..Chapter 15 - Gas-lines and Goodbyes..

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Remus woke up wrapped up in a warmth he was all too familiar with. The light scent that was his husband filled his senses, and he nuzzled into the warmth.

"Good Morning." Janus' voice filled him, the soft rumble of his body and the scratch of sleep pulled Remus into a ritual he was all too eager to be absorbed into. They had only been torn apart for a few days, but it felt like a lifetime. In a sense, it had been. Remus had been dragged back to a life he didn't want, but he was back with Janus now. That was what was important.

"Morning!" He flipped himself so that he was straddling Janus, only to get a groan of pain, right, they hadn't really discussed what happened while Remus was gone, not in any depth. Before he could really get to be with his husband again, Remus needed to make sure Janus was okay.

"Sorry." He slowly started getting off of his beloved. "Are you ready to talk about what happened?"

"It wasn't anything I haven't lived through, a small car crash."

"I'm not happy about that," Remus growled, fighting the urge to wrap Janus in a protective cocoon.

"I didn't think you would be, but I think a more important question is how are we going to keep you safe after this?"

"We could always go kill him?"

"Virgil seems opposed to that idea. What exactly happened with all of that?" Janus slowly pushed himself up. Each movement took a bit more work and it just fueled the anger in Remus's heart.

"Virgie used to do what you did, gather information on people, but it always stressed him out. He had the robot to calm him down, but eventually, it was still too much. He started asking Lo to leave everything. Heard them talk about it lots late at night. Then, Virgil disappeared, and me and Ro just assumed Lo did what he had to do. Guess he was too much of a barnacle to do it," Remus began to run his hand over the unscarred part of Janus' face. "I guess that's a good thing. Always liked the anxious bat."

Logan's inability to take Virgil's life was probably what ended up saving Janus as well. It made Remus wonder whether or not his parents were still out there if Logan had lied about that too, but, if they hadn't actually been gone, Remus didn't think they would have gone quietly. They would have come back and while Logan was cold, they truly were cruel. Remus didn't want to think about it, instead burying his head in Janus' neck and taking in a deep breath. Hearing Janus's pulse in his neck was calming.

Their quiet moment was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Remus, I have to answer that, it's probably Patton."

"Can't it wait?"

Janus chuckled, but reached across his husband and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

Despite how close he was, Remus couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, he didn't care to either. He just wanted to get back to cuddling and caring for Janus, but his human pillow moved, grabbing the remote and switching on the TV.

"The fire is completely out, however, one source reports that there may have been two people inside the building. A team is going in to verify but considering the strength of the blaze, it's likely neither survived."

"My brother and I were like, just being dumb, y'know, check out the spooky abandoned building. We didn't think it was dangerous." Remus froze at the voice before bolting up to look at the screen. Standing there, being interviewed by the news, was Remy. "I smelt gas, and was like, we need to get out of here, but he could hear someone else and decided to go save them. I tried to pull him out. Tried to convince him not to." Remy was crying, but Remus knew fake tears when he saw them, from the way Janus tensed, he knew them as well.

"I called as soon as I was out of the building, I... but the fire started, and I didn't know how to stop it." Remy hiccuped, pushing his sunglasses up as he cleared away the fake tears. "Maybe my brother is okay, maybe he found a place to hide, but the... the firefighters...." He sobbed in a way that was meant to seem inconsolable.

Remus was watching the background transfixed. His home that had been hidden for so long was going up in flames. His thoughts were chaotic and he wasn't sure how to sort anything out.

Remy had always been a backup plan if they all died.

Virgil had been worried.

Virgil and Remy often joked about being related.

Were Virgil and Logan actually gone, or was this another trick?

What did this mean for him?

Would Remy hunt him, or was he finally free?

"Yeah, we saw it. The two of us will be over in a moment," Janus said softly, though it sounded a million miles away. Remus felt himself being pushed up slowly. His eyes were still transfixed on the TV as two people with stretchers went running into the building. Even when the light flickered off, and Remus felt a hand leading him out the door, his eyes were still glued to the dead screen.

This meant freedom for him, didn't it?

This meant the end of all of the hiding and lying to Janus. This meant being able to be honest and not have to worry about his past? This meant... this meant...

This meant his brother was dead. He hated Logan for everything he had done over the past two days, hated the way he had been treated and the way that Logan had abandoned him those years ago, but Logan was still his brother.

He let out a sob that he wasn't sure if it was angry or sad, and before he knew it, he was being swept into the arms of his twin. Roman held him close, his own eyes misted with tears.

"I know Remus, I know," he muttered, not daring to let go. The two of them eventually sank to the ground, devastated but free.

When Remus had cried out all of his tears, when he could mourn no longer, he and his twin both got up.

"Let's go home." Patton offered, giving Remus a weak smile.

He would be hopeful, prepared this time, but hopeful. They would all figure this out, eventually, but for now, it was time to go home.

AN: IT'S THE FINAL CHAPTER *LOUD KAZOO MUSIC*

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