A/N: There's a reason why the last few chapters have all been coming out so quickly. I've been really hyped to get to this one for reasons you're about to find out.

Chapter 4: One Wrong Made Right

Courage slept soundly for at least a few hours, but soon nightmares began to plague him and it seemed that every time he managed to get back to sleep another nightmare would jolt him awake.

At first Computer had thought that Courage was having nightmares about what they had gone through in the city, but eventually he started to catch flashes of Courage's memories of the nightmares and what he found mortified him. Still, even as Courage tossed and turned restlessly, unable to sleep, Computer did not speak up about it. As guilty as he felt, he did not want to talk about this. He had not meant to hurt Courage with it. It had been a desperate situation back there and he had just been trying to get him to understand. He had thought that he had been careful, that he had kept the memory brief enough that Courage would not truly be affected by it, but tonight was showing that he had been very, very wrong.

Courage rolled over again, groaning. Every inch of his body ached. The fact that his mind would not stop troubling him only made it so much worse. He could no doubt sense how much Computer did not want to talk about this, but it was perhaps inevitable that he would have to say something to him about it if he were ever to find some peace of mind.

"Compute?"

Computer was silent for one long moment and then all but begged, "Can we please not do this right now? I really don't want to think about it, but I am sorry for putting something like that on you. I never, ever wanted you to see even a sliver of it. I don't know what I was thinking, doing that to you back there."

Courage stifled a whimper. "I never actually got how bad it was, not until you showed me that small piece of your memory."

"I know." Computer softly confirmed.

"I really thought I did though, that I had some sort of understanding of what it was like for you, but I really didn't."

"I never expected you to." Computer assured him with a small, understanding but completely emotionless chuckle.

"It was only, what? Three or four seconds of your memory? It was just awful. I could barely stand it for even that long, and it was like that the entire time for you. I don't know how you survived it, or how you managed to come out of it sane."

Computer chuckled a little louder. "If there's one thing I've come to understand on this journey of ours, it's that I'm just as mad as the rest of you insane people."

"I can't wrap my head around it." Courage admitted sadly. "I just don't understand how someone could put anyone else through that level of pain for months on end and get any sort of enjoyment out of it." Tears filled his eyes. "How could he do that to you? How? And you're still suffering from what he did, even now. So much of the damage he did is permanent, and its probably going to be the thing that kills you too."

A twinge of self consciousness struck Computer as he felt Courage put all of his attention on to his cracked and broken form. The eternal scars of what had been done to him, ever spreading until...the end.

"You say that like it hasn't been the all encompassing question on my mind ever since it happened. I used to think that it was some sort of karmic justice. That I was being punished for letting Owen die, but now I know that I was just made to think that as another means for Him to torture me. There isn't any sort of justification or explanation for what He did. It just is what it is. And I have to live with that, and I suppose I will have to die with it too."

Courage choked back a sob as his blurry, wavering vision moved up toward the dimly lit roof of the tent. He had rolled over onto his back. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you." He said, despite knowing that no apology could ever change or help what had happened.

"It's not all bad." Computer offered. "I don't think I ever would have met you if He had not put me on the path that ended with me in the attic. If the opportunity presented itself that I could go back in time and somehow stop what happened from ever occurring, if it meant that I would never meet you, I'm not so sure that I would take it now. Maybe at an earlier point in time I would have, but that's just not the way I feel now. I've come to terms with much of what He did to me, and it doesn't hurt as bad as it used to." He put on an ironic little smile, even as Courage's tears continued to wet the fur around his cheeks. "The world may be ending, and I may be nothing more than a broken, old machine on his last legs, but at least I'm with you, and I'll take that any day over the lonely existence I was living long before He even came along."

Courage sat up suddenly as a thought entered his mind. He wiped the tears from his eyes and said with complete and total resolution, "We're finding you a name. Right here, right now."

Computer blinked in surprise. "Really? Don't you think this is a bit sudden? It's the middle of the night."

"I'm sure." Courage answered, rolling out of the cot and getting onto his feet. "We've put this off for way too long." He smiled and then added, "And I've been letting you be picky for way too long."

