Chapter Text
Your name is Desmond Droog, and this is not the sort of work you signed up for. You’ve been stuck on a stakeout for the past month; a job that you made pretty abundantly clear was below your pay grade. But because the kids you’re keeping an eye on are a couple of lab rats gone rogue and an alien, they’ve apparently decided that you don’t have a say.
That’s a pretty shitty situation already, but it’s the second part of the job that’s really got you pissed off. The second part of the job in this case being a girl that your old boss’ crazy half-dog brother is set to bring any day now. You’ve tried to limit your contact with Jack as much as you can, but that hasn’t kept you from knowing roughly what kind of state the girl will be in when she arrives. It won’t be pretty.
And there’s nothing that depresses you more than a pretty girl in distress. Normally you try to keep such things to a minimum, you’ve got a daughter and seeing any young girl in danger makes you think of her (even if you haven’t seen her in years). But whenever Jack gets involved with a job, all bets are off. The guy is a wackjob who prefers stabbing in favor of handshakes. As in, he literally stabs people as a greeting.
Not to say your old boss hasn’t gone knife happy at times himself, but he usually keeps a lid on that sort of nonsense barring special situations. Jack doesn’t have half of the self-control Spades has, though. Hell, he probably doesn’t have any self control at all.
As if to prove your point, Jack appears in a flash of green light and drops the girl at your feet, trying to stab you with that fucking blade arm of his. You swat it aside with a scowl and check the girl over. Yup, she’s been stabbed at least four times, probably more. Hard to tell through all the blood, particularly because it’s olive green. These aliens and their weird blood colors, you swear to god.
“You’re lucky this is the undead one, we need her alive for this to work properly.” You say calmly, lighting a cigarette. “No good getting people to risk their lives for a corpse.”
“You’ll want to move quickly then, this isn’t the vampire.”
“What.” You almost drop your lighter. That is how much you are about to lose your cool. “If you knew that this wasn’t the undead alien, why the hell did you stab her?”
Jack grins wolfishly (the only way he can grin these days), and nudges the girl with his foot. She lets out a faint groan, and you wave one of your men over to try to keep her from dying all over the goddamn hardwood floor. “I just didn’t like her very much. She reminded me of a cat. Doesn’t she remind you of a cat?”
You stare down at the girl blankly. “I don’t have much experience with dead animals.”
Jack lets out a deafening bark at this, pointing his twisted sword arm at your face. “Well you better use her properly before you do! I’m going to Texas now, so you’re on your own here.”
“This isn’t over, Jack. Scratch will hear about this.” You say coldly, blowing smoke into his face. Jack snarls at you, but vanishes in a flash of green as always. Even now that he can teleport and rip your throat out with his teeth, Jack is as scared of you as he was when he was a regular punk.
He’s smart, you’ll grant him that.
“Alright, get her stabilized ASAP, we need her as alive as possible if she’s going to make effective bait.” You point to the men trying to give her first aid.
“Sir, she’s lost too much blood, without a transfusion we can’t possibly save her!”
“You think I don’t know that? I didn’t say I wanted her fixed, I said ‘as alive as possible.’” You say coldly. The man who spoke up shrinks back in fear. “You have ten minutes, starting now.” You glare at them, as though daring them to protest. Really, that’s exactly what you’re doing, but the last person who took that dare you personally dismembered. It’s seen as more of a promise than a dare these days.
You walk into the bathroom, and check over your appearance. Tie straight, hat sitting properly, face shaved clean. It’s important to look your best at all times, not that you’d know it looking at half of the slobs who work for you. That’s probably the one thing you like about your boss Scratch. The man dresses impeccably. Though his love for bright green becomes less tolerable as far as his office goes. You’re not sad at all that that entire place burned down.
You walk out the front door and stare across at the Egbert family’s house. Pretty nice place, all things considered. It’s a bit bland, looks like most of the houses on the block, but that’s hardly terrible. It’s a good house to live in if you want to raise a kid on the down low. Also a good kind of house to live in if you want to stalk somebody on the down low, as it happens.
You look around, sighing that this had to happen during broad daylight. These days secret missions never happen during night. And that means a lot of extra work. Jamming phones, diverting 911 calls, dealing with all the extra witnesses, there’s a lot of crap you have to sort out when you need to keep a secret out in the open. Thankfully when it comes to dealing with tricky situations in an orderly manner, you’re simply the best there is.
