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the-sympathetic-villain · 2 years

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Logan, Virgil, protector, fae

And 5. "I didn't realize I was such an inconvenience."

I didn't mean to follow a pattern from my last prompt, but apparently I got a soft spot for teen!sides getting protected by powerful supernatural creatures this week. And I absolutely fell in love with these boys already so I hope you enjoy!

This is prompt number two of four for this game, so there's more coming <3

What You Deserve

Read on Ao3

Description: Entering the fairy ring to meet the master of the forest, Virgil knows he has one choice. Sacrificing himself to save his family was an honor, and it was his responsibility. Right?

Fortunately, not everyone agrees.

Word Count: 2792

Warnings: Shame, Manipulation, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Narcissistic Parent, Slavery Mention, Food Mention, Abandonment, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending (Let me know if I missed anything!)

“This way, Virgil.”

“Yes, mother.”

“Stop dragging your feet.”

“I'm not—”

“Speak up and stop mumbling.” Virgil’s mother put a hand on to his back to urge him down the path into the forest. “and don’t you dare wrinkle that shirt.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The silver light of the full moon filtered through the trees, sparkling on the dewy grass like tiny gems dotting the landscape. Bright, purple mushrooms grew in bunches underneath the trees. Their gills gave off a faint, pink glow that illuminated their path toward where the fairy ring was known to appear. It would almost have been pretty, if he didn’t know why his mother had brought him here.

“We’re almost there.” His mother turned back over her shoulder to glare at him. “You will remain silent and let me do the talking. I don’t need you screwing this up for us.”

“Y-yes, ma’am. I won't—”

“And no crying.” His mother reached to his cheek to brusquely wipe away the tears before dragging him forward into the open clearing. “Have some pride, Virgil. You’re doing this for your family.”

Virgil swallowed back a biting comment, ignoring everything he'd ever been taught to willingly follow his mother into circle of mushrooms at the center of the forest glade. The fairy ring. He felt a rush of power sweeping around them as he wiped the last of his tears from his eyes and stopped behind his mother. The subtle pink glow of the forest floor grew brighter as Virgil stared at the ground, curling his arms across his chest as a figure emerged from shadows.

“Human, I do not believe my instructions were unclear.” The deep voice of the fae carried an aura of warning as he addressed Virgil’s mother from the shadows. “You and your bloodline are no longer welcome in this forest. Begone before I lose my patience with you.”

“Good master of the forest, we are here to humbly request your audience.” Virgil’s mother bowed her head. “We seek not to anger you, but to appease you for the wrongs we have committed. Will you hear my offer?”

The figure stepped into the moonlight and Virgil had to stifle a gasp. Thin antlers rose up from man's soft, brown hair and his soft features radiated a gentle beauty unlike any he had ever seen before.

“I see no need for me to bargain with your family. You chose to ignore my warning not to take more than you need when you hunt the creatures here, and as a result you have suffered for your trespasses into my forest.”

The fae began to turn away, but Virgil’s mother dropped to he knees, reaching her hands up to plead with him. “Master fae, I need to feed my family—"

“The fault for your misery lays squarely on your own shoulders.”

“I know, but if we are to survive, our needs remain unchanged.” His mother’s voice trembled as she folded her hands together in a silent prayer. “Please, allow me to replace the life that was taken from your forest.”

The air felt heavy as the master of the forest turned back to them. His eyes moved slowly from Virgil’s mother up to Virgil, lingering uncomfortably as Virgil bowed his head.

“Explain yourself.”

“I come to offer my secondborn. If you will accept h—"

“Ha, and I'm to understand you sought not to offend me.” The fae’s lip twisted into a cruel sneer as he bared down on Virgil’s mother. “You come to beg for your life, and you do even follow the word of legend. Do the stories not say that we fae barter for the firstborn child?”

