*Discontinued* Shifter

18

"By doing whatever she has to." Virgil suddenly jerked up in shock as Roman visibly crashed. "If going to the police is a no go because it would be an instant trigger, it wouldn't be safe. There would be too great a possibility of her getting hurt or worse. If calling family is out of the question because of uncertainty, anxiety, and... guilt... then so would asking a friend for help too. She couldn't just walk up to a random stranger. They would take her to the police. And if by some off chance she managed to get into the system safely her trigger would still be a constant threat... and now knowing how a random citizen will react to someone so much as like that lady... She really wouldn't be safe trusting anyone."

"Hense why they're forced into the black." Roman didn't bother to respond. His heart was just broken. Imagining his little baby sister going through something like that... Well, it finally gave him something to sympathize with. "People don't choose the black, Roman. They don't have a choice. Villains are villains but the black... The black is just nothing. It's a void... a place known only for survival. Once you're in it... you don't ever get out."

"But... Let's say she... Chrissy... does go into the black to survive. She steals and whatever she has to live... Can't she stop once she gets older?" Roman already knew the answer, his heart sinking with every second. He still needed to hear it. "Once she's old enough..." 

"Roman, think about it. She's forced to use her power on a daily basis to get essentials to survive. Yes, in theory, she could drop everything but... She's alone. No money, no home, no family, nothing... At the least, she'd start taking jobs." Virgil actually flinched making Roman tense as his heart skipped a bit. "She'd take a job here and there, risking a possible trap, for a chance at money."

"Trap?" Virgil could only nod.

"Yeah, trap. People really hate shifters, Roman. They'll take any opportunity they can to take one down. Often times they aren't opposed to posing as possible help. When you're hired help you risk traps with every accepted job. If you aren't strong, fast, or smart... your dead. It's just fact. And god forbid she ever ran into a hero..." 

"Heroes are supposed to help those in need."

"But what if the one in need is the one they already deemed to be the villain?" That shut Roman up real fast. His mind pulling him under straight into the scene he had with Raven. 'They weren't the ones that needed yo-...' Roman's eyes widened as his mind replayed the scene. The panic in Raven's eyes... the fact that that woman tried to shoot him. Was that one of those traps Virgil was talking about... Had Raven been right? Had he been late after all... Had Raven been the one who needed him? Was Raven the victim? "Roman?"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. I uh... Got lost in thought." Roman smiled awkwardly as he sighed and shook himself from his head. He was going to have to work things over with himself majorly. He was also going to have to talk things through with Patton. Something clearly happened at their last encounter and now Roman was adamant about knowing it all. "I don't know, Virge. I suppose... If the hero thought her the villain..." Roman wouldn't have changed his mind about him. The hero drew comparisons to him and Raven clear as day. Had Raven been the victim, as he was now concerned that he was... Roman at the time would not... HAD not have even thought to wonder. He simply saw Raven 'attacking' and assumed the worst without even letting the other explain, despite Raven clearly stating he didn't know what had happened. Now that he thought about it. If the woman's arm was truly injured as she had at first made it appear to be... how had she then fired the gun so swiftly and accurately. She had to have been faking it... and had that bullet landed... It would have ultimately been Roman's fault. 

"You seem to be taking this hard. Did I fuck up using your sister as an example?" Roman's eyes instantly darted over to see Virgil in tears. "I-I didn't mean to. I was just trying to come up with something for you t-to sympathize with. I..."

"Virgil, no. I'm not upset over that. I promise. I..." Roman frowned as he spotted Virgil clutching his knees tightly. So tightly he was digging his nails into his pants... Nails that were changing color like an ever-constant rainbow. "It was the right choice using Chrissy. Trust me. Seeing her in that position did give me a way to sympathize." But thinking about YOU as one of them makes it all the more painful to imagine... Roman's mind fell in complete and total tatters. He couldn't think. His mind just wouldn't work. He just sat there staring as Virgil's nails shifted and changed. "I swear... I was just lost in thought. I was trying to work through something else I promise."

"I just..." Virgil tensed up as he hugged himself all the more making it obvious just how anxious he was... and making his nails change even faster. "I just... I know I said I couldn't... wouldn't be friends with someone who believed people could just be evil simply because of the power they have but... If I ended up fucking everything up, myself. I don't know. Ignore me... my anxiety is just getting me I guess." The color finally stopped shifting, falling back into its natural tone as Roman looked up and met with Virgil's small smile. "I am happy though, Ro. I didn't want you to do this JUST so that you wouldn't lose me but... Even still... The fact that you're willing to learn or to just try at all... It does mean a lot. That's why I used your sister as an example. I understood that if you were willing to try then... I had to be understanding that you wouldn't just get it. I had to make it easier for you to latch on to... she was the only thing I knew about you that I could use. I knew that if you were willing to try... then I had to as well. Just... Let me know if I go too far or... if I don't do enough. I want you to be able to understand. I..." Virgil squeezed himself a bit as he took a deep breath wanting to just say it and be done with it. "I don't want to lose you either, Ro. I... I care about you too. That's why it hurt so much, I guess."

"Why don't we call it a night?" Virgil froze, his heart just crashing in his chest. He didn't bother looking up as he feared he just did the very thing he didn't want to do... fuck it all up. "You're still hurt, Virge. I told you I want to make sure you're ok."

"Ro..."

"Don't worry. I heard you." Roman noticed how Virgil dropped even more and his heart completely shattered in his chest. This time... This time it was the eyes that started changing... well, started changing to seeing as how when he looked Roman could see the nails had started up again. "Virgil, I'm not..."

"Goodnight, Roman." Virgil got up without another word. He didn't even wince despite the obvious pain he was in at the movement. He didn't even tell him to leave. He just got up and walked off leaving Roman there remaining in his complete and total shock... his stunned numbness that overtook his mind making him move without any thought. 

"Goodnight, Virgil." Roman mumbled as he forced himself to stand up too. He walked out of the house as if on auto-pilot. However, the second the front door clicked shut EVERYTHING slammed down on him hard as if his own power was weighing down on him. He fell to his knees tears streaming from his eyes. "Please tell me I..." Roman's mind refused to see the truth. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to know. He knew by the time he got home he would have the very answer he didn't want yet. He knew the second he walked through his door all the connections and realization the tonight gave him... everything would make sense. To be honest, he already knew the answer as clear as day. It was such a sudden truth that it felt like he got shot with it all. He knew EXACTLY what his mind realized tonight. He knew, he just wasn't ready to believe it at that moment in time. That being said, despite knowing the answer already in his mind he couldn't stop himself from asking... "Please tell me... It wasn't me who hurt you."