For Liza. I really hope you like this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Remus is drawn away from looking dreamily at the telly by the sound of the door opening and slamming shut. It isn't long before a brunette throws herself down onto the couch next to him.
"Shit day?" he asks.
"Shit day," she confirms, resting her feet on the coffee table with a loud clang. "And I come home to find you've been sitting here drooling over those two all day!"
Remus gives her an unimpressed look before turning back to the telly. "Those two are saving the city. Again."
The woman rolls her eyes. "My apologies. Didn't realize we were under attack. Again."
On the telly, there's a reporter with fiery hair, whipping with the wind, and a microphone in clasped tight in front of her as she reports the chaotic scene. Behind her, two masked men are battling with...well, Remus isn't particularly sure; it doesn't look like anything he's ever seen before. It doesn't even look human.
He doesn't particularly care to know what they are fighting. He's far more interested in the superheroes themselves. He could watch them fight seamlessly together all day long and never tire of the sight. As far as he can tell, they both have dark hair and killer bodies; one of them wears a silver bodysuit and can manipulate water, while the one who can manipulate fire wears a gold bodysuit.
"So," the woman drawls, a smirk playing at her ruby lips, "which one would you choose if you had a chance?"
"Dorcas!" he exclaims scandalized, his cheeks heating up.
She tips her head back, laughing hard. It takes her a few beats to calm herself. "Come off it, Rem. We both know you've thought about it. Personally, I'd go with Silver Ice; there's just something about mysterious him. But that's not to say that Golden Flame would be bad. I bet he knows exactly how to heat up the bedroom if you know what I mean," she says, winking at him.
Despite his deep blush, Remus voice is very steady as he says, "Why limit myself to just one?"
"You dog!" Dorcas exclaims, grinning broadly as she swats at Remus' shoulder playfully.
He feels a smile tug on his lips. "It's only a fantasy, anyways, so why not? It's not like I'll ever meet them."
When his friend doesn't immediately retort, Remus assumes the conversation is over and turns back to catch the end of the fight. Golden Flame and Silver Ice's bodysuits are torn in a few places. Remus can't tell much more beyond that, but they are leaning against each other, alive.
"You could," she says, turning to him with a sudden earnestness.
"What?"
"It doesn't have to be a fantasy. You have the -" she wiggles her fingers at him, "- to become a superhero too. You could meet them."
He frowns at her. "I can duplicate things," he says unhappily. "Not really a superhero worthy ability."
Dorcas mimics his expression. "Anything can be a superhero ability if you use it the right way."
He doesn't look convinced. Then suddenly, he gives her a toothy grin, an idea forming in his head. "I have a better idea."
"Oh no," she moans, dropping her head into her hands dramatically. "Do I even want to know what you're thinking?"
"Being a duplicating superhero wouldn't draw anyone's attention, much less Silver Ice and Golden Flame's," he says. "But being a duplicating villain would. Think of the chaos I could make. It's sure to make a splash."
She shakes her head rapidly. "That's not what I meant. At all."
His grin grows. "This is better, though. I could actually get their attention whereas I wouldn't if I was just another superhero."
"You'll get caught and think about what happens after that," she says urgently. "You'll go to jail. Are two, admittedly gorgeous, blokes really worth jail time?"
He snorts out a laugh. "That's what costumes are designed for. And really, how hard could evading capture be?"
"Remus," she says cautiously, "you're not thinking this through. It's not -"
"I have thought about it. If I want to be noticed by them, I need to make a splash. Are you going to help me or not?"
She points a manicured finger at him. "I'll help as long as you don't drag me into it when you get caught."
"Of course," he agrees easily.
They spend the rest of the afternoon looking into other villains and the best costume ideas. He can duplicate the fabrics by thinking of them. Sewing a suit, however, is more complicated than both of them are expecting.
Remus goes to bed that night, a smile on his face as he thinks of eventually meeting Silver Ice and Golden Flame.
Remus tugs at the leather of his suit with a frown. It's clinging to him more than he was expecting. Briefly, he wonders if she had purposefully sewn the outfit tighter than he asked for. He looks at Dorcas. "How does it look?"
She tilts her head slightly. "It's fine. I still think you should've went with something other than black. Black's boring."
"Black may be boring, but it's better for concealment," he reasons. He places the golden mask against his face; it's just big enough to cover his eyebrows and a bit of his nose. Then he tugs the silver trimmed hood over his head before he inquires, "Look like a proper villain?"
She pursed her lips together before sighing. "I still think you should've done blue or green, or more silver but you'll make a passable villain."
He starts pulling the outfit off when Dorcas says, "Wait, you're not going out tonight?"
"No, it's Friday," he replies confused. "Why would I?"
She says something under her breath that he can't make out, but it sounds suspiciously like, "Oh my god," as she turns on her heels and goes to her room.
Remus is left in the middle of the room, his leather shirt halfway off, wondering why Dorcas would think he would start tonight. He's had a long week at work. There's no reason to be the arsehole who makes superheroes work on the weekends.