“Please, my grace. We need my oldest for the harvest.” His mother dropped her forehead to the ground. “Without him we'll starve, but Virgil is not meant for such things. He is neither our brightest nor our strongest, but he works hard—If you'll have him, he will serve you faithfully in penance for our sins.”

Virgil's lip twisted in disgust as his mother all but begged the fae to take him away. “I didn’t realize I was such an inconvenience, mother.”

A withering glare flashed across his mother’s face as she turned her head over her shoulder towards him. Her movements lacked subtlety and her message was clear. She wanted nothing more to do with him, and if he messed up her plans, she'd surely make him pay for his mistakes. Fortunately for her, not all hope was lost. The faerie’s piercing, blue eyes had fixed their attention on Virgil.

“Virgil, child.” The fae paused as though he were taking the time to feel Virgil’s name on his lips. “What do you have to say about all of this?”

A subtle, tingling crept across Virgil’s skin as the man spoke his true name. His mother had given it so freely, he hadn’t even considered the power the forest fae already had over him. “I, um—I don’t—”

“He's a good boy who does as he's told. You won’t regret taking him—”

“My question was not directed at you, madam.” The fae's eyes flashed a cold warning at his mother that sent shivers across Virgil’s skin. His stomach had been doing nervous flips since they entered the forest, but now that he was face to face with the powerful fae, he felt like his wobbling legs might finally betray him. “I wish to hear Virgil answer for himself.”

“I, um—whatwasthequestionagain?”

His mother looked poised to strike him for such a pitiful display of composure but the man in front of him seemed to find his incompetence pleasantly amusing.

“You are being asked to forfeit the only life you've come to know.” The cold tone of the fae's voice was tempered with a comforting softness that started to still the pounding in Virgil’s heart. “Surely you have feelings about what your mother is asking of you?”

“Umm—”

“And keep in mind,” The man paused as Virgil looked up at him with wide eyes. He kept his tone soft and reassuring, but firm as he addressed Virgil. “it is unwise to lie to one of the Fair Folk like myself.”

“No—Of course not, sir.”

Virgil’s mumble was nearly lost to the wind as he bowed his head to his chest, considering his words carefully. His mother had made it clear that this was his responsibility. If they failed to win the fae’s favor, his family may not survive the winter, and he was the only one with the power to change the creature's mind. He had not other choice. He would make his mother proud of him, if only this one time.

“If you will spare my family of their suffering, I am prepared to go with you.” Virgil dropped to his knees next to his mother and gave a deep bow to the ruler of the forest. “Please accept my mother’s offer.”

“I asked of your feelings, and yet you offer nothing of substance.”

“I know, sir.” Virgil’s forehead pressed to the dewy ground. “I’m sorry, but I do not wish for my emotions to sway your decision.”

The fae's silence weighed down on his shoulders as Virgil trembled and begged for the fae to take him. This was so simple. He couldn’t screw this up too.

“Very well. I accept the terms you’ve laid out for your family’s penance.”

Virgil lifted his head to the faerie ruler as he crossed his arms across his chest. His expression remained unmoved as Virgil looked to his mother. Relief spread across her face as she rose to her feet, oblivious to the despair twisting Virgil’s stomach.

“Really, sir?”

“To be clear, I expect to take the boy.” The man's leering glare landed on Virgil’s mother as she rose to her feet. “And in return, your family will be given passage into my forest to take only what you need to survive. Choose to get greedy again, and you will find that mercy is not something I grant twice.”

“Yes, sir.” His mother looked like she may weep with relief. “Your grace’s kindness knows no bounds. May peace be with you.”

“It would be wise if you to leave before my patience runs thin, human.”

The fae’s cold tone didn’t falter as his mother nodded. Virgil felt a numbness overcome him as his mother turned to wrap her arms around him.

“Take care of yourself, Virgil. You've done your family proud."

She pressed a kiss to his temple before letting him go and rushing back down the path, leaving him weeping at the feet of the stranger.

“Come with me, child.”

“Y-yes, master.”

