Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Virgil was done. He got kidnapped. Again! He sort of knew why the Duke kept kidnapping him, but that didn’t make it any better. He had to finish an essay before tomorrow, dammit. He was already behind, and this definitely wasn’t helping.

As expected, the Prince arrived. He looked at him, spotting the rope surrounding him and holding him in place, and immediately summoned his katana. He walked towards the Duke, who was on top of the roof he was held as well, in an offensive manner.

“Free him, you villain!” The Prince, with his princely, curly cinnamon-brown hair, insisted.

“Aww, but where’s the fun in that, baby-Princey?” The duke teased.

“Excuse you, I am older than you.” The Prince returned. Oh god, they were at it again. This argument always happened whenever Virgil got kidnapped.

“Only by a few minutes. And you’re still a baby.” The duke provoked. The Prince was about to snap at him, but Virgil decided that this was a good moment to step in.

“You’re both babies. Now can you please free me, I have an essay due tomorrow that I still need to work on.”

“How dare you?!”

“True. Also, I’m not gonna free you until Princey here gives me power over the city and surrenders.”

“Never!”

This was gonna be a long night. Especially since he won’t be able to go to bed before he finished his essay.

After a long argument that Virgil wasn’t following, since he tuned out for most of it, the duke finally decided to free him. As he reached the knot that kept Virgil tied to the chair, Virgil noticed that the Duke smelled like pickles for some reason. Surprisingly, it wasn’t an unpleasant smell. The Duke’s hair looked mostly the same as the Prince’s hair, only messier, and a lock that fell on his forehead was dyed white. They both had a beautiful caramel coloured skin, but where the Prince’s eyes were a hazel green colour, the Duke’s were russet brown. It was clear that they were twins, even though both were wearing masks. Even the costumes they were wearing were a weak imitation of each other. Where the Duke’s was black with a green sash and lots of glitter, the Prince’s was a matte white with a red sash.

Finally he was free, and the Duke ran away, giving a quick “I’ll be back”. Virgil didn’t doubt that. He wasn’t looking forward to the next time the Duke was gonna kidnap him, but he knew it was inevitable. Sometimes he didn’t mind getting kidnapped by him, they would make small talk until the Prince came to free him, but other times, like this one, he had places to be.

When the Duke was out of sight, The Prince walked towards him. “Are you okay, my dark prince?”

“‘M fine. I should really get going, though, that essay isn’t gonna write itself.” Virgil gave the Prince a small smile.

“What’s the essay about?” The Prince asked.

“Oh y’know, different techniques on analysing dna found at crime scenes. It’s pretty interesting.” Virgil did a bachelor forensics with a minor in art at the local university. He loved his bachelor, it was just a lot of work sometimes.

“Ah, sounds difficult. I’ll escort you to your appartement then.”

“Oh, no, I’ll manage. It’s not that far, and I don’t think your brother will kidnap me again.” He actually just wanted to be alone for a while, but that might seem rude if he told him.

“If you insist.” The Prince said.

“Okay, see you later then, Roman.” Virgil walked away, letting Roman wonder how Virgil knew his identity. How couldn’t he, though. Roman was a good friend, it would take more than a mask for Roman to hide his identity from him. Especially considering he had a twin brother with villainous tendencies.

Chapter Text

Virgil woke up in cold sweat. Another nightmare. Luckily, the only thing he could remember were the remnants of fear and some vague images of needles and being tied to a table. He looked at the clock. 8:30. A great time to get out of bed, considering his classes started at 9:00. Against his better judgement, he stayed in bed anyway. A few minutes later, he finally got himself out of bed, which is a miracle, considering it usually took him much longer. Guess nightmares are good for something, at least.

He walked to his closet, and dressed in his usual purple-patched hoodie and ripped purple t-shirts and pants. He decided to skip breakfast and take coffee instead. Coffee contained at least some nutrients, right? And he needed it anyway to help him get through the day. University was interesting, but it cost him a lot of energy. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He grabbed his make-up bag, which consisted of black eyeshadow and the palest concealer he could find. He looked in the mirror. His purple dyed hair was more messy than usual, and it was already pretty messy most days. He put some concealer over his cheeks and bridge of his nose. His freckles were less clear, but still visible, much to his dismay. He then proceeded to put his black eyeshadow under his heterochromatic eyes. One was a bright green, and the other was indigo, almost purple.

