The Logical Exception

{ Chapter 10 - Caution and Anger }

There was blood on the wall. Small flecks that were barely noticeable if you weren't on high alert. Virgil was always on high alert. It looked like it had come off of someone when they bumped into the wall, and it was dry which meant the wounds weren't recent. That was enough to make Virgil's chest tighten. Immediately, his shadows were at his side, prepared for an ambush. He should have known that Logic had more planned than just giving him food. It was all too convenient. Logic was a cold, calculating, robotic person. Virgil had, by some idiocy, let his guard down. That wouldn't happen again.

Slowly the anxious hero made his way through the apartment, checking every corner, counting in his head to make sure he wasn't missing memories. He wasn't sure if it would work but after Logic's admission last night he had been trying to come up with a technique that would help him fight. He had to be able to catch it if Logic used his powers.

After the living room and kitchen were cleared, Virgil made his way down the hallway, opening his door quickly and looking in. There, on his bed, was a man, tall in height, dark hair, and a suit. He looked broken. Part of him wanted to rush over, help this poor man. The other part of him held him to the ground, cautiously assessing the situation. The door had been locked still, this wasn't a simple burglary case, this man could be dangerous.

Slowly, cautiously, Virgil brought his shadows closer to the man, ready to strike, before clearing his throat. "What are you doing here?"

The figure didn't move. They were still breathing, a soft wheeze of pain coming out occasionally, but they didn't register Virgil's voice. The pain was obvious, and he was ready to let his guard drop again, but he couldn't. He wouldn't be a statistic. Checking behind him again, his mind on high alert, Virgil tried once more.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was dark and reverberated with the powers of the shadows behind him. It was enough to wake the man up. He flinched, fear in his eyes as he tried to sit up, proceeding to fall off the bed. In a different situation, it might have been funny, but with the sharp intake of breath, his arms flying up to protect his face, Virgil wasn't laughing.

Focusing on this man's face, Virgil noticed his blue eyes, blue lightning flashing through them, desperately trying to activate a power but not having the strength. It broke Virgil's memory block and his heart. He knew this man. Logan, who he had met at the college, and Logic, who he had been fighting for over a year, the same person in front of him who now had tears streaming down his face.

"A...apologies, let me..." He tried to push himself up but it seemed to do no good, "let me compose myself." When sitting up failed Logan began a breathing exercise. It was a different pattern than what he used for his anxiety attacks. He knew this pattern from Roman. This was to help curb the pain.

Neither of them moved as Logan fought with his breathing, arms still hiding his face as he lay on the floor. It was only after a minute of silence that he began to move. Specifically, his leg moved, and Virgil flinched back. If Logic wanted a fight he would be ready, but his leg didn't move in a natural way. It was only when he looked back into Logan's eyes that he realized the villain had to be using his powers to hold his leg in a more comfortable place. "My apologies." He whispered again, one of his arms lying by his side, his breathless labored but still strained.

Even with the suit, Virgil could see bruises that crawled up Logan's neck, and the way he winced each time his torso moved, Virgil had never felt rage like this before. It was difficult to fake pain like this, not that he would ever underestimate Logic, but this looked too real. No one deserved to be treated like this. Where was his partner? He had to have one. Why was no one helping him? Even if Logic was faking it, Patton had repeated it over and over to Virgil. 'Kindness was not weakness, kindness was strength.'

"Forget composing yourself. Let's get you back in bed. You have a lot of questions to answer but for now, you need to heal."

For once, Logic didn't argue. Stoic, argumentative, always stilted Logic, didn't put up a fight. He didn't move at all, didn't speak in his own defense. Who had hurt Logic so bad that he would be like putty in the hands of a hero, shapeless and without any resistance? Kneeling down beside his injured opposite, Virgil held out his hand. "Mr. McMuscles is not here, nor is his brother, so I'm going to need your help to get you up."

Logan just nodded, taking Virgil's hand without a word. Virgil wasn't surprised. He doubted Logic would be able to talk well through the pain. "A...again, my apologies." Yet, he still tried. Now laying in bed, Logic was looking up at Virgil with regret, frustration, and pain. He preferred confident Logan to this.

"If you are really sorry about all of this you can tell me the whole story later. Rest. I'm going to get the first aid kit for some pain medication."

"Ahh... my bag."

Virgil looked at him, "Your bag."

Logan weakly pointed to the side of the bed and Virgil noticed a backpack, a rather large backpack that looked heavy. Somehow Logic had walked here from who knows where, on a bad leg, while carrying a backpack. Virgil felt his jaw set hard, his teeth clenched together. Villain or not, no one deserved this.

"What's in your bag?" He walked over too it, opening up the first zipper.

"Pain meds." Everything was so organized, and it was more than pain meds. There were a lot of bottles and supplies, none of which Vigil could read. The labels were handwritten in a language he didn't know.

"I can't read any of these, what even are they?"

"Pain meds," he repeated, reaching out, wincing as he used his powers to lift up the bottles. After looking over each one, he opened a white bottle, slipping two pills out and swallowing them dry.

"You need to stop using your powers. You are exhausting your body."

Logan nodded but didn't say anything. He didn't move, his breath still heavy and his eyes still lit up. He was still using his powers. Virgil didn't understand why. What he did understand was that Logan needed help.

"Sleep, I'm going to start dinner."

Logan nodded, trying to steady his breath as he closed his eyes, thin fingers gripping the sheets tightly. Virgil was almost certain this was real, but just in case, he still kept his guard up. As he left the room, he pulled out his phone, texting Patton.

'If you can, I need you to come home early. We have an unexpected visitor at the house, and he is in need of your expertise.' Virgil looked at his phone before looking back towards the room. A broken leg, disorientation, and Patton's powers not working as well as they used to. The smartest thing would be to get him to a proper hospital, but if Logan got his powers the same way Virgil had, that wasn't an option. Going to the hospital could bring up too many questions.

A sigh left Virgil's lips as he walked to the kitchen, pulling down his hood. Everything was just too chaotic. Those kinds of injuries would take months to heal, and they didn't have the supplies to harbor a villain for months. Maybe Virgil should just turn him over to the authorities.

AN: Tell me what you thought. Did I overdo it with the wound description? Should I have made this chapter shorter? I still feel so completely out of my depth writing a superhero book! Oh well, I still enjoyed it. I hope you did as well!