Phoenix by Fallout Boy
Heads up, the beginning to this chapter in intense with angst. Trigger warning for abuse.
After that it should be ok. and we finally get to see deceit. His human name is Ethan and he is their new lawyer.
Chapter Seven: Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame soundtrack
Virgil woke up in a sterile greenish blue room. There was a heart monitor beeping somewhere. It might have been his. He felt an IV in his arm, and a truck load of pain everywhere else. He tried to remember how he got here.
Last thing I remember is… His blood turned to ice water.
The last thing he could recall was his father being furious. And hurting him, he had been thrashed within an inch of his life. He tried to look around, but he could only see out of one eye. The other one was swollen shut. He didn’t see his father though.
Maybe he had finally gone too far, and CPS had stepped in. Maybe things were ok now. And he’d get sent somewhere else. And his dad would get sent to prison. Maybe it was over.
A few doctors came and went, checking his vitals and stuff like that. None of them said anything about him of his dad. He had to know.
“Why am I here?” He fought intense agony to speak.
“Shh.” One of the nurses cooed. “Don’t try to talk, sweetie. You’ve had a nasty fall and you injured a few ribs. Just lie very still.”
“Where’s my…” He felt like he had been stabbed with a hack saw. “My… Dad?”
“He’s right outside. He’ll be in with you in a moment.”
Whatever pain he was in was dwarfed by the crushing blow of disappointment. Nothing was ok. He felt tears falling across his face, seeping into open cuts and stinging like hell. Of course, they swallowed whatever excuse his father had fed them. And there was no way they’d ask for his side of what happened. No, he was just a prop. No one wanted to know how he said it happened.
“It’s ok,” The nurse soothed. “You’re alright now. Everything’s going to be fine.”
She didn’t know! Of course, she didn’t know! How could she even say that!? Didn’t she know that it wasn’t ok!?
It’s not ok! Help me!
His dad walked into the room with a mask of concern that he wore amazingly. Nominate him for an Oscar, he deserves it. Even Virgil himself was tempted to think his father had an ounce of remorse.
“How is he?” His dad asked in such a genuine tone, when did he find time to rehearse?
“He’ll pull through.” The nurse assured him.
“Oh, thank goodness.” He sighed. “I was so worried. He’s all I have after his mother left me. If something happened to him…” He trailed off. The fucker even shed a tear.
“I understand.” Welp, he had her.
“Is it alright if I stay with him now?”
“Of course.” She said.
NO TAKE IT BACK!! TAKE IT BACK!!!
“In fact, he was just asking for you.”
“Poor baby. He must be terrified.”
DON’T LAEVE HIM WITH ME!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!
“I’ll leave you two alone.”
NO! SAVE ME!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!
She left. And more importantly she left him alone with his dad.
“It hurts doesn’t it.” The mask came off. All that was left was the sadistic tone of his father. “I may have told them you were morphine intolerant.”
“Why?” It came out as a whimper.
“Well, I had to get my point across.”
“Why?” He wheezed again.
“Well.” His father started. “First off, I want you to know they’re not going to ask you if you can have morphine, they already believe me. And they won’t ask for a second opinion. And that goes for your little tumble down our stairs. You tripped and fell, and your frantic dad rushed you to the emergency room. And if you say otherwise, I think we know who they’ll side with.”
“And even if they believe you.” He grinned; the monster might as well have had three rows of teeth. “They’re a bunch of doctors who didn’t repeat seventh grade. They’ll just say I went easy on you. You see the grown up isn’t just always telling the truth, but they’re also always right.”
He pressed down on one of his ribs. Virgil yelped in pain.
“So, don’t disappoint me again.” He hissed.
Last thing Virgil remembers is everything going black.
# # #
“PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!!!!” Virgil cried. “PLEASE HELP ME!!”
Patton and Logan both shot awake and bolted to Virgil’s room. They met Roman in the doorway; he had brought a weapon. They all ran in as Virgil continued to shriek.
“SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” He pleaded, thrashing around on the bed like he was being murdered.
Roman burst in and Logan switched the lights on.
“Get away from him!” Roman demanded of the empty room.
Virgil screamed and fell of the bed. He then just laid on the floor whimpering and drenched with sweat.