“There is no need for you to address me as such.” The forest fae offered Virgil a hand as he scrambled to his feet obediently. “If it is acceptable, you may refer to me as Logan.”

Shaken, Virgil could do nothing but stare as the fae offered him a hand to his feet. “L-Logan?”

“I know I have you at an unfair advantage as I do not intend to share my true name, but you need not harbor any fear in your heart that I intend to hurt you.” Logan’s voice was soft as he rested a hand on Virgil’s back and guided him deeper into the forest. “Despite the ideas your mother undoubtedly in your head, I have no intentions of making you a slave.”

Virgil didn’t dare voice the many thoughts racing through his mind as his heart fluttered with a faint hope. He knew that the Fair Folk didn’t lie, but that didn’t mean that Logan did not hide his true intentions behind fancy words.

“T-thank you.”

“That is not a sentiment worthy of your gratitude.” Logan's voice sent a tingling rushing over Virgil’s skin as the fae pulled him to his feet. He was quiet as the fae pulled off his cloak, wrapping it around Virgil’s shoulders as they walked deeper into the forest. “I can assure you I only wish to honor the sacrifice you were willing to make.”

“This food is not of fae origins.” Logan’s expression remained gentle and patient as Virgil eyed the bowl of stew with suspicion. “You need not worry about any possible adverse effects to your health.”

Mere hours had passed since the fae had brought him to this realm, but settling into his new home had gone smoother than Virgil could have expected. Logan had been nothing less than pleasant, presenting Virgil with an overly extravagant bedroom with silk bedsheets and pillows for him to scream into the second Logan left him alone. He’d been allowed to sleep in as the thick shades kept out the morning light, and since he'd woke, his host had allowed him enough space that he'd been mostly able to simmer down from his overstimulated state. The respectful distance had been a welcome comfort, and he'd certainly been grateful for the fae's patience, but now the man had returned with a stubborn desire to feed him.

“What can I say to convince you my intent is not to hurt you, Virgil?”

“Nothing,” Virgil muttered as he forced his muscles to relax, realizing a moment too late that he had risked offending the fae. “I mean—Of course, I will accept the meal you've been gracious enough to prepare for me.”

Don’t thank the Fair Folk, lest you admit you owe them a debt.

Offering his life to Logan surely came with complications he didn’t fully understand, but he had no intention of giving away anymore of himself for free.

“I understand your caution is a rational reaction given your situation, but I hope to prove to you that it is unnecessary.” Logan’s soothing voice was quick to lull Virgil into almost believing his words were genuine. “Perhaps, we can set some base expectations about your time here to help ease your discomfort.”

Virgil chewed on his lip as he propped himself up on the edge of the bed. The silky, sheets felt like heaven on his aching body as he nodded and sipped on the savory broth. Meals brought to him in his own room were more than he'd ever dreamed to expect, but maybe now he could get an idea of what Logan would ask in return.

“Alright, Virgil. The first thing I need you to understand about my choice to invite you here is that you are free to leave at any time and for any reason.”

A sudden burning filled his nostrils as he accidentally inhaled his soup, choking as he looked up at Logan's patient smile. “What?”

“I do not believe that children should be made to pay for the sins of their parents.”

A shiver ran up Virgil’s spine as he looked up into the unsettling blue eyes of his captor. “That line might work better if you hadn’t accepted my life as payment only hours ago.”

“On the contrary, though I did not say so at the time, I viewed our transaction very differently than your mother.” Logan's lip curled into a smile as he moved away from Virgil to drop into a purple tufted chair a few steps away from the bed. “She believes sacrificing you was the price she paid for her life, but I would say granting her passage to my forest was the price I paid to bring you here.”

Virgil chewed on his lip as he focused on the bowl of soup in his lap. “Yeah, well, it all sounds the same to me.”

“I understand why you feel that way, but the difference is quite sizable in my eyes." Logan curled his hands in his lap. His narrow antlers stood like a crown on his head as he stared seriously at Virgil. “You see, I paid a price for your life with no ulterior motive but to give your freedom back to you.”

