A/N: So, this is a very sudden and unexpected project that took hold of me recently. It popped up while brainstorming some ATE ideas with xDragonMuffins and Sapphirre98, and somehow, someway they have managed to get me to like the idea of an All Things End human AU. I've always said that I don't particularly care for human AUs, but the idea behind this was one that I really started to enjoy. Initially I wrote up a few scenes just for the three of us, but that quickly ballooned out of control and they managed to convince me that this is good enough to put up on here. For any new potential readers who are unfamiliar with All Things End, I highly suggest you at least read a good portion of Volume I before reading this as it is heavily entwined with the characterization, themes, and events of the main All Things End story.

The general idea behind this is that the human Courage of this verse has been institutionalized after a life of abuse at Eustace's hands. After having been beaten down and made to feel worthless so many times, he has come to view himself as nothing more than the dog Eustace claims that he is and has delusions about actually being a dog. I'm kinda running with a bunch of those fan theories out there that the events of the show never happened and are just the delusions of a scared dog, only with a human this time instead LOL. As for Computer, the things that were done to him by 'Him' have also occurred here, just under a wildly different context and circumstances. I won't go too deeply into it here because it's a big part of this AU just as much as it is for the main All Things End story. The big difference here for human Computer is that he's getting the therapy that his machine/dog-self so badly needs but will never get. LOL

On that note, I just want to say that this is merely a collection of scenes that are put together in chronological order. They aren't going to flow together perfectly. This will be a few chapters long, mostly because there are a few scenes I have planned out and haven't written yet. Maybe somewhere down the line I will flesh this out into a full story, but as I've always said, finishing All Things End is my priority and I just can't juggle two stories right now. Regardless, I hope you enjoy what I do put up. On DeviantArt there will be some art for this too, so go check it out.

All Things End: Recovery

By: Couragefan09

-First Meeting-

"Head on in, dear." The nurse urged.

Courage walked into the sterile room where two beds lay on either side of a single barred up window. He clutched the pillow the nurse had given him closer to his chest when his eyes fell upon his roommate. The 'difficult one' that nurse had muttered out under her breath to a second nurse she and Courage had run into in the hall.

"He's staying with the difficult one..."

Courage stared nervously.

His roommate was an older, haggard looking man with dark shadows under his eyes that only seemed amplified by his glasses. He was sitting atop his bed, reading a book, and he did not look up at Courage even once. He seemed completely content to ignore Courage even as the metal door was shut and locked.

There was the distant rumble of thunder outside as the dark window lit up briefly from lightning on the horizon. Courage swallowed fearfully. Muriel had said that this was the safest place for him right now, but nobody had told her that he'd be thrown into a room with another mental patient. This man, of course, had to be crazy, just like Courage. Because why else would he be here?

The one light overhead that was keeping the room illuminated suddenly went out. No doubt it was bedtime for the patients and they weren't about to let anyone have a sleepover party. Courage bit back a whimper. He had told the doctor that he didn't like the dark! Why had he not listened? They couldn't even bother to get a nightlight for his room?

Of course, having a fellow crazy person in this room, one that he could now barely see, didn't help much with his anxiety. He wanted to curl up into a ball and pretend he had once again been thrown into the closet, but Eustace's favorite closet was now miles away. Courage was now with someone who might potentially be even more dangerous than Eustace. A day or two of being locked in the closet could not compare.

The man on the bed let out a sigh. "I swear they're turning the lights off earlier and earlier every night. Do they think I need my beauty sleep or something? Those fools know how much I despise sleeping, but they never listen."

The man spoke with a surprisingly authoritative if not deeply cynical voice. It was not the voice Courage had expected to hear from another crazy person. The truly worrying thing was that the man was clearly ranting only to himself. In fact, he was still acting like his new roommate wasn't even there.

Courage could just barely see the man flop backwards onto his pillow.

"J-just stay calm." Courage whispered to himself, trying to remember the words of the doctor from barely an hour beforehand.

"You don't have to worry about him." The doctor had said after deciding to put Courage in this room with this patient. Courage had seen the nurse give a protesting look, one that had set his anxiety off like nothing else, and the doctor had tried to alleviate his fears.

"Fear not, my dear boy. His condition is similar to yours. He is more of a danger to himself than he is to anybody else."

Courage did not want to believe it. Eustace had always told him that he was only toughening him up for the 'real world'. He had always said that most people out there were far worse than him. While the doctors and nurses were nice enough, they were paid to act that way. This man he was now roommates with was the 'real world' that Eustace had always warned him about.

Since he was being ignored, he decided that he would ignore his roommate as well. Making his way over to his bed, without any shoes his feet barely made a sound on the cold floor. The nurse had forgotten to grab him a pair back in the laundry room where he had slipped out of his civilian clothing for the white hospital clothing he now wore. He placed his pillow down and pulled opened the blankets. They were surprisingly thin and rather stiff.

Another rumble of thunder made him wince. It was bad enough that he was in the dark with a person who's mental wellness was suspect, but the oncoming storm was only making things worse. He hated thunder and lightning about as much as he hated darkness.

The metal frame of the bed squeaked loudly as he laid down. It was such a horrible sound in this oppressive, empty space. Nothing about the bed was particularly comfortable, but it was better than the few places Eustace allowed him to sleep back on the farm.