He looks up from where he's cutting letters out of magazines when the front door opens. He hears Dorcas dropping her keys and her purse at the table by the door.
"What are you doing?" she asks when she makes her way into the kitchen. She inspects his work closer. "Are those my magazines?"
He puts the letter 's' to the side and shrugs. "I needed it so I duplicated it."
"My question still stands: what are you doing?"
There are a bunch of cut out letters on the table in front of him and a stick of glue. He's wearing a pair gardening gloves, which has made cutting a little difficult and pasting even more so. He gestures to his work. "I thought it was fairly obvious; I'm putting together a note for when I actually start."
"Okay, " she says slowly, "why are you making a note?"
"Why else? They need to know I'm wanting them to notice me," Remus replies.
Dorcas runs a hand through her hair. It looks like she wants to protest, but then she shakes her head and sighs. "I'll leave you to it then."
Remus wakes up to a newspaper in his face. He sits up and arranges the newspaper in his lap. "Couldn't even wake me up properly?"
"You. You duplicated money and gave it to the poor," Dorcas says, unimpressed.
He takes this time to read the article. The many notes he left at each place is mentioned in the article, as well as the homeless shelters and charities Remus had given the money to.
"You're supposed to be doing terrible things!" she exclaims. "Like blowing up buildings or something. And you duplicate money for the poor."
"Hey! Duplicating money is bad, which is why I don't do it. It throws the whole system of currency off, and I duplicated millions of dollars for the masses that can't be refused," he defends. "Plenty terrible if you ask me."
She rubs at her eyes. "And the note: I wish everything I owned was silver and gold?"
He grins proudly at that. It took him the better part of two days to come up with that. "I was telling them I'm interested. Obviously."
"I give up," she declares, throwing her hands up. Without explaining further, she leaves him with the newspaper and his next plans.
Remus comes home from work to Dorcas sitting in front of the telly. The news is on, and the red headed reporter is talking. "In a bizarre chain of events -"
"Oh good, you're home," Dorcas says, pulling his attention away from the telly as she oats the couch. "They consider you a proper villain now. Given you a name to go along with your secret identity."
"Is it good?" he asks as he sits next to her.
Behind the reporter is the art museum that Remus had discreetly taken pictures at last week. He, then, replicated the paintings and gave them to some charities to sell, with a note, of course, saying these may be precious, but not more precious than silver and gold.
She shrugs. "It's okay. They're calling you the Duplicator."
He frowns. "They couldn't come up with anything better?"
"Can you?" she counters. "Besides, what difference does it make? You're gaining notoriety, which means that it won't be long before the gorgeous duo takes notice."
"I hope so. I'm thinking actual silver and gold next time," he says, stretching.
"This isn't the silver and gold I want," Dorcas says. "What kind of note is that?"
Remus looks away from where he's cooking breakfast. "Oh, the story ran! Let me see."
He grabs the newspaper from her to read. She slips past him to watch over the food while he reads. He's finally made front page, with blurry photos of him leaving the gold and silver at orphanages.
"I figured since my other attempts at telling them I was interested weren't working, I should be more direct," he replies.
She serves up the eggs and sits down to eat. "Why leave a vague note, then? Why don't you, I dunno, duplicate their action figures or photos?"
"Because that's just a bit creepy," he answers. He folds the newspaper and digs into his breakfast.
"So becoming a villain, duplicating things, and leaving vague notes to get their attention isn't creepy?" she inquires.
He shakes his head. "Of course not," he says dismissively. "But I think I should go for the crown next. It's the only silver and gold thing I haven't duplicated yet."
She rolls her eyes. "Sounds smashing. You have fun with that."
They finish their breakfast in comfortable silence. Dorcas pulls the newspaper towards herself to read some article or another. Remus isn't too worried about what she's reading about; he's planning his next duplication.
He just has a feeling that this next one is going to be the one that brings him in contact with Golden Flame and Silver Ice. This would all be worth it to meet the duo.
Remus makes his way through the museum as carefully and quietly as possible. He'd done his research and observed the security for a week just to be sure. He's staring at his goal: the crown in the case. It's nothing overtly important; it is gold and silver with red velvet, and he's going to duplicate it.
He estimates how large the crown is and holds his hands that far apart. He concentrates to bring the crown to life in his hands. The replica crown is just as beautiful as the first, even if it's not just perfect material wise; he doesn't know what the original crown is made of but the crown in his hands looks identical.
Remus turns on his heels to leave with the replica crown in his possession, when he's frozen in place. Standing before him are the two people he wanted to get the attention of - Golden Flame and Silver Ice. They are even more breathtaking up close.
Golden Flame stands with his feet slightly apart, ready for a fight. Silver Ice looks more at ease as he announces, "We see you, villain," in an almost amused tone.
Remus puts the crown on top of his silver trimmed hood with a grin. "Fancy meeting you two here," he says conversationally. "What can I do for you two?"
