Your name is Karkat Vantas and you have been trusted into leading your little mob into an old building known to crawl with the Felt. Slick had pulled you to the side and given you enough information to get to where you were currently, which was standing in the shadow of said old building with your three friends behind you waiting for your next order. It was nearing midnight but you were nowhere near tired. This would be your first real mission—not counting the ones you've been sent on before this moment because no, those didn't count, none of those times did—and you're large enough now to actually put up a fight. You hear Sollux huff behind you and wave him down, eyeing the exterior for any openings other than the garage since from where you were standing there was a tall, thin man against the side wall.

"Are we going to stand here all day, KK or are we actually doing to go through with this?"

You glare at Sollux, not ready for his smart mouth just yet. It was too early in the mission for that. "I'm looking for another way inside, numb-nuts, the garage is a no-go."

Aradia points a bit higher up on the building and smirks, "The window on the second floor is open."

You give him a look and smile at Aradia, "See? Already on the ball." The open window is actually kind of small and you're hoping it's not as tiny as you think it is. You lead the rest of your team into an alley next to the one you need to get into and scan your surroundings; Aradia's usually set as lookout because out of all of you she can be perfectly silent and move the fastest. You manage to get under the window and think quickly of how you'll make it up there. There are no dumpsters or garbage cans in this alley and that's stupid, there are always garbage cans and dumpsters just waiting to be moved. Figures you'd have to get the only empty alley in the city. The only thing you can think of is climbing on top of one another's shoulders and when you roll yours, preparing to tell Sollux your plan, you know you're not strong enough.

But you think a certain bull-horned troll is. Tavros hasn't said anything since you left the apartment and while he's staring up at the window you can properly analyze him. He's not taller than you, or shorter, you're all still around the same height but him and Aradia are a bit stronger because of the games they play whenever they have free-time. You think the perfect tower would be Tavros on bottom, then Aradia and finally Sollux on top because you're pretty sure he's the lightest out of all of you but Aradia's looking out for trouble and you don't want to bother her. You pull Tavros over and you're glad he doesn't complain, you weren't looking for a fight. You push him under the window and check to make sure he's directly under the opening.

"Okay, Tavros, cup your hands so I can get on your shoulders."

"You won't reach it." He said, shifting his hands to rest on his hips.

"You think I don't fucking know that?" You hiss, "Sollux is going to get on my shoulders once I get on yours and he'll be able to reach. Now move your hands, bull boy."

His face screws up as he thinks about what you've told him and he shakes his head. "I don't think, I can hold the both of you…" But he listens and folds his hands over the other, crouching slightly so you can get your foot up. You grab his shoulders though—you'll only admit to yourself—you were going to grab his horns. But you're not that kind of friends and you're trusting the two of you will never be. He pulls you higher and you manage to settle your left foot on his shoulder, holding onto the wall as you get yourself settled.

You reach a hand back and crouch, practically sitting on his head. "Okay, get up here like I got up and then I'll help you through the rest."

Sollux is laughing, you can see it in his stupid blue and red eyes but he shrugs and just like Tavros, he obeys and struggles to get up. You have to actually sit on Tavros head so you don't fall off and hook your leg around the back of his horn, wondering if it awkward for him. You snort. Of course it is, who are you kidding? You're sitting on your teammates head with your leg wrapped around his horn and your other foot is on his other shoulder—the one you have to move to get Sollux up here with you. Shit, why is this so hard? When you think you've got it Tavros lets out a low whine and trembles, he sways as though his legs are going to give out and you dig your nails into the wall.

"Don't you fucking drop me, Tavros." You're hoping you don't sound as panicked as you feel because damn it you just got up here and falling would hurt.

"I won't." he grunts, shuffling his feet and reaching up to grab your thigh. Sollux holds onto the wall and he wiggles on your shoulders, his butt brushing against your face as he tries to stand. Wow. That hurts. Those shoes are pointed and—fuck! "Are you at the window, yet?"

"Getting there, TV." He says, his voice is filled with humor because you know this asshole thinks it's the funniest thing to happen to you guys yet. You can't see much from where your head is against the brick wall and his skinny legs but he reaches up and fumbles with the window sill, trying to get a good grip before trying to drag himself inside. You hear a giggle and turn to see Aradia trying her hide her smile. You roll your eyes but you find yourself smiling too. You haven't even entered the building and you're already struggling. Slick would be ashamed. Sollux foot slips when he shifts and when you look up to make sure he'll be okay you get a face full of tush. You flinch back and Tavros digs his nails into your pants, cutting through the fabric and nearly breaking skin. Sollux stands again he's laughing, trying to quiet himself so you don't get heard and you just stare up at him.