He got out of the bathroom, grabbed his bag, and left his dorm.

His first hours passed like they usually did, and finally, it was lunchtime. He walked towards the restaurant where he expected his friends to be.

Halfway there, he spotted a familiar face. Or, more accurately, the familiar face spotted him.

“Hey there kiddo.” Someone behind him spoke.

Virgil turned around. He knew who was behind him before he did, though, so it wasn’t a surprise for him to find Patton standing where the voice came from.

“Sup, Pat.” Virgil returned the greeting. “We’re meeting at the usual place right?” He knew that was probably the case, but it couldn’t hurt to check.

“Yup!” Patton replied with his usual cheerfulness.

There was an unspoken agreement that they would walk to the restaurant together as they continued their walk.

“So,” Patton started. “How are your classes?”

“Pretty interesting. We’re currently learning about analysing possible evidence at a crime scene.”

“That sounds fun, kiddo. You’d be pretty good at that.”

“Well, it’s still difficult, but yeah. Some of my classmates are really struggling. I’m pretty sure some of them will drop out before the end of this school year. How’s your classes going?” Patton was studying to become a doctor. Virgil knew he did this because he loved to help people.

“It’s great! A lot of work though. I never knew becoming a doctor was this hard.” Patton half-heartedly complained. Virgil saw a familiar face walking up to them, but decided to ignore it until the person was close enough.

“Yeah, I suppose if I’d hard work. Making a mistake could cost lives.” He commented.

“Of course that’s the first thing you think about.” A new but not unfamiliar voice said. He looked in the direction of the voice to see that the familiar face, that belonged to Roman, had come closer. The words may seem offensive but, looking at Roman’s expression, he didn’t mean it in a bad way.

“Hello to you too, Roman.” Virgil greeted.

“Hey there, my dark and stormy night, padre.” Roman welcomed

“Heya kiddo.” Patton cheered.

Virgil saw the restaurant in front of them, and saw Logan already waiting for them in front of the building. He ignored the weird feeling in his gut as he looked at him. “Guys, let’s walk towards the restaurant, Logan’s waiting for us.”

He saw both Patton and Roman looking in the direction of the restaurant. Patton even waved at Logan.

“Okay kiddos, let’s go.” Patton responded.

After a short and uneventful walk, they arrived at the restaurant.

“Greetings, nerd.” Roman greeted Logan.

“Hello Roman, Patton, Virgil.” Logan gave each of them a nod as he mentioned them.

They entered the restaurant and ordered. Virgil looked around the restaurant, not paying much attention to the chatter of his friends. As he looked through the window he saw someone he rather didn’t want to see. What is he doing here? Virgil decided it was time to run away before the person spotted him.

“Guys, I think I’m gonna go to class, see ya later.” He told them. Without waiting for a response, he bolted out of there, only to literally walk into the person he was trying to avoid.

“Hello, Virgil.” The person greeted.

“Janus.” Virgil tried to put as much venom into the word as he could. “What are you doing here? This is not your usual lunch spot.”

“I... definitely didn’t want to apologise or anything.”

Virgil crossed his arms. “Apologise? Sounds rich.”

“Virgil....”

“No! You don’t get to apologise after what you did! It’s your fault that I had to go through...... all of that.” Virgil yelled.

“Vee, please, hear me out. I didn’t mean to-“

“Didn’t mean to what?” Virgil interrupted. “Deliver me to those....bastards? Having me turn into.... this?” Virgil pointed to himself. “After what you did, you don’t get to explain yourself!”

Virgil didn’t wait for a response. He grabbed his bag, that had fallen on the ground at some point, and stormed away. Away from Jay and his stupid face. God, he wished he was ready to forgive him, but no. After all he went through because of him...... no, he didn’t want to think about it. He grabbed his headphones and put on some music as a distraction.

The rest of his classes were a nice distraction to the conversation he had with Janus earlier, but it didn’t keep the flashbacks at bay.

