#newshore

"Morning babe," Janus sat up, clearly not registering what Roman said. He turned to stand up and winced through his teeth. "Shit!"

Roman walked over, putting down the plate and bowl and helping Janus reposition himself. "No way am I letting you get up how you are, my darling. I brought you some food, so eat it before the smell kills me," he laughed.

"Okay, you spice wuss." Janus looked over to the nightstand, laughing. "That is a shit ton of food."

Not even noticing the adoring look on Janus' face, Roman defended, "Yeah, well I figured that you might want a little of everything, and of course there's the rame-Don't get up! You gotta stay down, you're hurt!"

Janus rolled his eyes, "If you won't let me get up there, then get your ass down here."

Roman huffed and kneeled down, surprised when Janus took his face and kissed him. "Thanks for the food, Princey. But I can't stay here all day, I have things to do."

Ignoring his own blushing, Roman answered, "Exactly. And the 'things' you have to do is heal. I will personally stay here to make sure you don't get out of bed. And that is a threat." He quieted, "I tried to just graze you but… you looked pretty hurt." He stared hard at the ground, before suddenly shaking his head and smiling. "It never said in the job description that I'd be shooting at my boyfriend." He loved using that word, 'boyfriend.' It rarely failed to fluster Janus. "Now can you let me take a look at that wound?"

"I have a doctor you know. And he did a perfectly fine job."

"Well, in case he didn't tell you; no amount of wrappings is still stopping the bleeding after you decided to move that much."

"Then I'll just go see him again today. You're not a doctor, and I'm not letting you pretend to be one. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if you fainted at the sight of blood."

"Fine then," Roman said, grabbing the huge meal he prepared. "None of this food for you. Guess you'll just get oatmeal."

Janus groaned, wordlessly moving the blanket off of his leg to let Roman look at it. He set back down the food and looked horrified at the blood-soaked bandages. He wasn't new to gunshot wounds of course, but seeing this damage on someone he cared so much for scared him. 

"Wh-where's that doctor you keep talking about? Cause you need this to be taken care of."

Roman draped Janus' arm over his shoulder and helped him downstairs.

"You know you're going to have to stop babying me and let me walk so we're not seen, Ro."

Roman paused. He knew Janus really should not be walking, especially not without help. But he had a point.

"I have a cane, and it's not far," Janus explained in an effort to ease Roman's worry. "Go on to the car and I'll follow in a minute."

"If we're going separately, you're going first so you can rest in the car."

"That can be our compromise, I suppose. Fine, I'll go first."

After Janus stumbled out the door, much to Roman's protest, Roman waited a few minutes before going out the opposite direction. He paused, hearing a crinkling beneath his steps. He backed up and picked up the offending piece of paper. 

It was folded up, so he put it in his pocket for now. He didn't have time right now. He had to get Janus help.

Roman drove them wherever Janus told him to go, helping him out of the car once they arrived. He went to knock on the door, interrupted by Janus simply pushing through.

"Patton?" He called out into the dimly lit room. Something straight out of a horror movie. Roman ducked behind the door, not wanting to be seen here, before being tugged back in by Janus. "It's okay, Patton won't do anything." That didn't help Roman to feel any more comfortable. He didn't trust anyone to see them together.

A man's face popped out from behind a wall. "Oh! Janus! You actually came for your return checkup?"

"Not my choice. Roman dragged me here after he saw the bleeding."

Patton turned on a light, smiling brightly. He seemed like a very homely, kind person, even though his very pastel punk style showed a bit differently. His t-shirt’s rainbow text said, “Destroy POWER not PEOPLE.” Maybe Roman could understand why him and Janus knew each other.

"Who's Roman? Oh, wait, that's probably you, huh?" Roman nodded, and Patton held out his hand to be shaken. "Well nice to meet you! The name's Patton."

Shaking his hand, Roman muttered, "Nice to meet you too, sir."

"Oh, yeah I should let ya know," Patton said, kneeling to look at Janus' wrappings. "They/them pronouns if ya don't mind." Before Roman got a chance to reply, they shook their head and said, "Jeez, did you walk home?" They laughed, probably knowing he did. "You clearly didn't keep it still like I told you." 

Patton stood up. "Let's get you sitting down so I can wrap that up again. Can you help me get him back to the table, Roman?"

Roman helped and Patton grabbed some things they'd need. "I hope you don't mind if I talk while I do this. It makes things feel less… grim, I guess." They paused in case of protest, then continued, smirking. "So. How do you two know each other?"

Roman froze, not knowing how to reply. "Uh, we just-"

"He's my boyfriend," Janus hissed through his teeth.

"Oh! Good for you! I didn't expect that, what with your professions and all."

Roman immediately panicked. "What? How do you-?"

