Chapter Fourteen

"Gamzee!" Tavros was by his side the second Cronus disappeared over the rail, kneeling over him and swearing softly as his Matesprit made a small, pained noise.

"I heard a shot! Is he okay?" Feferi came hurrying around, a mark on one side of her face where Mr. Ampora had struck her.

Seeing the mark, Eridan scrambled to his feet, "Fef! You're hurt!"

Ignoring him, Feferi raced over to them, "Tavros, you're a vet, can't you do something?"

"I'm trying!" Tavros said, pushing Gamzee on his back as the merman tried to sit up, "Gamzee, lie down and don't move. The bullet is still in. Feferi, can you get me a first aid kit? I need to stop the bleeding. I can't remove the bullet until we're back at the Aquarium."

"Okay." She got up and turned to go find the first aid kit, only to see Eridan hurrying over, the white box held out in his uninjured arm. Taking it, she thrust it towards Tavros and then hovered around anxiously, "Oh Gamzee I'm so sorry."

"Shh," Tavros said as Gamzee tried to say something, "Don't do anything, okay? I don't know the extent of the damage." He actually didn't know a damn thing. His vet school hadn't covered merman anatomy. He didn't know if human pain killers would hurt him. He didn't know where all the major arteries were or his heart or anything. Judging by the amount of blood, which was purple by the way, the bullet had struck a large vein. Possibly an artery.

Grabbing the kit, Tavros opened it and grabbed the rubbing alcohol and bandages, "Gamz, this is going to sting, okay?"

"S'fine, Tavbro…" Gamzee grunted, looking around, "Wh-where's Kurloz?"

"I don't know. He went over the side with Cronus. I'm sure he's fine." Tavros said, unscrewing the cap, "Gamz, can you curl your fingers for me?"

Gamzee curled his fingers into his palm, flexing them slowly.

"Great, thank you. Just hold tight." Tavros tipped the bottle over the wound, wincing as he heard Gamzee hiss as the clear liquid poured out over the wound. It washed away the blood and gave Tavros an idea of what sort of wound he was dealing with. Placing the bottle aside, he unwound the bandages and began to wrap them over his Matesprit's shoulder, binding it tightly. "Feferi, we need to get back to the Aquarium. I have more supplies there."

"Okay, but what about Ampora?" Feferi muttered, glancing back at where Karkat was, "I never knew he had another one…that monster. The things he must've done to that poor creature."

At that moment the water around the boat erupted, the other merman launching himself from the water and grabbing for the handrail. But his years in captivity had taken away most of his strength, and he missed his mark, barely managing to catch the rail as his body slammed against the side.

Karkat rolled his eyes, "Fef, come relieve me from guarding this shit stain while I go help stupid fish fuck number two."

Kurloz bared his teeth as Karkat approached, his eyes glancing between Karkat and his little brother, who was lying quietly under the other human's care.

"Don't be fucking stupid." Karkat snorted, moving towards him and then pausing as Kurloz snapped at him, "You bite me, and I'll bite you back." Leaning over, he wrapped his arms around Kurloz's waist and hauled him onto the boat with a grunt.

"Let's take this boat. I don't want to move Gamzee like this." Feferi decided, "Eridan, do you have a rope on this boat we could use?"

Eridan looked up in surprise, not expecting to be included, "Uh, yeah. Let me go get it." He walked over to the prow of the ship and picked up a coiled rope, bringing it over and dropping it by her feet, "Can I help?"

Mr. Ampora's look was deadly, but Feferi spoke before he could, "Not with that arm. Why don't you let Tavros patch you up while I deal with this?"

"Alright…hey, Fef?"

"Yes?"

Eridan smiled fleetingly, "Thanks."

She nodded, and then got to work tying Mr. Ampora up, making sure to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the man.

Kurloz, who was sitting by his brother's side, glared at Eridan as he approached but didn't do anything as Tavros moved to help him next. He didn't know what to think about these humans. The one's he was used to were loud and cruel, always quick with a blow. But these were different…and Gamzee seemed to have an attachment to the one with the funny hair. So Kurloz sat and watched, stroking his brother's hair to sooth him.

"Ouch! Watch it!" Eridan yelped as Tavros tied the bandage.

"Sorry, I'm a vet not a doctor." Tavros replied, sitting back and grimacing at his bloody hands. Turning back to Gamzee, he laced his fingers through Gamzee's and smiled down at him, "How you doing?"

"All kinds of fabulous, my brother." Gamzee chuckled, and then grimaced as pain laced through his body. "What the hell did he get me with?"

"A gun. It shoots little balls of metal." Tavros said as everyone around them got to work to bring the ship in. Karkat and Eridan would be on the Condesce while Feferi captained the Dualscar with Tavros and the mermen.

