Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Calm and collected, that's Dave Strider. Might as well be his middle names, that's just how chill he is right now. The docking station around him is chaotic and loud but he is like ice, cool and clear. Just a guy out for a walk or on his way to his own ship or... whatever's normal. Casual as fuck.

None of that is true of course, but nobody is looking closely enough to notice the way his hands shake and his eyes dart around underneath the opaque plastic of his vintage sunglasses. He shrugs his backpack higher up on his shoulders, the weight light enough to be negligible but he likes the reassurance that it's still there. It contains everything important to him and enough money to hold him over until he can find work somewhere. Anywhere but Earth. Hell, he'll become a prostitute on some run-down planet if he needs to, contract some sort of fucked up space STD, then die at the ripe old age of twenty four.

That's the shittiest plan he's come up with by a long shot, probably.

Dave hazards another glance around the loading area. Several starships, mostly Earthen in origin but with a few more alien ships around, wait with their loading gates open. Dave passes several by, their guards heavily armed and intimidating.

Then he spots a good candidate. An Alternian ship, if he's remembering his extraterrestrial languages right. He can't read the name written in bright red on the hull, but he recognizes some of the letters. One of the letters at least. There's definitely an N in there. The rest is completely incomprehensible.

By the open loading bay, a burly looking alien with orange horns, one broken and one arrow-like, stands. Dave assumes he's a guard, but he's doing a terrible job of it considering his back is to the open door as he speaks to a tinier troll (who has a furry blue tail for some reason) in their strange clicking language. Whatever, he isn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. He holds his breath and flash-steps through the open loading door before he can question what that saying really means. What the hell is a “gift horse” anyway?

No time for that, focus is essential here.

Everything around him is slow as he searches for a corner to hole up in. Trolls (and a few humans, Dave notes with surprise) move around him as if trapped in red syrup, moving at half-speed. They aren't actually going slowly; it's Dave who's going faster than possible, melding time through his fingers like clay.

He hates doing it, but it's useful in a pinch.

One more flash-step and he's in some kind of closet, which he almost appreciates the irony of. It's dark and cramped and smells like some kind of chemical that might give him cancer with prolonged exposure, but it seems out of the way. Many jugs of unidentifiable liquids sit on sturdy metal shelves. Time resumes its normal flow and Dave presses his back against the cold metal wall in the corner. He lets himself slide down and hugs his knees to his chest.

It feels so much like being back home, hiding like a frightened child in his closet while his brother tears the apartment apart, anger palpable and-

Dave swallows thickly, digging his nails into his arms to ground himself. Barfing in this enclosed space would only make the trip more unbearable. Making the conscious decision not to think of home anymore, Dave logs on to Pesterchum while he still can. To no surprise whatsoever, there are several messages from his sister.

=== tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] ===

TT: Here I was, ready to provide much-needed clarity and helpful familial advice, but you're offline.

TT: This is truly an event for the history books; Dave Strider is not online and currently chatting someone's ear off with mixed metaphors and enough dick jokes to make Shakespeare blush. Color me surprised.

TT: I'm taking a page from your book and chattering into an empty chat client it seems.

TT: You've already done the stupid thing, haven't you?

TT: And if not, don't deny that you are indeed going to do a very stupid thing, I've Seen it. Capital S.

TT: There is a very slim chance this will end well for anyone.

TT: Dave?

TT: Dave please.

TT: Fuck.

=== tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] ===

Dave grimaces. Hiding things from Rose was nearly impossible, but he had hoped for a few more hours before she realized anything was amiss. All he can hope for now is that she won't find him before the ship takes off.

Pesterchum pings with a new message, catching him off guard considering he has his status set to “invisible”.

=== gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] ===

GG: hey dave!!

GG: i know youre about to leave the planet so i just want to warn you to be careful and wish you good luck!

That startles Dave into replying, despite trying to remain incognito.

TG: wait what

TG: how do you know

TG: not that i am because you cant prove shit

GG: i just know! dont worry though i wont tell anyone

GG: youre right where you need to be actually!! so no worries :)

TG: okay alright

TG: its pretty fantastic that every girl i know seems to have some sort of precognition powers

TG: you and rose should open some sort of psychic shop and charge a fuckton to read the future for the sad saps who have excess cash

GG: its not precognition or psychicness i just know stuff

GG: i cant really explain it though

GG: just follow your gut okay? your instincts are good

TG: uh

TG: okay

TG: thanks jade

GG: no prob dave!! :D

GG: i gotta go and so do you but we will be in contact eventually!!

He's just about to type out a reply when the ship begins shaking roughly. Dave braces himself, watching the containers on the shelves warily. If one of those things fell and spilled troll chemicals on him he might sprout a second head or his skin might turn blue or something and that would definitely make his life even more fucked up than it already is.

A few minutes of tense waiting passes before the shaking stops. Dave's center feels off, his stomach rolling uneasily as he adjusts to the artificial gravity, so he knows he's no longer in Earth's atmosphere. A giddy laugh escapes his mouth before he can bite it back.

He's free. He's off Earth, after twenty years of terror he's finally fucking free-

His joy is cut off by light filling the room from the open door. He freezes.

The blue-tailed troll steps inside, olive-green eyes reflecting the low light. Dave holds his breath as if that would somehow help.

It only takes a second for her to spot him, and split lips pull apart into a grin.

Dave suddenly feels like he's gotten himself in some kind of mess.

Chapter Text

“You did not need to knock him out, Nepeta,” someone scolds in a deep, reverberating voice. Even Dave, as disoriented and headachey as he is, manages to feel like he's in trouble. And not for the stowing away thing.

“Purrhaps... But he's here and that's what matfurs!”

That gets Dave to open his eyes. He's sitting at a metal desk, slouched in the most uncomfortable chair in existence. “What... the fuck?” he croaks. His own voice makes his head throb but not even that will get him to stop talking. “First of all, I can understand you but aren't y'all trolls? I don't know a single goddamn word of Alternian unless you knocked that knowledge into my head, in which case thanks I guess. Secondly, mat-furs? What?”

If there's one thing Dave is good at, it's first impressions. The two aliens stare at him with varied levels of surprise and interest.

“We're speaking English!” the smaller troll, Nepeta, finally says. There's a strange clicking undertone to her voice, a sort of chirping that's just barely noticeable, but those are definitely English words she's using. Dave rubs his head.

“It would be rude to speak Alternian while in the presence of a human,” the big troll says. He's wearing sunglasses so he can't read his full expression and Dave hates how the tables have turned against him there.

“Right. Speaking bug is rude but knocking me the fuck out is as cordial as it gets. Glad the priorities are sorted out here,” Dave says.

Buff troll raises an eyebrow. “How polite is it to hide away on a ship on which you were not invited?”

Dave doesn't answer. Not at all because he's kind of intimidated by the troll whose biceps are bigger than his scrawny human torso.

The silence drags on while the two watch Dave closely. Dave looks at everything aside from them, studying the room around him. It looks like some kind of prison room, blank gray walls and the metal desk all blending together in a bland blur. The only sound aside from quiet breathing is the hiss of air through metal vents.

Finally, he has to say something. “Look, I dunno what exactly you're gonna do with me, just tell me you aren't taking me back to Earth. I can pay for passage to wherever. I mean, I can't pay much but I can pay. And, I dunno, work off the rest of the debt while I'm on board. I'll be the best goddamn deckhand you'll ever see from any planet, scrubbin' the deck and shoveling space-coal in the space-furnace. Put me to work hand-washing all of your alien skivvies day and night until we get to the next inhabitable planet, I don't give a fuck. Just don't take me back.”

His mouth got away from him as usual. The two trolls don't look swayed. They only pass a knowing look and stay silent, to Dave's annoyance.

Ten minutes pass and Dave feels like tearing his skin off, claustrophobic and anxious in the silent room.

“Alright so... are y'all gonna eat me or something? Is that what this is, dinner preparation? Because I'm pretty fucking sure I won't be appetizing at all, look at me. Fuckin' skin and bones,” Dave says, knowing how desperate he sounds like but just barely not being able to care. Nepeta giggles.

“No, silly! Equius is a vegetarian anyways. We're waiting fur the cat-ain.”

“Please remain patient,” Equius adds with a stern look that roughly translates to stop talking.

The door slams open suddenly and Dave is standing with his sword in hand against the back wall within the same heartbeat. Equius and Nepeta look stunned while the troll by the door just looks annoyed. She crosses her arms and tilts her head back, her mismatched horns nearly scraping the door frame as she studies Dave.

“Are you done with the theatrics, landlubber?” she asks, and Dave is completely caught off guard by the fact that this troll actually speaks like a fucking pirate. Not to mention her outfit: high red boots, a long blue coat with silver buttons, and a scabbard at her hip. She even has an eye patch. Replace her metal arm with a hook and she wouldn't look out of place in any pirate movie in existence.

The expression on her face is a dangerous mix of haughty and murderous and Dave doesn't lower his sword. Nor does he question the wisdom of holding a weapon to what appears to be the captain troll of a starship that he illegally boarded.

“Look, I'm sorry I boarded your ship without permission,” says Dave with all of the calmness he can muster. It's not much. “I'll pay for passage with all of my cash and labor. Just drop me off on the closest planet that isn't Earth and you'll never see this handsome mug ever again.”

“You ain't in any position to bargain,” the pirate-troll says.

“Um, Vriskers...” Nepeta interrupts, and the pirate gives her an annoyed look.

“I'm obviously doing something, Nepeta. What could possibly be so important that you have to interrupt me?”

Nepeta raises and eyebrow. “Where's the capt-”

“Shhh!” She glances at Dave and back to Nepeta. “As far as anyone is concerned, the captain is here. I'm right here. Shut up.”

“You aren't the captain?” Dave asks, lowering his sword. “Then what the hell is with the Pirates of the Caribbean act?”

“Fuck you! As far as you're concerned, I'm Captain Mindfang and I won't be referred to by anything else by the likes of you, got it?”

“Vriska, what the fuck?”

Yet another troll, this one much shorter than all the others and with horns nowhere near as intimidating, walks in. He glares at Vriska, who pouts in return.

“I was helping, Vantas. You would have been far too soft on this stow-away scum and you know it.”

The shorter troll, who Dave assumes is the actual captain of the ship, rubs his temples. “You thought getting into your Mindfang cosplay and yelling at this asshole would make a better impression than I could? What kind of pan-rotted idea is that, Serket?”

“This asshole would like to know what's going on,” Dave pipes up.

The actual captain turns and snarls. “Shut your fucking trap, nobody was talking to you.” With that, he turns to the rest. “All of you, get the fuck out. Nice work from keeping this bulge-rash contained, I guess. Because he looks like such a threat. Note my goddamn sarcasm. Get out, you're dismissed.”

Without argument, the trolls leave. Dave adds the captain to the list of trolls who have intimidated him today and notes that the list is too fucking long.

A tense and silent moment passes. Dave speaks first.

“Quite a crew you got here, Cap. A furry, a weightlifter, and a wannabe pirate.”

He snarls again, bearing his sharp teeth. His red eyes flash and he stalks towards Dave with his finger raised. Not for the first time, Dave realizes he has said the wrong thing.

“Let me get one thing straight with you, right here and right fucking now: only I can insult my crew. If you say anything else to any of them it will be from at their feet while groveling for mercy and kindness, you hornless waste of carbon. Do you understand, or is your pan so fucking deficient you need me to repeat it slower?”

“Got it, yeah,” Dave manages. The captain backs off, seemingly satisfied that he terrified the shit out of Dave.

“Good. Sit back down. I'm Captain Karkat Vantas, leader of this group of fuckwits. I don't know who you are or why you're on this ship but I swear on every holy book in the fucking galaxy that if you aren't the innocent stow-away you claim to be, I will tear you cell from from fucking cell and leave you to burn in the hottest sun I can find. Who are you?”

Dave nods. “I'm Dave Strider. From Earth. I was looking for a way off-planet on a budget, that budget being exactly zero dollars, and your ship was the best bet.” Now that Karkat wasn't glaring or screaming, he seemed collected, studying Dave carefully as he leaned across the metal table.

“How did you get on the ship? And don't you dare waste even a breath of my precious oxygen lying because I will know. Choose you words carefully, Strider. I want every damn detail.”

“You want me to save oxygen but also tell you every detail? I dunno man, that seems paradoxical,” Dave says. He's stalling, grasping for a story that doesn't involve making time his bitch so he could stroll onto the ship unnoticed. Karkat is unamused.

“I can make it easy for you, what sort of bullshit powers do you posses? Invisibility? Speed? Did you wipe Equius's mind or some other fucked up thing like that?”

Dave snorts, but his heart clenches at the mention of powers. “Didn't have to wipe his mind, dude wasn't paying attention.” Dave pales a bit when he sees Karkat's venomous expression. “I mean, I'm sure it was a rare and momentary lapse in perception, nothin' against the big guy or anything.”

“Just fucking tell me how you got aboard,” Karkat sighs, exasperated.

“I slowed down time in relation to myself,” Dave blurts. “I know how fuckin' delusional that sounds but I've been able to do it since I was a kid. My bro-” Dave clamps his jaw shut, his hands balling into fists. He takes a deep breath and tries again. “It's something I've been honing for my whole life and to be honest? I fuckin' hate it. I'm hoping that getting on board was the last time I'd have to use it.”

Dave forces himself to shut up. Karkat regards him coolly.

“What do you know about Alternia?” Karkat asks after a minute.

The change of topic throws Dave for a loop. “Just what they taught in school, which is to say I know fuck all. Trolls come from there, y'all are sorta weird bug-slash-humanoid aliens, there's some kind of blood color caste system? Sorry, mister Vantas, I wasn't expecting a quiz on this shit. Give a guy time to study.”

Karkat rolls his eyes. Dave is sure he's holding back a laugh. It's hard to tell underneath the annoyed expression though.

“I think I can make you a deal here, Strider,” he says, crossing his arms. “I'll take you to whatever planet you want, but you have to work on the ship for six months.”

“What the fuck, six months?” Dave repeats, incredulous. “Earth ain't even six months from the next solar system if you're going at warp speed, why keep me here longer than necessary?”

Karkat leans forward with an expression bordering on smug. “You boarded my ship. I need every available hand for as long as possible. I could just take your sorry ass back to Earth...”

Dave leans back and runs a hand through his hair. “You're an asshole, you know that?”

“I've heard.”

Six months at the command of captain Karkat Vantas. He seems to be all bark and no bite. Compared to back home, this could be a walk in the park. Working off his passage was his plan from the start, what's a little longer on board? He really has nothing else to lose.

“You have yourself a deal, Vantas.”

Karkat glares as he holds out his hand. “Captain Vantas.”

Dave shakes Karkat's hand, and the deal is struck.

Chapter Text

“Sollux!” Karkat shouts as he bangs on the door to a cabin, and Dave wonders if he actually has an inside voice at all. Around them, crewmates walk down the spacious metal halls with curious expressions. Dave's face is composed and neutral under the scrutiny, but his foot taps anxiously. He knows he isn't the only human on board, but it's obvious his species is uncommon enough to be a spectacle.

Karkat beats the door within an inch of its life before it finally slides open.

“Fucking hell, KK. Can't a guy get a little sleep on this fucking bucket?” says the dual-horned troll with a lisp. His eyes are red and blue and surrounded by deep yellowish bags. Dave gets the feeling he hasn't slept for longer than an hour at a time in his whole life and almost feels bad for being the reason he's awake now.

“Dave Strider, meet Sollux Captor. Captor, this is your new roommate. Play nice, morons,” Karkat says, already walking away. Dave watches him go, resisting the urge to call him back because, despite being a complete asshole, Karkat is the only troll Dave really knows.

Sollux looks Dave up and down with an expression of pure contempt. “Absolutely fucking not,” he says, and the door slides closed again.

Dave stares for a solid minute, dumbfounded.

“This is the start of a beautiful friendship, I can tell,” Dave says to the uncaring metal.

“AAAAAAGH!” Karkat shouts as soon as the door to his private office is closed as he tugs at his already disheveled hair. From behind Karkat's desk, Terezi Pyrope cackles. Her feet are propped up, arms crossed behind her head casually. If Karkat weren't so preoccupied, he would be chewing her out for that. As it is, he's too busy pacing to even look at Terezi.

“Please, enlighten me on what's so humorous about this fucking situation, Pyrope,” Karkat says, his voice strained. “Because I'm having a hard goddamn time finding anything about this funny. My sense of humor took one look at this situation and commuted suicide via the slow and arduous process of self-cannibalism.”

Terezi's grin widens. “You've talked to him a total of one time and somehow he's already on your shit-list. Even you have to admit that's pretty funny!”

Karkat groans into his hands. “His entire aura screams arrogant douchebag. His sunglasses, his disrespectful tone...” He looks up suddenly, eyes narrowed. “Why the fuck are we having him stay around for six months?”

Terezi stands and walks around the desk, patting Karkat on the head as she passes. “Don't question your second in command, cherry boy,” she says in a tone bordering on condescending. Karkat pushes her hand away with an eye roll. “At the very least, trust me. I know what I'm doing. We're going to need him around.” With that, she turns to leave.

“By the way, will you please reign in your fucking moirail? If Vriska plays captain one more time I'm dropping her off on the closest shithole planet and locking the doors!” Karkat shouts at her back.

The door slides shut without acknowledgment of his admittedly empty threat.

Karkat sits down with a huff. He pulls an earpiece out of his ear, through which Terezi had given him questions to ask Strider. She always knew exactly what would get the answers needed. Her knack for interrogation was greatly aided by her Mind abilities. For all of his yelling and testing her, he trusts Terezi completely. If she trusts Strider and wants him around, so be it. Karkat didn't get this far by ignoring Terezi's advice.

But trusted adviser’s word or not, Karkat still isn't looking forward to the next six months. One questionable action and he's personally throwing Strider out of an airlock, Terezi be damned.

Karkat gets to enjoy only a few minutes of solitude before there's a knock at his door. He bites back a string of profanities as he allows the door to open. If it was anyone aside from Kanaya Maryam, those profanities would have flown. Thankfully for the both of them, Karkat calms down considerably as Kanaya walks in.

“I hear that we have a new set of hands on deck,” she says, an eyebrow raised. She walks behind the desk and begins scratching Karkat's scalp. A low purr begins in the back of his throat even as he pouts. Kanaya is the ideal moirail; calming and non-judgmental, and great with advice as well. Not to mention she always knew just when Karkat needs to relax.

“Word gets around fast, huh?”

Kanaya smiles. “Well, with such a closely knit crew, you can't expect secrets to stay as such for long. Where is he?”

“I set him up in Sollux's room.” He manages to say this without a malicious grin. Kanaya shakes her head in mock disappointment, bopping him on the head playfully.

“You truly are an evil tyrant. Poor new human,” she says.

Karkat waves a hand. “They're both assholes, they'll get along great.”

Meanwhile, Dave wonders if it's too late to throw himself out of an airlock and into the cold airless void of space. After half an hour of knocking and rambling like a dumbass in the hallway, Sollux had finally let him in.

Just to immediately berate him with rules: don't touch his desk, don't look at his bunk, don't open his drawer, don't use his computer...

Now Sollux is doing his best to pretend Dave doesn't exist. His fingers fly over his keyboard, rhythmically tapping away as words flash across his screen. Dave doesn't mind the cold shoulder. Much.

The metal ceiling is only inches from his face on the top bunk, and it provides no distraction from his quickly racing thoughts. He finds himself reaching for his phone on several occasions, intending to message Rose or John or anyone to shoot the shit with, before remembering Pesterchum won't work off-planet.

Being left alone with his thoughts is never a positive experience for Dave.

The initial excitement of escape and subsequent capture had occupied his thoughts for a while, but the homesickness begins settling in once tiredness weakens his resolve to not think of the bad shit.

There are very few things for him to miss back on Earth. The apartment he and Bro shared for all twenty years of Dave's life was no home to him. Houston itself was barely more than a vague setting, an eternal source of noise and light around the apartment. Dave didn't miss a single thing about Texas.

In New York. In Washington. On a tiny Pacific island. The homesickness pulls him in three separate directions, towards the most important people in his life.

The starship carries him further away.

The sleep he eventually falls into is uneasy.

Another early morning, another strife session. The sun is just beginning to bear down on the large flat roof of the apartment complex and sweat drips down Dave's neck. Bro stands, feet apart and katana ready, ten feet in front of Dave. Outwardly, his face is as cold and impassive as ever underneath his triangular shades. Just below the surface cruelty and scorn lies.

The blade is light in Dave's hands, an extension of himself after years of training. It shines in the sunlight, sharp and deadly.

“You gonna make a move, kid?” Bro drawls. The steel bite of a challenge colors his casual words. Once the challenge would have excited Dave, a chance to prove his worth and strength against his powerful brother figure.

Now he feels nothing but resentment. It had been made abundantly clear over the years that Bro would never see Dave as anything but a worthless waste of time. An unwanted responsibility, an accident. Not even fit to call him a son.

Without a word, Dave lunges. His blow is easily blocked by Bro's sword. They collide with a metallic clang and Dave is pushed back. He shifts his weight to avoid falling flat on his ass, feet skidding across the hot gravel. Bro sneers. Dave grits his teeth and lunges again, going in low with the point of his sword trained below Bro's ribcage.

The world goes white as he's stopped by a swift kick to the face that sends him sprawling. His jaw aches and he tastes blood. His head is swimming too badly for him to stand.

Bro spits by Dave's head. “Why are you so distracted, your little boyfriend break up with you, gaylord? Get up, stop being such a damn pussy.”

Dave begins seeing red. Every word pounds into his skull like a bullet. Cold rage rushes over him as time slows to a crawl. He stands up in a flash and his sword arcs through the air at impossible speeds.

This was just supposed to be a basic strife session; no flash-stepping, no time manipulation, just swords and fists. Dave is breaking a major rule but he can't find it in himself to care. Bro's expression of unmitigated hatred is frozen in time.

Bro doesn't have time to react before the sword separates his head from the rest of him.

Blood. So much blood and it's dripping down the sword, splattered on Dave's face and across the gravel. It's on his skin, in his hair, on his clothes, everything is red-

There's a pillow hitting him in the face and Dave wakes up with a start, hitting his head on the low ceiling as he bolts upright. Sollux peers angrily over the side of the top bunk.

“Your thrashing woke me up,” he informs Dave, annoyed.

Dave's heart is hammering, his breath coming in short gasps. He feels sick and shaky and nearly throws himself off of the bed in his rush to get to the bathroom before the meager contents of his stomach could rush forward.

Sollux gives him a look bordering on concerned when Dave emerges from the bathroom.

“The hell was that about?” he asks.

“Why yes, dear roomie, I'm fine. I'm not dying of some fucked up Earth disease. No need to worry,” Dave says dully. His mouth is sour and his stomach still rolls with nausea and fear.

The concern quickly drops from Sollux's face as he turns away. “Whatever. It's time to go anyway. Karkat told me to tell you to get to the mediculler bay as soon as possible,” he says.

“Mediculler,” Dave repeats. “Sounds pleasant.”

“They're going to probe your boney human waste chute and eventually dissect you,” Sollux says. “Good riddance.”