Silver Ice holds up a newspaper. Remus can clearly see the headline: The Duplicator strikes again. "Well, he," the man says, nodding towards his partner, "thought you were taunting us with those notes, but I don't believe you were."
"Oh? Why do you think I left them?" he inquires.
Silver Ice circles around Remus, before stopping behind him. Shivers are sent down Remus' spine when the other man says, "To get our attention. Which you got. Beyond that, I'm not sure. What did you think would happen?"
He cringes at Silver Ice's question. He thinks back to when this idea had popped in his head; Dorcas was right - he didn't think it through all the way because he doesn't have an answer. He was just so focused on trying to get them to notice him that he didn't give any real thought on the true consequences.
The two of them must understand his silence because, for the first time, Golden Flame scrubs a hand down his face, and says in utter disbelief, "Jesus Christ, you really did do this just to get our attention."
"It was the only way I could even meet you in person," Remus defends. The other half of the duo moves from behind Remus, which he is half thankful for and half disappointed.
"Oh my god," Silver Ice says, dropping his head against the other man's shoulder. "How is this our lives?"
Golden Flame doesn't even blink at Silver Ice's dramatic flare. "You do realize that there were several other options besides becoming a villain to get our attention if you wanted it, right?"
Remus waves a hand dismissively. "I was only helping the poor. I would consider myself more of a Robin Hood type than a villain, honestly."
"Robin Hood is still a criminal," Siver Ice points out, his voice muffled.
"Well you'd be unlikely to really stop and talk with a fan, and equally unlikely to care about a new superhero. I worked with the information I had," he informs the pair.
The two superheroes exchange glances. Then Golden Flame asks, "What exactly were you planning when we did notice you?"
Remus manages to take his hood off and replace the crown on top his head easily. He pulls off his mask. His heart is racing and his palms are sweaty when he replies. "Nothing besides asking if there's any chance you two would like to get coffee, or maybe breakfast?"
The two superheroes exchange more looks before revealing themselves to Remus. They look even more beautiful without their masks. Silver Ice gives him a devilish grin, "I'm Sirius and that's my boyfriend, James."
Remus has considered the fact that they were dating, given how effortlessly the work together. He shrugs, "I always imagined myself covered in silver and gold. I thought the two of you could help."
Sirius outright laughs at that, and the corners of James' lips are clearly trying to fight a smile. "I like him already," Sirius announces.
"You've liked him since the beginning," James retorts. Then he turns his hazel eyes on Remus, suddenly very serious. "Neither of us have ever considered dating anyone but each other."
"But I don't think it's completely off the table," Sirius adds. "The only problem is with the fact you're the Duplicator."
Remus bites his bottom lip for a moment in thought. "What if the Duplicator just disappeared?"
Sirius and James whispers something to each other that he can't hear, but he doubts he's supposed to. Then they turn back to him. James finally says loud enough for Remus to hear, "Let's have breakfast and discuss things to see if this is something we're interested in?"
"What about your clothing?" Sirius points out. "Everyone will recognize you."
Remus smirks. It doesn't take much concentration to duplicate some jeans, a t-shirt, and a duffle bag.
"Impressive," James whistles.
"My powers come in handy sometimes," he says with a shrug. "But you'll need to turn around. I don't get naked until at least the second date," he says with a wink.
When both of them turn their backs on him, he strips out of his suit as quickly as possible and pulls on the new clothes. He shoves the suit in the duffle bag, along with the crown.
"How about that breakfast?" Remus asks, clapping his hands together.
The two of them turn around and Remus' heart starts racing. This is everything he's been wanting for weeks now.
Two weeks later, Remus is reading the newspaper when Dorcas comes stumbling in the kitchen. Wordlessly, Remus scoots his cup of coffee to her. It takes her the rest of Remus' coffee to wake up completely.
She grabs the paper out of his hands. "Was that the last time we'll be vulnerable to the Duplicator?" she reads aloud with a snort. "You haven't been out there, doing your thing to get wonder boys' attention?"
"Haven't need to," he says confidently. There's a grin on his face as he said, "It worked just like I told you it would. Since I got what I wanted, I decided it was time to leave the Duplicator in the past."
It takes Dorcas a few moments to process and catalog Remus' behavior. "You sly dog! You shagged both of them!" she exclaims in disbelief.
"It just so happens that they are willing to fulfill my dream of being covered in silver and gold," he says.
"Give me all the deets," she demands. "Is Golden Flame as hot in the bedroom as one would think?"
A smile plays on Remus lips as he says, "A gentleman never kisses and tells. But you could ask Silver Ice when they come over; he probably would tell."
For Monthly One Shot: SiriusRemusJames, romance, and "I see you, villain."
For Showtime: Every's a hero - superhero!AU
Possibly for Liza's Love - write about JamesRemusSirius
Count your buttons: Sirius Black, "What difference does it make?", impressive
Jingle Bell song challenge: Fairytale of New York by The Pogues – (character) Sirius Black
Gobblestones: blue stone - love; accuracy - (action) reading, power - (word) bizarre, technique - (word) identity