virgil shrugged, keeping his eyes ahead, “For the most part, I’m kind of used to it.” His jaw clenched, and he found himself wanting to say more. “But.. that doesn’t make them any less terrifying.”

“That makes sense.” Roman said.

Virgil’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, “No, it doesn’t.” He said, his voice wavering. “It doesn’t make any sense. I should be able to tell. I should be able to stay calm. Why am I terrified every single time?”

He turned to look at Roman. He was looking back at him, his brown eyes full of concern.

“Hey,” Very deliberately, Roman moved his hand to rest on Virgil’s knee, “It’s alright to be afraid.”

Virgil swallowed thickly, brushing his bangs out of his eyes and turning back to the road in order to avoid staring at Roman’s hand.

“Um.” He said.

He couldn’t remember what he’d been about to say. All he could think was, “Roman’s hand is on my knee. Roman’s hand is on my knee. Roman’s hand is on my knee.”

It was a bit pathetic.

He cleared his throat, “Um, yeah.” He said. “I guess.”

His eyes dashed towards Roman, only to be met with a dazzling smile. Quickly, Virgil looked away. He could feel warmth spreading across his cheeks.

“Thank you for opening up to me, Virgil.” Roman said, as if Virgil wasn’t already flustered enough. “It has to take an immense amount of strength to be such a wonderful person, even when you have to deal with that every time you go to sleep. You definitely shouldn’t feel bad about it. It’s completely out of your control.”

Virgil froze. Just like that, the moment was broken. Everything that had been eating away at Virgil came flooding back, all at once.

“No, it’s not.” Virgil said flatly.

Roman withdrew his hand from Virgil’s knee, surprised by his shift in tone, “What do you mean?”

Virgil shook his head, “It’s not out of my control.” He told Roman.

“..What do you mean?” Roman repeated.

Virgil turned on his left turn signal and drew the car to a halt at yet another stoplight, “That’s what Remus wanted to discuss with me.” He said.

“What?” Roman asked. “A way to control your nightmares?”

“..Not exactly.” Virgil said. “He told me a way to.. make them stop.”

In his peripheral vision, Virgil saw Roman lean closer, “How?!” He asked.

Virgil shook his head sadly, “Don’t get your hopes up, Princey.”

“Why not?” Roman asked. He raised his voice, “Virgil, whatever task you must conquer, you will prevail! I will do everything in my power to help you conquer these nightmares!”

The corner of Virgil’s mouth twitched. He usually found Roman’s bouts of exaggeration irritating, but when he was using one in defense of Virgil, it was actually.. kind of sweet.

“I, uh- I appreciate the support, Princey, but it’s not really an issue of can. It’s an issue of won’t. I- I have the power to make the nightmares go away, but I- Well, I won’t do it. It just- It wouldn’t be right.” He let out a sigh, “Sorry, I’m not making any sense.”

“No, no- You’re making sense.” Roman told him. “So you wouldn’t be able to do it because it would.. harm others? Is that it?”

Virgil nodded.

“..If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly did he say you had to do?”

Virgil didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He stared at the car in front of him. It had a bumper sticker that read “Proud DPEA Alumnus”. Ugh.

“He said that.. He thinks that my Propensity is similar to his. He thinks that.. both of our Propensities feed on fear.. if that makes any sense. The nightmares.. that’s the bacteria’s way of getting fear from me. It only happens because they’re.. hungry, or whatever. But, according to Remus, if I use my Propensity on a regular enough basis, the bacteria can feed off of the fear of others, somehow.. and my nightmares will go away.”

After an unholy amount of time, the light eventually turned green, and Virgil turned left. They drove in silence for a while, and Virgil didn’t dare look over at Roman.

Finally, Roman spoke.

“That’s.. fucked up.” He said.

Virgil let out a slightly startled laugh, “Yeah.” He said. “Yeah, it really is.”

Another long silence.

“I don’t know if you need to be told this or not, but you made the right choice in deciding not to use your Propensity like that.” Roman said.

Virgil let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Roman. I did need that.”

A short pause.

“I’m sorry for pushing you to talk about your nightmares earlier.” Roman said. “I am just.. really tired of secrets.” There was a bitter edge to his voice.

“You don’t have to apologize, Roman.” Virgil said. “I don’t blame you at all. I was just.. really upset. I.. haven’t talked to anyone about my nightmares in a long time. Not even Patton and Logan know about them. It’s kind of a touchy subject for me.”

“That’s completely understandable.” Roman said.

Suddenly, Virgil realized something. He felt.. better. Like, a lot better. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders- a weight he had been dealing with for so long, he had nearly forgotten it was there.

Virgil turned to Roman with a small smile on his face, “Thank you, Roman.” He said. “Thank you so much for listening to me, and for sticking with me, and for dealing with me.. It means- It means the world.”

Roman’s brown eyes melted like chocolate, “Of course, Stormcloud.” He said. “Anytime.”

Chapter Text

When Virgil and Roman arrived at the safehouse, they were met with a warm welcome. Patton ran outside to greet them, waving at the car, and Logan trailed behind him at a walk, a fond smile on his face.

Virgil pulled into the driveway. He laughed as Roman rolled the window down and sang, “We’re HEEERRRRREEE!!”

Virgil parked, and the two of them both exited the car. Immediately, Patton tackled Roman into a hug, as he was the closest target.

However, before Roman could return the hug, Patton let go, stepping back, “You’re wet!” He said.

Roman chuckled, “If you think I’m wet now, you should’ve seen me a little while ago. Virgil and I got caught in a rainstorm- we were both soaked.”

“Oh, golly, I hope neither of you caught a cold!”

Virgil walked up to the two of them, shouldering Roman’s jacket, “Hopefully not.” He said.