Dave almost laughs as he pulls a clean shirt from his still-packed backpack. “I can't blame them, this ass is truly the pinnacle of human perfection. Y'all should take notes.”

He can't see Sollux's face, but Dave is sure he's amused.

Chapter Text

Dave is dressed quickly and led to the medbay by a very disgruntled Sollux, who mutters something about not being a fucking babysitter as he leaves Dave by the glass doors. He takes a deep breath before entering, wondering just how serious Sollux was about the probing.

He wasn't completely sure what to expect from the medical wing of an alien starship, but it certainly isn't the generic scene before him. Sterile beds are lined up underneath bright white lights and partitioned by pale gray curtains. Chemicals assault his nose. It looks like every hospital on TV and Dave is slightly disappointed by the lack of weird alien machines.

A troll, tall and soft (but pretty damn ripped; she could probably crush his head with a finger if she wanted,) greets him.

“Hello, Dave,” she says. Her voice is low and melodic and she speaks as if her diction is going to be being judged by a panel of English majors at any given moment.

“Sup,” Dave says, nodding. The troll leads him towards one one of the beds and instructs him to sit. As soon as his ass touches the cold, cardboard-like bedding he feels the urge to ask if he can just stand through the anal probing. Unfortunately, the troll is gone before he can begin his ramble.

Idly, he taps his foot, watching trolls and humans wander in and out for pills or just to chat with the staff. Alternian and English mingle quietly in the air. The two species treat each other as they would their own, a far cry from the xenophobic environment of Texas. Dave watches, fascinated.

Dave doesn't notice the troll approaching him from behind until she hops on to the cot next to him. He jumps to his feet and whirls to face the grinning troll. He is seconds from pulling his sword from his strife specibus until he realizes she isn't a threat.

“Hi Dave!” she says loudly, her voice harsh and just as sharp as her horns. Her hair is a wild tangle of uneven ends over eyes hidden behind a pair of bright red glasses. “So you're a Time aspect, huh?”

“Hello, loud pointy troll I've never met who's suddenly spouting bullshit at me, how are you?” Dave says while his heart rate begins steadying. “It's like everyone on this goddamn ship knows my name and yet, here I am sufferin' in the dark knowing exactly two fucking people. Seems like a pretty big disadvantage, y'know?”

The troll grins, sitting cross-legged on the cot. “I'm Terezi Pyrope, adviser to the captain. Basically the brains behind the crew,” she says proudly.

Dave nods. “Okay, cool. I know three names, I'm really becoming a social butterfly 'round here.”

Terezi giggles. “I'm sure you'll be throwing a big party within the week to invite all of your friends.”

“You're damn right,” Dave says, and he's almost smiling.

Still grinning, Terezi says, “So, you can control and fight with Time, hmmm?”

A punch to the gut would have been a less startling. Terezi's grin widens as the stunned silence stretches on.

“Don't know what you mean,” Dave manages to say eventually.

“Of course you don't!” Terezi says. “You never had any real education on this sort of thing. And unfortunately we don't have another Time aspect to teach you.” Something like sadness crosses her face, wilting her pointy-toothed grin for a moment before it passes. “But I know the basics! And I can help.”

“I don't want to learn about... whatever it is. I want to forget I can do it,” Dave mutters urgently. His fists are clenched by his sides and he wants to get as far away from Terezi and her knowledge as possible. That unsettling grin remains plastered across her face as she studies him.

“Terezi,” a voice says reproachfully, and the motherly troll is back with a basket and a clipboard. Dave kinda wants to hug her.

Terezi turns and raises an eyebrow. “Well, hello Kanaya! Fancy meeting you here.”

“I work here,” she says dryly, staring Terezi down until she finally gets off of the cot and stands toe-to-toe with the much taller Kanaya.

Then Terezi stands on her toes and licks Kanaya's face. Kanaya doesn't even look that disgusted, just somewhat stunned, and that moment of surprise is all it takes for Terezi to abscond the fuck out of the medbay.

“Wow,” Dave says after a moment.

“Indeed,” Kanaya sighs. “She is quite the condensed gunpowder packet isn't she.”

Dave only nods, not even bothering to parse the meaning of condensed gunpowder packet as he sits back down on the cot.

“So how's this gonna work, you lube me up and stick a camera up my-”

“Stop right there,” Kanaya interrupts, looking vaguely disgusted. “There will be no lubrication or sticking. Just a very basic physical, and a prescription for the vitamins you need to survive in a ship long-term. Is this your first time off-planet?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Dave says. “As it turns out I never made it a career, sneakin' on to troll ships full of weirdos. Go figure.”

Kanaya smiles faintly. “Fair. Would you mind removing your glasses?”

He does as she asks and blinks in the bright florescent lights. She gives him a moment to adjust before shining a flashlight directly in his eyes.

“Red is an uncommon eye color for humans,” she says.

“It's a real fun mix of vitiligo and weird genetics,” Dave says automatically. “Lack of pigmentation in my skin and eyes and hair except all the freckles plus a light sensitivity, weird mutation but pretty much harmless, makes me a goddamn spectacle if the stares in the street were anything to go by. Runs in the family, my sister has it too,” he explains dully, reading off the same mental script he's had for years.

Kanaya hmms softly and notes something down on her clipboard. Dave tries very hard not to feel nervous as Kanaya begins taking his vitals.

At the very least, the poking and prodding keep him from thinking about what Terezi said.

An hour passes before Dave steps out of the sterile medbay. He takes a deep breath of fresh air unscented by rubbing alcohol and disinfectant. Or as fresh as recycled air can be.

For a minute Dave just stands there. Nobody told him what to do after the physical. He contemplates heading back to the cabin, but the thought of being around Sollux for any more time than necessary puts him off to the idea almost immediately.

For lack of a better plan, he wanders. The starship is rather plain in layout; overall somewhat triangular, with several decks with nearly identical floor plans. Dave walks the long hallways with doors placed at regular intervals through which crew hurry in and out of. He tries his best to look busy, but after a while of being completely ignored he walks more casually.

He eventually finds an elevator and heads upwards on a whim. He finds himself where the cafeteria and other large common rooms are located. He wanders into what appears to be a game room, populated by a few trolls.

One of those trolls being Terezi Pyrope. As soon as Dave notices her, she notices him. She stands, slamming her palms on the table, scattering cards and dice to the dismay of the other trolls.

“Dave!” she shouts, despite the room being rather quiet and empty. “Hey Dave, come here!”

Dave does not want to go over there. Yet again he wonders where the closest airlock to throw himself out of is, and then wonders if this is suicidal idealization and if he should talk to someone about it. Rose would know but the chances of him asking her are just as high as the chances of him willingly joining Terezi and her pals.

Unfortunately, it seems lack of willingness is no deterrent for Terezi. She marches over to Dave as he lingers by the entrance and drags him by the wrist to the table of trolls. The table is covered in cards, dice, and miscellaneous game pieces, none of which seemed to go with one particular game.

The assembled trolls look up at him. He recognizes Nepeta and Equius, and then his eyes fall on Vriska. She sneers when the recognition registers on his face.

“Ahoy,” Dave says, and her sneer turns to a glare.

Terezi giggles. “I see you two have met,” she says.

With an eye roll, Vriska crosses her arms. “I don't know, I don't make it a point to remember every human nobody who washes up on this tin can.”

“I don't think washes up is the right term to use, since this is a starship and not an actual, you know, boat,” says the troll Dave hasn't met yet. He's ripped, almost as buff as Equius, but with a softer layer on top. His massive bull-like horns nearly knock into Nepeta's head as he turns to look at Vriska.

Vriska opens her mouth, undoubtedly to say something rude if Dave is as good at judging her character as he thinks, but she's cut off by a hand clamped firmly over her lips.

“You're not allowed to talk to Tavros, remember?” Terezi says sternly.

Vriska rolls her eye again but nods and the hand is removed.

Dave watches the proceedings like a very confused one-man studio audience in the most boring and ill-explained sitcom ever. Nepeta takes pity on the poor baffled human and sits up in her chair to whisper directly in Dave's ear.

“Vriskers is the reason Tavros has robot legs,” she explains, and Dave notes the fact that Tavros does indeed have metal legs underneath the table.

“What the fuck,” Dave whispers back. Nepeta nods seriously as she sits back down.

“She's also the reason I'm blind!” Terezi adds as if Nepeta had been addressing the whole group and not speaking one-on-one with Dave.

Dave stares at Terezi. “You're as blind as I'm a fuckin' troll,” he says in disbelief.

She had looked right at him when he walked in, not to mention she stared him down in the medbay. With a smug look, she raises her glasses to reveal her solid red eyes. They have a glassy quality to them, dull and featureless like marbles.

“Holy shit,” Dave says, waving an hand in front of her face. Her eyes don't register the movement at all, but she still manages to dart forward and bite his hand.

“Ow, okay, first of all fuck you,” Dave says, pulling his hand back. “Second of all, how did you know I was here if you can't fuckin' see?”

“I smelled you!” Terezi says proudly.

“Rude, I showered.”

Terezi snorts. “I know, but I smelled you! You smell like cherries and heat and Time!”

Dave decides to leave that weird-ass comment alone. He glances down at the table covered in an explosion of different board and card games.

“What're y'all playing? It looks like Pokemon, poker, and Candy Land had an orgy and this is the sloppy, sweaty aftermath,” he says. “Seriously, tag your NSFW here, this is obscene. Your king of hearts and a Pikachu are in the candy cane forest doing some downright nasty shit.”

“It started off as Fiduspawn,” Tavros says, picking up what looks like a knockoff Pokemon card. “Then, um, it got out of hand.”

“Vriska brought dice and Equius brought cards for some reason, and we rolled with it,” Terezi says with a shrug. “Wanna play?”

Dave can't really find a reason to say no. “Sure, ain't got nothin' better to do anyway.”

Chapter Text

A few hours pass and Dave finds himself actually having fun with the group of weirdo trolls. He learns that Nepeta and Equius are basically friend-married, and Vriska and Terezi are just as pale with some red leanings mixed in (despite the fact that Terezi is the reason Vriska is missing an arm and eye, and Vriska caused Terezi's blindness). Tavros used to have a boyfriend-matesprit-whatever back on Alternia but it went south, and now he's content to be on his own and quadrantless.

All of this he learns from Nepeta. None of this information was asked for but she enthusiastically delivered it anyway. Dave is still not totally sure what quadrants are.

Admittedly, Dave is really enjoying the games and gossip when the lights begin flashing red. The trolls are up in a heartbeat. Equius and Nepeta bolt from the room before Dave can even open his mouth to ask what the fuck is going on. Terezi frowns and grabs Dave's wrist in her vice-like grip.

“Come on,” she says and hurries from the room. The crew rush through the hallways, calling out orders and instructions. The red lights make trolls' skin look even more inhuman and horns more severe against their dark hair, and Dave briefly wonders if this is what hell would be like: dimly lit, the air heavy with fear, and full of ominous figures. Terezi pushes through the crowd, leading him into an elevator and up to the highest deck.

The top deck of the ship is smaller than the others and the high walls are nearly entirely windowed, showing the entirety of space around them. Stars glitter lightyears away, not even a planet nearby to break up the void. Numbly, still processing the emergency lights and tense atmosphere, Dave wonders how far from Earth they are now. Crewmates sit at screens and dashboards lined around the walls while Karkat shouts from the middle of the expansive room. His face is hard and stance stiff as he barks orders.

“What's going on?” Terezi asks. Her tone is subdued and serious and that scares Dave more than the warning lights and rushing crew.

“Sollux picked up an Imperial signal about sixty units away,” Karkat said. “There's no indication that they saw us but we're going into defense mode just in case.”

“Shit,” Terezi spits.

“You're telling me,” Karkat says. Then he notices Dave. “What is this bulgemunch doing here?” He sounds exasperated, as if it were the presence of Dave and not some vague enemy on the horizon that ruined his day.

“It's take a dumbass to work day, didn't you hear?” Dave says, unable to help himself. The tension is too thick even for his patented Strider Humor, and nobody is amused. Karkat presses his fists to his temples and lets out an angry breath.

“I can't deal with your bullshit right now. Stay the fuck out of the way and do whatever anyone orders you to do, including the order to tear out your own blood-pusher and offer it to me on a silver nutrition plateau as apology for you spewing inane-”

“We don't have time for this,” Terezi snaps, cutting him off mid-rant. She puts an hand on Karkat's shoulder and begins leading him away, her voice low and urgent.

Dave decides to stand by the door and make himself scarce. He scans the stars around them for anything threatening, heart thudding against his ribs.

It just occurs to him that he never really asked what kind of ship he's boarded. They could all be pirates for all he knows, or slavers or smugglers or-

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots the ship. Bright red against the blackness of space, spiky and dangerous and alien. It's still pretty far away, but Dave can just make out the symbol on the side, a wicked looking white trident outlined in deep pink. It's vaguely familiar, bringing extraterrestrial government classes to mind. When it hits him, he has to resist the urge to sit down on the hard metal floor.

It's the symbol of the Alternian monarchy.

The entire ship goes silent as everyone holds their breath. Like cornered animals they freeze, eyes glued to the huge red battleship. It doesn't head towards them but that doesn't dispel any fear. Each second passes like molasses.

The ship flies by with no acknowledgment, eventually lost to the distance.

Slowly, the crew begins moving again. Terezi pats Karkat on the back as he begins pulling in great gasping breaths. Apparently he had literally held his breath the whole time. Terezi says something and Karkat nods and waves her away, and she makes her way towards Dave. She puts a firm guiding hand on his shoulder and leads him out of the cockpit. The walk to the elevator and down to the crew cabins is silent and Dave is just about exploding with questions. But the tight set of Terezi's jaw doesn't exactly encourage him and he manages to keep his mouth shut.

She drops him off by his shared room and tells him to stay put. Dave doesn't argue, noting a few other crew members hurrying to their rooms with fearful and confused glances. Apparently there's a ship-wide lockdown of some kind, with non-essential personnel needed out of the way.

For the first time, Dave is alone in the cabin. Without Sollux's incessant typing in the tiny room, it's far too quiet. Lucky for him, his mind is occupied not by memories of his past, but instead fears for his present situation.

Everything he had learned about Alternians pointed to them being extremely loyal to their Empress. The same empress that had advocated genocide and colonization on Earth before an attack on her planet left her afraid enough to hold an uneasy truce with the human race. Trolls had fled to Earth in droves to escape what Dave assumed to be Fallout: Alternia.

These trolls must be doing something terrible if they feared their leader. Or at the very least, something their empire wouldn't approve of.

The more he thinks about it, the more it seems that trolls going against their murderous, imperialistic regime were less likely to be doing something morally terrible. But what were they doing? How likely were they to all be killed and the ship left for space scavengers?

With these twisting thoughts, he falls into an uneasy and light sleep.

Rose Lalonde stands on a rooftop in Texas. The gravel is smooth and bright, even in the fading sunlight. Aside from the large air conditioning units and tall TV antennas, it's completely empty. She didn't expect to find anything here, but she decided that following her brother's footsteps would be the best course of action in finding him.

It has been one week since anyone talked to Dave Strider.

=== tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] ===

TT: He isn't here.

GG: i knowwww i already felt he wouldnt be :/

TT: I just wanted to check for myself. You can't fault me for following my curiosity.

GG: i know youre worried about him but you dont have to be

TT: Jade, my brother is missing after the suspicious death of his guardian. A man who made Dave's life a living nightmare for years.

TT: I know what happened to him, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together even without precognition on my side, but Dave is just gone. No messages, no calls, no sightings...

GG: you know hes okay though!!

TT: Do I? When I try and See where he is going to end up all I get is red, Jade. Red and metal and stars.

TT: I'm not sure what it means but I'm afraid.

GG: i know rose im sorry :(

GG: i know i have said it a lot but things will be okay i can feel it!!

GG: and this one i cant say for sure but i also feel like we are going to meet up with him at some point

TT: I envy your optimism.

Rose descends the stairs, not for the first time cursing the broken elevator, and enters the empty apartment Dave had shared with his guardian for his entire life. Dust has already began settling; it hovers in the air, illuminated by the last rays of sunlight let in by the broken plastic blinds over the living room window. The air smells like stale sweat and burnt popcorn and Rose breathes shallowly as she makes her way towards Dave's room.

The door is ajar, the room a mess. Not the lived-in mess she had expected from Dave, but the frantic and torn-apart mess left by a person running out of time. From here, he could have gone anywhere. Rose closes her eyes and tries to envision what his next move was. She reaches for that faraway mental light, grasping for illumination, an idea, a vague notion of where he could be, anything.

It yields nothing. With a huff, she sits down at his beat-up computer chair, picking at her nails anxiously. She thought she knew Dave better than anyone. She thought Dave would come to her before anything else after their father's untimely (but much deserved) death.

But he didn't. And now she's left to puzzle together unintentional clues left by a person who didn't want to be found.

As she turns idly in the computer chair, lost in thought, her elbow bumps the mouse and the screen turns on, lighting up the darkening room.

Directions to the Houston Spaceport are pulled up.

Rose smiles.

Chapter Text

Somehow, Dave has found a place on the ship. It's not exactly glamorous to be on janitorial duty, but at the very least he has something to occupy his time. And thankfully, there isn't much dirt to be swept in space.

It's only taken him a few days to get into a routine and fall into Terezi's group of friends. They greet him warmly for the most part, with only one disgusted eye roll from Vriska. Nepeta is already chattering excitedly by his side, and he accepts his role as the one clueless human who hasn't caught up on the gossip, as usual.

Terezi tosses a twenty-sided die at Dave's head with accuracy he once would have thought impossible from somebody who's blind. He lets it bounce off of his forehead and back onto the table as Terezi tuts, disappointed.

“You very easily could have dodged that!” she says.

Dave only shrugs. She had subtly been trying to get him to use his Time powers every chance she got. Or as subtle as Terezi Pyrope can be, which really isn't all that much. He ignores her challenges.

Vriska, it seems, has had enough. She stands, eye narrowed as she stares down her nose at Dave.

“I'm done with this charade,” she says dramatically, as she does most things.

“We aren't playing charades,” Dave says, still sitting and watching her blankly. “I don't know what exactly we're playing here with twenty-sided dice and a Chutes and Ladders game board but it sure as hell ain't charades.”

He could have gone on longer but he's cut off by the whisper of metal through air. Almost faster than Dave could see, Vriska had put one leg up on the table and drawn her sword. It is wicked looking, cobalt blue and sharp, and arcing through the air directly at Dave's head.

Instinct kicks in. His own sword is drawn from his strife specibus and blocking Vriska's sword in an instant. He stands, pushing his chair away while also pushing Vriska back. She stumbles from the table with a snarl but keeps her footing. With a leap, she's on top of the table and bearing down on Dave. He blocks her, resisting her strength as the clang of the crossed swords echos through the room.

“Vriska!” Terezi yells, and the weight bearing down on Dave's sword lets up nearly imperceptibly. That's all he needs to give a final push and send her toppling from the table.

Dave and Vriska are left breathing heavily. Terezi stands, her own cane at the ready as she glares at the two. The other trolls are looking back and forth with stunned expressions.

Vriska finally stands, pointing an accusatory finger at Dave. “Stop pretending you can't do what we all know you can, Strider. Stop hiding your powers like a frightened wiggler!”

Dave doesn't respond. He stores his sword away and leaves without a word.

There's no way in hell he's making it back to his room. The hallway stretches before him, bright and impossibly long. His legs feel weak beneath him, hands shaky and hot by his sides. Swords crash in his mind, and endless scream of metal on metal that leaves his brain reeling.

He doesn't know what room he ducks into but he's glad it's dark when the door closes and he falls to his knees. His stomach rolls and he pushes back the urge to vomit as the panic catches up with him.

She attacked him with a sword, a fucking sword, with no warning, clanging metal on metal with an expression of pure anger, absolutely willing to kill him, nearly decapitated him-

He scrambles to his feet, finds a trash bin, and loses his dinner.

The lights turn on, piercing his eyes even through his sunglasses, and he groans weakly into the garbage can.

“What the fuck are you- are you okay?” Captain Vantas says, letting the door slide shut behind him as he steps into the room that looks like a meeting room now that it's light enough to see.

“I'm great, cap'n. Havin' myself a one man pity party. That ain't a euphemism for me jackin' off,” Dave mumbles. Karkat is too loud and the room too bright and the swords too loud-

“I don't understand a word you just said but I don't feel like I missed out on anything intelligent.” Karkat stands awkwardly above Dave, his eyebrows drawn together. He looks so unsure of himself, a far cry from the confident leader Dave had seen before.

Dave only shrugs before heaving into the trash can again.

“Oh fuck, shit, are you sick? Should I get Kanaya? Fuck, are you okay?” Karkat asks in a rush as he kneels down next to Dave. His eyes are wide and he looks like he wants to do something but his hands raise and lower uselessly as Dave breathes heavily.

“Sure was a lotta questions you just asked,” Dave finally manages to say. “Let's see: I'm not sick, no, and I'm fuckin peachy. Chop me up and put me in a fruit salad. The good kinda fruit salad, with granola and yogurt and whipped cream. Shit's more like a parfait really-”

“Stop,” Karkat commands. Dave clamps his lips shut and tells himself it's only to avoid barfing again. Karkat looks concerned as he searches Dave's face. They sit in silence for a while, Dave slowly getting his breathing back to normal as his stomach settles and the shaking subsides.

“So what happened?” he asks when Dave pushes the garbage can away.

Dave glances at Karkat, eyes narrowed. “What makes you think something happened?”

Karkat rolls his eyes. “Look, I know what a panic attack looks like. I wasn't hatched yesterday, nor am I a drooling imbecile.” He hesitates for a moment and takes a deep breath. “You don't have to tell me, but maybe you'll feel less like evacuating your gastrointestinal juices if you do.”

Dave is quiet for once. Karkat is watching him with concern. The expression is so foreign to Dave and he feels his resolve crumble.

“I think I need to start at the beginning, unload my tragic back story or whatever, for context. Just the Sparknotes version. I ran away from home,” Dave starts haltingly. It's the lesser of many bombshells to drop, one that is vague enough not to give away too much. Karkat's eyebrow twitches, his mouth opening and closing before he simply nods without a word. His expression clearly conveys “no shit Sherlock” but Dave goes on anyway.

“My situation back on Earth was... not so good. I mean like ten layers of shitty, stacked high like Denny's pancakes. Sweet syrup is running down thick hot layers of shit and every day I had to take a heaping mouthful,” Dave says. Once the words start flowing he is powerless to stop it. Karkat continues to listen silently through the verbal vomit.

“I guess all the shit I dealt with left me fucked up. I left as soon as I could but I didn't really have any resources. Maybe I should've talked to Rose before leaving, I dunno. Maybe me stowing away was the worst impulsive decision I could've made. Wasn't really thinking rationally though, I was just tryin' to haul ass outta Texas before I got in trouble,” Dave says. He's talking mostly to himself, Karkat almost completely forgotten.

“I don't see how you could get in trouble for trying to escape your shitty situation,” Karkat interrupts to point out. Dave blinks at him as he's pulled out of his rambling thoughts. Karkat still looks soft, something akin to pity on his face.

