Chapter 18: Tying Up Loose Ends And Knots

As it turned out, when Atticus did not need to fly around at such a frantic pace, Courage found that their gentle flight back toward the SCC camp was surprisingly soothing. Or maybe he was just really, really tired, because it did not take long for the rhythm of Atticus's wing beats to lull him to sleep.

In his sleepiness, he vaguely recalled Atticus waking him up on the fringes of the camp, because his robot was too big to land any closer. Courage remembered Atticus putting him down onto the grass and shoving his host dog toward him. He had then said something about wanting to go out to the ruins of the city while his powers were still working so that he could look for his dog friends who would now be free of the amalgamation's possession.

Still having been struggling to stay awake, Courage could recall wandering through the camp, trying to find his tent with Atticus's dog following close behind. He remembered running into the puppies, but he had told them that he was too tired to explain anything to them and so they had helped him find his tent before going off to wait for Atticus's return.

Courage had collapsed into his cot and fallen right back asleep with Atticus's dog curled up beside him. He was not sure how long he had been able to sleep before that all too familiar pain of an attack ripped through his body like a million knives cutting into him. He remembered screaming, but there had been nobody there to help him. Not even Atticus's host dog remained. Blackness followed, like always, only to be punctuated by a few brief moments of consciousness. He remembered seeing a tall, hazy figure standing over him and he remembered feeling a needle slide into his arm. The brief sting gave way to a blessed feeling of relief and he was able to sink back into a far more peaceful sort of unconsciousness.

When he woke up again, this time with much more clarity, he noticed how he felt much less stiff and achy than how it usually was for him after an attack. The next thing he noticed was that he was attached to an IV drip that must have been wheeled into his tent at some point while he was unconscious. Glancing around, he realized that it must be night because the only thing that was bringing light to the tent was a familiar blue glow. Piles of paper were strewn about the grassy floor of the tent, and laying there among them, fast asleep, was Atticus with his chin resting atop one of those piles. Courage smiled and almost called out to him but then decided not to. He looked so exhausted that Courage figured it would be better to let him rest. So, stifling a yawn, Courage shifted around under his SCC issued paper thin blanket and fell back asleep with ease. What woke him next was a paw grabbing his arm with the IV tube inserted into it. He heard a woman's voice muttering to herself, and curious to find out what was going on, Courage sat up, startling her.

"You're awake!" A tall orange and red furred dog garbed in doctor scrubs cried out. A wide pair of glasses stood balanced atop her snout and she reached out for them as if she wanted to clean them and make sure she wasn't seeing things. "T-This is good! Very good! The treatment kept you stable while you recovered!" Her surprise gave way to a slightly more serious demeanor, and clearing her throat, she said, "I'm your new veterinarian. You can call me Amelia. I'm the number one specialist in the world when it comes to your illness. I've spent most of my career trying to find a cure, but, well, the funding has never really been there and my research has been slow because of that. At the very least I was able to develop the current treatment method, and even if it can't halt the progress of the illness, it does relieve some of the suffering involved and gives dogs like you a quality of life that you wouldn't have otherwise. Normally this treatment would give you a few good extra months to live, but you are so far along that I'm not sure how much it will help. Thankfully though, with the new funding I've been given, I'm trying a few new-" She stopped and stared at Courage's shocked expression. "I'm not explaining myself very well, am I?"

Courage shook his head. "No, I get it, it's just, er, where did you come from?"

"Oh, right!" She laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "It was the SCC who first got into contact with me not too long ago. They were trying to get the information they needed to keep you alive, and I was supposed to travel to the hospital to treat you in person, but then all of the disasters started happening. I was brought to this camp about a week ago, when you had your latest attack. From what I've heard, that Elizabeth lady recommended me to Atticus. He was the one who hired me to come down here and, oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. He wanted me to go and find him the second you woke up, and, uh...let me do that. He'll explain the rest of it to you."

Amelia turned on her heels and rushed out of the tent and Courage was left sitting there trying to take in everything she had said. Worst still, now that he wasn't distracted, he could feel how famished he was. From the looks of it, he had spent yet another long stretch of time knocked out from his illness, this time a week, so it was no wonder at all why he was so hungry. Hopefully he hadn't worried Atticus too much...

Several minutes passed, and while he waited, Courage eyed up the paperwork that still covered much of the floor of the tent. In fact, he was pretty sure the piles had only become larger and more numerous since last he saw them. He was just considering going over and picking one up to see what was on it when Atticus burst into the tent, breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon.

