Confidentiality

Chapter 39

“--then I convinced her to let me go, and ran into Patton at the city meeting.” Janus told them. “And now, I’m here.” 

The explanation took longer than he was expecting, Janus having to go back to when he was assigned his mission to go undercover, and clarifying why he didn’t just tell the heroes what his mother’s plan was. 

Virgil, Logan, and Patton all had the same expression on their faces throughout the entire spiel. It was closed off, not letting him know what they were thinking.

There were a few moments of silence, and Janus feared that they didn’t believe him.

“...Okay.” Logan began, his eyes on the ground as if he was thinking very intensely about something. “So, we need a plan to get Ursula’s necklace.”

“What do you think we should do?” Patton asked.

Janus blinked. That was it? No further questions? They just believed his story? 

Well, Patton and Logan seemed to, at least. Virgil was still eyeing him suspiciously.

“My first instinct is to have Virgil use his voice to get her to hand it over, but we need to eliminate the possibility of the villains stopping her.” Logan continued. 

Janus furrowed his brow. “How would they do that?” 

“They have ways of stopping the effects of my abilities.” Virgil muttered, brow furrowed in thought. “That’s why the villains don’t stay in prison after I tell them to, or how they move again when I tell them to freeze.”

Janus hadn’t really thought about that before. He just assumed that Virgil’s powers wore off after a certain amount of time.

“With just Janus and I, it’ll be hard to hold off the villains long enough for Ursula to hand over the necklace.” Logan sighed, shaking his head. 

Wait, what?

“Where’s Roman?” Janus asked, confused as to why he wouldn’t be able to help.

All three of them grimaced. 

“I could try and hold them off with my telekinesis.” Logan suggested, completely barreling over Janus’ question. “I’m not sure how long I’d be able to hold it, though.”

“I don’t want you to strain yourself.” Patton frowned. “Also, Janus is--”

Injured. Right. Janus had almost forgotten he’d let that one slip.

“This is important, Patton.” Logan countered dismissively. “Your powers can be retrieved. That’s all that matters.” 

“No, Patton’s right.” Virgil spoke up. “Your powers are the most useful for combat between the three of us. We need to conserve your strength.”

“Then how do you suggest we hold the villains back long enough for Virgil to use his voice on Ursula?” The Logan that Janus remembered would’ve said that sharply, but the Logan in front of him just seemed tired. 

Not just in the sense that he needed more sleep (he did, but that was a matter for a different day), but in the sense that his entire being radiated exhaustion. His brow had a slight furrow to it, his eyes (which had heavy bags underneath them) were looking between the three of them in a sort of dull resignation. His mouth seemed to be pulled into a permanent frown. 

“I don’t know, Lo.” Virgil sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “Don’t you usually come up with the plans?”

Logan scowled. “Well, you just shot down my plan, so I reiterate: what is your plan for holding back the villains?”