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theeternalspace · 4 years

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Absent Gods 2/10

We’re back! I said I would be posting this and I am. Enjoy chapter two guys, and let’s see if Logan learns any lessons yet...

Title: Absent Gods and Silent Tyranny or: How Logan Learned to Stop Over Thinking and Love Everyone

Chapter Two: What’s in a Name?

Pairings: None / Platonic LAMP with Logan and Virgil focus.

Characters: Logan, Virgil and The Dragon Witch in this chapter.

Summary: Dr. Logic makes his living working for whichever Super Villain is willing to pay. At the end of the day it is a job where he can put his talents to work.

He certainly isn’t bothered by things like public mortality or the definition of good vs evil. He doesn’t have time for things like that, although he accepts that he would be considered a ‘bad guy’. As far as Logan is concerned, it is a small price to pay for the benefits of proper scientific funding.

But when his latest invention fails and his Boss decides to punish someone else for his mistakes, Logan is forced to reevaluate everything he thought he knew.

And maybe accidentally make some friends along the way.

Warnings: Morally grey Logan - he doesn’t get it you guys. Threats of torture, angst. General Villainy. Being held captive. If I’ve missed any let me know.

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The minions and henchmen moved around the room with a quiet grace. This was a dance that they had clearly done time and time again. They knew which items Ms. Dragon Witch would want without being asked, they knew where to take the table and how to lay out the objects to best please her. It was the sort of efficiency that Logan would have normally appreciated. If it wasn’t all connected to inflicting pain on someone who did not deserve it.

Virgil was still unconscious, something Logan was grateful for. He knew it wouldn’t last - his boss enjoyed the screams of her victims too much for that - but the longer he slept, the longer it was until she began her wicked games. Which gave him a slight chance to change her mind still. It wasn’t some wild optimism that kept him going. He wasn’t being blind or hoping against an impossible hope.

He was only being realistic. Logan was aware of his own talents, his own skills. He knew exactly how much he contributed to her evil empire and his worth overall. He was a talented asset to her. She was supposed to listen to him. Just as he was supposed to guide her to a series of better results. That was what Logan did. Along with creating various machines for her.

If she ever listened to him, he needed her to do it now. He needed to make her see how much of a mistake she was making. Virgil was so much more useful to them intact. Logan had to keep Virgil interact.

“Ah, Dr. Logic, having fun yet?” Ms. Dragon Witch had taken the opportunity while her people were setting up the torture station to change her dress. It was just as tight and as revealing as before, with a plunging neckline that showed far too much skin for his tastes. Then again, he really wasn’t her target audience as any amount of female skin would be too much for Logan. The dress was a spotless, striking white. An odd choice perhaps, for a torture session.

Except he knew she was aiming to hurt both of them at the same time. Seeing evidence of the wounds on her dress, to have red stain the white would create an effect. Not the one she wanted of course, but Logan was not wholly insensible to people’s feelings. He knew what she would expect and he knew what he would actually do.

“You know I’m not,” Logan replied shortly, carefully keeping her gaze on her and not Virgil.

“Poor little Logic. Not prepared to be on this side of things are you. Well, it’s been a long time coming. You have been getting far too... above yourself. Thinking yourself better than you are. And then to fail me in such a crucial moment. I should kill you for that. Perhaps I still will.” She tilted her head to the side, ruby red lips curling into some parody of a smile.

“Or maybe I will just kill him.”

“I did not deliberately sabotage you, I am loyal to you and you alone Ms. Dragon Witch. That being said, I understand the need for a punishment for my sub-par work, but it was my work. Why punish him?”

Logan didn’t understand her reasons. If there was something he hated above all else, it was not understanding something. He was the one - in her twisted mindset at least - to have failed. Virgil wasn’t even a close friend. He was merely his assistant. They had been brought together by chance, by her. If she hadn’t kidnapped Virgil from his home then they would never have met, would never have worked together.

He shouldn't care what happened to Virgil. But his brain was far too useful to be wasted in such a pointless fashion. He was too... well, Logan couldn’t think of the word exactly. He couldn’t describe the many uses that Virgil had or the way in which he had improved every day since they had started to achieve a working relationship.

