Author's Note:

Here it is! The last chapter of A Bone to Pick! I've decided not to go any further than this, because, well, this just seems like the place to wrap things up. A biiiiig thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed or otherwise supported the story, because I really wouldn't have been able to finish it without you ^^ You guys are awesome.

P.S.: I noticed that some of you people wanted KatNep, so, well, I'll throw something in there. Might not be much, but, um, yeah. c:

Without further delay: the conclusion!

CHAPTER TWELVE:

Closure

After they'd finished patching up Kankri's knee, the assistants of Dr. Maryam were promptly dismissed once they'd cleaned up the area. Karkat looked up as the assistants filed out of the room, leaving only him, his older brother (who had been rendered unconscious once again by anesthesia), and Doctor Maryam in the room together. The woman pulled up a chair next to Karkat and sat down in it, a look of seriousness in her eyes that held his gaze, even when he wanted to look away.

"Your brother will be fine," she began, and Karkat's eyes brightened despite the doctor's tone. "However, it is very likely that he will be walking with a limp for the rest of his life." His face fell once more, and he looked down at his feet as she went on. "Kneecapping is very painful. It is a wonder that he was able to handle himself the way he did. It could have been much worse. In some cases, amputation is necessary. He is lucky to be able to keep his leg." Another pause. Karkat shifted uncomfortably. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was responsible for his brother's injury, although in reality that didn't make very much sense. But, in Karkat's reasoning, if only he could have stopped his brother from making that one outburst-

"I can only assume that this is the work of Ms. Serket." Karkat looked up in surprise when the doctor said this. How did she-

"Ah, yes, I do know most everything about Mr. Makara and his ilk. And I do know, from what he's said, that she has a very short temper, and is rather... trigger-happy, if you will. Furthermore, he's also told me that she enjoys the whole process of 'kneecapping'. If I had to guess, I would say it was because she is quite the abysmally sadistic person."

Karkat nodded mutely, still trying to process the fact that Dr. Maryam apparently knew all about the mob and their goings-on. Did that mean that she knew about his dad? No, she'd asked him about his father before Kankri's treatment... Had she been faking ignorance before he showed her Mr. Makara's note? Did all of his classmates' parents have some kind of extensive network of relationships?! How many other of them were involved in crime? Terezi's mom obviously was not, neither Nepeta's or Kanaya's (as far as he knew). But what about Sollux's dad, or Tavros's, or Aradia's mom? What if Kanaya's mom was actually an outlaw, and she was just putting up this act because Mr. Makara told her to? Had Mr. Makara planned to get rid of them this way?

Dr. Maryam patted him softly on the head, interrupting his frantically cluttered mess of thoughts and assumptions. "I understand that this is all quite confusing, how we are all acquainted and such, but I assure you, I most certainly am not a criminal, and Mr. Makara knows that I have no intentions of becoming one. I am a healer; not a killer, unlike some of the other contacts I know to be associated with his... comrades. In any case, please understand that your brother is safe while in my care."

The Vantas boy blinked. "How long is he gonna be staying here?" he inquired, nervously tugging at the ends of his own sleeves. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to stand being separated from his sole surviving relative for more than a couple of days or so, as much as he was loathe to admit it to himself.

The kind doctor smiled warmly and tilted her head to one side. "As I said before, Kankri is very lucky for one with an injury of this particular kind. We were able to do what we could to set most of the damage on the path to healing, and his body will have to naturally take care of the rest. This won't take very long- that is, it won't take as long as the average person with this sort of injury; he will only need to stay here for about four or five days, I estimate."

Although she delivered this news as though it were to be relieving, all he felt was his heart sinking into the depths of his gut. Four or five days, the doctor had said. He wasn't sure he could last that long without his older brother while he was still recovering from all that had just taken place. As much as it wounded his pride, he knew that he just wouldn't be able to deal with not having his brother around, for once. He needed a shoulder to lean on, whether he would admit it to himself or not. Karkat's father had left a void in his heart when he died, and, although it could never be truly healed again, the least he could do was look to his brother for support, and in return, be a figure of support for his brother when he needed it.

