"It seems like things are going well with that boy you like so much," Equius observed. Nepeta smiled.

"Yeah! We've been able to hang out more since the show ended. He's really sweet." Equius grunted. If only the Zahhaks had better luck. Equius seemed to be in higher spirits, or at least, less depressed, but as it turned out, his brother had been broken up with recently. Poor Horuss.

"That is good to hear," Equius said.

"Hey, thanks for coming over to help me out with my homework."

"Of course, Nepeta. I have noticed you falling behind."

"Well Mr. Dunlea took my fidget cube in math a few weeks ago because he thought I was goofing off but all he did was make it harder for me to focus!"

"Are you sure your current infatuation has not…" Equius paused for a moment, thinking over his words. "Are you sure you are not allocating too much time with Oliver, as opposed to your studies?" Nepeta glared at him.

"Do you think he's a distraction?"

"I think… you need to keep your priorities in order," Equius said. Nepeta made a small humming noise, but she supposed he had a point. She'd been spending a lot of time worrying about her relationships and how things with Oliver were going, and not a lot of time studying and doing homework and things like that. She was a pretty average student, but Equius wanted better for her, and he was being a good friend and helping her out! Especially since it was almost April already. Nepeta opened the door and Karkat was already on the couch watching something. He'd taken the bus home, and Nepeta missed it because she had to wait for Equius. He looked over at her in acknowledgment of her arrival, and she and Equius began unloading their backpacks at the nearby kitchen table. The first thing they focused on was math; that seemed to be where Nepeta was struggling most. Their phones were both going off incessantly during their study session, too, and Nepeta had to remind herself not to answer while she was doing homework. Karkat's interjection explained what was happening.

"Hey Nepeta, there's a party for Aradia's birthday this Friday," he said. Nepeta looked up at him.

"Oh, is that why Pesterchum's going nutso right now?"

"Yeah, do you wanna go?"

"Sure!"

A few moments passed, and then Karkat turned to Nepeta and Equius again.

"Equius, you're on the guest list too," Karkat said.

"Really? I didn't think Miss Megido would want me there." Poor Equius. He was so bummed out about how things turned out.

"Yeah well Sol is in charge and he said it's cool, so…" Karkat explained, waiting for an answer.

"Very well then, I will attend."

"Can't you two assholes let him know yourself? Whatever…"

"Hey Equius," Nepeta said, "can we go over some history stuff too?"

"Of course. Do you have your textbook?"

"Yeah, but…" Nepeta thought about it for a moment. "Mm, I don't actually find the textbook that useful."

"Hmm," Equius murmured. "Well, there is always the encyclopedia set at my house. They are a bit more comprehensive."

"Do you think they'll help?"

"Yes," he answered. Equius was the master of one-word answers.

"Hmm, alright! Let's go check it out, then," Nepeta said with a smile. "Hey Karkitty!"

"What?" Karkat said, sounding only slightly irritated.

"I'm gonna head over to Equius' place," Nepeta said, starting to pack up her bag again.

"'kay," Karkat said with a sigh as Nepeta and Equius went out the front door and walked to the bus stop down the street. Nepeta let out a sigh as she checked the bus schedule.

"Looks like we just missed it."

"You are having bad luck with buses today, it seems."

"Yes, it does seem. Welp!" Nepeta said, not losing any joy, "guess we're walking!"

It wasn't a long walk. Taking the bus would have saved probably about 20 minutes, but Nepeta thought she could use the exercise, at the very least. And it was a nice day, so that was good. When they got to Equius' house, which was notably nicer and larger than the Leijon-Vantas home, Equius walked up to the front door and unlocked it. Nepeta furrowed her brow at him. Usually someone was home.

"Father is out on business and Aurthour has taken this week off due to some personal matters," Equius explained. "And Horuss is—"

"Out with Meulin." Meulin had been hanging out with Horuss a lot since the breakup, and she was more than a little unhappy with Rufioh. Nepeta couldn't blame her, he broke her best friend's heart! And Horuss was… emotionally fragile, or that was what it seemed like to Nepeta. Equius swung the front door open and the two went inside. Equius started up the stairs.

"The books are in my father's study."

"Oh, okay!" Nepeta followed him up the stairs, off into a room Nepeta had never been in before. The walls were covered by bookshelves, all of which were full, and an ornate wooden desk in the middle of the room. Nepeta's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that many books fit in one place. Equius approached one of the bookshelves and started running his finger down the row of books, apparently looking for one in particular.

"Ah," he muttered, before pulling a few large books out. "Here we go." He thrust them into Nepeta's arms. Holy crap, they were heavy. "We can go study in my room."

"'kay," Nepeta said, turning and walking across the hall to Equius' room.

They weren't far into their study session at all when they heard a thunk on the door. Equius sat up, immediately alert. Had he locked the door behind him? Another thunk. Nepeta's eyes met Equius', and he looked a bit panicked.