“My baby.” Patton yelped, rushing to his side. “Are you ok honey?”
“…I-I-I’m fine.” He panted. “I just had a bad dream.”
Roman hid his samurai sword behind his back.
“It’s ok.” Patton cooed, pulling the younger man into his lap. “I’m here, Da- I’ve got you.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Logan knelt beside Patton.
“No.” Virgil’s voice came out as a squeak.
“Ok.” Patton gently rubbed his back. “You don’t have to. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
With that said, Virgil started sobbing. Patton looked at Logan in horror and mouthed out ‘what did I do?’. Logan shook his head in mutual confusion. Roman sat down on the floor with them and stretched his hand out to Virgil.
“It’s ok.” He said softly, running his hand through the child’s hair. “You’re allowed to cry. You’re allowed to feel this. It’s ok.”
Virgil continued crying as he buried his face in Patton’s shirt.
“They-they’re gonna…” He gasped from Patton’s chest. “They’re not gonna believe me.”
“Who?” Logan asked, with a pretty good idea he knew the answer.
“The courts or the jury or whoever.” He panted. “They’re gonna take his side.”
“No,” Patton soothed. “No, they won’t. it’s just his word against, like mountain of evidence.”
“But he said I’m allergic to morphine and I’m not allergic to morphine,” He rambled in short, ragged breaths. “And they just went with it, and no one asked me if I fell down the stairs or not. Cause he already said I did. And…and…” He gasped hard.
“Shh, shh.” Patton tutted. “It’s alright, no one’s gonna just blindly believe him ever again. He’s been branded as a liar. As he should be.”
“Virgil.” Logan gently grabbed his shoulder. “No one is going to believe him over you. No one is going to believe him over evidence. This isn’t just he says you say.”
Virgil mumbled something into Patton’s chest.
“What?” Logan made a face like he had just been slapped.
“I said.” Virgil sniveled. “What if they think he was going easy on me and I deserved it.”
“Virgil.” Logan grabbed him by both shoulders and pulled his face up. “Look me in the eyes and listen to me. No one is going to say that. No one! You did not deserve any of what he did to you. Do you understand me!? You did not deserve that! And he did not go easy on you! He nearly killed you twice now! That does not quantify going easy on someone! No one is going to think that he was in the right, because he wasn’t! What he did was wrong! And nobody is going to think otherwise! Do you understand?!”
Virgil nodded timidly.
Logan sighed and pulled Virgil into a hug.
“Ok.” He whispered. “I’m sorry for raising my voice to you. But you need to understand this. Your father…” He made a face at the title. “Payton was wrong to do this. And no one else is like that. This isn’t normal, and it isn’t right.”
“I lied about what grade I’m in.” Virgil said. It was barely audible over his breathing. “I got held back. I’m starting eighth grade in the fall.”
“I figured that out.” Logan sighed. “We got your school records last night.”
“And you were asking all the questions about being held back earlier.” Patton added. “It was a really bad lie.”
A long, tense silence filled the room.
“We’re not going to do anything you expect us to do.” Roman broke the silence. “Please don’t lie to us again.”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Patton wiped a tear off Virgil’s cheek. “We’d like you to trust us, and we wanna be able to trust you. Sound fair?”
Virgil nodded.
“Good.” Logan patted him on the head, it was unspeakably awkward. “Do you think you can fall asleep on your own, or would you like to take one of your pills?”
“I’m fine.” Virgil sighed. “I don’t need to take anything.
“Ok. But if you need your medicine come get one of us.” Patton fussed, pulling Virgil in and stroking his hair. “Do you want one of us to stay here until you fall asleep?”
“No, I’m ok.” He paused and smiled coyly. “Trust me.”
“We gotta get you some other bands to listen to.” Roman said unamused. “You can’t just keep quoting My Chemical Romance.”
“My chemical Roman?” Patton quipped.
“Patton,” Logan said calmly. “No.”
“Absolutely not.” Roman agreed. “Never call me that again.”
“I thought it was funny.” Virgil piped in, giving Patton a weak smile.
“Well, at least one of us can appreciate humor.” Patton ruffled his hair. “You go ahead and get some sleep now. We’ll talk more in the morning if you feel like it.”
“Ok.” Virgil yawned. “Thanks.”
“It’s no trouble.”
