iamwritingsanders

“What did Adrien talk to you about?” Logan ignored Remus’ question and asked his own instead, still remembering the earlier anger toward the older man. He saw the remnant of that anger flash in Remus’ eyes before he shook his head in an attempt to make himself forget it. 

“It’s nothing.” Remus tried to slip away but Logan caught his hand. 

“Remus. What did he talk to you about? It must have been something very upsetting for you to be like this. Let me help.” Logan waited as Remus paused and had that previous conversation replay in his mind, jaw clenching and he deeply inhaled through his nose. 

“Adrien…” Remus blew a raspberry as he tried to find the words. “Adrien basically suggested having you and Patton leave.” Saying that out loud brought all of that rage back. “He blamed me for Remy getting shot and said that I lack focus and having you two around is what’s causing that problem. Fucking prick wouldn’t know friendship or love if it bit him in the ass.” Remus spat the last part. “I know I shouldn’t get so worked up over this, it’s stupid but I just…” He ran his hands through his hair. “God, I want to just break something every time I think of his stupid face saying his stupid words. Just the idea of losing you has me wanting to set the world on fire.” 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Logan adored Remus’ passion and he knew he meant it when he said he’d set things aflame for him. He placed his hands on Remus’ shoulders, pulling him close. “You’re never going to lose me, you know that. It would be illogical for me to leave.” Logan chuckled when his comment got Remus to smile. 

“That’s a fair point.” Remus sighed. “I might go to the gym real quick and get this stuff out of me.” 

“I have another idea.” Logan took Remus’ hands and guided him to hold his waist. He then wrapped one of his own arms across Remus’ shoulders and placed a hand on his chest, leaning in close. “Use me.” 

“Use you?” Remus echoed. “You mean-hold on, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t or at least you won’t in a way I don’t want.” Logan was feeling confident and Remus felt his heart flutter.

“I love you,” Remus said before catching Logan in a kiss. 

x~x~x The next morning for Patton and Janus was disrupted by heavy knocks on the door, the knocking insisting until Janus finally reached it, hair a mess, shirt missing, and looking pissed at being woken up. It was a rarity for him to sleep in but whenever he did everyone knew to leave him alone. 

“What?” Janus practically hissed. 

“If you are all insisting on having Patton be in the kitchen, the least he can do is keep it clean,” Adrien stated, unaffected by Janus’ annoyance. 

“Is everything okay?” Patton came to the door, wearing Janus’ missing shirt. 

“Glad to see where your priorities are, Janus.” Adrien huffed while Patton shrunk away to hide most of himself behind Janus. “The kitchen is a mess.” He stated to Patton. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll get right on it.” Patton looked down at the ground as he spoke. 

“Feel good about yourself? We’ll take care of it, you can go.” Janus wanted to slap Adrien for upsetting Patton but neither of them had been awake long enough for that much drama. 

“If there is a job, it is to be done properly.” Were Adrien’s parting words as he went away. 

“‘It is to be done properly’,” Remy repeated in a mocking tone, taking Adrien’s place in the next few seconds, uncaring if he could be heard or not. 

“Remy?” Patton perked back up. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” 

“Doc told me to walk about to get the blood flowing,” Remy answered with a grin and apart from his arm being in a sling, he looked like his usual self. 

“Remington Bomen, what do you think you’re doing?” A stern voice soon followed. 

“You told me to walk around, Ems,” Remy said with a laugh as Dr. Emile Picani, a man with endless nicknames but mostly known as Picani, stormed over to him.  

“Don’t you ‘Ems’ me, you know I was talking about walking around the room. I am still examining you.” Picani took hold of Remy’s uninjured arm. “Good morning, Janus. Good morning, Patton.” He greeted the other two men with a cheery smile before tugging Remy away. “I still need to make sure you’re fine to go off on your own.” Picani scolded Remy as they went away. 

“Have you noticed that Picani is only ever stern with Remy?” Janus commented.

“I think it’s cute.” Patton giggled.

“You think everything is cute.” Janus teased.

“Including you~” Patton sang as Janus chuckled and closed the door. 

Several minutes passed before the door to Remus’ bedroom opened and Remus peeked his head into the hall, checking it was clear before slipping back in, Logan’s voice coming out from behind it. 

“I don’t need to be carried.” 

“You said you were sore.” Remus’s voice was followed by the shuffling of feet. 

“I am, but I’ll just take some medicine when I get to my office. You already wouldn’t let me get dressed on my own, I can walk down the-” The last part of Logan’s comment became a light yelp of shock and when the door opened, Logan was up in Remus’ arms. “This is ridiculous.” Logan huffed. 

“It’s called being a caring boyfriend.” Remus chuckled, patting Logan’s rear as he walked. 

“It’s called being overprotective.” Logan had a grin with his comment.

“Are you complaining?” Remus winked and Logan smiled as he rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll give you twenty dollars and a back rub if they end up-” Janus stopped what he was saying as he and Patton left his room and ran into Remus and Logan. There was a long pause as the four of them looked at each other. 

“I can ex-"

“You two are terrible at hiding your relationship.” Janus cut Remus off.

“Our what? No-we’re not-I don’t know-what?” Remus sputtered out while Logan just turned his head away. 

“Oh, please. I’ve known for a long time about this.” Janus vaguely gestured at them with a finger. 

“How long?” 

“When did you tell Patton?”

“Pat!” Remus turned to Patton. 

“How could I not tell Jan?” Patton protested. “But I swear I only told him and no one else knows. He promised not to tell and you know he never breaks a promise to me.” 

“Have you told him everything I’ve talked to you about?” Remus asked.

“Yes,” Janus answered for Patton with a smirk. 

“I do not want to know what that all implies.” Logan sighed. “Now can we-” He stopped at the sound of music coming down the hall, a genre of music they recognized as Virgil’s. It told all of them that he was coming and that he was alone. 

“Ah, shit.” Remus cursed and before he could have his next thought, Janus threw Patton over his shoulder right as Virgil came into view. 

“Um…do I want to know?” Virgil turned his music off and raised a brow. 

“Remus is trying to prove he’s faster than me.” Janus’ lie came out easily and he shrugged. 

“You could go get Roman and join the race.” Remus quickly caught on. 

“I’m good. Although, if he doesn’t get out of bed, I might be doing it regardless.” Virgil softly chuckled. “Any word on Remy?”

“He’s doing really well!” Patton pushed himself up a bit as he spoke. 

“He was walking around a bit ago, Picani dragged him back to the infirmary,” Janus added. 

“That’s a good sign.” Remus laughed. 

“You guys enjoy your race, I have a Princey to bother.” Virgil gestured with his thumb. “Coffee’s made up and Adrien is in a mood.” He added the first part to Janus and said the second half with a roll of his eyes as he turned and walked away. 

“You owe me,” Janus said as soon as Virgil was gone, putting Patton back down. 

“Wait.” Patton wrapped his arms around Janus’ neck and jumped, making him catch him. “You started this and I want you to finish it.” He said with a giggle. 

“I can do that.” Janus smiled as Patton rested his head on his chest. “I’ll give you more hell later.” He winked at Remus and Logan and walked away as well. 

“Now, can you put me down?” Logan asked.

“I’ll put you in your seat in your office.” Remus continued his own walking. 

“I have no choice, do I?”

“Nope~” 

“Fine.” Logan played up his tone and kissed Remus’ temple. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“The luckiest man in the world.” 

----------

“He’s going to be pouty until he’s cleared.” Virgil weakly laughed. “He’ll be giving you a run for your money.” He added to Roman.

“I do not…” Roman let his annoyed protest trail off when he noticed that Virgil’s joke got the others to laugh. He liked that change in mood a lot better. “If he gets grumpy, he’ll be giving you a run for yours.” Roman decided to tease back instead and relaxed when that also got a few laughs. 

“Shit, Roman, I was supposed to talk with you,” Remus spoke like the realization literally hit him, a hand going to his forehead. 

“It can wait till tomorrow,” Roman said with a shrug, just catching the hint of a proud smile Virigl had, and he did not know how to feel about how that got his face to go a bit warm.

