~On LOPAN~

~Dirk's POV~

The clown was moved to LOPAN while I was taking care of Arquius. Nobody told me until I informed everyone that he had woken up. Despite how horribly it went the last time they were in the same room, Arquius wants to talk to him.

So now we're in Roxy's living room while she retrieves our captive. He's spent the last week chained up in one of the vaults in the pyramid a few miles from the house. Arquius looks like he's starting to lose whatever courage he had when we arrived. Fefeta's tried to distract him, but he told her to leave him alone. I'd never seen him send her away. He's curled up on the end of the couch, hugging a pillow so tightly it looks like it's going to pop.

When he starts picking at the bandage around his wrist, I move to kneel in front of him. "Arquius, look at me." He barely looks over the pillow. "Are you absolutely positive you want to talk to this dude? We can leave right now. It's your call."

"I need answers," he manages to say without going over the edge into panic tears.

"Okay," I assure, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Do you want me to call Erisol?" When he nods, I take the spirograph necklace out of my pocket and activate it. I'm shooed away the second the green sprite appears. As I turn to walk away, Arquius grabs my wrist. "It's okay, Red. I'll be right over there." I point to the couch on the other side of the room. "Okay?"

He nods, releasing my wrist. I check my phone to see how far away Roxy and the clown are. When I look up, Erisol's trying to calm him down. He's having more success than I've ever had in calming him. I try to keep an eye on them and take mental notes. Erisol refuses to teach me how to care for him when he has one of his anxiety attacks. So far, all I've picked up on is that hugs and cuddles help. I know that he talks to him, but I don't know what the magic words are.

I must have spaced out because the next thing I know Roxy's walking through the door. She's dragging the clown by a hot pink dog leash. The matching collar barely covers the hand shaped bruises on his neck. His hands are tied to the collar by an equally bright shade of pink rope. I guess Roxy was going for humiliation. The poor guy looks dehydrated, too, but I can't bring myself to feel anything more than minor pity for him. When he looks over to Erisol and Arquius, his distant expression turns saddened.

"You don't speak unless Arquius tells you to," Roxy orders as she forces the thin boy to his knees. She looks to the sprites on the couch. "He says he remembers everything. Go ahead and ask your question."

My sprite hesitates before asking, "Why?"

The clown looks to the floor, shame in his purple eyes. "I don't know. I really didn't mean to go so far. I swear. I was in rage mode and lost control."

"What sent you into rage mode?"

He was silent for a moment, a look of contemplation on his face. "I was pissed. I don't really remember why; I think it was something one of the humans sent me. When I went looking for Tav to try and get his help to chill out, I saw Vriska stab him. I just fucking snapped and ran. You were just the first one to find me." He finally looks up, purple tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to take it out on you, I swear. I'm so sorry!"

"Why should he accept your apology?" Fefeta snaps, looking about ready to tear this guy to pieces.

"You look dehydrated," Arquius comments, completely ignoring his friend's outburst. He looks like he's mentally only half here as he gets a glass of water from the kitchen. When he returns, he sits on the floor and holds the glass to the clown's lips. When he glances to a very intimidating Roxy, Arquius orders, "Drink."

"Do as he says," she snaps, causing her captive and Arquius to both flinch.

"Hey," I call to her. "Take it down several notches. Intimidating the clown is okay. Scaring my sprite is not."

Arquius, now clearly as annoyed as he is scared, puts down the water and unties the clown's hands. He then gives him the drink. "It's just water. Drink." He hesitates for a moment before turning his back to Roxy and downing the offered water faster than should be possible. Arquius looks worried before sending a distrustful glance towards Roxy.

When the clown puts the glass down, it's like flipping a switch. The yellow of his eyes turns red and glows purple. He looks like he's in a trance as he turns towards Arquius. "Sleep," he whispers when Arquius' eyes glow purple as well. When my sprite goes limp, I move to try and catch him. "Sleep," the clown repeats, staring at me. Everyone in the room dropping like flies and the clown pulling my motionless sprite into his arms is the last thing I see before everything goes dark.

~In a Dream Bubble~

~Signless' POV~

"Arquius?" I hear a familiar voice call as I open my eyes. A few feet away from me, Dirk, Dave's brother's alternate, is searching the balcony we and a few others woke up on. "ARQUIUS!" He sounds panicked.