“I mean thanks, for.” He looked down and bit his lip. “Thanks for everything. All of you.”
“That’s no trouble either.” Patton continued to pet him softly.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Oooh, you’re feisty.” Patton teased. “Let’s get you into bed kiddo.”
Patton helped him up and tucked him in, despite his protests the he was thirteen and didn’t need to be tucked in. Patton disregarded him without so much as going ‘uh-huh’ and pretending to listen.
“Sometimes.” Patton kissed him on the forehead. “It’s nice to be tucked in.”
As the three of them left the room Logan switched the light off and closed the door.
“Poor little baby.” Patton whimpered as soon as the door closed. “How could anyone do something like that? He’s just a little kid.”
“Some people are just rotten,” Roman patted him on the shoulder. “In a perfect world you’d be an only child. All we can do is be decent human beings to make up for the vile few who waste our air.”
“I agree.” Logan nodded. “Just not as dramatically. Yes, there are bad people out there. And yes, all we can really do to counter them is act properly. There’s no point dwelling on what your brother did, all we can do now is work to help Virgil.”
“I mean,” Roman gestured towards the door. “We already succeeded in not giving him night terrors. I’ll call that the minimum. So, we’re off to a great start.”
“What the proverbial hell are you wearing?” Logan asked, only really looking at him for the first time.
Roman looked down at himself. He was shirtless and clad only in red booty shorts that read ‘Royal’ across the butt.
“It’s hot!” His face changed to match his shorts in hue. “it’s summer and we live in Florida!”
“I think we all look silly.” Patton mumbled, tugging on the hem of his Pawton T-shirt.
“I thought Virgil was being attacked by an intruder.” Roman argued. “I had time to either grab my robe or my sword!”
“What were you gonna do, seduce the murderer?” Patton made a face.
“Why are we having this discussion again?” Logan rubbed his temples.
“Oh, we’re doing this?” Roman got defensive. “Because I happened to notice you were wearing seashell print underwear when you came to get me on Friday. And Patton had on dark blue boxers.”
“So?” Logan challenged.
“So, you don’t wear print underwear and Patton doesn’t own any without print.” Roman smirked sadistically. “I think you had on more than his shirt.”
“Oh my God!!” Virgil screamed from the other room. “Get away from my door! I can hear you!!!”
“I take back what I said about the nightmares.” Roman said flatly.
# # #
The following evening was Patton and Logan’s turn to have to deal with the press. So, Roman was on babysitting duty. Given what would go down in infamy as ‘the booty short incident’ things were a bit awkward between the two. And now that Patton and Logan had left Roman was starting to feel a bit like the friend of a friend.
“Do you think you’d like to be on the news once you’re feeling better?” Roman asked to ease the tension.
“Sorry, what?” Virgil pulled out an earbud. He was curled up on the couch with his computer.
“I was wondering if you wanted to be interviewed when you feel better.” Roman fought the cringe. “I’m sure they want to speak to you.”
“I’m sure I’m not as beat up as they want me to be.” Virgil paused what he was watching. “Not too many bruises to exploit. Unless they want me to strip.”
“That may not be so uncommon.” Roman said. “They asked me to strip last night.”
“Really?” Virgil sat up and looked at him intensely.
“Yes, I’m so gorgeous that everywhere I go people want me to take my clothes off.” Roman finished off the bit elegantly. “Mostly the ladies, but once the guys find out I’m on that side of the field… well. Let’s just say that they are not as weak as people think they are.”
“I can’t believe I fell for that.” Virgil slumped back. “I’m an idiot.”
“Well, maybe it’s just really believable.” Roman smirked. “I do have a god bod.”
“You are like uber gay. Patton and Logan are married to each other and you’re still the gayest person in the house.”
“How about you? Any crushes?” Roman turned the tables. “I bet everyone goes crazy over those eyes.”
“Nah.” Virgil looked down and drug his hand across the rim of his laptop. “None yet.”
“I guess that’s been pretty far from your mind.” Roman realized what he had done. “I’m sure you’ll be getting into it as you get older. Logan didn’t have his first until he was eighteen.”
“Logan has…” He trailed off.
“And you had other stuff to deal with.” Roman finished for him. “When you get your bearings, you’ll get your first crush, and if you never take an interest in romance, so be it. Different people need different things, and they need them at different times.”
