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There is something about life that Roman learned a long time ago: No matter what you do, how strong you are, or how capable you can be, the adults will always doubt you.
It was no secret he was the youngest of his team, even to the public. No one knew it was Roman Goldsberry behind the mask, but his age was still pretty obvious. He was short, the others bossed him around during missions, and seriously, Patton calls him kiddo for stars’ sake! In front of everyone!
It didn’t matter if he was the strongest. It didn’t matter that he was the fastest. All anyone saw was the stars on his disguise and the childish glee. The fact that he was a Sophomore in High School. His loud voice.
They chose to ignore the sword at his side and the anger in his heart.
And Roman hated to admit that it made sense. Logically, he knows he’s not at the best odds to be taken seriously by his teammates. One of them was his foster guardian, the other the said guardian’s brother , and the guy who’s been a major part of his life for ages . It’s hard to be considered a brave warrior when those same teammates have also scolded him for not doing his homework.
(It also didn’t help that he tends to be the one kidnapped the most , but he’s purposely ignoring that.)
But it just wasn’t fair! No matter how hard he tried, how much he succeeded, he always got yelled at for not obeying orders or being “reckless” or something similar.
“Roman, don’t be a dumbass!”
“Roman, kiddo, stay over there.”
“Roman, be reasonable.”
It never stopped!
So maybe that’s why he stopped listening to their orders. It’s not exactly like he could get hurt that bad with his regeneration abilities, so some minor trouble was worth it. Virgil could be mad at him, it’s not like he’s his actual dad or anything.
But this time, Roman swears on everything good and holy that it wasn’t his fault.
It was a busy day for him. A six and a half hour school day followed by soccer practice and meeting up with Elliott to help with Geometry homework frankly left him in need of a break, although Roman’s idea of a break was definitely different than people without his powers. Most people go home and take a nap, or hang out with friends, play video games; Roman wanted to take a run downtown.
But not just an ordinary jog, no. He wanted to make wind gusts with how fast he zoomed past people.
It was his favorite thing to see sometimes. The blur of people and buildings passed by as he ran at speeds they could only dream of accomplishing. Jumping from lamppost to lamppost, striking poses whenever he saw someone taking a picture of him, even if it would most likely turn out to be blurry.
It was amazing. No one ever wanted pictures of “that Goldsberry kid”, but The Royal Guard was a completely different story.
“Yo, can you do a flip?” Some random dude with his buddy called out to him from his place on a repair store roof, and Roman smiled. I can do better than one.
Roman sprung up into the air as high as he could, then with the benefit of his speed, did three front flips before falling back to his feet. The two guys clapped and whistled, and Roman smiled happily. Definitely worth coming downtown today.
But from his side, Roman heard the sound of a small child crying, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.
While the mask is on, you still have to be a hero, you know.
Ugh.
Roman jumped down from the roof with a tired sigh, but put a smile on as he landed. He heard the two guys cheer at him more, but let himself drown out the other noise as he crouched down to the child. She had extremely long hair, reaching to her thighs in a ponytail with pink beads on it that only made her seem smaller. The neckline of her flowery shirt was stained wet from her wiping her puffy eyes. Even with Roman crouched down, who was already far from tall, the little girl had to look up at him to make eye contact. Roman would squeal and pinch her cheeks if she wasn’t so upset.
“May I be of some assistance, little princess?” He asked, the little girl smiling at him through her tears. He made a note to himself later to ask her for a hug.
“M-My…” She sobbed again and rubbed her eyes. “I do-n’t know wh-where my Mommy went and-and I can’t find her and I’m scared!”
Roman’s heart must have shattered into a million pieces at that. “Aw, I’m so sorry to hear that, my princess. But I bet I can take you on a quest to locate you back to her!”
“Y-You can?”
“Of course! Where did you see her last?”
“Um…” The little girl sniffled. “I-I can show you...I don’t know what-what it’s called…”
“That will work perfectly!” Roman held his hand out for the girl to hold onto. “Lead the way, we’ll find her together.”
Her big eyes looked up at him, and he really wished he could coo over her and squish her in hugs. Her hand was so tiny in his, but Roman stood up and waited for her to take the lead with a reassuring smile.
The little girl smiled back. And then, she rammed him so hard into the concrete wall beside them that it came tumbling into a pile of rubble.