There's no way in hell Dave can admit to being a murderer.

“I'm a dumbass,” Dave finally says. “My only thought when I was leaving was I needed to get as far away as possible. What's further than another planet?”

Karkat shrugs. He thinks for a minute before saying, “you don't seem that much like a dumbass to me. Your motives for leaving Earth don't make you a dumbass at least. It takes heavy globes to get yourself out of a shitty situation.”

Dave looks down with a shrug. Running away didn't feel particularly brave. The events leading up to his running felt downright cowardly.

The sword flashes through the air and everything is red- no wait the sword is blue and it's blocked before it completes its deadly arc- no it's not blocked by anything because Time is stopped and Dave is so fucking great at sword-fighting, his aim is deadly accurate and-

The events clash in his head, indistinct blurs of flashing metal and blood and echoing sword blows. Dave's nails dig into his hand as he swallows thickly.

“I'm not brave,” he manages to say. Karkat presses his lips together into a thin line.

“Look at me Dave. I'm serious, take off your stupid sunglasses and look at me,” Karkat commands. With trembling hands, Dave takes off the shades and meets Karkat's vividly red eyes. His face is composed, serious and open while he holds eye contact.

“What you did was for your own safety,” Karkat says, voice lower than Dave had ever heard it and almost hypnotic. Something resonates in his chest, like a plucked guitar string. He realizes he can't look away from Karkat even if he wants to.

He doesn't want to.

That strange twinge happens again and his mind begins clearing; the swords fade into silence until his mind is blessedly quiet.

Karkat blinks and whatever spell Dave was under breaks, like layers of gauze pulled away from his head until everything is clear again. He puts his sunglasses back on, hiding his watering eyes.

A moment later, Karkat's eyes roll back into his head and he slumps over, unconscious.

Relationships branch from people's cores like strings, bright and vibrant and tangled around others like vines. Karkat had been able to see them since he was a wiggler, to reach out and wrap them around his fingers, snap and repair them at will, pull them like rubber and braid them like yarn.

He rarely, if ever, uses this talent.

Dave doesn’t have very many of these connections. A few newer connections are feeling their way around him, pale teal and gold and crimson on the fringes of his being. Other strings are some of the strongest he's ever seen; royal blue and deep lilac and neon green braided with ruby red. Karkat wonders how Dave is dealing being so far away from whoever is on the other end of those bonds for so long without going catatonic with sadness.

Then again, he did find him in the midst of a full-blown panic attack, so maybe he wasn't dealing with it as well as it seemed.

What worries Karkat is the black string. It looks like a bruise, painful and throbbing. Its grip on him is the strongest, choking the core of his being and sending tendrils throughout his entire self. He finds himself terrified of whoever is on the other side, and he assumes Dave is as well. There's no way Karkat can sever it all at once, not without killing Dave or himself or both in the process.

But he does what he can, loosening its grip just enough that it isn't the driving force behind Dave's emotions. He watches Dave's shoulders relax slightly, the hard lines of his face soften just a bit, before darkness overcomes him.

An indeterminate amount of time passes and Karkat wakes up in his own block. Somebody pets his head, nails scratching softly against his scalp and along the base of his horns. He opens his eyes to see the concerned face of Kanaya above him.

“The fuck,” he mutters groggily, sitting up. Dave is sitting at the desk chair, shoulders slumped and head down. He snores softly.

“He's been sleeping the whole time you were out. He got me from the medbay and passed out when we got you here. You were knocked out cold,” Kanaya says, rubbing circles into Karkat's back. “What happened?”

Karkat stares at Dave's napping form. His sunglasses are at the end of his nose, bound to fall off at any minute. He's clearly exhausted and Karkat can't blame him. He looks so young and open, all the pretense and layers of falseness pulled away to reveal a young man just trying to start his life away from toxic influences.

“I helped him,” Karkat says after a moment. Kanaya gives him a startled look.

“You over-exerted your powers,” she says. Karkat only shrugs, glaring at the wall.

“I'm a grown-ass troll, I know my limits. It's nothing I can't fucking handle, Kanaya. Don't worry about me.”

Kanaya hugs Karkat and sighs, running her fingers through his coarse hair. “I always worry about you, primarily because you do things like this.”

“What's the use of a Knight of Blood who can't use his fucking powers without fainting like an overheated highblood,” Karkat growls.

“What use is a captain who can't see the value he has outside of his powers,” Kanaya retorts. “We would all be dead without you.”

He snorts. “No, you would be underground helping wigglers, Terezi would be living her dream of being a legislacerator, Vriska would be a captain of her own ship...”

“Equius and Nepeta would have been separated by their castes and jobs, Tavros would have been culled, Sollux would be a mindless helmsman, and hundreds of the crew would have died,” Kanaya says. “Or worse, we could have all ended up in the Condesce's army. You saved us.”

Karkat says nothing. He watches Dave sleep.

If his life didn't go the way it has, maybe Dave would still be on Earth, that diseased connection choking his soul until it was snuffed out. Maybes aside, many of his friends unquestionably would have died sweeps ago on Alternia. Several of his friends did die.

He would have died too.

“Thanks, Kanaya,” Karkat finally says.

Chapter Text

Quiet voices pull Dave from his deep and dreamless sleep. His neck hurts and there's drool running down his chin but he feels rested for the first time in what feels like eons. Karkat and Kanaya are huddled together on Karkat's bed, speaking softly. The usual anger on Karkat's face is gone, replaced with a softness that eases the lines and hard planes of his face and makes Dave realize that Karkat can't be much older than himself. He sits up and the duo look at him, blinking in surprise.

“Hey, sup,” Dave says, stretching and looking around the room. It's roughly the same size as the room he and Sollux share, but with a single bed instead of a bunk bed. The walls are plastered with movie posters that somehow look vaguely familiar to Dave but are crowded with Alternian letters that he can't make heads or tails of.

“How are you feeling?” Kanaya asks as she stands, freeing herself from the blankets tangled around her legs.

Dave rolls his head around, loosening his neck muscles in an attempt to look busy as he thinks of an answer. He feels... weird. Not bad weird, but like something is different. There's a lightness he can't put his finger on, like a rock has been removed from his chest that he didn't even realize was there.

Maybe whatever Karkat did actually helped. Or perhaps talking it out, even glossing over it as he did, was helpful too. Whatever it is, he's thankful.

“Pretty damn great, actually,” he says. He glances at Karkat, whose trademarked scowl was returning in degrees. “Thank you both.”

“I didn't really do anything,” Kanaya says demurely. “I just carried Karkat here. He's light, it was no trouble. Thank you for fetching me.”

Karkat's face goes red and he looks away from Dave to glare at the blankets. Dave stands, his knees popping as he stretches for the first time in hours.

“I think I'm gonna get some more shut-eye in an actual bed,” he says. “Bed in the loosest sense of the term actually, more like tissue paper over a metal slab.”

Karkat's head snaps up as he growls. “If you don't like it you can sleep in the ablution trap for all I fucking care.” There's no real malice in his tone, and once he notes the amused expression on Dave's face he rolls his eyes. He gives Dave the middle finger when he waves.

Dave is grinning as he walks from the room.

Rose is no spy, but she does feel as if she's on a top-secret reconnaissance mission in Houston's spaceport. It takes several days for Rose to get close enough to the security office, and several hours more to get into the security footage banks (with Jade's guidance).

But she did it, and that's what matters. She hides inside a nearby janitor's closet and speeds through the video, looking for the distinctive blonde hair and sunglasses in the massive crowd on that fateful day.

And there he is. Face stony, shoulders tight, and ever vigilant as he hurries through the milling starship passengers. He stops and stands next to a ship for a moment before suddenly disappearing. One second he's there and the next he's gone.

She plays the video back, slowed down. It looks as if he leaped into the open loading doors, past the trolls who were guarding it. He's faster than any human could possibly be.

Rose squints at the ship. Alternian in origin, if her research into the species was paying off, but with some modifications. It looks like a passenger ship with battle fortifications. The name emblazoned on the side in bright red letters is Signless.

Quickly, she searches the docking logs for the Signless and comes up with its credentials; it's a basic passenger and supply shuttle from Alternia that stopped for refueling on Earth. Nothing out of the ordinary.

According to the license, the captain is Will Smith.

Rose studies that again, re-translating the Alternian letters several times in disbelief. It definitely says Will Smith.

Clearly it's a false name, but why? What is the Signless hiding from?

And where is it taking Dave?

While turning the new information around in her head, Rose leaves the spaceport and walks back to her hotel. It's a classy hotel; her mother gives her enough money to keep Rose wealthy enough to able to do things such as fly to Texas at a moment's notice. It is also very conveniently close to the spaceport, so she doesn’t need to walk far. She steps into an empty elevator and is lifted to her floor.

She is still questioning what an Alternian would need to hide from when something huge and soft tackles her to the ground as soon as she steps out of the elevator.

“Bec, down!” someone shrieks, and the massive white dog stops licking Rose's face. She's nearly drowned in drool but unharmed. A big hand is offered and she is helped up by none other than John Egbert. He's grinning widely as Jade stands next to him with an apologetic expression. Rose blinks at both of them in surprise for a moment before being crushed in a bear hug from both sides.

The Harleyberts are talking over each other, explanations and apologies mingled together while Rose slowly suffocates, smushed between their chests.

“You're both much taller than I remember,” she says once there's a lull in the chatter.

John laughs and is the first to step away, freeing Rose. “You haven't seen us since we were sixteen!” he says.

“You're still the same height,” Jade teases, leaning on Rose with an elbow on her head. Rose laughs quietly. Despite the circumstances that bring them all to Texas, she is thrilled to see her two best friends.

“Well, let's not loiter in the hallway, we can go back to my room and you both can tell me how your trip was,” Rose says, linking elbows with Jade and leading her down the hall while John and Bec follow.

“It was fine, don't worry about that,” Jade says, her tone turning sad. “Any luck figuring out what ship Dave is on?”

“Indeed,” Rose says. She unlocks her hotel room and lets the two inside. “It's an Alternian ship called the Signless.”

“Signless,” Jade repeats, eyebrows furrowed as she takes a seat on the bed. She and John have identical looks of concentration on their faces as they try and remember anything pertaining to the word, both to no avail. Rose sighs and sits next to Jade, leaning her head on Jade's shoulder. Bec curls up at the girl's feet, his intelligent green eyes looking up at the two of them sadly. John joins Bec on the floor and scratches him behind the ears. In a far-away sort of way, Rose wishes that could all just stay like this, quiet and comfortable, and then Dave will just show up and join them.

“Why not ask a troll?” John says after a bit. Rose tilts her head, thinking. The chances of any random troll knowing of the mysterious ship is slim, but it wouldn't hurt to ask someone they could trust, if possible.

“That isn't a terrible idea I suppose. Do you know any trolls?”

John seems to wilt a bit. “Not personally.”

“I think it would be best if we avoid bringing anybody we don't know into this,” Rose says.

The three brainstorm into the night. John falls asleep first, with his head resting on Bec, who looks moderately annoyed by this.

Jade and Rose sit on the bed, facing each other with papers scattered between them. Google searches had turned up nothing on the Signless, half-formed ideas were scribbled out and crumpled up across the bed spread, and the two were running low on inspiration.

As midnight passes, Jade groans, laying face down on the bed. “You've tried Seeing, right?” Jade asks.

“Only quick glances. Nothing helpful, just vague flashes,” Rose says. “I'm not sure how any of our,” her voice lowers here, a conspiratorial whisper, “powers can help us here.”

Jade is quiet. “What if there was a new power that is kinda untested but may end up helpful,” she says slowly.

Rose blinks. “I suppose it depends on the power.”

With a sigh, Jade sits up. “I discovered I can do something new a few weeks ago,” she says. “But it... has a side effect.”

“If it hurts you it isn't worth using,” Rose says firmly. “We can do without whatever it is, I'm sure.”

“It doesn't hurt me exactly, but it does trigger my epilepsy,” she says. Bec looks up at the mention of Jade's condition. Jade takes a deep breath, a determined expression growing on her face. “I can teleport, move through space at will, Rose! Anywhere, as long as I have something to focus on.”

“That's amazing,” Rose says. “Much more powerful than anything we can do now. How did you find out?”

“I was back home swimming when Bec started doing that special bark from the shore. He knew I was about to have a seizure but I was too far out to swim back. I found myself wishing that I could be home in bed, there was a flash of green light, and then I was! Then I blacked out.” She relays the story casually, as if she hadn't almost died and been saved by inexplicable powers.

Rose takes both of Jade's hands in her own with wide eyes. “I'm so glad you're okay,” she says. Jade grins her buck-toothed grin and shrugs.

“I'm definitely okay! But every time I tested it, I had a seizure not long after. Bec was worried sick so I didn't try it very often. I found that all I need to do is have a thing to focus on, and then I'm there,” she explains. Realization dawns in Rose's mind.

“So, in theory, you could use Dave as a landmark and teleport right to him,” she says. Jade nods excitedly, her hair bouncing around her face and nearly knocking her glasses off.

“Exactly!”

Rose begins chewing on her nail, a bad habit she has when thinking deeply. If Jade could teleport to Dave, she can make sure he's okay, and perhaps convince him to come back.

Or perhaps she could take Rose along so she can convince him herself.

“Can you teleport others with you?” Rose asks after a few minutes.

“I haven't tried,” Jade says. “I'd be willing to give it a shot though!”

Rose hesitates. Teleporting clearly takes a lot out of Jade, enough to give her a seizure; teleporting two people could be too much for her to handle. But before Rose can shake her head, Jade pulls her to her feet and hugs her close.

“Hold on tight,” she says, and then the hotel room disappears in a flash of green static.

Chapter Text

“Got any fours?' Terezi asks.

“Nope,” Dave says. “Roll a dex save.”

“Damn.”

The game is completely nonsensical; a weird mixture of Monopoly, Dungeons and Dragons, and Go Fish, but Dave considers himself an expert by this point. Vriska looks over Terezi's shoulder and raises an eyebrow.

“Why do you want a four? You don't have any other fours.”

“Because if I get a four, a one, and a three I get to add six to my perception, duh,” she says as if this wasn't a rule she just made up. Dave allows it. Such is the way of Dungeons and Monopoly Fish.

Dave vows to come up with a better name later. At least the Pokemon aspect was phased out.

He looks around the table at the trolls he's come to consider his friends. Most of them are present; even Kanaya has joined the game this time around, staring perplexed at the board in front of her and the cards in her hand. Equius begrudgingly explains the rules to her in a hushed tone but she still looks lost.

Apparently all Dave needed to do was leave Earth and hole up with a bunch of trolls to start feeling like a normal person. He feels a pang of sadness and worry; his friends back on Earth have no idea where he is. He could be dead for all they know. Even know-it-all Rose is in the dark. It is intentional, the fewer people that know where Dave has gone the better, but it hurts all the same.

The ache grows in his chest and he sets his cards down on the table. It's a shitty hand anyway.

“I think I'm gonna turn in early,” he says as he stands, stretching and groaning for the full effect. “I'm beat. Not beat as bad as Tavros but really, how can someone roll five goddamn ones in a row? That's a whole new level of beat, take that out to pasture and shoot it because the exhaustion is chronic there. Not Tavros, I mean his luck I guess. And I'm not saying you should shoot people if they're tired either. Anyways I'm beat just as bad as an old rug-”

“Oh my god, just go!” Vriska says, exasperated. Secretly, Dave is thankful for the interruption because that ramble went in a million different directions and none of them were good.

“Later,” Dave says with a salute as he turns on his heels and heads back to his cabin.

He and Sollux have an unspoken rule: if Sollux is at his computer or asleep, Dave keeps his mouth shut. Any other time he is free to annoy Sollux to his heart's content, primarily because Sollux quickly mastered the art of ignoring Dave for hours at a time.

Sollux is lounging on his bunk, phone in hand. He grunts some semblance of a greeting at Dave as he walks in. Dave doesn't respond, climbing up to his bunk silently.

For a minute, the room is completely silent. Then Sollux stands up, his eyebrows drawn together as he looks up at Dave.

“You're not filling my auditory sponges with useless drivel, what gives?”

“My drivel is far from useless, Captor. That's the most important thing for you to know here. Every word that comes from my mouth is an invaluable golden nugget of wisdom, and don't you forget it. You'll be tellin' your great-great-grandkids about the shit I say, in hushed tones around the fire while your weird alien junk withers away into nothingness. Because you'll be fucking old. The next thing to know is nothing, shut up.”

A few sparks fly lazily down from Sollux's eyes, out of annoyance more than anything. “Nothing my ass. But if you're going to brood up there I'm not stopping you.” With that, Sollux gets back in his bunk.

It's quiet again, aside from the occasional sigh or a tap on Sollux's phone screen.

Dave can only handle so much silence.

“Do you ever feel lonely even though you're surrounded by people because you miss someone? Like, I know that sounds super emo but what can I say, try as I might to squash them down I still got emotions. It sucks, man.”

Sollux huffs. “At risk of becoming your personal therapist by encouraging you: yes. I do.”

The room lapses into silence again.

“One of us has to elaborate,” Dave says finally.

Sollux tosses his phone aside; Dave hears it bounce on the thin mattress. He sighs roughly and for a moment Dave is sure he's going to tell him to shut up, but then he speaks.

“Back on Alternia, before all of this bullshit and before humans were even part of the picture, I had a friend. She was weird and spooky and always too fucking chipper, and I was so pale for her you might as well have mined me for diamonds.” He hesitates here.

“You don't have to tell me anything you don't want-” Dave starts to say when the silence stretches on, before being cut off.

“She was killed.”

He says it so flatly, with such finality that Dave's heart feels heavy.

“That sucks,” Dave manages. Sollux snorts.

“That's how Alternia is. Lowbloods are expendable; one dies and five more take their place. You don't make friends with rustbloods unless you like suffering.” A harsh, hysterical laugh. “Guess I've always been a fucking masochist.”

Dave has no idea what to say to that. A minute passes before Sollux speaks again, his tone emotionless.

“Don't make me the only one here revealing his tragic back story here, Strider. Not that I give half a flying fuck but I guess it's only polite that I give you the chance to spill your gross human guts on my respite block floor.”

“You're nothing if not the most cordial man, Sollux. Since you asked so nicely...” He trails off, unsure of where to start. Unsure of what parts of his past were safe to share. Unsure of his own feelings.

Haltingly, he says,“back on Earth... I had people who cared about me. They still care I guess, unless I somehow fucked that up? But anyway, they don't know where I am. And I don't know how they're doing. I talked to them every damn day for like ten years. I had to leave, I really did, but goddamn if I don't feel every mile between us.” Dave closes his eyes. “I still reach for my phone thinking, hey I'm gonna text John about this bullshit or I bet Rose would know what to do in this situation or Jade would find this hilarious... Fuck I miss them.”

“You're acting like you're never going to see them again,” Sollux says.

Dave shrugs, despite the fact that Sollux can't see him. “You never know.”

They're both quiet after that and not much later Dave hears Sollux turn over in his bunk, snoring softly. It doesn't take long for Dave to follow suit, drained by emotion.

Someone is screaming, and it takes Dave a moment to realize it isn't in a dream. He jerks awake and nearly falls out of his bunk when it finally hits him that the pained cries are coming from Sollux. He's sitting up in his bunk, knees pulled to his chest and hands clamped to his ears as if blocking out sounds only audible to him.

“I hear them I hear them I hear KK the loudest oh fuck oh fuck OH FUCK-” he screams, shaking his head. Arcs of lightning crackle through the air. Dave is frozen, blank panic in his mind as Sollux continues to scream. One name gets repeated several times: Karkat.

Without thinking, Dave springs into action and grabs Sollux by the arm. He is burning up and electric shocks sting Dave's hands but Sollux doesn't fight as Dave pulls him from the room and through the darkened halls. The ship is silent at the late hour, the lights dim and throwing shadows into every doorway. Sollux's cries echo and bounce, surrounding them on all sides. The blood rushing through Dave's ears and his own pounding heart almost entirely drown him out.

Just as they get to the elevator, the lights go red. Dave blinks in the sudden harsh light and Sollux's wails grow louder and more insistent.

“We're going to find Karkat!” Dave yells directly into his ear, to no avail. The elevator ride takes eons, each second stretching out impossibly long.

The elevator shakes suddenly, just as they stop on the topmost floor. Dave yanks Sollux out into the cockpit to see a dozen tiny red ships surrounding them through the expansive windows.

Karkat, clearly having just woken up, barks orders to the crew that stream in with bewildered and terrified expression on their faces. Dave half-drags the incoherent Sollux to Karkat, who looks at him with fear-stricken eyes. Sollux nearly tackles Karkat to the ground, balling his sweater in his fists desperately.

“KK, I heard you, I heard you I'm so fucking sorry I hear you now I hear and I-”

Karkat doesn't seem to hear anymore, his face pale as Sollux continues his terrified babble.

“What does he mean?” Dave asks, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of the attack and the trolls in the control room and Sollux's now dwindling shouts. Karkat's bright gold and ruby eyes are blank as he answers.

“Sollux can hear the voices of those who are about to die.”

The ground feels unsteady beneath Rose's feet. There's a weight on her and it takes her a second to realize it's Jade. Her head rolls back, her face twitching. Rose lays her down on her side as she convulses, her own hands shaking as she does her best to make Jade comfortable until the seizure passes. She's disoriented and dizzy, her stomach tight. Suddenly she's thankful she and Jade had completely forgotten to eat dinner.

Rose looks around her suddenly unfamiliar surroundings. Humidity makes the air heavy and her clothes are already beginning to cling uncomfortably to her skin. The sky above is a deep navy blue, only the brightest stars shining through the light pollution of the city. The darkness makes it hard to get her bearings but after a moment she is certain she and Jade are on the rooftop of Dave's former apartment.

Jade teleported them both across Houston. Rose looks at Jade is disbelief, watching as her tremors still and her eyes open. Her eyes are unfocused, clearly dazed.

It takes what feels to Rose like hours but was really only a few minutes for Jade to come back around fully. When Jade can sit up, Rose begins bombarding her with questions.

“How could you do this with no testing? You could have been hurt. Do I take you to the hospital? I need to call John. Should I? Dammit,” Rose says all at once. Jade blinks slowly.

“I didn't really catch any of that,” she admits, her words sluggish.

Rose takes a deep breath. “I'm going to call a cab. While we wait for the cab to get here, I'll call John.” She says this for her own benefit as well as Jade's, giving herself a set plan in her panicked state.

After the cab is called, Rose calls John. It takes him five rings to pick up.

“Why are you calling me at three in the morning, Rose? Is everything okay?” He's groggy, words slurred and unclear. Rose can almost see him, his hair messier than usual and his unaided eyes squinting into the darkness, illuminated only by his phone screen.

“Define okay,” she says dryly. “Listen, what do I do after Jade has a seizure?”

John is suddenly very alert on the other end. “Is she awake?”

“Yeah, she's awake and sitting up and talking. She looks somewhat lost though.”