Virgil smiled softly at him, his lips only parting slightly to show a thin portion of his teeth.
“And right now,” Roman stood up. “You need to watch Hunchback of Notre Dame with me.”
“No way, I read that book, it’s horrible.” Virgil objected.
“We’re watching the Disney version; it has a happy ending.” Roman explained. “Also, there’s a book?”
“Yeah, it’s long.”
“You’re in middle school, what are you doing reading stuff like that?”
“I was in some kind of advanced reading class over the past couple of summers. You know, anything to eat up whatever free time I can get.”
“So, you’re reading on like a high school level.” Roman pointed at him.
“So, what, reading’s not hard. Like, everyone can read.”
“Not on a high school level they can’t.”
“Anyone who passed high school can.” Virgil countered, throwing his hands up.
“Do you remember our different people chat from a moment ago?”
“Just put in the movie.” He paused. “Wait, what time is your interview showing?”
“Last night.” Roman shrugged. “It was pretty boring. And I decided that I hate it when the press tries to be clever.”
“Go on.”
“Actor Roman Lupine, known locally for his role as Mufasa in the community theater portrayal of The Lion King has found himself in a different kind of cast following the events of Friday night.” He recited.
“That’s not even funny.”
“I’m just thankful no one brought up my infiltration of the press.”
“You’re the dude who pretended to be a reporter to troll my dad?”
“I had to make sure they asked the right questions.” He defended. “And they didn’t. So, it’s a good thing I was there.”
“Yeah,” Virgil looked down. “Honestly, before you guys showed up the press thought the sun shined out of my dad’s butt.”
Roman couldn’t help but laugh at that image.
“Wow,” Roman coughed between laughs. “You are a word smith.”
“This movie another musical?” Virgil asked, stretching himself out.
“All the best ones are.” Roman declared.
Roman out the movie in and flopped himself down on the couch next to Virgil. The little one scooched away from him and curled up into a ball.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me.” Roman smiled at him. “I may be gay, but I’m only attracted to people old enough to consent.”
“Weirdly enough, I wasn’t worried about that.” Virgil said giving him a confused look. “I just haven’t bathed in a while, and I’m starting to smell.”
“That’s you? I just thought my deodorant gave out.”
“No, it’s me. I smell like death barfed up a bunch of old Band-Aids.”
“Remind me why we haven’t bathed you yet.”
“I can’t use my hands.” Virgil held up his gauzy paws. “Or get them wet or get my cast wet.”
“Let me think for a minute.” Roman put his hand to his chin. “I’m great at creative solutions.”
“Whatever you say, dude.”
# # #
Roman did come up with a solution. So, the two of them were now standing in Patton and Logan’s bathroom as that one had a walk-in shower with a grip bar installed inside. Roman unrolled a generous amount of plastic wrap.
“So, we can wrap up your cast and hands really good with this stuff.” Roman smiled. “And then I can duct tape a back scrubber to one of your hands. That way you can clean yourself.”
“I’m doing this more for entertainment than out of thinking this will work.” Virgil scoffed.
“My kind are never recognized for their genius.” He feigned hurt and placed a hand on his heart.
“Fine let’s do this.” Virgil sighed and held out his hands. “The smell is unbearable.”
“Now, I’ll help you get your shirt off.” Roman said as he bound Virgil’s hands. “But your pants are your responsibility. I’m not getting my name put on any lists.”
“You’re a saint.” Virgil said flatly.
“Thanks for noticing.” Roman stood up. “Now, I find duct tape.”
“Can’t you just put socks or something over my hands? It’d be easier.”
“Now I go to get a pair of socks!” Roman rephrased. “Stay right here.”
“Where would I go?”
Roman returned with the socks, applied them and left Virgil one of his robes. With that done he left the bathroom. No way was he getting his name put on any lists. He sat on Patton and Logan’s bed, tracing the blanket pattern with his finger. It was creepily quiet.
“Virgil,” Roman called. “Are you ok in there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He yelled back.
“Ok. I’m right here if you need me?”
“What the hell could I possibly need you for in here?”
“I meant in case you fall. Weirdo.”
“You’re weird.”