As he came to a halt at Roman’s side, Roman propped his elbow up on Virgil’s shoulder, using him as an armrest. Virgil looked over at him, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and when they made eye contact, Roman smiled back.

Their attention was broken by Patton.

“I’m so happy to see you two!” He said. He reached out both hands to tussle their hair.

Roman dropped his arm from Virgil’s shoulder, dodging away, “Patton!” He laughed.

Meanwhile, Virgil scrunched his nose, “Ack! Get off!” He said, shaking his head.

Logan, from his spot farther back, let out a quiet chuckle, “Patton, perhaps you shouldn’t torment the kids.” He said, crossing his arms.

Patton looked back at him, “Aw, come on, Lo. I’m not tormenting them- they love it!”

“No, we don’t!” Virgil laughed, “Help us!”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Why don’t we all go inside? I’m sure you two are cold.”

Patton held out a his hands, one towards Roman and one towards Virgil, “Truce?”

Roman shook his hand, “Truce.” He said.

Virgil shook his other hand, “We’re cool.”

All at once, Patton broke into a grin, and Virgil knew he had fucked up.

“Cool?” Patton repeated.

Virgil slammed the palm of his hand into his forehead, “You know I didn’t mean that as a pun.” He groaned.

Eventually, the four of them made their way inside. Virgil had yet to see the interior of the safehouse, but seeing it now, he found it to be quite pleasant. It had dark brown wooden floors accompanied by a blue rug in the living room. The decorations resembled that of Logan and Patton’s house, except for the color palette being darker and more muted. Overall, it radiated comfort.

Logan made his way to the kitchen, “Are you guys hungry?” He asked.

As soon as he asked, Virgil realized that he really was.

“Yes.” He said.

“Me too.” Roman said, sounding equally fervent.

Logan chuckled, “We are as well.” He said. “Patton and I decided to wait until you got back before we had dinner.”

Roman frowned, “You did? That was hardly necessary.”

Patton waved him off, “It’s our pleasure. Besides, a family dinner is the perfect time to catch up on how the meeting with the mayor went!”

Yikes. Virgil couldn’t help the way his eyes widened, and he looked towards Roman. Roman, however, wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was staring at Patton, looking shocked.

Or, rather, the spot where Patton had been standing. He hadn’t noticed Roman’s reaction, as he had disappeared into the pantry after Logan, where the two of them were having a muttered discussion about ingredients.

After a few seconds, it clicked in Virgil’s head. Family dinner. That’s what Patton had said.

He approached Roman, gently bumping their shoulders together, “You okay there, Princey?”

Roman blinked, turning his head towards Virgil, “Huh?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “I asked-“

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” He said.

Virgil’s expression softened, “You’re good.” He said. “I know Patton can be a little.. forward..?“ He laughed, “No, sorry, that’s not the right word. He just.. He’s fairly ride-or-die. He did the same thing with me. I know it can be a little.. overwhelming, but it just means that he cares about you.”

Roman smiled, “Yeah, um.. Okay. Thanks, Emo-tional Support Villain.”

Virgil snorted, “Wow, come up with that one all on your own?”

Roman shoved him lightly, laughing, “Shut up, that was some of my finest material!”

“Yikes.” Virgil said. “That was your finest material? Personally, I far preferred-“

Patton exited the pantry, followed by Logan. They both carried armfuls of ingredients, all of them either canned or in plastic packaging.

“Unfortunately, our ingredients here are pretty limited. I could only stock this place with non-perishable foods- not only that, but kosher non-perishable foods, which doesn’t leave a huge selection.” Logan said. “However, we should be able to cook some vegetable fried rice-“ He stopped, squinting at Virgil, “Aren’t those.. Roman’s clothes?” He asked.

Both Virgil and Roman turned bright red, edging away from one another.

“Um- uh- yeah.” Virgil said, looking down. “I, uh-“

“-He needed a change of clothes-“ Roman said.

“-Yeah, a change of clothes. My superhero outfit, was, um, pretty torn up, and since we were going to see the Mayor-“

“-I offered to stop by my place and let him borrow some clothes.” Roman finished.

“Yeah.” Virgil said.

“..Yeah.” Roman echoed.

There was a beat of silence in which Logan and Patton exchanged a look. Then, Logan shook his head.

“..Alright then.” He said. “Back to the matter at hand, does vegetable fried rice sound good to you two?”

The tension left Virgil and Roman’s shoulders, both of them grateful for the change of subject.

“Absolutely.” Roman said.

“Yep, sounds great.”

A short while later, the fried rice was cooked, and they all got themselves plates and sat around the dinner table. Patton and Logan sat at one side, and Roman and Virgil sat across from them.

“This is delicious.” Roman said, between mouthfuls of rice.

“Thank you, Roman.” Logan responded. After a short moment, he cleared his throat expectantly.

Patton set down his fork, “Um.. Roman.. Virge.. How did your meeting with the Mayor go?”

There it was. Virgil knew that one of them would ask eventually. Honestly, he was surprised at how long it had taken. But, then again, that was Logan and Patton- they almost always took his feelings into careful consideration.

Virgil pursed his lips and exchanged a look with Roman.

“Well.. not.. great..” He said.

Roman let out a laugh, “Yeah, that just about sums it up.” He said. “It probably could’ve been.. worse?”

“..Yeah.” Virgil said. “It was mostly.. unexpected.”

“How so?” Logan asked.

“Uh..” Virgil looked at Roman again, who held his hands up in a gesture of ‘don’t ask me’. Virgil rolled his eyes at his unhelpfulness, and turned back to Logan and Patton, “Well.. it turns out that the Mayor.. wasn’t who he seemed to be.”

Patton’s brow furrowed, “What?”