“What the-”
The same little girl jumped on top of him and grabbed his hair, pulling so hard he thought his scalp would come clean off. Roman reached for his sword, Artemis, and slashed at the girl’s arm, making her cry out in pain. Her eyes were red from fury and her smile was no longer cute, only something out of a horror movie. Roman jumped up and aimed for a slash to her stomach, but all she did was laugh menacingly .
“You heroes are so fucking stupid .” Suddenly, Artemis was ripped out of his hands by an unseeable force and brought straight into the girl’s. His eyes went wide as she lunged at him, grabbing at his own sword with only his hands trying to fight back. Why is she so strong?
“You make yourselves so obviously vulnerable in front of hundreds of people. For no good reason, just because you think you own the place!”
If it wasn’t the modified sword that Virgil had made, Roman would be able to crush it flat with little effort. But instead, Roman can feel the stinging in his hands as he grabs the edges, suddenly being lifted into the air as the girl swings the sword and is thrown back into the wall. He’s disoriented now, unable to see clearly from all the head injuries and debris as a little girl half his size picks him up like a rag doll and throws him across the street.
Come on Roman, fight! You’re better than this!
When he sees the blur of her blonde hair, Roman grabs her by her ponytail and yanks , slamming her into the ground and punching her as hard as he can in her stomach. In the back of his mind, he notes how her ribs crack at the force.
Ow.
It’s still a short lived victory, however. In front of his very eyes, he sees this little girl glow white as she morphs under his other hand holding her down. She grows taller, with shorter hair and bigger muscles, easily overpowering Roman and making his teeth rattle with how hard she punches him in the face. A shapeshifter.
At that moment, Roman knows he is fucked.
No matter how strong or fast he is, she can always make herself better. More powerful. Without any benefit on his side, Roman is completely at her mercy. And she definitely isn’t giving out any of that.
So Roman does what Roman does best. He kicks her off of him as hard as he can and runs .
He jumps on top of the tallest buildings, praying that somehow she’ll get confused and lose track of him, something . But no matter how many twists and turns he makes, she’s always right behind him. And she’s getting closer .
Roman jumps to the tallest building that he can. At least here, not so many people will get hurt.
“You can’t run from me forever, you little brat!” She taunts, but all he does is keep running in circles up the building, thanking every force above that he doesn’t get easily tired. Thinking fast, Roman hits a button on his right sleeve and the earpiece in his mask turns on. Calling Nightmare, please wait.
Come on come on come on, pick up your phone!
“I can see you!”
Virgil!
Roman sees the world go blurry as he gets slammed into the side of the building, the woman pulling him down into the floor and continuously smacking his head as they fall. Roman grabs her by the face and pulls her under him instead, a thick trail of blood from his head falling into his right eye and only blinding him more.
Nightmare is currently unavailable at this time. Please record your message.
“ Nightmare, help!”
The woman pushes against Roman and sends them free falling, punching and kicking and biting at each other trying to gain the upper hand. But inevitably, the woman grabs Roman by the throat and slams his body through a wall, stopping their falling through the building floors, but instead soaring through the air.
The last thing he hears is Message sent before his whole body crashes into hard concrete.
Then, the world goes black.
***
Virgil really hated conferences.
There were people all around him, doing things, but worst of all, they were talking to him. About him. Which made sense, considering it was about his company and his technology, but that doesn’t mean that Virgil appreciated it. It wasn’t very uncommon at this point for him to duck out of a conference halfway through it, so at least that was a plus. They expected him to be a wimp and leave before dinnertime, but he still tried to seem as much like a normal millionaire as he could. And millionaires have these stupid fucking conferences.
How dare he have employees.
“Mr. Raine,” One journalist came up to him and said, “Do you mind if I ask a couple questions about your newest security system being released in November?”
Yes. Go away. “Don’t mind at all. What about it?”
The journalist miled. “So, a lot of people have been wondering: what caused you to branch off from regular microphones and cameras to security software? You’ve branched out from the origins of this company a lot in the past, but why the sudden-”
“Mr. Raine, may I speak with you a moment?”
Virgil turned around to see SLEEP, dressed up as his bodyguard in a fancy suit he’d never wear under any other circumstances. His straight face seemed less for the disguise and more for the situation , causing Virgil to stop in his tracks.