Courage offered him a sheepish little wave. "Hey!"

Atticus clutched at his chest while he worked to regain his breath. "Are...are you well?" He asked. "I was really starting to worry, and the veterinarian said-"

Courage cut him off. "I feel fine. That Amelia lady's treatment seems to be helping."

"Th-that's good because the treatment certainly isn't cheap. Not that money is an issue, at least not anymore, and it isn't as if she can help it either. Most of the medicine involved is expensive and very experimental."

"It sounds like I've missed a lot."

"More than you realize."

Remembering the amalgamation, Courage felt his ear perk up as alarm raced through him. "Where's the laptop?"

The question put a small smirk on Atticus's face. "Where else?" He answered, pointing to the ever invulnerable bag that held all of their stuff. It was laying propped up against a pile of papers.

Courage let out his breath. "Good, but we really need to find a safer place to put them. We can't let anyone power that laptop back on or let anything damage it."

Atticus crossed his arms. "I've already spent some time considering what to do with them. I took care of one problem by removing the battery from the laptop, so now nobody can wake them up by accident. A person would have to find a compatible battery first, and if I know anything about people it's that they won't bother with something like that unless they're determined to get the laptop running. As for where to store it until a way to separate my siblings can be found? I believe I have a place, but I haven't had a chance to move them there yet."

"You're, uh, really on top of things, huh?" Courage chuckled with surprise. It was making him regret having taken a week long nap, even if it had been forced upon him.

Atticus smiled, this time with a surprising amount of warmth. "I'm just glad that you're awake and doing better. It hasn't been easy leaving you alone while you were in such a poor state. I swear I wanted to stay with you, but with everything that's been going on I've had to leave the camp multiple times and-"

"It's okay, bud. I get it." Courage said, laughing. "I dunno what you've been up to but it must have been important if it got you to abandon your post at my side."

Atticus laughed too. "You have no idea."

And then, much to Courage shocked and amazement, Atticus cleared the distance between them with one big leap and tackled him into a hug with so much force that they almost went flying off the cot. They shared an affectionate silence between each other for a good long while as Atticus held Courage like he would float away if he dared to let him go. Finally, he pulled back, the same warm smile on his face, and he was just about to say something when Courage took his chance, leaned in, and nuzzled him, neck put into it and everything. Atticus's face turned the color of a glowing, red stop light, something that, as always, had Courage laughing with pure joy, but then the full reality of the situation seemed to hit Atticus and his expression became far more despairing.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked before grabbing Courage by his shoulders and asking him again, "Are you absolutely certain that this is what you want?"

Courage gave him a confused look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Atticus looked from left to right and then opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. It was as if he had a million different reasons for why Courage should have more than a few second thoughts about him but they had clogged up his throat before he could say any of them.

"Because I-" He finally managed to mutter out before being stopped.

Courage waved a finger in front of his glasses to silence him. "I don't want to hear it if all you're going to do is put yourself down."

"But-" He began, ears drooping.

"No put downs!"

Atticus wasn't going to be dissuaded. "But I've made such a fool of myself!" He blurted out, pulling at his ears. "The way that I used to treat you was bad enough, but all throughout this journey I've done nothing but make myself look like a weak and pathetic fool over and over again. Every time it seemed like I had finally hit rock bottom, no matter how many times you and Nina tried to help me get better, I just kept finding new depths to sink to. Neither of you deserved that. I cannot help the way that I am, but it is my responsibility to do better and I feel as if I've hopelessly failed on that front." He slapped a paw up against the side of his face. "I mean, look at me. Even now I'm making a fool of myself. I just cannot see what it is that you see in me. At least before all of this you had the illusion that I was a much more well put together machine than I actually am."

Courage crossed his arms and replied, "I'm pretty sure I didn't fall in love with the arrogant, insulting jerk who thought that hiding behind a mask of being the smuggest person in the room meant that nobody could ever break through his walls again. I fell in love with the fool who was forced through extreme circumstances to drop the mask and finally become vulnerable again. Instead of being met by a wall of arrogance and snide insults, I found someone deeply flawed but genuine, and someone who does care deeply, despite what he wants to believe in himself. I found someone who I never once before thought that I'd enjoy spending time with, much less someone I'd want to spend the rest of my life with, but the fool standing here before me is the one I love, flaws and all. You're still healing from all of the horrible things you've been through, and it's inevitable that you're going to make mistakes and have moments of weakness, so give yourself some room for forgiveness, Atty. I've never held any of it against you and I'm not about to start. Do the same and stop being so hard on yourself."

