Confidentiality

Chapter 3

The next day, Janus stopped an actual crime. One that was not staged by Miss Libelle. It was an odd experience, to say the least. He had just been looking for other heroes (by parkouring across rooftops, ‘cause he was born to be an acrobat), when he saw a rather violent interaction behind an office building. 

“Come on, you really think you can just back out?” The larger man growled at the shorter. 

“I-I’m sorry, I really am! I just don’t feel comfortable with that!” The shorter man stammered.

Janus observed the shorter man. He had dark brown hair, dyed purple. A pair of nervous, brown eyes were glaring at the taller man, dark circles resting underneath them. “You said you’d do whatever I want, so do what I want!” The larger man growled. 

“I’m not doing drugs with you, okay?!” The shorter man snapped. “This isn’t what I meant! This is illegal!” He exclaimed. 

Janus’ eyebrows rose. Illegal drugs?

“Not so loud! You never know when one of those heroes could be listening.” The larger man sneered. “Those guys mean nothing but trouble. They think they’re so good, when really they’re just guys like us!” 

The shorter man’s face twisted up in annoyance. “You--”

“Well, I’m hurt.” Janus said from the roof. He hopped down into the alley, reveling in the way the larger man froze. 

The shorter man furrowed his brow in confusion. “Who are you?”

“I’m Deceit.” Janus told him. “New hero, trying to make a name for myself, the whole schtick.” Janus shrugged. “And who are you guys?”

“How much of that did you hear?” The larger man snarled, ignoring the question. 

“Hmm, not much. I did hear something about drugs, though.” Janus tilted his head. “Illegal drugs, even. Isn’t that bizarre?” He leaned against the wall, looking at the guy critically. 

The larger guy froze, paling. “I-It was his idea!” He yelled, pointing at the shorter man, who recoiled. “He’s the one--!”

“Don’t even try.” Janus deadpanned. 

The larger man pursed his lips, slowly beginning to back away from Janus. “I-I’m not going to jail…!” 

“Yeah, where are you going, then?” Janus snorted. He glanced at the shorter man, who of course didn’t notice because of the mask of Janus’ face. 

He was glancing in between the larger man and Janus, brow furrowed and lips pursed. Other than that, he didn’t seem too alarmed about the situation. Janus wondered how many times this had happened to him.

“You think you’re so great just because you have a couple of powers.” The large man scowled, reaching into his coat pocket. He pulled out a knife, and grabbed the shorter man.

He pressed the knife into the knape of the shorter man’s neck. “Not another step, or Virgil gets it!”

Okay, so the shorter guy was named Virgil. 

Virgil squirmed in the man’s grip, frowning tightly. He locked eyes with Janus.

If Janus didn’t know any better, the glint in Virgil’s eyes was almost amused. Like he saw this whole situation as a joke. Like he was testing Janus, seeing what he would do.

Janus shook that thought off. One day as a hero, and he’s already imagining things.

“Listen, darling, we can talk about this.” Janus told the larger man gently. “Let’s be civil.”

“You’re going to lock me up.” The larger man growled. “I can’t go to jail.” 

“You most certainly can, I’m not sure what to tell you.” Janus shrugged. The large man scowled, pressing the knife a little more into Virgil’s neck.

“Don’t test me, I’ll do it!” He barked. 

Janus paused, examining every detail of the man’s expression. After quickly deciding how to handle the situation, he pushed himself off the wall, tilting his head. “Okay, go on, then.”

Both Virgil and the man froze, alarm shooting through their eyes. “...What?” The man asked.

Janus shrugged, putting one hand on his hip and gesturing to the man with the other. “Do it.” He said simply. He held his hands up in surrender. “I won’t try and stop you.”

The man shook, staring at Janus in disbelief. “Are you serious?” He murmured. Janus just nodded, watching him carefully. 

“Go ahead.” 

Virgil furrowed his brow, laughing a bit in disbelief. 

The man took a deep breath, moving to slit Virgil’s throat. He glanced back and forth between the knife and Janus, as if waiting for the latter to stop him. 

Janus just tilted his head, not moving from his position.

The man began to shake, and dropped the knife, backing away from Virgil, who looked stunned. “I can’t do it. I can’t do it.” He murmured, burying his face in his hands.

Janus let out a small sigh of relief. For a second there, he was afraid that he had misjudged the situation. 

“Just take me away.” The man held out his hands, expecting Janus to cuff him. 

"Oh, I, uh, don't have handcuffs."

"Oh."

---

The police drove away, the man in the back of their car. 

“Are you alright?” Janus asked Virgil, who hadn’t really moved from his position in the alley. 

“How…” Virgil began, glancing up at him, “how did you do that?” 

Janus tilted his head. “Do what?” He asked, confused. 

“Make him not, y’know, hurt me?” Virgil rose a brow, crossing his arms. 

“He wasn’t planning to. Just wanted to scare me away.” Janus said simply.

“Did you read his mind?” Virgil asked, before his eyes widened in panic. “I-Is that your power?!”

“What? No.” Janus scoffed, shaking his head. “His body language gave it away. He didn’t really look ready to hurt you, so I figured he wasn’t.”

“Oh.” Virgil blinked. “I didn’t really pick up on that. Probably because there was a knife at my neck.”

Janus wasn’t surprised Virgil hadn't picked up on it. Miss Libelle had him studying human behavior his entire life in order to perfect his powers. It was one thing to look like another person, it was another to act like them.

“What did you say your name was?” Virgil asked after a moment of silence.

“Oh, uh, Deceit.” He said, nervous for some reason. This guy just had an intimidating aura, it was hard to explain. 

“Tell me your powers.” 

“I can shapeshift into anyone I want, with no exceptions.” Janus blurted out the next moment, not even thinking. He blinked, stunned. “What just--?”

“A shapeshifter, huh? Cool.” Virgil nodded, slipping his hood over his head and shoving his hands in pockets. “Well, Deceit, thank you. We’re lucky to have a hero like you running around.” 

“Thank...you…?” Janus murmured, watching him walk off. “That was weird.” He mumbled to himself.

A/N:

Virgil has made his appearance 😩