Roman laughed to himself. This kid was terrible at name calling, at least in the moment. Roman softly sang to himself to break the silence. He looked around the love bird’s nest, they sure did like blue. He didn’t normally go into their bedroom if he could avoid it. Not that the room had anything wrong with it, it was the standard room with more plushies than would be expected scattered around. There was one desk, Logan’s, and it was home to many piles of books. As would be expected.
“Sup?” Roman nodded at the large stuffed dog laying on the foot of the bed.
“Roman?” A timid voice asked.
“You can talk?” Roman grabbed the plushie. “Wait, I’m an idiot. What is it Virgil?”
“Can you come in here?” Virgil sounded strained.
“Did you fall? I’ll be right in.”
Roman darted in and saw Virgil bunched up in one corner of the shower, covering himself with a towel. Thank god.
“What’s wrong?” Roman asked, stepping closer.
“There’s a bunch of weird spots on my skin.”
Roman looked down at his chest and saw that it was peppered tiny irritations that were rough to the touch.
“Ok.” Roman forced himself calm. “You come on out of there and put this on.” Roman held up the robe and looked away. “It’s probably just a reaction to the soap, or to not being able to shower for a while. You know, that kind of rash.”
“Ok.” He squeaked. “I know it wasn’t here yesterday, so you’re probably right.”
“Right. So, we’re just going to wash your clothes and see what happens.”
Roman sent Virgil to his room and immediately called Logan. Logan answered surprisingly fast, he must have really not wanted to be interviewed.
“Roman, is something wrong?” Logan answered, confused.
“Virgil has this weird bunch of spots on his body, I don’t think it’s chicken pox, but it looks like scarlet fever.”
“It probably is.” Logan said calmly. “That or he’s having a reaction to his antibiotics.”
“WHAT!!?” Roman screamed into the receiver. “He’s going to die?”
“Roman, scarlet fever is also known as strep throat rash.” Logan explained. “Both are caused by the same bacteria. I suspect he contracted it because his father didn’t take him to the doctor. Symptoms are the same as strep throat, and the first degree burns he suffered in the fire must have covered the rash.”
“What do I do? Do I have to burn things? Is he going to live?”
“He’ll be fine, just put some baby powder on the rash; we’ll take him to the doctor tomorrow to see if he needs his antibiotic dose increased or decreased based on what the rash is. Don’t burn anything, this isn’t the nineteenth century.”
“Should I tell him?”
“No, you’ll just freak him out.”
“All this time scarlet fever has just been strep throat?” Roman mumbled, floored by the revelation.
“Just wait until we tell you about what happened to measles.” Logan said blankly before hanging up.
# # #
“Just have a seat on the table and the doctor will be right with you.” The nurse said, holding the door for them.
Virgil lurked in quietly with Patton and Roman both in tow. He stopped to look at them both and saw that Logan had also gone ahead and come in. Somehow, he had amassed and entourage.
“I… Uh. Don’t think we all need to be here.” Virgil said, tugging on his sleeves.
“We need to know what you have.” Roman defended.
Virgil pulled himself onto the table and silently prayed that the doctor wouldn’t ask him to take his pants off. He was generally opposed to striping, but he was more against it now that he knew his audience wasn’t going anywhere.
“It’s ok.” Patton rubbed his shoulder.
“I’m not afraid.”
“Oh.” Patton said surprised, not taking his hand away. “That’s ok too. You shouldn’t be afraid. It’s going to be alright.”
“I regret telling them about strep throat rash.” Logan said to him. “I’m very sorry. I should have expected this kind of reaction.”
“What other reaction is supposed to come with the news that he has a potentially fatal illness?” Roman protested. “Joy? We aren’t Barbra.”
“The severity is dramatically decreased because of modern antibiotics.” Logan sighed. “Virgil’s not going to die from this. And it may not be strep throat rash, it could very well be a reaction to our detergent or his medicine.”
“If he’s allergic to antibiotics that’s still a problem.” Patton objected.
“How do you keep forgetting everything you learned in nursing school?” Logan sighed.
Virgil chewed on his bandages, longing for the day when he could get at his nails again. Roman had kept his mouth shut about the idea of scarlet fever pretty well, but when Patton got wind of it, he freaked out. First kid and all that. Logan had been good about using the modern name, but of course Patton googled it and found out what it was. Virgil hadn’t had a moment’s peace since.