A sigh of relief. “Okay, she should be fine, get her some water and watch her carefully though. No wonder Bec looks so scared, he's sitting by the door. He always seems to know when Jade has an episode. Just get back here as soon as possible so she can rest. Where are you guys anyway?”

“Dave's apartment,” Rose says. “It's a long story and I will explain when we get back. As for now I need to get a very disoriented girl down approximately five hundred flights of stairs to catch a cab. See you soon.”

She hangs up quickly. Jade stands unsteadily and uses Rose as a crutch to get down to the road. By the time the two are in the cab, Jade seems back to normal, though very tired.

“Do you know what this means?” she says in an excited whisper. “I can get all of us to Dave, you and me and John!”

Rose shakes her head. “We aren't going to discuss this so soon after your episode, Jade. You need rest before we plan anything further.”

With a pout, Jade leans back in her seat. “We don't know if Dave is in trouble or not though,” she says weakly. She knows she needs to rest but worry draws her face tight.

Rose sighs. “I know. I'll try Seeing again when we get back to the hotel, okay? If anything has changed you will be the first to know.”

Jade nods, satisfied. The rest of the ride is quiet with the two lost in thought.

Chapter Text

The voices are so loud, it's tearing his brain in two, they're deafening him, he can't see or hear or feel anything beyond the screams. It's so much worse than before, even worse than the time Aradia's anguished cry pierced his think pan through a honey haze-

Sollux hardly notices when he's sat in a chair and moved to an out of the way part of the room.

Voices are cut off suddenly, fearful gurgling cries that leave a hole of silence almost worst than the screaming. Individual voices are lost in the cacophony, but one still rings out the loudest.

Karkat. He sounds pained and angry, none of the fear that reverberates through the other screams present.

The screams get louder and distantly he's aware that he's actually hearing it now, outside of his mind. He brings himself to open his eyes as a drone rips open the metal door.

The drone is huge, vaguely humanoid but also hulking and bug-like as it tears through the metal like tissue paper. Its shiny red husk is decorated with the royal insignia. It roars once as the hole becomes wide enough for it to pass through into the control room, and just past it Dave spots several more coming down the hall. Dave's katana is in his hands before he can consciously make the decision to arm himself. Around him, weapons are drawn from strife specibi as well. Faces are drawn in tight expressions of terror and something akin to stubbornness.

These trolls and humans fully expect to die, but they will go down fighting.

Karkat lets out a roar of his own, deep and guttural and just as intimidating as the wicked looking sickles in his hands. The prophecy of his death rings through Dave's mind and he feels the irrational urge to grab Karkat and run, to hide him until the danger passes.

With a final rending of metal, the drones flood in, headed directly for Karkat.

The crew leaps into action. One troll jumps on top of the first drone, dual daggers digging into the flesh underneath the red armor. Oily black blood seeps from the wounds and it lets out a high pitched shriek. The troll is thrown off of the drone, landing with a sick crack on the floor across the room.

Even as the first drone succumbs to its injuries, two more take its place. People lash out, metal crashing against armor.

Dave takes a deep breath and launches himself at the nearest drone. He slashes at the exposed joint of its raised arm and the appendage falls with a hollow thud. The drone roars and turns to face Dave. Dave dives between its legs and slices off its head from behind. His katana cuts through the soft exposed joints like a hot knife through butter. Black blood rains down, leaving puddles on the floor and staining his t-shirt.

All of his training, Bro's barked instructions and harsh reprimands, floods back to him at once. It's almost overwhelming and completely terrifying, but the screams and roars of the fight keep him anchored in the moment.

He catches sight of Terezi, her cane split to reveal two long knives. She leaps around the room, stabbing at the heads of the drones while cackling madly. Dave knows her well enough to see she's having a great time. Vriska isn't far behind, using the confusion of the drones as they try to grab for Terezi to stab her cobalt sword into the back of their necks.

Then Dave's gaze turns to Karkat. His lips are pulled back from his teeth, showing every sharp fang. He attacks recklessly, clawing and cutting until his sickles are just silver blurs. A gash on his cheek leaks crimson.

He's taking on two drones on his own.

They're trying to back him against a wall, their huge forms dwarfing him, but he doesn't give them an inch. One sends a punch for Karkat's head, one that definitely would have crushed his skull if he didn't duck just in time. He stands back up with a hiss and slashes, but his blade is blocked by an armored forearm.

He doesn't notice the second drone circle around him.

Fear shoots through Dave's body and he's running across the control room before he can think.

The second drone pulls out a deadly looking spike.

Dave calls Karkat's name, he is too far away-

The first drone roars and its almost triumphant tone confuses Karkat enough for him to pause-

It's the perfect opening. The second drone shoves the spike through Karkat's chest. His eyes are so wide that Dave can see the red from where he is. More red splatters on the floor from Karkat's open mouth, from his chest, dripping-

He falls to the ground with finality, a puppet with its strings cut.

A wail echoes through the room, primal and pained. Red and blue lightning begins arcing through the room. Sollux rises into the air amidst the electric storm, his face cold and eyes wide. Energy crackles, sending deadly jolts through anyone near enough, drones and trolls and humans alike.

Sollux is completely gone, blind with grief.

A desperate idea comes to Dave, something he isn't sure he can do. Something even Bro hadn't trained him to do. But an insistent voice at the back of his mind urges him on. Dave closes his eyes, bringing back the moments before Karkat was killed, and reaches for Time.

Everything goes red. The ticking of a clock echoes through his mind, speeding up and slowing down at random. The battle plays out in reverse around him. Terezi leaps backwards, drones rise and reassemble themselves. Sollux lowers back into the chair, the spike is pulled from Karkat's chest-

And suddenly he's looking at himself halfway across the room. He watches himself watching Terezi fight. Shaking his head, he grabs onto Time, slowing it down to a crawl around him as he runs at the two drones. With a jump and one swift motion, the heads are separated from their bodies.

Dave's legs are shaking as he takes his own place in the past and time begins flowing again. Terezi's laughter is ecstatic as she distracts drones long enough for Vriska to finish them off.

Karkat looks confused at his two suddenly-dead attackers. Dave runs to him, his sword dripping black and chest heaving.

“You can't take on two drones by yourself, fuckwit.”

Karkat sneers, an expression Dave is so glad to see that he can't help but smile in return.

“Let's kick some ass, huh?”

Karkat nods, his eyes flashing fire as he and Dave jump into the fray.

Jade snores loudly on the bed as Rose quietly explains what happened to John.

“I knew she had some sort of teleport-y power but I didn't know about the side effects,” he says with a frown. “She didn't tell me.”

“You are her brother, I'm sure she didn't want to worry you,” Rose says, putting a hand on John's shoulder as he studies Jade' sleeping form. As soon as her head hit the pillow back in the hotel she was sleeping deeply. She looked exhausted and Rose can't blame her. “If she had told you, I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted her to use the power, correct?”

“Well yeah! Obviously, if this is what it does to her!” he says loudly, gesturing widely. Jade mumbles something incoherent in her sleep and Bec looks up from his spot on the bed beside her with what Rose can only describe as a reproachful expression. Rose and John are quiet as Jade settles back down and Bec relaxes.

“Jade is going to do whatever she feels she needs to, regardless if it's a good idea or not,” Rose says, her voice low. “Believe me, I didn't want her to try this. But she did, and now she knows it works so chances are she will try again when she's physically able.”

John huffs. “She's so stubborn.”

Rose doesn't argue. The two are thoughtfully quiet. Eventually John falls asleep sprawled out on the couch. Rose takes the chance to See into the future and sits on the floor, legs curled up beneath her.

Cliche as it is, she carries a crystal ball with her at all times. Whether or not it helps her when she Sees into the future is up for debate. It's solid and cool in her hands and she closes her eyes, reaching for the Light.

Doorways surround her in an endless hallway. Several doorways are as dark as night while others are as bright as the sun. She focuses on Dave and one of the doors calls to her.

Space surrounds her and for a moment she's afraid he's somehow marooned in space (or worse) until she realizes it's only windows. The room they stand in is large, with three fully windowed walls in front of which controls are lined up. Alternians and humans alike man the consoles.

And there he is, alive and well and safe.

His hair is getting long and he's wearing a strange outfit: all black with red trim, a red gear symbol emblazoned on his shoulder, and a sword strapped to his waist. Of course he's still wearing his sunglasses as well. It seems he's listening to two trolls talk, his face serious as he nods at whatever they're saying. He adds something Rose can't hear and the shorter troll with blunt horns puts his face in his hands while the other troll cackles.

Suddenly Rose misses Dave so much it hurts. The vision in front of her is so real she feels as if she can run up and hug him, pull him from the future and back home so she can berate him and hug him in equal measure-

Her focus is shattered when she realizes she's crying and someone is calling her. The vision fades to black. Jade says her name again, rubbing her eyes and squinting without her glasses. More time had passed than Rose realized; the room was beginning to brighten with the rising sun.

“Are you okay?” Jade asks. Rose wipes the tears from her face.

“I'm great, truly. I Saw Dave.”

Chapter Text

Karkat's scream cuts off suddenly; no warning, no rise in volume, just a sudden silence as if it were never there. Sollux looks up with wide eyes, scanning the fight for his short frame, his blood-pusher pounding as he looks on the floor for vivid red blood-

And there he is. Standing tall, somewhat confused, and two dead drones at his feet. Confusion is overshadowed by shocked happiness as he watches Karkat, alive and well, begin fighting side by side with Dave Strider.

For all the horrors Sollux has to experience, he's so glad his best friend's death isn't one of them. As the battle comes to and end and the screams stop one by one, the only feeling that remains is relief.

Dave's hands and clothes are covered in blood, ranging from his own crimson to the black ichor of the drones to the many colors of the trolls. Dead drones litter every floor of the ship. Fallen crewmates outnumber the dead drones two to one.

The past several hours have been frantic. Once the last of the drones was taken care of, those who were able got to work. Terezi and Karkat converse in hushed tones in the control room before they take the meeting to Karkat's office. Equius and Sollux work to repair broken machinery. Dave aids Nepeta in bringing the injured to the medbay. Kanaya's face is drawn and pale as she covers corpses with white sheets and moves them aside to make room on the cots.

Dave doesn't look at the rapidly decreasing pile of white sheets. He doesn't look at the faces of the fallen, those he had worked with and grown close to in the past month or so. He doesn't hear the mourning wails of those who have lost their loved ones.

He tries to tell himself he doesn't notice any of it, but every detail jumps out at him and sticks in his mind.

After another hour, Dave finally loses it. He clamps his jaw shut as hot tears threaten to fall. He rubs his eyes furiously, his breath short and muscles aching and he just wants to be somewhere else, he wants his friends and he wants none of this to have ever happened-

Suddenly Terezi is by his side. Her expression is somber and that just makes Dave feel worse. With more gentleness than Dave could have ever expected from Terezi, she guides him to Karkat's office.

Karkat is hunched at his desk with his head in his hands. It's clear he hasn't changed yet, nor gotten his injuries tended. The blood from the gash on his cheek is just as vivid as it was when it was fresh, bright against dark gray skin. He barely looks up when Dave and Terezi arrive.

“We've lost at least thirty five crew at the last count. Thirty five dead because they- because- because of me!” he says without preamble, fists clenched and pressing into his eyes as if that would stop the flow of pale red tears that leak from the corners.

“It's not because of you! It's because of the Condesce and you know it,” Terezi says fiercely. Karkat hardly looks assured. “Listen, I didn't bring him here so you could have a group panic attack. Dave, you saved Karkat's life.”

Karkat looks up as realization dawns on his face. “The two drones...”

“They killed you,” Dave says. “I mean, they didn't now because I went back in time to before they killed you and took care of them. I didn't actually know I could go backwards like that but I watched you die and I couldn't let that happen.” He shrugs, suddenly self-conscious.

“Knight of Time,” Terezi says with a nod.

“What does that mean?” Dave says as he turns to her, exasperated. “Why do you always say Time in that important voice around me, goddamn.”

Terezi opens her mouth but Karkat begins speaking before she can begin.

“Some trolls are born with powerful mutations. Or some that aren't so powerful and are actually fucking shitty, but whatever. Some humans too, obviously. Trolls with powers like that are supposed to submit themselves to the Empress as soon as they go through their second pupation so she can shape them into weapons.” He smiles ruefully. “The Condesce is, shockingly, a huge bitch so some decide to ignore that.”

Dave nods slowly. “And y'all are those cool special mutants who decided to run away.”

“We aren't running away, asshole,” Karkat snaps. “I'm getting as many of us together to trying to bring her the fuck down.”

Dave blinks. It makes sense from the little he's gleaned from living on the ship. He has no sympathy for the genocidal ruler of Alternia. The rebels are absolutely justified in their goals. He nods.

“Okay, cool.”

Karkat scowls. “That's it? Okay cool? Really? I tell you that I'm the leader of a rebellion against the most powerful leader in the galaxy with an army of mutants and all you manage is a fucking cool? Dave Strider, the man of many words, is branding this whole operation cool. What the hell?”

With a shrug Dave says, “yeah, it's cool. Hella cool, even. Cool is the highest compliment I can bestow on something, captain, what do you want from me. I'm totally down with this. Wish I had thought to ask sooner but I didn't wanna know.”

Terezi snickers. “It is very cool. What's cooler is that you have a really powerful Aspect and Class combination!” Her grin is back in full force and she's very obviously bursting to explain what she means.

Dave grimaces. “I don't want to hear about it now. I'm strung up on adrenaline and just waiting for the panic attack to blindside me like a quarterback tied to a train goin' at full speed down the track. The track that is for some reason going through a football field because if there's any sport that needs more danger it's football, amiright? Anyway that won't help matters is what I'm sayin'.”

“Fine,” Terezi says with a shrug. “For now I will drop it.”

That doesn't exactly reassure Dave but he takes what he can get.

Rose forces Jade to get twenty four hours of rest before attempting any more teleportation. By hour two she's bouncing off the walls. Rose watches her pace the room, playing with the multicolored bands around her fingers as she goes. She seems agitated and lost in thought.

“Hey Jade,” Rose says. Jade blinks at Rose, shaking herself back into the present.

“Hey!”

Rose sits up on the bed, pushing the book she hadn't actually been reading away. Her own attention span is short, given the circumstances, and she can understand Jade's discontent. “Have you been practicing your other power?”

Jade nods enthusiastically and positions her thumbs and forefingers in a rectangle shape. With her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration, she brings her hands together and Rose watches the bedside lamp get smaller and smaller until it is doll-sized. Jade looks satisfied with herself.

“Do you think that might be helpful?” she asks as she picks up the miniature lamp.

“Perhaps,” Rose says. “Fix the lamp before the cleaning person gets in here though, I would rather not be accused of stealing it and putting the world's least convincing replacement in its spot.”

Jade giggles and grows the lamp to its original size. Or close enough, Rose thinks it may be a bit larger than it was to begin with, but who would notice?

The day continues to pass slowly. John runs out to get meals while Rose meditates for visions and Jade shrinks and grows things around the room. Occasionally John will join the casual practice session by blowing air around the room and making very localized rainclouds just outside the window. He had made it clear he didn't like using his power, but he could be convinced. They have very little idea of what they're getting themselves into and need all the preparation they can fit in.

The sun falls and the sky darkens. Twenty four hours after her episode, almost to the second, Jade jumps up.

“Let's go!” she says, bouncing on her feet. “I'm so excited to see Dave and he's going to be so happy to see us too, come on!” Bec seems to share the excitement, looking around at everyone with his tail wagging a mile a minute.

“We are all just as eager to go as you are, but give us a moment to get our stuff,” Rose says. She pulls a backpack on, filled with clothes and important books. There may or may not also be a knitting project or two as well because she is nothing if not prepared for whatever may happen. The reassuring lump of her crystal ball presses lightly into her back. John nods at her, his own bag secured and face set in a determined expression. Rose links arms with Jade and John, the three of them as close as possible. Bec stands in the middle, pressed against Jade's legs. After getting everyone even closer, Jade squeezes her eyes shut

“Remember to focus on Dave as much as you can,” Rose says. One green eye opens, an eyebrow raises.

“I can't focus if you're interrupting me to tell me to focus,” she points out. Rose presses her lips shut and with a nod, Jade refocuses herself.

Again, that green static envelops them all and the hotel room disappears.

Chapter Text

It takes the entire day to get the ship back into livable condition. Dave spent most of the time mopping up dried blood, scrubbing it from walls, working with the other maintenance crew to erase the signs of the horrific battle. A cloud of disinfectant seems to follow him, sharp and clinical. It's better than the alternative; it masks the scent of fear and death. His muscles ache dully and even his cold and uncomfortable bunk seems like cloud nine to him right now.

The rest of the non-essential crew stayed in their cabins for the day. The ship is somber and quiet. The only sound is the squeak of the cart as Dave pushes it down the hall and into a closet.

He doesn't believe in ghosts. He repeats this to himself as he heads back to his cabin. He doesn't believe in ghosts, but the air feels heavy. Memories of fear and hopelessness and pain press against him, a crushing weight-

And suddenly that crushing weight is literal. He takes a stray elbow to the face as he's knocked to the ground by four figures. The cart rolls away and crashes into the wall almost as loudly as the swear he calls out. A knee presses into his stomach and he very nearly lashes out with a fist before he opens is soon-to-be-bruised eyes to see someone he never worried he would see again.

John Egbert and Rose Lalonde stare at Dave from their vantage points above him. John is sitting on Dave's legs and Rose is on his chest. Jade lays mostly on the ground, face-down. Her giant white dog whines softly, ears raised and alert.

“What the fuck,” Dave says, breaking the silent staring spell. With a cry, Rose throws her arms around Dave.

“I've missed you so much, you impulsive douchebag,” she mutters into his chest. Dave pats her back, shocked and awkward and ecstatic all at once.

“I guess I kinda missed you too, know-it-all broad.”

“Hey Dave,” John says far too casually considering Jade's head in his lap as she begins to spasm. Dave's eyes go wide and he scrambles to his feet.

“Oh fuck, is she okay? She clearly isn't, she's having a seizure, never mind. Shit, I'll get Kanaya. Rose come with me and explain how the fuck you got here,” Dave says, already jogging down the hall. Rose follows close behind.

“Jade has developed teleportation powers. She simply needs to focus on something and she can move herself and others through space to reach that point. However, it triggers her epilepsy,” Rose breathlessly says while struggling to keep up with Dave's much longer strides.

Dave tries to wrap his head around it all. Rose and Jade and John are here. They teleported all the way from Earth. Jade's powers have evolved into something extraordinary.

He turns the corner and enters the medbay. It hasn't become any less busy, but those in the beds look much healthier than they had at first. Alternians are resilient, if they survived this long they were all likely to make a full recovery. Dave is grateful; the ship is heavy enough with loss already.

Kanaya looks back and forth between Dave and Rose as they approach, her eyebrows raised and black lips parted in surprise. Dave can't exactly blame her, their resemblance is obvious even at first glance.

“Hey Kan, I'll explain later but someone's having a seizure,” Dave says. Kanaya's face shifts into something more businesslike and she nods, grabbing the portable first aid kit and gesturing for him to lead the way.

By the time the three get back to Jade, she's stopped convulsing. John still holds her head worriedly. Bec looks even more concerned somehow

“I think this is the longest seizure she's had,” he says tightly. Dave's stomach twists with worry. Rose begins biting her nails as Kanaya kneels down. She checks Jade's pulse, her breathing, and her airways with a practiced hand.

“She's uninjured, though clearly unconscious. I will carry her back to the medbay.” She looks at Dave, biting her lip as she thinks. It's clear that a million questions burn in her mind but she merely says, “I think the rest of you should see the captain.”

Dave nods. John looks nervous as Kanaya effortlessly and carefully lifts Jade up as if she weighs nothing. Bec stands and for a moment Dave is terrified he might attack Kanaya, but he simply follows her down the hall. John looks like he wants to follow he as well, but tags along with Dave as he heads towards Karkat's office.

“So, hi. This is a really cool ship, I've never been on an Alternian ship before,” John says awkwardly as they walk. Dave definitely missed this dork. “We were wondering where you were for weeks, why didn't you didn't message anyone?”

“Wow dad, sorry I didn't get permission to leave. Next time I hop off planet I'll be sure to stick a note on the fridge.” Dave sighs. “I guess I shoulda expected an interrogation, but I thought Rose would be the one delivering it.”

“Oh, I have questions of my own that we will get to, don't fret,” Rose says. Dave ignores her.

“My phone had been dead for ages. Guess who forgot to bring a charger, that's right, this fucker right here. Pesterchum wouldnt've worked anyways since I'm off planet so there's that too. Trust me, I would've loved to message y'all,” he explains. The guilt over leaving without warning he had been ignoring rears its ugly head, but John seems satisfied with that answer and nods.

“It's quiet around here, I would have expected there to be more activity on such a ship” Rose points out. Dave grimaces.

“I'll explain later. I swear y'all are gonna get the full story just as soon as Karkat, the captain I mean, is up to speed and Jade's awake.”

As he says it, he reaches the office. He hesitates for a moment. What if Karkat sends them back, makes them teleport back to Earth? Now that everyone is here, he doesn't want them to leave. But maybe they intended to bring him back to Earth. He can't go back, not even with them.

His internal freakout is stopped by the office door sliding open to reveal one very annoyed looking captain. His scowl only becomes darker when he notices the two strangers behind Dave.

“Who the fuck is this,” he says, voice low and dangerous. “How the shitting fuck did they get on my ship?”

“You must be the infamous Will Smith,” Rose says nonchalantly, and Dave turns to her with a look of utter befuddlement. She gives him a smug smile.

“I've done my research.”

That answers exactly zero of Dave's rapidly growing number of questions but when he looks back at Karkat his mouth twitches up into the most begrudging smile. He steps aside and lets the three into his office.

The human woman has an uncanny resemblance to Dave, from her white blonde hair and excess of freckles down to her insufferably pretentious facade and identical way of sizing up someone unfamiliar. The look on her face, as she sits in the metal chair with her legs crossed and back straight, is a perfect mirror to the way Dave had looked on that first day, sans the sunglasses.

The other human looks incredibly uncomfortable, his deep blue eyes constantly darting around the room. He fidgets nervously in his seat. It's almost enough to make Karkat feel antsy too.

Meanwhile Dave sits between the two, leaning against both in turn as inconspicuously as possible as if to assure himself they were both still there.

Karkat takes a risk, staring into the woman's eyes until she can't look away and those connections begin unwinding around her. They don't have to reach far; two incredibly strong blue and red bonds tie her to Dave and the other man, and one more green bond stretches not too far away. All are almost too bright for Karkat to look at for too long.

He frowns at another bond, almost as dark and bruised as the toxic bond tied to Dave. Where his was wrapped around him with almost no retaliation, it seems she is holding onto that connection closely. The black thread itself is almost completely detached aside from her desperate tendrils of lilac.

Karkat blinks before he can go too deeply, steeling himself against the sudden lightheadedness. He clears his throat and ignores the confused expression on the woman's face as he stares at Dave. Dave seems almost giddy.

“Call me crazy but I get the creeping feeling that these assholes are with you,” he says.