Your name is John Egbert, and you are on high alert. The government agents posing as your next-door neighbors have just showed themselves, after staying discrete for the past month.
Your father was the one who first noticed the “family” across the road was suspicious, likely the result of his time spent in the marines. Ever since then you’ve used the breeze to watch the house discreetly. Any unusual movements in the air currents around the building and you know. But there’s been nothing odd at all until today, when the air started burning with electricity. And not even five minutes later a man came out into the front lawn.
Your father and Jane left to do some shopping about half an hour ago, leaving you and Karkat to do your usual afternoon routine of watching movies and arguing about romances and other bullshit. You’ve called Jane’s cellphone (your dad never cared for the things), but they won’t be back for twenty minutes. This means that you and Karkat are likely going to have to deal with the situation alone.
Karkat is by the window, pressed tight against the wall and trying to stay out of sight. You’re lucky enough that you can watch them without your eyes, feeling the situation out with your windy powers. But your friend is exposed, and you know he hates it. His sickle is shaking like a leaf in his hand.
“What the fuck is up with this guy, why is he coming out now of all times?” Karkat has a manic grin on his face as he glares out the window. “If he was planning to wait until I let my guard down he’s in for one hell of a surprise, because I am always at the top of my game! This fucker tries anything and I’ll bring the full power of my fury on him before he knows what fucking hit him! What the hell is he even doing John, I can’t see him properly without giving away my position.”
You frown and let the breeze feel around more. You can’t get a read inside the house very well, but there’s lots of movement and that doesn’t bode well. As for the man in the front lawn, he’s standing outside with a cigarette. And he seems to be gesturing somehow with his fingers, tracing out patterns in the air… wait.
I KNOW YOU SEE ME
The asshole is writing words in the air. He knows about your windy powers and is using them to talk to you. You flinch back, and the wind responds to your fear by sending a gale howling at the man, who stays perfectly still, apart from placing a hand on his head to hold his hat.
“Nice to finally talk to you, kid!” The man calls across the road. “My FELT codename is Diamonds, but you can call me Mr. Droog. I’m sorry to interrupt your little movie marathon, but I felt I should tell your guest that we have something of his.”
Karkat almost reveals himself at this, but manages to hold himself back. “Oh god, please don’t tell me they caught somebody.” You want to tell Karkat that everything will be all right, but there are men bringing a body out the door, and you find it difficult to say much of anything right now.
“We thought the hostages we already had would be enough to draw you in,” Karkat’s jaw drops at this. “But I can see why a clown and a cripple would make for poor incentive. Hopefully you care more about this one.”
“Gamzee and Tavros?” Karkat sinks to the floor, stupefied. “I thought they… they should have gotten out. Why the fuck does Scratch still have them?” You’re torn between comforting your friend and figuring out who the new hostage is.
“It’s a girl, but she’s hardly breathing.” You whisper, eyes clenched as you feel for the faint gasps of air the troll is choking out. She’s not going to last long unless Jane gets back immediately.
“Oh mother fuck, who is it?” Karkat looks up at you pleadingly, but you don’t know enough about his friends to identify whom the hostage is. You shake your head at him helplessly.
“Come on now, Egbert, if your troll friend and your family come out with your hands up I promise you we’ll get this girl the best medical care possible! But if not…” The man pulls out a long item and draws a circle lazily in the air. “I don’t like treating girls poorly, but a job is a job, you understand. Now hurry up!” He lowers the item until it’s pressing against the girl’s belly. Her breath hitches. “Time is dead kids, after all!”
Droog pushes down against her stomach. The girl screams. Karkat vanishes out the window with a roar and a flurry of broken glass.
“GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF NEPETA YOU SON OF A BITCH.” Karkat is in the street by the time you’ve reached the window, and holy cow; you’ve never seen somebody move that fast without flashstepping. You didn’t even know Karkat could move like that, but there he is, bringing his sickle down on one of the goons who carried his friend out, while you’re still gaping out from your living room.
Okay, you should really get moving here. You jump out the window after Karkat, using the wind to throw glass at the other goon. Karkat has already cut his opponent’s ear off, and is rolling away as the man grabs clumsily at him. The man you threw the glass at is running into the house, his arms shredded from blocking your attack.
Droog spits on the ground as you rush towards him and Karkat’s friend, and you see now that the item he used to hurt her is a solid cue stick. It’s polished well, so you can’t do much to it with wind, but now that you’re face to face with Droog you’re not particularly worried about dealing with him. The fact that he’s not looking too worried either though is rather troubling to you.