"You little—" You reach a hand up and pinch the meat on the back of his thigh and he yelps. You're trying not to laugh and bite your tongue, "This is serious! We can't fuck up here!"

"Yeah, yeah," The weight leaves your shoulders as Sollux pulls himself through the window. There's a soft thud and you wait for him to pop his head out. Tavros let out a quiet growl from beneath you and you contemplate nudging him in the face with your shoe. Luckily, Sollux has showed up again to stop that train of thought and reaches down to pull you up. You stand on your toes, holding onto his hand for dear life. He starts to pull and you were going to give yourself a little jump but your foot catches on one of Tavros horn and he lets out a bark of pain as his head is snapped to the side.

"Shit, so—" When you try to set your foot back down it glides down his shirt and you pull it up higher. Tavros lets out a muffled wail when you kick the keratin and smack it into the wall. Your bloodpusher thrums in your chest and you just go with it, pushing off of the horn and into Sollux' arms. He grunts when he pulls you in and you two hit the ground. You're panting slightly and Sollux scoffs, returning to the window to look down at the two you left behind. Once your bloodpusher has calmed you join him and see the little brownblood sitting on the ground, patting and touching the battered appendage carefully. Aradia runs her fingers through his hair and speaks to him in a soothing manner, eyes full of amusement and sympathy.

"So how do we get them up here?" Sollux questions, arching an eyebrow.

You take a moment to look around the room you're in. It's dark and full of storage boxes, none of them open and shoved into every corner. You leave the window, inching to the door to get a peek outside. Sollux calls you back though and claws at a crate, pushing it to the side to get at an abandoned pile of tarps. They crinkle loudly whenever you move them—let alone touch them—but the two of you manage to bring one over to the door and hand it over the side. Aradia and Tavros stare at the blue tarp for a moment and Tavros urges her up first, staying on the ground to catch her should she fall. She begins to say something but falters and snaps her head around to the end of the alley and grabs Tavros. The two run down the opposite way and you yank up the tarp with Sollux, cursing under your breath as it rustles and warbles. When it's inside you back up against a crate and fight the urge to glance out of the window. Aradia must've heard someone coming and left.

Wait, fuck, now it's just you and Sollux. You rub your face and heave out a sigh, "The beginnings of something great." You mutter sarcastically, pressing your finger against your eyes.

"Don't worry too much, KK, it's not bad."

You give a small nod, "I guess—"

"There are loads more things that could go wrong tonight."

You stare at his wicked smile and shake your head, "Thank you. For your input." You stand, prying open the door into the hallway quietly and slowly popping your head out. The hallway is well lit and sand colored, the lights above flicker once or twice but you don't really notice it. The corridor is eerily spare but by the looks of the floor it seems like people pass through here frequently. Your nose twitches, aiming to catch anything out of the ordinary or any scents left behind. There are at least four people but the smells are stale and probably from an hour ago. You don't know. You're so terrible at scenting. You'd ask Sollux to help you but that would mean telling him you actually need help with something. You decided long ago scenting wasn't even that important anyway.

You creep into the hallway and briefly pop your head into the doors you pass by, checking for any sign of mannequins or dolls. Slick had told you he wanted a little white figure that may or may not have had pins sticking out of it. He said that doll would be great if you found both the doll and the pins, but said he's rather just have the doll if you could find it. On the trip over here, the others told you that their own adoptive fathers told them to look for certain items as well. Droog told Aradia to bring him number Seven's crowbar. Boxcars ordered Tavos to bring him number Twelve's egg timer. Clubs hadn't told Sollux to bring him back anything in particular because he was sure he would make him proud anyway.

Now that Sollux was free on responsibility he would have time to help you find that doll. Slick hadn't told you how large or what it really looked like other than it was white. It didn't matter. You'd bring it back to him. You wouldn't let him down again.

The upstairs had been free of anything important-looking so you found the stairs and lingered at the top. Sollux nudged your shoulder and crouched, sticking close to your side as you descended down a level. At the bottom a familiar man wearing a blue striped hat wobbles by. Ugh. You remember those teeth well. Those sharp fangs that jutted out from his bottom lip and those black eyes that never seemed to focus on anything. Number Ten shambled along, heading into a different room that poured out white smoke and the stench of alcohol. Sollux followed after him several feet back, allowing himself a two second examination before creeping back to you.