“Liar.”

“You know well enough that the Fair Folk do not lie, and despite what you may know of my people's reputation, I prefer to be straight forward about my intentions.” Logan let his serious tone drop to speak earnestly to Virgil. “Come morning, if your mind remains unchanged, you are free to return to your family. I only ask that you reflect on your situation for one day and one night before making any decisions.”

Virgil couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Fae didn’t lie, but surely what Logan was saying couldn’t be the truth. “You are deceiving me.”

“Falsehood.” Logan’s eyes narrowed on him. “You may test my boundaries all you like, but I assure you there is no hidden motive in my words.”

“There's no way.” Virgil muttered as he stabbed at a crumbling potato with his spoon. “Why bother to take me if you were planning to release me all along?”

“No honorable parent uses guilt and shame to motivate their child, much less manipulates them to sacrifice themselves for said parent.” Logan paused to steady the growing anger in his voice. “Her job should have been to protect you, not the other way around, and I couldn’t abide such deplorable behavior.”

Virgil stirred the bowl of warm broth and root vegetables in his hand, grateful for the grounding sensation of heat as he listened to Logan’s words. “That’s a low blow to insult my mother.”

“You are the master of your own fate, Virgil. If you believe I am ill-informed, you are free to return to her and your brothers at first light tomorrow morning.” Logan's lip curled into a reassuring smile as Virgil chewed on his words. “But know, whether it is for a single night or a lifetime, you are welcome to stay.”

“As a slave, you mean.”

“As an honored guest, child.” Logan smirked at Virgil’s stubbornness as he rose to his feet and turned towards the door. “I am offering you a sanctuary from the shame and fear your family has convinced you is normal, but whether or not you choose to accept that offer is entirely up to you.”

Virgil’s chest clenched with a mild anxiety as Logan turned to leave him. “You’ll be back in the morning?”

“Bright and early, as promised.”

“Maybe—” Virgil’s voice trembled. He couldn’t believe he was starting to trust this fae. “Maybe not too bright and early, if that’s okay?”

“As you wish, Virgil.” Logan smiled as he headed towards the door. “Good night."

“Night.”

Virgil put his empty bowl on the tray at the end of the bed. The lights dimmed automatically as Virgil turned to collapse on the impossibly comfortable bed. Having the space was definitely a different experience than being crammed together with all of his younger brothers. Perhaps he could risk staying for just a few more nights.

This is prompt number two of four for this game, so there's more coming <3

Prompt Game

Prompt #1 - Janus/Remus/Protector/Werewolves+"Hold still. I don't want to hurt you."

General Taglist (Just ask to be included or taken off!):

@justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

#sander sides #sander sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #tss #ts #ts virgil #virgil sanders #ts logan #logan sanders #platonic analogical #fae!logan #human!virgil #tw implied abuse #What You Deserve #villain writes

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delimeful · 5 months

Text

the end of being alone (6)

remember how this installment was mostly fluff up until this point? we'll get back to that!

... just not this chapter <3

part 2: how does a kid end up stranded in space, anyhow?

warnings: bad self care, illness, panic, child in distress, minor injury, non-consensual drug use, trafficking, unethical imprisonment and treatment of prisoners, child endangerment, implied offscreen minor character death, ambiguous character fates, this is a heavy tearjerker chapter but it does have a hopeful ending, lmk if i missed any

Virgil’s condition hadn’t improved.

They’d tried as many non-medicinal techniques as they could, struggling to figure out what would help and what would harm an unpredictable biological system that they barely understood.

Nothing had helped. Nothing was working.

And each time Virgil woke up to the sight of the ship around him, he wept and struggled and shouted, burning through his meager energy and only worsening his health.

He didn’t respond to heartfelt pleas from any of them, rarely even seeming to understand they were in the room with him. His stare was distant and terrified, his mind somewhere else, and each time it happened, Logan wanted to understand how to help so badly.