As the boat started to move, Kurloz began to look around anxiously, catching Tavros' attention.

"Hey, Kurloz?"

The merman's honey colored eyes snapped to him, narrowed in defiance.

"We're going to be taking Gamzee back to where he used to live so I can help him. You're welcome to come with us, I know you want to stay with Gamzee. It's a nice place, big, with lots of room to swim. It won't be for long, just a week or two so Gamzee can heal. Then…"

The mermen looked at Tavros as he trailed off.

"Then, uh, we can decide what to do."

"Put him on the table and get my bag, it's in the storage room." Tavros said, hastily yanking on his white coat and moving to Gamzee's side. He'd started bleeding on the way back and the bandages were soaked through.

Karkat came back with the bag and placed it on the table, "Anything else?"

"Not right now, thanks Karkat." Tavros cut the bandages away, "What did you do with Kurloz?"

"I put him in Gamzee's old tank. He seemed to like it."

"How many times did he bite you?"

"Only once." Karkat said with a smug air, and then turned his attention back to Gamzee as he whimpered, "He's gonna be okay, right?"

Tavros nodded and opened his bag, "Do you know anything about merman anatomy?"

"Uh, no."

"Right." Tavros sighed and turned back to the stainless steel table that held his bleeding Matesprit. He reached for the straps and belted them around Gamzee, securing his tail and body so he wouldn't trash around. "It's okay Gamz, just relax." He said as Gamzee made a pathetic sound at the feeling of being tied down.

Pulling out the morphine, Tavros paused and glanced down at Gamzee, "Shit I don't even know if this will work on you."

"What does it do?" Gamzee groaned, his tail straining against the restraints.

"It numbs the pain, but it might not work with mermen or it might have a negative effect—"

"Just do it." Gamzee gasped, his nails digging into the steel until it began to dent under the pressure.

"But it might make the pain worse." Tavros growled in frustration, "Shit, Gamzee please stop moving you're opening it up more."

Karkat, who was eyeing the pooling blood, spoke up, "You have another merman in the pool. You could try it on him and see the effects?"

"No." Gamzee hissed weakly, and then shuddered and his body went limp, his head rolling to the side as he finally fainted.

Tavros sighed, "I'll ask him. Stay with Gamzee, and come get me if anything changes." He hurried out, the morphine in one hand and a syringe in another.

He found Kurloz swimming lazily around the pool, managing to look impatient and curious all at once as he explored where his little brother had grown up. Tavros walked up to the side of the pool, a pang of nostalgia going through him as he watched Kurloz approach cautiously. It was like when he'd first met Gamzee, when he'd spoken softly and tried to convince him he wasn't going to harm him. Kurloz, at first appearance, had looked a lot like Gamzee. But now, as the creature cut through the water towards him, he didn't look at all like Gamzee.

There was no warmth in those cold, feral eyes. He never spoke and he seemed to be constantly watching everyone.

Tavros crouched down, "Hello, Kurloz." He paused, but the merman said nothing. He was a few yards away, watching Tavros distrustfully, "I'm trying to get the bullet out of Gamzee's shoulder, but he's in a lot of pain. This," he held up the bottle, "is morphine. It dulls pain and would make it a lot easier on him. But I don't want to administer it in case it hurts him. I don't know what effect it could have, which is why I came to you. If I could try a quarter of a dosage on you, the effects would be small enough for me to tell if it would help or harm, without affecting you too much."

Kurloz blinked slowly, only his eyes and top of his head visible from above the water line. Slowly, he drew closer, glaring at Tavros.

"I know you don't trust me, or like me, and I don't blame you. God knows what that horrible person did to you, but I need your help. Please, for Gamzee."

Cautiously, he finally came up to Tavros, poised to jerk back just in case.

"Thank you. I need to inject it, with this." He held up the shot, "It will feel like a pinch." He measured out a quarter of a dosage and then knelt down. "I need your arm."

Kurloz, reluctantly, held it out.

Moving slowly so he wouldn't spook him, Tavros gently took his arm in his hand and turned it over, exposing the crook of his elbow. He placed the needle against the skin, "I'm going to do it now, okay? Just hold still." He quickly administered it, surprised when Kurloz didn't so much as twitch, and then drew away. "How do you feel?"

Kurloz stared at him.

"Does your arm feel a little tingly? Sort of sluggish? Hard to move?" Tavros tried, and then breathed out a sigh of relief when Kurloz nodded curtly. "Thank god. Okay, that'll wear off in an hour or so. Thank you so much, Kurloz." He got up and left, glancing over his shoulder when he reached the door, but the pool appeared completely devoid of life.