"They're playing poker in there, Eleven, Fourteen, Nine and someone else; I didn't see who they were."

You nod, "Okay, so there's at least six of the Felt here, counting that guy outside as a different person." You frowned at the next thought that passed through your mind, "I can't bring Slick back the doll if the number Six one isn't here."

He shrugged, "Then I guess we'll just have to bring him back something else."

You hiss under your breath, standing straighter and turning away from the room of gambling. Slick would accept it if there was absolutely no way to bring it back. He had to. Sure, you'd let him down again and there's nothing that makes you feel like crap as much as the look Slick gives you when you don't do as well as he hoped. It's that look of knowing disappointment. Like he shouldn't have expected that much. You grit your teeth and shake your head, "No, we make sure Six isn't here and if he's not we get to go look for him."

"I know you're upset, but I think our dad's would be more upset if we just went off without telling them."

You throw your hands up and bare your teeth, "I'm not going back to that look, Sollux. I'm tired of it." You turn and march into a larger room, this one still filled with crates but they're opened and lids and packing peanuts are scattered along the ground. There's a massive machine gun leaning against one of the crates and a mountain of ammunition next to it. Sollux quietly pockets a handful and drifts into a different room, leaving you on your own. You struggle to pull yourself on the edge and rummage through the contents, pushing aside the smaller guns and random tools. A short time passes where you just go through the crates, taking bundles of bills you find on top of some of the boxes. Other than the money you don't find anything of value. Droog has guns, Slick has knives, there's nothing here that could possibly be useful to the Midnight Crew and you settle yourself back on the ground.

You head in the direction of where Sollux had left and he's on a laptop, gray face lit blue from the screen and you stand next to him. "What are you doing?"

"Going through their information and folders."

You don't say anything else and leave. He already seems distracted. Your mind goes back to Aradia and Tavros and you tell Sollux you're going to look for a back door. He nods and scoots himself into a small space between two crates, hiding himself nicely as you begin searching. There are too many open spaces in this building and it takes you about five minutes to find the emergency exit. The door begins to open even before you get to it and you dart under a pile of packing peanuts before whoever it is can see you. You clear out a little hole for you to see out of and an irritated man enters, a red hat perched on his head with a number seven. He twirls the crowbar in his hand and snaps it against a crate. You nearly scream at the noise it made and you're glad that at that moment your body decided to freeze up in terror.

He scans the room and snarls, the noise isn't human, it's animalistic and he's not happy. He starts calling out random things, "Eggs? Clover! Biscuits!" This human has lost his mind, you deduce. He only seems to be getting angrier the more words he shouts out. "Quarters! Stitch! Where is everyone?" He leaves the room and you crawl out of your pile, checking over your shoulder periodically to make sure he won't return.

When you prop open the door two sets of eyes stare at you in the dark from down the alley and you wave them over. They're quick to cover the distance and Aradia is the first to speak. "Where did he go?"

"That guy in the red hat? That way. Why?"

She nods in thanks and drops to a crouch, "That's the crowbar Droog wanted. I have to get it." She's already gone before you can argue and Tavros gazes about the room.

"Did you find the doll yet?" he questions, bringing his attention back to you.

"No, I don't even know if the guys here." You chew on your lip and sigh, "There's a third floor on this building, maybe it's up there. This stupid place doesn't have anything important. The most pricey thing I found was actual money. What the hell are we going to do with that? Nothing. They already have money."

"At least it's something." He offers.

You're in no mood for sympathy. "Yeah, well, that isn't what I need. Number Seven is crazy so if you're going to look for that timer watch out for him."

"Crazy?"

"He was shouting random things. None of it made sense. Clover, Eggs, Quarters, I don't know."

His eyes light up, "Those are their names! Number Seven's name is actually Crowbar, Eggs is the one with the timer and that really, really big guy we met the first time is Cans. He was, muttering about them in the alley. Saying how they're, slacking off, and should be doing their rounds."

You frown and try to recall the names, "So there are about… eight guys here? If they're not doing their rounds then this place is free and we need to look faster. Go help Aradia or find Sollux and tell him to do something important. I need to go find that doll."

"I don't think, it would be on the third floor, all the lights are off and the windows are shut. Was anything on the second floor?"