So, after several cycles without sleep and with the pressure of increasing desperation weighing heavy on his head, he finally succumbed to the deeply unwise impulse to start a Vidi.

He’d only wanted to understand what Virgil was yelling, try and grasp the reason behind his fear in the hopes that they could abate it, even slightly.

The moment he’d made contact, however, his mind had been dragged into a memory with intense force, the metaphorical handles of the Vidi ripped away, leaving him unable to steer and barely able to move.

His fingers twitched with the urge to pull away, but he stopped himself. It could hurt Virgil, and he’d endured plenty of traumatic memories before. He could handle this.

With a blink, he was looking through a much younger set of eyes.

—

The ship came during the summer.

Virgil remembered, because he’d been reviewing holidays and important events with his class before the break, and his half-birthday was coming up in a week!

His birthday was in winter, so his half birthday was in the opposite season, summer! He’d said as much before trying to debate his way into a trip to the park with his friends, and failing miserably.

So, he’d snuck out. And gotten himself lost between one turn of the neighborhood and the next.

He’d run into one of his neighbors, who’d been more than a little concerned to see him wandering around alone, especially because there had apparently been some people disappearing lately.

“Where did they go?” he’d asked, and gotten an uncomfortable reassurance, which definitely wasn’t an answer.

He’d frowned, tried to ask again, but his neighbor had gone quiet and grey-faced, staring at something over his shoulder. Before he could turn to see, there was a sharp thunk, and a bright bolt of pain in his shoulder.

There was a high, crackling scream, which was bad, but Virgil couldn’t keep his eyes open long enough to figure out where it came from. A pair of warm hands caught him when he staggered, and then he was out.

He barely recalled what happened next, the memories fragmented like someone had taken a hammer to them. He didn’t want to think about them, but he kept the pieces close and tucked away anyhow, knowing they were important even though they hurt.

He felt flickers of awareness, the sensation of eyes rolling against heavy eyelids, a rapid pulse pounding away in his ears like a big drum, angry and fearful shouting barely audible beyond the clamor.

And then: the barest glimpse of the docking port of a ship from the inside, the entrance ramp folding up and sealing away the green trees and blue sky on the other side. Replacing the brief vision of home with cold metal and unearthly lights.

There weren’t any warm hands holding him, now.

His whimper turned nearly soundless on the way up his throat, but it drew the attention of his captors regardless.

A rush of unfamiliar language above him, another flood of numbness spreading through him, but even from that one fragmented moment, Virgil understood that they were taking him away.

Another blank period, like dipping one's head briefly underwater, and then he was waking up again.

“Easy, baby,” a familiar voice said, a hand stroking through his hair, slow and gentle. “You’re okay, you’re alright.”

“Miss Susan?” Virgil asked, and his voice came out small and crackling. He coughed, trying to force his crusted over eyelashes apart with a growing sense of panic.

“Hey, I need some water for the kid!” Miss Susan called lowly, before setting a hand against his back and helping him shuffle upright. “Take it slow, baby, don’t choke. There we go.”

Virgil opened his eyes and got his first look at the room he’d be stuck in for the next several months.

It was dimly lit, and smelled bad. The floor was metal, with a few thin stripes of grating, like a shower drain. The walls were made of tinted plastic and covered with sharp-edged wire netting, and there were a whole bunch of people inside with him and Miss Susan.

They all spoke to him at one point or another, but he only remembered some of their names. The thought made his stomach twist painfully, and he clamped down on the sensation.

He couldn’t be sick. Being sick was bad.

The time shifted, Miss Susan still at his side but her hair longer and her skin sallower. They were all seated, tired from the cold and the dark and the gross food that he wasn’t allowed to throw up.

Mister Ben was coughing, hard and rasping and wet, one after another. A few people were crouched near him, talking to him in hushed voices as they tried to coax him into stopping, but his body curled in and convulsed like he couldn’t control the coughs at all.