That was another thing which annoyed Logan. This way in which Virgil refused easy categorisation, how he skipped and danced out of every mental box that Logan attempted to place him in. Virgil wasn’t like the other prisoners. He wasn’t like any of the past assistants. He wasn’t even like any of the heroes that he had ever seen from a distance. Then again, Virgil was the first hero he had actually met, so maybe they were all like that?

Not that Virgil would have called himself a hero. He was very particular about that. That was a title he said that only a few could bear and he wasn’t one of them. His idiot brother was a hero, not Virgil. Logan always knew better than to question him about the hero called Prince. Their relationship - such as it was - was built on unspoken agreements. Logan not trying to interrogate him about his brother was one of those.

Logan couldn’t help but be curious. Not because he wanted to run and tell Ms Dragon Witch anything Virgil might confess - although he would have reported it and that was another reason why he didn’t press him on the matter. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t make that choice, be faced with that conflict of loyalties. No, he wanted to know about the Prince because he wanted to understand. How could anyone like Virgil be related to that... over the top and brash hero? Prince gave him a headache every time he was in the same area as him.

Still, he didn’t ask. There were some lines that were not meant to be crossed and that was one of them.

“Why do you care what I do to him?” Dragon Witch asked, her voice sickly sweet. She hadn’t answered his question, he noticed. It was an infuriating habit of hers at the best of times, the way in which she would answer questions with another question of her own.

“He is useful,” Logan responded. Annoying habit or not, at least it had given him a window to try and plead his case. There could still be a chance of getting her to realise what a mistake she was making. “You captured him for his use as bait and a trophy. Damaged, his value diminishes.”

With a long, slow, blink, Ms. Dragon Witch stared at him, her deep red nails tapping an even rhythm against her side.

“Oh sweetheart,” Ms. Dragon Witch purred, amusement threading through every drawn out word. “So innocent. You think this is the first time I... damaged him, as you put it? What do you think happens every time I summon him for a visit? We have tea and crumpets, like polite little Englishmen and talk about the weather?”

“That is different,” Logan protested and how strange that it was another confirmation of a pet theory. Yet again, it was a confirmation that he didn’t actually want to know. Where was his belief in the truth? Logan had always held fast to the notion that there was nothing more beautiful and perfect than the truth, in all its raw and bleeding glory. It was far better to wrap yourself in facts, no matter how unpleasant than to hide yourself in a web of lies.

Yet the facts brought him little comfort in this case.

She bent down, movement showing off yet more cleavage. It was almost embarrassing how much was on show now. If Logan didn’t know better, he would have thought she was trying to show off to him, simply for the sake of it. But that would be foolish. She knew his inclinations, she knew his preferences. It was not something you chose or could turn off with a single thought. Or a flash of skin. Ms. Dragon Witch leaned closer, his words managing to spark some interest within her. Better him than Virgil.

Wait.

Where had that thought come from? Logan normally valued himself correctly. Highly. He was extremely useful in more ways than one. He would set himself above most people, his assistant included. So why did that thought pass through his mind? Why did he seek to distract her from her murderous urges and try and engage her in conversation? Why did he want to stop her from hurting Virgil so badly?

Almost as though reading his thoughts, she spoke again, her words tugging at all those deep and worrisome thoughts and confusion.

“Oh? Different because... you don’t have to watch? Or because it isn’t your fault so you can ease that thing you pretend is a heart? I thought you didn’t have one of those?”

“Of course I possess one. Just not in the manner in which you are implying,” Logan replied, words clipped and cold. He had no time for such a romantic use of an organ. The heart sent blood around the body and was an incredibly important thing for that alone. There was no need to complicate matters further by giving it the near deity level of importance that it had been raised to over the centuries. It was just a heart. Just another function within the body.

Yet people acted as though it was something so much more. As if it ruled people’s thought process and as if it could force people to act against their previously defined character. He disliked such irrationality. Just as Logan disliked this conversation. Even as he kept it going.

Was this one of those so called heart moments? Had he finally succumbed to the madness of the human condition? Logan really hoped not.

“That is punishment for what he has done. He chose to stand against you, which was wrong. This... this is not logical. There is no reason.”

“Just admit it Dr. Logic. You care about my little pet. You don’t want to see him hurt because of your actions. I wager you don’t want to see him hurt at all. I should have made you watch before now. How amusing to see you crumble.”

