I'll Find You... I Promise

One Shot- Christmas

This takes place about a year and a half after Janus and Virgil meet Patton and Logan. The twins are 13, Janus is about to turn 18 in less than 2 months, and Virgil is 10.

It was a relief when the twins and Virgil came running down the stairs, practically shaking the house with their excitement. Three excited calls of "Christmas!" rang through the air, followed by Patton's laughter. Janus hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, and not because of foolish childish excitement brought on by the thought of presents, hot cocoa, or Patton's Super Secret Christmas Peppermint Chocolate Chip Pancake, or even a full day of not doing anything except watching movies and playing games with his family. Instead, Janus was filled with a tight feeling of nervousness and dread that had kept him up all night.

His bedroom door flew open, and almost instantly, he was engulfed in a dog pile of siblings who were chearing ecstatically.

"Come on Jan! It's Christmas!" Roman shouted, tugging on his arm.

Virgil had snuck behind him, sitting in front of his headboard, and was trying to push him into an upright position, "Santa came! He left presents!"

Remus was tugging on his other arm, and Janus watched with a bemused tired smile as they tried to drag him out of bed, "Get up! Dad says we can't start without you.

Janus rolled his eyes, "Oh no, but however will I do that, when I can't get out of bed?" he replied with a smile.

"What do you mean you can't get out of bed?!" Roman demanded to know.

"Yeah, just get up!" Remus shouted, "It's not like your boyfriend is here to tie you down." Janus frowned and leveled Remus with a scolding look that made him smile nervously, "I'm sorry, don't tell Dad."

He rolled his eyes again, but relented, "I can't get up, if I got up, there would no one to trap the elves."

"What elves?" Virgil asked.

Janus smiled and evil smile that by now, Roman and Remus had come to know very well. Virgil, who was still behind him, didn't see it. He was not offered the same headstart the twins were. The twins looked at each other before scrambling to get off the bed. Janus was faster though, he grabbed Roman by the back of his shirt, and Remus by his ankle and pulled them back. Virgil, now knowing what Janus was doing, tried to escape to, but Janus only had to lean back to pin him against the headboard. He quickly held Roman down with his legs before grabbing Virgil, leaning forward and flipping him over his shoulder and into his lap.

Virgil screamed a little, but it was filled with laughter as Janus flipped them all over (an impressive task seeing as he had two teenagers who were doing there hardest to squirm away from him) so he now laid on top of all three of them.

"Why, the three elves Santa wanted of course." Janus finally replied as he settled in, resting his head on his hand, "You see, last night after putting all the gifts under the tree Santa came in to tell me something. He said that he thought the three of you would make the perfect elves! But, he still had a ton more gifts to deliver so he didn't have any room on his sleigh. So I told him that I'd trap you and hold onto you until he could come back today to pick you up. And I can't break my promise to Santa. So, even if I am sad to see you go, I gotta do what I gotta do. You understand right?"

"Noooo!" Virgil whined

"You traitor! Let us go!" Roman shouted dramatically.

Remus, just as dramatic and whiny, threw his head back over the edge of the bed and let it hang there, kicking his legs to try and free himself, "Deeee!"

Janus pretended to ignore them, nodding sadly and wiping away fake tears, "I'll miss you! Make sure you write, there's no cell service or wifi at the North Pole."