An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Twenty Three

Then there was one, laying in bed with a blank open-eyed stare. Virgil was unconscious surprisingly, but who knew when he'd wake up again-

"What the hell!" Virgil yelped, flailing his arms around as he gained consciousness. The hero was drenched in water, that he knew. After calming down and taking a second to get his bearing on the world, the emo huffed in annoyance. Beside him was Remy with an empty bucket and an evident smirk. 

"Sorry, not sorry Virgil, we've got too many problems and not enough time." The officer tossed me a towel and pointed to a chair beside me. The chair had a fresh set of clothes and to his surprise, a brand new black and purple stitched hoodie. 

As if Remy was reading my mind he shrugged, "Thomas worked all night to make one for you. it's got a few new features and all of that shit."

"Cool," I sighed, ruffling my wet hair into a towel. Memories began filling in my head and I stopped abruptly. "Where's Roman?" 

Remy, who was about to leave the room paused at the door. One of his fingers scratched against the door frame. His shoulders fell ever so slightly and so I prepared for the worst. "He's gone, sacrificed himself over you. Why?"

"Why?!" I threw my legs over the bedside and with slight resistance, got to my feet. "How can you say that? I-he-your cold."

The officer stiffened at my words but after spinning to face me again, kept his tone and expression neutral. "You seem to forget Virgil, I don't get attached to people like you do. My only goal is to train you and keep you on your toes. I wasn't his friend and I'm not yours. Getting attached is dangerous, that's why you were told at the beginning not to let that happen."

"But those people were all I have!" I snapped, "And don't tell me you don't fucking care Remy. All those times you watched movies with us and bought us coffee on the fly, was that training? No, no it wasn't." I pulled off my soaked shirt and brushed passed him, going to the chair to pick up my dry clothes.

Remy swirled the drink in his hand as I passed by. "Virge you're being ridicul-what's that on your back!" There was a panicked edge in his voice.

 I scoffed in response, grabbing my shirt off the chair and pulling it on. "Thought you didn't give a shit Rem, make up your stupid mind." I didn't bother to turn my head back and glance at him. I pulled my jacket over me and shoved my hands into the deep abyss of my pockets. "...There from my father..." I turned around finally to study his expression. His face seemed neutral, but the silence said it all, "I'm gonna go find Thomas, talk to me when you pull your head out of your ass."

With those words, I left the room. I didn't bother to change my pants, considering they didn't get wet in the first place. Tap, tap, tap my bare feet padded against the floor. Tick, tick, tick, a loud clock echoed down the hall. 

Tap, tap, thud, my body twitched at the unexpected sound. 

I had been walking without a conscious destination. That was until I heard a loud thud from a room nearby, only then did I take note of my surroundings. My legs had carried me down to the living quarters. My room sat empty only a few feet away, but my eye's drifted towards the door across from mine, Roman's.

I crack the door open and glance from the bed, back to the ground. Thomas was sitting on Roman's bed, an unfamiliar book faced down on the ground. It was open but the pages weren't my focus. "Thomas?" I asked softly. Entering the room, my hands closed and locked the door as I entered. I fell onto the soft bed, sinking into it slightly before I wrapped a hesitant arm around Thomas's shoulders. "What happened?"

The mentor lifted his head to give me a thankful smile. As if remembering the tragedy, however, his face begun to fall again. " I've been going into Logan's Patton's, and Roman's room to keep them tidy. You know, for when they come back. I know they'll come back," another smirk tugged at his face," I can't get rid of Roman that easily."

My brow raised as if shifting a great weight, forcing the rest of my head to tilt to the side. "Is that why your-" 

"No," Thomas interrupted. He shifted on the bed and pointed towards my feet. The book sat idly by my feet. "I found Roman's journal or diary-I don't know, but I found it under his bed and opened it..."

"What did it say that made you so," I gestured frantically to my mentor, "This?"

A moment of silence followed my question. Then with a deep breath, Thomas began once more. "Roman never talks about himself in his entries."

"So?"

"He only seemed to write about us., here." Thomas reached down and picked up the journal. He flipped a page or two before reading aloud.

"I can't even begin to express my gratitude. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd meet such a band of people. I've only been here for a month, but I already think I'm breaking the rules. how'd it go? Rule one: don't get attached to each other. That sounds about right, although it's clearly wrong. Everyone in this facility is so accepting and that warms my heart. Of course, I'll never admit that out loud..."

Thomas stopped reading there, and glanced back up to me, searching for any input. All I could say was "Oh."

"Yeah," Thomas breathed but a big, mischievous smile crossed over his face. The mentor got to his feet, book in hand, and began flipping some more pages. "Yo Virgil," He shoved the book into my arms. "I think you should read this page. It's an interesting entry and I think you'll enjoy it." Thomas winked at me before rushing to the door, unlocking it, and bolting into the hall. 

My face was probably a good three shades darker. Something about his tone made my face heat up with embarrassment. I pulled the open book away from me and began to read.

"Today has been, by far, one of the funniest missions yet. Thomas sent Virgil and I down to the mall to interrogate a suspect. Not only was it fun to interrogate him but we found and interrogated him in a Hot Topic store. Throughout the entire session, I caught Virgil glancing back to a shirt nearby. The man was so nervous and done with us by the end of it that I took that as my chance to do something nice. I was all like, "...And you see that shirt behind you, we'll take that to go!" The dude just handed it over without question and we finally left the poor dude alone. I gave it to Virge when we got out of the store and he loved it. Something about the look on his face just made my heart melt. That's when I realized that Virgil loved the shirt, but I loved him."

The entry ended there. I closed the book and set in beside me. I was wearing the same shirt today. 

"God damn it Princey, what are you doing to me."

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I'm back from break! Hope I'm not TOO sloppy.