He turned to the journalist . “I’ll get back to you on that.”
The journalist nodded, and at that, SLEEP took Virgil’s arm and led him to a secure place outside the room, checking the hallway anxiously before turning back to Virgil. “What’s up? You look like hell.”
“You won’t blame me once you hear what I gotta say.”
“Then spill.”
SLEEP searched the hallway once more. “I got a voicemail from Roman.”
Virgil rolled his eyes. “I refuse to buy him more fucking granola bars. End of conversation.”
“Bitch, it ain’t that! Just...listen, it’s fucking creepy.”
Virgil shut his mouth as SLEEP’s eyes gloweda bright blue, the robotic part of his voice seeping out and replacing his usual accent. “ You have one voice message from: Princey.”
Then, the sound of wind and a struggle took over the robot part of SLEEP. “ Nightmare, help!”
Virgil’s heart froze.
There were more sounds of struggle and screaming, a loud crash before the message cut off. SLEEP went back to normal, but Virgil’s eyes were wide. “...Do you have his location?”
“Getting it right now. Connection’s a bit blurry though. Probably from damage.”
“Just work on it. Find his location, I’ll get Patton and Logan.”
“What about the conference?”
“Make up an excuse. Tell them I’m busy.”
“Got it, babes.”
Virgil stormed down the hallway of the large building, not even bothering to wait on an elevator and just taking the stairs. Halfway down, Patton had picked up the phone with his usual cheery voice.
“Heya Virge! What’s happening?”
“Get dressed. Logan too. We got a situation.”
Virgil could hear rummaging in the background already. “What’s happening?”
“Roman’s in trouble. We’re on a rescue mission.”
For a long while, Patton was quiet. “...I’ll get Logan. He’s at the store. Just tell us where to meet and we’ll be there.”
“I gotta drop by my penthouse, but SLEEP should have coordinates for him soon. He should text everyone, so don’t wait up on me.”
“Got it. We’ll see you there.”
“Bye.”
Virgil clicked off his phone and got in his car, anxiously tapping the wheel as he sped ever so slightly down the road. There better not be any fucking traffic .
But really, all he hoped was that Roman was safe.
***
When Roman woke up, he felt like he had gotten hit by a bus.
His head hurt, his legs were tired, dried blood on your skin sucks, and large chains wrapped around your torso was about as uncomfortable as you think it is. And a head injury-induced sleep was as rejuvenating as falling asleep on a school desk, then having someone pull your chair from under you and make you smack your head into the sink to your left.
Not like he’d know from experience or anything.
“Rise and shine, Goody Two Shoes!” The woman called out, Roman slowly opening his eyes when he felt her hands on his knees. “You’ve been sleeping long enough. And you need to tell me how to take off this dumb mask of yours.”
Roman blinked. Not that she could see it anyway, even with the slight tears in his suit. “...Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re at my mercy and I could kill you right here and now, of course! Trying to rip it off electrocuted me, so I’ll need your help! Or, you could just sit in that chair and let me beat the shit out of you.”
Roman pulled at his restraints, but surprisingly, they didn’t bust the second he put his energy into it. For once, a supervillain actually gave him strong enough restraints to keep him in place. Darn. “...What if I need to pee?”
“That’s a you problem, kid.”
Damn. Usually that worked. “That’s not very nice to do to your victim, Miss.”
“Quit being a smartass with me! I know you’re trying to get on my nerves, but I’m not another one of those idiots who tries to take a Core Four member for ransom money. I want you and your little lackeys ruined. ”
“People who kidnap us tend to want that.”
The woman stared at him with blank eyes, the white light taking over her again as her form changed. Roman shrieked when he saw a tarantula crawling up his boot, then his leg and torso until it reached his neck, frantically kicking and yelling to get it off of him. Suddenly, the tarantula jumped onto his face and made him scream .
“Get off get off get off get off!” Roman threw his head from side to side, but the spider only laughed.
“I told you to shut the fuck up, kid. ”
The tarantula moved towards his mouth, and Roman didn’t dare to scream in case it led to a mouthful of bug. He closed his eyes and braced for the worst, but only felt the weight on him grow suddenly. He didn’t dare look until a claw came to his face and scratched up his already busted cheek, a slick, brown cat looking back at him and laughing.
