Karkat sat up the moment he felt the train stop moving, eyes wide, all senses alert. A pair of bright green eyes stared back from the other side of the compartment, the single lightbulb faintly outlining a pale, chubby face and bunch of straight, dark brown hair. A sound came from her left, and Karkat glanced over, locking gazes with a tall, muscular guy, pale blue eyes seemingly burning holes into his skull.

"We are not moving!" A loud exclamation to his left- a slim young woman with a bunch of brown hair and a pair of green eyes matching those of the girl sat across of him. He assumed they were sisters. "Did they-"

"Meu, you're shouting again." The girl said, making soothing motions with her hands, before resorting to full-on sign language. "We don't know. We will find out."

The girl- Karkat realised with a pang of detached pity that she was deaf- nodded, biting onto her lower lip, leaning back into her chair. Then her eyes slid over, met Karkat's, and a small, surprised sound escaped her throat- could she really have forgotten he was there?

He made a small, waving motion with his right palm, left still clinging to the enormous yellow hoodie he was wrapped up in.

"Hi."

"She can't hear you." The tall guy spoke up. Karkat was almost disappointed with how deep his voice was- after all the bullshit he went through, the least the universe owed him was for the weird, muscular guy on the train to not have the most stereotypic voice there was. The least.

"Yeah, I can tell." Karkat snarled back, before meeting the smaller girl's eyes- she seemed nicer, and if he was to be forced into social contact, he'd rather have it be with her. "Can she lip-read?"

"She can." The deaf girl answered, and Karkat felt his cheeks flush, looking back up to meet her gaze. Her glare was intense, unyielding.

"Sorry."

Something broke in her irises, and she gave him a warm smile.
"It's okay." Her voice was a tad bit too loud, but he wasn't about to call her out, not after what had just happened. "My name Meulin, by the way!"

She stretched out a hand, and Karkat awkwardly shook it, doing his best to return the smile.

"Karkat."

"Hi, Karkat!" The shorter girl leaned over, grabbing his hand and shaking it with way more enthusiasm than any creature that short had right to project. "I am Nepeta!"

Karkat attempted to smile wider. Nepeta laughed.

"And this big old grouch is Equius." She gestured at the man next to her. "He might seem a little intimidating, but he's just like a teddy bear inside."

"Nepeta." Equius growled. The girl just laughed.

"Uh, hello." Karkat shoved his hands deeper into the hoodie's pockets, fighting the urge to bolt. No matter what Nepeta said, he had a feeling he'd never be on the receiving end of Equius' teddy-bearish side.

"Any idea what happened?" Meulin asked- this time, her voice was barely audible, and he truly hoped he heard her right.

"Uh." He awkwardly mouthed. He wasn't even turned in her direction. He sucked at this. "Lets find out."

And with that, he got to his feet, rolling up the sleeves of the oversized hoodie, approaching the doors. They didn't budge. He frowned.

"Uh." Another insightful statement, courtesy Karkat Vantas. The urge to mash his head into the train wall was almost overpowering.

"Locked?" Nepeta asked. He turned around, nodding.

Meulin shot her sister- sister? Lets go with sister- a panicked look. Nepeta hurriedly started signing something. Meulin didn't seem to relax.

"Let me." Equius stood up, demanding passage, and Karkat happily obliged, sliding onto the seat next to Meulin's. Equius studied the doors warily, gently gripping the handle, before exchanging a long look with Nepeta. Nepeta's eyes slid over to Karkat for a second, and she scowled, before looking back at the tall man and nodding. With a sigh, Equius gripped the handle harder, other hand resting on the top of the doors-

"Holy fucking shit how."

Everyone was staring at him- Meulin, chewing on her lips, Nepeta, daring him to make a wrong move, Equius, with the fucking doors in his hands he just fucking tore them right off-

Then it hit him. He slumped back into his seat, growling.

"You're mutant."

It was Nepeta who replied. "Problem?"

"No one's but his." Karkat shrugged. Meulin sent Nepeta another panicked look, and the later hurriedly started signing. Meulin's eyes widened, and then she was staring at him.

"You aren't human either."
He kept their gazes locked for an antagonizing second, before slowly pulling off his hood, revealing two small nubs poking out of his unruly curls. Meulin squealed. Nepeta grinned.

"Wha- oh." He sighed, dropping his face onto his chest. "All-mutant club here, eh?"

Equius gave the compartment an uneasy look. "We are all mutants."

"Yes!" Nepeta squealed back. "Isn't that- oh."

The realisation seemed to dawn on them all simultaneously.

"The train stopped mid-nowhere." Karkat voiced all of their thoughts.

Another shared look, atmosphere thick with nerves and suppressed panic.
Meulin was the one to break it, voice high and near-hysteric.

"We need to find the driver."

Karkat didn't have to be told twice.

***ooo***

Dave sat up, blinking the remains of sleep away. Rose was already up, sat upright, eyes wide and focused.

"Finally." She sighed upon noticing his awoken state. "You really could sleep through the apocalypse, couldn't you?"

