The Logical Exception

{ Chapter 23 - Angry Revelations }

Their safe house ended up being hours away, in the middle of a suburban town, sitting inconspicuously amongst the other houses. It would be a safe place for them to heal and regroup, and, if given the chance, Logan probably would have done just that. Unfortunately, this was his plan and his house. He had to be the caretaker and orchestrator. He had to continue to fight and push. Things had changed but he still had to protect the people he cared about.

He had been renting this house out to other families for the past seven years. It had been a nice source of income that he could easily hide. Logan kept his identity a secret and his involvement to a minimum. This house had always been his backup plan if something ever happened. Luckily, the last tenants had moved out a few months ago and with finals coming up he hadn't had time to search for new tenants. At least one thing had gone right for him.

There were four rooms, not nearly enough for all of them to have their own private space but it was a temporary solution for the time being. Logan wasn't sure how long any of them would be staying, but he didn't want to chase any of them away. Logan had insisted that Patton and Virgil share a room, for the time being, as they were both the most injured. It would be easier to keep track of their health if both of them were close. Remus, of course, didn't like that but eventually caved when he was told he could stay with Patton as much as he needed to, as long as he didn't disrupt Virgil.

Technically, Remus and Roman were sharing a room, though Logan didn't expect that Remus would be in his room often. Deceit and his brother were another until they decided to leave. Logan was surprised they hadn't already. He wasn't sure what kept Deceit around but he could tell Sleep was fascinated by the whole situation. That left Logan sharing a room with Emile.

It made the most sense since Emile was probably the only person who trusted him in this whole situation and Logan wasn't sure how he could repay that trust. It was nice to not be completely alone when everything was falling apart, but he didn't intend on telling that to anyone. Hopefully, Emile would enjoy being in the room alone, since Logan planned on spending most of his time tending to the two injured men. Logan was sure he wouldn't be in his room much either.

This was his fault, the state of Patton, the state of Virgil, all of it was his fault. If he had planned things more appropriately, if he had prepared for more scenarios, if he had noticed Patton's differences, none of this would have happened. A soft sigh broke through his lips as he continued to type on his computer, checking Virgil and Patton's vital's regularly. Patton had been waking up for brief moments. They had been able to get him to drink a bit more, with more of the protein supplements added to his water, but Logan hadn't brought much with one backpack he had snuck out of the house. He was beginning to run low. Patton also didn't seem coherent when he woke up. The guilt gnawed deeply at Logan and he was already starting to fray at the seams.

"ReRe..." Patton's soft voice echoed through the quiet room, a signal for Logan to start preparing another mixture. This time was different. Patton opened his eyes and if the look on Remus' face was any indication, he was actually beginning to focus a bit.

"Yeah Patso, I'm here. Not even a rabid honey badger would stop me from being by your side."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days, at least, probably more, but that's okay, you dream and tell me all about it."

Patton laughed a little leaning into Remus' hand. "Do you want to tell me a story? I missed your voice, and it might help me wake up."

"Yeah," Remus almost choked and Logan watched the tears slide down his brother's face. "Yeah, I'll tell you the most graphic horror story I can come up with."

"I love you, ReRe. Just no creepy-crawly death dealers okay?"

"Yeah, okay, okay." He crawled into the bed with Patton, pulling the shorter man's head onto his lap.

Logan felt like he was intruding on such a soft moment, so he set down his computer and stepped out of the room, trying not to put too much pressure on his still injured leg. His body still hurt, most of his bruises having faded to a light brownish-yellow color, but his leg and his side still stung with fresh pain. The wounds were healing well, but he didn't want to pull the stitches from overuse.

"You've been avoiding me, haven't you?"

He sighed again, turning to look at Roman. Logan didn't really have the energy for this but he knew there was no avoiding it. "Surprisingly, no, I wasn't avoiding you Roman, I have been attempting to help Patton and Virgil."

"They wouldn't even be in this state if it wasn't for you, none of us would be."

He knew that; he knew that better than anyone. "Very astute of you Roman, why don't you tell me all the reasons this is my fault?" Logan could feel his anger rising. He needed to control it, but he also knew Roman needed to get this all out and off his chest.

"Oh, you want to hear why it's your fault? Where do I even start? You act as if you were so smart, so how did you not know that there would be a trap waiting for you? If you had figured that out, maybe Virgil wouldn't be laying in that room unconscious." Logan hadn't told them fully what happened. He knew keeping secrets during all of this wasn't the best idea, but he couldn't bring himself to admit how very much it was his fault. "Oh, or let's talk about how you have bossed us all around this entire time without providing any kind of explanation. What are we just tools for you to use? Pawns in a chess game you've created in your head?"

Logan flinched before straightening his back, standing as tall as his body would let him. Of course, they weren't tools. He wasn't like his parents. He really was trying to do his best to protect all of them. "Are you done?"

"No, no I'm not, let's also talk about how it was someone who works for your family that replaced Patton. How long was he slowly wasting away in that hell? How do I know that wasn't all a part of some grand plan you have to build us back up, gain our trust and then tear us apart. You say you want to make it up to us but you have been barely useful through all of this. Damn, she was right, you are just a computer virus."

Logan's eyes sparked with uncontrolled electricity, the sound of glass picture frames cracking echoed in the nearly silent room. "Do you know why she calls me that?" Roman couldn't read the emotions in Logan's eyes and Logan didn't even know what he was feeling. All he knew was that it hurt. "She calls me a computer virus because I was designed and made for a specific purpose, but once I went rouge my only use was to be eradicated. Do you genuinely believe that my only purpose is to die?" His voice was too calm, it sent a shiver up Roman's spine as the red smoke began to pour from his body subconsciously.

"What if I said yes?" His voice shook, he didn't mean it, but if Logan wanted a fight he wasn't going to back down.

The electricity faded from Logan's eyes and Roman was left to look at a set of blue eyes that looked much too exhausted and much too old to belong to someone who was only 6 years older than him. He shouldn't have said that. He knew he shouldn't have said that. "Then I have failed you in more ways than one." Logan turned, apparently ending their conversation before Roman got any of the answers he wanted or needed. Logan couldn't just end the conversation like that. Roman needed answers, but his voice wouldn't come out.

For a brief moment, Logan paused, hand on the wall as he held himself up, a million thoughts going through his head. Roman must have been cornered by their mother during the raid, which meant there was no reason to keep up pretenses. "Roman, if you want the truth so badly, you should know a King is nothing, without those whom he serves, and I have always served you, my prince."

As Logan turned around, he didn't see the flash of recognition in Roman's eyes; he didn't see the flood gates of memory open, and he didn't see the red mist solidify into a sword. He did feel the back of the sword hit his head before passing out onto the floor. 

AN: I'm so proud of myself! I am sick and I still got this out before 11 am! Go me! Though honestly, I wish I had finished it earlier so that I could get someone else to look it over because sick brain isn't always the best at editing, but it's done. It's out, and for now, I'm happy with it.