Mercifully the doctor entered the room. Virgil knew this one, Dr. Talyn because they had been dealing him while he was still checked in. Nice to see a familiar face.
“Hi Virgil.” Talyn said, clearly happy to see him. “How have you been?”
“Recovering.” Virgil sighed. “How long do I need to have my hands wrapped again?”
“I’ll look at the burns while I’m here, but I guarantee you that you still need to have them wrapped for at least another week.”
“I know you.” Roman interrupted happily. “You’re the doctor who stood up to Payton that night.”
“And you’re crazy twin guy.” Talyn nodded. “I’m a friend of Joan’s.”
“You have one insane twin brother and that’s all anyone ever remembers about you.” Roman protested.
“So, Virgil has a rash that you two are worried about?” Talyn turned to Patton and Logan.
“I think it may be strep throat rash,” Logan explained calmly. “I just need to know what it is and if we need to adjust his antibiotics.”
“Scarlet fever can make people go deaf.” Patton interrupted. “Is that gonna happen?”
“No.” Talyn looked amused at Patton’s panic. “And it’s probably not strep rash, it seems weird that it would show up after we started treating the strep throat.” They turned on Virgil. “Can you pull your shirt up baby?”
Thinking he had a bright future as a stripper, Virgil pulled his shirt off. Life was hell. Talyn looked at the rash for a minute and went about the other standard doctor examinations.
“It’s not scarlet fever or a reaction to his meds.” They said finally. “It’s just a little stress rash.”
“Oh, poor baby.” Patton fussed, grabbing Virgil and hugging him.
The demonic voice in Virgil’s head screamed so loud that it blurred his vision.
# # #
“Oh, poor baby.” Patton pulled his nephew into his arms.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Roman sighed. “I thought he was done for.”
“For the last time, he wasn’t going to die.” Logan added tiredly.
“If you want, I can prescribe a topical cream for the hives,” Talyn continued. “But aside from that I can’t really do much. They’re just gonna have to go away on their own.”
Patton brushed Virgil’s hair out of his face and paused. Virgil was being oddly still. He loosened his grip and Virgil fell limp onto him.
“Guys! I think he fainted!” Patton yelled in abstract terror.
Dr. Talyn took over and shooed him away. They laid Virgil down on the table, took his pulse and checked his pupils. After that they put a cold cloth on his head.
“Doctor,” Patton asked softly. “Did we do something wrong? His anxiety is getting really bad around us. Did we do the wrong thing?”
“No, I don’t think this is anyone’s fault.” Talyn checked Virgil’s pules again. “I think he’s just having a harder time adjusting then we thought he would. All we can really do is give it time.”
“We already made him a follow up appointment with Dr. Picani.” Logan added guiltily. “I didn’t think we were causing him that much stress.”
“You don’t need to be in a stressful environment to have anxiety.” Talyn explained. “And he may have PTSD after everything his dad did to him. And he’s only like five days into this transition. That’s not even enough time to get used to a school week.”
“It’s not right.” Patton brushed his hand through Virgil’s hair. “He’s just a little kid.”
Virgil murmured a bit the bolted upright.
“No! Get away from me! Don’t touch me!” He yelped. He stopped and looked around then sighed. “Sorry Uncle Patton, I-I thought you were someone else.”
Who? I wonder. The words burned themselves into Patton’s brain.
“It’s ok sweetie.” Patton hugged him. “It’s ok.”
“What happened?” Virgil pulled himself away.
“You passed out a minute ago.” Logan explained. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” He crossed his arms and looked at the floor.
Talyn cleared their throat.
“Do you three mind if I talk to Virgil alone?” They asked.
“No.” Patton sighed. “Go ahead.”
# # #
Virgil watched the other three leave and whished that he was going with them. Dr. Talyn closed the door behind them and the room suddenly seemed oppressively tiny.
“I have to ask.” Talyn sighed. “Are they treating you ok?”
“Yes.” He looked down from the ceiling that he swore he could reach up and touch. “And not just the bare minimum of not beating me into a coma. They’re all being really nice.”
“Have they done anything that wasn’t physical? Any insults? Anything like that?”
“No. None of that stuff. It’s like some kind of alternate reality.”