Atticus's eyes had grown wider and wider with every word Courage spoke until finally he replaced his dumbfounded expression with a snide, mocking grin. "I don't know what you're on about because I'm pretty sure I'm the same arrogant jerk that I've always been, and since I just cannot seem to see what it is that you see in me, I suppose I have no other choice but to take your word for it. You do bring out the best in me, that much I know for certain. I just hope that maybe someday I can live up to my own expectations."

Letting his fake smug attitude fall away, he leaned in and gave Courage a far more nervous and hesitant nuzzling, which Courage accepted with glee regardless. Knowing that Atticus was not into the mouth to mouth kissy, kissy stuff, Courage couldn't help himself and tried the next best option outside of nuzzles. He kissed him atop his nose, which sent him flying through the air with a cry of, 'GAH!' before landing in the grass beside the cot on all fours. The fur on his back remained sticking up like a spooked cat as he stood stark still looking like a wide eyed statue.

"Are you sure you're not a cat?" Courage asked, leaning over the side of the cot.

Life returned to Atticus and he collapsed into a disheveled heap. As he did so, his left foot bumped into one of the piles of paper and caused it to start tipping. He swore at the sight of it leaning and jumped onto his feet to catch it. Somehow he managed to push the pile back into place without sending papers flying throughout the tent.

"I would rather die than have to reorganize these papers." He grumbled, placing his paws onto his hips and scowling at the paperwork.

Curious about it, Courage asked, "What did I miss?"

"I'm not even sure where to begin." Atticus replied, starting to pace back and forth, albeit only taking a few steps at a time before each turn because the tent wasn't that big to begin with and the papers gave him even less room to move.

"Start from the beginning." Courage offered.

"Obviously." He sighed, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "I managed to find a few of the dogs from Charon's, but by the time I had returned to the ruins of the city the people had been free from their possession long enough to start scattering. My robot caused a big panic too, and while I can't say I blame them for it, it did make the whole search operation considerably more difficult. I gathered up the dogs I could find and brought them back to the camp. Then, I returned to my dog body and my powers ran out shortly after. You had your attack while I was out talking with the puppies and you were unconscious by the time I managed to run back to the tent."

Courage nodded. This explained why Atticus's host dog hadn't been with him when the attack occurred.

"The only good that came out of me leaving you alone like that was that I was able to reunite Lily with her mother."

Courage's heart leaped. "That's great to hear! But what about the other puppies?"

Atticus shook his head. "I haven't been able to make another match. I fear that their parents might be long dead. Most of them are too young to even remember what they looked like. But many of the escapees from Charon's are not yet accounted for and many of them had family they lost when they were abducted so there is still a chance that their parents are out there. Lily's mother and a few other dogs are looking after them now, which is good because without Spot keeping them in-" He stopped, ears drooping.

Hesitating for a moment, Courage asked, "Did you find out if he..."

"No, no, I haven't received any confirmation of his condition. Nobody knows where he ended up or if he even survived his injuries long enough to make it to a hospital in the first place. There's still time, of course, and everything is still in chaos after the havoc my siblings wrecked upon the surrounding area. He may still show up."

"Right, yeah, no reason to lose hope yet."

Atticus inhaled deeply and continued. "The day after you had your attack Elizabeth forced me to go with her to some court a few hours away from here and that's where I've spent most of my week. It wasn't some small thing either. The president was there and everything."

Courage nearly fell out of the cot. "You met the president?"

Scratching his cheek, Atticus glanced up toward the ceiling. "He did ask me a few questions at one point, but that was about it." A sly smile then fell across his face. "I did make one of this state's senators cry."

"You did WHAT?"

Atticus shrugged. "I let the guy know exactly how I felt about him letting the corruption in his state get so bad that a dog like Charon was able to run a thoroughly illegal hellhole practically out in the open. I then threatened to run for his seat and that got him to promise a few changes." He shook his head, grinning. "Politicians."

Courage blinked in amazement. Atticus as a government official was a scary thought indeed.

