Demus Oneshots

Weakness

Janus wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed. It was pitch black, he couldn't even see his breath fogging in front of his face. His neck ached where he'd been shot with something and his head was pounding like a too-enthusiastic child was playing drums with it.

Janus attempted to stand but lost his balance half way there. He keeled over and knocked his chin on the floor, scraping the skin off. He could feel the blood running down his neck.

He gave his wrists a quick twist. The ropes held good. His gloves had been kept, however. Clearly his reputation preceded him.

With difficulty, Janus pushed himself up off his front and managed to kneel down. His feet were chained to something and he could barely move.

The light above him glared into life. He shut his eyes against its harsh light, momentarily going blind.

"Well, Captor, it's good to see your finally awake." Janus' blood ran cold at the voice.

"You're dead." He murmured thickly. "You're meant to be-"

"What's that?" Roman grabbed his chin and jerked his face up. "Sorry, it's the narcotic. Takes a while to wear off, you're going to have to look at me when you speak."

Janus glared up at him. He had the strong desire to spit in Roman's scarred face but his mouth had gone completely dry.

"You're dead." He repeated. Roman let go of his chin and wiped Janus' blood on his trouser leg.

"No. Romeo is dead." Roman spread his arms wide. "Prince lived."

"You're mad."

"Better alive and insane than dead and sane." Roman contradicted. "Anyway," He pressed his fingertips together, "I really think we got off on the wrong foot at the beginning of Romeo's demise. I'm going to remedy that."

Janus pulled on the rope binding his wrists again. Roman smacked him across the back of the head.

"Don't try that." He advised. "You'll be dead before the rope hits the floor." He grinned. "Or, at least, someone will."

Something in that sparked a mix of curiosity and worry in Janus' gut. He said nothing, though. Roman's face fell.

"Oh, come on." He poked Janus with his foot. "Play the game. Ask me questions. Talk!" He slapped Janus again.

Janus' head jerked to the side, his hair falling in his face. He winced as the ends trailed along his chin.

"No."

Roman's face fell and he rolled his eyes. "Fine. You're boring." He leaned his hand on a lever by the door. "You are going to work with me. Against Chaos. We're going to kill him."

Janus shook his head. Roman sighed.

"Oh, I forgot. You think you have a choice in this!" Roman pulled on the lever. What Janus had thought was a mirror lit up.

Remus was sat, slumped over, tied up exactly the same way Janus was. He wasn't moving and Janus couldn't tell if he was breathing.

"Rem? Rem?!" Janus forgot Roman was there. He forgot this was probably just some part of the plan. All he remembered right now was that the person he'd devoted his entire life to wasn't safe and he couldn't get there to help! He strained against the chain keeping him tied to the wall. The links of the chain clinked and scraped against each other.

Roman laughed. "Don't worry, he's not dead. It's just the narcotic. He reacts quite strongly to it, a lot stronger than I remember..."

Janus whipped his head round to glare at him. "Are you completely insane?! He's your brother!"