“Are you happy there?”
“Yes. I wanna stay…” He dropped the sentence and stared at the floor.
You can’t though, it’s not gonna happen. You can’t stay. He’s not going to let you. He’s going to ruin this for you if you don’t ruin it first.
“Ok then.” Talyn finished. “You understand why I had to ask you that right?”
“Honestly, I have been asked that more in the past couple of days than I have in my entire life.” He sighed. “Yeah, I understand why you asked. I don’t understand why no one else ever did.”
“Neither do I.” That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “I’ll check out your hands, then you can go.”
Talyn checked his hands over and rebandaged them so that they looked like mittens. They padded the thumbs loosely so he could use them and kept the rest of his hands covered. He looked down at his appendages and saw that three of his fingernails had come off. He gagged and looked away.
“I know,” Talyn soothed. “It’s creepy.”
They finished with him and sent him on his way. He lurked out into the other room and joined the others. Patton immediately hugged him. He sighed and slumped into the hug.
I don’t want to go. I want to stay with you.
“It’s ok sweetie.” Patton pacified.
“It’s just going to take some time.” Logan rubbed his back.
# # #
“Ok, we’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Patton said chipperly on his way out the door. “Are you two gonna be okay?”
“I already watched him last night.” Roman sighed. “I can do it again.”
“I don’t even really need a babysitter.” Virgil added. “Dad used to leave me on my own all the time.”
Don’t blow up, it’s ok. We’re literally on our way to see the lawyer. Patton bit his lip.
“Well, you’re still sick.” Patton smiled. “So, you ought to have a grown up to look after you.”
“And you’re in an unfamiliar environment.” Logan added.
“I’m not a cat.”
“We’ll be fine.” Roman shooed them. “Don’t be late to your meeting. We still have as entire anthology to watch.”
“Ok, but nothing that can, you know…” Patton mimed pulling a trigger on a gun.
“I won’t.” Roman rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid.”
“It’s going to be alright Patton.” Logan squeezed his shoulder. “You don’t have to worry.”
“Ok.” Patton grabbed Logan’s hand. “We’ll be back in a few hours, or less depending on what happens.”
“Take all the time you need.” Roman was almost pushing them.
Patton looked over and saw Virgil staring at him curiously from the couch. He knew something was going on, kids can always tell. Patton guiltily avoided his gaze, there was no need to bring him into this and stress him out even more.
And I definitely don’t want to get his hopes up and disappoint him. A thought preyed on him.
No, that’s going to happen. This is gonna work out. We’re gonna be ok.
You couldn’t save him before, what makes now different?
You shut up!
You can’t save him. You already let him endure this for thirteen years.
Stop it!
Payton isn’t just going to roll over! You can’t just smile and hope your problems go away!
“Ok,” Patton forced a smile and took another step out the door. “I love you. We’ll be back in a bit.”
Patton and Logan walked to the car in silence. Patton stared out his window and caught a glimpse of Virgil looking out one of the front windows at them, trying not to be seen himself. Poor little anxious baby. Patton looked at his feet. He wanted nothing more than to hold Virgil and tell him everything was going to be ok, and just keep holding him until they were.
“Logan,” Patton sighed as they drove into the street. “Do we have a chance?”
“A chance of what?” Logan glanced at him.
“Winning custody.”
“We do, in fact I’m optimistic in spite of myself.”
“Are you sure, Payton’s gonna fight us on this.”
“Payton has been digging his metaphorical grave for years, and it is now too deep for him to get out. The evidence is in our favor.”
“Are you sure?” Patton rubbed his arms, feeling a sudden cold engulf him.
“Yes, and if you’re worried that he’s going to lie his way out of this… well I don’t think his silver tongue is going to help him here.”
“I feel kind of like I’m kicking him while he’s down.”
“This isn’t about Payton’s feelings. Provided that he can feel. This is about what’s best for Virgil.”
“Payton’s not gonna like this.”
“I don’t care.”
“Maybe he’s gonna say we shouldn’t be parents because we’re a same sex couple.” Patton said worriedly.
“He was running for mayor as a gay man who had suffered abuse for it.” Logan said blankly. “No one is going to want to hear that.”
“What if he says we beat Virgil up to make false evidence?”
