The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 53: Rewards and Punishment

"I took my shower and I ate something," Janus grumbled. "Why do I still have to be checked over?"

"You were kidnapped," Emile reminded him. "You can't just get right back into your usual schedule before getting looked over first, and you can't afford to take a Glimmer approach with this."

"I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," he groaned, flopping his head back. "I'm not glitching or anything. They only shut off my shapeshifting powers, and they work perfectly now."

Remy sighed. "Look, Kapoor, regardless of whether you're physically okay, you're obviously not emotionally okay. So, yes, we're checking you over."

Patton rested a hand on Janus's forehead. "He's fine on the inside, for the most part---he just needs food and rest. Em?"

"Hang on," Emile said, frowning slightly. "He's trying to throw me off with calming thoughts."

Virgil was barely restraining himself from bursting out laughing. They were all sitting in the infirmary, and Janus, despite the fact that he didn't have the energy to sit up without a bunch of pillows, kept on trying to escape---to no avail.

"I still can't believe you idiots were dumb enough to rescue me," Janus said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm happy and all, but couldn't you have left it to the ops?"

"It wasn't anything personal," Virgil told him. "Remus was practically dying, and you owe me a Gilmore Girls marathon."

"Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about that." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you Team Dean, Team Jess, or Team Logan?"

"Team Paris."

Janus grinned, finger-gunning him. "I knew there was a reason I was friends with you. You ship Lorelai and Luke, right?"

Virgil snorted. "Uh, is that even a question? They're perfect."

"Makes sense. You and Roman are practically them."

Logan looked up, frowning. "There's a character in that show that has the same name as me?"

"You two couldn't be more different," Janus told him.

"Ah."

Emile cleared his throat. "On a more pressing subject... was what Augustus said about Julian true?"

Janus let out a sigh. "I don't particularly want to believe him, and not just because it sounds absolutely horrible, but the lietaste didn't come. Frankly, I'm not at all surprised."

"Jules was a seventh grader when I first started counseling here," Emile murmured. "Sweet kid. Absolutely hated his powers, but he was an amazing student, and he was always so cheerful."

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure we're talking about Augustus's brother here?"

"Well, he was always the black sheep of the family, from what I can recall." Emile looked up. "And you're sure Augustus said he was alive?"

Janus nodded. "I don't know if he really is, though."

"We could do some looking," Remy suggested. "Julian might be willing to help."

"Or he could've decided to turn his back completely on the Anomaly world," Logan said. "It's not unreasonable, after everything his parents did to him."

"Let's just hope he's not as much of an asshole as his brother is," Remus muttered.

SLAM!

Persephone raced into the infirmary, practically tackling her brother in a hug.

"Ow," Janus complained. "You're crushing me. Ow."