Chapter Text
After their hunt the pack settles down again into routine normality. With one exception; Remus isn't allowed back into his home den just yet. Logan does his best to keep the boy entertained, and to his credit it works almost perfectly. Remus is delighted to get to spend time with the old wolf and is surprisingly attentive and interested in all the complex answers Logan has for his questions. But Remus is still desperate to rejoin his family and is miserable without his brother's company, so sometimes even with all the people around him ready to take his mind off things he ends up just curled up in Logan's den, sniffling into the pack leader's chest for however long it takes to be coaxed back to smiles and distractions.
Remy babysits like a champ, and Virgil is often with them, staying as far from the little Fae as he can while trying not to make it too obvious. Elijah too has given up all pretense of carrying out his normal duties for the time being, and has all but moved in with the pack. He helps, just as often on six feet as two and rarely out of earshot of the clearing. Logan relies on him, fostering a new bond between the two oldest creatures that makes everyone smile. It's good for Logan to have friends, they all agree.
Eventually Patton's hackles stop raising when someone approaches his son and Roman starts to look less dazed and blank and more alert, watching people from the mouth of the den but retreating inside when anyone gets too near, still an improvement on just not noticing them at all. The pair join the pack for breakfast one day and Remus upsets the careful harmony by bounding over and trying to fling his arms around Roman, who shrieks and jumps away in startled fear. The kerfuffle is over in a moment but leaves both boys sniffling, confused and sad without really knowing why or what had happened. Years down the line they'll start to understand better, but they're too young yet and recovery is more important than honesty, Logan decides.
It doesn't stop Remus trying though. He approaches more cautiously each time, as though Roman were a deer in the forest ready to bolt, until one day he holds a hand out and Roman nudges his cheek into it with wide eyes, and then they settle together in Patton's lap for a gentle hug, twining together. Roman even curls his fingers into Remus' shirt, and they fall asleep, warm and safe and no longer apart. Poor Patton starts to sniffle himself, at the sight they make, eyes shining with relief and gratitude and love until the entire pack drifts over one by one to curl around them all protectively and bask in the emotions and comfort of being whole again.
The recovery lasts, in total, three months before everything is entirely back to normal. Elijah leaves to return to his work, looking none-too-pleased to have to go but feeling the implacable pull of the forest nonetheless. Patton rejoins Logan's side for most of his usual daily duties while the boys run around the clearing (and never further than the clearing, not without supervision at least). Even Virgil is unbothered by Roman's presence once again, and when Elijah reports back that the Fae are being dealt with they all celebrate and heave a sigh of collective relief. The issue of Roman's terror at his own lifespan is something Emile has started to work on with him, but it is manageable. There is help to turn to.
And life for the five wolves, the human boy and his changeling twin, and the Drake that loves them dearly, goes on.