“We can go back to the store tomorrow, Patton,” Janus said. “And then you and Roman can work on that sushi stuff you were talking about.” 

“Just the two of you going out?” Remus asked. “I’m not sure-” He stopped at the feeling of Logan’s hand on his thigh under the table. “Be careful, alright?” 

“Always.” Janus grinned while Patton softly giggled about why Remus changed his sentence. He didn’t need to see it to know what happened. 

“Remy likes sushi, so you’ll get a two-for-one with that dinner plan,” Virgil said. 

“You know a lot about Remy,” Roman commented.

“It’d be shocking if he didn’t.” Janus hummed with a chuckle. “Kind of hard not to know things about-ow, fuck! Virgil!” He snapped after Virgil kicked his leg hard under the table. 

“I didn’t do anything,” Virgil said and took a sip of his drink. 

“Wait, why is it not shocking that he knows a lot about Remy?” Roman tried again. 

“He’s likely referring to-shit!” Logan started answering and got kicked as well.

“Virgil!” Remus’ sudden harsh snap got everyone to go still. Logan felt the strong, protective hold on his leg, and he placed his hand on top of Remus’

“I’m okay,” Logan said softly. Remus’ eyes widened when he realized what he’d done.

“Shit, sorry. I’m just-shit.” Remus shook his head and stood up. “Sorry, I think I need to call it an early night. Thanks for dinner, Pat. I’ll see you all in the morning.” He shook his head more at himself before walking away. 

“I’m going to call it an early night as well.” Logan stacked Remus' plate on top of his own. “Dinner was delicious, good night, everyone.” He gave a quick nod and walked off as well. 

“It’s…weird seeing Remus like that.” Roman didn’t mean for that to be said out loud. 

“It is.” Virgil agreed. 

x~x~x

Dinner finished, everyone else split off to do their own thing, and Patton was alone in the kitchen doing the dishes. He was beyond talented at hiding his own worries, keeping a happy face, and laughing through it all to help others stay calm. His job wasn't just cooking, it was also helping to keep the energy happy. People went to him to feel better, to get a sweet treat, and a positive attitude. It was easy to turn off worried thoughts with others around, but when he was alone…that’s when the wall breaks.

Patton was scrubbing a clean plate, lost in his head as his hand moved in a sharp, repetitive movement. He was unaware of someone else coming into the kitchen as well and didn’t hear his name until it was said for the second time.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Patton put his smile on when he saw Janus and sat the clean plate aside before working on an actually dirty one. 

“What’s on your mind?” Janus had been with Patton long enough to be able to tell his real smiles from his trying-to-hide smiles. 

“It’s nothing,” Patton said out of habit. 

“What’s on your mind,” Janus repeated to remind Patton that it was just the two of them. There was a pause as Patton placed the new plate aside and was now working on cleaning the silverware. 

“You were supposed to go with Remy.” Patton finally broke the silence, speaking in almost a whisper. 

“That was the original plan, but Adrien insisted Remy would be able to handle it on his own.” Janus moved closer to Patton and noticed how he seemed to be fixating on a specific spot on a spoon. 

“You were supposed to go with Remy, and Remy got hurt because someone snuck up on him, and he got lucky the person missed, and if you-if you had gone-if you had gone, they might have…” Patton’s hands started to shake as his vision blurred with tears. “If you had gone they might have shot you, and they might have hit where they wanted and-and you-and you’d be-and you…” He was trying not to cry and sniffed as he watched Janus gently guide him to drop the sponge and spoon. 

“I’m okay, Remy’s okay, we’re all okay.” Janus took the dish towel and dried off Patton’s hands. 

“He got hurt. You could get hurt. You could die-” Patton’s voice cracked at the last word and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He grabbed Janus into a tight hug, hiding his face in the crook of his neck as he cried. “I don’t want to lose you.” 

“Oh, honeybun.” Janus used the pet name for Patton which was only ever used when they were alone. “I’m not going anywhere.” He rubbed Patton’s back with both hands. 

“You don’t know that.” Patton’s voice was muffled. 

“I do.” Janus moved Patton to straighten up just enough to be able to see his face. He placed his hands on Patton’s cheeks and used his thumbs to wipe away his tears. “Do you really think my stubborn ass is going to get killed?” Patton couldn’t help from giggling and put his hands over Janus’. 

“You are always careful out there, aren’t you?” Patton asked with a soft smile. 

“Of course, I am. I have the most important person in the world waiting for me to come home.” Janus smiled back as Patton giggled more and pressed their foreheads together. “You’re stuck with me.” 

“And I wouldn’t want it any other way, sugarplum.” Patton used his own pet name he only used when they were alone. Janus chuckled and pulled Patton into a light kiss. 

“Let’s head to bed.”

“It’s still fairly early.” Patton leaned into another kiss as Janus lowered their hands. 

“It won’t be by the time we’re done.” Janus chuckled.

“Any word from them yet?” Virgil asked Janus, chewing on his finger again and making a face with Janus lowered his hand. 

“Nothing yet. And I am surprised you and Remus have fingers with how to gnaw on those things.” Janus attempted to help the mood with a light joke. 

“Our parents used to dunk Remus’ fingers into lemon juice before bed to get him to stop chewing on them. They just found out he likes sour stuff when he started asking for the juice as a treat.” Roman joined in and softly laughed at the memory. 

“That explains why he really likes my lemon squares.” Patton giggled, taking a bite out of his granola bar. 

“You might have to make double batches because I like those a lot too.” Roman chuckled. 

“I can absolutely do that!” Patton had the biggest smile.

“It’s Logan,” Janus said when his phone buzzed. “Shoulder shot, he’ll be okay.”

“How did Remy get shot?” Virgil asked. 

“Don’t know. All he texted was the location and that the medics all say he’ll recover like Remus did.” Janus sent back a quick text of their situation. 

“How did Remus get shot?” Roman asked, and he hated the shift in the air his question caused. “He said it happened the first time he was out on his own, what was he-” His next question stopped when a shout echoed into the kitchen.

Get out!

They all recognized it as Remus’ voice. 

“Don’t.” Virgil scrambled to his feet and caught Roman before he could leave the room. Janus got up and went to Patton, not as worried about him taking off, but still being cautious. 

“That was Remus, something’s up.” Roman tried to squirm his way out of Virgil’s hold. 

“He’s pissed, you do not want to be there.” 

“Like he’d ever actually hurt me. I want to know what’s going on. I am sick and tired of being left out of the loop.” 

“Would you just-” Virgil pushed Roman back until he was against the counter. He grabbed the edges of the counter and trapped Roman with his arms and body. “You will get filled in when the rest of us do. When Remus is pissed beyond reason, we know to let him go and then he’ll tell us what’s going on. He hates being seen like that and you can at least give your brother one ounce of respect and wait for him to come to us.” 

There was a long pause as Virgil and Roman just glared at each other, a silent staredown to see who cracked first. Their stubbornness was fairly matched and the only reason why it broke was because Patton started giggling at something Janus whispered to him. 

“What?” The two spoke in unison as they saw Janus playing off a fake innocent whistle while Patton giggled some more. 

x~x~x

“Remy? You awake?” Remus asked as he knocked on Remy’s infirmary room door, stepping in with Logan behind him.

“I wish I wasn’t.” Remy weakly laughed. He was lying in the bed, arm in a sling, and looking irritated and bored at the same time. “I can’t believe this happened.” 

“Even the best of us get hurt sometimes,” Remus said, closing the door as Logan went to the bedside. 

“I got too cocky, I didn’t think that was possible.” Remy ran a hand through his hair. 

“How are you feeling? Did they give you pain medicine?” Logan asked. 

“Yeah, I can’t feel my arm but I guess that’s better than that burning pain.” Remy sniffed, appearing to now be on the verge of tears. “I fucked up, man.” 

“I fucked up.” Remus corrected, joining Logan at the bedside. “I knew you shouldn’t have gone alone, this never would have-”

“Shut up.” Remy lightly slapped Remus’ stomach. “Stop blaming yourself for everything, it’s not fitting.” 