Before long, there was a clang, and a spraying sound like that time a fire hydrant down the road had been busted open. A few people stood between the door and Mister Ben, but the room grew more and more hazy with the thick air that made his legs go all numb, and they were swaying with the effort of staying upright.

Virgil knew by now what happened next. He turned and pressed his face against Miss Susan’s side, and she drew him close and held him tightly as the suits came in.

The aliens were always wearing them when they came into sight. Thick rubbery suits with dark-tinted visors, each with an electric zapper in hand. They’d drag the sick one out, and Virgil would never see them again.

“Leave him alone!” Miss Susan cried, joined by the rising voices of the rest of their roommates. “Don’t touch him, you leave him the fuck alone!”

Virgil kept not looking, but he said it too, into the worn fabric of Miss Susan’s blouse. “Leave him alone, don’t touch him, leave him alone, don’t touch him, leave him alone…,”

It didn’t work. It never did. The aliens didn’t listen to them, and they made them weak and floaty if they tried to intervene.

His voice cracked as he kept repeating it, even as the door clanged again and the hiss of air stopped. If he didn’t look up, he could pretend that Mister Ben was still there, only quiet because he was all better from his cough.

"It's okay. I know. It's alright, honey." Miss Susan’s hands shook as they stroked carefully through his hair, soothing him to sleep through the last of his hiccuped sobs.

Everyone who spoke to him was kind, even when they were unhappy. When Miss Susan slept but he was awake, Mister Aaron would invent word games to play or Miss Kelsey would challenge him to push up contests, and they would all take turns trying to think of the worst possible combinations of foods to compare to their mush food.

The best was Miss Susan, though. When he was bored, she would tell him stories about her nieces and nephews, and the farm she grew up on, and silly people at her job before they got taken. When he couldn’t sleep, she would hum whichever parts of lullabies she could remember.

Even when he got sad and didn’t want to move or talk at all, she would hold him close and poke at his side and gasp about seeing the firefly that had snuck onboard with them, until he had no choice but to wiggle free and inspect every corner for its light.

The other adults would spot it every once in a while, too, and try to point it out to him. He never saw it, which he would report back to Miss Susan every time.

“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there,” she’d tell him, waving at the dark ceiling of the room. “Glowbugs can’t be bright all the time.”

“Why not?”

“Well, they’d get too hot and sweaty. They’d have to go swim in the ocean, and then they’d probably all turn into anglerfish,” Miss Susan said, even though she hadn’t known what an anglerfish was until Virgil had told her everything he could remember about them.

“No way,” he said, laughing despite himself. “Bugs can’t turn into fish!”

“Maybe they just get too tired, then,” Miss Susan said, ruffling his hair. “It must be exhausting, being so bright.”

She went quiet for a moment, and Virgil leaned into her touch, squinting at the dark corners and willing the bug to show itself.

“Even when they’re blending in with the dark, though, they’re still there,” Miss Susan finally continued. “So don’t give up. You’ve just gotta trust in it, and eventually, you’ll spot it.”

“I want eventually to be now,” Virgil had responded, petulant as he flopped against her side, eyes growing heavy.

Miss Susan pet his head, humming quietly until he was almost asleep. She let out a big sigh, and when she spoke, her voice was quiet. “You and me both, kid.”

And then it was the last day.

He knew because Miss Susan’s hands were carefully cupping his face, coaxing him into waking up with a careful tap to the nose. They never woke him up on purpose, because 'growing kids needed their rest', except for the last day.

Virgil felt his brow scrunch with confusion even before his eyelids started fluttering, and Miss Susan chuckled and pressed her lips to the crown of his head for a moment.

“Come on, baby, wake up. It’s important, okay?”

He forced himself to open his eyes and keep them open, a little unease running down his spine.

Everyone had been scared, lately. Their group had shrunk in number, their room had been moved onto a bigger ship, and there were distant sounds of crowds at all hours, making his skin prickle with nerves when he was trying to sleep.

