After Virgil had some time to calm down, all four of the men thought it would be best to all stay in the same room together. Also, Virgil was afraid to be away from Patton and alone from the two strangers. Patton knew that Virgil was worked up over the whole ordeal, but his behavior was bizar to say the least. Virgil not being one for physical contact usually would only ever concede to getting a short hug in times of great distress. Right now, however, the scared man wouldn't let go of Patton’s hand. In front of others no less. Patton was more than willing to indulge this need for comfort, but… something was very wrong. Virgil’s hand was cold like his body had no warmth, and Patton felt like his energy was being drained out of him. It was frightening.

The four men returned to the kitchen where they finished the preparations for dinner. Patton found it to be a difficult task to cook with one hand occupied, but everytime he shifted his hand to escape Virgil’s grip the other man whimpered. Patton sighed almost annoyed. A very weird feeling for him, but he just felt so tired all the sudden.

Virgil’s eyes widened, “I’m bothering you, aren’t I?” He asked his voice scared he pulled his hand away from Patton and cradled it close to his chest.

“No! You could never bother me!” Patton scrambled for the right words. He looked at the other two men in the room for assistance. After the cold feeling he had when holding Virgil’s hand he was left feeling lost and confused. He couldn’t figure what to say to comfort his friend. He felt very helpless. He did not like the feeling at all.  

Logan picking up on his Ward’s distress tried his hand at assisting, “I believe Patton simply requires both hands in order to prepare the meal efficiently. He does not begrudge you for needing comfort. He seems to just require both hands.” Logan said attempting to be helpful. However, he felt odd calling his Ward by name. He up to this point never said it before. He felt using one's Wards name caused the Guardian to become attached in ways that were counterproductive, but he couldn’t very well refer to Patton as his Ward right in front of them now could he? Logan used this logic to justify the action, but it still felt odd. It made his stomach do a weird flip that left him confused.

“Oh,” Virgil said realizing that he was keeping Patton from being able to cook efficiently. He felt horrible for not seeing this on his own. “I’ll get out of the way then. This kitchen is far to small for all of us anyways.”  He said dejectedly as he fled from the kitchen.

Patton let out a sigh. He just couldn’t figure out how to help his friend.

“Hey, Logan Virgil is right this kitchen is really small, and with that stove on it has gotten really hot in here. Maybe we should follow Virgil’s example and join him in the living room so that we all don’t get baked alive. Our body heat isn’t helping.” Roman offered seeing Patton was distressed and thought he might like a moment to himself, and the fact that Patton didn’t make an effort to keep them there he could guess that he had made the right assumption. Also he didn’t like the idea of Virgil being by himself for very long. Logan simply nodded and the two men followed Virgil to the living room.  

_______

After the two men left, Patton felt his shoulders sag and he let out a strangled sigh. He felt weird ever since he had seen Virgil in that trance. Why couldn’t he do anything to help his beloved friend? He felt so absolutely useless. As soon as he had this thought he felt like he was slammed hard. His head screamed out in pain. His gut felt like someone had reached their cold hand around it and was squeezing. The air in his lungs came out in gasps. Useless doesn’t even begin to describe you! You are sad and pathetic! You can’t even protect the people you care about. Patton gasps as a foreign voice fills his head. The words filled with a horrible venom that seeped into his heart. “What the Hell?” Now, now Patton wouldn’t want to add foul language to your long list of faults. “Who are you?” Patton spat.  I am someone who can help you protect everyone you care about. Patton tilted his head cautiously and squinted his eyes in concentration. “How?” Slowly Patton’s shadow shifted underneath him and slowly started to rise from the ground. He let out a small shriek as the shadow creature morphed into a three dimensional creature.

It grinned at him.

Patton shifted his weight in fear. Ready to run if there was a need. All you have to do is listen to me. I can help you be strong. I can give you the answers you’re looking for. Patton pauses for a minute like he is debating the idea. It did sound appealing and the voice was so soothing. It made sense to him. Suddenly a revelation dawned upon him. “You are what has been messing with Virgil!” he said wide eyed. The shadow seemed taken aback by this conclusion, but quickly recovered. Well aren’t you the clever one. The shadow sneered at him. “Who are you? What do you want? Why are you hurting my friend?” Patton rattled off questions no longer afraid of the creature. He felt only pure furry toward it. How dare it go after his friend! He would do anything to keep Virgil safe.

