Trigger Warning. Please check the end note for more details.

Saturday, September 26th, 2020: 3:39 PM

The car ride went by quickly, quiet but not awkwardly. Virgil was relieved that Remy kept the radio off. When they arrived at Remy's house, Virgil could feel his breathing stutter a little at everything that had happened, it all suddenly felt like too much. He had run away. His parents didn't know where he was. But Virgil didn't need them. He didn't.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Remy asked, toeing off his shoes by the door, Virgil following suit. Virgil shrugged at Remy.

Remy, picking up on Virgil's nervousness, didn't linger in the kitchen, moving to lead the way upstairs, to his bedroom. Virgil kept the door open halfway, going straight to Remy's (quite ridiculously large) bed, collapsing on the pile of soft blankets and stuffed animals.

Remy huffed, moving to sit next to Virgil's head, petting his hair. (Remy did it almost every time they saw each other. Virgil isn't complaining.) Virgil quickly intertwined Remy's free hand with his own on Remy's knee.

It was silent for a few seconds before Remy spoke, "Do you wanna talk about it?" He said quietly. Virgil snorted, gesturing to himself before letting his hand drop. Remy huffed, laughing a little, "That is not an answer Babe. And you call me a drama queen," Virgil rolled over a little so he could see Remy, sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend. Remy rolled his eyes dramatically, sticking his own tongue out in retaliation. Virgil furrowed his eyebrows in faux anger, before burying his head back into the blankets beneath him.

It was quiet for a few moments before Remy sighed, "Okay but like, serious time babe, what do you need from me?" Virgil didn't respond, shrugging his shoulders from where he remained burrowed into Remy's bed. "V," Remy said, a little exasperated.

Virgil frowned, squeezing the blanket his free hand had been resting on, "Don't know," he muttered, barely audible to Remy.

Remy deflated a little when he heard how exhausted Virgil sounded, "It's okay, Pumpkin," he promised, returning to slowly running his hand through Virgil's hair, "I need something to work with Babe. You can just nod or shake your head." Virgil slowly rolled over onto his back, curling up next to Remy. "Do your parents know where you are?" Virgil shook his head, wincing a bit. "Okay, well, are you hurt at all? You didn't look so good when I picked ya up."

The anxiety that had vacated Virgil in favor of exhaustion quickly returned, Virgil's breath stuttering in his chest, "You can't be mad," Virgil stammered, sitting up, "don't be mad, Rem, please—"

"Woah, hold on, Babe," Remy calmed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, "it's okay, why would I be mad?"

Virgil swallowed hard, wrapping his arms around his stomach and shrugging. Remy furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his boyfriend, confusion written on his face, "It's okay, V," Virgil didn't respond, "Can I see where you're hurt?" Virgil's eyes darted up to meet Remy's before he looked away, leg shaking as he quickly pushed up his sleeve, revealing lines of irritated, scabbed over, self-inflicted cuts (atop healed scars that clearly shows that this was not Virgil's first encounter with self harm)

It was silent for a few seconds before Remy breathed out a quiet, "Oh,"

Virgil bit his lip hard, blinking back tears. "Happy?" he grumbled, not looking at Remy. Although slightly taken aback by his sudden change in attitude, Remy softened a little when he saw just how vulnerable Virgil looked.

"C'mon," Remy said quietly, "let's get those cleaned up." Remy softly grabbed Virgil's hand, pulling him to the bathroom adjoined to his bedroom. He motioned for Virgil to sit on the counter as he went to grab a clean rag.

It was silent as Remy ran the washcloth under warm water. After adjusting Virgil's sleeve, Remy began to carefully clean the blood off, his other hand cradling Virgil's elbow.

"Anywhere else?" Remy asked once he had finished with Virgil's right arm. The boy before him huffed before pulling up his left sleeve, revealing more cuts on his other arm. Remy stayed silent, moving to clean Virgil's other arm.

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Virgil muttered, "You're mad."

Remy raised an eyebrow, not stopping the task before him, "I'm not."

"Don't lie to me!" Virgil yelled, pulling his arm away, "Don't— you're mad!"

Remy sighed quietly, taking a step back from the counter, "I'm..." he started, searching for the right words, "upset." He decided on, "that doesn't mean I'm upset at you or mad, it just means I'm upset."

This, however, only distressed Virgil more as his breathing began to pick up, "I'm sorry, okay?" Virgil said frantically, "Just don't— don't," Virgil cut himself off with a sob.

