Bad Guy

NiNe

He knew that Virgil was lying but he had no idea why. The ex-villain had told them - told him - things that made his stomach churn and his blood boil, so why did he lie about not remembering anything else?

Roman didn't bring it up though, he didn't want to force the already exhausted man to talk about something that obviously traumatized him. That wouldn't reveal anything new and instead would only make him build his walls even higher. Yet he constantly kept an eye on the other man, he felt a strange urge to protect him but he just pinned it the feeling bad about breaking his promise.

If Virgil had survived Depression he could take care of himself.

The way he moved without flinching in pain amazed Roman, it made him wonder just how many times Virgil had been forced to move around with (probably) untreated injures. Probably far too many - though once was too many times in Romans books. Yet his injures where healing nicely, but they would leave a nasty scar... just another reminder of the torture that man - boy, child, teenager, how long was he there for? - put him through. Just another mark from the monster under his bed, the jagged presence of the thing that had controlled the other mans life for far too long. The presence of the man that had killed Romans best friends, the man that he had sworn to kill.

People like Virgil where the reason that he became a hero. People that couldn't speak up for themselves due to fear, people that couldn't defend themselves, where the reason he dawned a mask. To make sure nothing like what happened to Missy and Pranks happened to anyone else, but it did. It happened to Virgil, a man who somehow still held so much compassion and kindness in his heart. A man who made it out of hell yet continues to care about the human race, a man who swears to protect instead of seeking petty vengeance.

A man Roman wished he could be.

Because Virgil was good. He was pure hearted, despite the dark nature of his powers; he balanced the world out, he made reality bend to everyone's weaknesses yet ensured that they knew true kindness before doing so. There was evil and there was Virgil. Because nothing could be good without the dark, no one could be pure without any corruption.

Roman had vengeance, Logan had to prove something, Patton had his curse of empathy. This corrupted them, turned them to doing good for their own gain. But Virgil didn't do anything for himself, he took his hatred and fear and turned it into something he could use to benefit others; he had never killed or hurt an innocent person despite what Depression must have ordered him to do, instead he prevented them from seeing the blood and death that was happening around them, he preserved their innocence despite the fact that it exhausted him.

It was small things like that that he picked up on after mentally looking back on all of their fights as the ex-villain (though was he ever really a villain?) slept fitfully. But he was snapped out of his head, away from the stamped to memories, at the first sign of Virgil having a nightmare.

"Wake up, come on, please," Prince whispered as he gently shook the sleeping mans shoulder. Virgil shot upwards with a startled gasp, his hands flying up to gently grasp his neck; if Roman had to guess then he would say that Virgil's nightmare (memory?) was about someone suffocating him. Roman felt his own air-ways constrict at the thought, as though someone was chocking him... but when he opened his eyes someone was.

Virgil's hands where around his throat, cutting of his oxygen. His near black eyes piercing Romans own brown once, staring into his soul and pulling every good feeling out of him. Leaving him empty.

And then it was over. He could breath, and Virgil was on the bed with his hands around his own throat. Roman quickly rushed into action, pulling the scarred hands away from his throat before holding them down as he tried to wake Virgil up fully. It worked, eventually, and Virgil was stuttering out a string of 'sorry's after realizing that he had hurt Roman.

"It's fine, I mean you didn't really choke me," Roman said, his voice a little raspy from the fact that he had been momentarily deprived of oxygen.

"My powers can still hurt you!" Virgil yelled as he pulled at his hair frantically, but Roman once again held his hands in order to prevent him from causing damage to himself.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself," Roman managed to choke out as Virgil screamed in frustration. He had no idea what to do or how to deal with the other man so he pulled him in for a tight hug and lay them both down on the bed, humming a Disney song until they both fell asleep.

Finding out why he lied could wait until tomorrow.