"Stay here. I will go investigate. It's probably Horuss, he forgets his key with annoying frequency." Nepeta sat up, watching with wide eyes as Equius left the room. "Horuss?" she heard him call. There was the creaking of the stairs, and then shattering glass. Nepeta couldn't pick out what he was saying, but it sounded like Equius was talking to someone. Every inch of her was shouting that something was wrong, her heart seizing up with fear. She heard more sounds from downstairs—a scuffle, the sound of breaking wood, and she made her feet hit the floor and ran down the hallway, halfway down the stairs, pausing behind the small banister. She couldn't tell what had happened, only knew that Gamzee was somehow in the house, and the door was wide open. Gamzee had his back to the stairwell, standing over Equius. The bow Equius' dad kept on display wasn't in its case. No. It was in Gamzee's hands, in half, the string looped around Equius' neck.

"I SAID KNEEL, MOTHERFUCKER!" Gamzee snarled as Equius was gasping for air. Nepeta wanted to scream, but she also didn't want Gamzee to know she was there. She needed the element of surprise; Gamzee was huge. She put one foot on the bottom of the banister, put her other foot on top, and very carefully climbed over it, hanging on as she turned around, leaving her heels on the railing. She clutched the pocketknife in her jacket tightly, and then leapt at Gamzee, clinging to his back and wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed, managing to surprise Gamzee enough that he dropped the bow. Her knife was flailing around in her hand, and she straightened her grip on it as Gamzee tried to get her off. His stumbled movements were erratic, but she got the small tip of her knife in Gamzee's cheek, and slid it across his face. She didn't want to dig too deep, just enough to get Gamzee away from Equius. Gamzee screamed, wrenching the knife out of Nepeta's hands and casting it aside before he reeled backwards, trying to get his hands around Nepeta's wrists to throw her off. He couldn't quite get a grip, but he swung his entire body back, knocking Nepeta into the wall. She hit her head and lost her hold on Gamzee, but managed to land on her feet. He turned to face her, blood dripping down his face, and a crazed look in his eyes. Nepeta put up her fists, and Gamzee let out a laugh.

"Heh, you think you can motherfuckin' fight me? You're nothin' without that little knife of yours, sis." Nepeta didn't say anything, just tried to look past Gamzee to see if Equius was okay. Her eyes shifted between Gamzee and her knife on the ground behind him. Before she could make a move towards it, Gamzee took a swing at her, his fist connecting with Nepeta's face. She took a few steps back, dazed, but not down for the count. She swung her fist at Gamzee, but he was too quick, grabbing her arm as she went, his grip painfully tight. He swung her around and slammed her into the wall again, this time face first. Nepeta let out a cry of pain, vaguely aware of the splatter of blood that came from her nose with the impact. She doubled over, reaching for her face, but she couldn't give up. She tried to leap at him again, which was met with a knee to the gut. Nepeta fell to the ground then. "Stay down, motherfucker," Gamzee hissed before turning back towards Equius, who was still trying to regulate his breathing. Nepeta stood again despite his words, and kicked Gamzee in the back of the knee. He faltered for a second, then sharply elbowed Nepeta in the face before turning and giving her another punch in the gut. She fell over again, leaning on one knee, and she began to stand before Gamzee simply pushed her over. She knew she couldn't keep going, she just wanted to fight long enough for Equius to get up. He must have actually fallen unconscious—Gamzee came so close to literally killing him! Nepeta started to move to stand up again, but Gamzee kicked her in the stomach, and kept kicking her in the stomach. Nepeta whimpered. Her nose was bleeding and probably broken, there were bruises on her arms and face, and every impact made her curl in on herself even more. "Why won't you stay down, motherfucker?!" Gamzee screamed at her, giving her another kick. And then she heard a grunt, and she looked up, and Karkat was on Gamzee's back, pulling him away from her as Nepeta had done for Equius. She managed to stand up on shaky legs, scoop up her knife, and dart over to Equius, untangling the bow cord from around his neck. He was breathing normally and it seemed like he was finally starting to come to. Nepeta looked over at Karkat, who'd finally been shaken off of Gamzee. The two boys were staring each other down. "Karbro…"

"Don't you 'Karbro' me!" Karkat bit back at him. Nepeta's breath caught in her throat. This wasn't the time for him to lose his temper!

"You shouldn't motherfuckin' be here, motherfucker."

"Neither should you," Karkat answered, sounding calmer. "Gamzee, we're your friends. Why… why would you do this?" Karkat was slowly circling around Gamzee, putting himself between Gamzee, and Nepeta and Equius. Equius sat up a bit, but was still disoriented. Nepeta gestured for him to stay quiet.

"Get out of the way," Gamzee growled at Karkat.

"Someone's fucking with your head, man."

"MOVE!" Nepeta shuddered with Gamzee's shout. This wasn't normal for him.