“This is my sister Rose Lalonde, and my best bro John Egbert,” Dave says as he points to them in turn. “Another best friend, and John's sister, is in the medbay with her dog.”

Karkat raises an eyebrow. “How the hell did she manage to get sent to the medbay?”

“Perhaps that ties into another burning inquiry you must have,” Rose interrupts smoothly. “If I may explain, Jade has epilepsy, a human affliction in which-”

“I'm Alternian, not fucking stupid,” Karkat snaps. “Cut to the chase.”

Rose looks annoyed for a moment, her spiel cut off, before she says, “Jade has a certain ability, she can teleport herself and others to any point in space she wishes. That is how we got here. Using said power causes her to have seizures.”

Karkat looks at her, stunned. He turns to Dave with eyes wide.

“What the hell are the chances of you having a friend with powers too?”

Rose tilts her head. “Multiple friends actually,” she says.

Karkat shakes his head incredulously. “Bullshit.”

With a smile, Rose looks at John.

“Hey, don't look at me like you have a plan,” he says, even more nervous.

“John, if you could show the captain here your talent?” she says sweetly.

With a huff, John moves his hand in a way that seems almost flippant. All the papers fly from Karkat's desk in a gust of wind and flutter to the floor. Karkat looks at the mess for a moment before glaring at John.

“First of all fuck you, you nookmunching assault to my eyes. I have to clean that up.”

John gives Rose an accusatory look, to which she shrugs in a way that could almost be apologetic. Karkat goes on.

“Second, I ask Dave again, how the fuck did you manage to befriend other people with mutations? It's rare as fuck in humans.”

“I'm incredibly lucky?” Dave says with a shrug and a half-grin. Karkat shakes his head.

“This isn't luck, this is you stumbling into the knife factory half-drunk and blindfolded while being chased by a pack of rabid howlbeasts and making it out unscratched.” He leans forward. “That is to say, this bullshit didn't happen on fucking accident.”

Dave raises his hand. Karkat looks at him dumbfounded for a moment.

“What the fuck are you- what?”

“Okay so, who put me in the knife factory? Was it the same person who released the hell hounds or were two people really after my ass and their plans happened to go down at the same time because that seems pretty lucky to me. Not lucky for me but lucky for those two who went through all that trouble to kill me. Also which one of them blindfolded me? Was one plan to blindfold me and hope I trip onto a knife? Or did the wolf person blindfold me so I couldn't effectively run away from them? Oh, and did one of them get me drunk or was I already drunk beforehand?”

By the time Dave's ramble comes to an end Karkat's eye is twitching. Rose notes his distress and smiles knowingly.

“You get used to this sort of thing,” she whispers as if Dave isn't right next to her. John nods his agreement and Karkat sighs, rubbing his temples.

“You know what, the worst part is I think I already am.”

Chapter Text

When Jade wakes up, everything is too bright. She squints, vision blurry without her glasses, and tries to make sense of her surroundings. It looks like a normal hospital and a jolt of fear courses through her. If she had failed, ended up somewhere on Earth injured and far from home-

She sits up and gets dizzy immediately. A soothing voice urges her to relax but that hardly makes her feel any less terrified. Her glasses are placed in her hands and she scrambles to put them on. When she does, she looks to whoever handed them over.

A troll with long pointy orange horns and a short flared haircut gives her a concerned smile.

“I'm not on Earth anymore,” Jade says, dazed. The troll shakes her head.

“No, you're rather far from home,” the troll says after a moment of hesitation. Excitement blooms in Jade's chest. Dave is somewhere nearby, she really managed to get herself and the others to him!

“I am Kanaya Maryam,” she continues as she hands Jade a glass of water. “I am the medicul- the healer on this ship. You had a seizure.”

Jade nods, resisting the urge to drink the water all at once. “I'm Jade Harley, nice to meet you Kanaya. And don't worry about the seizure, that always happens after I teleport.”

Kanaya tilts her head. “Teleport?”

“Yeah, it's a... It's just a thing I can do! I can't really explain, but it's very helpful.”

Kanaya looks baffled, her perfectly manicured eyebrows pulled together, but she doesn't pry. Jade gets the very strong feeling that she would love to though.

“I can imagine,” she says finally. She checks Jade's pulse and other vitals quickly as Jade sips the cool water. Her dizziness subsides gradually. Kanaya's hands are soft and gentle, but firm. Jade finds herself almost relaxing until a realization hits her.

“Oh!” Jade cries out suddenly, looking wildly around the room. “Where's Bec? My dog!”

Kanaya presses her lips together. “Your barkbeast is currently sleeping after tearing a meeting room to pieces.”

Jade looks at her sheepishly. “He was worried.”

Kanaya looks past Jade as she hears the medbay doors open. “I feel he isn't the only one with concerns.”

Jade looks, and there he is. Dave stands, flanked by Rose and John and grinning widely as he jogs over to Jade's cot and throws an arm over her shoulder. He's taller than the last time she saw him in person, though not as tall as John or herself. He looks tired, his glasses pushed up into his coily hair and his clothes stained and wrinkled, but the way he grins as if unused to the expression is still completely Dave.

“Dave! Dave-Dave-Dave I missed you!” Jade squeals, bouncing. “I was so worried about you, I knew you would be okay but I was still afraid you weren't doing well or- or I don't know! But I was really worried and I'm glad you're fine!”

Dave waves a hand flippantly. “You know me, I'm indestructible. Hoppin' onto alien spaceships is my thing nowadays and I'm basically an expert, it's nothin' to worry about.” His smile wavers. “Seriously though, I missed y'all too. It's been a rough day.”

He doesn't elaborate and Jade doesn't ask for details, only leaning on him a little more. It feels like her whole family is back together, with Rose and John sitting on the end of her cot while Dave leans on her and chatters about the trolls he's befriended. Even Bec joins once Kanaya leads him in, curling up on Jade's legs like the world's largest lap dog. There's over a month's worth of anxiety dissipating and Jade feels better than she has in a while.

Jade falls asleep almost mid-sentence and Dave can't blame her. Exhaustion and happiness have turned his brain to mush and he's just about ready to fall asleep too. Kanaya approaches quietly and beckons them to follow her from the medbay. Just outside, Karkat stands, sizing Rose and John up.

“You two will need a place to sleep for the night, until we can figure out which bunks are permanently empty,” he says. Dave notes how his voice just barely wavers and a fresh wave of stomach-turning sadness rolls through him with a wave of guilt. He had been so preoccupied with his friends that he had almost forgotten about the battle.

“Rose can bunk with me,” Kanaya offers, looking down with a carefully blank expression. “I know my blockmate won't be sleeping there anymore.”

The words hang heavily in the air as Karkat nods.

“John can sleep in my bunk tonight,” Dave offers, almost on impulse. “Easier than finding someone else's room to stick him in. I can sleep on one of the chairs in the recreation block for the night.”

Karkat rolls his eyes. “No the fuck you can't, this isn't a fucking slumber party and you can't just lay your reeking body anywhere you want.”

John yawns and Dave swears he sees Karkat's hair get stirred in a sudden breeze. This only makes Karkat's annoyed expression more pronounced.

“You know what? Fine. Rose in Kanaya's block. Windy asshole in Sollux's block. Dave, you can share my block for the night. Is this acceptable for you wigglers?”

Nervousness takes a hold of Dave's throat but he forces it away with a shrug. “'s not like I'm gonna miss sleeping in bee fucker's room for one night.”

“Outstanding. Now go, tomorrow is going to be hectic and I need everyone as rested as possible.” Karkat gives Rose and John stern looks. “And I mean every goddamn set of hands on deck will be doing their part tomorrow. You're on my ship now, my fucking rules. Abide by them or eject yourself from the nearest garbage chute, got it?”

Neither of them look happy, but they nod anyway. Dave can't help but feel a spark of excitement; if Karkat was accepting them into the crew, they have to be staying a while. Rose throws her arms around Dave for a unprecedented second hug in a twenty-four hour period, and is led away by Kanaya. It's clear by the fact her perfect posture is wilting that she's absolutely exhausted.

“I'll show John the way,” Dave says. Karkat nods and the three part ways, John with Dave and Karkat on his own way back to his block.

Dave doesn’t think about the fact that he's going to be joining Karkat later.

Oh fuck oh holy fucking fuck, Karkat thinks to himself, pacing his room. Dave is going to sleep in his room. He shouldn't be so nervous, he shouldn't feel anything aside from annoyed as hell and yet... He thinks back to when Dave had fallen asleep in his chair, his face soft and hair a mess and lips parted-

Oh fuck.

He's not attracted to Dave Strider. He's not. Just because Karkat can acknowledge that he's cute in that soft human sort of way doesn't mean he has feelings for him. Maybe there's a little bit of pity, maybe, if he squints and remembers the incident in the meeting room. And if he thought about it for a second perhaps his constant annoyance could be misconstrued as some pitch leaning-

Oh fuck.

Just thinking of Dave in his fucked up pan-quadrant way makes Karkat's face feel warm. This sucks, this is not the sort of thing a captain should be feeling. This isn't the sort of way a troll should be feeling in general. He thought he was over his blurred quadrant boundaries issue; Kanaya is very firmly in the pale quadrant, a best friend and confidant, nothing more.

But his feelings for Dave are a clusterfuck of conflicting emotions that are suddenly rising up from where Karkat had been shoving them deep inside unquestioned. He hates that they're coming up now, at the most inconvenient time, when he's so emotionally volatile and tired from the past day's fight. Everything is overwhelming.

Then someone knocks on his door, interrupting Karkat's mini-breakdown. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who it is on the other side. He takes a deep breath and rubs his face. The temptation to make Dave go away is definitely there and it definitely feels like a valid option, but Karkat opens the door anyway.

Dave is obviously tired to the bone, perhaps more than Karkat. His sunglasses are off, putting the dark bruises underneath his eyes on full display. A pillow is clasped to his chest and he's slouching over it as if he might just curl up around it on the floor and fall asleep right there. Karkat nods his welcome and steps aside, letting Dave in. He sort of shuffles in and throws himself on the chair.

“Thanks for lettin' me sleep here,” he says, face pressed into the back of the chair and voice muffled.

Karkat shrugs. “Like you said, it's easier than going door to fucking door until you find and empty bed or someone willing to put up with such an obnoxious asshole.”

Dave mumbles some kind of agreement and curls his legs up, already half-asleep. It's obvious he's much too large to sleep there for long but he looks prepared to give it a try. Karkat is so willing to let him stay there, his tall and lanky form balled up in that chair...

But he can't. He has some basic courtesy.

“What are you doing?” Karkat says. “Are you so fucking tired you forgot what a bed is? Or is this your usual level of dumbassery. Do I need to guide you there? If I had known you were this pan-dead I would have drawn you a fucking map.”

Dave opens one eye. “Tha's your bed, dude. Can't impose or whatevs.” Sleepiness slurs his words in a way Karkat refuses to call adorable.

“That cannot be fucking comfortable,” Karkat says, crossing his arms.

“I slept in a stairwell for a week. And a couple'a alleyways. And I slept in a refrigerator once. Trust me cap'n, I can sleep anywhere. I jus' can't sleep when I'm bein' yelled at so if you don't mind...”

Karkat stares him down. Dave stares back, just as stubborn. When it looks like Dave may actually fall asleep with his eyes open just to make Karkat stare all night, Karkat concedes with a huff. He throws his hands in the air and turns away. Any other night he would be glad to test the limits of his own stubbornness but sleep beckons him.

“Fine, whatever. Just let it be known that I tried to be a gracious fucking host and offered you my bed and you so rudely snubbed my generosity,” Karkat says.

“I'll tell everyone how much of an asshole I am after I sleep.”

“And I'll hold you to that, mark my goddamn words,” Karkat says, crawling into bed. Dave laughs softly.

After that, he's silent. Karkat assumes he falls asleep and wishes he could do the same. He lays in bed, staring at the metal ceiling while his brain runs through an endless cycle of thought, rushing and twisting and keeping his aching eyes open.

These racing thoughts often stray back to Dave.

According to Terezi, Karkat was supposed to die at the hands of those drones. Dave saved him. He was always nearby, Terezi made sure of that. She says he's invaluable, even with his own self-imposed limitations on his power. From a tactical standpoint, having a Knight of Time on his side is a huge advantage. He understands Terezi's insistence that he stays.

Not to mention that somewhere along the way, Karkat has stopped minding his presence. Invited it, even.

He's sorry to see him go in a few months.

Those confusing feelings swell again in Karkat's chest and he turns over in his bed, pressing his face into the pillow. He forces his mind to other, more somber things. He's the fucking captain, not a lovesick dumbass.

The Condesce is on his tail, that much is clear. There's a chance the attack was random, a chance encounter by a lucky battalion. But he isn't going to take the risk. He and Terezi need to talk about another course, another planet to refuel at just in case. Maybe promote a few of the more powerful crew to higher positions...

The thoughts of work end up putting Karkat to sleep.

Chapter Text

“What the fuck is this,” Bro demands, sliding a stack of papers across the table.

Dave is fifteen years old, lanky and thin and still growing into his too-long arms and legs. His blonde hair is a mess and his shirt hasn't been washed in a month; at first glance he looks like any fifteen year old boy. It's impossible to see the bruises and scars hidden by his clothes.

He takes a slow bite of the shitty toaster waffle he's eating and keeps his head down. Maybe Bro will drop it, maybe the Pesterchum conversation in front of him isn't that conversation, maybe-

“I asked you a direct question, fag,” Bro barks, and Dave finally looks up.

His own conversation with John, bumbling and awkward and mortifying, is printed out in front of him in red and blue ink. He doesn't want to look, he wants to forget the whole incident as quickly as John seems to have accepted it and put it out of his mind, but he just can't fucking escape. He has it memorized but he still makes a show of reaching for the papers, reading every word over as if they aren't burned into his brain.

TG: so hey like
TG: this is out of nowhere but while im thinking about it i wanna tell you something
EB: what's up?
TG: ive been doing some research
TG: and i assure you ive accidentally visited some weird fuckin websites in my quest for knowledge
TG: ive seen things john
TG: things no human being should see
EB: haha what the hell are you talking about?
TG: ive always considered myself unshakable when faced with sudden dicks but some of these websites shocked me to my core
TG: have you seen the junk of a man whos into fucking car exhaust pipes john
EB: ewwww gross, where are you going with this?
TG: alright look ill cut the crap
TG: i looked around and realized something and you gotta promise me you wont tell anyone
TG: especially rose because theres nothing i want less than a five page “i told you so” essay
EB: ???
TG: i think
TG: im bi dude

Dave looks up and swallows thickly. “I dunno,” he says, and he hates the way his voice breaks.

Bro stares him down through triangular shades that are dark and nearly perfectly opaque. The silence is choking him, the animosity palpable and Dave is trying to breathe but he can't, that stare is all he can feel-

There's a hand on his shoulder and Dave jerks awake, falling out of the chair he was asleep in with a bone jarring thud. Karkat looks down at him with both annoyance and concern.

“You were gasping and shit,” Karkat says, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. “Fuck, I thought the oxygen was running low or something.”

Dave shakes his head. His heart is still pounding, muscles tense and lungs working overtime to compensate for his perceived lack of air. Bro's hateful expression is locked in his head. In the back of his mind he finds himself somewhat embarrassed, this is the second time he's had a freakout in front of Karkat. This has to be the most inconvenient nightmare in history.

Before Dave can get himself together, Karkat sits next to Dave on the cold metal floor. He finds himself on the receiving end of an incredibly awkward hug; Dave isn't used to such a gesture, and yet he still melts into the embrace. Part of him wonders how inappropriate this is for a captain, but that small part is drowned out by the fact he doesn't care because it just feels right. Dave feels his pulse steady and his muscles relax as Karkat strokes his hair. If he was a cat, he would be purring, he's sure.

He takes a deep breath. “Karkat, I'm the reason I had to run,” he says suddenly. The words spill out before he can bite them back, tiredness and anxiety making his verbal filter even less useful than usual. He is immediately flooded with regret. Karkat pauses.

“What does that mean?” he asks carefully, and Dave doesn't want to answer. He can't tell anyone how Bro died, he can't let Karkat know. He can't, but he almost wants to.

“Never mind,” he says quietly, shaking his head. Karkat stops stroking his hair and pulls away to look at him. Dave misses the warmth immediately.

“I'm not going to make you talk about whatever it is,” he says with an eyebrow raised, “But whatever you ran from is clearly fucking you up and maybe talking about it and not being such an opaque ass will help.”

“Opaque ass is my default setting,” Dave says, clearly eager to change the subject. Karkat takes the bait and rolls his eyes.

“Trust me Dave, I am well aware. There's a big emphasis on the ass part but you being opaque is no fucking secret.”

“I'm glad the emphasis is on my ass,” Dave says with an eyebrow wiggle, and Karkat looks like he wants to be mad; that glare is enough to cut through steel, but then he snorts. Snorts that devolve into full snickers. Dave grins and Karkat tries in vain to stop laughing but he can't. His face is a perfect mask of annoyance but he can't seem to control himself. Dave starts laughing too until there are tears streaming down his face. They're both exhausted and emotional, both are powerless to stop.

“Fucker,” Karkat gasps between laughs. “Don't laugh at your own shitty joke, you asshole!”

“I can't help it, I'm hilarious,” Dave says. That makes Karkat laugh harder as he pushes Dave playfully. He's grinning widely now, his fangs on full display and nose crinkled up.

Dave wants to make Karkat smile more often because holy shit he's cute.

After a minute, Dave wipes his face and takes a deep breath. Eventually the two lapse into silence again, with Karkat sitting cross-legged beside Dave.

He would never admit it, but Dave misses the proximity of the hug. He likes being around Karkat, that much is clear. His defenses fall around him, which is dangerous and thrilling in equal measure.

“Thanks again for letting me sleep here,” Dave says. “Sorry I sorta fucked up your sleep schedule or whatever though. Nightmares are a bitch.”

Karkat rolls his eyes. “There's no schedule, don't worry about that.” He gives Dave a sideways glance. “And it's not your fault, I used to have nightmares every fucking night for half a sweep or so when I started this goddamn expedition,” he says, gesturing around him. “We don't have sopor on this ship, so nightmares are pretty damn common.”

Dave nods. He opens his mouth to speak but yawns instead. Karkat stands and stretches with a groan.

“We really should get back to sleep, tomorrow is going to be exhausting,” Karkat says, his voice cooler and more captain-like again. Dave refuses to be disappointed. He nods and stands, getting back in the chair.

“The bed is clearly wide enough for two,” Karkat points out. “For fucks sake, stop being a stubborn asshole and sleeping in a chair to prove a point or something.”

Dave can't really find a reason to refuse.

That, or he doesn't want to think of one.

“Karkat, we really shou- oh. Am I interrupting something?”

Karkat bolts upright, Kanaya's voice pulling him from his slumber. She stands in the doorway, arms crossed and face carefully composed as she looks over at Dave. He's still snoring, curled up around the pillows. Drool drips down his cheek and his hair is a disaster but somehow Karkat still finds himself endeared. Heat rises up his face as Kanaya's composed expression falls away to reveal something like smugness.

“I owe Terezi twenty dollars,” she says without regret.

“This is not what it looks like, don't you breathe a single word to Pyrope or I swear on my life that I will ban trashy rainbow drinker smut from this fucking ship,” Karkat says.

“So this isn't what it looks like but you also don't want Terezi to know? Why not?” She's playing innocent, eyes wide and voice high.

Karkat covers his face with his hands, groaning. “Because, Maryam-”

“Oh, are we on last name basis again, captain?”

“Kanaya, I don't want her to think I've developed a soft spot for Dave, okay? I didn't want him here in the first place and now- I don't know, okay? God, fuck off.” He's embarrassed- no, he's definitely flustered, and Kanaya's self-satisfied look isn't helping matters.

“Let me tell you something, Karkat,” Kanaya says softly, walking in and sitting next to Karkat on the bed. “Despite your insistence that you are as hard and impassive as steel, we all know you have a soft blood-pusher.”

Karkat starts to argue but is silenced with a hand covering his mouth.

“Be quiet for a minute. This is why you're the ideal captain,” she says. “You- stop licking my hand, you overgrown wiggler- you care about everyone's well-being. Having emotions isn't a personal failure on your part, Karkat.” She looks at Dave and back to Karkat knowingly and uncovers his mouth. She looks at her hand in distaste before wiping it on the bedsheets.

“I should have bit you,” he mutters.

“Because I'm correct?”

“No, because... shut your damn mouth, that's why.”

Kanaya gives that knowing smile again before standing and patting Karkat's head. A swell of affection starts in Karkat's chest and he trills softly. She responds in kind. She really is one hell of a moirail. If anyone else had woken him up, he's sure the day would have started with a one-sided shouting match that wouldn't end until he passed out from exhaustion.

“Terezi has discovered our new passengers, by the way. She's eager to get to know them,” Kanaya says after a moment. Right, it's time to get to work.

Karkat huffs. “You mean interrogate them.” He stands and picks up a pillow and throws it at Dave's still-sleeping form.

When he turns with clear eyes and a raised eyebrow Karkat realizes he may not have sleeping at all. Perhaps because Karkat has no volume control.

“Mornin' cap'n, Kanaya,” he says with a half-assed salute. Karkat glares, his face heating up as he scrambles to think of how their conversation could be used against him.

“I should give you extra duties for eavesdropping. Get the hell out of my block or I'm making you clean the outside of the ship without a suit. Go get yourself ready, you inflamed nook-pimple.”

Dave picks up his pillow, salutes again in an infuriatingly sarcastic way, and leaves. Karkat is tempted to throw another pillow at him as he leaves. Or maybe something heavier.

It's quiet for a minute and Karkat wonders if he can get away with a few more minutes of sleep. He may be captain but he's not perfect. Unfortunately, it seems Kanaya has other plans. She digs through Karkat's incredibly disorganized closet and eventually comes up with a black shirt and pants, trimmed in bright red with his aspect symbol emblazoned on the shoulder and breast. The Blood symbol is vivid against the black. She tosses the outfit at him with a look that invites no argument.

Crawling out of bed, he picks up the top. “Why am I wearing this shit today? There's no special occasion,” he asks distastefully.

The shirt is made of the finest cloth; light and soft in his hands, but impenetrable to all but the most high-powered projectiles. The simple silhouette is professional and utilitarian, but powerful. It's the ideal outfit for a captain. Kanaya had spent ages perfecting it but Karkat still feels that old paranoia spike when he wears his blood color so blatantly.

“The crew needs their captain today,” she says softly. “It's been... difficult recently. You need to unify and support them in the way only you can, Captain.”

With that she leaves, and Karkat is alone.

Chapter Text

It was only a matter of time before Terezi cornered Dave, Rose, John, and Jade; Dave had hoped she would wait until after breakfast to bombard them all with questions but that's not how Terezi Pyrope rolls. The sound of her cane tapping on the linoleum floor is loud in the quiet mess hall as she approaches Dave's table. She pushes Dave to slides onto the bench next to him, nearly spilling his coffee into his lap as she props her elbows up on the table. Everyone else looks somewhat stunned, but Dave just wraps his hands around the warm mug and sighs.