“Kid, that was probably the stupidest move you could ever have made in your short life.” Droog has a grin on his face, a predatory smile, which is seriously unnerving to you since you know he knows what you’re capable of. You’re really not sure about fighting this guy anymore, but as long as he’s got Karkat’s friend you aren’t going to back down.
Karkat is fighting another pair of men in black suits, and you can see now that they’re continuing to file out of the house. You start to send a gust of wind to slow them at the doorway, but Droog interrupts you by taking a shot at your head with his cue stick. You raise your arms to block, but the blow still manages to send you spiraling through the air despite your guard.
You right yourself in midair and dive back down, grabbing Droog’s weapon in both hands and trying to wrestle it away from him. He responds by shifting his grip to hold both ends of his cue, and swinging it, as well as yourself, through the air. Your hold slips as he spins, and you’re sent flying into the house, barely managing to cushion the impact with wind.
“JOHN, STOP FUCKING AROUND AND GET NEPETA OUT OF HERE!” Karkat roars at you, as four men converge and tackle him to the ground. His scythe lies out of his reach, and he starts spitting and clawing, and it terrifies you that you don’t know whose blood is flying through the air.
“What in the world is going on out here?” A voice shouts from across the street, and you look over in alarm to see your neighbor Mr. Brinner is rushing to the scene of the commotion. Things are quickly getting out of hand, you do not want innocent people getting involved with evil government agencies OR the Egbert family’s new alien guests.
“You see John, all you had to do was come quietly and this wouldn’t have happened.” Droog looks over at you with a smirk. “Now I have to kill this nice man, and dirty his nice suit.” You jump to your feet and rush at him, throwing several furious punches, all of which fail to connect properly.
As it happens you focused on the wrong person. Droog is knocking you to the ground again when you hear gunshots, and look up to see one of Droog’s men opening fire on your neighbor. “A real shame, that. Always hate to kill off a man with good taste in suits. Almost as much as I hate to kill a woman.” He looks down on you with a smirk. “But this clearly just isn’t our day, is it kid?”
You hear screaming and look up to see Brinner’s wife and children running out to him. Then in another flurry of gunshots they fall to the ground not far from the first body. Droog watches the scene with a casual smirk. “All because you didn’t turn over your new pet.”
Your blood runs cold. You become deaf to everything, even Karkat’s furious yelling. The color seems to seep from the world like paint running down a canvas. All that you can see is the man in front of you, and the body he’s standing over, still barely clinging to life. You’re not sure you’ve ever felt this way before, but if you had to guess, you’d say this is what hate feels like.
The wind is responding to your hate rather poorly. You can feel the air rushing towards you, whipping violently around your head. Droog is looking right at you, no longer grinning. You feel look at the blood in the street, on the bodies, in the grass, and you just snap.
Droog throws himself to the ground as a blast of wind roars at him like a wave, but he manages to pin himself down by stabbing his cue into the dirt and clinging to it. You snap your arm and suddenly the wind blows from a different direction, picking up two of the bastards fighting Karkat and throwing them through the air. All the while, the wind around your head is growing more furious.
One of the men from before looks towards you and fires a handgun at you. The wind catches the bullet easily and sends it flying back with twice the force. The man seems to burst as the projectile punches a hole in his torso. You kill two other men the same way, before people start fleeing back indoors.
Karkat has finally shaken off the men fighting him and is crawling across the lawn towards Nepeta, using his claws to stay low. He’s yelling something at you, but you’re honestly too mad to hear it.
You’ve stopped listening to Karkat altogether, and are focusing on Droog again. His hat is missing, his jacket snapping in the wind, but his face remains casual.
“Didn’t know you had it in you, kid. Though you’re so mad right now you probably don’t even realize what you’re doing. Still, this has been impressive.” Droog nods his head in acknowledgement, a move that only makes you angrier, before he stands up and pulls out an unusual pistol. “I’m going to take you down now though, can’t have you making the cleanup any more of a hassle.”
The gun fires out a bullet almost the size of your fist, but when you send another gale of wind at it you find that the shot is a polished sphere, like a cue ball, so that the breeze rolls off of it. You’ve barely slowed the shot when it hits you and knocks you clean off your feet, dislocating your shoulder and jarring you out of your angry state.