Once again, Virgil looked at Roman, who shook his head minutely. Then, Virgil kicked him underneath the table.

“Hey!” Roman exclaimed. He sent Virgil a glare, but, then, he sighed and addressed Patton and Logan.

“Things seemed normal at first. We spoke with the secretary, who called the mayor and let him know we were coming. When we got to his office, he, understandably, seemed pretty surprised to see the two of us together.. um..”

He kicked Virgil, who exhaled a small huff before taking over, “We told him everything that we’d come to tell him- About Propensities, about Mr. and Mrs. Spectacular- all that stuff. And then..” He shook his head, “Then, he told us that he already knew all of that.”

He paused, gauging his friends’ reactions. Patton’s eyes were wide, and he had his chin resting on his fist, leaning forward. Logan, on the other hand, showed no reaction other than raised eyebrows.

“Go on.” He prompted, taking a sip of water.

“And, well, then, he told us that he wasn’t actually Thomas Sanders at all, but an actor named Remus Green-“

Logan choked on his water and broke into a coughing fit. Immediately, Patton was at his side, patting him on the back.

“You okay, hon?!” He asked.

“Yeah, I just-“ Logan coughed a few more times, “I wasn’t expecting-“ He coughed again.

It took a few more moments and a drink of water before Logan got his breath back. Once he did, Patton gave him a concerned look.

“Logan-“ He looked at Virgil. “Remus Green..? Who is that?”

“..The Intruder.” Logan said.

Patton’s head snapped back around to look at him, “That’s.. That’s impossible. He’s.. He’s in jail.”

Virgil shook his head, “No, he’s not.” He said. “That’s just what the Spectaculars wanted us all to think.”

Patton looked between the two of them frantically, “So- what- he’s been Mayor Sanders? This whole time?!”

Virgil shrugged, “I’m not sure how long, but he did say that there is a real Thomas Sanders- and that he’s imprisoned somewhere.”

“That’s awful!” Patton said.

“..Yeah.” Virgil said.

“Did he attack you? How exactly did you get away?” Logan asked.

“He didn’t attack us.” Virgil said. “He just wanted to talk, actually.”

“What about?” Patton asked.

Virgil’s shoulders tensed. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not this soon. Not again. ..But what was he supposed to say?

“He- He-“

“He wanted to try and convert us to his side.” Roman interjected. “More Virgil than me, really, since.. since they’re both villains. But, obviously, he wasn’t interested..” He inhaled, “The point is, we left before things could get too heated.”

Virgil sent him a grateful look, and Roman smiled back at him. Hopefully, it wasn’t noticeable.

If it was, Patton and Logan didn’t point it out.

“Well, I sure am glad that you weren’t hurt!” Patton said.

The corner of Logan’s mouth lifted, “I am as well.” He said. “However, I am still rather confused on one subject..”

“What’s that?” Virgil asked.

“Why did it take so long for you to arrive here? I understand that you stopped to change clothes, but it sounds as if your meeting was relatively short- even if it was long, you were gone for nearly four hours- something else must have happened.”

Virgil swallowed, remembering his conversation with Roman in the rain. That was.. personal. More importantly, though, it wasn’t his story to share, really.

He made eye contact with Roman. It was up to him.

Roman turned to Logan and Patton, “..Nothing else.” He said. “Just traffic.”

Chapter Text

“Ostrich!”

“Swan!”

“Oh! Oh! I know! Duck!”

Virgil shook his head vehemently.

He was standing in the living room in front of a small bowl full of strips of paper. His hand was held above his head with his fingers pressed together. He opened and closed his hand, trying to mimic a mouth.

“Turkey!” Logan yelled from his spot in the brown armchair.

He had an intense, focused glint in his eyes, and he was leaning so far forward that he looked in danger of slipping off any second. When Virgil shook his head again, Logan let out a frustrated “Oy vey!”

Virgil sighed. Tonight, he had discovered that he really fucking sucked at charades. He tried to adjust his hand to look more rounded. Apparently, what he had been doing looked way too bird-like.

“Lobster!” Patton exclaimed, then, without missing a beat, “Crab!”

He was seated on the couch- though seated may not be the right word. He was bouncing up and down like a sugar-happy kid stuck on a long car trip. Every time he made a guess, he delivered it with the conviction of someone who knew it was going to be right this time. He made a lot of guesses.

Virgil wiggled his arm, trying to make it look less stiff and more.. what? Neck-like?

“..Elephant?!” Roman tried, desperately.

He lay on his back next to Patton, his legs draped over the arm of the couch and his neck turned towards Virgil to call out guesses.

Virgil stopped his previous motion and waved his arms in a frantic ‘X’ motion, indicating that they were way off. As he did, Roman and Logan let out joint groans of irritation.

“What is this thing?!” Roman asked, in the tone of someone whose patience was running thin.

Virgil tried to think, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do other than what he was doing already. It wasn’t even difficult!

Once again, he lifted his arm above his head, moving his hand to mimic a mouth. He stood up on his tip-toes and stretched his hand up as high as he could.

There were a few seconds of confused staring before Roman spoke up.

“..What?!” He said.

Suddenly, Logan leapt up from his chair, “GIRAFFE!” He screamed.

Virgil dropped his hands, “Yes!” He exclaimed.

“Oooohhhhh.” Patton said. “Good job, Logan!”

Logan adjusted his tie smugly, “Thank you, Patton.” He said.

Roman swung one of his legs off of the couch’s arm, sitting up a little, “That was a giraffe?!” He asked, voice incredulous.

“Duh.” Virgil said.

“Why did it look like a bird?”

“It didn’t look like a bird!” Virgil huffed.

“Yes, it did.” Roman said.

“No, it didn’t!” Virgil argued.

“Yes, it did.”