“We’re supposed to be making you feel better.” Remus softly chuckled. 

“Letting me talk some shit does wonders for my soul.” Remy tried to blink away the tears that still threatened to form. “I didn’t think I’d ever want to cry from embarrassment. At least it wasn’t my shooting arm that got hit, still sucks though.” 

“I cried like a baby when I got shot,” Remus admitted. “I tried to play it cool at first but as soon as I saw my dad I broke down.” 

“You cried? I didn’t think that was possible.” Remy laughed. 

“I was scared I disappointed him. I saw the way he looked at me and I thought he was angry but it wasn’t until after I calmed down I realized he was scared too. He was a brick wall of a man. Impossible to read, but even then you knew that he cared about us.” Remus chewed the inside of his lip as he thought about his father. 

“Are you okay with telling us how you got hurt?” Logan asked Remy, knowing Remus would need a second to come back to the present. 

“There was a third person there. They weren’t in the papers, so I didn’t think to keep an ear out for them and they got the jump on me.” Remy explained.

“I put down three people,” Logan whispered to himself. “Do you remember who gave you your paperwork for the job?” 

“I got it from your desk.”

“Did anything seem…off about them?” 

“Not really. I mean, a little shorter than usual, but I thought you just finally got better at not over-explaining things.” Remy shrugged. “And I mean that in the best way, honey. Big difference when you’re talking to me and when I’m reading something for work.” 

“Yeah.” Logan was now the one staring off a bit in thought. 

“You’ll be fine, it’ll be annoying for a bit but once it heals you’ll be good as new.” Remus flashed a confident grin and then went over to grab the TV remote that was left across the room. “And you can now binge-watch some shows in peace.” 

“Thank God.” Remy exaggerated his tone as he took the offered remote. 

“Text or call if you need anything,” Remus said as he guided Logan out of the room. 

“I will take advantage of that,” Remy called after them with another laugh. 

“Everything good?” Remus asked as they made their way down the hall. 

“Someone fucked with my paperwork,” Logan stated, eyes hard and voice firm. 

“God, you’re hot.” Remus blurted out. Logan fumbled a bit at the sudden comment and went red in the face.

“Remus! I’m trying to be serious!”

“The shoulder?” Remus echoed, his tone adding another question to it as his hand went to his own shoulder. 

“Same spot,” Logan answered, knowing what that unasked question was. “He’ll be okay. They’re working on patching him up. Rest, medicine, and a sling for a few weeks, and he’ll be good as new.” 

“How did this happen?” Remus asked. 

“I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Remy about it after they finish surgery.” Logan guided Remus to stand against the wall outside of the door to where Remy would be taken to rest.

“Mr. Prince.” Adrien came down the hall, eyes on Remus and acting as if Logan wasn’t there. “May I have a word with you in your office?” 

“I’ll let you know when Remy’s here,” Logan said when Remus looked at him. 

“Thanks.” Remus flashed a smile before giving a little nod to Adrien and heading back. He could already feel annoyance bubbling under his skin as he walked but did everything he could to shove it down as he waited for Adrien to follow him into his office and then closed the door. 

“This is your first employee injury since taking over, correct?” Adrien asked as Remus went to his desk, wanting something between himself and the older man. 

He didn’t have Logan, he didn’t trust himself.

“It is. And it shouldn’t have happened.” Remus messed with the mess that was his desk, putting things in place so it gave him something to do with his hands that weren’t violent. 

“I agree.” 

“Then why did you insist on Remy being able to go alone? I told you that he needed Janus with him or at least someone else to help.” Remus opened one of his top drawers, seeing the little organizational tubs Logan got him that weren’t used properly and he also saw the bright green stress ball Patton got him. 

“You always insist that your ‘friends’ are more than capable of doing their jobs,” Adrien stated, having a bit of a judgemental raise to his brow when he saw Remus take the stress ball out and start squeezing it. 

“They are capable of doing their jobs, they’re some of the best we have, even better than some of the others that have been here as long as they’ve been alive. Which reminds me I should look into some retirements.” Remus made sure to hit that last word hard, glare hardening at Adrien. 

“If you wish to focus on another task that isn’t important, then be prepared for more injuries to occur. An unfocused leader is a dangerous thing to those beneath him.” Adrien was not afraid to bark back. 

“I am focused. I know what I’m doing. If we did what I said, then Remy would be fine.” 

“He would be fine if he was assigned proper training and practice rather than going about it freely and spending most of his time gossiping.”

“God forbid he has a life and personality, Adrien.”

“God forbid if he gets killed, Remus.” That got Remus to pause, the hold on the stress ball tight enough to the point that the ball was flat against his palm, blunt nails digging into it and on the verge of causing it to tear. 

“That will never happen under my watch.” 

“What watch?” Adrien scoffed. “Instead of being where you are needed, out in the field or coordinating those heading out, you waste time chattering away in the kitchen with the chef that for some reason we have or you’re in the researcher’s office doing God knows what in there. If you think that Logan cannot handle his work on his own, then you can send him out with Patton so we can finally focus on what keeps us all alive.” 

Remus was already angry before they even entered the room and with each word Adrien spoke he could feel it getting stronger and stronger, to the point he swore something was burning inside his head, fever rising from the rage alone. 

He was able to hold back when Adrien was insulting him, but the moment he suggested sending Patton and Logan away broke him. 

“Get out of my office,” Remus said through gritted teeth.

“Pardon?” It was hard to tell if Adrien couldn’t understand what Remus had said or was giving him a chance to say something else. 

“Get out!” Remus shouted, making sure he was loud and clear. His voice echoed out of his office and even traveled a bit down the hall. 

“Shit.” Logan cursed under his breath and put his phone away before rushing down the hall. He stepped aside as Adrien stormed out of the office, huffing and muttering something to himself. As soon as Adrien was out, Logan slipped in and closed the door, locking it so no one walked in while Remus was like this. “Remus?” Logan saw Remus with his head down, gripping the edge of his desk and knuckles going white. “Remus.” 

“I hate him,” Remus grunted. “He is so lucky that I can’t just kill him and get him out of my hair. There are too many people on his side that would cause a riot if I took him out like that.” Logan went over to Remus and guided him to stop holding the desk, having him hold his hands instead. 

“First step, let’s get you breathing.” Logan squeezed Remus’ hands. 

“You sound like you’re talking to Virgil.” Remus weakly chuckled. 

“Everyone needs to breathe.” Logan followed that with a deep breath and was thankful to see Remus doing the same with him. “I texted Janus, so they know what we know.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Do you want to talk about what Adrien said?”

“Maybe later, I want to check on Remy.” Remus slipped his hands out of Logan’s hold and placed them on Logan’s waist, giving him a little squeeze. “I’m going to need a new stress ball…I might have broken the other one.”

“How do you break a stress ball?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gold!” A young man wearing an apron with the store’s logo greeted Patton as they walked in. “Anything in particular you’re looking for today?” 

“Afternoon, Kaiser!” Patton greeted back with the biggest smile. “I’m just checking out some spices today. Thank you!” He gave a little wave as he continued past and giggled when he felt Janus at his side, taking hold of his hand. 

“Your jealousy is showing, Jan~” Remus sang his tease. 

“Shut it,” Janus said with a glare over his shoulder. 

“It’s adorable.” Patton squeezed Janus’ hand and giggled some more when Janus looked away in embarrassment. 

“Gross.” Virgil teased as well. 

“Oh, hush.” Patton laughed and grabbed Virigl’s hand with his other one. “Come look at spices with us.” He said as he walked off with them. Logan had texted him earlier about Remus needing to talk with Roman and he figured this was a good way to split the group. 

“This is a cute little shop,” Roman commented as he went the other way, not caring to look at a wall of blended leaves. 

“It’s one of Patton’s favorites,” Remus said, walking alongside his brother. 

“Shocking that the chef likes the kitchen store.” Roman chuckled and paused to look at the display of hanging aprons. 