"You don't want to hurt me. You don't want to hurt them. This isn't right." Karkat took a breath. Nepeta was surprised at the way he was handling it. He almost sounded like Solomon. "There's something wrong here, isn't there? Take a breath, Gamzee. Look at me. We're friends."

"Kar…"

"Shhh…" Karkat moved towards Gamzee slowly, patting him on the shoulder. Gamzee looked the slightest bit calmed by the gesture. "Come on. This isn't you. Where's Gamzee? I want to talk to my pal." Gamzee shook his head wildly, gripping it tight like he was trying to get something out.

"My head's all… fucked, man. Shit. I… I didn't want to… didn't mean to…" He spoke almost as though he'd been in a daze, not in control of himself. Nepeta didn't know what was going on. "You sh-should go, man. Before this gets ugly again." Nepeta let herself breath and relax a bit. Whatever Karkat had done, whatever calming energy he was channeling, it worked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take Nep home. Are you okay? Can you keep it together for a bit?" Gamzee nodded at Karkat. "'kay. You should go, too, before someone calls the cops." Nepeta let herself fully relax, then, only letting go of her knife once Gamzee left and Equius stood up. Karkat's shoulders dropped their tension as he turned around. "Holy shit…" he muttered, then walked over to Nepeta and Equius. "Are you okay, Equius?"

"Yes… a bit unsettled, but I am physically fine." Bullshit, he was the one who passed out. "Nepeta jumped in when Mr. Makara attempted to, uh, choke me to death."

"He was literally trying to kill you?" Karkat asked. Equius grunted an affirmative. "Okay… so you'll be okay, if I take her home?" Karkat gestured to Nepeta, who was still sitting on the floor. She didn't trust her legs. Whether she'd actually been hurt there or they were just shaking with anxiety and fear she hadn't shown in battle, they felt like jello.

"Yes," Equius answered, just before he and Karkat helped Nepeta up. Equius handed Nepeta a towel and she used her free arm, the one that wasn't around Karkat's shoulder, to hold the towel up to her nose, which was still bleeding pretty badly. She and Karkat staggered towards the door together. "And Karkat?"

"Yeah?"

"Please make sure she's okay," Equius said. Nepeta was so glad they had each other. If they didn't look out for each other, he'd probably be dead.

Karkat and Nepeta managed to catch the bus; Karkat said walking home was going to be too difficult, and he was probably right. The bus driver raised an eyebrow at them, but didn't ask any questions. Karkat was doing everything to make sure Nepeta was okay. It was sweet, and kind of the attention Nepeta had always wanted from him, but things were different now.

"Karkat, I'm fiiiiine," Nepeta insisted.

"No you aren't, you're bleeding everywhere. Hang on, don't lose that towel," Karkat said. He busied himself with his phone for a moment.

"The bleeding is slowing down."

"Good, maybe you won't have to go to the hospital." Nepeta kept the towel pressed against her face and her head tilted back, though she thought that worked more for nosebleeds than actual fractures. She leaned on Karkat's shoulder as he made a call. Not to the police, which Nepeta probably would have done, but to a mental health clinic. Once they got off the bus, Karkat helped Nepeta inside, even though she was pretty sure she could walk just fine at that point, and laid her down on the couch. "Dessie! Dess, are you home?" Karkat shouted.

"What's wrong, Karkat?" Nepeta heard her mother ask, before she ran over to the couch Nepeta was laying on. "What happened?!" she asked Karkat. Nepeta recognized the flash of fury that crossed her face.

"There was… a situation. With Gamzee." Notably vague. Nepeta thought Karkat was giving Gamzee too much slack in this situation. He tried to murder Equius.

"I'm okay, Mom," Nepeta insisted, even though she knew she wasn't. Dessie did a full assessment and set Nepeta's nose back—holy crap, that hurt—and told Nepeta she got off pretty lucky.

"Did you at least get a good shot in at him?"

"Yeah, I got 'im with my pocketknife," Nepeta answered, feeling so grateful for that particular Christmas gift.

Nepeta figured she got off pretty easy. The worst thing was the swelling of her face, where she'd actually taken the most severe hits, and the bruises from her nose having been broken. Nobody wanted to ask many questions (except for Oliver, who Nepeta had to explain the entire situation to). They seemed to put two and two together when Gamzee stopped showing up to school. Somehow, however, he was at Aradia's birthday party that weekend. Nepeta and Equius very much kept a distance. Actually, everyone kept a distance. He wasn't his usual "420 blaze it" self, but he wasn't the crazed beast Nepeta fought a few days prior. Despite his presence, Nepeta managed to have fun. That was, until she heard Karkat shouting.

"HOLY SHIT!" Everyone turned to look at him, not just Nepeta. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Karkat, you FUCKER!" That was Sollux. "Can you not lose your shit for one day?!"

"Well excuse me, shithead. My dad just got shot." And with that sentence, Nepeta felt a cold lump of terror drop into her stomach.