“No, it-“

Virgil was interrupted by Roman throwing a pillow directly at his face. Roman let out a loud laugh.

Then, a devious smirk crept onto Virgil’s face, and Roman stopped laughing, “Oh, sh-“

Before he could even finish talking, Virgil had picked up the pillow and ran towards Roman at full speed to hit him with it.

“No! No!” Roman laughed. He tried to dodge away from Virgil’s attack, but he was unsuccessful. “Patton! Save me!”

“PILLOW FIGHT!!” Patton yelled gleefully, picking up a pillow and throwing it at Virgil.

It took only a matter of seconds for all-out war to erupt. Patton, Roman, and Virgil chased each other around the house, throwing and swatting pillows at one another, while Logan watched with amusement.

Before long, though, Roman and Patton dragged Logan into the fight as well.

“Come on, Teach! You don’t always have to be the nerdiest person in the room!” Roman teased, propping his chin on the back of Logan’s armchair.

Logan scoffed, “I have told you many times before that calling me a nerd is not an effective insult.” He said flatly.

Patton bounced over, dodging a pillow thrown by Virgil. Immediately, Logan’s expression softened. It was disgusting how in love they were.

“Aw, come on, honey! It’ll be fun!” Patton said.

Logan took a deep breath, but didn’t answer.

“Please?” Patton implored.

Rolling his eyes, Logan got up from his seat, picking up the fallen pillow that Virgil had missed Patton with, “Fine.” He said.

Roman and Patton both cheered, and Virgil smiled wider than he already had been.

Once Logan entered the fight, things grew intense. There were treaties, alliances, betrayals, seiges- entire history textbooks could be written about the trials and tribulations within the Great Pillow War.

After a while, though, the four of them began to wear down.

Logan yawned and glanced at his watch, “It’s quite late.” He said. “It’s probably about time for all of us to go to sleep.”

Virgil frowned, looking over at a nearby clock to check the time. When he saw it, he raised his eyebrows. 11:36 PM. It was pretty late. Time had flown by.

“Uh..” Roman said.

The others waited for him to say more, but he didn’t elaborate.

“..What is it, Roman?” Logan asked.

“How many bedrooms are in this house?”

Logan’s eyes glinted with amusement, “There are three.”

Roman nodded, “Oh, okay, good.” He said. “I was worried there wouldn’t be enough.”

“Nope! There’s just enough!” Patton said. “I already claimed the biggest room for Logan and I, which is on that side of the house,” He pointed to his right, “But the other two rooms over there-“

Before he could even finish his sentence, Roman broke into a run in the direction he was pointing. It took a moment for Virgil to realize what was happening, but as soon as he did, he ran after Roman.

“Hey! That’s not fair, you got a head start!” He shouted.

Roman glanced back at him, laughing, “You snooze you lose, My Chemically-Imbalanced Romance!”

He rushed into the first room, and Virgil quickly came in after him. Once they had both assessed it, they headed to the door, shoving one another playfully and laughing.

As it turned out, the second room was bigger, and Roman yelled, “Dibs!”

“Aw, man.” Virgil said, pretending to be disappointed. In reality, he couldn’t care less which room he got.

He had decided that he wasn’t going to go to sleep tonight. He didn’t care what it took. He wasn’t going to- he couldn’t go to sleep. He wasn’t ready to face the nightmares.

So, after wishing the others good night, Virgil went to his room and began to pace.

After maybe an hour of standing and walking, Virgil’s legs grew tired. He gave in, taking a seat on the bed. This would be a lot easier if he had literally anything to do.

Unfortunately, he didn’t. His phone got blown up, as did his laptop, and the room was bare of any forms of entertainment. He considered grabbing a book, but thought against it. Reading this late at night always just made him more tired.

He let his chin rest on his fist. What he could really use was some caffeine. He sucked at the inside of his cheek, trying to remember if he had seen a coffee maker in the kitchen.

He sighed. He couldn’t remember.

In the end, though, it didn’t really matter. He didn’t want to leave his room in case Patton or Logan was out there- he had already worried them with so many of his problems, and he certainly didn’t want to try and explain why he was going into the kitchen in search of caffeine at close to one in the morning..

He found himself tilting forward, his eyelids drooping. As soon as he realized what was happening, he jolted upwards, shaking himself.

He had this under control. He just needed to keep moving, to keep shifting position. He took his shoes off, and he moved so that his back rested against the headboard of the bed, and he stretched his legs out in front of him. He let out a yawn and shook himself, trying to stop his eyes open.

Come on! He could do this! He could do this. He’d kept himself up plenty of nights just with anxious thoughts alone- surely, he could do it again.

He tried to focus on what was making him anxious right now. It was a long list.

Things seemed too.. good, right now. Sure, they were.. weird, but they weren’t actually all that bad. Spending time with Logan, Patton, and Roman all at the same time made him feel happy in a way that he didn’t feel very often at all. It was like.. family, almost.

It made him nervous. Something bad was coming. He just knew it. He knew something bad was going to happen, any moment now, and ruin everything.

What if something happened to them? To any of them? What would he do? The shock of nearly losing Logan rose up. For a while, there had been so much going on, he had pushed it aside. Now, though..

What if Logan had died? Virgil had been right there, and he’d done nothing to stop it. Logan could’ve died, and it would have been his fault. It would’ve been his fault.

..Perhaps making himself anxious on purpose hadn’t been the best idea. He tried to think of something else, but he couldn’t. He was spiraling, now.

If Patton had arrived a moment later, he would’ve found his husband dead. He was the most forgiving person that Virgil knew, but even he wouldn’t forgive Virgil for allowing that to happen.

What would happen, then? Would the Spectaculars kill Patton, too?

Virgil didn’t even notice when blackness took over. It was a seamless transition from his conscious thoughts into his unconscious horrors.