“We can disprove that.”
“I read that judges don’t like to break up families, like take kids away from their parents.”
“With the exception of that parent being a violent sociopath, who may have tried to murder them.” Logan added, grabbing Patton’s hand. “Sound like anyone we know?”
“I’m just worried.”
“I know, I’m worried too.” Logan held his hand tighter. “But I’m not going to let it consume me or make me lose sight of reality.”
“I love you.” Patton said quietly.
“I love you too.” Logan smiled. “After all, I am having your baby.”
“When can we start introducing him as our son?” Patton perked up a little.
“As soon as custody is granted. And remember not to overwhelm him.”
# # #
“Ok,” Their new lawyer said after they finished their story. “It definitely sounds like you have a case.”
Their lawyer was remarkable short and built entirely of muscle. Outside of that he was scary. Completely pale with light blond hair that he covered up with a black derby hat. He looked like he had albinism along with a massive scar that covered the left side of his face, leaving him a dead eye and a slightly dented lower jaw. The scar pattern looked like a waffle iron. Patton pondered how the poor man got it.
The lawyer had a name plate that read “E. S. Pent”. No first name.
“So, what we need to do.” E. S. said. “Is organize what we have now, police reports, medical records and testimonies. You said Virgil is going to be seeing a psychiatrist?”
“Yes,” Logan answered. “Dr. Emile Picani.”
“Ok, we should be able to get him as a witness. He’s done all this before.” E.S. sighed. His job probably sucked.
“Is Virgil gonna have to testify?” Patton bit his lip. “I don’t wanna expose him to all this.”
“If he wants to, more power to him. But if not I’m pretty sure people will understand.”
“Is there anything we need to be prepared for if he tries to counter us?” Logan asked.
“Well, Patton already passed his background check.” E. S. looked through the papers. “I recommend you and your friend, Roman, both get one as well.”
Logan looked around tensely and Patton instinctively grabbed his hand.
“I, I have Asperger’s.” Logan sighed. “Is that going to cause any problems?”
“No, I don’t think so.” E. S. smiled reassuringly. “Provided that it doesn’t make you violent or suicidal.”
“No, all it really does is make me weird.”
Patton mouthed out the words ‘I will fight you’ at Logan. Nobody talks about his husband that way.
“Is it a problem that we’re gay?” Patton tilted his head.
“It shouldn’t be.”
“So, this is it?” Patton squeezed Logan’s hand.
“Well you need to serve Payton papers, and set a court date. I’ll help you with the papers. And if you don’t want to face him, you can have a police officer, or a lawyer serve the papers for you. And I knew Payton in law school, he’s a prick. So, if you’d like, I would love to serve him the papers.”
“I’ll give them to him myself.” Patton looked at the table. “I want to talk to him.”
“Are you sure?”
“He’s my brother, I can’t just turn my back on him. And if I’m going to do this, I’m not going to do it from behind someone.”
“Alright.”
# # #
It was past nine when they got home. Roman was on the couch contentedly watching the credits of Aristocats while Virgil dozed on his shoulder.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re home.” Roman teased in an air of mock desperation. “It was so troublesome to look after a sick teenager. We had to watch movies and then he fell asleep. The horror.”
“Very funny.” Logan whispered, feeling Virgil’s forehead. “Last night you called me in a panic thinking he had scarlet fever.”
“Which you confirmed.” Roman whisper yelled.
“No, no. get away.” Virgil mumbled in his sleep.
“Shh,” Roman purred. “it’s ok. It’s ok. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Patton leaned in and pet Virgil’s hair. Poor little anxious baby!
“Has he been talking in his sleep a lot?” He whispered.
“On and off.” Roman looked down at him. “Mostly saying the same things. ‘get away’ ‘stop’ and ‘I wanna stay here’.”
“You can stay with us baby.” Patton continued stroking his head. “We’re not gonna send you away.”
“No,” Logan smiled. “You’re here for good.”
Roman covered the sleeping boy’s ears.
“How did it go with the lawyer?” He asked.
“I’m serving Payton the papers on Friday.” Patton looked down.
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Author’s note, Deceit’s color was similar to the albino Burmese python, so I made his human alternate an albino. Also a went with a scar instead of scales. Ethan will talk about being trans in a later chapter.