His tongue froze in its place. But suddenly, the cat started glowing white, except only in certain spots of its body. With a pained hiss, the woman turned back into a regular woman, holding her head in her hands for a moment.
A lightbulb went off. She can’t control herself. Use that to your advantage once you have the chance.
Roman couldn’t help but let out a pained groan as he toppled over in his chair suddenly, coughing up a storm from the force of the kick he just got to the stomach.
Suddenly, she was more aggressive than he’d seen. As if she was still in pain. “Now. I’ll ask again. How do you take the mask off? Or, if you absolutely can’t tell me that, who are you?”
Roman didn’t speak a word. The woman kicked him in the stomach again, but he kept his mouth closed tight. “Answer me, God damnit!”
No response. The woman grabbed the back of his chair and propped him back upright, and slapped him on his torn up cheek as hard as she could. Roman winced.
“...So now you’re silent, huh? Fine, that’s perfectly fine! But you’re not going anywhere. I’ll find out what I want to know, and when I do, you’re gonna wish that I’d killed you instead, you waste of fucking space .”
Roman swallowed. Anyone, please come soon.
***
“...SLEEP? You sure this is the right place?”
“That’s what my tracker says, babe. You got a little troublemaker inside that building. Or at least, his pants.”
“...It just...seems so unlikely.”
“Why? What’s the address?”
“A suburban house on the edge of the city. I expected an abandoned schoolhouse at best, but this place deadass has a white picket fence. Can you please do a recheck on that address?”
“Gurl, I know how to do my job! It ain’t no horror fest, but I bet ten bucks Roman is in there somewhere!”
“If I become ten bucks richer, I’m kicking your ass.”
“Good luck, I’m made of fuckin’ metal.”
“ Nightmare. ” Patton begged. “Is this the right house or not?”
“SLEEP swears on his nonexistent life that it is. I feel kinda bad wrecking the place though, like three kids and their dog Spot are gonna get stuck in superhero turmoil.”
“What do you propose we do then?” Logan asked. “Looks can be deceiving, especially with what lies inside of a home. However, I’m still reluctant to barge in considering this is a more tranquil part of the city, and we don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone.”
“I don’t care what we do, we just need Princey back.” Patton crossed his arms and leaned on the trunk of the tree as much as he could without falling off the branch.
“Maya, you’re worried, I get it, but it’s really not that bad. The kid gets himself into trouble all the time, what makes this time different?”
Virgil refuses to admit he flinched at Patton’s tone. “My kid is in there! Sorry if I’m a little on edge, okay?! You heard that message. It was just...disturbing.”
Logan placed a hand on Patton’s shoulder. “He was panicking in the moment, but he is still capable of defending himself. We’re already on the lookout for him, so he will end up alright.”
Patton didn’t respond. “...Would you like to scout through the house with me?”
“...You can’t do it without me anyway.”
Logan’s smile was subtle, nodding in understanding at Patton then turning to Virgil. “We’ll check out the area and if we find Roman, we’ll call you immediately.”
“Sounds like a plan. Have fun.”
The two Colored Spirits grabbed each other’s hands, then faded out of Virgil’s vision. He looked below him to make sure no one had spotted them in the trees just yet, then turned and watched every movement the house made. He really hated waiting games.
But on the inside of the house, everything still seemed normal. The walls were painted white with an assortment of pictures hanging on the walls, mostly of the same fluffy brown dog with a woman presumed to be its owner. Logan and Patton went through the walls and checked every room, from the bathrooms upstairs to the first floor kitchen with no luck. Even on the inside it seemed like a quaint house with lots of love for pets and the same four TV shows that had posters in almost every room. While in the living room, Logan looked at Patton and shrugged.
“Is there a basement door anywhere?”
“We’ll have to see if we missed it.”
Then, right on cue, the sound of a door clicking open came from behind them. A woman they recognized from the photos with the dog came from the laundry room, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. She chugged it as fast as she could, breathing heavily afterward and grabbing at her head.
Despite knowing that the woman couldn’t hear them, the twins stayed dead silent, phasing through the other door in the laundry room she had just come out of and heading down the stairs.