“It’s too big and bulky to do any real damage, of course,” Droog comments, pocketing the gun. “Not enough firepower in such a small revolver to break through the skin. But it’s wind-proof, and can certainly stun you long enough to do my job here. I’ve just got to grab you and the aliens, take you back to the teleporter, and then oh mother fuck.”
You look up just in time to see your dad’s car fly into view, sending Droog spinning through the air and into the side of the house. Your father is at your side immediately, helping you to your feet. “Son, what happened here?” He whispers, looking down at you in alarm. You raise your head and see the aftermath of what looks like a bad horror movie.
There are three bodies lying in the grass, all a mess of gore that makes you immediately repulsed. You stare in shock, and look down to see that some of the blood has made it’s way to your clothing. Scattered elsewhere are the pieces that Karkat hacked off in the middle of his rampage, but the only bodies you see here are those of the three men you killed, and the Brinner family.
You decide to fall down and vomit. Really it’s the only sensible move. You killed three people. You killed them without so much as a flick of the wrist. And your father knows it. He’s looking at you as though he’s never seen you before. He didn’t think you were capable of such a thing. Hell, you never even dreamed of doing something like this before, but here you are, collapsed and heaving next to three human beings that you killed. Next to an entire family that died because you weren’t strong enough.
Suddenly the breeze winding around you picks up, as you hear a voice yelling. Karkat is curled around his friend, howling in panic. “JOHN! GODDAMNIT JOHN, HELP ME! SHE’S STOPPED BREATHING!”
Your name is Karkat Vantas, and you are done watching your friends die in front of you. This is what you were thinking not even five minutes ago, as you sliced half of a man’s hand off. You didn’t care that you were out in the open, getting beaten, cut, shot, all while being somehow even more out of place than you were back on Alternia. All you knew is that your friend was in mortal danger, and you weren’t going to let her die.
You were so sure that you were going to save her. You failed to save Aradia, you failed to save Kanaya, you failed to save Gamzee and Tavros (the fact that you weren’t aware of this until recently only makes the guilt greater), but you were not going to let Nepeta die.
Then Atticus Egbert drove a fucking car through the miniature warzone this yard had become and you thought that was it. The battle was over; your friend would be safe now.
This was what you thought until you got to Nepeta and held her in your arms and saw that it was too late. Nepeta’s wounds are horrible, multiple stabbing injuries to her chest and belly, all oozing olive green blood. You’re not sure how she lived this long, honestly.
That doesn’t stop you from grabbing her by the shoulder and calling her name, just praying that she will respond. And for a moment you think things would be all right, as her eyelids flutter open, she looks up at you and smiles. “Karkitty… I finally found you.” She raises a hand to you, sticky with her blood, and places it on your cheek, and the hope just drains from you.
Her hand is like ice, her touch so faint you can barely feel it. Her eyes are already closing as you clutch her hand to your face. You smile down at her as best as you can, but tears are falling from your eyes all the same. Nepeta is still smiling as well, her eyes closed, and you drop your head next to her mouth. You can’t feel or hear the slightest breath from her, and her hand, still clutched against your face, has gone limp in your grasp.
“Nepeta? Oh shit, Nepeta, wake up, don’t do this to me.” When she doesn’t budge an inch you start screaming for help. “JOHN!”
John is looking over at you blankly, and you notice the bodies next to him. When did those get there? After John’s neighbors got shot down everything became so crazy you couldn’t keep track of it. John’s dad is there too, but he’s trying to help his son while also figure out what to do about the sheer carnage that’s happened across the street from his house.
Jane is by your side before you realize she’s there, pulling you and Nepeta up. You lift Nepeta almost unconsciously (God, she’s so light), and follow Jane quickly across the street. Jane looks back and calls John over, and he follows in a daze. Then she starts looking Nepeta over, while leading you both upstairs.
“Her heart is failing right now, but as long as there’s brain activity we can save her.” Jane says grimly, having you place Nepeta on the same bed you first woke up in at the Egbert household. “John, I need you to push fresh air into her lungs.” John seems to shudder as he starts to summon the breeze. You’ve never seen him struggle to move air before, but now he’s throwing his whole body into it. He’s still in shock after killing those men.
“Karkat, you’re in the way. I need you to step back and let me work.” Jane pushes you aside and places her hands on one of Nepeta’s wounds, closing it with a flash of green light. She’s got healing powers. You never knew, but being John’s brother you suppose this isn’t surprising.