“Yeah…” Remus awkwardly cleared his throat, making sure they were alone before speaking again. “About this morning-”

“About me discovering you’ve been shot?” Roman’s tone was harsh and his eyes stayed on the aprons. 

“I thought you knew. I thought Mom and Dad told you.” Remus rubbed the back of his neck. “It was like ten years ago, my first day out on my own. I think you were sick at the time?”

“When wasn’t I sick?” Roman sounded annoyed as he flipped through the aprons, not really looking, just wanting to do something with his hands. 

“If I knew they didn’t tell you about it, I would have.”

“And the other scars?” 

“Most of them are just part of the job, nothing too big.”

“And what is ‘the job’?”

“I can’t tell you here. We need to be back at the house for that.” 

“You’re never going to tell me, you’re just stalling.” Roman huffed and stormed off, walking past rows of silverware. 

“I wanted you settled in before throwing even more shit at you,” Remus said as he followed. “You have to have at least an idea of what’s going on, there’s no way you’re fully in the dark.” 

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Maybe I don’t want to think too in-depth about what my family does while I’m strapped down to a hospital bed because my body hates me.” Roman stopped in front of the mixers, catching himself and knowing he was more angry at the world than his brother. He took a quick deep breath and crossed his arms, facing Remus. “Clearly, it’s dangerous and tough. You live in a house filled to the brim with overly fit people and those people walk around with knives and guns like it’s attached to their souls. It makes more money than beyond understanding with all we can afford and then some. What’s the detail I’m missing that puts those weird facts together that you can’t publicly mention?” Roman waited as Remus just stared at him. “Are you actually going to tell me when we get back?” 

“I will,” Remus said.

“Promise?”

“I do.” 

“A real promise?” Roman held up his hand, pinky sticking out. 

“Really? A pinky promise? We haven’t done that since we were-” Remus stopped himself when he saw how serious Roman’s face was. “Fine.” He wrapped his pinky around Roman’s and they both squeezed. “I promise I will tell you what we do when we get home.” 

“Good.” Roman nodded and let their hands drop. “Is there anything else you’re hiding from me? You don’t have like a secret boyfriend or something, right?” 

“N-No, not at all.” Remus weakly laughed. “You know I don’t do that dating stuff, I just suck and fu-” 

“Too much detail!” Roman plugged his ears and turned away, not seeing Remus rubbing his face. 

“Bad move,” Remus grumbled to himself.  

“I could try to make sushi!” Patton’s voice carried across the building from his excitement. 

“Sushi?” Roman perked up and strolled right past Remus and joined the others. “What kind are you thinking? You have to make sure you get a good quality fish if you’re doing anything raw.” He said to Patton and Patton looked even more excited at having someone talking food with him. 

“Absolutely! I was thinking of trying to make some rolls. We’ll need some different rice, though.” Patton showed Roman the spices and other ingredients he’d already picked out. 

“Tuna or Salmon is always really good.” 

“Of course, Princey would know about fancy food stuff,” Virgil said with a grin, laughing when Roman glared at him. 

“He’s going to slap you with a fish at this rate.” Janus chuckled. 

“If he’s even able to pick up a dead fish without crying, I’d welcome it.” Virgil continued his teasing. 

“I will kick you.” Roman threatened. 

“It’s cute that you think you could land a hit.” Virgil’s grin grew.

“No fighting.” Patton scolded both of them. 

Remus softly laughed as he watched the group, relaxing at seeing that they were somewhat getting along. The teasing and ‘threats’ feeling right.

“Hm?” Remus hummed when his phone buzzed. He froze as he read the text from Logan. “Shit. We need to get back now.” His tone got Janus and Virigl to spring into action. 

“We’ll come back tomorrow for the stuff.” Janus sat down what Patton had picked before guiding him to be in the middle with Roman. He and Virgil walked behind while Remus took the front, walking them out of the store.

“I’ll drive,” Remus stated.

“Wait? What’s happening? What’s with the rush?” Roman asked.

“Have you never run a mile before?” Virgil asked. 

“Back in…high school.” 

“Do you do any exercise outside of walking around a mall?” 

“You’re not funny.” Roman didn’t even need to look at Virgil to know that he was smirking with his comment. “I’m surprised someone like you likes running and all that. You give off, ‘I just want to sleep in bed all day’ energy.” He had lifted his hands to make the quotes with his fingers before letting them flop back down. 

“You can blame your brother for getting me into running. He was the one to suggest I start doing it when I first joined since I was too much in my head.” Virgil watched Roman sit up and turn to look at him. 

“Too much in your head?”

“Our line of work requires a clear head. It’s not safe to be an overthinker out in the field. Remus figured out my shit almost instantly and helped me figure it out. Now I’m one of the best.” 

“You’re being really vague. What shit? What’s the field? The best as what?” Roman was getting frustrated again. 

“I’ve said too much already. Remus doesn’t want me to give the details. He wants to do it himself.” Virgil couldn’t blame the annoyed grunt Roman made. 

“You mean like how he’s told me about getting shot or all of those other injuries he’s gotten? He’s amazing at sharing details.” 

“I’ll admit it’s kind of shocking you don’t know about those things. Remus loves to give plenty of information about himself. The things I know about his sex life.” Virgil rubbed at his face.

“I know I want to know things, but I do not want to know about that.” Roman scrunched his face up, and they both started laughing at that.

“I’m sure there’s some reason behind it. Remus only holds back if he’s worried about someone he cares about getting hurt.” Virgil said as he stood back up. “But that’s for you two to hash out. Let’s get to the gym before it gets crowded.” 

“What? I thought the running was today’s training.” 

“That was the warm-up.” 

“Nope. I am done.” Roman flopped himself back down, limbs spread out like a starfish. “You’ve done your job. I’m staying here.” 

“You’re going to at least come with me and learn the machines.” Virgil went over to Roman and nudged his side with his foot. 

“I’m not moving,” Roman stated. 

“Fine. Then I’ll move you.” Virgil shrugged.

“You are not picking me up again,” Roman said as Virgil went down to his feet. 

“Alright, I won’t pick you up.” Virgil grabbed Roman’s ankles and lifted them. “I’ll drag you.” 

“Wait-!” Roman yelped as Virgil pulled and was, as he said he would, dragging him across the floor. “I am going to kick you!” He shouted as he tried to free himself. 

“Oh!” Patton stepped out of the kitchen and moved back out of the way so he didn’t get run over. “Is this a trust exercise?” He added with a giggle as he walked with the two. 

“Virgil’s being a dick,” Roman grunted, going limp and giving up on trying to free himself. 

“He didn’t want to get up, so I’m helping.” Virgil chuckled. 

“If it works.” Patton giggled some more. “I’m planning on going on a shopping trip this afternoon for some spices. Would you two like to join?”

“Sure. Gets this one out of the house.” Virgil said.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.” Roman scoffed. 

“I’ll let you guys know what time after I talk with Remus. You know how he gets when it comes to me going out.” 

“Sounds good, Pat,” Virgil said with a smile.

“Have fun!” Patton waved as he turned down a different hall. 

“I don’t get a say in this?” Roman asked.

“Are you going to complain about a shopping trip?” Virgil chuckled as he used his foot to open the gym door. 

“Shut up,” Roman muttered. 

x~x~x

“It's me.” Patton sang as he knocked on Remus' door. He hummed to himself as he waited and chuckled when Remus cracked open the door and peeked, checking that Patton was alone. 

“We're finishing getting dressed,” Remus explained before opening the door enough for Patton to come in. 

“Did you two sleep in or something?” Patton asked. 

“You could say that.” Remus softly laughed as he went to get a shirt. 

“It's been an…interesting morning,” Logan said, looking in the mirror to check his tie. 

“I'll say. I just walked with Virgil, who was dragging Roman across the floor.” Patton went over to Logan and helped fix the back of his collar. 

“Why was he dragging him?” Remus asked, slipping a shirt over his head.

“Not sure. Roman was conscious and pouting, so he wasn’t hurt or anything like that.” Patton said. 

“Probably means Virgil's still doing his training for the day, and Roman doesn't want to.” Remus started ruffling his hair to poof it back up. 