"I suppose I have been letting perfect be the enemy of...having a name." He made Courage cross his arms. "But this had better not end with you giving me a name like Jenny or else I will never let you hear the end of it."

"Jenny?" Courage snorted.

"Knowing you, you'll find the most awful name possible and just keep calling me that until it sticks."

"I'll cross Jenny off the list then." Courage joked, stifling laughter. "Speaking of which, I want to find that book with the names in it. Since the puppies still have our things, we'll have to go back to their tent to get it."

"I'll leave you to do your thing then." Computer replied, settling comfortably in the back of Courage's brain. If Courage wanted to lug his aching body through the camp, that was his prerogative. Computer was plenty happy not to take part.

Courage stepped out of the tent and into the cold night air. He could see every puff of his own breath. There were not many people still out and about at this hour, with only a few SCC soldiers patrolling the camp. Out on the horizon, just the thinnest line of morning light was beginning to tint the dark sky orange.

Courage had a little trouble finding the puppies tent again, but he soon located it regardless. Despite a few weird looks, none of the SCC soldiers bothered him.

He carefully and quietly opened the flap to their tent. The puppies only had one cot like everyone else so they were all piled on top of each other as they slept. He got some sense from Computer that this was how they normally slept anyway.

He could see the bag with their things near this tent's lantern. He carefully made his way over, trying to avoid waking the puppies up. He grabbed it without a hitch and slowly made his way back outside. He was nearly back to his own tent when he heard a sound. Worried that an SCC soldier might be following him, he whipped around. Much to his surprise, he found Lily standing there, fully awake and without a hint of sleepiness.

"What were you doing?" She asked in a painfully innocent tone.

Courage could feel Computer's grief over the fact that he could not tell the pup that her mother was alive because there was so little chance that they would be able to free her from the amalgamation's control. He could not even tell the pup her forgotten name because that would inevitably lead to her asking him how he had found it out.

"I was just-" Courage began, but Computer cut him off.

"Courage has, for reasons I will never understand, decided that he wants to find a proper name for me at this ungodly hour."

"I wanna help." The pup replied without a second of hesitation.

Computer shrugged and told Courage," I did tell her way back when that she's free to take a crack at finding a name for me."

"Alright," Courage relented, not that he had been seriously considering telling her 'no'. He was just a little surprised by her eagerness to want to help name Computer, that was all.

The three of them returned to the tent and Lily immediately jumped into Courage's cot. The second he sat down and placed the bag on his legs, she grabbed it and started rooting around inside to find the book. Courage had to admit that there was something about her that reminded him just a little too much of 'little' Muriel, but maybe this was just the way all kids were like. The thought of it made him shudder.

She yanked the book out and opened it up in her lap. She stared down at it for a moment before looking up at them, and without a single change in her cheerful, energetic tone, she said, "I can't read."

"...Oh, right." Computer slowly uttered out. "I probably should have figured that out way sooner."

"We'll help you." Courage offered, picking the book up out of her lap.

Two long hours proceeded to stretch by as they went through as many names as possible. The sun had come up by then and plenty of morning activity could be heard out in the camp. They were not much closer to finding a name for Computer, but they had at least narrowed down a few that might fit.

Computer rubbed Courage's eyes, regretful that he could not sleep in his current state. Even Lily was starting to tire out again.

"You know what? Just pick one already." He relented, yawning on Courage's behalf. "I'll accept whatever you decide just so long as we can get this taken care of."

"Jenny." Courage said with a snicker.

"Courage, I swear I will-"

"I like that name." Lily broke in.

"Not you too!"

Courage placed a paw to his chin and used his other paw to flip to a page where they had pinpointed a name that might work. "I have an idea." He said, ripping the name out of the page. He then went through and found the other names they had considered and ripped them out too. Once he was done, he folded the names up and said, "I'm going to, uh, throw these, I guess? Pick one up off the floor and whichever one it is, that will be your name."

"Not the most elegant way to go about this, but if it gets this over with..."