Chapter Text

Virgil was back at the academy.

He was in his room. It was a sad, bare room, decorated only by a small gray bed, a wardrobe, and a nightstand with an alarm clock on it. He wasn’t allowed to add his own decorations.

He pulled off the covers of his bed, glancing at the clock. He couldn’t quite make out the numbers, but somehow, he knew he was late for class. He ran through the school’s hallways, trying to find his classroom. For some reason, though, the hallways were like a labyrinth. Why did he keep getting lost? He’d gone to this school for years!

After a while of trying to find his class, a piece of knowledge dropped into Virgil’s head. He had no idea where it came from. One moment, he was trying to find his class, and the next, the knowledge appeared in his mind, completely out of the blue.

It was this:

Patton and Logan were going to go on a bus, and if they did, they were going to die.

If he didn’t warn them, they were going to die.

Just like that, he wasn’t at the academy anymore. He was walking down the sidewalk in the city as cars raced by beside him.

He had to find Patton and Logan. He looked through the throngs of people who had suddenly appeared. They had to be around here somewhere..

There! He saw two figures, one with black hair and a black shirt, and the other with brown hair and a familiar gray cardigan wrapped around his shoulders. It was Patton and Logan!

Virgil pushed through the crowd, trying to get to them, but it was like trying to swim upstream in swift current- it was futile. The crowd was carrying him the opposite direction, and his friends’ retreating forms were becoming harder and harder to make out.

“Patton!” Virgil yelled. “Logan!”

Neither of them heard him.

Eventually, the crowd deposited him next to a sign, which just so happened to show that there was a bus stop ahead.

That had to be where they were heading! If he hurried, he could still save them.

He arrived at the bus stop, but he was the only one there. Was he at the wrong place?

Then, a bus pulled up, and the stop was suddenly full of people. As the doors to the bus opened, they began to file in.

“Wait!” Virgil called. “Don’t go in there, it’s dangerous!”

He might as well have been yelling at a brick wall. Not a single person even looked at him.

“Hello?!” Virgil shouted.

The seats on the bus were filling up. Virgil searched the crowd for Patton and Logan. Maybe they weren’t going to take the bus anyways?

Then, his eyes fell on a familiar blue tie, and Virgil’s heart sank. Patton and Logan were about to enter the bus.

“Patton! Logan!” Virgil yelled. “Don’t go in there! You’re going to die if you go in there!”

Neither of them acknowledged his existence. Virgil tried to move forward, but his limbs wouldn’t move. What was happening? Why weren’t they listening?!

He was getting angry, now, “GUYS! STOP!”

Logan stepped into the bus, Patton quickly following him. The doors shut behind them, and Virgil finally found himself able to move. He began to run forward, but the air was like syrup around him. He was running in slow-motion, and the bus was going to drive away. If he didn’t get there in time, they were going to die. Why wasn’t he picking up the fucking pace?!

Finally, he was an arms length from the bus. But just as he reached out to bang on the bus’s door, it began to drive away.

“NO!” He screamed.

He tried to run after it, but he was still so slow. He could see Patton and Logan through one of the bus’s windows, but they were growing farther and farther away.

Virgil chased the bus until he couldn’t chase it any longer. Then, it turned a corner and out of sight, and the scene shifted.

Virgil was at a funeral. Dread rose in his chest. There were two caskets ahead of him. He didn’t want to look at who was inside. He didn’t want to look. Still, against his wishes, he found himself moving forward.

When he saw who it was, his breath caught.

Patton and Logan. It was them. The specifics of their appearances were slightly fuzzy, but their faces were clear. Pale. Stiff. Bloodless. Lifeless.

Dead.

“No.” Virgil said. “No, no, no, no.”

He stomped his foot, “No!”

Tears began to stream down his face. He couldn’t save them. He’d failed them. Now, they were gone. These things, these bodies- they weren’t Patton and Logan. They weren’t the men who had become like fathers to him. They were just.. corpses. Skeletons. They didn’t have Patton’s smile. They didn’t have Logan’s eyebrow raise.

They were nothing, now, and it was Virgil’s fault.

His fault. His fault..

He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. He was sobbing openly, violently- his entire body shaking with despair. How could he let this happen?

When he looked up again, he was somewhere new. The two caskets were gone. In their stead was a single body crumpled on the floor.

It wasn’t clean, like those of Patton and Logan. It was facing downwards, and it was mottled in blood and dirt.

He recognized it.

He shook his head, fresh tears forming in his eyes. No, he didn’t. He didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be him.

Virgil stared at the body, tears blurring his vision.

The body wore a white outfit with shoulders fringed with gold and an immediately recognizable red sash.

All at once, he found himself falling next to the body, clutching at its shoulders, turning it over. He had to see. He had to check.

When he rolled the body onto its back, Virgil was met with Roman’s lifeless brown eyes staring up at him.

Virgil let out an involuntary whimper. He reached out with quivering hands to clutch Roman’s face. He was cold. Too cold. Virgil moved one hand down to Roman’s neck, feeling desperately for a pulse, for any sign of life.

When he found none, Virgil felt something break inside of him.

“No!” He sobbed, hitting Roman’s body in the chest. “Not you too, you fucking- you fucking bastard. Not you too!”

He began to shake the body, violently, “Wake up, Princey!” He screamed. “DON’T FUCKING DIE! YOU- YOU CAN’T FUCKING DIE! WAKE UP, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! WAKE-“

Suddenly, a voice was penetrating Virgil’s mind, “Virgil, wake up!” The voice said. Someone was shaking Virgil by his shoulders, who, in return, jerked away, screaming obscenities.

“Virgil, Stormcloud, it’s alright! It’s okay, it’s just me- It’s just a dream, alright? You need to wake up.”