“Seriously Karkat, you need to go.” Jane looks back at you sternly. “Even with my life powers this may not work, so having a troll looking over my shoulder will not make this any easier.” You open your mouth to protest, but the look Jane gives you brooks no argument. You make a hasty retreat.
Mr. Egbert still isn’t back when you go downstairs to the den, but you notice that the glass from the window you broke has been moved inside, probably so nobody realizes somebody jumped out the window and into a firefight. You look out the window just in time to see the house across the way burst into a fireball. Mr. Egbert is surveying the blaze from the sidewalk. You hear sirens and decide to retreat to the kitchen until you can get news.
Two hours pass before Mr. Egbert finally comes inside. He’s in the kitchen immediately, and sits at the table across from you calmly, pausing only to light his pipe.
"Droog and his men got away. They had some sort of teleporter inside the house, they left a bomb in the sitting room and jumped through it. There's no sign they were there, save for a few bodies."
So you'll be seeing him again. You're not sure if you're angry or terrified, but either way it seems that the world has once again decided to fuck you up the ass. "And what about the police? How are we not swimming in red tape, there's no way earth houses just explode like that."
“Some old friends of mine helped us. After Droog blew up his house, we planted evidence to make it look like a meth lab. It’s a human drug producing facility known for violent accidents. As far as the authorities are concerned, Droog’s gang was involved with drug production, and they had a fight over money. The Brinner family was caught in the crossfire.”
“Are they all…” you’re afraid you already know the answer, but you need to know for sure what happened to the family that came out to help you.
“The wife and kids didn’t make it.” Mr. Egbert says with a sigh. “David is in the hospital with a punctured lung. I still don’t know what to tell him if he ever wakes up.”
“I see.” You look down at the table silently. That’s three more people dead because of you, not to mention the three men John had to kill to save you two.
“Your friend will be alright, Karkat.” you look up at Mr. Egbert and he smiles warmly at you. “Jane won’t let her down.”
You grin bitterly and look back down. “I know she won’t. It’s not exactly a secret that I’m the one who lets people down around here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Experience.” You mutter and get up to leave. “People around me tend to die. It’s something I’ve learned since leaving Alternia.”
“Why did you leave Alternia?” You stop and turn back to face him. His face betrays nothing, still with that same calm smile as before. “What was so terrible about your planet that you left it? You never did tell us why.”
“Alternia is a shithole.” Mr. Egbert cocks an eyebrow at you. “Sorry, but if there was ever a time when I was going to break the swearing rule this would be it. Alternia is the most miserable fucking planet in the universe.”
“Why is that?”
“Why is any shithole a shithole? Government. The planet is run by a dictatorship, with social status based on blood color. And I was as low as it gets. My red blood, it’s a sign that I am a mutant. A pariah, to be killed on sight. I decided that rather than wait around for somebody to kill me, that I should get the fuck out.”
“Are your friends mutants as well?”
“Fuck no.” Mr. Egbert clears his throat, though his face appears calm as ever. “Sorry, I’ll dial it back a bit. Anyways, mutants like me are literally one in a billion. The last time a freak like me appeared was so long ago that there are only a handful of trolls alive today that still remember it. I only know about this stuff because of a diary a friend of mine had.”
“So why did your friends follow you?”
“Misery loves company? I don’t know.” You sit back down at the table and sigh. “Sollux was a psionic, doomed to spend the rest of his life as a living battery if he didn’t run for it. Feferi was at the top of the hemospectrum, and had to kill the current leader if she wanted even the slightest chance of reaching twelve sweeps. Eridan left because he’s smitten with her. Aradia and Tavros are low blooded, which means there’s nothing good in their future on Alternia. Terezi and Gamzee just thought it would be interesting, and Vriska is so caught up with the tales of her ancestor the famous pirate that she just wanted to do it to stir things up. Kanaya just likes meddling in whatever crazy shit I get up to, probably so I don’t get myself killed. And Equius wanted to look after Nepeta.”
Mr. Egbert has no idea who any of these people are, but his face doesn’t betray this. He just watches you and nods, as you list off your friends, his smile calm. You feel better just talking to him, like you usually do (before you understood the human concept of parenting you were half sure you were turning pale for the man). Though his next question makes you pause. “And why did Nepeta leave?”
You look down. “She left because I was going. She’s had a stupid crush on me since we met, despite the fact that I’m probably the most loathsome fucker in history. She chased after me, ignored her high-blooded asshole of a moirail even though he could have given her a great life back on Alternia, and chased after me.”