“I don’t want you to waste a resource we could use!”

“Ah denial.” Ms. Dragon Witch shook her head in mock disappointment, the motion setting Logan’s teeth on edge. She sighed heavily, still playing this newest role with obvious relish. “Such an... illogical feeling, is it not?”

“I am not in denial,” Logan retorted and he was rapidly losing patience with this whole thing. Why couldn’t she be as predictable and as useful as any of his experiments? If he had applied the correct pressure, then the expected response would occur. Humans were not nearly as neat as all of that. Much to his annoyance. By any reasonable measure, his words should have proved that Virgil was more useful intact and yet any argument he made only seemed to make her that much more determined. It was as though his words were having the opposite intended effect.

“It is you who are too dimwitted to properly appreciate the importance of my words. The logic of them.”

Anger was an emotion. Which meant that it wasn’t something that Logan regularly - if ever - experienced. If he did however, he would have to admit that he was feeling angry right now. And that the anger had made him hasty. Made him say some things that while true, were not exactly the most intelligent thing to say. Because while Logan did not suffer from emotions, Ms Dragon Witch did. Anger among them.

Her expression shifted into something truly murderous. There wasn’t even a chance to know that he had delivered the correct stimulus at last in order to get the response he expected. Anger was too easy an emotion to pull from her. Anger only served to make his job harder and so it was hardly the reaction he actually desired.

The flames rose higher for a moment, a crackling, heated warning for Logan to behave. As much as he wished to spare Virgil pain, he wasn’t going to place himself in that spot instead. He wasn’t a fool, no matter what she might think.

Mouth snapped shut, Logan simply glaring back. He might be unwilling to verbally bait her any further but that didn’t mean he agreed with her. Or that he was fully giving in. Logan just wasn’t going to let himself get burnt by the fire which had thankfully returned to its previous levels. She stood on the other side of the flames, completely unaffected by the heat. Logan did his best to appear unaffected in turn, ignoring the sweat dripping down his face. He wasn’t about to show weakness.

The angry snarl dropped away, Ms. Dragon Witch blinking a couple of times, her gaze angled slightly over Logan’s head and towards one of her minions.

“You were always one for learning, were you not?”

“I am,” Logan replied, feeling something akin to whiplash in the way she shifted so effortlessly away from rage to a question. Eyes flickered down to meet his gaze, rich lips curling back into that infuriating smile.

“Let us see what you learn from this then, Dr. Logic.”

With a soft hum, she turned away from him. It was the sort of noise that Logan would associate with being able to start an enjoyable activity. It was, he realised with a sickening drop of his stomach, the sound she must make whenever she got to play her games. Ms. Dragon Witch stepped to the side, giving him a clear view of his lab assistant in the chair opposite. As he had suspected - feared - the purple haired young man was awake. Which meant Logan was out of time.

Which meant he had failed.

“Sleepy head awakes at last. Hello, Virgil.”

“Karen,” Virgil sneered, his eyes flashing with a near murderous rage. He didn’t appear to care that he was in her room, trapped. That... that wasn’t her name. Logan knew that. More to the point, Virgil knew it wasn’t her name. Why would he deliberately use an incorrect name? Why would he try and annoy her? From the way her fingers curled into brief talons, it was clear he had succeeded.

“Behave darling. Different game this time. You are going to help me,” she instructed, slowly walking towards him. Hips swayed dramatically as she did, something too pronounced to be anything but deliberate. Always putting on a show. Virgil gave a snort, the sound effortlessly conjuring up exactly how he felt about that idea.

“Fat chance.”

“Oh, you won’t have a choice darling one.” Ms. Dragon Witch was behind him now, long nails tracing along his shoulder and dancing up his neck. Logan caught the tiny flinch that ran through Virgil’s body before he could suppress it. The way his breath hitched in his throat for just a fraction of a second. Try as he might to limit his physical responses, it was clear that Virgil was scared of her.

Which made his previous bravado all the more bewildering.

If you were scared of someone, why would you attempt to anger them?

“What did you do to Dr. Logic’s project? I know you did something my pet...” She whispered the words, dipping a little so her long hair brushed against him.

“What... what are you talking about?” Virgil asked cautiously.