"Ah, I'm sorry! That probably sounds worrying to you. Don’t worry, I'm not gonna say anything." Their tone of voice shifted almost like they were talking to a baby or a dog, "Just ‘cause you're an important law official doesn't mean you can't fall in love with our little Basilisk here." They smiled, talking normally again. "It's just a bit surprising."

"It certainly does mean that, but," Janus turned to Roman. "Told you they were cool."

"I-you're not gonna tell anyone?"

"No… they'd probably hurt you both if I did. I don't agree with either of you, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna throw you under the bus. Besides," they laughed, "if you don't mind my saying, you two seem kinda cute."

"I just told him you were okay!" Janus protested.

Patton laughed heartily. "I know, I won't say it again."

After a moment, Roman said hesitantly, "So, Patton? How did you already know who I am?"

They paused, looking downwards. "When there are this many conflicting opinions, and people fighting, it's good to keep an idea of whos-who. Gotta know who to avoid and who to stand with when things fall down."

"And what about me?"

"Well… before you came here at least, there was no way I would've sided with you. I guess I can't necessarily blame you, but there's a lot of cruel biases you guys have. Now? Maybe you're not so bad… you don't seem like you agree with those things at least. But you can't just stand by while people get hurt!” Patton slammed their fist on the table. “You already have the power to do something about it, so do it already." Patton sighed, relaxing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all political on you. This stuff just gets me so mad sometimes."

Roman just nodded in agreement. Patton had a point, that he couldn't deny. He knew there were some vast problems.

The conversation felt over, and Roman remembered the paper he found. He took it out of his pocket and unfolded it, reading the sloppy handwriting.

Roman could've sworn his heart stopped.

I know your secret. Isn't it odd that the chief of the stupidly corrupt NPD and the Basilisk would be trying to settle down in a shitty, rotting house? To get straight to the point, I'm going to send a couple of simple instructions to you both. If you don't follow them in a timely manner, don't count on your secret being a secret for long.

Roman's hands shook, dropping the message to the floor and struggling to catch his breath. Oh god. They knew. How did they know? He and Janus had been more than careful! All of the worst possible outcomes played through his mind vividly. Janus. This person could trade in the info, they knew everything. Roman would at least be fired, probably imprisoned. He could deal with that. But Janus… he was tough, but without Roman keeping him safe he'd be caught eventually. He'd gotten more relaxed, he didn't care that every legal official in town wanted him dead. He'd get caught. And he would die. Janus would die. Roman couldn't stop repeating that thought through his head, even through the swirling thoughts and vision. Janus would die. Janus would die. Janus would be caught and he would die.

"Ro? Roman!" He felt himself fall to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eventually, Roman opened his eyes, finding himself on the same metal table Janus had been lying on.

“There ya go. I knew you wouldn’t be asleep for long.”

Who was that? “Patton?”

“Yep. You uh… passed out after reading that lil’ paper there. How are you feel-”

“Shit!” Roman shot up, falling back down from the following head rush. 

“Hey! You can’t sit up yet, you have to let yourself wake up properly. There must be something really wrong with that paper to stress you out enough to faint.” They looked… really concerned. Roman felt a little bad.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Roman sat up a bit slower this time, satisfied with how he felt and staying upright. “I-I have to go. Where’s Janus?”

“He’s outside, but you can’t go yet." Patton gave a very firm look of determination. "This may not be a proper hospital, but I’m still a doctor and there is no way I’m letting you leave before I know you’re gonna be okay.”

Roman answered some questions, refusing to answer anything about the letter, and they deemed that the stress from yesterday and the lack of sleep were the causes of his little ‘episode’ and sent him off. Roman thanked them and left, finding Janus just outside the door, clutching the paper in a tight fist.

“Oh good, our sleeping beauty has awoken.”

“... Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Good, so is my leg. Let’s head home.” Roman stuttered in place, surprised at Janus' blunt statement.

“What? What about the…” He eluded to the note.

“What about it? We’re going home.” Janus’ voice was devoid of emotion. He stared straight ahead, limping into the car without any clear reaction to what had happened. Roman followed, sitting in the driver’s seat, admittedly scared.

“Janus?”

“What is it?”

“Are you okay? I mean, of course probably not, but you’re acting strange.” Roman couldn’t look at him.

“I’m fine, and this is fine. I’m going to take care of it, but for now, I simply want to go home.”

Roman didn’t have anything else to say, silenced by his own fear, so he drove. Janus was scared too. He could tell. He was never short and quiet like this. When he was mad, he showed you, when he was sad, he'd sigh and look away. But instead his eyes were wide and his voice so monotonous from the effort to keep it steady. Janus was scared, no doubt about it.

They got home and entered their usual way, just because one person knew didn’t mean the rest of the world could. Roman entered first, opting to just sit on the couch and stare at the blank television. 