The lesson he's been avoiding since Terezi caught his scent as soon as he stepped foot on board is drawing close.

“Hi!” Jade says finally, once the silent staring goes beyond awkward and becomes unnerving.

“Hey newbies, I'm Terezi Pyrope, second-in-command here. I do all the real work!” she says with a wicked grin.

Dave sets his mug down with slightly more force than necessary before she can say anything else.

“Wow, it's just so nice that we've all exchanged pleasantries, ain't it? And I'm always thrilled to see you Rezi, but I think you'd better get going, Vriska might be doing something shitty like stabbing Kanaya or setting spiders loose in Nepeta's room so you'd better check on her. Bye, have a nice day.”

Dave is ignored by all but Rose, who looks at him with an eyebrow raised.

“A little crab tells me that the three of you are just as intriguing as Dave,” Terezi says, her voice low as if sharing a secret. Dave is tempted to slink from his seat but settles for resting his head on the cool metal table.

“Oh, we are far more intriguing than Dave,” Rose whispers back. Terezi snickers.

“You know what, I never thought I'd say this but Rose is right, they're all hella interesting and I'm, as they say, as boring as a sack of dirt so why don't you leave me out of whatever it is you're planning,” Dave says, his words only slightly muffled by the fact his face is pressed to the table.

“As boring as a sack of dirt isn't a saying,” Rose points out.

“I just said it, didn't I?”

Terezi groans. “It doesn't matter because Dave, you have to be involved! You more than anyone need to know your powers.”

“And I've made it real fuckin' clear that I don't want to use my powers, okay? As soon as I possibly can I'm gonna forget all about them. No point in learnin' about them so again, leave me the hell out of it.”

They all stare at Dave as he finishes his rant and drinks the rest of his coffee in one gulp. Despite the sugar, it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. He stands and waves before heading out to do his work.

Karkat wasn't kidding about it being a busy day. Dave and the rest of the maintenance crew is tasked with collecting the personal articles of those killed in the battle. While not exactly physically taxing, Dave feels somber as he gets his list of rooms.

Just as he's about to leave, Vriska intercepts him. Dave's jaw is tight as he does his best to appear less on-edge than he appears. Her back is straight, pulled up to her full height over a head taller than Dave, horns not included, and Dave wonders if he can outrun a troll if she attacks. She looks him up and down as if judging him and her expression makes it clear she doesn't like what she sees.

“Captain Vantas wants to see you,” is all she says before leaving. Dave lets out a breath.

Karkat doesn't look up when the door to his office slides open. The list of deceased is burned into his mind as it's written in front of him. Thirty-eight names. Thirty eight dead in the name of rebellion. A rebellion he started.

Death is almost a given aboard the Signless, a warning given to every troll who enlists. It hangs like a figurative specter over their heads, ever present, but reality is much harder to deal with.

The visitor clears his throat, and Karkat looks up to see Dave. He's standing tall, wearing the plain gray maintenance uniform with his ubiquitous sunglasses, and Karkat's blood-pusher has no excuse for the flip it does.

“Do you want to stay here?” Karkat asks, the reason he actually brought Dave to his office nearly forgotten as the words spill out without a second thought.

Dave is still. A silent minute passes and Karkat stands, his nails digging into the papers on his desk as he leans forward.

“I didn't tell you what you were getting into when you stowed away that day. I didn't tell you the bullshit you were going to contend with, I didn't even have the decency to tell you the name of the fucking ship!”

He laughs, a single bitter ha as he runs his hands through his hair. Hearing himself say it out loud, just how shitty he was, is like a slap to the face. A well-deserved slap.

“I was pissed, obviously, but that was no excuse for keeping you in the dark, and then continuing to not tell you shit for weeks. Sorry.”

Dave listens silently. It's impossible to tell without seeing his eyes but Karkat thinks he's stunned. Karkat can't blame him, he's just as shocked by what he's saying himself.

“So, now that you know what this ship is like, full of hemocriminals and clearly hazardous to your fucking health, do you want to stay? I can drop you off on whatever planet we refuel on in two weeks, take your friends back to Earth if they want, and you can forget about the Signless and our doomed rebellion.”

The silence is heavy. Karkat is on the verge of screaming, if only to break the tension. Finally, Dave opens his mouth to speak.

“No.”

Karkat blinks. “What?”

“Oh uh, no sir.”

“That's not what I meant, Strider, you don't have to call me sir for fuck's sake. I mean... you don't want to leave?”

Dave lets out a breath, dropping his professional posture and crossing his arms. His fingers tap rhythmically on his biceps.

He speaks carefully. “I won't lie, it's tempting. Forgetting shit is basically my life goal at this point. The thing is... I don't wanna forget about this. I don't want to leave and never know what happened to your rebellion. I mean, sure I could die here but ain't the same thing true on Earth? Isn't that true for anywhere? So yeah, I'll stay. At least for the six months we agreed to, maybe I'll change my mind at some point, dunno.” He shrugs, awkward.

Karkat can only stare, dumbfounded. That is no deterrent for Dave, who goes on, his words speeding up.

“And like, I kinda figured early on y'all were doin' something on the down-low. That first week or so, when there was an Empress ship a ways off and the whole ship freaked the fuck out? Believe it or not, that kinda tipped me off. More red flags and sirens in my mind than this ship on lockdown. But I got to thinking about it and realized if y'all are against the bitchy Empress you must be doing somethin' right. So I went with it. And I'm fine with continuing to go with it.”

He finishes with another shrug. Karkat sits down. He's shocked, his mind trying to make sense of Dave's motivations.

“You could die,” he repeats seriously. “At any moment this ship could be targeted by the Condesce bitch herself and we could be blown to goddamn space junk in a minute flat.”

“Yeah, I get that. I hear you loud and clear, considering your lack of volume control.”

The tension seems to dissipate and secretly Karkat is thankful. With a glare, he pulls out a piece of paper, the long-forgotten point of calling Dave to his office.

“You're being promoted. Security detail, working under Equius. Effective immediately.”

Dave looks caught off-guard, whether by the sudden subject change or by the promotion Karkat can't tell.

They both jump when the door slides open. Terezi strolls in with a very self-satisfied grin.

“A Seer of Light, Witch of space, and Heir of Breath! I mean, John's powers are pretty weak in comparison but Rose is a Seer of Light! Can you smell the possibilities, Karkat?”

She then notices Dave and her grin grows.

“Not to mention our Knight of Time here! With these powers on our side, bringing down a Thief of Life-”

“Dave, go talk to Zahhak. You're dismissed,” Karkat interrupts. Dave nods, clearly eager to get away from Terezi and her talk of powers before she starts lecturing him on his, and leaves the room. Terezi is nearly vibrating with excited energy, and is quiet just until the door closes.

“Seer of Light!” she screeches, and Karkat covers his ears. It's been a long time since he's seen her this excited, he forgot how loud she can be.

“I can't believe I'm the one telling you this, but use your fucking inside voice, I'm right here,” he says. Terezi only continues to speak.

“I want Rose on the team with me and Vriska immediately. Jade should probably be put with Kanaya to get the training she needs, and just to keep her close to someone with medical training,” Terezi says, tapping her fingers on Karkat's desk. “I hope you're writing this down, you remember what happened last time I tried to take notes!

She laughs as Karkat grimaces. As illegible as his own handwriting can be, Terezi's is worse. He starts scribbling with a sigh. Sometimes it seems that he's Terezi's secretary, not the captain.

“Perk up, Captain Red Licorice, I feel like this may be the lucky break we need! With just a bit of polishing we can have an extremely powerful team on our side,” she says.

Karkat can't help but start to agree as he looks over the powers listed in front of him. Space is powerful, having two with Space powers on board is bound to be extremely helpful. Not to mention two Seers.

He looks up and nods.

“So what do you propose we do?”

Chapter Text

Here he is, exactly where he promised himself he would never end up. Terezi is sitting at the head of the large rectangular table with her hands clasped on the desk and the biggest shit-eating smile on her face as she stares past everyone gathered in front of her.

It took two weeks of constant nagging and annoying, but she eventually convinced John, Jade, and Rose to join her crash-course in powers. Once they were all convinced, it only took a bit of wearing on Dave before he begrudgingly agreed to sit through a lesson.

One lesson. He was very clear about that.

Dave slouches in his seat, the meeting room quiet aside from the soft sounds of breathing and fidgeting. It occurs to him that this is the same meeting room where he had his panic attack after his fight with Vriska. It strikes him as a bad omen and he groans.

“Can we get this going? You've been staring with that smile on your face for like five minutes, it's disconcerting as fuck,” Dave says. Terezi raises an eyebrow. Dave immediately regrets speaking up.

“Wow Dave, I didn't think you would be so eager to get started!” She pauses for a second. “But yes, let's get going. Order in the court!”

Considering everyone had been quiet in the first place, the following dramatic pause is unnecessary. It's clear Terezi is enjoying this.

Finally she looks to Rose, pointing a finger in her general direction. “You!”

“Me,” Rose says, her fingertips pressed together as she watches Terezi.

“You're a Seer, someone who can-”

“See the future, I presume?” she interrupts. “Yes, I've been able to catch glimpses into the unknown my whole life, with only a bit of meditation. I am almost always correct.”

Terezi pouts, wilting into her seat. “Light aspects are such know-it-alls,” she grumbles. Rose begins to speak again, but Terezi tosses a pencil at her.

“I have the floor, Lalonde,” she says sternly, and Rose nods. Terezi clears her throat and Dave tunes her out. It doesn't take long for him to get antsy as Terezi goes on about Rose's powers.

Bro's lessons were nothing like this.

To Dave, lessons mean surprise attacks with throwing stars, a cold sword pressed to the back of his neck, a swift kick that nearly sends him off the side of the rooftop-

The snap of a pencil breaking and Rose's voice bring Dave back to the present. Rose looks concerned as she asks, “are you okay?”

Splinters sting Dave's hand and he absently realizes he's the one who broke the pencil. His knuckles are white and he loosens his grip. The sound of the shattered pencil falling on the metal table is loud in the silent room.

Pushing the chair away with a jarring screech, he stands. A million excuses for leaving flood his mind but his jaw is too tight for force them out.

“I can't,” is all he manages to say.

Nobody stops him when he leaves the room. Nobody stops him in the halls, his face set and stony to deter any questions. Rational thoughts berate him as he goes; he knows that Terezi had no intention of testing his abilities in that room, at least not like Bro would have, but the panic persists.

Standing in front of the captain’s office, he realizes he wasn't as aimless as he thought. He knocks, wondering if it would be better if Karkat didn't answer.

Despite his reservations, relief floods through him when the door slides open. Karkat glares from behind his desk.

“I thought you were in Terezi's mandatory teach the dumbass humans about their mutation powers class,” he says. “Emphasis on mandatory.”

“I couldn't sit through it,” he says shortly. Now that he's in Karkat's office, he has no idea what to do. Karkat watches him, confused and annoyed. He still feel tightly wound, volatile and anxious for no reason, and the silence chokes him.

“I killed him,” Dave blurts out, the words like razors in his mouth. He didn't want to say that, he didn't know what he wanted to say but it certainly wasn't that. He keeps talking, ignoring Karkat's dumbstruck expression.

“I killed my bro- my father, he was never a father and he didn't see me as his son but that's- that's what he was! I didn't have parents because I had a fucking psychopath of a brother taking care of me. He hated everything about me because I existed in his closed little world. Every fucking day he would beat me within an inch of my life, set traps I could only escape with my oh-so fantastic and mighty powers, berate me and berate me until I fuckin'- I just- I fucking killed him. I murdered him in cold blood, Karkat.”

He's breathing heavily and he may be crying, not that he would ever admit to it. Nothing he said had ever been told to another person, his mouth got ahead of him and now his secrets are lying at Karkat's feet. Karkat stands slowly and Dave grimaces; this is it, Karkat is going to kick him off the ship because he's a murderer, a terrible human being-

Karkat gently takes Dave's hand and leads him to a chair. Dave is shaking and he feels like shit, he feels weak and terrible and he knows if Bro could see him now his ass would get kicked into next month. Bro is dead but he still lingers in Dave's mind, his katana just as sharp as his words and twice as quick-

“Look at me Dave,” Karkat says. Dave only shakes his head and Karkat huffs. “I'm trying to help you, you stubborn sack of shit, look at me. Please.”

“You can't help me, dude,” Dave says, shaking his head again. “I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't've bothered you, fuck.”

With a sigh, Karkat sits next to Dave. “Do you know why I started this whole revolution thing?” he asks. Confused by the sudden change of topic, Dave shakes his head. Karkat presses his lips together and begins speaking.

“Get settled in, this story is long and requires some shitty backstory. So you know trolls have different blood colors, right? The cooler the color, the higher you are in the shitty caste system. On top of that, some power classes are higher than others, Life, Time, and Space being the highest, while Blood, Doom, and Breath are basically cannon-fodder. Just another way for the Condesce to sort us, separate us and keep us alone and weak.” He smiles bitterly, the tips of his sharp teeth visible past black lips.

“I'm a fucking Blood aspect. The lowest of the low, barely fit to be drafted into the Condesce's guard of expendable bullet-shields. On top of that pile of shit, my blood is also mutated. Bright red isn't on the spectrum. When my eyes started filling in at six and a half sweeps, my only option was to turn myself in to be culled.”

Fear jolts through Dave. The universe chose Karkat as its punching bag; he shouldn't be sitting here with him right now. The idea of never meeting Karkat scares Dave more than he thought it would. After a pause, Karkat goes on.

“I had a friend, royal-blooded. Annoying as hell sometimes, but still a friend. Not only was she royal, she was a Life aspect. If it weren't for the Condesce, she would have been Empress. I... told her. I told her about my blood and aspect, the night before I was slated to be culled. Feferi was always against culling. I didn't expect her to do more than make sure my death was as painless as fucking possible. Instead, the stupid fuck sent me a ship. This ship. An unnamed fortified passenger ship that was going to be scrapped, just as unwanted as I felt. It was pretty fitting.”

He sounds almost wistful, looking around him at the ship.

“I didn't look back. For half a sweep, my dumb ass stayed near enough to Alternia to be able to message my friends, that's it. As far as anyone else knew, Karkat Vantas the useless mutant was dead. I told them all about my culling and to my complete and utter surprise, most of them didn't act like assholes when they found out about my blood. Then Terezi... She did some digging.”

Dave was listening with rapt attention. Karkat didn't seem to tell this story often; he paused, grasping for words.

“Some trolls are obsessed with their ancestry. I never was, because I'm a fuck-up on the genetic level and assumed I had no ancestor anyway. But Terezi found something in the journals of Vriska's ancestor. My sign was in that book, in a vague and unhelpful reference to a rebellion. By then, Terezi had begun her legislacerator training and had some access to forbidden texts. As it turns out, there was a rebellion eons ago involving someone called the Signless. A troll with mutant red blood, who fought against the Condesce for equality.” Anger seeps into his words here, red eyes narrowed.

“He was killed and the rebellion was crushed. The only one who survived was his mate, the Disciple, who wrote his story. With a little digging- and I mean that literally, she dug for them because for some pan-rotted reason they were buried in a cave- Nepeta found her journals. The Signless and his rebels fought against the Condesce and the hemospectrum thousands of sweeps before any of us were born. He wanted equality, he wanted the bitch who us living short, pathetic lives out of the picture. The Signless wanted to free everyone.”

There is fire in Karkat's words, his eyes wide and earnest and Dave finds himself nodding along. He doesn't realize it, but his anxiety has totally passed, as wrapped up in Karkat's story as he is.

“So I named the ship after my ancestor and decided to pick up where he left off. It gave me purpose, made me feel less like a useless shitstain on the universe. With help, I smuggled my friends out of Alternia, as many of them as possible anyway. One friend died half a sweep or so before. Two of them refused. And Feferi... I was too late. The Condesce killed her to ensure her place as Empress just before we could get to her.”

He goes quiet. Dave feels a pang of second-hand sadness for Feferi, feels Karkat's bitterness at the two friends who refused to fight against the Condesce.

What he doesn't feel is anxious, and for that he can thank Karkat.

Karkat clears his throat. “I want to help as many people as possible, for Feferi. For The Signless. So I can feel like I'm worth something. Most of the crew are lowbloods, Equius is the highest on the spectrum around here, but I don't want that to matter anymore.” He turns to Dave.

“The point is, I want to help you too,” he says with almost-awkward sincerity. He doesn't meet Dave's eyes. “Your life on Earth was as fucked up as they come, and you're still dealing with the bullshit ramifications of sweeps of utter terror.”

Dave shrugs. Karkat is right, he is dealing with it, but he's been dealing with it for so long he has no idea how he can ever escape it.

“Just know that I'm here for you, okay? I'm glad you came here and verbally vomited on my floor. It's better than putting on a brave face and letting that bullshit fester inside of you,” Karkat says, his face going very red. “I know humans don't do quadrants and I already have a moirail so consider this a gesture of... best human friendship? What the hell ever,” he mutters. Even the tips of his pointed ears are bright.

Dave smiles. “Yeah, best human friends. Call us fuckin' Spongebob and Patrick. Shawn and Gus. Groot and Rocket. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in like every fuckin' movie they've ever been in.”

Karkat scoffs at him, but returns the smile.

Chapter Text

Uncertainty doesn't sit well with Rose. Dave seems content to stay on the ship for the foreseeable future, and admittedly Rose doesn't have very much to go back to on Earth; she can't imagine her mother has even noticed her absence. The thought fills her with a pain she refuses to analyze.

But John and Jade have a family they need to return to, a family who hasn't heard anything from them in weeks. It's clearly taking a toll on the two.

John seems dejected at breakfast and Jade is clearly distracted, toying with a blue thread tied around her pinkie finger. Dave does his best to fill the forlorn silence with inane chatter: gossip from Nepeta and his own observations interspersed with rambling metaphors.

It doesn't help lighten the dour mood, and eventually his constant stream of words trickles to a stop.

The temptation to see into the future of John and Jade is strong, but part of her doesn't want to know. Part of her knows there may be a choice between them and Dave in the future. It looms overhead and scares her more than she cares to admit.

Across the cafeteria, she locks eyes with Kanaya Maryam. Since that first night they shared a room, Rose has found herself drawn to Kanaya. Her smooth way of speaking, her elegance, her gentleness...

Kanaya looks away first, green splotches appearing high on her cheeks. Perhaps staring is weird, she chides herself. Rose sips her coffee and turns her attention back to her own table.

Just to notice Dave looking at her over his sunglasses, his eyebrows raised.

“What'cha lookin' at?” he asks casually.

Rose takes yet another sip of coffee, unnecessarily slowly. Dave wiggles his eyebrows as his eyes flick to Kanaya.

“Congrats on finding another one of your kind aboard,” he says with a wink.

“Unless I've sprouted a pair of horns, I don't believe we're exactly of the same kind,” Rose points out.

“I meant another lesbian.”

John almost chokes on a bite of toast and Jade barks out a laugh. Rose stifles her snort behind her hand.

“Am I wrong?” says Dave with a smirk.

Rose pretends to think for a moment. “I don't know, Dave... Why, I'm just not sure I'm ready to truly commit to lesbianism. I've only had, oh, roughly my entire adolescence to think about it. Perhaps I'm rushing into things.”

Jade is giggling, but gives Rose a very somber look. “Yeah Rose, you gotta d-” she interrupts herself with a snort- “gotta date boys to truly know!”

Jade and Rose burst into loud laughs. John snorts and Dave is smiling widely, shaking his head.

This easy teasing could only have come from years of friendship and she had missed it dearly in the short time they were apart. The future may be uncertain, but right now Rose is content to enjoy the company. It's nice to see John and Jade smiling, and she's loathe to leave the table.

After the laughter subsides, Rose reluctantly stands with her dishes.

“Off I go, I have a meeting with Terezi and Vriska in twenty minutes. I'll speak to you all at lunch.”

“Don't let them maul you,” Dave calls to her as she puts her dirty plate and mug on the conveyer belt leading into the kitchens. She passes Kanaya as she leaves, who gives her a small smile.

God, she's cute. Rose tries to compose herself and turn her mind to more professional matters as she makes her way down the hall.

Intense as they may be, Rose isn't afraid of Terezi and Vriska. She gives the two a cool smile as she takes her seat at the table in their meeting room. It looks more like an elementary school classroom, with its chalk-board scribbles and the scalemate and magic-8-ball pile in the corner, than a professional strategy room. Terezi is already drawing something on the board; if Rose squints she can almost make out several ships converging on a smaller silver ship, presumably the Signless. Vriska is writing down what she says, copying the diagram with some success.

Terezi sets the chalk down on the table with a cloud of colorful dust as she looks towards Rose.

“Lalonde, I need your brain,” she says.

“I'm afraid I'm using it right now.”

Terezi sticks out her tongue. “Debatable, but what I mean is I need to you search the future based on a name. Can you do that?”

Rose thinks for a moment. When given something to focus on, it's easier for her to See into the future. Even if the name is unfamiliar, she might get something. She might also just end up with a migraine. The expression on Terezi's face is eager and hopeful, and Rose sighs.

“I suppose I can try,” she says. “I can't promise anything though.”

Terezi nods enthusiastically, messy hair flying. “I need you to See the future of Feferi Peixes.”

Vriska looks at Terezi with a frown. “What future? She's dead,” she says sharply.

“Just try it,” she says to Rose as she waves a hand at Vriska.

With an eyebrow raised, Rose pulls her crystal ball from her pocket, cupping her hands around its cool surface as she closes her eyes.

The endless hallway stretches in front of her, doors beckoning on either side. She takes a deep breath, dispels any doubt, and calls Feferi's name. Her voice echoes back at her, a one-voice chorus that whispers the name back at her like a question. Doorways begin going dim, leaving Rose in murky shadows. She prepares to leave when she notices one door in the distance, bright and inviting. Once she reaches it, her mouth moves of its own accord:

“Cold iron chains and cold gray skin. The room reeks of salt water and neglect and despair. Long, unbrushed hair lays limp against a face once round and bright, now hollow and blank. Her pink eyes are made for darkness, but the oppressive midnight around her is no comfort. She shifts her leg closer to her and the chains scrape against the metal floor. There are dents in the links, as if she had tried to break them but fell just short of strong enough. The door opens and for a moment fear is written across her face, until it's replaced with confusion and unfamiliar hope-”

The vision fades. Vriska and Terezi are staring at Rose with their mouths hanging open. She rubs away the leftover chill the vision left on her skin and studies them.

“Well? Who is Feferi Peixes?” she asks.

“Our empress,” says Vriska, almost in a whisper.

“She will be, once we rescue her from Her Imperial Fishtits!” Terezi crows, jumping up from her seat. “I need to tell Vantas right away, you two come up with the basics of a plan,” she says before running from the room.

Rose watches her go. Suddenly her future seems just as uncertain as it did at breakfast, but infinitely more complicated.

Karkat's head is spinning so fast that he doesn't even mind that Terezi is sitting on his desk, legs kicking back and forth as she lets the news sink in.

“If Feferi is alive, she must be at her full adult power by now. Could a Witch beat a Thief?” he asks.