Some of their roommates were really smart, and they’d started puzzling out the words of the alien language from the ship directions that were given over the intercom and the overheard conversations of those passing by or rudely peeking in at them.

They’d taught Virgil some of them, whenever he was awake enough to remember. The words they whispered now weren’t ones he’d learned yet, though.

‘Transfer’ and ‘auction’. Everyone disliked them, felt too upset or angry about them to explain, even Miss Susan. Or maybe they just didn’t want to explain them to him, like they wouldn’t tell him what the aliens did with people when they got taken away. There had been a lot of arguing and shouting in low voices, trying to keep him from overhearing.

But now, they were waking him up.

Virgil let himself be coaxed to his feet, following Miss Susan over to the corner where everyone stood in a huddle, the tallest of them on the outside.

“Okay, sweetie. I need you to listen to me very closely, alright?” she told him, turning him to face the corner where they usually kept extra clothes in a pile. “You’re going to have to be very brave for me, okay?”

The clothes had been moved. There was a hole in the wall, where the netting had been peeled back. The edges of it were rough and curved like they’d been made with fingernails, like it had been painstakingly carved through one scratch at a time.

It was a small hole, barely the size of a vent, or a cat flap. Virgil could probably fit through it, but he was the only one.

“No,” Virgil shook his head immediately. “I don’t want to! I’m scared.”

Miss Susan squatted to be level with him, holding his hand in hers. “I know, honey. But it’s important, okay? We’re going to get out and find you, but you have to go first and stay safe until we do. I’ll send our little glowbug with you, and it’ll light the way in the dark.”

“What about your dark?” Virgil asked, rubbing harshly at his stinging eyes.

Miss Susan softened, pulled his hand away and smoothed a thumb over his cheekbone. “Oh, baby. I’ve seen that glowbug a hundred times, here with you. I’ll be okay without it for a little while.”

Virgil turned to look at the hole again, imagining a little firefly crawling through with him so he wouldn’t be alone.

“Do you promise?” he asked, and Miss Susan pulled him into a hug so tight, it felt like it squished all the air from him.

“I promise,” she said, and her hands shook a little but her voice was steady. Virgil smushed his face against her shoulder for the last time.

“Okay. I’ll— I’ll go.”

The barrier of bodies around them seemed to relax, just slightly, though it still took Miss Susan a few moments longer to release him.

They told him everything he needed to know, everyone chiming in. That he had to run, as fast and as far as he could, and be sneaky and quiet when he was too tired to run. That he should find hiding places and hole up in them, wait until nobody was around to keep running.

That he should always hide from aliens, even if they weren't wearing the suits. That he should never let them see him, because they hated humans. That if they did grab him, he could do whatever he needed to do to get away.

“Just like stranger danger, right, buddy? You can bite, kick, scream, whatever you need to do.”

Virgil nodded, trying to push down the sick, stressed feeling in his gut, and when there was finally no advice left to give, he turned to the gash in the wall.

Wiggling through it was hard, because there were still sharp, poky bits that scratched at his skin and the inside of the wall was dark and stifling, but every time he wanted to stop, he could hear the encouragement of everyone else, who was still stuck inside.

There was a little bug with him, he reminded himself. If he closed his eyes and froze up, he wouldn’t ever be able to see it glow.

Finally, he squirmed free of the last few inches, dropping onto the floor of a very small dark room with shelves in it, like a linen closet. He turned back to face the hole, calling out, and Miss Susan reached an arm through.

He grabbed for her hand and pressed his face to it, clung to her for a long moment, his breaths stuttering as she cradled him the best she could.

There was a muffled clang, and Miss Susan ran her wavering thumb over his cheekbone one more time before pulling away.

“Run, Virgil. Now. Run!”

So he did.

He ran and hid, just like they told him, but he picked the wrong place to hide because it was part of another ship, and it took him far away. He kept running, pulled himself into tiny little nooks on spaceship after spaceship, snuck food wherever he could get it and only ever whispered to his invisible firefly.