Virgil heard the door to his dorm room opening. He looked up to see Janus entering.

“Hey, Jay.” He greeted.

“Virgil.” Janus responded. He seemed more nervous than normal, which was weird, because Janus was barely ever nervous. Virgil made eye contact with him. “How are you doing? Have you drank anything?” The nervousness seemed to have gone away, luckily.

“I’m fine. I just drank a glass of water, actually. I-“ but before he could continue, he felt a sharp object pricking in the skin on his neck. The Janus in front of him disappeared, and as he looked behind him, he saw that Janus, the real Janus, was the one who pricked him with a sedative. The last thing he saw was the guilty and scared look on Janus’ face.

“Hey, Virge, are you okay?” Someone next to him said. It took a moment for him to register that the one saying that was Elliot. They were looking at him in concern.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. I spaced out for a second.” He replied. He hoped it had been a second, but then he picked up another voice.

“Okay everyone, class dismissed.”

So apparently he was in his head for longer than a second. He grabbed his laptop and notebook and put them in his bag.

“Okay then. I’ll see you tomorrow, Virge.” Elliot gave a quick wave and walked away. Luckily this was the last class. He did have homework, though, and he wasn’t looking forward to that. He was pretty sure, with the conversation he had with Jay today, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

As he walked towards his dorm, he spotted a familiar face when he passed the Starbucks. Entering the Starbucks had it’s pros and cons, and after a few moments of thinking. He decided to walk in. He needed some coffee after his day, anyways.

“Welcome to Starbucks, what is your— Virgie!! Hey babes.” His older brother, Remy, cheered as he walked to the counter.

“Hey Rem. I’d like a coffee as dark as my soul.” He replied.

“One vanilla bean latte with extra milk, coming up!” Virgil gave Remy a look. “Gurl, you should’ve seen that one coming.”

“Yeah, okay. I know. Sorry. But seriously, though, you know what kind of coffee I want.”

“The vanilla bean latte with extra milk?”

“Remy.”

“Okay, okay, geez babe. Calm down. Of course I know what coffee you want. I’m gonna make it now, kay?”

“Thanks, Rem.”

He waited for a moment, and finally the coffee was done. He grabbed the coffee but he saw his brother’s smirk before he could look at the name. ‘Small, feral, emo child’. How dare he.

“I’m not small, thank you very much. Not everyone can be as tall as you.” He scowled.

“Aww, does your whole 5’7 being think so? Cute.” Remy teased.

Virgil decided to just grab the coffee and walk away.

“Bye, babes!” He heard Remy call out to him when he exited the starbucks. Entering the Starbucks, was a bad idea.

Chapter Text

Virgil sat at his desk, chewing on his pen. a small notebook was laid out in front of him, covered in many scratched out sentences. His therapist had recommended he try writing poetry as a way to cope with his past, but words seemed to escape him today. Why was it so hard to write down his emotions?

After writing out one more sentence and immediately crossing it out again, he decided he was done. He ripped out the pages that were covered with words and scribbles and threw the propped up pages into the trashcan under his desk. The trashcan itself was already filled to the brim with paper, and upon impact, some of the scrunched parchment bounced out and fell on the floor.

Virgil stared at the trashcan. He should really take that out. Tomorrow, he deciced. He knew that he was lying to himself, but decided to not put in the effort to care, laying his head on the desk instead.

After laying there for a bit, the hard spruce wood being more comfortable than he expected, he heard a noise coming from the window. Being the anxious person he is, he grabbed a pan from the kitchen — rapunzel was right, a pan is the best weapon — and sneaked towards where the noise was coming from.

A hand appeared, touching the window from the other side, and mere seconds later, the whole windowsill emitted a green luminescent light. Virgil slapped himself in the face. He shouldve expected his villainous ex-friend to show up. It was a peaceful friday night, of course the green and black clad figure would want to cause chaos.

As if summoned by Virgil’s thoughts, the Duke appeared from the window.

“Oh Virgie~” The glittery figure singsonged “Guess what time it is!” He waved his hands in emphasis, then struck a dramatic pose.

Virgil sighed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about”The emo deadpanned sarcastically, shooting the Duke a glare.