“Janus did tell me he saw them running earlier.” Patton looked at Remus and clicked his tongue in disapproval. “That shirt has a hole in it.” 

“It's got at least four,” Remus said with a cheeky smile.

“You know that's not what I meant. You need to look a little more professional as the boss.” Patton walked over to where Remus' clothing was and dug around. 

“We should get him a suit,” Logan suggested with a grin.

“Logan wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me if I got one of those.” Remus winked at Logan through the mirror.

“Logan’s got a little more control than that.” Patton giggled, giving Remus a new shirt. It was a nice black shirt with a collar, nothing too fancy but a lot more formal than his worn-down metal band shirt. 

“He’d drag me away.” Remus looked at the shirt and sighed in defeat as he took off his shirt and put on the new one. 

“That reminds me! I need more spices.” Patton noticed the look Remus made and spoke again before he could. “I already asked Virgil and Roman to join me, and you know Janus isn’t going to let me go out on my own.”

“Maybe have Remy join you so you have another set of eyes.” Remus chewed the inside of his cheek. 

“Remy’s out for the day on a job,” Logan said. “You could go with them. It’d be a good time to talk with Roman.” 

“Shopping does put him in a better mood, regardless of what he’s buying. Yeah, I’ll join you guys.” Remus looked down at himself. “Am I supposed to tuck this in? It looks weird.” 

“We’ll head out when Virgil finishes with Roman.” Patton did a little happy clap. “And yes, you’re supposed to tuck it in.” He added as he went for the door. “I’ll let them know!” Patton slipped out of the room. 

“I might come back with a literal knife in my back.” Remus joked as he tucked his shirt into his jeans.

“I’m sure it will be fine.” Logan chuckled, helping Remus with his collar since he knew Remus would leave it uneven and partially unfolded. He hummed as he slid his hands down Remus’ chest and looked at him in the slightly more formal shirt. “Maybe you had a point about me not being able to keep my hands off you if you wore a suit.” 

“I can be right, sometimes.” Remus placed his hands on top of Logan’s. 

“Sometimes.” Logan echoed with a playful grin. 

“I put an extra shot of espresso in yours.” Janus chuckled as he sipped from his coffee, an extra mug on the counter next to him. They had a silent agreement that whoever got up first made the coffee. “It's going to be a time to get his royal highness out of bed at a decent hour.” 

“I have my tricks.”

“You're going to end up picking him up.”

“Probably.” Virgil took a big gulp of his coffee, the warmth feeling good on his throat. “Remy said he heard Adrien’s annoyed that I'm on princey duty.”

“When isn't Adrien annoyed at something Remus decides?” Janus scoffed. “Even before we lost Micah, Adrien was gunning for Remus to reject taking over.” 

“He probably wanted Remus to step down and just hand it over to him. He hates change and knows that he doesn’t have his grubby paws in Remus and can’t easily convince him to do things he doesn’t want.” 

“Little does he know that the youngest ones of the group hate his guts and would never listen to him. There’s a reason I never let him be alone with Patton.” 

“Who’s not allowed to be alone with me?” Patton asked, only catching the very end of Janus’ comment as he came into the kitchen, still dressed in his nightwear of bright blue pajamas with white clouds. 

“Adrien,” Janus answered, seeming to relax the moment he saw Patton. 

“He’s a grump,” Patton stated.

“He’s an asshole,” Virgil said into his cup as he downed the rest of his coffee.

“Well, that too, but I don’t like saying it.” Patton shrugged as he started pulling supplies out of the cabinets. 

“Because you’re too adorable for this world.” Virgil chuckled. “I still don’t get how you’re involved in an assassination-centric business and dating Janus out of all people.” 

“Okay, rude.” Janus protested.

“I’m dating him because he’s fun, kind, and caring.” Patton listed off as he went to the fridge and grabbed milk and eggs. 

“That’s all lies. It’s the sex, isn’t it?” Virgil joked, pointing it more toward Janus and getting the eye roll he was aiming for. 

“It is a nice bonus.” Patton giggled. Janus choked on his coffee and faced the sink as he coughed, Virgil nearly dropping his mug from laughing so hard. 

“Are you all having fun without me?” Remy strolled in, looking like he had literally just rolled out of bed, hair messy, shirt missing, and the legs to his sweatpants uneven. He rested his elbow on Virgil’s shoulder, using the few inches of height he had on him to do so. 

“We’re talking about why I’m dating Janus,” Patton explained, squatting down to get a large bowl out of a different cabinet. 

“It’s the sex, right?” Remy asked without missing a beat, getting Virgil to break out into another hard laugh. 

“I swear you three make everything about sex.” Janus huffed. “I’m thankful Remus isn’t up yet, or I’d be throwing the rest of the coffee out the window.” 

“Not the coffee!” Remy exaggerated his protest. “I’m such a bitch without it.” He added as he slipped away from Virgil to make himself a mug. 

“You’re one with it,” Virgil said.

“I’m sassy with it, but without it, I am so mean.” Remy played up his tone again. “And, speaking of sex, how long are you going to be able to keep your hands off of our dear boss’ brother?” 

“I’m going to end up strangling him if I do put hands on him. He is obnoxious.” Virgil grunted the last part. 

“You know, you said the same thing about me, and we’ve had our fun together~” Remy sang, leaning over and poking the tip of Virgil’s nose.

“We are not bringing that up.” Virgil slapped Remy’s hand away. 

“Oh, but we can talk about me and Patton?” Janus clicked his tongue. 

“You and Patton are still a thing. Me and Remy were years ago. We don’t bring up old dirt.” Virgil stated.

“Old dirt?” Remy scoffed. “I don’t recall you thinking that when we were-”

“I have a brat to go wake up.” Virgil stopped Remy’s comment and quickly left the kitchen. 

“I give it a week before we find Roman stumbling out of Virgil’s room.” Remy chuckled. 

“I’d say a little less than a month.” Janus countered. 

“I don’t know the timing, but I do know they’re going to kiss after yelling at each other, have some awkward tension, and then realize their affection for each other.” Patton almost sounded like he was telling a prophecy as he measured some flour. 

“If he’s right, I’m kissing him.” Remy laughed.

“Only if you want stabbed.” Janus’ threat got Remy to laugh more.

x~x~x

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty,” Virgil said as he flicked on the lights to Roman’s bedroom. 

“No,” Roman grumbled, putting the pillow over his face. 

“Yes,” Virgil said in a mocking tone, walking over to the bed. “Training starts today, so it’s time to stop pouting.” 

“Screw off.” Roman’s voice was muffled. 

“If only I could,” Virgil muttered before grabbing the blanket and yanking it off Roman. 

“Hey!” Roman moved his pillow to cover his chest. 

“Your brother sleeps naked. I’ve seen much worse of the Prince’s bodies.” Virgil tossed the blanket aside and went to the closet, grabbing the first shirt he saw and throwing it at Roman. “Now, get dressed and let’s go.” 

“I’m getting dressed, but I’m not going anywhere,” Roman said as he slipped the shirt over his head, staying seated on the bed to add to his point. 

“We’re going for a run.”

“A run? Who runs at this hour?” 

“A good handful of us, now up.” Virgil felt like he was talking to a stubborn puppy. 

“I am not running. You are out of your mind.” Roman crossed his arms.

“I tried to be nice.” Virgil sighed.

“You did not-Virgil!” Roman shouted when he was suddenly thrown over Virigl’s shoulder and carried out of his room. “Put me down this instant!” 

Remus, having heard Roman, stepped out of his bedroom in just some boxers and instantly started laughing at his brother’s struggle.

“Looks like the first day is already going great.” 

“Remus! Tell him to put me down now! I am not-” Roman’s demands died off when he noticed the scars all over Remus’ chest, and one stood out like a sore thumb. “You’ve been shot?” His tone got Virgil to stop and put him down. This was for the two of them to talk about, and Virgil stepped aside for them to figure out what they were doing.

“A while ago, I’m fine,” Remus spoke too casually for Roman’s liking. 

