Chapter Text
Remus was a lot of things but a hero was not one of them. He was a father of two teenagers, engaged to a full time superhero and was a reformed super villain. He got a second chance at life, to do good and keep the people he cared about safe. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t care if you’ve turned over a new leaf.
Remus was selfish and that showed in the way he was thinking about how to return to his old bad habits instead of just letting Patton deal with it. He was silent as he patched up every bruise and cut that the medics didn’t think were important enough to pay attention too. Patton sat on the marble counter-top letting himself be tended too.
“I’m fine, honest!” Patton said catching Remus hands as he went to put a bandage on a small cut on Patton’s forehead.
“You could have died.” Remus said flatly. He wasn’t going to lash out or be angry right now. Patton wasn’t who he was mad at. It was the ‘heroes’ that got scared and left Patton to die as soon as it got rough.
Patton scoffed, “I’ve been doing this for years. I got out fine.”
“They locked you in a room with a death trap and left.” Remus had a list of heroes that would need to be removed from active duty. If they were removed legally or violently was all up to how much Patton’s overseer to do. The light slap on the wrist that had been happening had only encouraged this type of behavior.
“They’re new.” Patton argued. “They got scared and bolted. They need more training before they are sent out.”
“Which isn’t going to happen.” Remus said darkly. He knew he was partly to blame. He was one of the most terrifying villains the modern world had seen and when he left it made room for a lot of copycats. The amount of super villains and heroes had nearly double over the course of the last fourteen years. Patton had only been in his life for the last five and Remus could see how much worse it was getting.
What most people didn’t know was having one big bad guy kept a lot of the smaller villains shy and unwilling to get in the way of someone willing to kill anyone. Remus had killed heroes and villains alike. Some he left alive as broken reminders for no one to mess with him. His Era as a villain was deeply personal. He was a freshly graduated teenager who had powers that no one was willing to help him learn to control.
It left him bitter and selfish and angry.
It was only when he found two orphaned children locked up in some government black site that he changed. He found two people that were like him and he put aside his own rage and pain to help them. To be the guiding hand that he needed . A toddler with pitch black spider like eyes with thin spider limbs that sprouted from the center of his back. A kinder-gardener that had snake scales and fangs. Society called them monsters.
Remus called them sons.
He was proud of that.
It had taken a long time for him to be willing to let Patton get close enough to see his kids as they were. He never got brave enough to tell Patton about himself. His past as a villain was buried in the past.
Unfortunately it refused to stay dead.
Patton’s hand on his cheek pulled him from his thoughts. “I’ll be okay. I’ve done this for long enough.”
“Why don’t you retire?” Remus asked. Patton pouted at him.
“I’m not that old yet!” Patton protested. “I’m only 43.”
“And you’ll not see 44 at this rate!” Remus snapped jerking his head away from Patton’s hand. He moved off to the side to begin cleaning up all the first aid supplies. Patton hopped off the counter and put a hand on Remus’ back. He rubbed soothing circles as Remus too some deep breaths through his nose. “What am I supposed to tell Virgil if you don’t come home?” The hand paused. “Or Janus? Do I just sit them down and go sorry boys dad got himself blown up?”
Patton’s hand retreated. “This sounds like you don’t trust me.”
Remus turned around, he didn’t like the hurt look in Patton’s eyes. “I don’t trust your new team.”
“Or me to take care of myself.” Patton pointed out.
Remus gently took Patton’s hands, he raised one of the arms and pointed to the large bandage that was covering stitches. “You could have bled out from this. Next time you might.”
Patton’s shoulders relaxed, “I know you are scared for me. I have to do this.”
Remus pressed a kiss to Patton’s forehead and hugged him. Holding him softly when the world wouldn’t. “I promise I’ll be safe.” Patton said, unaware Remus was making a very similar promise in his own head about keeping Patton safe.
Even if that meant taking up a mantle he had long since given up.
000
The kraken was smart, strong and ruthless. He laughed at the pain and suffering he caused and danced on the corpses he left in his wake. He was pure evil incarnate. Untamed cruelty and spite. He had long squid like tenacles that sprouted from his back, skin that refused to be damaged and the skill to craft death traps that could span entire cities. The public hoped that someone managed to kill him and just didn't tell anyone. Or that one of those they wrote off as a copycat was just him on a bad day and he got locked up in a deep dark hole somewhere.
Roman's whole superhero career was trying to take down the kraken. He had falsely believed that his brother was the victim of the kraken. That he had been murdered and that catching the kraken would bring him peace. Then the Kraken vanished and two years later he found Remus living in a small apartment with two kids. Roman had nephews and he quickly became the best uncle the world would ever see. He helped Remus find a house that would work for them, babysitting, daycare pick ups, family movie nights where he got to introduce them to some of his favorite movies.
Then he pieced together that the kraken was only active when Remus had been missing. That the timing lined up too perfectly for anything else. Why the kraken had killed countless people but never did more than rough up Roman. The correct thing to do would be to turn Remus in and have him face justice for his crimes.
Roman never did.
Remus was the last bit of family he had. After years of being gone he invited Roman back into his life as if no time had passed and there was no big secret between them. One night after a family movie night, shortly after Remus had started dating Roman's old co-worker Patton, Roman oulled him aside and talked about it. He said he knew that Remus used to be the kraken and hoped that Remus would deny it. Instead he got a very honest and also brutal confession that Remus was the kraken. He had killed people, burnt down buildings, stolen things, been the monster that everyone said he would be growing up.
But it didn't feel right. He didn't feel fulfilled the way he thought he would. Everyone had told them growing up Roman was the hero and Remus was his villian. Their parents had even pushed this narrative onto them. Roman had an oversized ego that got humbled when he went into hero work and Remus' anger and violence calmed from having an outlet.
Roman might have said it was fate.
Remus called it bullshit.
Either way they both agreed to keep it secert. Janus and Virgil needed them. They needed people who were willing to look past the unnatural things about them and treat them like human beings first. Otherwise they would end up worse than Remus did. Roman comforted himself on not turning Remus on that way. Remus was making up for his crimes by raising two kids that no one else could.
Remus was immune to the venom that both the boys produced, which was for the best considering both of them had a bitting phase. Then he had the strentgh and speed to catch both of them when they decided to try crawling onto the roof or darting into traffic. Roman suggested child leashes and Remus said they were inhumane, his boys had expected enough of that without him.
At the core of all of it. Remus saw two boys that needed to be taken care of and no one else would so he did it. That felt more heroic than a lot of things Roman had done.