Virgil slowly stopped struggling, beginning to come into consciousness. He opened his eyes blearily. They were wet with tears.

“Roman..?”

Roman let out a sigh, loosening his grip on Virgil’s shoulders, “Virgil.”

Virgil had to blink a few times before he was able to focus on Roman’s figure above him. When he did, he had to stop himself from sobbing with relief. He was alive.

“I’m sorry for intruding, but I heard you screaming- It woke me up, actually, but that’s- I don’t mind. I just wanted to make sure you were okay..” Roman was saying.

Virgil reached out a trembling hand towards Roman’s face.

“Uh, Virgil..? What are you..?” Roman said. His cheeks flushed red. Red with blood. Red with life.

Virgil’s hand landed on the side of Roman’s face, and he caressed the red of his cheeks with his thumb. He was warm, unlike the corpse in his nightmare. He was warm, he was real, and he was alive.

Virgil finally found himself able to breathe, “You’re.. You’re not.. I thought.. I thought you were..” A soft sob escaped his lips.

Roman’s face- Roman’s beautiful, alive face- softened from befuddlement to concern.

“Never fear, Virgil. I’m right here. Everything- woah!“ Virgil pulled Roman forward into a sudden hug, digging his chin into the side of Roman’s neck.

As soon as he realized what was happening, Roman allowed himself to be pulled, and wrapped his arms around Virgil, shifting onto the bed next to him so they were both more comfortable.

He began to rub Virgil’s back in soothing circles, “I’ve got you.” He whispered. “Everything is going to be alright, Virgil.”

Virgil couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that escaped his lips.

“What?” Roman laughed back, “I’m serious!”

Virgil sniffed, “There’s no way you can guarantee that, Princey.”

“There is so!” Roman responded, using his most dramatic, most exaggerative voice. “I swear, Virgil. I swear on my life, that everything is going to be alright.”

On impulse, Virgil punched Roman in the arm, hard.

“Ow!” Roman exclaimed, rubbing the place where Virgil had hit him. “What was that for?!”

“Don’t say shit like that, you fucking dick.” Virgil said. “You better not ever fucking die on me. Don’t even joke. If you fucking die on me, I’ll fucking kill you, got that?”

Roman chuckled, “That doesn’t make any-“

“Shut it, Princey. Who are you, Logan?” Virgil said. “Just tell me you got it.”

“Alright, alright.” Roman laughed. “I got it.”

“Good.” Virgil said.

He wrapped his arms back around Roman, who muttered, “Demanding.”

“Shut it, Princey.” Virgil repeated, but he failed to keep the smile out of his voice.

In the morning, when Patton came into Virgil’s room to ask him if he knew where Roman was, he found the two of them curled up together on the bed.

And he smiled and decided to let them sleep.

Chapter Text

Virgil woke up slowly, casually, drifting in and out of sleep. It was a rare moment in which he found himself feeling both safe and comfortable, but this was one of those moments.

However, though he was comfortable, he was lying on top of the covers, and he wasn’t as warm as he would’ve liked. A shiver ran down his back, and he snuggled closer to Roman, who shifted, throwing an arm over Virgil’s middle.

Wait.. what?

Virgil went over the night before in his mind. He remembered having.. a nightmare. A bad one.

He remembered the feeling of staring down at the bodies of his closest friends- his only friends. Dead. Cold. Gone.

..A really bad one.

But, then Roman was there, wasn’t he? And he was real, and alive, and warm..

Now, with his body pressed against Roman and Roman’s arm wrapped around his abdomen, it was more evident to Virgil than ever just how warm the guy was. He was like a living heater. It was certainly something to keep in mind for future reference.

Soon enough, almost as if he could feel Virgil’s attention, Roman began to stir. At first, he simply shifted his position around, his arm sliding off of Virgil and his eyes shut stubbornly closed in an effort to go back to sleep. After a while, though, he gave up and stretched out his arms and legs, letting out a loud yawn.

Virgil watched him with a crooked smile, “Look who’s finally waking up.” He said.

Roman’s brow furrowed, and he sat up, quickly wiping the sleep out of his eyes. Once he recognized Virgil’s face in front of him, though, he relaxed, allowing his head to fall back down onto the pillow.

“..I fell asleep.” He surmised. His voice came out just a little raspy, and the corners of his mouth tugged up into a half-smile.

“We both did.” Virgil said.

There was a moment of tired, comfortable silence. Then, sat up, seeming to realize something..

“I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to do that. I hope I didn’t make you.. uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” Virgil said quickly. As he heard his own words, a blush began to creep up the back of Virgil’s neck, “I mean- I just- I didn’t mind, I mean.”

Roman opened his eyes again, and he turned his head towards Virgil, giving him another drowsy half-smile, “Alright.” He said. “Good.”

They held heavy-lidded eye contact for several seconds, and Virgil took a deep, contented breath, drinking in the moment. He wanted things to always be like this.

But, even then, the moment was coming to a close.

Roman cleared his throat, turning away from Virgil to look towards the door. Virgil watched the way his long eyelashes fluttered closed as he inhaled, exhaled.

“Smells like Logan and Patton have a breakfast feast waiting for us.” Roman said.

Virgil quirked one eyebrow up, sniffing the air. Roman was right. The smell of warm food greeted his nostrils, making his mouth water.

He shook his head, not holding back the soft chuckle that escaped his lips.

Roman looked over at him, a curious grin on his face, “What?” He asked.

Virgil smiled, “Nothing, I just- I’m pretty sure that every single time I’ve woken up in the same house as Patton and Logan- which is a lot, actually- they’ve had breakfast waiting for me.”

Roman’s grin dimmed slightly, and he tilted his head to the side, “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Virgil said. “They’re the best.”