“Easily!” Terezi says confidently. Her usual off-putting grin is replaced with something more sincere. She's buzzing with excitement and Karkat can't help but feel it too. Trepidation quickly overshadows any eagerness, however.

“But wait,” he says as he shakes his head. “This has to be bullshit, Lalonde is mixing stuff up. What motivation would the Condesce have for keeping her heir alive? An heir who could easily kick her ass into the last century?”

“I have a theory,” Terezi says. She stands and begins pacing, her face thoughtful.

“Fuchsiabloods live for eons, that's common knowledge. Nobody knows exactly how long the fishbitch has been alive; she's always been the ruler of Alternia as far as anyone knows.”

Karkat gets the distinct impression that Terezi is talking as if she were presenting a case in front of a jury. He huffs, which Terezi ignores.

“As a Thief of Life, Condy can take the life force of others and use it for herself.” She turns to Karkat with eyebrows raised. “And who has more life than a royal-blooded Witch of Life?”

“Fuck,” Karkat swears, standing with his clenched fists pressed to the table. “That bitch has been using Feferi as a fucking battery to fuel her own lifespan.”

“Exactly,” Terezi says. Her expression turns grim. “Every day she adds to her own life only takes from Feferi. Vriska and Lalonde are coming up with some kind of plan now, but whatever is decided needs to get done fast.”

“Hold the fuck up, we don't even know where Feferi is! She could be anywhere, we can't attack Condesce ships until we find the right one, that would be batshit crazy at fucking best,” Karkat says. “I'm not throwing my crew into a half-baked suicide mission.”

“Isn't it obvious?” Terezi asks, crossing her arms. “Psh, Vriska got it immediately. Condy wouldn't let Fef out of arms reach for all the Life in the universe. She is on the Battleship Condescension.”

“Will you maybe shut the hell up for one minute?” Vriska snaps. In the half hour since Terezi left Rose and Vriska to plan, Rose hasn't stopped talking once. Vriska can hardly hear herself think over the verbose babble, let alone form a coherent plan.

Rose gives Vriska a scornful look that somehow makes Vriska want to punch her even more than her incessant know-it-all blabber.

“I don't see how I could help plan the rescue of your Empress if I am not permitted to speak, but okay,” she says in that infuriatingly prissy way.

“Good, stop planning and listen,” Vriska fires back. “You may think you know more than anyone else aboard this massive heap of scrap metal but you don't know a single fucking thing! You don't know how Condy's ship is laid out-”

“I could See into the future and-”

“Oh my god!” Vriska yells. “Don't interrupt me! You're even worse than your stupid brother, all wordy and snide! But at least he doesn't try and hide how dumb he is!”

Rose's expression darkens. “Do not talk shit about Dave.”

“Whatever,” Vriska says, rolling her eye. “Let's just get back to this. Her ship is laid out like this-” she points to a rough diagram of a ship, drawn in crayon, “-with the prison blocks on this wing. If the ship got attacked, the prison blocks would be obliterated, which saves fishface from having to perform executions. Not that it's a chore for her, I assume,” Vriska says with a sneer.

“Feferi might be there, but I doubt it. I think she'd be here,” she says, pointing to a cluster of rooms near the heart of the ship. “This is Condy's inner chamber. Only purplebloods and higher are allowed in there, the highest ranking generals in her army. If Feferi is being kept anywhere, it's there.”

Rose studies the map for a moment before looking up at Vriska, eyes narrowed. “How did you get this information?”

“I'm a Thief of Light. You sat through Rezi's little lecture, you know Light can mean knowledge and luck,” she says with a shrug. With a nod, Rose goes back to studying the map. Vriska can't help but feel that Rose would somehow use the knowledge of her powers against her despite the fact that it's no secret. Rose just has that aura.

“It would make the most sense for the heiress to be within the protected chambers strategically, but would make rescue efforts a living hell,” Rose notes with a frown.

“Yeah, obviously. So maybe instead of blabbering about Seeing the future or whatever, a future that isn't even set in stone, we can talk about real, solid strategy,” she says fiercely, jabbing the map with a metal finger.

Rose nods once, her lips pressed together tightly. Vriska takes it as a sign of a fragile and uneasy truce, but at least it's something.

Chapter Text

“You would think I'd be used to this bullshit after years of being captain but no! I'm still just as likely to trip over my own words and then vomit up my gastrointestinal juices in front of the entire fucking crew as I was on day one,” Karkat gripes as Kanaya straightens out the Signless insignia pin over his blood-pusher. She meets his eyes for a moment, her expression somehow both soft and full of annoyance.

“You've been preparing for this for over a month, Karkat. You know what to say as well as you know your own name. You have nothing to fret over,” she says. Her hands are ever busy, making sure he appeared as professional as possible.

It was rare for him to address the whole ship. Even rarer was him addressing the entire crew to tell them that they were about to infiltrate the Condesce's ship in hopes of saving Feferi Peixes, an heiress once thought dead.

If it weren't for Rose's repeated reassurances that Feferi is indeed alive, Karkat wouldn't have believed it. For days, he denied the possibility; it's too far-fetched, too convenient. He hopes the crew would suspend their disbelief more than he can.

“Maybe I don't, but watch me fret anyway,” he mutters. She sighs.

“You know just as well as I that everybody on this ship respects you. More than likely, you could make an absolute fool of yourself today and everyone will still look up to you,” she says, pulling on his jacket one last time before standing up. “Are you ready?”

Karkat takes a deep breath. Holds it in for a few heartbeats. Lets it out.

“Abso-fucking-loutely not. Let's go.”

Through the full-length windows of the command deck, the blackness of space stretches on, stars glittering in the distance like gems. Dave had never seen the crew gathered in one place like this before. The top deck is packed, a sea of gray skin and black hair occasionally broken by the varied colors of humans. Even Bec is present, as inseparable from Jade as he always is. Only the most essential crew is unaccounted for, and Karkat's address is being announced through the ship's PA system for that exact reason. The entire ship seems giddy with anticipation as they wait for the captain to take his place on the somewhat makeshift stage at the front of the room.

He won't admit it, but Dave made sure to get there as early as possible to be as close to the stage as he could. It isn't often he gets to see Karkat in his full leader getup. Despite the fact he already knows the entire plan Karkat will be revealing to the crew, he still waits with a faint buzz of excitement.

Eventually the doors open and Karkat walks in, Kanaya and Terezi on his heels. The crew greets the trio with resounding shouts and cheers, which they all look varied levels of embarrassed about. The crew parts easily, giving them all room to make it to the front of the deck. Karkat ascends to the stage while Terezi and Kanaya merge with the crowd. He radiates an unfamiliar confidence as he looks out over the crew.

Unsurprisingly, Kanaya seeks out Rose quickly. Rose is very deliberately not looking Dave's way so she misses the smug expression on his face.

The crew continues to cheer as Karkat stands alone, raised above the crowd just enough to be seen from the back. A microphone is pinned to his chest but Dave wonders if he actually needs it.

Evidently, the cheering has been going on too long. Karkat raises and hand.

“Alright, alright, shut your gaping traps,” he says. Dave snorts. Clearly, being the leader didn't make him any more professional than usual. His face goes more somber as the crowd falls silent.

“Our goal here has always been to stay one step ahead of the fish-bitch, to undermine her as well as we can without getting caught. So far, that saltwater asshole hasn't found us.” he says.

Dave finds himself hanging on every word; despite the fact he had just began talking, Karkat's speech was riveting.

“The past few months have been... really fucking unusual. We've had a stow-away, a drone attack, and were joined by some weird-ass humans,” he says, the barest hint of humor in his voice as he makes the last point. Chuckles spread through the crowd.

“That being said, those weird-ass humans have been an invaluable asset to our crew.”

The crew applauds. Dave can feel his face go warm. He glances at John, who looks just as flustered, and at the blush creeping up Jade's neck. Rose seems more composed, but Dave knows her well enough to see that she's pleasantly surprised.

“With the help of those new crewmates, we uncovered some incredibly valuable intel,” Karkat says, voice low and serious. Dave can almost feel it reverberating in his chest. He knows what Karkat is getting at, but still his pause takes Dave's breath away.

“And I mean extremely fucking important information. Something Condy herself wouldn't tell her closest advisers for all the tacky gold jewelry in the universe,” Karkat says. Dave and a few others laugh, but the rest of the crew seems antsy for him to get to the point.

“We have learned that the Condesce, a Thief of Life, has been keeping an important Witch of Life trapped, draining her for her own benefit and extending her lifespan,” Karkat says, and rage shakes his voice, a growl that Dave doubts anyone past the first row can hear rumbling in his throat.

The deck is silent for a moment before equally angry shouts and snarls begin filling the room.

Karkat goes on, his voice rising above the anger. “That Witch of Life is someone you may know, someone I considered a goddamn friend, that a few of us considered close! Someone we assumed dead at the hands of the fishbitch herself, in a fight to keep the throne.” he pauses, taking a deep breath.

“Feferi Peixes is alive, and is the rightful heiress to the Alternian throne!” His voice rings out clearly across the deck, as firm as steel and filled with venom.

Shouts fly, cries of shock mingling with excitement and anger and incredulity. Karkat's jaw is tight, his red and yellow eyes scanning the crew. His eyes meet Dave's for just a moment and everyone else seems to fade away. There's a fire in his eyes, a storm ready to unleash its power. It's hypnotic and Dave can't look away. This is different from the other times Karkat had put Dave underneath his spell. The only thing keeping Dave glued to Karkat is his magnetism alone.

It occurs to Dave that he might be a little in love with Captain Karkat Vantas.

Karkat blinks and takes another deep breath, the moment broken. The thudding of his heart can't be fully blamed on the excitement of the crowd.

“It's obvious what we need to do,” he says, and the crew quiets down enough to hear his words. “We are going to send in a small team. We are going to save Feferi, and we are going to keep our true Empress safe until we deal the killing blow against that fucking shark-skank who wears the crown now!”

Deafening cheers nearly drown out the end of his sentence. Dave is yelling just as loud as the rest. Even though he has no reason to hate the Condesce as much as the trolls on board, he's seen enough to feel their righteous fury.

And with Karkat he feels like he could take on any genocidal alien and win.

The roar of the crew persists, even as Karkat makes his way off stage and into the crowd. Dave watches him go and jogs after him without realizing he wants to. Everyone around him is riled up, occasionally clapping him on the back as he passes, but he doesn't take his eyes off Karkat's wild mop of hair.

Karkat breaks through the crowd and makes his way to the elevator. Dave takes a few running steps and joins him, just as the doors close. He's breathing heavily, his hair sticking to his forehead. Karkat is looking at him, confused.

Dave doesn't think. He takes a step towards Karkat and leans down, hands on Karkat's shoulders as their lips meet. His heart is pounding and he pulls away quickly. Karkat's eyes are wide and shocked, staring up at Dave speechlessly. Dave's heart is in his throat and his mind buzzes with fear- you fucked up you fucked up you fucked up blaring in his mind on repeat as the silence stretches on.

“Sorry 'bout that,” Dave finally says, voice high and nervous. “I guess emotions are pretty high right now and seeing you up on that stage was pretty moving, I mean obviously it was moving, you're basically a professional public speaker on account of being a fuckin' captain and all, I just- I guess I wanted to do that for a while now and I was feeling brave so-”

Dave is cut off by Karkat's hands balling up into his shirt, pulling him back down. Their lips meet hungrily and Dave's hands make their way up to Karkat's hair of their own volition, tangling in his unruly coils. His lips are warm and soft, heat radiating off of his body as Dave pulls him closer.

It seems like ages until they pull apart, both of them breathless and dazed. Spots of bright red color Karkat's cheeks and Dave has to resist the urge to run his fingers over his skin.

“So, uh... nice,” Dave says once he trusts his voice enough to not crack like a prepubescent middle school kid's. Karkat closes his eyes and groans, resting his head against Dave's chest.

“Really, nookmunch? Nice? With all the words that spill from your mouth on a daily fucking basis I'd think you'd have something more eloquent to say,” he says, any scorn softened by the fact that he's still breathing heavily and his hands are flat against Dave's chest.

With a laugh, Dave wraps his arms around Karkat. He's not ashamed to admit that he would gladly stand there forever, Karkat in his arms and his skin tingling with proximity, but Karkat pulls away with one thick eyebrow raised.

“This is nice, but we're taking up the elevator like a pair of inconsiderate assholes,” he points out.

“Is that not what we are?” Dave says.

“You definitely are,” Karkat says, gently but firmly pushing Dave away, “But I have more manners than that.”

“Sure you do,” Dave teases as Karkat directs the elevator to the deck where his office is.

Neither of them are able to look at the other, but the electricity between them crackles in the empty air. It takes all of Dave's willpower not to throw his arms around Karkat again. The elevator doors slide open and Karkat steps out with a backwards glance.

“See ya later,” Dave says, staying still. He wants to follow Karkat more than anything, but both of them have duties to attend to. With a nod, Karkat makes his way down the hall.

Dave is more than a little in love with Karkat Vantas.

Chapter Text

The Signless is a flurry of activity as the Condesce's ship draws closer, day by day. It had taken them a week to find her ship, and another to get as close as they are now. The huge red ship looms over the Signless, spiky and dangerous. It commands the view outside the windows, blocking out the stars.

Sollux spends every possible hour checking and double checking the ship's shields and cloaking devices with the rest of the tech crew. Days before, he had made contact with the ship's Helmsman, a desperate and last-ditch effort to ensure they could stay in contact while they save Feferi. To his shock, the Helmsman is none other than the Psiionic, Sollux's ancestor, kept alive by The Condese's touch. He's none too pleased to be trapped, and eager to help undermine the Condesce in any way possible. The Psiionic will disable the cameras and as many hemolocks as he can get away with, and make sure that the communications between the Signless and the infiltrating group won't be picked up. It was more help than any of them could have ever hoped for.

All the while, Equius and Nepeta train Rose and Jade in combat, an activity Dave refuses to partake in. If it all goes well, the training won't be necessary anyway; it's a simple extraction mission. Karkat does his best to keep the crew safe, making sure the battle stations are always manned. Terezi drills the plan into everyone's heads with incessant quizzing. There's hardly a still moment.

Even with all of the preparation, Dave still feels nervous, the fancy bulletproof cloth of his outfit too clingy and hot against his skin. If it weren't for the red trim and bright red gear, he wouldn't look out of place as a spy in some low-budget action movie. Not to mention the sword at his waist and the ever present shades.

Standard issue and required on all missions or not, Dave longs for the simple comfort of a t-shirt. At least he's used to fighting in those.

Kanaya is busy making sure Rose's suit fits well. Her fingers linger on Rose just a few beats longer than Dave would consider necessary.

“Dave!” Terezi calls out across the loading bridge. A small ship, barely big enough to hold the five heading towards the Condesce's ship, waits by the closed doors. Kanaya and Rose pass a knowing look between each other as Terezi storms her way closer.

“Hide me,” Dave nearly begs. Neither of the girls move and Dave's wrist is trapped by the clawed hand of the second-in-command before he can escape.

“Hello, Strider!” Terezi says.

“Yes I know who's taking point, yes I know what room the princess or empress or whatever is in, no I will not be flash-stepping unless I need to because it's fucking unnecessary,” he says, trying to wrench his hand away to no avail. Terezi snickers.

“I'm glad you have the ability to remember things I've said a billion times, but that's not what I'm here for. Karkat wants you and everyone up on the command deck for one more briefing.”

“Another?” Dave groans. “We've been briefed every goddamn day since this plan was made.”

“Better to be overly prepared than to be dead,” Rose says.

Dave rolls his eyes. “Thanks, next time I want a life lesson bestowed upon my waiting ears I'll be sure to ask you first.”

Terezi leads Rose and Dave up to the top deck, where Karkat waits with Nepeta and Equius.

“-Really only necessary to send Nepeta,” Karkat is saying, arms crossed and jaw tight. “This is a light stealth mission, you massive, stubborn nookwhiff!”

Despite days of arguing, there was no way Equius would let Nepeta go without him, despite her ability to take care of herself and fight stealthily. Nepeta wouldn't go without Equius anyway. Karkat has spent hours tearing his own hair out thanks to the stubborn moirails. Dave saw the whole situation as an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object; all parties involved were as likely to budge as the other, which ensured frustration on both sides.

“Dude, you know it ain't gonna work,” Dave says as he approaches. Karkat looks past the two trolls and glares.

“Whatever. Just watch each others backs and don't fucking die. Captain’s orders. If you die I swear I will find you in the afterlife and kick your ass. You're dismissed, be ready in twenty.”

Nepeta and Equius salute and leave. Karkat turns his attention to Dave and Rose.

“You two need to do everything in your power to make sure nobody gets caught, do you understand? Get in and get out, that's it. If it goes well, nobody should fight, and nobody but Rose will be using any powers. I don't underestimate her in the slightest, but Jade is only going along as a last ditch effort to get your asses out of there if shit hits the overhead whirling device.”

“We know,” Rose says with a nod. “I'll be keeping an eye on the future whenever possible, we won't run into anyone.”

“And I'm a fuckin' stealth expert. I'll low chaos this bitch, just watch. Hiding from guards and sneaking through air ducts to save the empress. We'll be fine,” Dave adds with more confidence than he feels. Karkat hardly looks impressed, but sighs and nods anyway.

“I know you will. And once we save Feferi, we won't have to do this bullshit anymore. We'll hide until we're ready to strike,” he says. “No more putting people in danger.”

“It'll get pretty boring around here,” Dave says without a hint of disappointment.

“Damn fucking right,” Karkat agrees. “You just need to do this. I know you can,” he says. Rose clears her throat.

“I see Kanaya has made her way up here, if you'll excuse me,” she says, giving both Dave and Karkat a pointed glance as she turns.

It's as private as they can be in the openness of the command deck. Dave, as casually as he can manage with his heart thrumming in his chest, pulls Karkat close and closes the gap between their lips.

He refuses to consider the fact that this might be the last time he can kiss Karkat. He refuses to acknowledge the fact he may die on the Condesce's ship.

Karkat pulls away first, holding Dave's face in his hands.

“You better get your ass back on this ship,” he says. “If even one thing goes wrong, a guard sees you or what the fuck ever, you all get your sorry sacks of bones back on the stealth ship, do you fucking understand? Nobody on my crew is dying today.”

Dave nods, leaning in for one more kiss before standing to his full height. Behind him, someone cackles. Terezi joins them, resting her pointy elbow on Karkat's shoulder for a moment. He pushes her off, his face as red as a stop sign.

“Glad to see you two so close!” she says, grinning. Karkat narrows his eyes.

“What do you want, Terezi?” he asks.

“Do you really want to know?” she asks with a smirk. “I could let you go back to sucking face with Strider here!”

“This is normal pre-mission protocol,” Dave deadpans. Karkat puts his face in his hands and groans as Terezi laughs loud enough for it echo through the room. Dave barely contains his grin as Karkat looks ready to drop dead of embarrassment.

Terezi clears her throat. “Really though, we're prepping to leave. Are you and Lalonde ready?” Terezi asks. Dave looks at Rose, who's looking up at Kanaya, their hands linked, barely an inch of space between them as they speak. He takes his chance to be the annoying brother he never got to be.

“Hey Rose!” Dave calls across the room. “Kiss the girl so we can fuckin' get this show on the road!”

Rose's eyes are wide and he can see the color on her cheeks from where he's standing. Kanaya is bright green, but at least she takes Dave's advice. She places a hand on Rose's face and kisses her softly. Dave cheers and Rose breaks the kiss with obvious reluctance. With one more whispered exchange, Rose makes her way towards Dave, Karkat, and Terezi. It's clear that she wants to be annoyed with Dave, but lipstick is smeared on her lips and her face is bright red underneath the freckles.

“Now we're ready,” Dave says.

“I really wish you didn't have to go with them,” John says, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. Jade sighs; this is roughly the ten millionth time John has said the exact same thing.

“I need to, I have to help!” she says. “I'll be fine, John, you know me! Since when have I let myself get hurt?”

He looks unconvinced. Jade hugs him, resting her chin on his shoulder. He hugs her just as tightly, frowning at the stealth ship that would send her towards the huge Alternian battleship.

“You have your rifle, right?” he asks. Jade rolls her eyes.

“Of course, silly! I wouldn't go on a mission like this without it!”

John nods, satisfied. Jade tilts her head.

“You shouldn't underestimate me, John! I'm a Witch of Space, I can handle myself. You worry too much.”

“You're also my sister,” John points out. “I'm allowed to be worried when my own sister goes on to a terrifying alien spaceship.”

She can't argue with that.

Bec whines at her feet, his ears flat against his head as she looks distrustfully at the ship. As much as she wants to, she can't bring Bec along; more than likely she won't need him anyway. Being so far away from him makes her more nervous than anything else about this mission. She scratches behind his ears but he still doesn't relax.

Eventually Jade and John are joined by Nepeta and Equius, and not long after, Rose and Dave. All of them are dressed in the same black outfits, trimmed in the blood colors for trolls and Aspect colors for humans. Jade can't help but note that they look like a team of superheroes. She takes the chance to pull her masses of hair into a ponytail and takes a deep breath.

“Let's go,” Equius says, the ship's door opening. He and Nepeta lead the way on board. With a final reassuring squeeze of John's hand, Jade follows.

She tries very hard to ignore the bad feeling rising up her throat.

There are no windows on the stealth ship, but Rose can almost feel the battleship looming ever closer. Everyone is silent, as if the slightest whisper would alert the ship to their presence and they would be blown to smithereens. She pulls her crystal ball from her sylladex, the cold weight of the sphere reassuring in her hands. She closes her eyes-

The vision is so immediate and overwhelming that she can hardly make sense of it. The cell is crowded, the room barely meant for one now holding six. Jade's hands are shaking as she makes the shackles large enough for Feferi to slip her hands out of. Dave and Equius are just outside the door as cat-like screeches echo down the hall above the sounds of gunfire.

“Get in here now!” Equius shouts, and Nepeta barrels in, her clawed gloves dripping rainbow blood to the floor. Footsteps get closer-

Rose is ejected from the vision so fast that her head throbs. The more she tried to focus on the details of it, the more it slips away until all she can remember is panic. She takes in a huge, gasping breath that draws all eyes to her.

“Did you see something?” Dave asks, eyebrows drawn together with concern.

Rose calms herself. Looks at everyone around her as they stare back with varied degrees of apprehension.

“Nothing to be concerned about,” she says finally. Perhaps if she can convince herself, the others won't worry.

She just needs to be extra careful, that's all. There really is nothing to worry about.

As good as she is at lying, it's not nearly enough to convince herself.

Chapter Text

The ship lurches to a stop inside a tunnel barely large enough to hold it. Garbage is stuck to the walls and caked in the corners. The five step out, pressed against the cold metal walls. Dave presses a finger to the communicator in his ear.

“We're in,” he says.

“Head further up the tunnel and take a left,” Terezi replies, directly into everyone's earpieces. “You only have ten minutes before the next mass dump of garbage pushes you all into space so you should probably hurry.”

The ship they arrived on lifts up and backs out of the tunnel, waiting just out of sight until they're ready to board again.