When they reached the bottom, Patton gasped at the sight, immediately rushing towards Roman, who had blood coming out of the side of his mouth. Although propped upright in the chair, his head was falling limp, looking at his boots with eyes closed tight in exhaustion. Some of his costume was torn, revealing cuts bleeding at various severities. Patton lifted Roman’s head up, observing all the cuts and bruises near his mouth and jaw while his eyes slowly opened.
“...Maya…?” Patton smiled at him, Roman yawning and leaning in to the cool touch on the side of his face.
“You’re okay, we’ve got you, can you stand? Or do you think you can’t? Wait, we should get you out of these chains first—Navy! Is there a key or something around here?”
“I’ll look.”
“Tha-” Patton paused in his tracks. Logan and Roman both gave him concerned glances, but soon they heard it too. Footsteps .
Patton ran to Logan’s side and grabbed his hand, vanishing from the sight of anyone. Low and behold, the woman started heading back down the stairs with another glass of water in her hands. Patton and Logan snuck behind her, searching her belt for any keys that could unlock the chain around Roman. Nothing they could see.
The woman splashed the water in Roman’s face suddenly, making him flinch back and squint. She laughed. “Does that help the boo boos some, little baby?”
Roman kept silent. Her eyes filled with fury. “You should learn to speak when spoken to.”
He shrugged. “I’m gonna try this again, little princey , and it’s your last chance. What’s your name? Your real name?”
He shrugged again. The woman kicked his chair back again and watched him fall to the floor. Logan felt his hand getting crushed from Patton squeezing it.
“We need to call for Nightmare.”
“We can’t do that unless we’re physical.” Patton didn’t respond.
The woman kicked Roman square in the stomach, anger boiling inside her as the frustration grew more intense. In her eyes, Roman became nothing but a punching bag, kicking him again and again until his chair had scooted into the far corner.
Patton squeezed Logan’s hand harder.
“Patton, don’t.”
He said nothing.
“You fucking heroes are all the same! Do you think you get to prance around, act all high and mighty behind a fucking mask and think you’re saving the world by beating up random thugs? Your own fucking people are out there trying to survive and you’re the ones putting them behind bars!”
Roman took in a deep breath in the midst of the pain, the woman only stopping her rage for a second when he looked up at her. “We didn’t tell you guys to hurt people. Surviving isn’t hurting people.”
The room was still. Roman looked up at her with daring eyes she couldn’t even see , and Patton was waiting for his moment to strike. One more wrong move, He thought. I dare you.
The woman started glowing white again. When her form changed, a cougar was left in its place.
Without thinking, Patton yanked his hand out of Logan’s and pounced.
“Patton!”
He didn’t hear him. In a blind rage full of pure panic and a guardian’s protection instinct, Patton jumped into action, yanking the animal’s head away from Roman. Bare teeth were fighting to bite him as Patton wrapped his arm around its neck and pulled. The cougar’s claws scratched on Patton’s stomach, pushing him off and pouncing on top of him, ready to bite his head off.
Patton froze, staring up at the cougar’s large, sharp fangs, his heart beating out of his chest. He struggled against the paws holding him down to the concrete basement floor, the smell of blood coming to his mind as the torso of his costume got soaked with red . He closed his eyes shut tight, and waited for the inevitable.
Then the cougar started glowing white, an animalistic roar slowly turning to a woman’s agonized scream.
She was clutching her head tight as she fell to the floor, spots of her body glowing white but flickering out after a few seconds. Patton watched in horror as she curled tighter into a ball, screaming and yelling and shrieking.
She had lost control of herself.
Logan took this as his chance. Letting the woman writhe on the floor, he picked up the chair Roman was in as high as he could. “Wait,” Roman yelled, “Hold on one second what are you doing!?”
“This may hurt.”
Logan slammed the wooden chair into the concrete wall, snapping the backrest right off the seat.
The chains wrapped around Roman and the chair fell to the ground, and albeit free, he still gave Logan a look that could kill.
Logan let Roman lie on the floor for the time being, given his injuries, but he had no time to spare. While the woman was still screaming through gritted teeth, Logan jumped on her and punched her in the back of the head.
The woman turned around and blindly grabbed for Logan, using as much strength as she could in her strange inbetween-state of shapeshifting to throw Logan to the ground and choke him. He kicked her off of him, grabbing her arms and slamming her into the floor of the basement. Just as fast as she had come down, Logan was picked up and thrown straight into the wall 20 feet behind him eating dirt.