Closer to me, Equius whines, "You can stop yelling." He looks confused and annoyed as he sits up. "I'm right here."

"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for my sprite."

On the other side of the balcony, Dave explains, almost confused, "Sprites don't sleep unless they were made from pieces of living people. If it doesn't sleep, it doesn't show up in a dream bubble." He almost gets hit in the head with a glass bottle of an indigo fluid. "The fuck is this?"

Dirk points at Equius. "A piece of him," he snaps before running into the purple building attached to the gold balcony.

Equius, curiosity radiating off of him, takes the bottle from Dave and opens it. I can smell it from here. That's not just blood. I haven't smelled this substance since the night I met him. Equius goes pale. I feel his curiosity morph into a mix of rage and disgust as he replaces the cork on the jar. Dave and I silently follow him as he storms off in the same direction as Dirk. It doesn't take him long to find the blonde human, grab him by the wrist, and drag him back the way he had come.

By the time he manages to track down Gamzee, our group has grown. Aradia, Kanaya, Psii, and Rufioh had started following us when their inquiries of what was going on went unanswered. The high blood is watching a movie with Vriska and Mituna in the computer lab.

"Sup slut," Vriska greets, most likely hoping for the usual minor anxiety attack she triggers.

Instead, Equius just glares at her. He grabs the back of Gamzee's chair and lifts it and him, dumping him on the floor. Holding up the bottle, he snaps, "Explain!"

Gamzee grins like a madman. "Explain fuckin' what?" he laughs.

Rage flashes in my child's indigo eyes a second before smashing the bottle against the side of the purple's head. "Explain how a sprite was made from a bottle of my genetic material! What is wrong with you?!"

"Wow, Equius," Vriska laughs. "Now I know why Aradia never slept with you." She turns to Mituna, who looks absolutely disgusted. "Poor guy can't produce-" She screams when Equius stabs her eye with a pen he had grabbed off the desk.

Aside from Vriska's pained screams, the room is silent. I'm too shocked to move. I know Equius is far from a pacifist, but I've never seen him actually try to hurt someone before. Psii looks between him and the bleeding cerulean. I can't tell if he's proud or concerned, probably both. The girls look unphased, most likely because they knew Equius long before I did and have seen him fight. Kanaya even summoned popcorn from her captalog.

After a moment that seems like forever, Rufioh snaps out of his trance like shock. He reaches for Equius' arm and pulls him away from Vriska. Instead of the protest I expected, Equius allows the taurus to guide him out of the room. The second the door closes behind him, I feel his anger melt into shame and sorrow.

"You deserved that," Aradia growls before rushing to check on her kismesis.

A few more seconds pass before Dirk turns on Gamzee. He has the boy pinned almost immediately, demanding to know where his sprite is. He only receives creepy laughter in response.

I didn't bother to stick around after that. Equius is far more important to me than protecting the cause of his PTSD. It doesn't take long to find him, as he didn't make it farther than the hall outside the computer lab. There's a fist sized dent in the metal wall beside the door. Equius is sitting on the floor, crying on Rufioh's shoulder. Aradia's kneeling next to him with a comforting hand rested on his back.

"Equius?" He glances up at me, looking more broken than when we first met. I drop to my knees in front of him and brush his hair out of his face. "Do you need a hug?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

He nods, moving to cling to me. I could never express how much I hate seeing him cry. Rufioh tries his best to help comfort him, but eventually goes silent. Aradia looks angry enough to kill when I glance over at her. She's glaring at the door like she expects either Gamzee or Vriska to step out. I'm sure she'd attack anyone who stepped out that door faster than any of us would be able to register.

I try to ignore her and focus on Equius. He's not having a panic attack. He's just hurt, understandably so. I can't completely sort out the sea of emotions I'm picking up on and it's starting to give me a headache. The majority of these emotions are negative; shame, anger, hatred, and sadness being the most prominent ones.

Every fiber of my being wants to take all of these feelings from my child. I want to assure him that this is all just a dream, but that's only partially true. This is a dream, but it's all really happening. I feel helpless knowing that there's nothing I can do to help him. I have so many tricks to snap him out of a panic attack, but nothing for normal emotions like this.