Eventually, he left a ship and there were no other ships around to board, only the wide landscape of a different planet, full of weird trees and weird animals and a weird town that he fled from. No more ships came, and that was fine because he didn’t want to run anymore. He wanted to stay and wait for them to find him.

He laid on his back and faced the sky, searching for a sign that they were coming. He was hungry and tired and lonely.

The stars above looked just like fireflies, hundreds of them. Enough for all of them to watch together. Except there wasn’t a ‘them’. It was only him.

Virgil felt his face growing hot, his throat closing up at the thought. It was too frightening to be alone.

No, he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t. He had their firefly with him, somewhere next to him in the grass.

“Just because I can’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Virgil said to himself sternly, and rolled back to his feet.

He would find something to eat, somewhere to sleep, and he would wait. They would find him. They would find him. They would…

—

When Logan finally eased the mental connection closed and pulled himself free, he found there was a low, buzzing keen building in the back of his throat. The sort of sound he hadn’t made since he himself was a child.

Virgil still lay there unconscious, but his cheeks were shiny and damp with tears. Logan reached out, ignoring the heat radiating from the pupa’s skin, and gently smoothed a narrow finger over his cheek, wiping the wetness away as best he could.

It didn’t do much, but the crinkle in Virgil’s brow seemed to ease just slightly at the sensation.

Roman paced by again, pausing at the sight. “Specs? Is the kid alright? …Are you alright?”

Logan wondered what Roman would think about the fact that Humans and Crav’n had more in common culturally than he would have ever guessed. That an entire group of Humans had given up their only boon for the slim chance of getting the only child present to safety.

No time to waste, now. That conversation would have to wait until they’d launched.

“Let Patton know we’re leaving, and meet me in the navigation area,” he instructed, already turning to leave. “I’m going to clear our landing area for departure.”

“What— I thought we agreed it was a bad idea to actually leave?” Roman asked, glancing between Logan and Virgil with visible worry.

“It’s a worse idea to sit here and wait,” he replied firmly, and then he was down the hall and out the hanger door, ignoring the shiver of secondhand trepidation that Virgil’s mind had left in his.

He circled the ship, placing the warding discs that would keep their launch area organism-free down one by one, and then paused at the sight of a familiar creature standing by the main entrance hatch.

It was a Humlilt, one with a distinct little white splotch on its head. Logan was fairly certain that it was the one who had stood between them and Virgil during their second meeting, the most loyal of the bunch, only proved further by the way it had been waiting outside the ship since Virgil had been taken aboard.

Logan was also fairly certain that Virgil had named this one Susan, after his neighbor. The Human who’d taken care of him, in those memories.

“You’ve taken care of him, too, haven’t you?” he asked, still far too affected by the painful sympathy that had washed over him post-Vidi.

The Humlilt stamped a hoof and trumpeted at him warningly as he neared, still obviously holding a grudge at them for stealing Virgil away.

Logan attempted to rationalize himself out of the decision he was about to make, and utterly failed.

—

It took some digging and reaching out to a few of Logan’s less savory contacts, but the ship was on its way to a waypoint station that was rumored to have a Human expert in residence. It could have been a trap, a lie meant to lure interested parties into an attack, but they were going to have to risk it.

The three of them had all agreed to the plan. They wouldn’t be able to live with themselves otherwise.

Now that they were in transit, Logan sat down with his two closest friends, and began to explain just what he’d learned about their kid.

A few rooms down in the medical bay, a half-conscious Human reached out a feverish hand and found a small, fluffy presence curled up at his side.

The Humlilt crooned a few notes, sounding just like the aimless lullabies its namesake used to hum.

For the first time since boarding the ship, Virgil breathed a little easier.

#wibar #ts logan #ts virgil #ts patton #ts roman #space au #humans are deathworlders #teoba #the end of being alone #mind the warnings #writing #my writing

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