"Oh sweetheart," Remy cooed, heartbreak seeping into his voice, "it's okay, hun, I'm not mad at you, okay? Just breathe with me, okay?"

Virgil sobbed again, threading his fingers through his hair and pulling roughly. "No, no, none of that darling," Remy said softly, using his own hands to try and pry Virgil's hands away from his hair. Virgil didn't budge, gripping his hair harder, the dark curls tangling in his fingers. "V," Remy said gently, still trying to coax Virgil's hands away from his hair, "Let go of your hair please." Virgil whimpered and lessened his grip, but still didn't allow his hands to be pulled away.

Remy continued to hold Virgil's hands, rubbing his thumbs against the backs of them as he made sure Virgil didn't move to pull his hair again. "Breathe, darlin'," he tried, "C'mon," Remy took a deep, exaggerated breath, modeling it for the boy in front of him. Virgil gasped in a breath, trying to follow Remy, panicking when he couldn't take a full breath. Remy clicked his tongue, squeezing Virgil's hands lightly. "You got this, V, you're doing so good." Virgil clenched his eyes shut, tears falling.

By the time they had gotten Virgil's breathing back to normal, he was slumped in exhaustion, one hand tangled in Remy's own as he finished bandaging the cuts. "I think," Remy started, once he had finished, rubbing Virgil's hands, "We're both in need of a good nap, hm?"

Virgil just nodded, sniffling a little. "Do you think you can walk back to my room?" Remy asked. Virgil just nodded, sliding off of the counter and letting go of Remy's hands in favor of sticking his own hands in his hoodie pockets.

Walking back into the bedroom, Remy went into his closet, grabbing a pair of pajama pants and a sleep shirt and holding them to his boyfriend questioningly. Virgil took them, holding the clothes to his chest as he watched Remy return to the closet, finding his own pair of pajamas. "Okay," Remy said, "I'm gonna go ahead and get changed in here, okay Doll?" Virgil nodded into the pajamas. Remy melted a little at the sight, smiling at Virgil, "You just knock on this door whenever you're done, mkay?" Remy said, gesturing to the closet door. Virgil nodded again, not meeting Remy's eye.

Virgil got changed on auto-pilot, staring at the bed in front of him for a few moments before he remembered what Remy had told him, moving to knock softly on the closet door. Remy emerged a moment later, sunglasses in his hands.

After setting down the sunglasses on his desk, Remy moved to his bed, pulling up the blankets and sitting down. He quickly typed something on his phone and plugged it into the charger. Remy looked over to Virgil, patting the spot next to him. Virgil walked slowly, cautiously sitting down. "Cuddles?" Remy asked, looking at his boyfriend, "You can say no." Virgil thought it over for a second before nodding, sighing happily when Remy gathered Virgil in his arms, laying down with Virgil on his chest. Remy burrowed his face in Virgil's curls, instantly relaxing.

"V?" He murmured, hearing his boyfriend hum in response, "Thanks for calling me. Love you."

Virgil seemed surprised; he tensed for a moment before he relaxed, squeezing Remy's waist. "You too, or whatever,"

They were both asleep in moments.

———

Sunday, October 2nd, 2016: 11:04 AM

14 months before Harvey is arrested

Roman could feel he was being watched. Turning around, Roman caught a pair of small brown eyes, before they disappeared behind the corner. "He's not here you know," Roman called out, standing from his chair and taking a step towards where he knew the boy was hiding, "You can come out. I promise I won't tell."

Agni slowly inched forward, looking side to side as if Harvey would appear the second he left the safety of the wall. After deciding it was safe, Agni walked over to the table Roman had been working at, ignoring the man's eyes. Roman watched as he looked over the papers splayed out on the table. Agni gazed at them, hands carefully wrapped around the ragged dark teddy bear he always seemed to carry with him. After a few seconds, he looked up at Roman (his shoulder that is, Agni only ever seemed to make eye contact with Harvey) and then back at the drawings, staying silent.

"Do you... want to hear about them?" Roman guessed. Agni nodded, wide-eyed, "Um, sure," Roman continued, a little surprised at Agni's interest, "They're costume designs for a play I'm working on." Roman gathered the papers into a neater pile, taking a seat on the chair. He shows Agni the first one, a very orderly suit drawn in light colors, along with a top hat with bunny ears poking out of the top. Although he remains as silent as ever, Agni starts rocking on his feet, nodding.

Roman moves on to the next; a female figure with a detailed, layered dress in various patterned fabrics, all in shades of blue. Agni only looks at it for a moment before stepping closer to Roman, rocking even faster. Roman's about to move to the next when Agni murmurs, "Alice?" quietly.