Karkat sighed, feeling just so... tired. This whole ordeal had taken a giant toll on him, and he was just ready to curl up and stay asleep for the next eternity. Dr. Maryam seemed to sense his weariness, and she rose, once again pausing to pat his head once. "I will leave you alone with your brother now. It should not be much longer before he wakes up. I will be a few rooms down if you need me, so you only need to call." She walked to the door before turning around one last time. "Would you like me to send in your companions? They might be worried about Kankri as well, or you, for that matter."

He shook his head. The less people around him at the moment, the better. "But, um..." he murmured quietly, "...Could you just tell them that Kankri's okay? And that... I'll be out soon. I just wanna talk to him for a little bit when he wakes up."

She nodded, understanding as usual. Karkat couldn't resist a vague smile. "Of course, Karkat," she said before she left, closing the door to the room behind her. He sighed in relief and rose from his seat to pull the chair closer to the bed his brother was lying in. He sat again, and took a closer look at Kankri's face. It appeared healthier than when they'd first arrived at the hospital, and Karkat supposed he had to be thankful for that. He looked a little bit closer, scrutinizing his brother's face, and noticed, peeking between his bangs, a secluded purple bruise near one of his temple, most likely acquired when the late Mr. Zahhak had pistol-whipped him. Karkat narrowed his eyes, pushing the thoughts of the dead man from his mind, as they would only get him to thinking about his father again. Whoops- there they were. Those damn thoughts.

Karkat remembered an event that he hadn't thought about in a very long time: his birthday. His sixth birthday. He hadn't had very many friends at the time (in fact, he only had one: Gamzee), so in lieu of a backyard party with dozens of little impish kids running around, his father decided to take him and Kankri to the zoo. At first, Karkat was a little averse to this idea. But, when they'd got to the zoo, he immediately took a liking to the crab exhibit. He remembered sitting on the bench, watching the crabs walk around for about an hour. In retrospect, he probably had freaked out a lot of people, because, well, what kid has an hour-long attention span? But he'd done it, and his father and Kankri stayed with him the whole time, because they'd wanted him to have fun, of course.

Karkat bit his lip. How could he not have noticed how kind and loving his family was? Instead, for the majority of his life, he deluded himself into thinking that they were there only to bother him. And, just to show how thankful he was for having such a kind and loving family, he made an ass of himself when his father decided that it was time for him to be happy for once, and settle down. He put a hand to his temple, face flushing hot. How could he have been such a-

"Karkat..." a weak murmur brought him back from his self-loathing. He looked up sharply. Kankri's eyes were half-lidded, and gazing up at him from the bed. His brother seemed out of sorts, naturally, but Karkat could only assume that even feeling a tad weary from the anesthesia would stop his brother from being a motormouth.

"Kankri!" the younger brother gasped. "You're awake! How are you feeling? How's your knee doing? Do you need anything? Water? You sure? I can go get you so-"

"Karkat!" the older shushed the younger with a voice that seemed a tad different than usual- a bit raspier, less matter-of-fact. "Calm down, if you please. I'm very much okay, save for the fact that my left leg is currently out of commission. Did the doctor inform you how long it would take for my appendage to return once again to working order?"

Karkat looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly together, resting on his lap. How was he going to put this? Was he just supposed to tell his brother that his leg was fucked up forever? He'd be limping for the rest of his life? Was it his place to tell him that?

His eyes darted around for a moment before they finally came to rest on his older brother, who was still expecting an answer. Karkat tried to put on his most convinceable smile. "Yeah, she sai-"

"It's nothing good, is it?" Kankri sighed and looked away. "Based on your hesitation and the inflection of your voice, I believe it is reasonable of me to surmise that my leg won't be returning to working order, yes?" Karkat could only nod.

"B-but look at it this way," Karkat began again, trying to cheer up his older brother in any way he could. "The doctor said that you'd be able to leave the hospital in, like, four days. So, you'll be up and walking in no time!" He tried his best to appear enthusiastic, which was rather difficult for him to do (he hadn't had much practice; he wasn't Nepeta, for crying out loud).

Kankri simply nodded. "So I suppose I'll just have a ridiculous limp for the rest of my life, huh?"

"Well-" Karkat started, trying to remain positive, but he slouched down in his chair, heaving a sigh. "...Yeah. I... I'm sorry, Kankri."