Yes, use your anger. Feed into it. Then you will be able to protect your friend. To keep him safe from everyone. “Answer my questions!” Patton seethed. All will be clear soon enough. Or not. Who knows? It would be easier if you would follow my directions though. “No!” The shadow just shrugged. I guess we are gonna have to do it the hard way then. And with that Patton’s shadow reverted back to normal.

Patton let out a sigh of relief. Then took a shaky breath in. He stopped short. Something smelled off. Like it was burning. Patton’s eyes widened as he turned around. Diner.

__________

Well shit... That didn’t work out work out well now did it? The Gatherer sulked in the shadows. D is what he called himself, and he was livid. He had acted too rashely. Things were going well with Virgil. He was weak and vulnerable. The man already hated himself so it was like child’s play to get into Virgil’s head. He panicked though with the Guardian's in the house he thought it necessary to work faster. Then he went and screwed up. He knew Virgil was weak, but he had thought that his Guardian, Roman,  would be able to get through to Virgil. Due to the fact he was oh so concerned with his Wards mental well being. Yuck. But Patton on the other hand is basically unguarded. Seeing as Logan only worries about physical well being. Reasonable. So D had decided to go after the seemingly easy target, in order to confuse the Guardians and get his ultimate goal. He hadn’t realized how strong Patton was though, and in his rush neglected to wear him down like he had Virgil. He thought after feeding off Virgil for as long as he had he would be strong enough to do it. Unfortunately, not only had he been rejected so forcefully by the armor around Patton’s mind that kept the venom of his words away, he couldn’t even erase the encounter from the man’s mind. This put a major obstacle in his way. He then stopped his sulking when he came to a comforting thought. Patton’s anger at him for hurting Virgil. The Gatherer smirked. It seemed that even the strongest armor had its weak points. He could still get what he wanted. Even if not right away that was okay. He still had Virgil under his thumb.

________

Patton was silent during dinner. He couldn’t figure out what to do. He was a trusting person by nature. He also thought it was very kind for the two men to offer their assistance. However, the two men were strangers, and how could he tell them what he had experienced without being called crazy. He knew Virgil would believe him. He had experienced this he knew what was happening to him was not normal. Patton had the feeling that Virgil would believe anything he said to Virgil though. How could he explain this two strangers? And should he? These two men had been dragged into this, and they might not want to be burdened with this sort of thing. Patton knew one thing for sure though. Virgil and him needed help. They couldn’t do this on their own.
“Patton?” A small voice called to him across the table. Patton looked up with a start being ripped from his deep thoughts. “Are you okay Pat?” Virgil tilted his head slightly at his friend.

“Of course I am kiddo!” Patton said plastering a smile on his face. “Why do you ask?”

Virgil looked around the room at the other’s present. Logan was listening to the conversation with what seemed to be peaked interest as Roman happily scarfed down a roll, but was giving his attention. Virgil felt shy at the attention. “Well, um… You haven’t been talking at all. Witch is weird for you and um…” Virgil picked up an extra crispy piece of chicken and grimaced. “You burnt the food. You never let that happen. Your food is always perfect.” Both Roman and Logan stopped eating entirely, Roman’s mouth still full of bread, to look concerned at Patton. They hadn't picked up on the oddity until it was blatantly pointed out in front of them.

Patton shifted uncomfortably under the worried looks but kept smiling, if not quiet as brightly. “Ya kiddo! I am all good! I nothing is wrong.”

“You’re lying.” Virgil said in disbelief. Patton was lying to him.

Patton really hated lying to his friend but he was so unsure of what to do. It was so, so frustrating. What was he supposed to do in this situation. “I am.. Uh.. you see… it’s not that bad or anything…” Patton spluttered.

“Clearly you are in some form of distress given your current out of character actions.” Logan said matter-of-factly.

Pattons frustration boiled over into pure anger. “What do you know about my character?!? You don’t even know me! So, don’t just waltz into someone's home and make assumptions about that person!” Patton screamed. As soon as the words came out he slammed his hands over his mouth.