She ran for him, but Patton grabbed at her hands and pushed her down again, fighting to keep her to the ground and just begging she would stay down.
Her body kept flashing in various areas, eyes changing color like she was shifting to a million things at once. Even in extreme pain, she kept on fighting.
Maybe the reason Patton didn’t punch her was because he understood that struggle.
But it was futile. The woman shoved her leg in between them both and kicked Patton so hard he flew into the wall just like his brother, his vision going blurry as a red costume came in front of him, saying nonsense words with a swollen lip and broken ribs.
Roman was ready to suck up the pain and give this woman a final asskicking as she threw Logan back to the ground out of the hole he was in, punching and kicking like he wasn’t allowed to have a single bone in his body unbroken. Roman backed up to get more running distance, ready to slam into her side as hard as he could in his condition.
But then, he saw the woman let go of Logan and began to scream again. But not because of the lights. Not because of the pain through her body as she slowly lost herself, but because of him.
The man in a purple cape and steel armor, face fully hidden, eyes leaving a purple light shining behind the mask.
To the others, all they saw was Virgil standing menacingly at the stairs of the basement, the woman yelling and writhing like she was dying on the floor. But what they couldn’t see, the little secret between Virgil and the woman, was the visions he was giving her. The horrors that completely clouded her existence, that made her at the mercy of a man who wasn’t prone to giving it to people who hurt his family.
With her heart pumping out of her chest, pain and fear clouding every twisted atom in her body, Virgil walked over and punched her in the back of the head one more time.
This time, she didn’t get back up. Virgil stopped the nightmare and let her have a moment of unconscious peace.
“No one considered phoning a friend when this girl was kicking all of your asses?”
“Nightmare!” Virgil jumped back as Roman ran up and threw himself into a hug with him. He let it happen for a little while, but ended up awkwardly patting the kid on the head and shifting away slightly until he let go. Roman smiled brightly despite all the bruises and cuts, and for a moment, Virgil regretted shifting away.
“The only moment we had a chance was when Maya and I were phasing.” Logan wiped the blood from his head onto his pants. “Other than that, we were...quite overwhelmed, as you can see.”
“Navy threw me into the wall!”
“Don’t word it like that!”
Virgil shook his head in amusement, taking the woman and picking her up off the floor. “Y’all were having a party and I wasn’t even invited. Some damn friends you are.”
“It’s okay, you can get kidnapped next!”
“...No fucking thanks.”
“Be careful with her, Nightmare. She’s a shapeshifter, and although she seems to not have full control of herself, she can easily escape any restraints normal police would place on her.” Logan picked up a dazed Patton from the floor as well, holding him as gently as possible and with concern.
Virgil nodded. “She’ll get taken to the same place with all the other superbitches, so they’ll handle her well. I’ll just take her there myself so she doesn’t try anything. You guys gonna make it back okay?”
Roman smiles. “I can run!”
“And I have Maya, so I think we’ll be alright. Just hurry back, I think you’re the only one of us in...adequate shape right now. I would appreciate the help.”
Virgil gave a thumbs up in response, walking up the stairs as they started to part their ways. But before he could make it to the door, Roman gasped and ran ahead of him.
“I forgot she had my sword!”
But before he could make it to the door, Roman fell over his own feet as he realized the stinging pains in his everything . Suddenly, a wooden staircase was the greatest place to take a nap. “...Or maybe you guys could grab it…”
Logan sighed. “I’ll carry two people home, then.”
Virgil smiled to himself, even if he shouldn’t. That damn kid just got to him sometimes.
***
“Okay, first off, ow. ”
“You know how cleaning wounds works, Roman. Grip the side of the chair and I’ll make it as quick as possible.”
Roman did what he was told. Closing his eyes and sucking hard through his nose, Logan applied the antibiotic to the scratches on Roman’s cheek. His face grew puzzled as he examined his face for a moment. “The wounds are too close to each other for butterfly strips. I need an adhesive pad.”
“Adhesive pad.” Virgil handed him the largest square band aid they had in their medical room at the penthouse, sitting next to Roman’s chair and allowing Patton to sleep on his shoulder. Logan had already looked over him after Virgil had given Logan as much help with his own injuries as he could, but it was more Virgil obeying Logan’s directions than him doing stuff on his own. Virgil’s the inventor. Not the nurse like Logan.
