Virgil focused on taking deep breaths. He had dealt with this before. He had lost control of his powers a couple of times back when he had been one of The Others. He could control the story. He closed his eyes, and ignored the sounds. After a minute, he had almost managed complete silence. He was getting better at shutting the thoughts down. The next step was to learn to harness it. If he could control it, then surely he would be able to create something to take down Romulus. He took in another deep breath. "Control the story" his mind whispered, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Janus'. A wail broke his concentration, and the whispers came cascading back around him. He opened his eyes reluctantly and glanced down at Patton. The toddler had been the one who had cried out. Virgil had no idea how he had ended up taking care of the other side. He was worried about Logan. He knew he could take care of himself, but Virgil was still anxious. His biggest worry was that Romulus would catch him. He supposed that was the best thing about his new position. It was easier to keep an eye on the king. Patton wailed again, and Virgil picked him up. "What's wrong, Pat?" He glanced behind him, where Patton was frantically pointing.
Romulus loomed over him, his gaze stern and curious. "What do you have for me today, Virgil?" "N-nothing yet, sir. I-I'm still trying to control it." Virgil did his best not to let his hands shake. He couldn't give anything away. He was the only side who was doing something. He couldn't risk getting caught. "I would have thought that Paranoia would know how to control his own powers." He gritted his teeth at his old title. "I'm not Paranoia anymore. I changed." "Sure you did, Virgil." Romulus turned to leave. "Continue working. I gave you this job for a reason. Don't make it so that I regret sparing you." Virgil swallowed. "Yes sir," he said through gritted teeth. As Romulus left, Virgil called out, "Why did you spare Janus?" Romulus turned to look back at him. "What?" "Why did you spare Janus?" "I did no such thing." "You did. You just let him go. I thought you were doing all this because you wanted revenge." "That may have been why your precious Roman did this, but it is hardly my goal." "He's not my precious anything," Virgil muttered under his breath. "I don't see why you should care about that snake however. I do know of your falling out." "I don't care about Janus. I guess I'm just curious. You punished the light sides so horribly, but you just let him off the hook." Romulus seemed to consider it. "Do you really think so?" Virgil didn't say anything. "I suppose you're right. I did let him off rather easily. Perhaps I should reconsider." "N-no, that's not what I meant at all." Romulus smiled at him coldly. "Thank you. I will certainly have to give some thought to his punishment." "I-I really don't think that's necessary!" "You do not decide that." Virgil shrank. "Continue your work." "Yes sir."
Once Romulus' footsteps had faded completely, Virgil sank to the floor and buried his face in his arms. The whispers started again, but they didn't really bother him this time. The guilty whispers in his own head were louder anyways. He hated the snake, sure. He had honestly wished he could borrow Roman's sword on more than one occasion. But he had never wanted to set someone like Romulus loose on Janus. His fingers started tapping frantically against his knees. "What do I do? What do I do?" he muttered under his breath. He had just set the worst side loose on Janus. If the dumb snake got hurt, it would be his fault! He smacked the heel of his hand against the side of his head. "C'mon, think, Virgil!" he growled. "This should be old hat. You were able to protect Thomas. You should be able to protect Janus!" His stupid brain still refused to yield any ideas. He banged his head against his knees. A bolt of pain shot through his temples, but he ignored it. "Come on, think!" he growled at himself. "You used to be Paranoia for God's sake! Surely your stupid brain can come up with an idea." He wished he had someone with him. Logan probably would have come up with an idea by now. Of course, Logan wouldn't have convinced Romulus to go after Janus in the first place. Roman would have come up with some grandiose over complicated plan that somehow managed to work. At this point, he even would have taken Patton. He glanced down at the toddler happily wandering around the room. Well, an adult Patton, he silently amended. He would have even taken Remus. Once again, Virgil buried his face in his arms. He had to face the truth. Without the others, he was useless. As if he had been reading his thoughts, Patton toddled over to him, and playfully bumped his head on Virgil's shins. "Not now, Pat," he said absentmindedly, but he couldn't stop the faint smile from spreading. He sat brainstorming for a few more minutes, before something occurred to him. He did his best to shove it down. That was a worst-case scenario option. He would not go to the snake. He had left The Others. He couldn't trust them. He couldn't trust Janus. Patton bumped his head against Virgil's shins once again. "Warn." Patton said. "What! No! If I went to him, I'd be admitting defeat!" "Warn!" Patton repeated more sternly this time. "No!" Virgil said with equal force. "There's gotta be some other solution I've overlooked!" "Warn!" Patton yelled. "NO!" Virgil yelled back. Patton shrank back at the harshness in his voice. Virgil sighed. He was so useless. He couldn't even stop himself from yelling at Patton. He pulled his knees closer to his chest. "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid" he berated himself. He wished Roman were here. He could really use the pep talk. Or even the stupid nicknames. Slowly he raised his head. Roman was here. At least in part. The beginnings of a plan started to form. It was crazy risky, and there was almost no chance it would work. "Roman would love it." At the very least, it was better than going back to that snake.