“Patton!” Virgil said in disbelief.

Patton felt a sob well up in his throat. He had done exactly what the shadow had said. He had fed into his anger and let it overwhelm him. He didn’t mean any of what he had said. It all came spilling out against his will. Like someone else had spoken for him. Patton lowered his hands and stared at them. What if someone had? That thing had been in his head hadn't it? Maybe it still was. The thought sent a chill down his spine. He looked around at the people around him. Logan looked mad, Virgil looked scared, and Roman looked confused. He had done this. The thing that might still be in his head had said those things. Patton gave up on trying to hold himself together. Under everything; his protectiveness for his friend, his frustration at feeling helpless, his anger at the things hurting him. He was scared. His whole body started shaking as he let out the sob he had been holding in.

Virgil was shocked to see his friend crumble. He couldn’t figure out what would cause such a reaction. To lead Patton to anger, then to tears. Then a Venomous thought flitted threw his head. YOU! HE IS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU HE LOST IT. YOU’RE THE CAUSE OF THIS. IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT.

So as Patton sobbed Virgil slowly receded into his own head as he put all the blame onto himself. Curling his feet up under himself on the chair making himself as small as possible. He slowly rocked himself attempting to comfort himself.

Both Roman and Logan was at a loss for what they should do. They looked at eachother. They both had noticed Virgil crumbling in on himself as soon as Patton had began crying. The seemed to have a silent conversation with each other about what to do. Then came to the same conclusion.

Roman stood up and walked over to Virgil and bent down to whisper softly in his ear. “Come with me.” Virgil not really paying attention to what was going on followed obediently to the living room, leaving Patton and Logan alone in the dining room.

Patton continued to sob unaware that he was now alone in the room with just Logan. Logan stood up from his chair and walked over to the distraught man who was curled in up into a small ball of tears. Logan unaccustomed to emotions had very little to go on for how to comfort him. However, it was to his understanding that humans seeked contact with others in times of distress so he acted accordingly. He pulled up a chair near Patton and sat back down. He then awkwardly leaned in towards Patton and wrapped an awkward arm around him.

Patton gasped at the sudden contact. He looked up quickly to see who was touching him. He was surprised to see it was the man he had so openly insulted, but as Logan’s arm remained wrapped around him Patton felt the same feeling he had in the grocery store earlier that day. All his worries melted away as he leaned into the crook of Logan’s shoulder. Logan stiffened as the other man leaned into him.

Patton didn’t realize how riled he had been by the roller coaster of emotions he had felt in such a short amount of time. Now that he felt calm a wash over him, he felt so very tired. The nice warm feeling that had settled over him made his eyes heavy, and he closed them with a sigh. He then drifted off while still sitting up, leaving Logan alone to ponder the position he had gotten himself into. He shifted slightly to see if he would wake up the sleeping man. Patton so exhausted didn’t even stir. Becoming more bold Logan attempted to move the man. He reached his free arm under Patton’s legs constantly checking to make sure that the other hadn’t woken. He then gingerly lifted the man up, princess carry style, and headed for the stairs.

Even though Logan had never been physically in his Ward’s house he knew the layout well enough to find his room. He carried the man up to his room where he placed the small man onto his bed. However, as soon as the Guardian set down his Ward Patton faced became creased and he moaned in his sleep as though he was having nightmare. He started to toss and turn. His breathing became haggard. Logan knew if he kept like this he was sure to wake up.

So he tried the first thing that came to mind. He sat down on the bed next to the thrashing man and laid a gentle hand on his head. Immediately Patton stopped thrashing and relaxed. Logan slowly started running his hand through his soft hair.A soft sigh came from Patton’s parted lips. Logan paused for second to marvel at the man sleeping peacefully next to him. Logan gave a small smile.

“I guess the brownies will have to wait for next time.” Logan stopped for a minute to ponder what he just said.

Next time.

__________

After leaving the kitchen Virgil followed Roman into the living room. Once he got there he found a space on the couch to curl up. His mind was still tormenting him. IT IS YOUR FAULT HE WAS CRYING. HE LOST IT BECAUSE OF YOU. YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOU! Virgil’s voice spiraled around in his head screaming at him. He tried to cover his ears to block out the sound but it was in his head. He couldn’t get it to stop. He closed his eyes tightly to try to shut everything off. It didn’t stop.