"Hey, I'm awake now." He sat up, rubbing at his face. Then the full meaning of the sentence sunk in. "Wait, what?"

"It is hardly an apocalypse." The tall, slim, pale skinned girl next to Rose- Kanaya, was it?- tilted her head to the side, smirking. "It is merely that the train has stopped, and the compartment is locked, and Rose has been experiencing some unease."

And wouldn't you love to get her mind off of it. Dave bit back the thoughts- he might be an annoying younger brother, but he wasn't going to be a cock-blocking younger brother too- even if it wasn't cock that Rose was after too, unless it belonged to a very special lady, because, as Rose had told him in one of her drunken moods- "I am adaptable, I could make it work"- wait wait.

"The train stopped?" He leaned over, peeking through the window, already knowing it's useless- even if it wasn't three a.m. and the moonlight wasn't the only source of outside lighting, he'd still be wearing the too-cool-to-be-taken-off-ever shades, and they did make his night vision kind of non-existent. "Where are we?"

"Mid-nowhere, it would seem." Kanaya replied, leaning over herself, lips slightly pursed as she ran a hand through her short dark curls. "I do believe, however, we are not too far away from the Boarder- if we started walking now, in the right direction, we count reach Ontario by dawn."

"Yeah, and freeze our asses off in the process- did you see the snow?" Dave gestured outside. "Balls-deep, man. Balls. Deep."

"An impressive feat, that observation is." Rose replied dryly, obviously not happy with the way he was treating her potential ball-snack (just that Rose didn't own balls- there was a serious lack of female terms for casual sex). "Tell me, did you take off your shades while I wasn't looking, or did the rest of your senses finally decide that those ridiculous glasses make you almost legally blind and improved to make up for your self-inflicted disability?"

Dave made a hissing sound. "Aw, you cut me deep."

Kanaya chuckled, one hand placed over her lips- fuck, she was classy- light blush dusting her cheeks. Dave couldn't help but admire, and felt the urge to gift Rose with the highest of the fives- his sister did, and did well.

"Where's Roxy?" He asked, fidgeting slightly. This whole set-up smelled like not-good. And he had had more than enough not-good for his life time, thank you very much.

Rose gave him an exasperated sigh. "Must you ask?"

"Still at the bar, then."

"You look like you could use a drink yourself." Kanaya muttered softy, giving Dave a pointed look.

Jesus.

"Offering to pay me one?" He smirked, not at all surprised when both girls rolled their eyes in-sync. "No, no, I get the point. Lemme just join up with my sis- the nice one- and we'll continue our sibling bonding in the morning."

Rose gave him a serene smile as he got up. "I love you too."

He muttered something, grabbing for the handle, pulling-

Oh.

Well.

"Um." He muttered. He could almost taste Rose's patience running out. "We might have a bit of a problem."

***ooo***

"Well." Equius' wiped the small beads of sweat collecting on his forehead, and sighed. "This presents us with quite a predicament."

Karkat fidgeted in his spot, still attempting to disappear into his hoodie. "Yeah."

The four of them- the majority of the compartments seemed completely empty- were now in the driver's cabin.

Also empty.

A massive red M sprayed-on over the front window- he was sure the rest of the train was similarly decorated- they were in the middle of nowhere, driver-less and locked in, and their train was marked with the national 'mutant-beware' sign-

Yeah, quite a predicament.

The first mutants came out some ten years ago- people able to perform outstanding things, amazing things, using it to gain fame and fortune- Karkat remembered coming out to watch the performers with his brother, wishing he could be one of them. First anti-mutant societies appeared exactly two weeks later. First official anti-mutant unit soon after. Propaganda became a social norm two months into the new age.

Kankri's genetic fuck-up showed itself a week after the president announced that all the mutants were to be checked in.

"And never checked out." Sollux- his best friend at the time, his best friend since the kindergarten- had noted dryly. Kankri chastised him for being morbid and potentially triggering.

It was a year later that they officially acknowledged that Kankri was now a national mutant go-to, and that they had to change their living arrangements.

It was four years ago- the day Karkat turned thirteen- that he woke up with a killer migraine, a migraine that turned out to be actually deadly-

"They aren't that bad, KK." Sollux had grinned, palming his newly acquired horns. "They suit you. All short and nubby."

Sollux didn't realise he was a mutant until he turned fourteen- Kankri did some research, told him it's the same for all the psiionics- and the pair was inseparable ever since.

Sollux was caught and publicly executed exactly three months ago.

Karkat pulled at his sleeves, wishing for a millionth time the hoodie would turn into its' rightful owner, because surely whatever was happening Sollux could figure out- and for a millionth time, nothing happened.

Suddenly, Meulin was on her feet, sniffing the air. Equius and Karkat exchanged looks.

"Meu-" Nepeta placed a hand on her sister's- yes, they were sisters, Karkat was certain now- shoulder, before stopping in her tracks. The two girls exchanged a long, wide-eyed stare, and then Nepeta was looking at Equius, and he went rigid.