A few minutes later, he felt Janus’ gloved hands wipe a tear off of his cheek, and he opened his eyes. Janus was kneeled in front of him, looking sympathetic now. Roman let out a short sob, catching himself and trying to stop as many tears as he could from falling. He wanted to keep Janus safe, crying in front of him made it feel clear that he couldn’t.

“It’ll be okay, Roman. It’s one person, that’s all. We can take care of it.” He had realized that Roman was afraid too, and he needed to stop playing cold and help him.

Like with Jonathon? Roman bit back his response, but Janus must’ve guessed what he was going to say from the glare that escaped him.

“We’ll… talk them out of it. Don’t worry.” He brought Roman’s forehead to his lips and hugged him close. “We’ll be okay.”

Roman clutched Janus’ clothes, refusing to let go. It felt like if he did, he would lose him forever. It hurt Janus to see him like this, and it was only worsened by him feeling the same way, even if he refused to show his worry. He could take care of this. He knew this city and damn near everyone in it, and he wasn’t going to let one of them hurt Roman like this. He just had to figure out who it was. This is impossible, a nagging thought told him. You’re going to die, and Roman will never be the same.

Roman felt the shoulder of his shirt slowly get soaked with tears, ones that Janus would never admit to.

"Hey! Lower your weapons, all of you!," Roman eventually shouted. As expected, nobody actually lowered their weapons, instead opting to duck to the sides and aim every one of their guns at Roman. All of them except for the Basilisk, who just stood there with a cold confidence. 

"Put down your guns, idiots. This was a ridiculous fight to begin with, and since it's so late, how about we all just shut up and go home before I get pissed and blow your heads off?" Despite his violent threat, he didn't bat an eye or even sound angry. The men around in the alley reluctantly tucked their guns away and stomped off.

Once they were all gone, Roman stepped out of the car, approaching Basilisk. After looking around to make sure no one else was around, he took his gloved hands and pulled him close, giving him a quick and gentle kiss.

"Roman, you dumbass. What are you doing getting caught up in my business again? I almost had that deal."