Mr. Egbert hums thoughtfully at you, his smile more sly than calm. “Hey, don’t get any ideas, Egbert Senior. I do not like that look. No, put those eyebrows down, I swear, I need to stop forgetting where John gets this shit.”
Mr. Egbert laughs, a hearty chuckle that sends the wisps of pipe smoke dancing in the air. “It sounds like more than a crush to me.” You grunt at this. Truly you are the master of banter.
“Doesn’t matter, she’s better off without me.” Mr. Egbert quiets again, waiting for you to continue. “Look at what happened to her when she came looking for me. I’ve been cullbait since I was a wiggler, and I’m not going to drag anybody else down with me. By the time she wakes up I won’t even be here.” The words leave your mouth before you really think them through, but you mean them all the same.
“You plan on leaving her here then?”
“The FELT think she’s dead, she’ll be safe here.”
“They want my children as much as they want you.”
“They can’t touch your family, not with your connections and John’s powers.”
“She’ll follow you.”
You look up at him angrily, but the look on Mr. Egbert’s face chills you. He’s sending you the strongest look of stern fatherly disapproval that you’ve ever seen. “Nepeta will follow you to the ends of the earth, and you know it. She’s already followed you here from Alternia. Do you really think you can escape her?”
You shrink under the all-powerful gaze of Dad Egbert, your protests feeling feebler by the minute. “I have to escape her. That’s the only way to keep her safe. As long as she’s with me she’s in danger.”
“So protect her.”
“I’m not strong enough to do that!”
“Become stronger, then.”
“I don’t know how to do that!”
“I will help you become stronger.”
“I can’t let you put yourself in danger like that.”
“It’s too late for that.” You blink at this. “You’re already part of the family.” Mr. Egbert smiles warmly at you, the same carefree smile that John and Jane inherited.
The Egberts have been protecting you for months now, but you never really thought of them as family. The only family you’ve ever known was your lusus, but Crab-dad was picked off by imperial drones a few sweeps ago. At the time you just considered yourself lucky he wasn’t at home when they found him, but that hollow feeling never really left you. Still, the Egberts have come closer to filling the gap than anybody else ever has.
“I don’t deserve this.” You mutter.
“Nobody deserves the life you’ve lead until now.”
“That’s not what I mean!” You snap miserably. “I mean… this! Your protection, your friendship, your strange human disease called family, I don’t deserve any of it.”
“And why is that? Because you’re a mutant?” You were about to tell him that exactly, but Mr. Egbert’s stern face seems to leave you speechless. “Karkat, you need to stop putting so much stock in what Alternian society says you deserve. You are one of the brightest young people I’ve ever met, and you are worth more than any of the FELT. That girl upstairs can see this, so why can’t you?”
You have no answer for him, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He just gets up and walks over to the doorway. He stops before leaving and looks back at you sternly. “If you do want to leave that badly though, at least wait until she wakes up. You owe her that much.” He vanishes with that, leaving only the smell of tobacco to indicate he was here at all. You hear a piano playing (Showtime, the Egbert family anthem), and figure that he’s moved to his room.
The sound of music is ringing throughout the house as you leave the kitchen and walk upstairs. You stop outside John’s room, where Nepeta is being treated, and stand in the hallway.
“She’s going to be alright.” You jump and spin around as John smiles at you tiredly, having just left the washroom. “She’s breathing without me now, and Jane’s almost done in there.”
“Are you going to be alright?” You remember how shaken up John was after the fight.
John’s grin becomes fuller, though his eyes remain tired. “I think I just need to sleep on things for now. I pushed myself pretty hard today. He walks back towards the steps. “I’ll be on the couch if you need me.”
You want to ask further about him, but Jane leaving the room behind you takes up your attention. “She’s lost a lot of blood, but she’s stable now. We just have to wait for her to wake up. It’ll be a few days at least before that happens though.” She’s smiling, despite the fact that she’s clearly barely able to stand. You help her to her room, and then walk back to Nepeta.
Nepeta’s unconscious like Jane said, but her breathing is a lot stronger than it was before. You grab a chair from across the room and pull it next to the bed. You sit watching her for hours, as the sound of the piano becomes a duet, then falls silent as the low sounds of John and his father talking come up from the floor.
John will be all right with his father there to set him straight. And Nepeta is all right thanks to Jane. You don’t know if you’ll ever be all right yourself, but you want to stay all the same. Running away hasn’t solved your problems so far.
It’s time to see what happens when you face your fears.