“..They really are.” Roman said.

Virgil looked over at Roman, recognizing a hint of sadness in his voice. He raised up his hand and, after a moment of hesitation, gently placed it on Roman’s.

“How.. How are you feeling, Roman?”

Roman’s eyes flitted towards Virgil’s hand, then up to his face, which was full of concern.

His own expression was unreadable as he said, “I’m.. fine.”

Virgil sighed, “I.. You know.. You’re allowed to be upset, you know. They were your parents.”

Roman tensed, “They still are my parents.” He said, voice hard.

“I- Right, uh, I just meant- With everything they’ve done-“

“It’s fine.” Roman said. He carefully moved his hand out from underneath Virgil’s, taking a deep breath. “I assure you, I can handle it. I’m fine.”

He gave him a small smile, but Virgil didn’t buy it. He was about to press further when Roman turned away, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“We should head to the kitchen.” He said. “Wouldn’t want to keep our wonderful hosts waiting!”

Virgil sighed under his breath, an act intentionally unnoticeable to Roman. The other got out of the bed and stood up, and, after a few seconds, Virgil did, too. He filed the conversation away to address at another time, pushing down discontent in his stomach.

After they were both up, Virgil followed Roman into the kitchen. There, they found Patton and Logan. The couple were sitting at a table in the kitchen, Patton facing towards the entryway and Logan facing away. There were two bowls at the table, each with a spoon propped against the inside. As Roman and Virgil entered, Patton was the first to notice them.

He smiled, “Good morning, kiddos!”

When he addressed Virgil and Roman, Logan turned around, a smile on his face, “Good morning.”

“Good morrow to you both!” Roman exclaimed.

Virgil rolled his eyes, “Do you ever talk like a normal human being, Romeo?” He asked. It was an automatic response.

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” Roman responded.

Virgil let out a snort and rolled his eyes again, but he was unable to avoid cracking a smile, despite his worries.

He turned to Patton and Logan, “What are you two eating?” He asked.

“Oatmeal.” Logan responded. “Would either of you like some?”

“Sure.” Virgil said.

Roman agreed.

So, they had some oatmeal. It was instant, which Patton apologized for, but Virgil didn’t have any problem with it. The box came with several different flavors, and each person wound up choosing a different one. Patton chose peach, Logan banana, Roman strawberry, and Virgil blueberry. It wasn’t amazing, but it was pretty good, as far as oatmeal goes.

Patton and Logan finished eating first, since they had already started before the other two had arrived. Even though they were done, they stayed at the table to keep Roman and Virgil company.

For a while, the four of them engaged in casual, pleasant smalltalk, careful to stay away from the more serious topics. However, when Virgil, the last one to finish, put up his bowl and spoon, this changed.

There’s only so far that smalltalk can be taken before the matters that people truly want to discuss come into play. Apparently, Logan had one such matter, as the moment that Virgil sat back down at the table, he spoke up, his tone serious.

“So..” He began. Immediately, Virgil felt uneasy. Since when did Logan start his sentences with “so”?

“Roman.. Virgil..” Logan continued.

Oh shit. He was going to ask about Roman and Virgil sleeping together. Or- not- not sleeping together, but, well, sleeping in the same bed. Oh, fuck, did Logan think they’d actually slept together? Virgil hadn’t even thought about.. that, but it would probably make sense.

Shit. This was going to be so awkward. He could feel his face heating up already. Why why why why why?

“What is it, Fickle-a Tesla?” Roman asked. Virgil could tell he didn’t really want to know, either.

Logan hesitated again, which did nothing but fuel Virgil’s unease. After a moment, though, he cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, and spoke.

“..Have you given any thought to the matter of our next move?” Logan said.

Virgil frowned, “Our next move..?” He echoed.

“Yes.” Logan said.

Roman realized it first, “You mean against my parents.” He said.

Oh. That.

“Precisely.” Logan responded.

“I.. Not really.” Roman said. “Virgil, have you?”

Virgil shook his head.

In all honesty, he had never considered the idea of being the first to strike. In his world, bad things happened, and he reacted to them (usually in a way that made them worse).

Roman turned back to Logan one eyebrow raised, “..Why do you ask?”

Virgil could tell by the glint in Logan’s eyes that he had been waiting for that question. The man leaned forward, the corners of his lips just barely lifting upwards.

“Because I have formed a plan.”

Chapter Text

“A plan?” Patton crossed his arms, “I thought this was the plan- staying here, laying low for a while.”

Logan scratched his nose, “Well, yes, that- that was the plan, but I realized that- well, that’s exactly what Andrew would expect.”

Roman’s brow furrowed, and he looked at Virgil, “Andrew?” He mouthed.

“Your dad.” Virgil mouthed back.

“What?” Roman mouthed.

“Your dad.” Virgil whispered.

It took a couple of seconds, but the words finally seemed to register in Roman’s brain, as a brief flicker of emotion appeared behind his eyes.

“Oh..okay.” He mouthed.

They both diverted their attention back to Logan.

“-I know him. He’s intelligent, but he’s also.. fastidious. We can use that to our advantage.”

Virgil frowned. He had no idea what that meant, but he was too embarrassed to ask.

Thankfully, Roman wasn’t.

“..Fastidious? What does that mean?”

Logan blinked and adjusted his glasses, “To be fastidious is to be meticulous.. careful.. attentive. It is to be a ‘perfectionist’, as some might say.” He put air quotes around the word.

“Well, that’s certainly true.” Roman muttered, only loud enough for Virgil to overhear.