"What-" Suddenly, Karkat could smell it too- and god, he really was going to throw up.

"Gas." Nepeta voiced it. "It's a gas leek."

Well.

At least they were going to go with a bang.

***ooo***

Kanaya was the first one to smell it- she stood up, eyes wide in panic, breathing quick and shallow. Dave gave her a curious glance over his shades, and Rose stood up to place a calming hand on the other woman's shoulder, stiffening herself not a moment later.

"Shit."

Dave looked between the two girls, eyebrow raised in question- and then he could feel it too, the faint smell, sort of like-

"Oh shit."

"We need to get out." Kanaya was the first one to break the silence- she rushed to the doors, pulling at the door-handle, banging at the unyielding glass, a single sob managing to escape her lips before Rose pulled her away, sitting her down and taking hold of her shivering hands.

"Hysteria won't help." Dave could hear his sister mutter. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he looked away.

"Thank you." Kanaya whispered, sniffing. "I apologise for the outburst, I-"

"S'okay." Dave shrugged, peeking out through the glass-doors. "Now let's just get our brain cells working-"

And just like that, there was a face staring back at him, all wide-brown eyes and messy black hair and are those horns-

The face was saying something. Dave frowned.

"I said, move, you breath-wasting abomination!" The face screamed, and Dave frowned, staggering backwards. The nubby face was replaced with a tall, buff looking dude, who placed both hands on the sides of the door and-

"Holy fucking shit what are you-"

Rose and Kanaya were on their feet within a second, and soon they were doing the stereotypical fighting stance, all intense eye-contact and unadulterated tension.

Kanaya spoke up first- eyes locked on the short, horned guy.

"You are a mutant." Her eyes flew to the guy that has just torn the doors off. "Both of you are."

The short, nubby guy kept her gaze for a second, before nodding.

"And so are you."

Kanaya stood silent for a moment. Dave felt his eyebrows rise. From his peripheral vision, he could see Rose suck in a breath.

Kanaya finally broke eye-contact. "You are not wrong."

The small boy then switched to glare at Dave, and the latter almost flinched under the intensity of his stare.

"You?"

"Uh." Dave replied, smooth as ever. "No. Not human, I mean."

The guy nodded. "Alright."

"Alright?" Rose peeked over from behind Kanaya's shoulder. "This is a train filled with mutants, and-"

"Any other passangers on board?" Dave interrupted, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder. Exhaling, she relaxed into it.

"Two girls outside- mutants, also." The boy looked down, fidgeting with his ridiculously oversized hoodie. "We still didn't search the whole train, though."

And like that, both he and Rose were moving, pushing past the people crowding the entrance, and down the hallway, towards the bar. He could hear distant sounds of Kanaya explaining the situation, but could honestly not care less- he had to find Roxy, now- they had already lost Bro, they weren't going to lose her too-

She met them half way there- a mess of short, blonde hair, smudged eye-liner, and insanely long purple scarf- and she threw herself into Rose's arms immediately, hysteric sobs rocking her thin frame.

"Roxy- Roxy!" Rose wrapped her arms around her sister, squeezing her close. "Roxy, what happened?"

"The girl- train-" She pushed away, trying desperately to convey the message through frantic gasps and broken hand-movements. Finally, she gave up, pointing at the direction of the bar compartment. "Fire!"

That was the only sign he needed.

The doors were wide open- not much of a surprise there- and there was a guy lying down on the floor, neck broken in an awkward, nausea-inducing angle. Dave quickly looked away- sings of fight were inscribed all over the room, broken shards of glass covering the floor, smell of heavy liquor almost overpowering the gas leek.

In the middle of the room stood a girl- a woman, more precise, but she was so short it was hard to tell- long black hair pulled up in a messy bun, clad in a bright crimson seifuku, tight fitting pants torn at places, heavy black boots still covered in melting snow. There was a fresh-forming bruise on her left cheek, and her lip was bleeding slightly, but she was smiling despite it all- one hand pressed over her ribcage, blood seeping through her fingers, soaking the equally red fabric, the other held up high, gripping a-

Well, shit.

He obviously took her by surprise- plus, he was taller, and she was wounded- he had her down within a second, face-first into the cheap, alcohol soaked carpet, the small, crimson lighter removed from her hand and placed into his front pocket. She laughed- laughed- shouting something intelligible, and then went limp- it took him a moment to realise she had passed out.

He looked up then- Rose and Roxy were standing by the side of the entrance, staring at him with wide eyes, anger, relief and curiosity mixing together- Shorty McNubs staring at him directly from the entrance, the buff guy hovering behind him, supporting a short, excited looking girl on his shoulders. Two more guys were gaugeable in the background. Dave removed himself from the passed out girl.
"Alright." He cleared his throat, shoving his hands into his front pockets. "Anybody up for a drink?"

*A/N* Welcome to the gigapause, brother.

Uh, this fic is the thing I'm doing now, apparently, because starting new fics is the way I deal with life. Rating will most definitely go up.

All reviewers get a piece of land and a virgin.