In the Shadows(Sander sides fanfic)

Chapter 21:Saving Snake

TW:Even more angst, Remus and Roman argue, scar mentioned, Janus is good enby, struggling with mental health, Piper is an insane bastard.

Roman had to admit, having Remus back was an absolute nightmare. He seemed to have endless energy and very little self control. Two things that mixed to cause a chaos goblin who would stop at nothing to cause distress. However, there was a plus then this. That being that you could always tell when he was down. So when Roman met Remus on a rooftop that night, he knew right away something was wrong.

Remus looked over at him, a feigned a smile. "Hey Roman." He sounded really tired. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were glazed over.

Roman frowned, adjusting his mask a bit. "Are you good?" He glanced around, making sure they weren't being watched. Two dudes in hero get-ups were going to look odd and get the cops called.

"I'm fine," Remus forced his shoulders up. "Just tired."

Roman's concern grew. "Are you sure?" He took a step closer. It was hard to read Remus with his mask on. Thankfully he'd swapped the full mask for a normal half mask. But still it hid his mouth.

"I uh," Remus looked out at the city. "I'm just worried about Janus. If I got mind controlled they probably did too."

Roman paused for a second, trying to remember who Janus was. After managing to guess who he sighed. "Remus, we don't know if we can trust them. How do we know they weren't the ones doing it?"

Remus quickly shook his head. "They could have. They can only shapeshift, and they'd never do something like that."

"Remus, what was your relationship with this, uh, person." Roman almost said dude but caught himself. Judging by the pronouns Remus was using that was not the right term.

Remus look at Roman. "We were dating, kinda."

"Kinda? What dose that mean?" Roman asked, confusion being thrown into the emotional mess that was being made.

"It's complicated. Getting mind controlled kinda fucks up any relationship." Remus grumbled, a  jab in his words. Roman couldn't tell who it was directed to or even where it was.

"Why are you being so hostile to me?! I didn't do anything." Roman said sharply, crossing his arms.

"I'm not being hostile!" Remus snapped, glaring at Roman.

"Yes you are!" Roman snapped back. "You're acting like it's my fault that you got controlled and I don't get why!"

"Because I need someone to blame!" Remus yelled without thinking. The words just kind of came out of his mouth. Roman took a step back, hands falling to his sides. Remus wrapped his arms around himself looking away. "Because I don't know who else to blame and I just..." Tears threatened his eyes, almost starting to fall.

Roman quickly pulled Remus into a hug. It was tight and strong, and Remus just kind of melted into it. "We'll find them, alright? It can't be that hard."

Yeah, well, that wasn't true. The two brothers spent the rest of the night searching for Janus. They did find them but they noticed and darted. And it turns out, finding a shapeshifter who doesn't want to be found was very hard. Remus refusing to use his power on Janus didn't help. But finally they managed to corner them.

They'd trapped Janus in an ally, and even though they probably could've escaped, they didn't. "Why are you following me?" Janus demanded, looking from Roman to Remus. It was the first time Roman was seeing them without their mask. They had some kind of scar on one side of their face, it was honestly vaguely disturbing.

Remus pulled down his mask. "Janus, please just listen. You're being controlled, I know you are. This isn't like you at all.

Janus's eyes glazed over in a way that made Roman's skin crawl. "Who are you?" Janus asked, voice sounding very different than it had before. Closer to how it sounded during the first broadcast all that time ago. Remus sank back, confused.

"Remus, your boyfriend. Janus please I know you have to remember," Remus took a desperate step forward. Janus stared at him blankly, clearly not remembering. "Janus, I know you're in there somewhere!"

Roman gently grabbed his brothers arm. "Remus, if they don't remember we should just leave..." His voice trailed off.

Remus pulled away. "No! I'm not just going to give up on him," He snapped. "Not after everything. They never gave up on me so I'm not going to give up on them!"

Memories slowly clawed their way into Janus's head. Literally running into Remus and feeling a sort of spark. Looking up to see what caused this spark to be met with a crying face. Talking to this crying person, and slowly bonding. Remus losing himself and not being able to do much more then just sit, and Janus staying right by his side. Remus being flooded with thoughts that made even him afraid of himself, but Janus not leaving. Piper felt her control on the enby slipping all the way across the city, and started to fight it. However she wasn't strong enough, and was too far away. Janus fought for control, gaining the upper hand quickly.

Janus looked at Remus, barely noticing Roman there. "What's going on?" They asked, looking around. Piper was still trying to regain control, starting to try and get there in time. At this point it became a ticking clock for her. The faster Janus gained control the less time she'd have to get there and take control. And with every second the clock sped up.

Remus ran over and hugged Janus, grinning. "I'll explain later, it's complicated." Janus smiled a bit, hugging their boyfriend back.

"What's with the get up?" Janus questioned, looking Remus up and down. They then noticed Roman. "And carbon copy in a lighter get up?"

Remus laughed. "Let's just go, we can explain on the way." He grabbed Janus's hand, and started to lead the way. They decided it was best to go to Roman and Logan's apartment and get the others there. After all, they had a new member to introduce.

About in the middle of the city Piper let out an aggravated groan, throwing her knife at the wall of a building. Janus had slipped out of her control. Fully. She had no one to work with now. She pulled the knife out of the wall, looking at her reflection. Her hair was a mess, and there was a crazed look in her eyes.

"Fine then," She hissed, a small grin taking over her face. "I'll just have to handle this alone."