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i-am-bitterly-jittery · 2 months ago

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The Spies Who Raised Us (pt 1/5)

[•], Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Word count: 2,774

Rating: teen

Pairings: Roceit, familial DLAMP

Warnings: teenage angst, mentioned bullying

~~~START~~~

“Good morning, my darlings!” Janus breezed into the kitchen, hair still damp from his shower, but otherwise ready for work.

“And what a wonderful morning it is!” Roman agreed, grabbing his husband around the waist and twirling him through the kitchen, careful not to ruffle his suit too much on the way.

“Hi dad!” Patton, Janus and Roman’s youngest, turned his attention away from his cartoons to happily accept a hug and a kiss from his dad.

Virgil was not as receptive to Janus’s affection, and after a grunt of acknowledgment, squirmed out of the hug before Janus could kiss him.

“Good morning, dad,” Logan said tonelessly as he pointedly did not look up from the math book he had open in front of him.

“Is that due today?” Janus asked, trying not to sound too judgemental or too much like he was snooping as he sat down in front of the omelet Roman had placed at the kitchen table for him.

Logan actually scoffed at that. “Of course not. This is the unit we are covering tomorrow; I am simply getting a head start.”

“That’s my little bookworm!” Roman said, affectionately mussing Logan’s hair. The fourteen year old actually pried his eyes away from the textbook in order to properly level his papa with a death glare before returning to his studies with twice the ferocity as before.

Roman deflated a little at the treatment.

Logan had entered his angsty teenage phase a little over a year ago, and Virgil, though only twelve, was following close behind. Patton, at least, was nine and still bubbly and affectionate.

“What’s the unit about?” Janus persisted in conversation.

“You wouldn’t understand it,” Logan rolled his eyes. Lately, he seemed to be of the opinion that because he had skipped a grade and was two years ahead in math besides, it meant that he was better than everyone else. Or at least that he was better than his dads; Janus had overheard him patiently explaining the difference between ratios and fractions to Virgil the other day, so at the very least he knew his son wasn’t snubbing his brothers.

“Try me,” Janus pushed. “There’s a lot of math in accounting.”

“We’re going to be late to school,” Logan said instead.

“Right then!” Roman jumped up exuberantly. “Grab your bags, grab your jackets, grab your lunches!”

All three boys sprang into action to grab their things for school, though some were probably more eager to get away from their dads than to actually go to school. After one final check to make sure each of the boys’ uniforms were in order, all five of them piled into the family sedan and were off.

Logan had firmly put his foot down about Janus and Roman exiting the car to hug them all goodbye months ago, so Janus had to settle for watching his boys go from the passenger window. Logan strode straight from the car into the school without an ounce of hesitation; Virgil followed after him, a little slower and a little more hesitant; Patton turned around to wave goodbye to his dads before jogging a little to catch up to Virgil. A little of Janus’s unease was lifted as Virgil allowed Patton to take his hand.

“They’re going to be fine,” Roman assured him as the boys disappeared into the building.

“I know.” Maybe that would have been more reassuring if the two of them didn’t alternate days saying it.

Roman merged back into traffic, heading in the direction of their office building.

Janus was an “accountant” in the same building Roman was a “custodian” for, and the two of them carpooled to work every day. They walked from their car to the elevators hand in hand, but Roman pressed the down button while Janus pressed the up one.

“What’s your schedule for the day?” Janus asked as they waited for their respective elevators.

“Some new recruits to break in at eight, lunch at twelve-thirty, then drop-in appointments for seasoned vets until five — I’ll get a ride home from Remy, so you and the kids won’t need to worry about me. You?”

“Same old, same old,” Janus sighed. “I’m partnered with Emile this week, so it won’t be so bad.”

Roman frowned, but didn’t speak until two sets of elevator doors opened at once. “I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to go back into the field, y’know.”

Janus kissed his husband one last time before heading towards his awaiting elevator. “I know, but we both retired from the field for a reason, and even if two of our boys think we’re the lamest parents in the world, I’d rather be the lame parent who’s around than the cool parent who’s gone.”

“I love you,” Roman said, stepping into his elevator.

“I love you too, dear.”

Then the elevator doors closed.

“Initiating identification scan,” a computerized voice announced as laser grids began scanning up and down Janus’s elevator. This was followed by a renal scan, and a saliva sample. “Janus Sanders recognized. Welcome, Agent Sanders.”

The doors opened into an office space that looked more like a police precinct than an accounting office. Desks were arranged in an open concept room with two per island, a free standing bulletin board next to every pair. On the bulletin boards were complex webs of string connecting different pictures and documents. The chatter of the office created a small wall of constant droning.

Janus walked through the somewhat chaotic space with practiced ease. As much as he complained about his job to Roman, he was in his element here just as much as he was at a dinner party in France, or a bullet train in Japan.

“Good morning, Emile,” Janus said as he sat at his desk and logged into his computer. “What are we looking at today?”

“Morning, Jan, do you how do?” Emile smiled from where he was already typing away at his own computer. “Looks like Cowell is going to be a Danish pilot.”

“Naturally,” Janus replied, looking through the brief he and Emile had been sent.

“I’ve already started on his professional history if you want to get on his personal details.”

“Do I ever,” Janus sighed. “I’m thinking he’s the oldest of four.”

Forging aliases for other spies wasn’t as glamorous as being the spy receiving the aliases, but both Janus and Roman had agreed after they’d gotten married and started a family that the possibility of dying in the field wasn’t worth the excitement anymore. Hence the office job: sitting at a boring desk, working with boring people — Emile excluded — creating boring papers, so that everyone living the life of excitement is less likely to die in the field.

Janus’s mood had improved by lunch — Emile was a breath of fresh air compared to most of the forgery staff — but even if it hadn’t, there was nothing better than seeing his husband, scoop-neck tank top, skin glistening with sweat, waiting for him at their usual table in the cafeteria.

“Ah, mi amor!” Roman cried, jumping dramatically to his feet. “How I’ve missed you!”

“You saw me this morning,” Janus rolled his eyes, but he didn’t fight the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “How were the greenhorns?”

“Their form is improving, but I could still whip each and every one of their asses blindfolded!”

“I’ve no doubt,” Janus smiled.

Towards the end of lunch, Janus’s phone began to ring. Janus pulled the phone out of his pocket, concern coloring his face as he read the caller ID.

“Hmm?” Roman asked around a mouthful of cookies.

“It’s the boys’ school,” Janus explained. “Hello?”

“Hello,” a pleasant woman’s voice came over the phone's tinny speakers. “Is this the parent or guardian of Logan Sanders-Kingsley?”

“It is. What seems to be the problem?” Janus asked, bracing himself for whatever this woman was going to tell him. Roman made an inquisitive face, but Janus held a finger up to signal that he didn’t know yet.

“When you come to pick up Logan today Principal Higgins would like to have a word with you — it’s about Logan’s academic dishonesty.”

Janus’s eyes narrowed. “What academic dishonesty?”

“You didn’t know? We sent Logan home last week with a note.”

“One moment, please,” Janus said, covering the speaker with his hand to whisper to Roman “did we get a note from the school about Logan last week?”

“No. Is he in trouble?”

“Something about academic dishonesty, I’ll ask. What exactly did Logan do?” Janus asked into the phone once more.

“You can discuss that with the principal later. While you’re here, we might need to discuss your son, Virgil, as well.”

“What about Virgil?” Janus demanded.

“We’ll see you later, Mr. Sanders-Kingsley.” The woman said before hanging up.

“Unhelpful,” Janus growled, slamming his phone onto the table.

“What about Virgil!?” Roman asked, sounding just as panicked as Janus felt.

“They wouldn’t tell me! They just said ‘we’ll talk about it when you pick up the kids’.” Janus said petulantly.

“Do you want me to come? I can get out early if you need me to.”

“No,” Janus sighed. They had an arrangement: Roman got the kids ready in the morning and Janus picked them up from school, which almost always meant Janus would go talk to the boys’ teachers when they were in trouble. This was for the best because Roman had a tendency to get overly passionate when he thought someone was attacking any of his sons. “You’re needed here, I can handle it.”

“You’re needed here, too,” Roman pointed out.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Yes, but if I leave early then really the only consequence is that ‘Espen Bakker’s’ parents didn’t send him to summer camp as a child.”

“Poor Espen,” Roman sighed playfully.

“I guess he was forced to just sit inside all day and build model planes, no wonder he wanted to become a pilot.”

