May Flowers - Sanders Sides Fanfiction

❁Forget-Me-Nots - Promise to Remember❁

AU: Superhero AU

CW: Possible Character Death

WC: 1328

Date: 5/17/2021

The bright blue of the flowers stood out against the shadows of the night, Virgil took a moment to look at the soft pedals. Patton had loved Forget-Me-Nots, there had always been so many puns, but now the flower knotted something in his stomach.

"Don't worry Virgil," Patton passed him a set of Forget-Me-Nots, "We will be friends for Forever! I promise."

"Anything you say, froggie."

Forever hasn't lasted nearly as long as Virgil thought it would. They had been friends for a very long time, and maybe that was as long as he deserved, but he really had been planning on a lifetime with Patton. Virgil shook his head, no, Patton had been breaking him of that habit, and even if he wasn't here, it was still a good idea to nip those thoughts in the bud.

A sigh left his lips as he left the flowers behind, Patton would have enjoyed that joke.

Just because the two of them were no longer friends, didn't mean Virgil was going to stop caring. Patton had added a lot to his life, just by virtue of being himself. He had helped Virgil grow into a better person, into a hero. He wasn't going to stop now.

Though, maybe he should move cities.

From the shadows, Virgil watched as Logos, Pathos, and Romance patrolled. Romance, the self-aggrandizing idiot, had been the cause of all of this trouble. He could never see past the black and white. He thought the world was that simple. Heroes and villains, that's all the dumb prince believed in. He didn't realize that the world had so many varying shades of grey, vigilantes, civilians, anti-heroes. Even some heroes only did what they did for fame and money. Could you really call that good?

Romance had a skewed view of the world, and that had been fine, until he involved Patton.

Four months ago Patton had gotten his memory wiped by a villain. At this point, there was little hope that it was temporary. During his stay in the hospital, the one Virgil carried him to through a haze of panic, Romance had visited Patton. He had convinced the kind-hearted man that he had been tricked into working with a villain for a long time.

Vanisher and Romance had never really gotten along.

Still, Virgil never thought that he would stoop so low. Now Patton shied away every time he looked at Virgil, side-eying him with fear and curiosity. It was a special kind of hell, watching the man who had once held his hand during a panic attack, shy away from him completely.

Despite that, Virgil couldn't leave. This was the city that he and Patton had made into a home. He couldn't pack up his stuff and move away, especially since Patton's things still sat in his room untouched.

Virgil was broken out of his thoughts as he heard the screams, turning his head to the noise. Miss Anthrope was once again on a tirade, proclaiming the flaws of human society. Virgil didn't disagree with her, but her methods were a bit extreme. He didn't like to see people hurt for just going shopping. The problem was he couldn't just pop up behind her and capture her. She was always working with another, Sharp Shot. That was who Virgil needed to focus on.

"Stop Villain." He heard Romance call out in his commanding voice, good, he could keep her distracted.

Popping from building to building, Virgil kept his eyes and ears peeled for the other villain. They had done this song and dance before, so he knew she wouldn't shoot until the right time. Doing so could give away her position. He was actually lucky he found her.

"Put down the gun,"

"I wouldn't approach any closer unless you want him to be shot. See, I know your weakness now."

Virgil's blood ran cold, there was only one person who she could be threatening and it certainly wasn't Logos or Romance.

"Put. The gun. Down."

"I don't think I will, Hero. Do you think a shot to the head will jog his memories?"

Virgil charged, pinning her to the ground, but the gun had gone off.

He didn't stop to think about it, teleporting despite not having a line of sight. He knew approximately where Patton was; he couldn't let anything happen.

The bullet pierced his back, probably a bit too close to his lungs. Virgil would have to survey the damage when he got home.

Patton stood in front of him, bright blue eyes looking at him with terror. He didn't want to see that look on his best friend's face.

"Hey, it's okay, you are safe." He kept his voice low and gentle, even though it hurt to breathe. "See you around, Little Frog."

With that Virgil vanished, trying to use his powers to get home, but each jump was exhausting.

Patton stood, looking down at the ground, a few drops of blood staining the pavement. They weren't his own.

"Pathos! Are you alright?" His team member, Roman, asked.

"He was here."

"What?!"

"Vanisher was here, he took a bullet for me. He called me Little Frog." Patton was fighting against the walls in his own mind, trying to find the connection of why that name hurt so much.

"Are you hurt?!"

"No, I'm not, but he is. We have to help him."

"But... he's just a villain."

"I do not believe that matters, Romance. He is still a person, and if he helped Pathos, he is more than deserving of our assistance, not that we should ever withhold assistance due to personal bias."

The red-clad hero groaned. "Fine, I'll get the two villains to the authorities, you two go chase down Maralin Marose."

Patton looked to Logos, his friend Logan, and nodded before running off. He wasn't sure where he was going, but his feet were carrying him somewhere. Why was there this nagging in the back of his head that he was missing something important?

When he finally stopped, they were at an apartment door, it was still open slightly.

"Pathos, are you certain about this?"

"No," He said honestly, but pushed the door open anyway. There, laying on the floor, in a pool of his own blood was Vanisher.

Logan pushed Patton out of the way. "I need to start first aid, call an ambulance."

Patton deafly pulled out his phone, not remembering the conversation he had with the operator before he hung up. Then he began to walk around the room. There was a sense of familiarity about this apartment. Little bobbles lined the shelves, frogs, wasn't that what Vanisher had called him?

His feet carried him further inside. Roman had told him he had been captured by a villain before his memory loss, that he had spent his time as a villain's sidekick.

There was a photo on the wall, though he knew it was his own face smiling back at him, Patton felt disconnected from it. The black-haired man standing next to him, arm over his shoulder didn't look like a villain, but a friend. They looked like they were both having fun camping, or maybe hiking? Patton didn't remember but a sense of nostalgia-filled his heart.

He didn't hear what was going on in the rest of the apartment, didn't know what Logan was doing. Patton was lost in his own mind, dangling over the precipice of remembrance.

There was another frame, this one filled with dried flowers. It felt out of place. The baby blue color of the petals contrasted with the rest of the room. What kind of flowers were those? Hydrangeas?

No, Forget-me-nots.

Patton snapped his head back to where Vanisher was being picked up by the paramedics. The bloodstain still on the floor, the image burned into his head.

Laying on the floor of their apartment, in a pool of his own blood, was Virgil, and he hadn't remembered.