“How did I not know you’ve been shot? It’s a massive scar on your shoulder, and then there are the other scars, too. Why don’t I know about any of those?” Roman couldn’t tell if he was pissed or saddened. It became a painful mix of the two, and it caused a sour ache in his stomach. 

“I don’t know.” Remus chewed the inside of his cheek. 

“I don’t know about this business, I don’t know how many times you’ve gotten hurt, what else don’t I know?” 

“I don’t know.”

“When will I?”

“I don’t know.” 

“Remus!” 

“I need to go.” Remus went back into his room, closing and locking it before Roman could try to open it back up.

“Remus! Remus Prince, what the fuck!?” Roman slammed his fist against the door several times. “Remus!” 

“Remus?” Logan’s voice was almost a whisper compared to Roman’s. 

“Damn it!” Roman hit the door one more time before finally stopping, and his stomping footsteps slowly faded. 

“Remus?” Logan tried again as he finished putting his pants on, not bothering to button his shirt, and walked over to Remus. “Is everything okay?” 

“Roman didn’t know I got shot.” Remus looked confused. “I mean, I know he never saw me when I was healing because he got sick again, but…my parents never told him.” 

“Maybe they just didn’t want him to worry,” Logan suggested, placing a gentle hand on Remus’ chin and guiding him to turn his head to look at him. “But you should talk to him after he’s calmed down. If he’s anything like you, he needs to clear his head first.”

“Virgil will be sure he gets all of that out.” Remus took hold of Logan’s hand and kissed his palm, trailing a few kisses down his wrist and arm. 

“Would you like for me to help clear your head?” Logan asked with a chuckle. 

“Is Virgil remaining on babysitting duty?” Adrien, the eldest of everyone in the room, asked. His tone showed his disapproval of Remus’ choice. 

“He will remain Roman’s guard until I decide otherwise,” Remus stated. “Do you have a problem with that?” 

“I just think it’s a waste of a good assassin. Virgil’s talented naturally, but he’ll never hone his skills if he’s forced to watch a spoiled brat instead of actually working.” Adrien stated.

“That ‘spoiled brat’ is my brother. He is still the son of the man you claim to have endless respect for. You went on and on at my father’s funeral that you would ensure his legacy would remain intact even through his children. It’s kind of hard to do that if one of us is fucking dead.” Remus spat out the last part, and he paused when he felt Logan’s foot gently nudging his leg under the table, silently telling him to reel it in. He took a quick breath and sat down on his chair. “I have made my choice, and I am not changing it. Virgil’s not completely off-limits for jobs. We’ll just need to adjust a few things when he goes out. I trust Janus with Roman as well. If we believe Virgil is best suited for a job, we’ll assign Janus to Roman until Virgil returns.” 

“Fine. We can work with that compromise. Micah always encouraged the growth of our younger members. I only wish to be able to continue that.” Adrien said. The way he said his words scratched at Remus’ nerves, but still feeling Logan’s foot against him helped him bite back his harsher comment. 

“I know what I’m doing.” 

“There is nothing wrong with taking advice from your elders.”

“I know. Let’s move on.” 

x~x~x

“God, I hate him.” Remus practically growled, slamming his gloved fist against the punching bag, sweat dripping down his forehead as he worked through his frustration. “Fucking old-ass prick. Using my father’s name to undermine my decisions about keeping my brother alive.” Each ‘my’ was punctuated with another punch. 

“Yeah.” Logan’s voice sounded distant from the bench he sat on. That got Remus to pause and look at him. Remus grinned when he saw that Logan had the papers he was reading hanging halfway off his lap, his elbow was on his knee, holding his chin, and his face had a slight flush to it, showing that he had been enjoying watching Remus a little too much. 

“For someone that tries to keep me from getting too pissed during meetings, you sure like watching me let off some steam.” Remus teased, leaning an arm against the punching bag. 

“Huh?” Logan perked up after getting called out, and he weakly laughed, a touch of pink on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Sure you don’t.” Remus slipped his gloves off as he walked over to Logan, causally letting them fall to the ground. “You totally weren’t checking me out.” He chuckled as he placed his hands on the bench, fingers nearly brushing Logan’s thighs. 

“I don’t even know how to do that.” Logan played up a fake clueless tone, looking up at Remus with widened eyes as he leaned over him. 

“If you told me that before we had started dating, I’d believe you. You were so oblivious back then.” 

“I wasn’t that bad.” 

“I said I wanted to be in your bed. Your answer was to bring identical blankets to your own to my room because you thought I wanted better bedding.” 

“I…alright, you’ve got me there.” Logan laughed at that memory. “I was in denial, okay? I didn’t believe that you actually liked me.” 

“I literally had to hold you by the shoulders and say ‘I want to make out’ for you to finally get it, and even then, it took a second for it to click.” 

“But I’m not like that anymore.”

“Well…” Remus held out the word with a smile, softly chuckling when Logan’s reaction was to pull him down into a kiss. “Maybe a little.” His smile grew when he got another kiss. “Just a bit.” 

“I can accept that.” Logan hummed and pulled Remus down into one more kiss. “And I’ll admit that you were correct. I do enjoy seeing you take your anger out.”

“It’s the muscles, isn’t it?” 

“Just a bit.” 

Before Remus could react, the gym door opened. They were at the opposite end of the gym, so there was plenty of time for Remus to move away from Logan and picked up his gloves as Janus walked up to them.

“Patton sent me over to say he has our dinner ready. Virgil and Roman are already on their way as well.” Janus said, waiting for Logan to straighten out his papers and Remus to put his gloves away. “How did the meeting go?”

“I’m going to strangle Adrien.” 

“So, the usual?” 

“Yep.” Remus sighed, having Logan walk between himself and Janus as they left the gym and went to the dining room. He wasn’t shocked to see that Roman was still pouting about everything despite it being almost a week since he was moved in. Virgil had done well with not metaphorically or literally stabbing Roman for annoying him, and Remus was ready to reward him for that. 

“Evening, bossman.” Remy greeted as Remus, Logan, and Janus sat at the table with them. 

“I am more than ready for this day to be over with,” Remus said, quickly getting back to his feet when he saw Patton struggling to carry a large pot into the room. “You can ask for help.” He took the spaghetti-filled pot from Patton and sat it on the center of the table. 

“I was doing fine.” Patton huffed, taking his seat next to Janus. 

“You said it wasn’t that heavy. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Janus scolded in almost a whisper. 

“It wasn’t that heavy. I just didn’t have a good hold on it.” Patton exaggerated a pout before giggling. “You're adorable when you get all worried and protective.” 

“Some people would call that sexy,” Remus said with a grin.

“Yes, but we don't talk about that stuff at the dinner table.” Patton’s tone had a warning in it.

“Alright, alright. But Janus, take note that Patton agreed with me~” Remus sang, and it turned into a laugh when Patton kicked him under the table. “Okay, we’ll have our dinner, and then you two can head off for dessert.” He waited for another kick and laughed louder when Roman yelped in pain. 

“I’m so sorry!” Patton quickly apologized. 

“Wrong Prince!” Remus had to hold the table to prevent himself from falling back. “Oh! And speaking of causing my brother pain, Virgil, you can start his training in the morning.” 

“Finally!” Virgil sounded a little too excited. 

“If I have to do that training stuff, I want someone else,” Roman said. 

“Virg is your best bet.” Remy chuckled. “Patton and Logan only have the basics, Janus would make you cry, and I have less patience than Virgil and would ruin all of your nice clothes with scissors covered in glitter.” 

“And I’m too busy to do it,” Remus added with a shrug. 

“I hate all of this.” Roman huffed. 

“Does that mean this brother of yours is like you? Unable to keep his hands to himself?” Logan teased, smiling when he saw Remus standing behind him in the mirror’s reflection. He felt arms around his waist and leaned back into the hug as Remus rested his chin on his shoulder. 

“Nah, I just can’t keep my hands off of you because you’re too good-looking not to touch. Impossible to resist.” Remus chuckled as Logan rolled his eyes but saw the dusting of pink on his cheeks. 