You scowl. You're getting tired of all these questions. "No, there wasn't anything there." He looks like he's about to say something else but a quick session of thumps catch your attention. There's a short man coming down the stairs with a smile on his face, there's a purple number four on his hat and when he reaches the bottom he gives a little hop. "Shit." You retreat to the next room and nearly run into something. The something turns out to be a someone who happens to be tall and wore a bright red hat. His back is to you and his head turns to the side. You're sure he must've noticed because something flickers in his eyes. You can't go back though, number Four would see you. You've ruined this mission. It's all your fault. You're a terrible leader.

Red hat man twists himself and narrows his eyes, however, he still isn't looking at you. His sight is somewhere across the room and he cocks his head to the side ever so slightly and stalks over, eyes following something you can't see. It doesn't matter though because he hasn't seen you and you thank whatever is out there that you haven't blown this yet. You abscond to another room and you're starting to get lost, this place is a maze and looked so much smaller from the outside. You find yourself back at the staircase and yet another door opens, more gang members pour from the room, cackling and chatting to one another as they stretch.

Oh. There are more than eight people here.

You're not pretty sure every member of the Midnight Crew is in this building and that means one thing.

You're fucked.

You flee from the room and look for Sollux. He's not in his little hidey hole and—what is that man doing? Crimson number Three in the room with you again but he's still not seen at you, he's following some strange path and now he looks determined.

"Trace," a deeper voice calls from somewhere behind you. The man answers with a loud grunt and stops at a crate, staring inside for several long moments. "Trace, what are you doing?" This new man is hunched over, there's what seems to be a permanent scowl on his face and his hat is orange with a number five on the front. He wanders to his friend and digs his hands into his pockets, waiting for an answer.

"Do me a favor and look around, see if you can find him."

A shiver runs down your spine and you're backing away from the two, hoping to find anyone from your little team because you do not want to be alone any longer.

"Find who?" He asks and rubs his eyes, scanning the room. He stops on an area across the room where the machine gun rests next to the crate and meanders over.

"I don't know who he is." Trace confesses and follows a line to the next room. "But he's going through everything and making a mess."

It's you. You know for a fact they're talking about you. The thought terrifies you because you don't really know what's going on but you need to find your teammates. Fuck. Who knows how long it'll take to find them. Maybe this is why the Midnight Crew carries walkie talkies so this shit doesn't happen. You're so mad right now. This was supposed to go smoothly and now your cover is blown.

The man in the orange hat turns his head and follows the gun as if it fell over. His eyes flicker and he walks over to a door you hadn't noticed before and opens it, staring into the little spot at the bottom of the closet. While they're distracted you sprint across the space and loop around the rooms back at the entrance. The door to the gambling and smoke is open and you take shelter in there, eyes watering at the strong odor of the cigarettes and alcohol. The room is empty and your bloodpusher feels ten times lighter when you see a little white figure on the table. You scoop it up and stare at the doll; only two pins are in the figure, one striped red and the other yellow. You'd have to ask what the pins meant again when you returned to the apartment but for now you stashed it in your pocket and checked the door.

You had your item. Everyone else had better have theirs because it's time for you to get your butts out of there. "Sollux?" You whisper loudly, checking the spaces between the crates. "Tavros?" The lights flicker and number Four has returned. These Felt members are everywhere. This would've been so much harder had they not all been slacking off in the beginning. He has a spring in his step and whistles a lively tune, heaving himself on a smaller box and sitting comfortably.

Really? He was honestly just going to sit there? You scream internally and rock back on your heels, wondering about your other options. Something crashes to the ground and he cranes his neck to see into the other room and hops down. You follow after out of curiosity and see the machine gun laying on its side and the door to the nearly hidden door click shut. That was…familiar. You try not to dwell on it and make another roundabout to the staircase, jogging upstairs to the safety of the second floor. You're able to collect yourself while you try to remember where the second staircase is and something grabs your shoulder.

"Fuck!" You scream, twisting yourself and tripping over your own feet. Aradia stares down at you with a smile and you glare at her, "There you are!"

"Yeah, here I am." She brushes her hair back and offers her hand. You take it. "I wasn't able to get the crowbar, he won't let go of it. Do you know where Tavros and Sollux are?"

You shake your head, trying not to think of the worst. "Not since I let you two in. Someone knocked over the gun downstairs though, drew their attention so I could get here." You hear light footsteps approach from down the hall and you spot a massive candy colored horn before you even see Tavros peek around the side. "Get over here. God, you're terrible at hiding."

"No, I'm not." He snorts, relaxing his shoulders as he comes closer. "I'm very good at it." He grinned madly as he holds up a purple timer and clutches it tightly. "He was bouncing all over the place, like before, and I caught him in the bathroom."