Now, it was Roman’s turn, who unfortunately was last most of the time because of his healing abilities, which made him easier to recover on his own. In just the hour from the fight to now, in fact, his bruises had grown to more minor ones instead of swelling his face, and the scratch marks Logan was tending to had turned from deep gashes to inconveniences. But Logan tended to them anyway, healing abilities or not. He’d rather “waste” bandages than have to take care of a possible infection.
“Alright, now lay down for a moment.” Roman did as he was told, moving from his chair to the doctor’s table right next to him. Logan lifted up his shirt and observed his bruised stomach for a moment, thinking.
“What’s your recovery time for broken ribs again?”
“Three hours.”
“Then you should be fine. You can stay here for the night and rest, just no straining yourself.”
“Got it.”
“Now, sit up, let me see your head again.”
Roman slowly maneuvered himself back up, grunting until he was slouched over the side of the table. Logan gently gripped the side of his head and looked around, pulling away to look Roman in the eyes.
“Do you remember what happened in your initial fight with the woman?”
“Pretty sure.”
“What happened for you to lose consciousness the first time?”
“She punched me through a wall and made me fall five stories down into concrete. Pretty sure I called Virgil right before that.”
“Alright, so it appears that your concussion is already improving...I don’t know how you managed to fall that far and come out with a minor concussion that has already healed.”
“I’m special!”
Logan shook his head in disapprovement, beginning to put his equipment away as Roman lied back down again.
Roman didn’t feel like movung. He stared up at the ceiling and ignored the pain in his stomach and chest, heart beating from a slight nervousness. He hated having to be serious, even just for a moment.
“...Hey guys?”
Logan looked up at him as he put away the supplies in the first aid kit. “Yes?”
“Why do all the others with superpowers think that we’re the bad guys?”
Virgil takes control of the situation. “We’ve been over this, Roman. They’re just pricks who got a God complex cause they got powers and decide they wanna rule the world now.”
Roman didn’t seem convinced. “I know, but...doesn’t it seem weird how we’re the only superheroes? All the others are villains, and every time they have their villain-y monologue with us, it’s always about how we’re the ones in the wrong and that we need to pay because of it.”
“That’s their whole schtick, dude. They want you to feel bad so that you can join their side.”
Roman was silent for a moment, deep in thought. Logan and Virgil both gave each other a look. “It’s just weird that out of so many people with powers, the dozens of guys we’ve fought over the years...not one of them thought to use it for good.”
“Sometimes, when a person goes through a major trauma, such as the process of gaining powers or living withthem, they develop the mindset that if they must hurt, so should others.” Logan’s voice was concerned, meeting eye level with Roman, who only moved his head to the side to look at the others. “That does not make them right.”
“...It just seems like a lot of people to be thinking that way.”
Virgil slowly moved Patton’s sleeping body off of him, leaning him more onto the wall so he could stand up. “Roman, do you think murder is just?”
Roman’s eyes went wide, suddenly shooting upward. “What!? No!”
“Kidnapping?”
“Of course not-”
“What about stealing things from people who can’t defend themselves? Or literal world domination?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, of course I don’t agree with what they do!”
“Then that’s the end of that.” Virgil snapped out those words in a way that made Roman flinch back slightly, his strict tone making the tension in the room rise exponentially. His eyes were tired, but the look he gave Roman was final. Logan gave Virgil his own look, one with softer eyes that said Not cool man.
“I believe what he’s trying to say, Virgil, is why aren’t more people of our kind on our side, and instead fighting against us? He knows we’re doing the right thing. At least, as right as we can in our positions, with the knowledge we do possess on these people. But what is more strange is why we seem to be the outlier.”
Virgil’s eyes softened as he thought about Logan’s words. He did get a bit defensive, but even just thinking about Roman becoming one of them made him itch. And following the crowd is usually how bad things happened, especially with teenagers unsure of themselves. He ran a hand through his hair. “People just...do bad shit when bad shit happens to them. When they’re desperate, you know?”
Roman nodded. “I just don’t get it. It’s so many people, and how can that many people with superpowers be so...angry?”
“Sometimes you’re just in that much pain.”