"I suspect nothing will come of it, but at least I can help in my own way now. Ah, but we haven't reached that part yet, have we? Right, where was I?" It took him a moment to remember. "So, the whole point of the court thing was that the government wanted an explanation from the SCC about their incompetent handling of the amalgamation disaster. Elizabeth finally came clean about the true intentions of Edgar and his Construct project, and at first there was a lot of talk about disbanding the SCC over it, but it was decided that the organization is too crucial in the fight against supernatural threats to be allowed to go defunct. Instead, an independent ethics committee will be formed to keep watch on what the SCC does and absolutely nothing will be able to happen within the organization without going through the committee first. I would have much preferred to see the SCC go down in flames, but after days of those politicians fighting, it was obvious that the organization wasn't going anywhere. I'm not sure if Elizabeth was disappointed or relieved when she received the verdict. She looked a little like both at the same time."

"Speaking of which, as she promised, Elizabeth vouched for me when talks turned to if Constructs should be considered people. Since none of those crusty old ghouls knew a damn thing about technology, I swear she spent an entire day just having to explain to them what an A.I. is, and that doesn't even get into how she had to get those fools to understand how a Construct is not the person they came from and that they are not lesser than the original person. After days of explanations on top of explanations, those brainless politicians still didn't want to deem me and my fellow Constructs people deserving of the sames rights as everyone else. They didn't like the idea because that would mean that what the SCC put us through could be considered a form of state sanctioned torture. Well, I guess you could say that I got my day in court and had to answer an endless barrage of questions from those fools. Any idiot could see after the first few questions that I'm as much of a person as any flesh and blood creature, but it still wasn't enough. Eventually they had me do some stupid Turing Test and after that they had no other choice but to finally grant me my personhood. The same status was granted to my siblings posthumously as well. Thankfully the blame for what happened with the amalgamation was put solely upon the SCC where it belongs, and since my siblings are considered dead, it wasn't as if the government could punish them anyway."

"So, by law you're considered a person now, huh?" Courage said, amazed. "I think if they had refused you would have just insulted the president until he gave you the status anyway."

Atticus smirked. "You've got that right." He slapped a paw atop one of the piles of paper. "Elizabeth was not joking about the paperwork." He shuddered. "So, so much paperwork."

A thought struck Courage. "You must have had to pick a last name, so what did you choose?"

Atticus turned toward him. "Bagge, of course. I figured you wouldn't mind."

Courage's eyes went wide. "Ha! Welcome to the family, Atty! It's official now!"

Turning back toward the paperwork, Atticus quickly added, "Oh, but it wasn't just me who I had to name. I was saddled with all of the paperwork for my siblings too, and since I couldn't think of anything else, I gave them all the last name Bagge too. Your family has become much, much bigger while you were asleep, and, erm... I hope you don't mind."

"'Course not. If we ever manage to find a way to make them separate beings again, I'm sure most of them would be happy to find out about this."

"While we're on the topic, there's one 'minor' detail that I should probably mention. When the government declared me and my siblings people and that the SCC had put us through cruel and inhuman torture, it was decided that we were to be paid damages for what had been done to us. Since my siblings are considered legally dead, all of their portions went to me automatically, and so-" Atticus broke off to search for a specific piece of paper. When he found it, he handed it to Courage.

Courage did a double take. "HOLY-"

"Exactly." He said, scratching at his head sheepishly. "I'm very, very rich now."

"Wh-what are you even going to do with that kind of money?" Courage breathed, in total disbelief.

"Well, I already bought a mansion for the dogs to live in."

"You did WHAT? A...a MANSION?"

"They need a place to stay since the abandoned factory they were going to live in doesn't exactly exist anymore. I got the place at a discount. With the city gone and a long track of land torn up from the amalgamation's movement, the rich guy who owned the place decided it wasn't all that valuable when the view outside his bedroom window looks more like a scene out of the apocalypse."

Courage's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Where is this place exactly?" He wondered if maybe he had seen it at some point during all of the chaos.

"A few miles out from the ruins of the city. It sounds like the mansion came pretty close to being swallowed up by the amalgamation. The guy had already emptied it out long before he sold it to me because it had been looking like the property was doomed for awhile now." Atticus began to pace again. "I'm planning on converting it into an animal sanctuary of sorts, humans being one of those animals too, of course. I want it to be a place where anyone who has fallen on hard times can call it home. I'm not sure how many of the dogs from Charon's place will want to make it a permanent home for themselves, but there's more than enough room in that mansion for anyone who needs it. My thought process on this is simple enough. If we can't get the politicians to change anything for the better then at least a monster like Charon can't pluck people off the street if there's nobody left struggling on the streets to begin with. Well, that's not to say that I can end all homelessness in the world with the money I have, but I will still put every last dime into that sanctuary if it means keeping as many people from going through what those dogs did as possible. It will be a long time before that city rises back up from the ashes of the amalgamation's destruction, but when it does, the mansion will be there to help anyone in need." Noticing the funny look Courage was giving him, he slowed his pacing to a stop. "What?"

