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Hey, guys, sorry for the wait. I've had a lot of exams recently, and I was in the hospital getting a thyroid biopsy (only actually there for a few hours but the drugs they gave me made my head weird for a day or two), so I hadn't really felt up to editing this part so I could start posting it.

This is going to be the last part of the fic (unless I get more ideas for it later, which may or may not happen).

IMPORTANT NOTE: This part of the fic is going to be the most serious and potentially upsetting of the parts, and there are a lot more trigger warnings associated with it, so please read the updated warnings in the summary.

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One day, Virgil was deep in thought, which wasn't exactly rare for him, but he felt like this particular thinking session could be important.

He'd noticed something about Janus recently. Not the skin picking, or the attempts to get Remus accepted, or even the way that the deceitful side's anxiety only seemed to be increasing (which was starting to become a pretty significant problem, but Janus still didn't want to go back to Emile).

No, though Virgil had noticed those things, that wasn't quite what he was thinking about. The thing he was thinking about was something that could, potentially, have ramifications for not just Deceit, but also Thomas.

"Hey, Jan?"

Janus was talking to Logan and Roman in the living room, where Virgil had been sitting silently all afternoon. The deceitful side had been rather quiet and subdued himself, but he was still responding to what the other two were saying, at least. It had been during this discussion that Virgil had happened upon his realization.

"Hm? What is it, Virgil?"

Virgil fiddled with his sleeves and bit his lip.

"Have you… noticed anything… different… about yourself lately?"

At this, Janus stared at him, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Virgil could sense the sudden spike in the other side's anxiety just as clearly as he could see him shifting uncomfortably on the couch.

"I'm not sure what you're referring to, Virgil, so you'll have to be more specific," he answered, shuffling uncomfortably. "Why?"

Virgil could see that Roman and Logan were also both paying attention. Which made sense since he'd essentially interrupted their conversation, but still.

"It's just…," Virgil tried. "Jan, what color is the sky?"

Janus tilted his head, now looking confused.

"Um, blue?" he replied. "Virgil, I'm afraid I really don't quite understand what you're getting at, and I don't believe I've said any lies for you to be confused about- oh."

Virgil could see the moment that Janus came to the same realization he had.

The other man started to bring a gloved hand up to his mouth in surprise, but the action was quickly aborted as he let it fall back to his lap.

"Hey, don't leave us in the dark!"

Janus was tense and hands tightly clenched, having frozen in place as he stared back at Virgil. His expression was shockingly unguarded, and that allowed Virgil to see the disbelief and apprehension clouding the side's mismatched eyes.

"Jan, when was the last time you lied unintentionally?"

He saw Janus's expression shift again as the side concentrated- he had to concentrate- to remember when the last time he compulsively lied was.

"I don't… I don't remember," he answered, his voice rough.

"Wait, what?" Roman asked quizzically. "But, like, don't you end up in 'Liar Mode' if you tell the truth too much? Like, you usually can't even get through an entire conversation without lying."

Janus didn't respond.

"Now that you've mentioned it, Virgil, it does seem like Janus's lying has decreased significantly recently," Logan noted. "I assumed it was because he was becoming more comfortable around us, but is that not the case?"

At this, Janus shook his head, performing the motion much longer than necessary.

"No, no, my level of comfort has nothing to do with it. Virgil and I had been comfortable with each other for some time before he left the dark sides, and I still automatically lied to him all the time."

"Yeah, you did," Virgil agreed, picking at a loose thread on his sleeve. "That's why we had to come up with the color code in the first place. Janus couldn't control it, even around Remus and I."

"Hm," Logan hummed, going quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe it has to do with recent events, then?"

"What do you mean, Specs?"

"Well, Janus started lying less after we all decided to include him and after Thomas more fully accepted him. Essentially, once he became 'one of us'," Logan theorized. "It could be similar to what happened with Virgil. After Virgil was accepted, he, shall we say, 'settled down'. Thomas started to experience less anxiety, and Virgil himself started to experience less as well. The trait is still present but the involuntary expressions of it are less frequent."

"Wait, so Deceit doesn't have to lie as much because we let him join in on movie night and stuff?" Roman questioned.

Janus looked upset, and Virgil knew that, whatever was going through the other side's head, it wasn't likely to be good. But before he could say anything to try to determine if Janus was okay, Logan started talking again.

"I believe it has more to do with Thomas and ourselves accepting his input, but that's more or less the gist of it," Logan sighed. "You see, I have a theory that, when Thomas is resistant to a side's input, we start to unconsciously attempt to make him listen through outbursts of our traits. I've noticed this the most with Virgil, Janus, and Remus because they have been the sides least listened to, but I believe I've observed it in us and Patton as well."

"Oop, did someone call for their happy-pappy Patton?"

Patton had just entered the commons living room, utterly unaware that he had walked into a serious conversation. As he saw the shock on Janus's expression, as well as the concern on Virgil's, the confusion on Roman's, and the intrigue on Logan's, however he quickly realized that, whatever was going on, it probably wasn't the right time for peppy entrances and dad jokes.

As such, his expression fell and morphed into one of concern.

"Oh no, are you guys okay?" he questioned worriedly. "Did something happen?"

"Well, nothing happened, per se…"

"Janus… I realized that he hasn't really been lying lately, and, well…," Virgil trailed off.

"Oh!" Patton exclaimed. "You mean how Janus hasn't been speaking backwards and lying all the time now."

"Well, yeah…"

"Wait, you already knew about this, Padre?"

Patton played with the ends of his cat hoodie.

"Well, yeah."

It looked like Janus was going to say something, but then Patton continued.

"But why do you all look upset about it?"

And then he dropped a verbal bomb that made Virgil question how exactly Thomas's main core of emotions could sometimes be so insensitive:

"Isn't that a good thing?"

The room fell silent, an imagined chill freezing them all in place. Virgil saw Janus's shoulders tense up even more as the shock on his face started to mix with heartbreak. The moral side quickly noticed the way Janus's face changed and knew that he had messed up.

"Wait, wait, kiddo, that's not- I didn't mean-"

Janus stood, not letting Patton finish his sentence as he spoke:

"I think… I think I should go be alone for a while…"

And then Janus sank out.

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Aaaaaaaah, Patton really didn't mean to hurt Janus. But, well.