“You can resist enough to hide our relationship from everyone.” Logan didn’t mean for that to come out the way it did. The hint of disappointment and sadness that he wasn’t even aware that he had. “Sorry.” He added when Remus hugged him tighter. 

“Don’t be.” Remus looked at Logan in the mirror, his face one that only Logan ever saw. Soft, tender, and filled with pure adoration. “I hate it too. But I can’t risk someone trying to hurt you to get to me. Roman was already known as my brother, and I brought him here to keep an eye on him. I’m always worried someone would try to go after Pat. But he has Janus to help. If I knew you’d always be safe, I’d scream from the rooftops about how much I love you.” 

“You’re being sappy.” Logan leaned his head against Remus’.

“I’m a ruthless killer. I’m allowed my sappy moments.” 

“Only with me.”

“Only with you.” Remus echoed and kissed Logan’s temple. “I should go make sure no one wants to stab Roman while getting his stuff in.”

“Because it’s heavy or because he’s going to be annoying about where things go?” 

“Yes.” Remus’ answer got Logan to snort a little chuckle. “You’re adorable when you do that little snort.”

“Don’t you get that started again.” Logan playfully warned, nudging Remus’ side lightly with his elbow. “You have a brother to go save.” 

“Fine.” Remus exaggerated his tone. “I’ll save it for tonight.” He added with another kiss to Logan’s temple before letting him go and heading for the door.

“Remus, shirt,” Logan said.

“Ah, shit.” Remus went to the desk and grabbed his shirt, slipping it on. “Good catch.” He winked at Logan and went for the door again. 

“Remus.” 

“What’d I forget?” Remus looked down to check if his pants were on. If the zipper was up, and if nothing was hanging out. When Logan didn’t answer, he walked to him, thinking maybe he noticed something he didn’t. 

“This,” Logan said before giving Remus a quick kiss. 

“Now, how could I forget that?” Remus chuckled, looking like a love-struck puppy. Logan really did make his heart flutter and forget the chaos and mess he usually caused. 

Roman definitely couldn’t know about this. 

“I am the smart one, remember?” Logan grinned.

“Yes, you are.” Remus caught one more kiss before finally leaving the room. “Hey Rems.” He greeted one of his top assassins, Remy. Remy was also known as the source of most gossip aside from Janus, so Remus was beyond thankful that Logan had ensured he didn’t leave shirtless. Or that would have spread like wildfire before he could even blink. “Already bringing in his boxes?” Remus gestured to the box in Remy’s arms.

“First of way too many. He’s, like, bringing the whole ass house.” Remy huffed. “This box is literally just pants, and it’s not the only one.” He adjusted the box in his hands. “I skipped my afternoon coffee for this. I swear, if he weren’t your brother, I’d shave him bald in his sleep.”

“Depending on how this conversation I’m about to have with him goes, I just might let you.” Remus sighed. 

He was still trying to get used to the weird feeling that stemmed from being everyone’s boss, with no one to report to. Well, Remus did technically report to Logan, but that was a separate thing. But now he had to deal with the whole new feeling of practically being his twin brother’s babysitter. Remus used to be the loud and chaotic teenage son of the boss, the crude-talking, attitude-having, sarcastic, and messy teenager. But those days were long gone now.

“I’ll get plenty of pictures for you~” Remy sang, catching Remus’ change in attitude and smiling when his offer got Remus to chuckle. 

“I’d be shocked if you didn’t get a full three-sixty of your work.” 

“It’s what I do best.” 

“That and killing.” Remus nudged Remy with his elbow, and they both laughed. 

“They’re for decoration. Maybe we can put them on that couch in the lobby, add some proper style to that room.” Roman was talking to one of Remus’ assassins, poking around inside of the box that they were holding. 

“You did not bring those stupid pillows here,” Remus grunted when he peeked in the box as the person carrying it turned around and returned to the lobby. 

“They’re not stupid. Just because you don’t understand basic home decor doesn’t make it stupid.” Roman huffed.

“I understand and still think they’re stupid, Princey,” Virgil clicked his tongue. 

“If I’m getting forced to have a bodyguard, can it be anyone else but him?” Roman scoffed. 

“The fact that he annoys you means it’s a perfect match,” Remus said with a fake overly-sweet smile. “And how much of the house did you pack? I said to bring what you need. We’re not selling the house. You’re just living here instead.” 

“You said to bring what I’d need for daily use, and I use a lot of things daily.” 

“You use decorative pillows that smell like cough drops and desperation every day?” Virgil asked. 

“I’m firing him,” Roman said. 

“You can’t fire anyone.” Remus sighed. 

“How the hell are you two twins?” Remy asked. “And take your damn pants.” He added as he plopped the box into Roman’s arms, eyebrows going up at how much Roman struggled with the weight of it. 

“Oh look, proof of why you need training as well.” Remus used a mocking tone as Virgil took the box from Roman and held it with one arm. 

“Whatever. Just let me unpack my belongings in peace or whatever peace I can get with the storm cloud following me.” Roman scrunched his nose at Virgil before going to his bedroom. 

“Toughest assignment yet, sir,” Virgil grunted and went into the room as well. 

“They’re so going to end up fucking at the least,” Remy said.

“I hate that I know that.” Remus grimaced before facing Remy. “Tell everyone that if the box they’re carrying didn’t come from Roman’s bedroom, to send it back.”

“On it.” Remy gave a little playful salute and went off. 

“This was so much more fun when I just killed people,” Remus said to himself and started walking back down the hall. “Pat, why do you have a box?” He asked after catching Patton trying to scurry by. 

“Because these are really nice cooking equipment that I want to play with.” Patton pouted out his lower lip, using his way-too-powerful puppy-dog eyes. 

“Go on.” Remus waved Patton off, unable to help his smile at hearing Patton’s excited squeal. 

“It’s very hard to say no to that look, isn’t it?” Janus chuckled as he walked up to Remus, carrying his own box. 

“Yep, and let me guess, more kitchen stuff?” 

“It’s very hard to say no to that look,” Janus repeated himself as his answer and followed Patton. 

“Sir? Did you want these taken back to the house?” The person from earlier asked Remus, the box of pillows still in hand. 

“Maybe I’ll be nice and let him have one of these damned things,” Remus said as he dug through the box. “Wait.” He pulled one out from the bottom and paused.

“Sir?” 

“Take the box back.” 

“Yes, sir.” The person nodded and left Remus alone. 

“I didn’t think we still had this one,” Remus spoke to himself, running a hand over the stitching of the front of the pillow. He made his way to the couch and placed the pillow in the center of it, fluffing it up so it was as presentable as possible. It was a pillow his mother had stitched while pregnant with himself and Roman. One Remus hadn’t seen in years…since she passed away. “There you go, mom. Front and center like you should be.” He said to the pillow, patting it one more time and then walking off, leaving the message to be displayed for anyone who came in through the front door.

“He’s late,” Remus said. 

“It’s only-” Virgil looked at his watch. “-five minutes passed when he was due.” 

“Janus went to get him. Janus is never late.” Remus hissed in pain when he tried to chew on his thumb again, and it felt like a sharp pinch. He saw how red his thumb was and softly groaned to himself, knowing he would get scolded by a certain someone later for that. 

“From what I’ve heard about this brother of yours, he sounds like an overly spoiled prince who is probably used to having people wait on him hand and foot.” Virgil rolled his eyes as he spoke. “Janus can be stubborn, but he’s not going to risk accidentally hurting your brother by pushing him.” His face then turned to one with an almost evil smile. “That’s going to be my job.” 

“Yes, yes, it is.” Remus softly chuckled. “But you’re not allowed to permanently damage, kill or fuck my brother without getting him dinner first.” He listed off with his fingers. 

“Why would I want to fuck your brother? He’s probably an obnoxious brat.” Virgil crossed his arms. 

“Trust me, I know.” Remus hummed with a wink. Before Virgil could ask what he meant, Roman entered the house with Janus behind him. “Would it have killed you to be on time for once?” Remus scoffed as he went over to his brother. 

“I am on time.” Roman scoffed back. 