Roman watched as his Ward worked himself up into a panic attack. This didn’t seem to be the work of the Gatherer this time. It was just Virgil’s own anxiety getting the worst of him. He didn’t have the same look he had earlier. When he was clearly under the Gatherer’s influence. He was doing this to himself this time. Roman would be able to get through to him. This he could do.

Virgil was slowly rocking himself back and forth in a small attempt to comfort himself. It wasn’t working. PATTON WOULD BE BETTER OF IF YOU JUST WENT AWAY! HE WOULDN’T CRY! YOU DON’T WANT HIM TO BE MISERABLE BECAUSE HE HAS TO DEAL WITH YOUR FILTH! YOU DID THIS TO HIM! IT YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT! YOU!

“Virgil.”  A small whisper cut through the screams in his head. “Virgil can you hear me?” The voice started to get louder. “Virgil breathe. It’s gonna be okay. Just breathe.” Virgil felt his breathing slow to a normal rate. He hadn’t even realized he had been hyperventilating until the voice reminded him to breath normally. “That’s it Virgil.” It was the voices in his heads turn to whisper. He could hear the other almost perfectly now, but it wasn’t screaming or yelling. It was kind and soft. He felt hands gently wrap around his wrists and pull them down from his ears. “Good job Virgil. Just like that.” Virgil’s eyes fluttered open to see a handsome man staring back at him.

“Roman?” Virgil said softly.

Roman felt light at how gently Virgil said his name. Had he ever said it before? It sounded so nice coming from his Ward’s mouth.

“Mhm. That’s my name don’t wear it out.” Roman said with a wink.

Virgil let out a breathy laugh that morphed into into a sort of sob. Once the flood gate opened up he began to full on cry. PATHETIC! Ahh so the voice hadn’t gone away completely. Great.

“Hey, no don’t cry. Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong.” Roman said in a panic. Damn and he was doing so well at getting him to calm down.

Virgil gave a wet laugh. “No, You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault. I am just filthy burden.”

“Where would you get an idea like that?” Roman asked in shock.
Virgil looked at him like he was crazy. “Because it’s true. I have been nothing but a burden on Patton since the day we met.”

“How so?” Roman asked tilting his head quizzically.

Virgil let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s a long story.”

Roman glanced at an imaginary watch on his wrist. “I’ve got time.” He said with a cocky grin. Virgil let out a real laugh at that. Probably one of the most amazing sounds Roman had ever

“Well then get comfortable.”

________

12 Years ago.

Virgil rushed through the dangerous hall of his school. Keeping his head down as he attempted to get to his class without being late again. Of course he had to stop at his locker before he got there. He could see his locker. He was so close. Suddenly as he dashed forward a tall wall of leather and sweat stepped into his path. Virgil’s forward momentum was too much and he slammed into the towering wall. Crap. he was so close.

“Hey asshole watch where the Hell you are going.”  The wall snarled.

“Yes, sorry my bad.” Virgil mumbled out trying to dart around the lumbering person. He still hadn’t looked up to see who he had ran into, but they were tall that's all that mattered. Tall meant danger. He had to get away and fast. His locker was right there.

As he tried to dash around the person they reached a grabbed his hood choking him. “Where the hell do you think you’re going. You think you can run into me and just walk away with a simple apology.”

Without turning to look at the towering boy Virgil whimpered “I need to get to class.”

“Ya I don’t think so you fucking nerd.” With that the boy whipped Virgil around to face him. Virgil sucked in a breath recognizing the boy as his recurring bully. Hunter.

Hunter loomed almost a foot taller than Virgil glaring down at him. Suddenly the bell rang and the halls cleared. Well there goes Virgil’s plan of being to class on time, and any witnesses.

Virgil subconsciously made himself as small as he could. Smaller he was less of a target. “What do you want me to do Hunter?” Virgil asked trying to get the torment over with. He thought about running, but quickly dashed that idea. Hunter may not be smart and Virgil was a faster runner, but what would be the point. It would only make things worse for Virgil in the long run.