"What happened?" Horuss inquires from behind Aradia. He looks concerned, most likely assuming his dancestor is having an anxiety attack. Rufioh, in an attempt to not say what happened out loud, signs a quick explanation. Horuss, furious, growls, "I'm going to kill him."

As he passes, Equius' depressed emotions instantly shift to panic and he tries to grab his hand. When he misses by half an inch, he scrambles to get to his feet and follow the older sagittarius.

~Dirk's POV~

I'm trying to coax my frightened sprite from the dead end vent the clown had stashed him in. A troll that looks like he could have been Equius' older brother marches through the door, murder in his eyes. Equius follows closely behind. He looks like he's been crying, which wouldn't surprise me considering the information he just received.

"Horuss!" Equius shouts. He's clearly ignored as the older troll marches towards the clown. "Horuss, please," he pleads as he grabs Horuss' arm. He's easily shaken off, which is surprising considering how strong Equius is. He runs to get in front of him, blocking his path to the clown. "Don't hurt him. Please!" Horuss just picks up the smaller troll and moves him, immediately closing the short distance left between him and the clown. He summons a bow and arrow and takes aim. "STOP IT!" Equius screams, telekinetically slamming Horuss into the closest wall with a sickening crack on impact.

A winged troll flies to catch him before he hits the ground. "Horuss?" he calls, trying to wake him up. "C'mon, babe. Wake up." Equius takes a step closer, most likely to make sure the older troll is okay. "No! You've done enough."

"I-I'm sorry," he says quietly, clearly on the verge of tears again. "I panicked. Is he okay?" He doesn't get an answer as the winged troll gathers the older Zahhak in his arms and flies out a different door. A guy that looks sort of like an older version of Erisol, only in gold and not green, approaches Equius. "I didn't mean to hurt him."

"I know, kid." He wipes away Equius' tears and makes him look up at him. "You've only had your powers for less than a sweep. You're still learning. It's not your fault."

"Dirk?" Arquius quietly calls from his hiding spot. He looks more spooked than when my attention was drawn to the chaos in the middle of the room.

Smiling, I say, "Hey, Red. You ready to come down?" He nods. Helping him down, I ask, "Are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you?" Even though he shakes his head, I get the feeling he's not telling me something. He keeps glancing over his shoulder like he expects someone to be standing there. "Talk to me, kiddo. What's wrong?"

"I feel arms around me," he whispers. It feels like my blood goes cold.

"What's his other half?" Dave questions from a few computers down.

"My autoresponder."

He chuckles a little. "Yeah, he's still technically awake wherever he's physically at. Like I said, inanimate doesn't sleep. If it doesn't sleep, it doesn't come to a dream bubble."

I'm more than a little confused. I've seen him sleep. I've held him while he slept. Then, something clicks in my mind. When Hal "sleeps" he just shuts down enough for his batteries to recharge. His artificial subconscious takes over, giving him dreams. Arquius is a sprite, so he doesn't need to charge. But my autoresponder did. He had a sleep setting to preserve his battery in between sending messages. It's clear that Equius is Arquius' dominant personality, but maybe the autoresponder takes over when Equius' half needs to sleep. I've never tested if my autoresponder still works after having been turned into a sprite.

I take out my phone and test my theory.

timaeusTestified: Yo, AR. Are you still online?

timaeusTestified: Of course, Dirk. Did you expect me to be destroyed when I became a sprite? There is an 85% chance that you expected me to be destroyed when I became a sprite, Dirk. Am I right?

timaeusTestified: Cut the crap. Are you still awake on LOPAN or are you in the dream bubble?

timaeusTestified: Obviously, I am still 50% conscious, Dirk.

timaeusTestified: Is the clown touching Arquius? He says that he feels arms around him.

timaeusTestified: Yes.

timaeusTestified: What's he doing to him?

timaeusTestified: Gamzee is rocking me. He is not doing any harm.

timaeusTestified: If he does ANYTHING inappropriate, hurt him.

timaeusTestified: Order confirmed. Is there anything else I can do for you, Dirk?

timaeusTestified: Just protect him like your life fucking depends on it.

timaeusTestified: My life does depend on it, Dirk. He is 50% me. Did you forget that fact, Dirk?