Courage tossed the pieces of paper into the air and watched them float to the floor. Before Computer could even stand up, Lily yelled, "I want to pick!" and dove after a piece of paper. She brought it to him with a cheerful exclamation of, "This one!"

"Can't be any worse than the one I would have picked." He said and reached Courage's paw out so that she could drop it into his palm.

He opened the piece of paper and squinted. "Atticus? Huh, I guess I can live with that."

Courage smiled. "Are you sure you want to be an Atticus? I still think Jenn-MPH!"

Computer...Atticus had forced Courage's mouth shut and was keeping it shut.

"I picked the best one!" Lily cheered, dancing in a circle with her tail wagging. Two seconds later, she yawned loudly, proceeded to steal Courage's pillow, and promptly fell fast asleep on top of it.

Keeping his voice low to avoid waking her, Courage asked, "What embarrassing nickname am I supposed to call you now that I can't use Compute? Attici? But that kinda implies more than one." He looked down at his paws, raising the left one first,"Compute-" then he raised his right paw, "Attici-" and squinted, "Cacti?"

"I think you need sleep more than she does." Atticus drolly answered. "You'll have plenty of time to come up with a dumb nickname later, don't worry. I have complete faith in your stupidity to find just the right nickname to drive me up the wall with."

"Okay, Jenny."

With a thoroughly annoyed groan, Atticus made Courage flop backward onto his cot, shut his eyes, and refused to let him open them again.

"Go to sleep!" He demanded.

"You could be a little nicer, you know." Courage teased.

"You've used up all of my nice points for the day."

"It's technically tomorrow..."

"You've used up all of my nice points for tomorrow too."

"Shhh!" Came Lily's voice from nearby. "You guys are too loud!" She complained sleepily.

"Sorry!" Courage harshly whispered, laughing sheepishly. He then turned his attention back to Atticus and said in a much quieter voice, "I'm not really sleepy anymore anyway."

"Oh? And what's all of this tiredness I feel then?"

"...You always feel that way no matter what body you're in."

Atticus laughed. "You've got me there."

"Well, I don't want to sleep either way. We're probably not going to be like this for much longer so we should enjoy the time we have left together."

"You make it sound like we're about to be killed. Don't make it seem like such a tragedy that I'm moving back into a different body. I'll still be around."

"You know what I mean, Compute...er, Atticus."

"For goodness sake, Courage. I really don't mind what you call me. You've more than earned the right, so if you don't want to use my new name, I'm perfectly okay with-"

Courage shook his head and broke in with, "No, it defeats the purpose if I keep using your old name and nickname."

"I sense that you see this as a dehumanization thing. You should be more than aware by now that the last thing I feel is that you're dehumanizing me when you use my old name."

Courage wasn't about to relent on this. "Look, this is just something that's going to take some getting used to, that's all. I'll stop messing it up eventually. If we really do need to compromise on this, well, maybe we can have a One Free Compute per day, and if I go over the limit, you can mock me relentlessly about it."

Atticus smiled. "I'll hold you to that, you know, and I suspect you'll be regretting it very soon."

"If it gets me to stop messing up, I'll gladly take the abuse." He replied with a chuckle.

"Well, since you've already messed this up for today, I will be exacting vengeance by making you get some sleep because I'm tired of feeling your tiredness."

"Okay, okay!" Courage harshly whispered. "I'll try to go back to sleep. It's not like you're going to leave me alone until I do anyway."

"Precisely."

Courage pulled the paper thin blanket over himself and snuggled in. The already uncomfortable cot only became worse without the pillow, but there was no chance Lily would give it back now.

Yawning, he softly uttered out without thinking, "Goodnight, Compu...Atticus."

"You really are bad at this." Atticus chuckled. "I'm going to have to start thinking of ways to make your life miserable until you get this sorted out. You asked me to do this and I'm really going to make you regret it."

"I'm shaking in my non-existent boots right now."

"Oh, you will." He threatened, laughing softly enough not to wake Lily up but still plenty maliciously enough. Finally, he said, "Goodnight to you too, Courage." With a slightly mocking edge. He waited a few minutes, and once Courage was a little more closer to falling asleep, he said in a much more genuine tone, "In all seriousness though. Thank you, Courage. For everything."