Hunter thought for a minute what he was going to do to Virgil. Virgil could swear he saw smoke coming out of his ears. Man, thinking must be a difficult task for him. Virgil couldn’t help but give a small smirk at the thought. Big mistake.

“What are you smiling at? You little bitch!” The taller boy growled.

Virgil yelped “Nothing.”

“Ya right.” And with that Hunter picked Virgil up by the shoulders and threw him into the lockers, knocking the air out of Virgil's lungs. He crumpled to the ground gasping for air. Hunter wasn’t done though and grabbed Virgil by the front of his sweat shirt and hauled him to his feet. Pulling his arm back punching Virgil in his jaw. Stars spin in Virgil’s vision. Well that was gonna bruise. Virgil hunched forward in pain only to get a knee to the gut.

Suddenly a gasp came from his right. Virgil turned his head towards the sound. Standing a few feet away was a small freckled boy holding a hall pass. He was so small he didn’t even look like he belonged in high school yet. He was wearing a plaid blue sweater vest large glasses that took up the majority of his small face. Even with his oxygen starved brain Virgil thought this boy was absolutely adorable.

Hunter didn’t hear the boy, but followed Virgil’s gaze over.  “What the hell you looking at? Go on get out of here.” With that Hunter spat on the linoleum floor in the direction of the boy.

The boy didn’t move in fact he did something that shocked Virgil. The small boy puffed up his chest and stood to his full height. (which wasn’t much)

“No.”

“What?”

The small boy shifted slightly. “I- I said no.”  Wow was this boy brave. Stupid, but brave. “You are a bully, and I can not just ignore it when a fellow student is being hurt.”

“Wow. You’ve got some good morals.” Hunter dropped Virgil from his grasp and Virgil crumples to his knees. Hunter stalks over to the boy who is half his height.

Virgil looks over his shoulder down the empty hall. Hunter is distracted. He could make a run for it. He could run away. Change his name and go to a new city. Start a new life or something. Virgil’s fantasy is cut short when he hears a loud cracking noise. He snaps his head back around to see the small boy on the ground grabbing his nose. Hunter kicks him in the gut. Hard. The boy gasps.

“You have just made yourself a target. Good job you hero.” With that Hunter finally gets bored with his game, and his hand was hurting. As his last act he spits on the boys cheek. He then steps over the crumpled boy and stalks away.

Virgil stands up and walks over to the boy who was picking up his glasses of the ground. Virgil falls to his knees in front of the boy so he is eye level with him. “Why did you do that?” Virgil asked in disbelief.

“Because, I could, and that is enough. I couldn’t walk away.” The boy said simply like that explained everything.

“You’re bleeding!” Virgil gasped.

The boy lifted his hand up and touched the spot right under his nose and pulled it away with red liquid on his fingertips. “No biggie not my first time getting a bloody nose. I’ll be fine kiddo.” The boy said smiling at Virgil a big toothy grin, despite the blood trickling down.”

“Um, I think too old for you to call me kiddo.” Virgil said.

“I will have you know I call everyone younger than me kiddo.”

“I don’t think You are older than me though.” Virgil rebutled.

“What grade are you in?”
“Tenth” Virgil said simply.

Patton cocked an eyebrow at Virgil, and gave him a sly smile. “Ah, well there you go. I am in eleventh grade. Hence I am older than you.” Virgil’s jaw dropped. Looking the small boy up and down. “Ya, I look really young. I know. Oh, I just realized I don’t know your name.”

“Virgil.”

“Well nice to meet ya Virge. My name is Patton, but you can call me Pat if you would like. That’s what all my friends called me at my old school. Oh, that’s right. I’m new.”

“I don’t have friends. Anyone who gets to close to me gets burned.” Virgil said looking at the floor.

With that Patton stood up and opened a nearby locker. Well isn’t that convenient.  He grabbed something out and whirled around. “I have oven mitts.”

___________

After that Patton was with Virgil almost all the time. Patton found him in between classes. He ate lunch with him everyday. And when Patton found out Virgil didn’t eat lunch he started making him one. Virgil was grateful to have someone to talk to. Patton was always a smiling ray of sunshine. Sticking up for Virgil around every turn. Slowly it seemed that Hunter and all of Virgil’s other bullies had gotten bored with tormenting Virgil. He was finally free.