Roman momentarily freezes out of surprise; Agni did not talk unless responding to Harvey. "Um, yeah, it's Alice. The play is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland." Agni does not respond verbally, but Roman sneaks a peek over his shoulder and can tell he's excited anyway.

Roman sets the design for Alice to the side so that Agni can still look at it if he wants, pulling out the next one.

Agni gasps. Roman looks over, concerned, only to see that Agni is completely focused on the new drawing. He's doing that thing with his hands that Harvey always stops him from doing. Roman lets Agni continue, unbothered; he really doesn't understand the harm in Agni flapping his hands.

"Purple!" Agni whispers. Roman looked at the design for the Cheshire Cat; there was indeed a lot of purple. Agni made an odd noise in the back of his throat, his eyes flickering rapidly between the drawing and Roman's hands.

"Do you want to... hold it?" Roman asked, unsure. Agni nodded immediately, holding his hands out. Roman couldn't help but smile; his enthusiasm was adorable. "Okay, but you can't crumple it up or get it dirty, got it?" Agni nodded again, rocking on his heels again. Roman slowly handed over the paper, watching a little nervously; that was the only copy of that design he had, he couldn't afford for it to be ruined.

Agni was unexpectedly gentle with the piece of paper, holding it with the arm he was using to pin the teddy bear to his hip, and softly caressing the design with the other. Roman wasn't sure he had ever seen the boy... this happy. Not that he particularly cared. Roman didn't even like children.

Roman cleared his throat, "Alright, I think that's enough," Roman did not frown at the truly pathetic noise that left Agni, he did not. "Look," Roman said, softer, "How about I give you a purple colored pencil and some paper, hm? And you take it downstairs with you? To a place that Harvey won't see." At least Agni looked a little less like a kicked puppy at the prospect. Roman silently exchanged the design for the promised color pencil and paper. The boy still looked disappointed, but it appeared it was slowly being overtaken with excitement. Roman returned to his work, expecting Agni to return to the basement.

He was not, however, expecting to hear a quiet, "Thank you." before the basement door shut.

Roman blinked, brushing off the feeling in his chest that almost could have been mistaken for affection. It never could have been that. Roman did not care. And Roman certainly did not like kids.

———

Saturday, September 26th, 2020: 3:49 PM

Roman's eyes scanned outside the car window, attempting to find any trace of Virgil. He sighed when they turned another street corner, once again seeing nothing.

"We'll find him, Roman," Logan murmured softly, hands squeezing the steering wheel tightly. Roman didn't respond, hoping Virgil would miraculously appear outside the window.

Although he was hesitant to take his eyes off the window, Roman did so after feeling his phone buzz. Seeing it was a text from Remy, Roman clicked on the notification as fast as he was able to, cursing when he messed up his password the first time.

Remy: 3:39 PM

Idk what happened but Virgil's with me. I picked him up from the park a bit ago. He's all good, just shaken. I'll let you know when he'll be home

Roman let out a breath, relief seeping into him. "Roman?" Logan questioned, eyes flicking between the phone in Roman's hand and the windshield a few times, "Did something happen?" Roman nodded, gesturing for Logan to pull over in the random road they were on, handing him the phone once they had pulled over.

"Oh," Logan said, nodding to Roman, "Good. We should contact Patton." Roman nodded, taking another breath, reminding himself that Virgil was okay, it was all okay, Roman called Patton.

Patton answered on the first ring, "Did you find him?"

"Yeah," Roman breathed, "Yeah we did he's uh, with Remy, he found Virgil at a park. They're together now."

"Oh thank goodness!" Patton exclaimed, "Are you.... is he coming back?" Patton asked, and Roman knew he was about to cry.

"It's okay, love," Roman murmured, "Remy said that he'll let us know when they'll be back."

Patton sniffed a little, "Okay, that's good."

Roman smiled into the phone, looking over to Logan for a moment, "We're heading back now, love, we'll be home soon."

"Okay, drive safe!"

"We will," Roman promised softly, "I love you."

"I love you too!"

Roman let out a sigh of relief, leaning back into his seat. Thank god Virgil was okay, Roman couldn't handle Virgil going through any more pain. He didn't think Virgil could either.

Trigger Warnings:
Self harm (Cutting)
(Implied) domestic abuse

Virgil is 12 in the flashback section with Roman, but seems much younger cause of the trauma, autism, and brain damage. Just to, ya know, make that scene more bittersweet.

Thanks for reading!!!
-Apollo