A Call to Darkness (Book 1 of Calling All Heroes)

A Walk in the Woods

A/N: I'm gonna be changing the titles of the chapters. Because they suck. And I want to. Also the last chapter marked the book as being 25% complete.

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Roman slowed his pace so that he was walking beside Virgil as the four men made their way into town. "So, you hate me."

"What!? No! Why...?!" Virgil sighed heavily and lowered his head, his bangs falling into his eyes. "It's just, I didn't know who you were. And you and Remus are both so extra as The Prince and The Duke. It was annoying."

"You don't need to explain yourself, Virgil. I'm not mad."

"You aren't?"

"No," Roman chuckled. "How could I be? I hate Night Storm. Or at least who you are when you're him. When we're wearing those masks, we only show a small part of ourselves. It may not be the best of ourselves, but it's the part of ourselves that we need for the job that we do." Virgil looked at him in awe. He'd never considered that they were putting on an act when they put on the masks. "Night Storm is only a small part of who you are, love, just like Pryder is a small part of you. Together, with who you are without the mask or guitar and avatar, they make up who you really are. The man that I love," Roman blushed at the admission of his feelings.

Virgil nodded in understanding. "When you love someone, you take the good with the bad. In your case, it's taking the Prince with the Roman."

"I'm not really that bad as The Prince. Am I?"

"You're pretty insufferable." Logan chimed in.

"Shut up, nerdy Wolverine."

Virgil chuckled softly.

"And that way of thinking is toxic and outdated, Virgil. You should not have to put up with someone's terrible behaviors for the sake of love."

"I don't mean it like that, Logan. I mean, obviously, if Ro treated me like shit, I'd drop kick his ass to the curb. I mean..." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I mean like I love him. So I'm gonna accept that he's extra more extra while in costume. I can probably focus my powers more now that I'm not nervous, not knowing who he is. With Remus, it'll still be hard, though, because of the whole portal thing. Which is weird considering that when he's not in costume, my senses don't go all crazy."

"It's because I keep them sealed up when I'm not in costume. If I'm allowing myself to use them I can't keep the barriers up, and I have a greater risk of letting something out accidentally."

"Oh."

"Plus, he's more reckless in costume."

"Shut up, Romulus."

Roman stopped walking and made an offended noise, glaring at his twin. "You swore you never use that name again!" He growled as he started walking again.

"Romulus?" Logan said the name as if it were foreign on his tongue. "Oh, goodness! Did your parents actually name you two Romulus and Remus after the myth about the founding of the Roman Empire?"

"Someone get the nerd a cookie," Remus said in an annoyed tone.

"I go by Roman only now. Too many jokes about being raised by wolves."

"Less talkie. More walkie," Remus barked, making his way up a steep incline that would lead them out of the woods.

The others fell silent and watched him. None of them had seen their friend so serious before. Though, none of them could blame him. His friend was kidnapped, and his boyfriend was hospitalized and in critical condition. Virgil and Roman both knew they would react the same way if they had been in Remus' situation. While he was admittedly aromantic, Logan knew that he too would be just as upset as Remus. He knew, though, that at this moment, he had to be the voice of reason in the group. Remus was too emotionally connected. They all were. Olav and Patton had been Virgil's best friends and confidants for years. Patton was like a second father to all of them. Roman was the only one besides Logan without a direct emotional connection to Olav. Still, he did have an emotional connection to the man's boyfriend. He had commented on numerous occasions that he would go to hell and back for his brother.

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A/N: I'm sorry these chapters are short. I'm getting closer to moving day and I'm writing on my mobile instead of my computer. I promise that the next chapter will clear 1,000 words.