~~~

Janus clocked out of work a little earlier than usual, as a result, he got to the boys’ school before the end of day bell rang. He sat in the car for a minute to steady himself, but ultimately he decided to head to the office before the hallways filled with kids.

Virgil and Logan were both sitting on a bench in the office when Janus entered. Virgil was hunched over in his chair — trying to make himself as small as possible — while Logan was sitting straight and proud, eyes focused on the wall ahead of him.

“Boys,” Janus greeted curtly.

“Dad,” Logan said back while Virgil shrank even more.

“Mr. Sanders-Kingsley!” A short woman whose voice Janus recognized from the earlier phone call exclaimed. “Principal Higgins’s office is right through there.” She gestured to a closed door part way down a hall behind her as though Janus had never been here before.

“Thank you,” Janus said, shooting his boys one last glance before heading for the door. Logan met his gaze steadily, Virgil very much did not.

Janus knocked on the closed door, and a second later a stern looking woman with short graying hair answered it.

“Mr. Sanders,” she said, politely but not overly warmly. Janus had been called into the principal’s office a handful of times over the years, enough for the principal to know he didn’t go by ‘Sanders-Kingsley’. “Please come in. Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Janus took a seat across from her desk. “If you don’t mind, I know I was called in for Logan’s ‘academic dishonesty’, and while I’m not quite sure what that means, I wasn’t told why I was called for Virgil.”