A vice-like sadness gripped Courage's chest. "Don't thank me. All I've ever tried to do is make up for all the ways you've been wronged in what small way that I can. None of this should have been needed in the first place, and you shouldn't feel like you need to be thankful just for being treated like an actual person for a change."

"It's the way I feel regardless, so you're just going to have to put up with it. Don't discount all that you've done. There were so many times you would have been perfectly justified in giving up on me, even before we set out on this journey, but you never did. I owe you everything for that, and so, thank you."

"You owe me, huh?" Courage mused dangerously.

"...I probably should have worded that differently."

"Hmmm..."

"This is the part where I need to start praying to some mechanical deity, don't I?"

"Wait, I know!" Courage exclaimed. "I want a dumb nickname!"

Atticus was silent for a moment before letting out a bewildered, "Huh?"

"I'm serious. I want you to give me a dumb nickname. You never call me anything anymore."

"You do realize that's been a conscious effort on my part, right? I'd rather keep going in the opposite direction."

"Oh, come on. You of all people can come up with a dumb nickname for me. Why not something like Cur?"

"You could not even pay me to call you that."

"Not even for a cup of coffee?"

"...Maybe."

Courage chuckled at that. "Well, we've got time. I'm sure you'll think of something before your siblings can bulldoze their way over here and kill us all."

"Maybe I should be thinking up insulting names to call them for when that happens instead. You seem to have your priorities mixed up...Cur."

Silence followed and Courage could sense his companion's intense dislike of that nickname. He grinned.

"Yeah, no." Atticus quickly intervened. "There is no way I'm going to keep calling you that, so don't think you can badger me into it. No amount of coffee is going to work either, so don't even try!"

"Aww..." Courage complained in jest.

"Look, promise me you'll get some sleep and I'll spend some time thinking about it, okay? I can't make any promises here, but I'll try my best."

"I guess it's a deal then." Courage yawned.

He felt Atticus's presence move in and wrap around his consciousness like a warm blanket. It was in that moment that he realized just how much he was going to miss this. In an attempt to keep his sadness at bay, he decided to make one last joke at his companion's expense.

"Hey, you know what? If we find out that you really have been a girl the entire time, it'll be easy to switch over because we can just start calling you Attica instead...or Jenny."

His eyes snapped open with a thoroughly annoyed expression. "All of a sudden it is getting much easier to think up stupid nicknames for you."

"Hehehehe, I knew it would work!"

End of Chapter

A/N: I've often worried, especially in more recent years, that people might see ATE as nothing more than an edgy, grimdark fanfic where the characters are constantly made to suffer just to suffer without any lighter moments to balance it out. There's been more than a few times I've thought for months, if not years, after writing certain things if I had taken it too far and should maybe have reigned it in a little. In the end though, I think this chapter is the perfect showcase for what I am trying to get at with this story. It's all about finding any light, love, and happiness you can in a profoundly cruel world that wants nothing more than to see you suffer. It's about how it is a radical act and one big middle finger to this world to have empathy and kindness even when it should have made you just as cynical and cruel. I know that it probably isn't the intended message of the show itself, but you still see the same thing play out in how Courage goes through hell over and over again for the sake of his family. 'The things I do for love' indeed.

As for Computer's name, I originally planned to have it happen a little farther along toward the end of this arc, but as I got closer to this part, I realized that there was no better place for it than here. My original plans were that once he was named that the characters would call him Atticus but the narrative would still call him Computer, for the sake of my sanity. Somewhere over the long years I realized that it would defeat the purpose of giving him a name to keep calling him Computer, so I have resigned myself to using Atticus for the rest of the story, unless the situation calls for otherwise. You guys can have a lot of fun knowing that in nearly every instance of the name Atticus coming up, there is about a 99% chance that I accidentally typed in Computer first out of sheer muscle memory and had to fix it immediately. This may genuinely break me lmao. (Also, at least one reviewer back in Volume II correctly guessed what his name was going to be.)