Surprisingly enough, his older brother turned back to him and smiled. "No, no, it's quite okay. I mean, I suppose some not too major adjustments are in order, but I can assure you that I will manage. After all, there are some worse off than myself, and I suppose that I need to stop this foolish self-pity and check my privilege. After all, things could have turned out much worse than they did. For example, more people could have been killed, maybe even myself, and that would leave you all alone in the world. But nope! We are considerably lucky, given our ordeal, young brother, and we both need to remember that."

Karkat found himself nodding and, surprisingly, smiling along with his older brother, the only person left on this earth that he could call true family. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed, glancing down at the clean tile floor again. After a pregnant pause, he hesitantly ventured, "Kankri, I... I'm sorry for flipping out on you back in the basement. It was pretty stupid of me to still think that Dad was still alive..."

He shook his head. "Not foolish at all. You were simply emotionally scarred, and one part of your mind could not process what the other already had. As such, you were conflicted between what you wanted to delude yourself into believing was the truth and what the fact of the matter actually was. So no, Karkat, you yourself are not at fault; it was a very reasonable reaction, and I'm quite certain that there are many other people who would have responded in the exact same way." His brother looked away before going on, quieter this time. "In fact... I am the one who should be apologizing. I forced reality onto you before you were completely ready to accept it, and in such a way that was highly triggering, I suppose. In retrospect, it probably would have been for the greater good if I hadn't been the one to break the news to you. Perhaps if Ms. Leijon had, then things would have gone much smoother. I overreacted because, very much like you, I was coming to terms with the fact that Father was gone. I did not want to believe it myself, but when you brought the subject up again, I found that it was a futile endeavor to attempt to restrain my emotions, so they burst forth- like a dam, if you will, and-"

Kankri stopped speaking as he looked back over to his little brother. He smiled slightly in amusement. Karkat had fallen asleep sitting up, eyes closed and head tilted downward. He laughed softly to himself for a moment. His kid brother was quite the character.

Footsteps approached, and soon Ms. Leijon entered the room. Upon seeing Karkat, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed fondly, shaking her head slightly. "We were getting to be worried about him," she said, looking at Kankri. "The doctor informed me that it shouldn't be much longer before you're out of here. I'm happy to hear that." She smiled. "Hopefully, by then, we'll have gotten a home situation at least partially worked out." The woman sighed again, not so happy this time, and looked away. "I can't speak for the Zahhak boys, though. I had a talk with Horuss, and he said that he would try to find a way to take guardianship of Equius so that he wouldn't be taken away. He's no longer a minor, after all, but I wish him the best of luck." She tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "I can't imagine how hard it must be to be separated from a family member like that."

Kankri nodded in agreement. For once, he stayed silent for a moment, mind hard at work. After a little bit, he piped up, "What do you suppose will happen to me and Karkat?"

Ms. Leijon looked back at him. "You two will always have a home with us, you know. As far as the legality of it all, I would be happy to find a way to take you both into my custody, if that is what you want. Kankri nodded again, this time in careful consideration.

"I believe that that would be the best option at this point. I mean, it is not to my knowledge that we have any other relatives currently capable of caring for two teenage boys. So, I give my assent on the matter, and I believe that, when Karkat comes to, he will as well."

The woman clasped her hands together and sighed. She had quite a bit of work to do. Better start sooner rather than later, she supposed. Ms. Leijon placed a hand on the sleeping Karkat's shoulder and shook him gently to rouse him. "Karkat? Karkat? We're going to go to Mr. Makara's house now, so you have to wake up."

Kankri observed as his brother was gradually reintroduced to the waking world. Karkat blinked furiously in an attempt to gather his bearings once more, then turned to Ms. Leijon, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "We're leaving... now?" he asked groggily, and the woman nodded and began to help him up from his seat.

Once standing, Karkat looked back at his brother, lying on the hospital bed. "Kankri... Bye..." The older of the two waved weakly. "I'll be fine, Karkat, don't worry," he reassured his brother. "I'll be seeing you in a few days."

