(Catz: Sooooo, this isn't chronologically accurate. AU. There ya go. Don't go saying "but that's not even in the same sweep!" in the comments. Thanks, doll.)

"Get the FUCK OUT!" Karkat heard, stumbling out of the room and slamming the door closed protectively before he heard a wham as something hit the door. Probably breakable. Great.

He snarled to himself, walking into the common room. They were in the human Rose's house; all twelve of them and all four humans. Terezi looked up from her laptop to him; probably having smelled him as soon as he walked in. "Hey, Karkat," she said, her tone much more somber than her usual bouncy cackle. Everyone else turned to look at the mention of his name, besides Gamzee, who was passed out in his horn pile in a corner of the room.

"Hey," Karkat mumbled back, looking around the room.

"How is she?" Aradia asked, sitting next to Sollux on the couch, her voice soft with real concern. Karkat flinched at the tone; he knew Aradia and Vriska didn't have the best past, and weren't "friends" by any stretch of the word or imagination. But yet Aradia seemed to be putting that aside for right now, justified concern for the blue-blood taking over her. Taking over all of them. He bit his lip, eyes downcast as he responded.

"She…she's worse. And she won't let me near her." He muttered.

"How much worse?" Kanaya asked, sitting on the floor playing Scrabble with Rose. Figures they'd play that; they both had dictionaries built into their think pans.

"She's sweating like crazy," or like Equius, he thought to himself, but didn't add for the sake of the blue-blood who was sitting on the floor, a pile of gears around him and a wrench forgotten in his hand as he listened to Karkat's response, "and she's damn pale. She can barely talk without coughing, but yet she has the energy to throw a lamp or whatever at me from across the room."

"Hell, maybe if she's strong enough for that, she'll be fine," Dave said. Karkat shook his head.

"No, she won't be. Remember when Sollux got really sick a few weeks ago?" Nods, and he saw Aradia reach over and take Sollux's hand, squeezing it. The poor girl had been sure that he was going to die. "Well, that's what she has, I think. A human flu that we don't have antibodies against. And she's worse than Sollux was, because she hid it from us for so long like an idiot. And now, also like an idiot, she's not letting us help her."

"But she could die from a human flu!" Jade said, her eyes wide and her posture stiff and anxious. Karkat looked at her, feeling anxious himself.

"Yes," he said. "She could."

"Ugh!" Jade exclaimed, grabbing her hair in a fit of frustration and anxiety. "That stupid, dumb girl! Why is she being so stubborn? Why won't she let us help her?"

Karkat sighed, looking down at the floor. "I don't know," he said, truthfully. He was worried about the girl as much as anyone was; he wasn't exactly in love with all the shit she had done to all of them in the past, but he sure as hell didn't want her to die. And she was really sick, and only getting worse.

"Well, we can't, just, do nothing!" Tavros spoke up, sitting on the couch next to his four-wheeled device. His face was worried for the blue-blood as well, and Karkat felt a bit of admiration for the bull-horned troll; Tavros was concerned for Vriska, though he had the most reason to hate her (well, besides Aradia), as she had bound him to a chair indefinitely.

"I'm not sure what we can do right now. We might be able to do something once she passes out from fever or lack of energy." Karkat said.

"We can't wait that, that long!" Tavros said. "If she passes out, that means she's, uh, she's…" He trailed off, unable to finish.

"Near death, I know." Karkat finished for him. "But she won't let any of us near her. Even Gamzee got his ass out of the horn pile a little while ago and went in there to try to help her. She threw her laptop at his head, remember? Now we can't even pester her; she broke it like a dumbass." He eyed Tavros thoughtfully. "I think you're the only one who hasn't gone in her room, actually."

"Then I'll go right now."

Karkat sighed, exasperated. "Don't be stupid, Tavbro. She'll tear your head off."

"I'm going." Tavros insisted, swinging himself into his chair.

"Why do you want to help her so bad, anyways?" Karkat asked. He didn't mean it maliciously, but he saw Tavros flinch. He tried to justify it with explanation. "I mean, she paralyzed you, didn't she?"

Tavros looked down at his legs. "Yeah, she, uh, did. But still," he looked up at Karkat. "I'm not going to let her die now for something she did then."

"I agree," Aradia said, and Karkat looked over at her. "She's different than she was a sweep ago."

Karkat looked down at a determined Tavros and a roomful of worried people and trolls. "I didn't mean that she did. I was just a bit…confused." He sighed. "I know she's different now. We all are." He thought of how their time with the humans had changed their thoughts about killing others. A practice that was acceptable on Alternia was being questioned here, the thoughts and customs of Earth rubbing off on them. Not surprisingly, some customs of the trolls were also rubbing off on the four humans, as they talked about finding kismesis's or morail's now.

"At least take this with you," he said, disappearing for a moment and coming back with a damp cloth, thermos, and box.

"There's broth in the thermos. Probably the only thing she can keep down right now, along with those crackers in the box. Use the cloth for her forehead." Karkat instructed. "Good luck." He said, his words of blessing echoed by most around the room.

"Thanks." Tavros said, giving Karkat a smile and wheeling himself out of the room, down the halls toward Vriska's room.

He opened the door softly, wheeling himself into the room, carefully avoiding a cracked alarm clock on the floor.

So that's what she threw at Karkat.

"Vriska?" He asked when he was close to her bedside (they didn't have recuprocoons on Earth, though he didn't mind the beds himself). "It's Tavros. You awake?"

A head of messy, tangled hair rose up. A pale face turned toward him, flushed with blue right below yellow eyes that glared at him.

"Get out."

Catz: I think this is the first fanfic I've ever used the word "fuck" in. What a milestone!

I'm really excited to have a new fanfiction in progress; it's been way to long since I finished From Shallow Waters, and I've missed you guys! Missed writing fanfiction in general.

So I'm Homestuck trash now. It's official. Fight me.

I'll update soon as I can~!