A Guide To Medicine and War

11 - definitely didn't forget to update

"Quackity?" Sapnap asks, curled up between him and Karl.

"Yeah?" Quackity hums, waiting patiently as Sapnap stumbles over his words. He's nervous, which is fair.

He spent over a year thinking the two most important people in his life, the loves of his life, were dead. They were dead and it's like his heart was never beating right, like it couldn't. And Heorhr and Frean were there but it wasn't the same, because he loved them, but not like he loved Quackity and Karl. Dream and George he loves with all of him, with his brain leading the way. He loves them because they are them and he is himself and it works. They are friends, brothers.

He loves Karl and Quackity with his whole being, with every beat of his heart. He does not love them because they became close, he loves them because he has to. He loves them because he was empty and they filled the space, the space not even Dream and George could fit. He loves them because they are not them without him, and he is not himself without them.

Sapnap thinks he has a lot of love in his heart.

That's okay though. They deserve it, and so does he.

"Did you—how did you guys survive? I—I looked for you and I couldn't find you but there was blood everywhere and I—I—there was blood and-"

"Hey, take a breath Sap. In and out, you got it," Karl whispers, tugging him closer. Sapnap settles into the embrace, clutching Quackity's hand like a lifeline, doing his best to copy Karl's breathing.

"I thought you died?" He asks, voice shuddering. He turns, burying his head into Karl's shoulder.

Karl's heartbeat is steady, a constant thump that means peace and safety. It's steady and it's loud and it means everything. It means he's alive and okay, and maybe he won't leave Sapnap.

"Oh, Sapnap, we didn't die. We...they moved us. When we woke up, we were in cells, but they never did anything to us. They just made us promise to stay out of Essempi business and occasionally help them," Quackity says, holding Sapnap's hand.

"But, there was blood. And little bits of bone and it was horrible," he whispers.

"They...uhhh they used pig meat and blood. They told us, but this is the first time we've been able to see you to tell you."

"Who did?" Sapnap asks, calming quickly as he sees Karl start to get scared.

"The-the—"

"It was Essempi, Sapnap," Quackity says.

"What? Why would they—Quackity why would they do that?"

"They, well essentially they were the ones who made the bomb. But the syndicate saved us, they were the ones who left the pig stuff everywhere. And they made the deal to let us get out, and now we're here."

"Why would they try to kill you?" Sapnap asks, flexing his hands.

"We found out things they didn't want found out," Quackity says, frowning slightly.

"Obviously."

"We found out that they were—uhhh okay, do you know how a lot of soldiers come from orphanages or because everyone is starving?" Karl asks, glaring at Sapnap slightly. Apparently his sarcasm isn't appreciated.

"Yeah."

"Essempi has a store of food. They uhh, they pillage the towns, acting like the Syndicate. And they pay people in the orphanages to mistreat the kids. We found it out because we saw an exchange happen. And—"

"We were assigned to pillage a town," Quackity interrupts. "And they wanted us to—they wanted us to pay this woman to kill her kid. Her baby girl, and her son was supposed to watch. Apparently they've done it a few times before, and one of the kids killed his mom. And he was a real fighter in the orphanage he was sent to, and was gonna join the military."