“Oh, I think you do!” the Duke cheered. He then walked towards Virgil and picked him up, grabbing his sides right underneath his arms and lifting him up, keeping him at arms lenght as if he was a particularly annoyed cat.

Virgil increased the strenght of his glare but otherwise made no protest. The Duke laughed, and proceeded to throw Virgil over his shoulder. “To the rooftops we go!” He announced, jumping out of the window and summoning a giant dismembered hand with four pairs of angel wings. They fell neatly upon its palm and flew off into the sky.

~~

After flying for a while, they finally arrived at their destination. They landed on the rooftop of a tall office building in the middle of the city. The view was beautiful , but all Virgil could think about was how his feet were finally touching the ground, and he didn’t have to hold onto lifeless skin as to not fall down to meet his demise and end up a fleshy pancake. He decided not to tell this metaphor to Remus, lest he be picked up with a literal flesh pancake next time he was “kidnapped”.

“Well, you know what happens next!” Remus called from behind where Virgil was kneeling on the floor and appreciating its existence. Virgil turned around, and, just as he expected, Remus had summoned a chair, made out of bones because of course it was, this is the Duke we’re talking about, and was holding a metal chain.

Virgil sighed, and took a seat on the bony chair, hesistating for a second because it didn’t exactly look sturdy, but ultimately trusting Remus that he would at least make the chair functional.

Upon sitting down, Remus approached him and began wrapping the chains around Virgil with an unexpected gentleness. Looking at his face, his permanent grin seemed to have been replaced by a frown.

Virgil, still caring about his old friend despite having left for a reason, looked up at him with a softer look than before. “What’s up?” He decided to ask.

Remus crouched in front of him. “Why did you leave?” The Duke asked bluntly, tilting his head slighty to the side like a bird.

“I told you, I had a falling out with Janus. He betrayed me, and I don’t want to see him ever again.” Virgil stated.

“Let me rephrase,” The duke said with an uncharacteristically stoic expression on his face, “Why did you leave me? ”

Virgil flinched at the pained look that now shone through Remus’ eyes. He looked away in regret. “I— I wasn’t thinking straight. I had just come back from some Not Fun things, and I just.. I didn’t want to be reminded of him. So I left, abandoning you in the process.” Virgil then turned his head back to look Remus in the eyes, a sincere look on his face. “I’m so sorry, Remus. I never meant to leave you.”

“Then why didn’t you come back to me? Remus raised his voice. “Or at least tell me what Janus did! We could’ve just dropped him instead! Hell, I could’ve even joined you in befriending my brothers little band of prudes!” Remus’ eyes were now shedding tears. Upon seeing Virgil looking at him, he quickly turned away and wiped his eyes.

“You know what? No. I’m not gonna care anymore. You’ve made your decision. Hell, I don’t even know why I’m doing all this,” Remus gestured towards the chair and chains holding Virgil in place, “I’m not in the mood for sparring with my stupid brother anymore. I’m just gonna let you go.” He snapped his fingers and the chair and chains disappeared, “Enjoy the rest of your night. Or don’t, I don’t care.” Another snap, and Virgil was in an elevator, that then began to move sideways, presumably heading for Virgil’s apartment.

Virgil dropped down on the elevator floor, tears forming in his eyes that he knew would ruin his makeup, but he didn’t care.

He wished he could turn back time and do things differently with Remus. Despite his dismay at getting “kidnapped” consistently, he missed his friend. He missed their talks about all the random facts they both knew, he missed listening to Remus rant about whatever gruesome and gorey thing had captured his interest that day, and in turn missed the fun quips he made when Virgil told him about his forensics classes. But the past is past, and he didn’t think that he would ever be able to go back to the dynamic they used to have, even if for some reason Remus did decide to forgive him for abandoning him.

The elevator made a diing noise and the doors opened to reveal, as Virgil had guessed, his apartment. Virgil exited the elevator,  which disappeared right behind him, and headed straight to his bed. He kicked off his shoes and plopped down on the bed, head first and limbs spread like a starfish, not caring that he was still wearing clothes and had makeup on his face. As he fell asleep, all he could think of were his regrets regarding the one friend that hadn’t sold him out.