Principal Higgins sighed and sat back in her own chair. “There’s no easy way to say this,” she said — taking her sweet time, Janus thought bitterly. “Virgil’s been bullying fifth graders.”

Janus’s brain short circuited a little at that. Virgil was a sweet kid, and even if he was being a little standoffish at home, he was still one of the least confrontational people Janus knew. Why would he be bullying kids two years younger than him?

“That doesn’t sound like Virgil,” Janus finally said.

“I know these kinds of things can be hard to process,” Ms. Higgins said, shooting Janus a sympathetic look. “But we have eyewitness reports — and not just from his victims, but from other students and even a teacher. Virgil was seen to be shoving fifth graders and calling them names.”

“Why?”

“Mr. Sanders, we don’t believe that there’s any excuse for bullying at this school,” Ms. Higgins said sternly, her expression radiating disapproval that — were he not a former international spy — would probably have Janus feeling undeservingly contrite.

“So you didn’t ask him why he was bullying ten-year-olds.”

“No, Mr. Sanders, I did not. We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying here; I’m afraid that Virgil’s been suspended for two days, and I expect that, as his father, you will be extending his punishment at home.”

“Of course,” Janus agreed. He agreed that if Virgil was bullying younger kids just to bully them he should be punished, but bullying just didn’t seem like Virgil, and Janus was going to get to the bottom of it before he issued any punishments. “And now, Logan’s academic dishonesty? Has he been cheating?”

Cheating, similarly, didn't sound like Logan. Logan had all the brains either of his dads had and then some, he didn’t need to cheat.

“In short,” Higgins replied. “Yes, but not for himself. We sent home a note last week because Logan was suspected of selling essays to his classmates for them to turn in; today, Logan was caught selling answers to an upcoming chemistry test, and while we have no hard evidence that he’s done this before, we strongly believe he has.”

“How so?”

“There’s been an uptick in test performance this academic year for several of our… lower students — academically speaking — including the two boys he was caught selling answers to. I’ll admit we can’t prove that he’s been selling answers all year, he’s still being suspended for selling the chemistry test answers.”

“For how long?” Janus sighed, he could feel a migraine starting to set in.

“The rest of the week. Mr. Sanders, this is very serious, if neither of your boys show any improvement or remorse after their suspensions then the next steps will involve possible expulsion.”

“I understand, Ms. Higgins, and rest assured that my husband and I will get to the root of his behavior and cut it off before it grows into a pattern.” Janus stood up and shook the principal’s hand.

“See that you do, Mr. Sanders,” Ms. Higgins sighed. “Your boys are very bright, I would hate for them to throw away their futures like this.”

The final bell had rung while Janus was in his meeting, and when he emerged from the principal’s office, Patton had joined his brothers on the bench.

“Hi dad!” Patton said, jumping up to hug Janus.

Janus hugged him back before turning to his older sons. “Do either of you have anything to say?”

Virgil shook his head.

“No,” Logan said.

“Fine,” Janus sighed. “Let’s go.”

Patton held Janus’s hand as Janus led the way to the car, Logan and Virgil following silently behind. Patton filled the walk with chatter about his day, but Janus was finding it hard to concentrate.

Janus didn’t start the car when they all got in, and the silence stretched out.

“Anything to say now?” Janus finally asked, looking first to Logan in the passenger seat, and then back to Virgil. Neither of them replied. “Fine then, give me your phones, we’ll discuss more in depth punishments when your father gets home.”

Virgil handed his phone over quickly and wordlessly, but Logan protested.

“That’s not fair!”

“How?” Janus demanded, raising his voice. “How is this not fair? You were cheating, Logan, what were you expecting?”

“I was not cheating, I’m not even taking chemistry.”

“Cheating that doesn’t benefit your own grades is still cheating! You broke the rules, you were caught, and now you’re suffering the consequences! Give me your phone!”

Logan huffed, but handed his phone over.

“Do you want my phone, too?” Patton asked, offering his phone forward.

“No, Pat,” Janus sighed. “You keep yours, I didn’t get called into the principal’s office for you.”

“Okay.”

“Dad?” Virgil said hesitantly.

“We’ll talk when your father gets home,” Janus sighed, feeling the full weight of parenthood hit him like a ton of bricks.

Virgil nodded mutely.

Janus finally started the car and pulled out of the school parking lot.

Being a spy was easy, it was raising kids that was the real challenge.

~~~END CHAPTER~~~

Welcome to my Spy Kids AU :D (you don’t need to know anything about Spy Kids, but if you do you’ll have an idea of what’s going to happen next and where Remus is)

General taglist:

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple @aeternum-ablaze @misunderstood-shadowling

#sanders sides #ts sanders sides #janus sanders #roman sanders #roceit #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #familial DLAMP #princeit #spy kids au #thursday writes #my writing #sanders sides fanfiction

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