They are all completely grave, eyes alert and steps silent as they hurry down the narrow hall. The darkness is just barely broken by the flashlight Equius holds. The air is stale and smells terrible, but Dave ignores it. He feels nothing but the frantic pounding of his heart, the presence of those behind him, and the wall underneath his fingertips. He can't allow himself to feel anything else, or the anxiety he's been pushing back will bubble to the surface. Now is not the time to freak out.

Eventually they make it to a maintenance door embedded in the wall. Nepeta pushes past Dave, extending a claw from her glove and picking the lock with ease. Dave can't help but be impressed. Nepeta is a regular cat burglar; he makes a note to learn that trick from her as soon as this is over.

Rose closes her eyes, her crystal ball clasped in her hands. “In thirty seconds, the guard will pass. Equius will sneak behind him and knock him out,” she says.

Dave nods, counting each painstaking second until it's time to go. The door opens silently and Equius ducks through. There's a muffled thud and he opens the door fully. Everyone files into the hall. It's just barely brighter than the trash chute, dim light bulbs embedded in the ceiling every so often. Dave pushes his sunglasses up into his hair.

“We've entered the ship's servant's tunnels,” Dave mutters.

“Good,” Terezi says. “You need to make your way to the maintenance elevator and ride it up to the royal deck.”

This is where things begin getting tricky. The elevator could stop on any floor and pick up more passengers. Everyone looks to Rose.

“We need to wait ten minutes before we can get an uninterrupted ride,” she says after a moment.

“Yeah okay but the thing is, we can't wait out here that long,” Dave says. “We're completely exposed.”

“Over here!” Jade says, jogging down the hall. Confused, Dave follows and the rest join. Jade turns a corner and stands in front of a supply closet. She smiles brightly.

“I knew there would be something helpful over here!” she says.

Nepeta unlocks the closet and the five pile in, trying their best to avoid stepping on the others toes. It's claustrophobic, but they make it work. Shelves of cleaner line the walls and Dave does his best not to bump into them. The last thing he needs is to spill a jug of bleach- or any other chemical- on himself or someone else.

Ten minutes pass agonizingly slowly. Dave swallows his rising panic, his fingers tapping against his leg as he keeps himself grounded, reviewing the plan in his head. He thinks of nothing else but the goal.

As soon as Rose gives the okay, they all rush out and back down the hall. The elevator waits only a few floors above them and arrives quickly. It's barely larger than the room they had just left and Dave resigns himself to several more minutes spent far too close to Equius.

To Dave's immense relief, Rose was right; they make it to the noble floor without being stopped. As the doors slide open, he wonders if Vriska has anything to do with their luck.

The thought is interrupted by the sight of a very frightened pair of gold and brown eyes, staring directly at him. The troll girl's eyes are wide, the silver tray in her hands shaking as she looks at the five rebels aboard the ship.

Equius moves first, stepping out of the elevator and looming over the bronzeblood.

“Wait!” Jade cries, stepping around him. Jade reaches from the troll, pulling on a long chain around her neck, tucked inside her unassuming clothes. On the end dangles Karkat's sign- the symbol of the Signless.

“We're friends,” Jade whispers, almost too quiet for Dave to hear despite being feet away. The servant troll's eyes go even wider as she nods. She presses her back to the wall and lets the five pass without a word.

“What the fuck, Jade,” Dave hisses once they're far enough away. “How did you know?”

Jade shushes him. “You know I know things, don't worry about it.”

Dave frowns but drops it. He contacts Terezi again.

“We're in the servant tunnels on the royal deck,” he says. “Headed towards the end of the hall.”

“One you get there, Rose will need to See the guards, make sure they aren't heading down that hall,” Terezi says. Dave can hear the concern in her voice. “It's sketchy but intel says there should be a guard every five minutes. The royal-blooded pricks should be at dinner right now, so you won't be attacked by a violetblood. Guards on there are all shades of blue though so be careful.”

“Got it,” Dave responds. A tense look passes between Rose and Dave. From here on out, they're getting dangerously closer to the Condesce's chambers. Information was hard to get on the area, and they were going in nearly blind.

With Rose to illuminate the path and Jade's fantastic instincts, they should be fine.

Still, Dave worries.

“Most rooms are empty right now,” Rose says eventually. “We're going to duck into several as guards pass. Equius will need to knock some unconscious.”

“Could be worse,” Dave mutters.

“We should go now,” Rose says. The five sneak out into the long, empty hall. It's eerily silent as they make their way down, their feet barely padding on the shiny metal floors.

“Feferi should be one deck above you,” Terezi chimes in. “The Helmsman- I know he has a name, Sollux, is now the time? The Psiionic can lower the hemolocks on the elevator so Equius can get you all up. After that it's all on Rose.”

Rose nods once as if Terezi could somehow see her acknowledgment. Her face is carefully blank but her pupils are the size of pinpricks. She's terrified and Dave can't blame her.

“In here,” she says, as the sounds of footsteps approaching from another hall grows louder. They file into a lavishly decorated room. The plush furniture is a deep shade of purple, just a few shades off from violet. Gold is inlaid in the paneled walls, glittering even in the low light. A long window gives a nice view out into the void of space. Dave lets out a low whistle.

“Goddamn,” he says.

Rose gives him an incredulous look. “Are you really admiring the décor at a time like this?”

Dave shrugs and Rose rolls her eyes.

“Hush! It's almost time to move!” Jade says urgently. Dave nods, composing himself. A few seconds later, heavy boots pass the door. Equius steps out and hits the guard on the head with a solid fist. They quickly fall with a thump and Equius effortlessly carries the unconscious troll into the room, setting them out of the way. Dave thanks whatever deity that could be listening that Equius is on their side.

“Let's move,” he says.

Three more times they have to hide out in a lavish royal's room, each room closer to violet and more gaudy as they make their way to the royal's elevator. When they finally make it, nerves fried and extremely jumpy, it feels as if hours had passed. Dave knows better than anyone that it was no more than twenty minutes, but it was the longest twenty minutes of his life. This can't end soon enough.

The tiny panel above the sliding doors flashes yellow for a moment before scanning Equius. They slide open with a ding to reveal an elevator just as posh as the rooms they had hid out in. The entire back wall is mirrored, the floor underneath their feet richly carpeted in deep pink.

“This is it,” Jade says. “We need to hurry. We don't have much time”

“How are you so sure, Jade?” Rose asks with a frown. “I know you have good feelings about things but I am the one here with actual precognition.”

“Have I been wrong yet?” she asks.

Rose only shakes her head, lips pressed together.

“We're in the elevator, headed to Condy's floor,” Dave says to the earpiece.

He's met with silence. His stomach drops and he swallows thickly. Everyone watches with wide eyes as a second passes and they are lifted ever closer to their goal.

“Rezi, we're headed up. Respond,” he says.

The communicators stay dead. The elevator slows to a stop.

“Fuck,” Dave says. All of the air is gone from his lungs and he can't breathe-

“Dave,” Rose says firmly. “We can make it. We're probably too deep in the ship to make contact.”

“Right, of course, duh,” Dave says with a nod. He believes her, he has to believe she's right because the other explanations for the radio silence are too terrifying to consider. Rose nods and Dave returns the gesture.

“Are we ready?” he asks. Four determined faces look back at him and he gives Equius the okay to open the doors.

“Duck!” Jade shouts just as the doors fly open. Nobody hesitates, dropping to the floor as bullets shatter the mirrors behind them, sprinkling them in crystalline shards. Jade's rifle is in her hands, face set in grim determination as she fires back.

There's no time for her to shoot all ten guards lined up in front of the elevators, their blue uniforms forming an impassive wall as they shoot.

Dave draws his sword and time slows down. Three steps and one slash is all it takes to disarm the guards Jade hadn't managed to shoot yet. Guns and blood and severed limbs fall to the floor and Dave refuses to look. He can't look or the fragile veneer of being okay will shatter. Time resumes its flow and there's a moment of complete silence before the guards begin screaming.

“We need to go now!” Jade shouts.

Equius slams through the line of injured guards with Nepeta on his heels. The humans follow behind.

Dave's heart has stopped pounding, his hands steady and firm on the handle of his sword. He feels nothing, sees nothing but the threats that lie in his way and threaten his friends and sister. His mind is blank and cold and in a detached sort of way he realizes this should frighten him.

It doesn't.

“Left!” Jade barks, and Equius leads them down another hall.

“There's a door coming up that looks as if it leads to the servant's halls but it heads to a secret passage,” Rose says.

The door is unassuming, the gray metal blending in to the wall almost perfectly aside from the tiny panel on it. It opens without input.

“Psiionic must still be helping,” Nepeta notes.

The hall in front of them is pitch black, the undecorated metal walls a complete turn around from the rest of the royal deck's décor. They head inside quickly, the door sliding shut behind them and leaving them in perfect darkness for what feels like far too long before Equius turns on the flashlight.

“We're very close, I can feel it,” Jade whispers. She takes the lead, her hand skimming the metal wall until she stops, palms flat against the unassuming metal.

“Here.”

Chapter Text

Jade feels for the edges of the nearly invisible door until she finds the tiniest ridge around it. She steps back, pressed against the far wall, and frames the door with her fingers. As she moves her hands together, the door gets smaller and smaller until it falls forward with a clang, no longer held by the frame.

Equius's flashlight meets something, light reflecting off of a pair of pink eyes before they turn away with a hiss.

“Feferi?” Nepeta says quietly, stepping into the cell first.

“Nepeta?” replies a hushed whisper from a voice hoarse with disuse. “How-?”

“We're gonna rescue mew!” Nepeta says brightly. Dave can't help but roll his eyes at the worst-timed cat pun ever told. The sounds of chains rattling fills the silent space. Dave is still on edge, but hope blooms in his chest. They found Feferi, now all they had to do was backtrack and-

The hallway is filled with blinding light. The suddenness of it stuns Dave, but Rose has the presence of mind to pull everyone into the now doorless cell. Footsteps approach quickly from both ends of the hall, converging on them.

Jade makes the same hands movements as before in reverse until the shackles around Feferi's wrists and ankles are large enough to slide off. Nepeta hisses and bolts from the room.

“Nepeta, no!” Equius calls after her. He stands and follows her from the room.

“Shit,” Dave spits, unsheathing his sword and following behind, ignoring Rose's protest. More royal guards approach. Nepeta and Equius are making short work of those coming from one way, but another wave is unhindered. Dave starts attacking, too fast for the trolls to see. Blue coats the walls around them but all he can see is red-

He's been backed up by sheer numbers, bumping into Equius just outside of the cell.

“Get in here now!” Equius roars, and Nepeta rushes inside, dripping indigo and cerulean. With a shove from Equius, Dave is in the cell too, with Equius on his heels. His face is stony, but his chest is heaving and it's clear from the way his deep voice shakes that he's scared shitless.

“We fight through back to the ship, taking down as many as possible-”

“No,” Jade says, her voice cool. The fear that had her hands shaking is gone, replaced with steely certainly.

Just as gunfire begins to ricochet into the tiny room, Jade throws herself into the middle of the group, grabbing and pulling on as many of them as possible, and the cell disappears in a bright green flash.

Speaking from experience, being kicked in the stomach is a much more pleasant experience than whatever the fuck trick Jade just pulled. When Dave opens his eyes to see the familiar control room of the Signless, he almost doesn't mind the nausea rolling through his stomach. He sits up, pushing Nepeta's arm off of him as he does so, to see everyone laying around him in various states of unconsciousness.

“We did it,” he says dully, and the room erupts into action. Trolls converge on the six, staring at Feferi. Dave gets a good look at her for the first time. She looks unhealthy, her skin more white than gray, her horns pale and brittle-looking. There are deep bruises and old cuts on her wrists and ankles. Anger sparks in Dave's chest; nobody cared about how she was treated. It must have been hellish.

“Jade?”

The single terrified syllable from Rose pulls Dave's attention to Jade. She's laying on the floor, arms splayed at her sides. Her green eyes stare listlessly up at the ceiling. Her dark skin looks far too pale, unnaturally clammy and dull.

She isn't moving. Dave's heart leaps into his throat as he moves towards her at the same time as Rose.

“No, no, no,” Rose is repeating, her hands on Jade's neck, feeling for a pulse, feeling for breath, for anything.

“Where's Kanaya, get Kanaya, now!” Dave says to nobody in particular, voice shaking.

Rose's hands can't stay still, smoothing Jade's hair back from her face and adjusting her glasses as if that would somehow make her better. Jade isn't breathing, isn't moving at all, and Dave knows all of Rose's fidgeting is for nothing. Judging by the tears that flow unchecked down her face, she knows it too.

John breaks through the gathered crowd with Kanaya just behind him, shaking his head as she falls heavily to his knees by his sister. He looks back and forth between Rose and Dave, looking for an explanation nobody can provide. Kanaya shakes her head after a moment of searching for a pulse.

“I'm sorry,” Dave whispers, his hands useless by his sides. “Fuck, I'm- I'm so sorry.”

It's all he can say, kneeling by Jade. His fault, his fault for bringing them all to this ship, for leading their expedition onto the battleship, for not realizing it was all doomed to fail, for not using his powers enough, for putting her in the position to teleport six people-

“Let me try something,” an unfamiliar voice says. Feferi stands to her full height, towering above the other trolls with her gently curved horns nearly scraping the ceiling. Dave watches her dully before remembering.

“A Witch of Life. Shit y'all, she's a Witch of Life,” he whispers, eyes going wide. John looks up with raw, painful hope evident on his face. Feferi kneels by Jade's head before leaning forward and pressing her lips to Jade's forehead.

A blue glow fills the room, coming from Feferi. It's a soft glow, warm and inviting, and Dave can't help but lean into it. It's gone far too soon.

Jade gasps, taking in great lungfuls of air. She blinks up at everyone surrounding her. Rose nearly throws herself on top of Jade, sobbing in relief. It takes all of Dave's willpower not to do the same thing. John grabs her hand, blinking is disbelief.

“We made it back!” she says quietly, a smile growing on her face. “We really did it!”

“I need all of you in the medical bay at once,” Kanaya says after a few moments, her own tears of relief just barely held back. Dave stands and helps John lift Jade despite the much taller girl's weak protests that she's fine.

The crew parts easily for the six to pass, all with excited, awestruck expressions. Dave can hardly believe it. They survived. They're all alive. And they saved the one person who can stop The Condesce.

A cry of victory rises in the quiet awe, a growing roar that follows the group out.

Chapter Text

Karkat doesn't hesitate, grabbing Dave's hand as soon as Kanaya evicts him from the medbay to let Jade rest. He doesn't have the energy nor a reason to resist, allowing himself to be pulled along until they're in Karkat's office.

“Dude, can't you wait, like, a day for me to give you a briefing?” he says, sounding just as exhausted as he looks. His shades are gone, either put aside or lost, and the dark circles under his eyes are prominent.

Karkat only shakes his head, instead pulling him down by his collar and kissing him hard. Dave returns the kiss after a moment of surprise with the same passion, like a starving man tasting the sweetest fruit. His hands grasp Karkat's face, gentle but urgent.

Unspoken between them is the dissipating fear, the fading worry that they would never see the other again, that this kiss might never have happened.

Things will get more complicated later but for now, this is all that matters.

Jade doesn't remember dying. She hardly remembers grabbing everyone and teleporting them to the Signless all at once. What she does remember is the identical expressions of hope and pain on Rose and Dave and John's faces as she was pulled from the darkness, the warmth that spread through her limbs as she pulled in a breath as if she was coming up from underwater.

She only learns of her own death days later, when Feferi checks on her in the medbay for the first time. Since then, Feferi visits every day for a few hours. Jade welcomes the company.

Her hair is long and shiny, nearly trailing on the ground as she walks with light footsteps across the tile floors. Her skin is nearly back to the same shade of a normal adult troll's, nearly onyx. The new golden tiara on her head glitters in the florescent lights, bright in her inky curls. It's clear she's resilient, given a few months she will be back to full health. Already, she's beginning to look like the Empress she will become. Jade smiles and sits up.

“Should I curtsy or something?” she asks with a smile. Feferi laughs, rolling her eyes as she sits at the end of the cot. Bec stands from his place at the foot of the cot to curl up by Feferi's feet. Jade is very happy to know Beck enjoys Feferi's company as much as she does.

“I'm not even Empress yet!” she says. Her voice is high and sweet, straight from a Disney movie.

“Are you excited to be Empress someday?” Jade asks, tilting her head. Feferi thinks for a moment before nodding.

“I'm going to have a shell of a time taking over whatever mess my ancestor levies behind... but yes! I want to fix things, I want to set things right,” she says, determined.

“I'm... shore you will,” Jade says, winking at her own use of an ocean pun. The fins on Feferi's face flutter happily as she grins widely.

“You're adorabubble!” Feferi squeals, hugging Jade. Jade's face feels warm as she returns the hug.

“I knew something bad was going to happen, I knew we would be caught,” Rose says, her face pressed against Kanaya's chest as the tears flow. “Jade almost died because I didn't... I thought it would be fine.”

The room around them is dark, the ship silent as everyone sleeps. Kanaya's fingers trace swirling patterns into Rose's back. This isn't the first time her own sobs woke her up, her pillow wet with tears and Kanaya watching her with a worried expression.

“Everything is fine,” Kanaya assures her, pressing a kiss into Rose's curls. “Jade is alive, Feferi is saved, the mission was a success. It sounds to me the vision you had was overstimulating, you had no time to piece it together.”

Rose shakes her head. “I don't know... I should have tried, I should have looked further into the future in that hallway.”

Guilt claws at Rose's gut, even weeks after the incident. She can hardly bring herself to look at Jade, the sight of her lying lifeless on the floor still burned into her memory.

Kanaya is right, Jade is fine. She's sworn off teleporting ever again, but she's the same happy-go-lucky woman she was before she almost died. Her usual great mood is only boosted by her almost constant proximity to Feferi.

But guilt still keeps Rose awake, still haunts her dreams.

“Have you talked to her?” Kanaya asks. Rose grimaces.

“I have not,” she admits. Not for lack of trying, but... “I can't.”

Kanaya humphs. “She is your best friend. And I can assure you she does not blame you for what happened.”

“I know...” Rose says. It hurts how much she misses Jade, her best friend for so many years. They had never gone longer than a day without talking and the current silence between them feels raw and unpleasant. It's quiet for a while before she sighs.

“Tomorrow. I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'll apologize and hope she forgives me.”

And as Rose approaches the table Jade and Feferi are sharing that next morning, the bright smile that greets her tells her without words that there were never any hard feelings.

“We're going to stay,” Jade says with finality. She and John stand shoulder-to-shoulder, identical expressions of sureness on their faces. Dave looks back and forth between them, a grin spreading across his own face as he stands.

“Hell yeah!” he says, jumping and hugging his two best friends. Fuck being too cool for hugs or whatever, he's ecstatic.

“We just want to get a message to Dad,” John says once Dave takes a step back. Dave nods.

“Yeah totally, I'm pretty sure the planet we're refueling on in a few weeks is an ally so they should have a place you can send an email or something.”

John and Jade look excited. They had taken to life aboard the ship so quickly and effortlessly, it never occurred to Dave how much they must miss their father. He can't imagine the feeling.

But he isn't going to think about that right now, he's not ruining the fragile bubble of excitement that's building up in his chest. Right now, he's just happy he and his best friends and his sister are sticking around.

Vriska pouts at the wall, very deliberately not noting the shock on Terezi's face.

“I knew you had a soft spot somewhere underneath the spiderwebs and barbed wire!” Terezi finally says after a moment. Vriska scoffs.

“I do not. If they had died I knew it'd be hell for everyone on board, plus with Feferi being Empress some day I have a friend at the top so I can go anywhere I want,” she says. “I just ensured that everything would go my way.”

There's no way in hell that she would admit that she truly was worried for those who entered the Condese's ship. She couldn't go with them (as much as she begged to) but she did the next best thing: she gave them luck. As much as she could spare, and as much as she could glean from the battleship itself.

“You're not as selfish as you're trying to make me believe!” Terezi insists. She nuzzles her face into Vriska's neck and sniffs. “Yep! I definitely detect a soft center underneath the hard blueberry shell!” she laughs. Vriska snorts, pulling Terezi closer, minding her sharp horns. There's no better place to talk (and cuddle) than the magic 8 ball and scalemate pile.

“Way to make me sound like some kind of lollipop,” Vriska says.

To no surprise, Terezi licks her face.

“You're too bitter,” she says decisively, and Vriska flicks her nose.

It's all so normal, it's hard to believe the future of the ship and everyone aboard was (and still is, to a degree) so tumultuous.

But for now, Vriska doesn't care about luck. She has Terezi and that's all she wants.

It's been months since the Signless touched down on a planet. It's strange and unfamiliar to Dave, the flora just a few shades too bright for him to consider it natural. The inhabitants are just as strangely colored, coming in varied shades of purple from an almost grayish lavender to the darkest orchid. Their buildings are spherical, opalescent bubbles evenly spaced down the pale gray roads. It's so different from Earth, but Dave walks around with confidence.

Of course, that confidence is completely faked, but nobody can tell how his eyes dart around underneath his shades. His hands are deep in his pockets to stop them from fidgeting as he walks down the paved street. Natural gravity makes him feel strangely light as he walks, as used to artificial gravity as he is. It's a busy city and Dave feels out of place as one of the only humans. He picks up the pace until he's in front of a familiar ship.

The Signless looks so much smaller from the outside. It's hard to believe he's spent an entire six months on board. Six months that started with fear, to confusion, to reluctant acceptance, to eventual all-encompassing happiness. Six of the most exciting months of his life. Given the chance, he wouldn't change a thing. Or many things, at least.

Nepeta and Equius stand just outside the open loading bay doors, arguing about something as usual. He wonders how long it will take Nepeta to wear her moirail down enough for him to let her do whatever it is she wants.

He gives it ten more minutes.

Someone clears their throat behind him. Dave turns with a smile to face Karkat, looking so much smaller in his plain clothes while underneath the endless blue sky.

“Did they find the communications office?” Karkat asks, his arms crossed.

“Yep,” Dave says. “They're sending messages to their families now. I think they're sticking around for a while.”

“Oh fantastic, three more loud mouths to feed long-term,” he grumbles, but Dave can tell he's thrilled. Dave throws an arm around Karkat's shoulder.

“Four mouths, you mean,” he says. Karkat looks up to him with eyebrows raised.

“Your six months is up, you know that right?” he asks. “You can stay here. It's human friendly, and against the fishbitch. You're not obligated to stay on that fucking heap of metal anymore.”

“I know,” Dave says with a nod. “But it's just not my style, yknow? Too rustic around here. I prefer kickin' it in space. Plus I got a pretty cute boyfriend who hangs up there so...”

Karkat studies him critically. “You're absolutely fucking sure?”

Dave leans down, kissing Karkat with as much intensity as publicly appropriate before pulling away, his eyes boring into those ruby and gold eyes he's grown so familiar with, with all of their fire and passion.

“Hell fucking yes.”

Karkat nods once, lips pulling up into a smile as he grabs Dave's hand and leads him onto the ship, now his home.

Dave, for once, is absolutely certain he's made the right decision.