Logan’s eyes widened a little as he stared at Virgil. Nobody else seemed to have noticed the hint of uncertainty in the other’s words or the way he stiffened slightly. He had learnt a lot about people’s tells over the years. It helped him in more ways than one. Virgil had been a tough nut to crack. He still wasn’t sure if he had managed to learn it all. As much as it pained Logan to think, he was fairly confident that if Virgil tried to lie directly to his face, he would get away with it.

True, he had already given himself away with his fear but this was something else. Something new. Something that a part of Logan was already filing away in the back of his mind in case he needed to compare that tone against any other Virgil might make.

One thing was for sure though. Virgil had just lied to her.

Which meant - what exactly?

That he had done something? Had it been his actions that had caused his machine to malfunction and cause all this trouble?

No, Logan had checked all the figures and readouts himself as soon as the invention had malfunctioned. He had gone over all his notes, obsessively checking each line of code. He knew exactly where the project had gone wrong and why. Logan knew it had been an error on his part. An honest error, in not being able to match the different temperatures in which the liquids change to gases. That and that alone had been the cause of the failure. And it had been Logan’s miscalculation.

It made him a little sick to his stomach, each time he thought that, but there was no getting around that awkward truth. It had been Logan who had messed up.

So why was Virgil lying about it now?

It was such a small slip up, something Logan doubted Ms. Dragon Witch would pick up on. Which meant his reaction wasn’t for her. It probably wasn’t for him either, and that pointed towards it being an honest, accidental reaction. In turn, that pointed to him not trying to deflect from causing damage. It was something else he was guilty of. So what had Virgil done?

What was going on?

“I’m talking about the new game pet. You’re going to help me teach Dr. Logic a lesson... unfortunately for you, I’m going to make you scream to do so. Perhaps then his mind will be more focused in the days ahead.”

It was as though Virgil hadn't even noticed Logan was there until that moment, eyes shifting from Ms. Dragon Witch to stare at him. For a moment, the gaze was wide and unguarded. In that moment, Logan could see all the fear and worry reflected in his eyes. All the anxiety and the near crushing knowledge of how much this was going to hurt. Then, the shutters came down, Virgil closing himself off as best he could.

“Take his jacket off. No sense in wasting time damaging thick cloth when I could be ripping skin apart.”

The minions jumped to attention, all scurrying to carry out her bidding. No doubt fearful of what might happen to them if they displeased her. In a way, this was a brilliant choice on her part. At a stroke she would prove that nobody was above punishment. That nobody was too important. She would be able to show them what happens if they were to forfeit her favour and enjoy her herself in the process.

Logan somehow doubted she had thought that far ahead. That wasn't her style. Ms. Dragon Witch's style was just that - flashy, loud, impressive. But ultimately lacking any sort of substance. His boss was acting on her emotions and little else. So caught up in the moment that she failed to see the long term advantages of her actions. Sooner or later, that would cost her dearly. Logan had always known that - right now however, he found himself hoping that it would be sooner. The sooner the better.

Virgil's struggles had been pointless, the guards forcing his wrists back down against the arms of the chair. Thick metal snapped into place, curling around him and pinning him down. Logan had designed that chair. There was no getting out of it if you were the one in it. Not even Virgil would be able to. From the look on Virgil's face, he knew it too. It didn't stop the purple haired man from continuing to fight against them.

How many times had she put him in that chair? How many of Logan's inventions had been used to hurt one of the very few people that he would class as interesting and near his own level? Logan wasn't naive. He was fully aware that most - if not all - of what he designed was used for nefarious purposes. He was even aware that many of them were used to create pain. It had never been something Logan had spent much time thinking about. It was just a side effect of achieving his goals. As Dr. Logic he had weighed up the pros and cons. It had been a price worth paying.

Somehow it didn't give him the same kind of comfort when faced with the reality of the moment.

While he was distracted, Ms. Dragon Witch had retrieved a whip from the collection on the table and returned to stand behind the cuffed Virgil. Logan really didn’t like either the object or the position. That strange knot of something was growing larger in his stomach.

“Ready pet?”

Not that she waited for an answer. Instead, with a wicked giggle, she lifted the whip high in the air before bringing it sharply down against Virgil's exposed neck.

#sanders sides #fic #logan sanders #virgil sanders #aca writes #absent gods #long post #angst #angst with happy ending #platonic

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