“He- not unlike myself- is a strong believer in the importance of following a well thought-out plan. However, from what I’ve gathered, at least, he has a tendency to be.. for lack of a better word.. slow. He is not a scientist, and he does not understand leaving room for failure. Rather than go forth with multiple options, he insists on a plan that is perfect, and one that does not leave room for error.” The corner of Logan’s mouth twitched upwards, “If we can strike before he is able to finish his plan, he will be metaphorically pushed onto his heels, and he will be forced to improvise, which is not his area of expertise.”

Virgil nodded, “..Okay..that makes sense. But.. How exactly will we ‘strike first’?”

Logan smiled. Clearly, that was the question he had wanted to be asked, “By striking at the source of his power-“ His eyes gleamed behind his black-framed glasses, “His reputation.”

He gave the three of them a smug expression. If he was expecting a big reaction, he did not receive one. Virgil didn’t know about the others, but, personally, he was just.. confused. Logan still hadn’t explained what they were doing.

Logan sighed, “One moment.” He said.

Then, he disappeared into a separate room (an office?).

A moment later, he returned, carrying a small whiteboard and dry-erase marker. Who kept a portable whiteboard in their safehouse?

Logan must have seen the expression on Virgil’s face, “Visual aid is helpful in conveying a topic to an audience.” He stated.

When no one argued, he launched into his plan.

“There are two major components to destroying the reputation of Mr. Spectacular. Component one..” He uncapped his marker, drawing a vertical line in the center of the whiteboard to split it into two sides. On the left side, he wrote the first component, “Evidence.” He pointed to the word.

“As I’m sure you know, there are three main elements of a persuasive argument: pathos, ethos, and logos. In my personal opinion, logos is the most important of these three. It is extremely difficult to argue against the unyielding nature of factual evidence. Therefore, it is crucial that, in our defraudment of the Spectaculars, we gather evidence. But how will we do this?”

Virgil shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Logan wrote one name under the “Evidence” section, and he underlined it. Twice.

“Dr. Janus Anthony.” Logan read aloud. “With the information he has, we will be able to prove the true nature of Propensities, as well as the role that Mr. Spectacular had in hiding this nature from the general public. Dr. Anthony has already helped us once before, and therefore I see no reason that he should not help us again.”

Patton, who had up until now been standing in silence and frowning for the entirety of Logan’s plan, crossed his arms, “How will this information be spread?” He asked.

“Great question, my dear Patton!” Logan said. “That brings us to the second component of the plan..” He brought his marker to the right side of the whiteboard, but he hesitated.

Patton took a step forward, “Logan, what are you not telling us?” He asked sternly.

Logan winced, “Well.. I.. the thing is.. I am now realizing.. You’re not going to like this part.”

“..What is it?” Virgil asked.

“The second component of the plan is..” He wrote down a word on the right side of the board, “Reputation.”

Virgil’s brow furrowed, “Reputation? Whose reputation? Mr. Spectacular’s? I thought we were trying to mess up his reputation.”

Logan looked carefully at his whiteboard, not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room.

“Mr. Spectacular is a fixture of Druthers City. He has worked for years to become the most renowned, most powerful man in the city. He is.. adored. No matter how much evidence we gather.. the people will not believe it unless it comes from someone they trust.” Logan began to rap his marker against the whiteboard, making a tap tap tap sound that grated on Virgil’s nerves. “Not just someone they trust, but someone they trust around the same amount that they do Mr. Spectacular. Someone they know, and love. Someone who they would not dismiss. For the people to believe us, it has to come from-“

Before Logan could get the name out, it dawned on Virgil.

“Roman.” He finished.

The sound of the marker tapping against the whiteboard stopped, and Logan nodded.

“No.” Patton said.

All eyes turned to him.

“Absolutely not. No, Logan.” Patton stepped forward, “You can’t make him do that!”

Logan’s face fell, “Patton, I- I know it may seem.. coarse of me, but I wouldn’t be suggesting it if I didn’t know that this is the best way to stop the Spectaculars-“

“You said we were going to keep the kids out of danger! Now- Now you want to force them- to force Roman to put himself into a situation where he would have to speak out against his own father-“

“He would not be in danger, we would be there to make sure that no harm came to him. He would simply be making a speech.” Logan said.

Fire blazed behind Patton’s eyes, “Logan Clark- you are many things, but, up until now, I didn’t think that stupid was one of those things.”

For a moment, there was silence. Virgil instinctively shut his eyes. He had never seen Patton and Logan legitimately fight like this, and it was frightening to see now.

Logan raised his voice, “Excuse me?!”

“You know that, by speaking out publicly, Roman would be putting a target on his back. You know that the Spectaculars would take it personally. Even if we’re there, how can you guarantee that we would even be able to protect him?”

“I-“

“You can’t!” Patton shouted. “You can’t guarantee that.”

“Would you at least let me explain myself?!” Logan yelled.

“No! I don’t want to hear it! You’re being so- so selfish. You can’t just offer other people up as pawns to sacrifice like a fucking game of chess!”

Virgil flinched. He had never heard Patton curse.

There was a brief pause. Then, Logan was yelling again.

”How dare you!” His voice cracked on the words. “I.. am not- I would never- I know Roman far better than you do. I would never seek to have him harmed. I am only suggesting the most logical course of-”

“Logic. It’s always about logic. Gee, Logan, why didn’t you just marry logic instead?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it would be impossible to marry-“

“You know I wasn’t-“

“I’ll do it.”

It was Roman’s voice that made Virgil open his eyes again.

Logan and Patton both turned their heads towards Roman, stunned expressions on their faces. The hero himself was standing before them, his posture stiff and his fists clenched at his sides.

After a few moments of silence only occupied by heavy breathing, Patton spoke.

“Kiddo, you don’t have to-“

“I said I’ll do it.” Roman said. His tone left no room for debate.

Patton shut up.

“See? I told you-“ Logan began.

Roman shot him a look, and he shut up, too.