“Five minutes late is not on time.”

“It is when you’re usually fashionably late.” 

“Holy shit,” Virgil said as the two continued to bicker. 

Remus and Roman did look like brothers. There was no denying that. They had similar jawlines and noses, and their hair was identical except for their styling since Remus had a tuff of white on the front. Other than that, there were plenty of differences. Remus had a good few inches on Roman in height and width. A life of training to be a killer would make you a bit broader. Remus had bulkier muscles than Roman in general. Roman had a fit, lean look to him.

Virgil had to admit to himself that Remus might have had a point. 

“He was still packing when I arrived,” Janus stated, clicking his tongue. “I’m going to let Patton know I’ve returned and then gather some others to help me get his items into his room.” 

“Sounds good.” Remus gave a quick nod of his head before turning back to Roman. “I’m getting you a watch.” 

“I don’t need a watch. I have a phone.” Roman took out said phone and held it up. 

“Then use the clock on it and not make me think you’re going to get your ass killed.” Remus snatched said phone and unlocked it. 

“How did you know my pass-”

“Don’t be shocked. I’ve known everyone’s passwords forever. Do you really think I don’t pay attention? Not with my line of work.” Remus typed away as he spoke. 

“Whatever.” Roman huffed and finally noticed they weren’t the only ones in the room after Janus had left. “Who’s doom and gloom over there?” He pointed at Virgil, who raised a brow at hearing himself referred to as that. 

“That is Virgil. He is going to be your trainer and bodyguard.” Remus stated, not looking up from the screen. 

“Trainer and bodyguard?” Roman watched as Virgil stood up and walked over to them. “Why do I need either of those?” 

“You do know what we do, right?” Virgil asked. 

“Specifics? No. I know my father was a powerful man. But I don’t know for what.” Roman answered. 

“You didn’t tell him?” Virgil placed his hand on the phone to get Remus to look at him.

“I was going to tell him after he got settled.” Remus took a step aside to get back to working on the phone.  

“Sure.” Virgil sighed. “So, you only know your dad had a lot under him?” 

“Yeah.” Roman started tapping his foot. 

“Guess we’ll save details until the boss here decides to spill.” Virgil shook his head a little. “But, I’m here to keep an eye on you so if the wrong person finds out who you are, you don’t get killed, and you’re going to get trained as well because everyone under this roof does. If you get caught alone, you, again, won’t die.”

“Why couldn’t I have just stayed at the house?” Roman groaned. 

“Because you don’t know how to take care of yourself, and if I’m paying for a babysitter, it’s going to be someone I trust to teach you how to fight,” Remus stated, finished with everything he needed to do on the phone. 

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Ms. Heather just helps care for the house since there’s a lot for one person to do alone.” Roman huffed.

“She wasn’t just a maid. She was armed and in charge of watching you after Mom passed since me and Dad were here more often than not. She’s moving in as well and returning to her prior position.”

“Wait…Susan had a gun?”

“Susan had two guns, a knife, and brass knuckles.”

“That explains so much.” 

“Welcome to the world you’ve been hidden from.” Remus clicked his tongue and handed Roman his phone. “I have named alarms set for you, and I have the numbers of the important people you might need to contact. I’ll give you a mini tour, and you can meet most of who I put in there.” He didn’t give Roman time to say anything else before turning and walking off. 

“Let’s go, princey.” Virgil gestured with his head and followed Remus. 

“Don’t call me that.” Roman crossed his arms, going with his brother and the man. 

“Whatever you say, princey.” Virgil grinned as Roman glared at him. 

“Good afternoon, Patton.” Remus greeted as he entered the kitchen.

“Good afternoon!” Patton greeted back with a bright, cheery smile. He was cleaning off a spot on the counter, Janus sitting on the other side and biting into a cookie. “I just finished a batch of cranberry walnut cookies. You have to try them.” Patton picked up a colorful plate of cookies and held it toward Remus. 

“Thank you.” Remus took one of the cookies, and Virgil helped himself to one, too.

“You too.” Patton giggled, gesturing the plate closer to Roman. 

“Oh, thanks.” Roman smiled and took one of the cookies, biting into it and perking up. “That’s really good.” 

“Of course they are. Patton made them,” Janus stated, finishing up his cookie and happily taking another when Patton sat the plate back down beside him. 

“I was going to put white chocolate in them, but I was worried that would make them too sweet.” Patton mused a little.

“What? The Patton Gold making something too sweet? Never.” Janus exaggerated his tone and chuckled when Patton playfully pushed his leg.

“Don’t be mean.” Patton scrunched his nose toward Janus. 

“Patton’s in charge of the food. He helps make sure that everyone eats, and there’s always sweet treats.” Virgil explained. 

“Never know when you need a blood sugar kick.” Patton gestured to a patch on his arm with another giggle. Roman made a soft oh, and Remus chuckled. 

“He’ll help cook and make meals and can teach you some basics since he won’t always be able to cook for you,” Remus said and grabbed another cookie. “We’ll see you at dinner, Pat. Gonna make sure this one has an idea of the place first.” 

“Does chicken alfredo sound good for dinner?” Patton asked. 

“It sounds perfect.” Remus shot a finger gun at Patton as he walked past. 

“Be sure to let me know of any food preferences whenever you get a chance,” Patton said to Roman. 

“No problem.” Roman flashed a smile as he walked with Virgil behind Remus. He watched over his shoulder as Janus whispered something into Patton’s ear, and Patton giggled and nodded in agreement with whatever was told to him.

“You have Virgil, Patton, and Janus in your phone. You also have our resident bookkeeper in there as well. Mr. Logan Berry.” Remus opened the door to an office and strolled in as he spoke. 

“I am much more than a bookkeeper, Remus.” Logan rolled his eyes, standing up from behind his desk and walking around it, going to Roman and holding out a hand, using his other to adjust his glasses. “You must be Roman Prince. I’ve heard lots about you.” 

“And I haven’t heard a thing about you.” Roman awkwardly shook the hand and looked at Remus. “You just have a nerd locked away in here as well?” 

“I assure you, alongside not just being a bookkeeper, I am also far beyond just a nerd,” Logan stated with a hint of annoyance. 

“You always made what you and Dad do sound scary and dangerous, but you have a golden retriever chef and a scrawny nerd. Why are you so-” Roman stopped his spiel when Logan suddenly pulled out a gun and pressed the barrel to the center of his chest. 

“Call me a nerd one more time, and I’ll be the one to prove how dangerous our business is.” Logan’s voice dropped into a low, threatening tone. The previous calm in his eyes hardened with anger. 

“Remus.” Roman held his hands in the air and looked at his brother. 

“Virgil, can you show Roman where his bedroom is?” Remus said.

“Sure. Come on, princey.” Virgil grabbed Roman’s arm and walked him out of the room. 

“Oh! So I call someone a nerd and get a gun pulled on me, but you can continue to call me-” Roman’s complaint was cut off by Remus closing the door. 

“I know I shouldn’t have threatened him, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t listen unless I proved a point,” Logan stated, tucking his gun back into the holster on his hip. “I can apologize-” Remus was cutting someone off again, but this time, it was by taking hold of Logan’s face and kissing him. 

“You are so hot when you’re angry.” Remus chuckled, guiding Logan to step back and lean against the desk. 

“I wasn’t angry, I was annoyed.” 

“Still hot.”

“It is not-” Logan paused when he moved Remus’ hand and saw the state of his thumb. “-have you been chewing your fingers again?”

“Here we go.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you about the germs on your hands? You’re going to get sick, and you become the biggest baby when you’re not feeling well. The last thing we need is-” Logan’s rant was stopped by another kiss. 

“Scold me later. I still have you being hot in my head.” Remus took his hands away and moved them down to Logan’s thighs. 

“I’m going…to scold you…so much…” Logan struggled to get his sentence out since Remus continued to kiss him throughout it. 

“I look forward to it.” Remus grinned before gripping Logan’s thighs and lifting him onto the desk. Logan just rolled his eyes with a smile and chuckled into the next kiss. 

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