The old man had been so angry when Muriel bought Courage a cot to sleep on, even though it would have been placed up in the empty attic where it would have not taken up much room. A stubborn man who hated to waste money, he had kept the cot but never allowed Courage to use it. Instead, Courage had been punished greatly for Muriel's kind gesture. One of the punishments was that he had to sleep outside for a week, and he had done just that. If he dared to sleep in the barn or chicken coop that made up the majority of the rundown farm that belonged to his family, he had to make sure he woke up early enough to head back outside before Eustace could find him in a place that he wasn't supposed to be.

"Dogs deserve to sleep in the dirt!" The old man's voice screamed through Courage's head, causing him to shiver.

"I shouldn't be sleeping in this bed." He whimpered out very softly. "I should be on the-"

"I can't believe they already brought in another one." Said that dry, cynical voice from the bed over. It was enough to snap Courage out of his spiraling thoughts and he tensed up with fear. His new roommate had finally acknowledged his presence.

"I keep telling those idiots that I don't want company! And I especially don't want the company of the mentally insane! Surely they get enough taxpayer money that they could increase the size of this hellhole by a few rooms!"

There was a squeak as Courage's roommate sat up.

"Look, whoever you are," The man spat.

There was the soft sound of his feet hitting the tiled floor.

"I am not insane, thank you very much. Let's just get that out of the way first. I am also not a pushover, nor will I entertain the whims of whatever delusions you have. Let me make this very clear. I am not trapped in this room with you. You are trapped in this room with me. And the sooner you understand that, the less miserable our time in this cage will be."

Courage tensed up even more. His new roommate was leaning right over him as he spoke in that hateful, dismissive tone. All Courage wanted to do was roll out of his covers and slip under the bed to hide, but it wouldn't matter where he went.

"I-I'm not insane e-either!" He stammered out, hoping that it might appease the man.

"Is that so?" His roommate scoffed. "Well then. Understand this. Don't ever ask me why I was put into this prison and I will afford you the same courtesy."

"O-okay." Courage whimpered.

There was a sharp crack just above his ear that made him involuntarily throw the covers up over his head, but it had just been his new roommate clapping his hands together.

"Good, good." The man sighed. "Now, I am happily going to get back to pretending like you don't exist."

In spite of his fear, somehow Courage managed to blurt out the words, "W-wait! Before you do that, s-since we're probably going to be roommates for awhile, c-can you give me your name?"

The man let out a hollow laugh. "I seriously doubt you're going to be my roommate for very long, kid."

Courage swallowed as his nervousness began to fade. It was clear that this man wasn't about to snap or do something horrible. He seemed to have his wits about him, for the most part, in spite of his mean attitude.

"That doesn't answer my question." Courage pressed.

The man let out an annoyed sigh. "It's Computer, you twit."

"Computer? That's not a-"

"You've got a problem with that?" He cut in. There was the hint of a threat in his tone.

"N-no! No!" Courage sheepishly laughed. He couldn't help but think of the old, unused computer that sat up in the attic, which he, of course, had never been allowed to touch.

"I suppose I should ask you what your name is too." Computer drawled, a squeak from his bed making it clear that he had just sat back down.

"Courage."

"Oh? And 'that' is supposed to be name?" He mocked.

"I-It's not my real name, it's just-" His voice faltered.

'No, no.' He thought. 'I am Courage. That's the name Muriel gave me. It's like Eustace says. I'm just a-'

He squeezed his eyes shut and somehow managed to force himself to focus on the reality before him.

"Remember what I said, kid." That Computer fellow chuckled. "I refuse to entertain any of your delusions, Courage."

"Says the guy who's calling himself Computer!"

The man laid down, followed by a cacophony of squeaks. "Hey, it's not a delusion if I decide that it isn't! If I ever get out of this place, I will most certainly be getting my name changed!" He laughed, and it was the closest thing to a genuine laugh he had managed so far. Of course, even this was tinged with an edge of cynicism.

Perhaps this 'Computer' wasn't quite as sane as he outwardly appeared. Of course, he wouldn't be here unless that was the case. Courage couldn't really judge him for it though. It wasn't like he was in much better shape.

The rain had finally arrived and it beat down on the window in sheets. Courage flinched at every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. He could not scream no matter how much it got to him and he had to fight with himself not to do so. He wasn't on the farm anymore. He couldn't just go into a blind panic like before, especially not with such a mocking roommate like this one who would no doubt laugh at him.

Unable to stop himself, he looked over at Computer, wondering if he was able to sleep through so much noise. The lighting flashes lit up the room long enough to give him his answer. His roommate was staring dully up at the ceiling. He did not look like he was anywhere near close to falling asleep. Perhaps thunderstorms scared him as well?

Courage couldn't help but ask. "Does...does it scare you too?"

"What? The storm? Of course not." Computer replied dismissively. "I just don't sleep much if I can help it. Our wonderful overlords say that I have insomnia but that implies I can't sleep when I just prefer not to."

"Why don't you like to sleep? I think it's pretty nice. My dreams are always a lot happier then, well...hmm. Do you have nightmares?"

There was a long silence only punctured by thunder. Then, finally,

"You're going to break my record for how fast I get my roommates relocated, you twit!"

End Of Chapter