Nothing could be that simple could be that simple. One day Patton didn’t show up to school. Hunter was missing too. Virgil didn’t think that much of it. Patton might just be sick. So he let it slide, but then Patton didn’t show up again the next day, or the next, or the next. At this point Virgil started to panic. What if his friend never came back. Virgil had never realized how much he had needed Patton, but now that he was gone he couldn’t stand it. So Virgil got to work. He started asking around until he got an address. After school he headed straight to his house.

He knocked on the door to begreated by a chubby little lady who looked tired but held a kind grin on her face. “Yes? How can I help you young man?”

“Um, I am looking for Patton.” Virgil said timidly.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “You aren’t one of Hunter’s goons are you.”

“No, I am Patton’s friend. He hasn’t been at school for almost a week, and I am worried about him. What happened?” Virgil asked sincerely.

“That is just like my son. Trying to protect his friend.” Patton’s mother sighed.”Here come on inside I will let him explain.”

Virgil walked into the cute country style home. It was small, but cozy. Virgil followed Patton’s mother up a small flight of stairs into a very messy bedroom with stuffed animals strewn all over the place. A giant stuffed koala bear sitting in the corner. It was almost as tall as Virgil and it was sitting down.

Virgil scanned the room until his eyes landed on a figure laying on a brightly colored bed. Patton upon seeing Virgil coming into the room sat up quickly and winced.  Virgil froze. Patton was covered head to toe in bruises. He wasn’t wearing a shirt so Virgil could see bandages wrapped around Patton's torso. Also he had a cast wrapped around his left wrist. His right eye was a purplish yellow color.  

“Patton what the hell happened?” Virgil demanded.

“Oh, it’s not as bad as it looks…” Patton started but was quickly interrupted.

“Fuck that shit, Pat your arm is in fucking cast. What the hell happened?”

“Watch your language, kiddo.” Patton said in a very stern tone. Virgil grumbled a bit, but Patton gave him a hard stare. Virgil quieted down. Patton sighed. “Hunter stopped messing with you, but made me his new target. I may have gotten him really mad so he got some of his friends and they cornered me one day after school. They, uh… Broke my wrist and a couple ribs.” Patton said with his eyes down, like he was the one who had done something wrong. How could he think he was in the wrong. This was clearly Virgil’s fault. If Patton hadn’t hadn’t stuck up for him, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

Virgil suddenly felt his mind screaming at him. It was his fault. His fault. HIS!

Suddenly Patton perked up. “But we don’t have to worry about those bullies anymore. While they were beating me up someone saw and called the cops. Those guys are not allowed to go back to our school ever. We are safe.” Patton smiled. Only Patton could be this chipper with several broken ribs.
Virgil would never be able to repay Patton for his kindness. If anything he was just a burden.

_________

12 years later.

“After that I tried to keep my distance from Patton. Of course he wouldn’t listen to me. Eventually we graduated, and then patton invited me to live with him. I told him it was a bad idea. He told me he wanted his best friend to be by his side. I was selfish. I wanted to stay by his side too. I should have gotten out of his life, but I couldn’t. So that's how we ended up here.”  Virgil sighed after concluding his story.

Suddenly Roman leaned forward and hugged his Ward. Virgil balked the sudden contact, but felt a calming energy rush through his body at the contact. “What the hell man?”

Roman pulled away but kept his hands firmly planted on Virgil’s shoulders. “Virgil, in no way do I think Patton has ever considered you a burden. I don’t think he is physically capable of thinking that way about anyone. He chose to stand up for you. No one forced him to do that. I can tell he is proud to call you his friend.”

“How could you? You just met us.” Virgil said through a yawn losing his resolve and feeling very tired. Roman’s touch felt safe, warm, and comforting. He felt like he could sleep safely as long as this man was watching over him.  

“Let me prove it to you.” Roman said confidently.

Virgil too tired to realize what he was doing leaned down placing his head in Roman’s lap. “Mkay.” He mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

________

D stood silently in the shadows watching Virgil fall into a peaceful sleep. Not a single nightmare or negative thought in sight.

“Damn it...”