Everyone looked to where Patton was sitting. He was still curled in on himself slightly, his head resting against the blue wall Roman painted himself. He was smiling, but it was a pained smile. Full of unspoken words and bitter thoughts. “Like that woman back there. She couldn’t control herself all the way. She was in pain and losing it from trying so hard. She reminded me of me.”
Logan put a hand on his shoulder. “We have control of our powers, Patton.”
He closed his eyes. “It still hurts to have them. I get to go through walls and disappear and help people! But sometimes it hurts so much to move that I don’t leave my bed.”
The other three looked at each other with worried glances. They knew about Patton’s flare-ups; it was why Patton worked from home, why Logan had become a nurse in the first place. But it wasn’t every day Patton had to witness someone with a similar problem as him. And the other side of what he could have become if he didn’t have the family that he did.
“Sometimes I get why they’d wanna take it out on others. If everything hurts like that, emotionally, or maybe even worse than my pain—I’d probably lose myself too. I just hope they realize that they’re lost and find a way to be found again.”
“Like you and Logan?” Roman tilted his head like a little puppy. He was slowly gaining back his old, obnoxious self.
“Yeah, like me and Logan.”
“Can we not talk about those times?” Logan rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. “I do not need reminders of our more...rebellious stage.”
“Rebellious is one way to put it.”
“Pardon me Virgil, but did I ask?”
“Oh snap! Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight-”
“Roman, enough.” Patton tried to sound strict, but his laugh gave it away at Roman excitedly chanting from the table, Virgil and Logan playfully glaring each other down. It was always nice to see Roman smiling as wide as he does, even with bruises and scratches all over his body. He was a cute kid when he wanted to be.
Patton moved to sit alongside Roman while the other two still bickered slightly, and when he least expected it, Patton gave Roman a tight side hug and kissed the top of his head. “I’m just glad you’re safe!”
“Blech! Gross gross gross!” Roman squirmed out of his grasp and fell back down to the table. “Save me from him! He’s acting like a grandma again!”
“Just let it happen, he’ll wear himself out eventually.”
“Aw, does Logan need a hug too?”
Logan’s face went white. “I never said that!”
It was too late. Before Logan could protest again, Patton had flung himself full force at his brother, toppling him back and barely able to catch him. Although Patton was wrapped around Logan like an octopus, all Logan did was stiffly wrap his arms around him. Even after decades of living together, he was still unable to respond to Patton’s love attacks.
“You two are fucking weird.” Logan shot a look at Virgil.
“Says the only child.”
“That’s why it’s fucking weird.”
“Virgil! Language!”
“Du bist ficken komisch.”
“...I don’t know what you said but I know it’s not nice!”
Virgil didn’t respond, but Roman could tell by the look in his eyes that he was smiling mischievously behind his mask. Patton pouted.
“I think it’s about time you all go and take a nap.” Three battered and bruised faces looked at him. “You got the shit beat out of you and it looks like it.”
“ Language!”
“He has a point, Patton.” Logan lightly touched the bruises on his neck. “I think we would all benefit from some sleep.”
Roman jumped off the table. “I’m not tired! I’m just fine!”
“You know Barney? The motherfucking purple dinosaur? You look like him. Your face is covered in so much purple you look like Barney the purple dinosaur.”
“I do not!”
“He...kinda has a point, kiddo.” Roman had never looked so offended in his whole life. “You’re more beat up than all of us. You could use a little rest, even if it’s just for thirty minutes.”
He tried to argue. He really did. But when Patton gave him those ‘I’m your legal guardian and what I say goes’ eyes mixed with a ‘I’m worried for you’ smile, he was unstoppable. “...Fine. But if I don’t sleep tonight, that’s your guys’ fault!”
They all started heading out of the medical room, Logan flopping on one side of the large couch in the main room of the penthouse with Patton’s feet next to his arm. Patton was out like a light once again, the exhaustion catching up with Logan as well. By the time Roman had actually sat down on the other side of the four-piece sectional, the others were already down for the count. It made sense. This couch probably osted more than their house.
He could feel weights coming at his eyelids slightly, probably from all that running earlier, but Roman still crossed his arms and made one last “teenage rebellion” huff. “I’m still not actually tired, though.”
Virgil patted him on the shoulder, slowly leaning him down to lie on the couch. “Just take a nap, Princey.”
And just this once, Roman listened.