You had no words for this troll. Aradia laughed, patting him on the head. The two exchange playful banter and you find the way to the third floor. The only problem is you still don't have Sollux and you don't want to continue without him. "Hey, did you knock over the gun downstairs?"

Tavros paused, "No, I saw it on the ground though."

You rub your eyes, "Okay, so Sollux was the one to knock over the gun and he's probably hiding in the closet."

"How do you know that?" Aradia questioned.

"Because apparently the Felt have fucking abilities like that. One of them, Trace, I think he was following me, but past me. Like, he was following what I was doing ten minutes ago. Then he asked this shark guy to help him and he went over to the gun and saw it fall and moved onto the closet. That happened before it did. So Trace can follow our past selves and yellow hat man can see into the future. Fuck me sideways this whole plan has gone crazy eight ways to Sunday." You can still smell the cigarette and it's starting to make you sick. It isn't even like the type the Midnight Crew smokes; it's some disgusting brand that's giving you a headache on top of the one you already have.

"Guys, this place is stupid." A voice heavy with a lisp comes from the corridor and you smirk. Sollux's chest is heaving and he shakes his head. "I hate this place."

"Tavros and I have what we need." You wave the doll and there's an unbidden smile on your face. You head higher to the third floor, just to see what it has, and you're kind of disappointed to find most of the rooms empty. There are small pods in the last two rooms across from each other and you cautiously approach one, marveling at the green glow that comes from all around the object. There's a single hole in the side but you can't really see out of it. There's a much larger hole on the top and when you stretch on your toes you can see inside. "What is this stuff?"

Sollux comes closer and slowly dips two fingers in it, bringing it to his face to give it a curious sniff. He stares at the green ooze. He leans over and smears it across your forehead, it's warm and goopy and you're prepared to curse at him. You don't know what this is! How dare he wipe it on you! What if it's poisonous or acidic or…or perfect and lovely? You feel your muscles relax and worry and excitement drain from your body, only leaving behind a peaceful, relaxed feeling. You touch your forehead and gather some of the slime, rubbing it between your fingers. You don't remember the last time you've felt so serene. "I don't know what this is…but I want it."

Sollux nods eagerly beside you, his face partially covered in the goop. "I haven't seen this before. I don't think this is human stuff…" He stares into the pod and it's like he tries to be upset but can't. "Is that another troll?"

You frown at his inquiry and peer deeper into the ooze. Now that you're closer and comfortable with this substance do you see a dark figure under the fluid. It moves and the little viewport on the side is now cleared away. From the new spot you can definitely see a troll-like creature in the ooze. No. It is a troll. There's no doubt. There are two curling horns from the mess of black hair. It's a troll child. Just like you and it's suspended in that calming ooze. "Oh God, Sollux, he's dead. This green stuff? It's troll bits. It's parts of decaying trolls." You shake your head and make your way toward the door, "We must never speak of this."

"KK, wait, I doubt that. Why is it green? Especially this green? I think…I think he's just sleeping." He crouches next to the view port and stares at the peaceful face. He glances back at you and smiled, "Yeah, you're being stupid, he's just—" When he turns back, two large, yellow eyes are staring at him and he screams. "Shit! KK, move it!" You leave the room as the troll sits up in the pod, yellow eyes glittering with curiosity. If you had actually gone all this time without being seen, the record was now definitely broken. Tavros and Aradia are in the other room, they had been playing with the ooze that now caked their hands and face.

"Guys, there are trolls in those things and one saw us. We need to go." You leave, expecting them to follow and return to the staircase. Your feet turn to stone as Trace grasps the handrail at the bottom. You turn on your heel and Sollux crashes into you, you twist him around and shove him into Aradia, "No you stupid fucks, turn around. Turn around!" Your whispering screams are efficient as they do turn your little group around and into the room at the end of the hall. There's a ladder stretching to a small ledge and you climb up first, scouting out the tiny spot and pushing open the metal door at the top. A chilling breeze causes you to shiver and you're on the roof.

Everyone files behind you and you shut the door, your thinkpan churning for ideas. Everyone waits patiently and you walk over to the edge, staring at the ground three stories below. "We have to jump." The space between the building you are currently on and the one next to yours is a couple feet, but you're not human. You can jump farther and run faster. You mentally prepare yourself. You're better than humans. Sure, you're still young, but this should be no problem. You stand next to Sollux a few feet from the edge and grind your teeth together.

