..Chapter 9 - Cars Collide..

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TW: Car Crash

Remus clung to the phone, still listening to Janus breathe. He was saying something soft and the rain-soaked man couldn't help but take warmth and comfort from the sound of his husband's voice.

"We are getting closer. You broke the branch off of the tree right?"

"Yep, and like I said, it looks almost like-"

The phone was weirdly silent, and Remus pulled it away from his ear. It had died, Janus was almost here though. It shouldn't be bad.

"Hey Ro-bro, your phone died," He said, tossing the phone back to Roman.

"Shit, Logan was using it for the GPS in the car, but they are almost here, right?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Remus bit at his lip until the headlights came flooding into their vision. He immediately relaxed, staring at the car.

It wasn't a car that either twin recognized. It was probably Patton's car. Remus had never met the man in person, but he knew that the soft fluff wouldn't have let Janus drive in this state. "Get in and get me out of this rain. This is not the good kind of wet." Remus said as he shoved himself into the car with Roman. He immediately started looking for Janus, but there was a partition between the front and the back. That was weird, and more importantly, that probably wasn't good.

He heard a click and gas began to fill the back of the car. Every alarm in Remus's head went off as he tried to cover his mouth with his shirt, but it was hard to breathe through when it was so wet. He had to hold his breath, slamming himself against the partition. Toman was working on the door. If this weren't an emergency situation, Remus might have appreciated hearing his brother swear so freely, but instead, he could feel sleep, clawing at the back of his mind. No, he was so close to seeing his husband again. He had thought Janus dead but now there was hope. He needed out. His fingers clawed at the divider before he slowly slumped onto the chair. A few minutes after that, the divider and windows were all rolled down.

"Sorry babes, orders are orders, and y'know how the boss can get."

He tossed his Starbucks cup out the open window before speeding off. Places to be and all that.

~~~~~~

Patton's car pulled up to where they were supposed to meet Remus. The call had been cut short and it had sent Janus into another spiral. As soon as they were slowed enough he threw the door open, ignoring the rain that immediately soaked him. He knew this was where he was supposed to be, there was no doubt in his mind, the tree looked almost phallic, much like Remus's description, and it had a broken branch that pointed towards the road. This was the spot.

"Remus!" He shouted but got no response other than the light wind. With an umbrella in hand, Patton also got out of the car, looking around for anything that might give them clues. Janus was not in the state to be investigating.

The rain had washed away footprints, and car tracks, but there was trash on the side of the road. It was a bit innocuous, but Patton knew not to take anything for granted. He made his way towards the cup, picking it up slowly and taking a picture of the name and order. There was a bit of lingering warmth from the cup, but it was quickly fading from the rain. It really could be nothing but he wasn't going to take anything for granted.

"Did you find him?" He asked as he turned back to Janus who was holding onto a tree, looking around the forest. From the tightness of his shoulders and the white-knuckled grip on the tree, he could guess what the answer was. Janus was crashing, Patton could see it clearly despite the haze of precipitation.

"Let's get back in the car Jan," He said, walking slowly towards Janus, trying to gently usher him towards the door. They knew Remus was alive, that was at least a start, but finding him was going to be a lot harder than either of them thought.

Janus was easily led, sitting soaked in the car, his eyes distant. He had been fighting for the last few hours. All of this had happened in such a short time, it would make sense that he was shutting down and starting to go numb.

"Just close your eyes Jan, try to get some rest. You've had a really hard day." Patton got into the car on his side, immediately turning on the heat to help dry the both of them. The sound of the rain was lulling. "We will figure it out. Just close your eyes."

It was easy to coax Janus to sleep, maybe because he had been pushing so hard all day, maybe because he was numb, but either way, Patton relaxed when he heard his friend's breathing shift.

He picked up his phone and texted Virgil the picture of the coffee cup.

"Hey V, I know this is a long shot, but we got to the place we were supposed to meet Remus and I found this cup. Does the name and coffee order mean anything to you?"

He watched as the little dots showed up, showing that Virgil was typing. Then they cleared. Then they popped up again. A single word popped up.

"Shit"

"Well, that's not encouraging kiddo. Do I need to know about something?"

"Yeah you might want to come back here"

"Is it that bad?"

"Yeah"

Patton frowned as he turned to look at his sleeping friend. "Janus is finally getting some sleep, how time-sensitive is this?"

There was another pause as Virgil seemed to be mulling over his thoughts.

"I don't think they will hurt Remus, so like, not super, but still important"

"Okay, do you wanna meet me at Janus's house?"

"You really are going to drag me back into this, aren't you"

"Sorry V"

"Just send me the address"

Patton quickly typed it in before he began to drive as well. He hadn't meant to pull Virgil into this. He didn't want to endanger his friend, and he bit his lip with worry. Was he doing the right thing here? Janus had pulled a lot of strings to keep Virgil safe, and now he was just going to thrust him back into that life? Maybe they could avoid it, but from the messages, that was doubtful.

"Leave it to you to choose a complicated husband," Patton said with a gentle sigh. He shook his head as he looked over at Janus who was sleeping, though not quite peacefully. There was a voice in the back of his mind that reminded him if he had stayed with the agency he wouldn't be mixed up with this. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to regret getting involved with Janus. He could remember birthdays, cards, snide comments. Janus had added an interesting color to his life.

Maybe he was being too optimistic, but he knew they were going to find Remus. They had to.

He was so focused on Janus, and their next steps, that he didn't see the car behind him until it clipped his bumper, sending his car spinning in the rain. His breath caught in his chest as he tried to correct the car's course. They really had gotten themselves in trouble, hadn't they?


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