With that, the woman led Karkat to the door, removing her hand once she knew he was completely awake (didn't want him blowing another fuse, especially not right then), and the two left Kankri alone in the hospital room. As they met up with the others in the lobby, Karkat felt a small twinge of fear for his brother. What if he really wasn't safe in that place? He couldn't stand the thought of losing his last living relative, so he placated himself as the group walked back outside to Horuss's car with the memory of Dr. Maryam's reassurance that his brother was perfectly safe there.

They all climbed into the vehicle once again, Karkat once more opting for a third-row seat, and as they pulled out of the hospital driveway and into the wee hours of the morning, Karkat allowed himself to fall asleep for the third time that early morning.

xxx

As events unfolded, the captives arrived at the Makara house, as they'd been instructed. Gamzee, having been informed of their arrival beforehand, had thus prepared a guestroom for each. Meulin-Kurloz snogging was plentiful, and everyone did their best to ignore it.

Karkat, upon seeing his friend after the Ordeal, was conflicted about whether or not to throttle his best friend, as he had supposedly known that his father was going to be killed and basically that their whole little escapade was going to happen in the first place. In the end, the only thing that pacified Karkat was thinking of the consequences that might have occurred had Gamzee informed him of the upcoming abductions. He reluctantly supposed that having his father orchestrate their escape was the best his friend could have done, given the circumstances.

They remained in the Makara household for a grand total of twenty-three days; in which time an investigation was held by the local and federal police (Terezi's mom, Karkat knew, was also involved). This included Karkat, Kankri, Nepeta, Meulin, and Ms. Leijon all being questioned by officers (something Karkat is VERY GLAD he probably will never have to go through again). In the end, the only ones they could connect to any sort of crime were Ms. Serket, Mr. Ampora, and the late Mr. Zahhak. This cause Karkat to wonder how neither Gamzee's father nor Feferi's mother were apprehended. But, he supposed that, when you were truly in power, nothing could touch you.

Once the situation with the police had been sorted out, there was the home situation to be taken care of. Horuss, being the only other legal adult besides Ms. Leijon, began renting out an apartment where he and Equius lived while he tackled the legal guardianship business. Ms. Leijon was going through a similar experience during that time as well; she had taken Karkat and Kankri into her household while she sorted through legal business herself.

And finally, after about a year and a half, Karkat and Kankri, in the eyes of the legal system, had a new family.

xxx

Karkat ambled back and forth around the quite spacious attic, his room. He rather liked having an attic as a room, for some reason. Maybe it was because there was less of a chance that he'd be constantly pestered by people, that this room gave him a sense of being alone when he so desired it to, or maybe it was because he liked the view the large, circular window provided. For whatever reason, though, he liked his attic.

When the adoption process had completed, around six months ago, Ms. Leijon- no, his mother, now- had offered to move to a different house so that he and Kankri could each have their own rooms like the girls did. But they declined. They were happy in their respective basement and attic.

Karkat paused his pacing to peer out the window and admire the view of suburbia he'd become so accustomed to. He bit his lip as his gaze wandered over the quaint houses. Today was the anniversary of his father's death, the anniversary of the day his life had hit a massive speedbump.

Sometimes, he found himself questioning once again why his father had decided to break ties with the mob and cause this whole domino effect of shitstorms. That is, until he reminded himself of the reason (which, for some strange reason, he could never remember at will). It was something Gamzee had told him when he'd been staying at his house just after the Ordeal. Just as it was with the other mob bosses, including Gamzee's father, when Karkat's father died, one of his children would inherit his position, and thus carry on his legacy in the organized crime syndicate. It had struck Karkat a while ago that that was one of, if not the biggest reason why he'd wanted to sever ties with the band of outlaws. He didn't want either of his sons to have to grow up on the wrong side of the law, as he himself had. This often got Karkat to wondering what would have happened if his father had not attempted to leave. Would Karkat himself have had to take his father's place in the mafia? Or maybe Kankri? He shook his head, clearing it somewhat. It had also hit him, a while back, that Gamzee would most likely succeed his father, and join the mob hereditarily. It made him wonder how long their friendship would be able to last...

Again, he shook his head. He had always told himself before that he and Gamzee would cross that bridge when they came to it, and that's what he told himself then, too.

