The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 46: I'd Do The Same For You

Being in love with your best friend sucked.

It wasn't just the conversations that were once easy suddenly becoming awkward, or the physical affection that used to not be a big deal feeling like so much more, or even the joke-flirting that Augustus was starting to wish wasn't a joke. Oh, no, you had to be rudely reminded that you were not asexual and therefore any romantic attraction usually came with physical attraction—which meant you had dreams that you did not want. At all.

"Why couldn't they train the allosexual students to control their horniness in Undercover Training class?" Augustus mumbled aloud, sitting up and rubbing his good eye. "Isn't that what spies are supposed to be able to do?"

His reflection stared back at him in the mirror across from his bed—shirtless, without sunglasses, and hair now officially shoulder-length. He was finally starting to understand why his mom told him to have it cut every week back when he was at the Academy.

Augustus looked over at the time and let out a loud groan. 4:45 am. Jesus.

"Well, there's no point going back to sleep now," he decided, swinging his feet out of bed. "Fuckin' hell... god, I've never gotten up this early in my life, I swear to Kurt Cobain..."

Yawning, he pulled on a pair of pants and a plain black shirt, feeling like absolute shit. Not bothering to put on socks or shoes, he opened the door to his room and started to trudge down to the bathroom.

"Everything sucks / And I hate it," Augustus sung under his breath to the tune of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." "Fuck my life now / 'Cause it's hell / I'm so stupid / Fucking dumbass / And my subconcious / Is messed up..."

He switched on the light in the bathroom—which wasn't as painful as it used to be, so, another bonus for being half blind—and flipped his reflection off. "You horny motherfucker."

Once his anger at himself wore off, Augustus realized that he was almost unrecognizable compared to just a year ago. It wasn't just the hair, or the slashed-out eye, or the fact that—yikes—he actually had stubble, it was the look on his face. He used to always be confident, always have that swagger, knowing that he was the golden son, the fiercest fighter in the Circle at his age, the ultimate spy. And now, well...

He was a piece of shit. And he felt like it.

True, it's not like he never felt a little bit of guilt, but he'd told himself it was just him being a coward. If you were a Griffins, you were ruthless, and Macklemores never hesitated.

But what if you were neither?

Augustus summoned a small burst of flame into his hand, preparing himself for a bad flashback. Instead, what came was... different.

"Really, I'm very excited to be working with you," Janus said, following Augustus down the hall. "I've read up on your family a little, and the stuff your relatives have done is incredible. Seriously. I wish I had your powers."

No, you don't, Augustus thought, but gave the brat a smile anyway. "I dunno, Jannie. Your powers aren't that shabby."

Janus lit up. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. Your boyfriend told me you can pretty much flip off physics with your shapeshifting stuff."

The kid blushed. "Oh—well, Remus is always complimenting me, and he tends to go overboard—you were his roommate, you know how he is."

"I do." Augustus gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder—overdoing it a little, but the more the merrier if he wanted Janus to trust him. "You're a lucky guy, Jannie."