Tavros and Aradia step forward, "Team Charge." They cheer and butt heads together, hard enough to make a noise but not enough to actually hurt. They take off running at the same time and hop onto the ledge, using the momentum to carry themselves forward. They both hit the edge of the building and you could hear them wheeze. Aradia is the first to pull herself over and aids Tavros. They turn to you with excited smiles and dirtied faces.

"We can do this, KK." Sollux says, rolling his shoulders and twisting his legs. "And if we don't at least we tried."

"Damn it, Sollux, that's—" The door behind you opens and it's Trace, he looks angry and confused, eyebrows drawn together and a stern scowl on his face.

You take off running with your best friend and falter at the end, your fear catching up to you. Your hesitation caused you to completely miss the edge and simply hit the side of the building. Pain shoots all across your face and something sharp and hot seizes your body. You'd flinch if you could move, but you can't. You find yourself rising into the air and over the edge, landing ungracefully on the rooftop. Sollux is panting and holding his head, he looks up long enough to flash a smile and say, "I always got your back."

You're not sure what happened and you're going to ask once he doesn't look like he's going to throw up. Trace is on the opposite rooftop, staring silently at you. You try to ignore him and sling an arm around Sollux' shoulders, pulling him closer to the center of the roof. You did it though. You will finally make Slick proud. You don't care if he doesn't smile or anything, if he doesn't it's all the more proof he's proud and there's nothing he can say to make you think otherwise.

"No." Tavros voice has dropped an octave and he blanches. He turns his pockets inside out and shakes his head, "No. No no no no no." He pats his pants and turns around, "Where's the timer? Do you guys see it anywhere?"

"It might've dropped out of your pocket when you hit the ledge." Aradia suggested, pointing back to the side.

Your own worry causes you to check and your blood stops when you don't feel the soft plush. You empty out your pockets and run over to the side, "Please. Oh please, fuck no."

Tavros hadn't said anything since he stopped at the edge and you peek down, expecting to see a little white figure and a purple timer, and you do see them. They're in the hands of the man with an orange hat, he stares up at you and turns, heading back inside the building. Trace has left and you fall back, staring into the starry sky. "Why?" Your voice cracks and Tavros sinks to the ground beside you, curling in on himself. "Why did that have to happen?"

Back at the apartment the adults are in the kitchen/living room and Slick crosses his arms, raising a single eyebrow. "So, how'd you do, kid?"

You shake your head, "I…we did really well…"

"Do you have the doll?"

You can't look at him; you know that look is already setting in. He knows the answer. "No. No, but I had it! I had it right up until—"

"Karkat," he cuts you off. He won't continue until you look at him and when you do it's not that look, it's a cocky one. "Do you have the doll?"

"No."

He shrugs, "Okay then, no excuses. No buts. You either have it or you don't." He turns on his heel and you frown. Your chest hurts. You let him down again. Droog and Bocars have their own disappointed look in their eyes but it quickly leaves, they tell their trolls they did a good job and ask them for details on how it went down. Sollux rummages in his pocket and pulls out his handful of ammunition. Clubs beams and gives him a brief hug, examining the shells closer. The one man who didn't ask anything of his troll had actually gotten something back. You snort and turn, heading to your room after Slick to rest because the whole thing was tiring and you're feeling drained. Slick is sitting at his desk, counting his money and you hum, pulling the bills you had taken out of your pocket and handing it to him. You had nearly left it on the roof and a couple of them had flown away but it wasn't like it mattered much.

"Got this from there?" he questions, counting quickly.

You nod and remove your shirt, folding it up before you set it on the side table. "Yeah, when I was going through the crates. I found guns, tools, some furniture pieces, red sticks and money. I took some of the money. There you go." When you wiggle out of your pants you half-heartedly fold them and set them aside, crawling under the blankets. Your eyes shut the moment you're comfortable and you listen to the chair squeak. He comes over to you and you feel his warm hand brush through your hair, pushing it out of your face.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've only gotten my hands on that doll once. I didn't expect you to bring it back. You need to know that yeah, you may have been close, but you still failed. You have to know that there is no in between, it's either you did or you didn't. And it's fine. Just do better next time." He pats your cheek and when you barely open your eyes he's seated again and counting the money you brought him. "You brought everyone back alive. That's all that really matters." He clicked his tongue and smirked, "I'm proud of you, kid."

As he finishes whatever he's doing on his desk you squeeze your eyes shut and try to hold back the tears you desperately want to release. He cares. He understands. He's proud of you and that's all you've ever wanted to hear.