Karkat felt his phone vibrate, and he slid it out of his pocket and looked at it. A Trollian message. From Terezi, too. He couldn't resist a half-smile.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GC: K4RKL3S!

GC: JUST DOUBL3 CH3CK1NG

GC: YOU'R3 ON FOR TON1GHT, R1GHT?

Karkat's smile evolved into a genuine full-blown expression of contentment. Terezi knew that today was that day, and she had planned a little get-together with some of their friends. Karkat suspected she did this to help take his mind off of the Ordeal, but he could never be too sure with Terezi. He replied in the affirmative, then set his phone on his nightstand and leaned back up against the windowsill, continuing his intake of the suburban scene.

Normally, he would be talking to Kankri right about now, as he had done on this day the year prior, but his brother had graduated from high school and had since gone off to some university he'd been accepted to. He visited on holidays and breaks, but the separation really made Karkat realize even more so how much his brother really meant to him.

The sun was beginning to set, and Karkat checked his alarm clock. It was going on six-thirty. They'd planned to meet at seven. He opened the door to the attic and swiftly descended the well-used staircase, and made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he grabbed a comb and ran it through his sable hair until he deemed it satisfactory. Then, he replaced the comb, and took a step outside the bathroom-

Where he was immediately glomped by his little sister.

"Karkitty!" Nepeta purred, wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. He cried out in surprise, then retaliated by tickling her sides until she squealed and released him, laughing.

"Unfur!" she exclaimed, mock-pouting in her fake indignance. "You know I'm really ticklish!"

Karkat couldn't resist a laugh. "That was the point, dum-dum." He papped his sister on the head, causing her to giggle.

"Whatcha gettin' all cleaned up fur?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side and blinking her wide eyes curiously.

"Some friends and I are hanging out-"

"Ohmigawsh Karkitty canIcomecanIcomecanIcoooooome?" Nepeta squeaked, bouncing up and down a hundred miles per minute. Her adoptive brother crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, looking away and huffing in his usual fashion.

"I guess. If you're not gonna be too annoying, like usual..." he assented 'begrudgingly', and watched as she skipped around, crying "Yippee!" and such. Gosh, she was a fountain of energy.

As he headed back up the attic steps to grab his phone before he left (he couldn't remember why he didn't just stick it back in his pocket- curse his lack of foresight!), he heard Nepeta telling their mother where she was going. He grabbed his phone, stashed it in his pocket, and headed back down the steps, only to be met halfway down the hall by his adoptive mother.

It had taken him a very long time to actually get used to calling her his mother. In fact, sometimes he still called her 'Ms. Leijon' in his mind by accident, but not out loud anymore. Sometimes, he looked back and reflected on how he'd felt about the woman two years or so before, and wondered why he was so averse to her being his mother. And, after a while, he'd come to the conclusion that it was simply because he'd been reluctant to change anything about his life. But when he'd been forced to recover from all of those changes so quickly, he'd easily gotten over his fear, and thus had been able to settle into a new life as her adoptive son without all that much difficulty. And, in all honesty, he couldn't believe that he'd once felt any sort of ill will towards this woman. It was all, in a way, very ironic. Every once in a while, he'd wonder what his past self would think if he knew that, one day, this woman would legally become his mother, and he would end up being perfectly okay with it.

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, waiting for him to elaborate on his and his sister's potential whereabouts for the next couple of hours or so. Naturally, his new mother had grown very protective ever since the Ordeal, and that was something that Karkat supposed he'd just have to live with. It was for their own good, after all, and he had experienced firsthand just how beneficial a few precautions could be.

"We'll be fine," he assured her. "We're just going into town to hang out with Terezi and Sollux. And, I have my phone. Yes, it's on. If anything happens, I'll be sure to let you know, okay?" He lowered his head and looked up at her with the most innocent smile he could muster (as laughable of a notion as it was).

She smiled down at him, and then nodded. "Okay," she said. "Just... be careful, alright? And don't come home too late."

"Duly noted," he quipped not unkindly, moving past his mother, Nepeta falling into step with him just before he headed out the door. Karkat heard the two exchange goodbyes, and closed the door behind them both.

Then, he and his sister started down the street, heading for a cafe that had opened two years ago, downtown, and not too far from the library.