"You did not, I can sense a shootout when I see one." He just rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get home before someone sees us."

~~~~~~~~~~

The two were complete opposites. Basilisk, or as Roman knew, Janus, was the leader of Newshore’s largest mob, and Roman was the chief of police. It made no sense for them to ever get along, especially not in a romantic sense. But ever since they had met, something clicked, and despite the other’s profession, they couldn’t help but love each other. 

They lived in a little ‘house’ they were renting, though it could hardly be considered a house. There was a small kitchen and dining room combined, and a little room for a small couch. Upstairs, there was a bedroom and a small bathroom, both never quite clean no matter how much Roman tried to scrub off the grime. But, despite the grungy nature of the place, it was theirs, and they could be together here. 

Roman entered through the back door, Janus through the front. They couldn’t be seen together, so they had to do a lot of planning on how they would take on the simplest of tasks. Besides, their house was in a bad neighborhood, so Roman didn’t want to be seen in general. A lot of people here had it out for the cops. 

Once they both got inside, Roman immediately ran to their little radio and turned it on, pleased at the slow dance song playing. The soft piano seemed to carry him over to his partner at the front of the house and he began to dance with him. 

Janus used to grumble and act tough whenever Roman would want to dance with him, but he eventually gave in and it became a daily event. Roman loved dancing with him, and Janus just loved being with him in general, no matter what they were doing. So every night when they got home, they would put on a song and dance to it, looking into each other’s eyes and just smiling and enjoying the moment. 

The song ended and the two parted. Roman walked over to the kitchen, a new song playing in the background, and he started cooking dinner. He chuckled and asked, “How was work, Mi Amoré?”

“Would’ve been better if you didn’t mess up my deal. I could’ve gotten more defences out of that.”

“You know you’ll be fine. Besides, I couldn’t have you getting shot, could I? All of those guys had their guns just aimed everywhere, someone would’ve gotten hurt.”

“People get hurt every day, Roman. It’s just what happens, and a lot of the time it’s necessary.”

“Well who the hell says that? Why do people have to get hurt all the time?” Roman huffed. “Nevermind, I shouldn’t have brought up work, just forget about it.”

“Gladly.” Janus walked up behind Roman and snaked his arms around his waist, hugging him from behind and softly kissing the back of his neck. “Let's just be happy okay?"

Roman turned. “Well I just want as many people as possible to be happy. Who gave us the right to decide who gets hurt?”

“Roman. Shut up. We’re not talking about this tonight, I’m tired, and I just want to ignore it right now.” Janus frowned and kissed Roman, hard. It was an angry, yet still loving kiss, mostly intended to shut Roman up. 

“Fine, fine.” Roman muttered into his boyfriend’s lips. “I’ll forget about it for now.”

“Good.”

“Now can I make dinner?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be upstairs.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day at work, Roman was incredibly busy. He was running all over town breaking up small gang fights and stopping small robberies. At about 3:00 P.M. he got a report from someone who had heard several gunshots in a neighborhood on the east side. Which meant it was his job. Sometimes he regretted ordering everyone to leave problems over there to him, but then he remembered that Janus would likely get killed if he sent anyone else. So, he begrudgingly got into his car and drove over to where the problem was, thinking to himself, Damn you, Janus. Always getting into trouble.

He drove around for a moment in the area, listening closely for gunshots or yelling, and trying to find where they were. When a gun finally did sound off, Roman made a sharp turn towards the sound. He couldn’t help but worry about who made the shot.

As he got closer, the crowd of people spotted his car and immediately jumped into theirs, taking off with a tire screech and Roman following close behind. He was relieved that there were no bodies lying where the people had been. 

They swerved around corners, Roman keeping close to the escapist’s car. He couldn’t just let them get away. They were going 80 now, and they sure as hell weren’t slowing down. If they made a turn at this speed they were sure to get hurt. Roman saw his chance, a t-intersection was ahead of them, the speeding vehicle had no choice but to either turn or slow down and either way, Roman would get them then. 

The idiot driving the getaway car chose to turn without slowing down at all, and instantly ran right into a stop sign, stopping the car in its tracks. Roman slowed to a stop, and jumped out of his car, running to the crashed car. While it certainly wouldn’t be driving away, the passengers thankfully looked okay. Roman knocked on the window to get the attention of the driver, someone he didn’t recognize, and motioned for him to open the door. The man panicked and started slamming against the door. It wouldn’t open. Roman moved to the back of the car, pressing his hands against the back window to attempt to see inside. There he was. Janus needed a better driver than this idiot.

He bent down and picked up a large rock. Moving back to the front window, he instructed the driver to move as far from the window as possible. After he did, Roman readied himself and brought the rock to the glass forcefully. There was a crack! But the glass was only left with spider web lines throughout it. Roman smashed the window again and again, and finally it gave way.

The man inside looked relieved for a moment, before panic and dread spread across his face as he realized he was certain to be arrested. Janus groaned from the back seat, likely regaining consciousness. “Jonathon, you dumbass. You crashed the car?” He sighed frustratedly. Roman had them. 

However, Roman realized that it was a problem for him too. Every day, there was always some way that Janus got away. That way, he could always stay away from death row. Roman knew he had mountains of evidence stacked against him for everything he had done, and the second the authorities got a hold of him, he'd be done for. For a moment, Roman considered just letting them go, as there were no civilians around, but there was still the driver, Jonathon apparently. It didn't matter who, no one could learn about him and Janus.

Roman jumped, falling to the ground, startled by a huge bang! He knew exactly what that was. He regained his composure and got up, glancing at a screaming Jonathon. Exactly what he had expected.

"Goddamnit, Janus! Why the fuck would you shoot him!"

"I had to! It's blackmail, that way he won't blow our cover."

"You two fucking know each other?" Jonathon yelled through his screams of pain, "Well then I don't fucking care! Just get me outta this goddamn car so I can drink the goddamn bullet wound you gave me away!"

Roman turned his focus away from his anger. "That won't help. You need to clean it up and remove the bullet. You need to see a doctor," he told Jonathon as he pried open the door.

"Hah. And get locked up? Or worse? I'd rather die on my own terms," he replied, painfully sadly and through clenched teeth. This is what Roman hated about his job. Sure, he wanted justice and criminals off the streets, but when it just hurt everyone that much more, then what was the point? He didn't want that. 

"You won't get the death sentence."

"Janus will."

Don't say that. Roman couldn't think that.

"Janus isn't my problem right now. You are. You need medical attention, or else you could get an infection. That could kill you, and not on your own terms, and not in an easy way. We're getting you to a doctor."

"You don't want me to die, huh? Well then, how about this, I'll go to a doctor, and you won't turn me in."

"You're in no place to strike a deal--"

"And neither are you. Tell me, how does the chief of police know my boss on a first name basis? He keeps that pretty secret ya know. So look. Just get me a doc and lemme go. I won't say shit about this."

Roman was trapped. He shouldn't make deals with criminals, but… Janus… he didn't want to lose him. 

Roman put aside his morals and nodded in acceptance. Jonathon smiled smugly. "Good. Now, let's get outta this car before it tries to blow."

"It won't."

Roman first helped Janus out of the car, glaring at Jonathon as he did. Janus seemed unfazed, if not pleased, by the deal. This was ridiculous.

Jonathon got out of the car himself, after struggling with the seatbelt for a moment. He paused, then took off running away. Roman jumped into action, ready to chase him when Janus stopped him. 

"What? I have to catch him, he's getting away!"

"Let him go. It doesn't matter."

"Really? And how are you so confident he won't turn his back and say everything? Our entire lives, Janus! Let me--"