"N-nothing." Courage stammered out while he thought about his own time on the streets before Muriel saved him from what would have been a very sad fate. It heartened him to see Atticus so passionate about the topic and he wanted to help him see his vision through to completion.

"Look, it's not just my money." Atticus went on, still confused by Courage's stunned silence. "It belongs to you too, so if there's anything you want to use it on, go ahead. My siblings can't make use of it, so there's no point in feeling guilty about using their portions. If anything, this mansion can be their home too, if we ever manage to free them from their current state."

"I-I think what you want to do is a really good thing." Courage finally managed to say, although he was still struggling to put his thoughts into words. "I'm pretty sure it's what your siblings would want you to do with the money. I don't need anything, so just put all of it into this project."

Atticus nodded. "On that note, I need to talk to you about the fact that doing this is going to delay our trip to the mountain for a bit longer. I've only been to the mansion twice now and we are still very much in the beginning phase of getting the place set up. I need some time to do this, but that's not to say that I'm going to leave you dangling in the wind and in danger of your illness killing you. I'm funding the specialist exactly because I want to see what she might be able to do for you now that her budget is more than mere pennies. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and we won't even need to go to the mountain at all. She might actually find a cure now that she has the funding she needs."

The thought that they might not need to go to the mountain at all was one that Courage struggled to comprehend. It had seemed like his only hope for so long now that it just didn't seem possible that he might be able to survive without resorting to supernatural means. Relying on Amelia to come through for him wasn't a guaranteed fix, but if it worked...

"I don't mind waiting, especially if there's a chance that Amelia can cure me, but I really gotta call Muriel soon. She must be so worried after how long it's been since I last talked to her."

"Right, I'll see what I can do for you. I'm sure someone will let you borrow their cellphone for a few minutes. I should probably find you some food too since you have got to be starving."

As Atticus prepared to head back out into the camp, Courage absentmindedly took another look at the paper he had handed to him. One particular detail stuck out to him that he had missed before thanks to the big numbers that made up Atticus's newfound wealth.

"Uh, Atty, this paper lists me as your spouse."

Atticus froze with one foot sticking out of the tent flap. He slowly turned around with a strained sort of look on his face. "You're not going to get me with a dumb joke like that, you know."

"I'm not joking. It says here that your spouse is Courage Bagge."

One of Atticus's lower eyelids twitched. "N-not going to fall for it!" He struggled to say between grit teeth.

"Did you sign something wrong somewhere? 'Cause we're kinda, sorta legitimately married." And since Courage was enjoying Atticus's barely concealed panic, he couldn't help but prod him a little more. "You could have taken me out on a date at least once before tying the knot."

Atticus rocketed over to the cot and ripped the paper out of Courage's paws. "T-there must be a mistake!" He cried out, looking over the paper once, twice...thirty times.

Courage placed an arm across his shoulders and pulled him in 'till their cheeks were squashed together. "Were you trying to be sly?" He asked, fully committed to teasing Atticus about this for the rest of his natural life.

Atticus managed to pull himself free from Courage's grasp. "This was by no means intentional! Do you have any idea how much paperwork I've been dealing with? I've been at this for twelve hours!"

Courage narrowed his eyes, smirking like a dog shaped goblin. "Nice cover story!"

"TWELVE HOURS!"

Atticus rushed over to one of the piles of paperwork, seemingly desperate to find evidence of his innocence. Papers flew through the air as he checked one after another.

Courage was having the time of his life. "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed that you didn't propose first, or let me do the proposing for you."

Atticus's frantic searching came to a sudden halt as he focused on a specific piece of paper he had managed to pull from the pile.

"Oh boy..." He uttered out.

"What?" Courage asked, climbing down off the cot. He could not imagine what Atticus had messed up worse to get him looking like he had just aged thirty years in the span of two seconds.

"Let's just say that you are 'very' married. Possibly the most married dog to have ever been married. I-I'm not even sure this is legal."

"Oh, no." Courage giggled. "You messed it up when you gave all of the Constructs the last name of Bagge, didn't you?"

Atticus nodded with a look of quiet despair.

"Well, what can I say?" Courage said as he placed his paws onto his hips and puffed out his chest. "There's enough of me to go around."

He broke down into even more giggling at the look Atticus gave him.

End Of Chapter