Part Six of The Stitched AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a completed fanfic series of mine with 24 total chapters. I started this October of 2018 and finished it May of 2021. Schneep sees Chase and follows him, trying to get him back. Unfortunately, he walks right into a trap.]
.............................................................................................

“Hey doc. Just checking in. Everything good? Uh, your shift ends at midnight, right? Me and JJ will come pick you up. And Schneep, since I know you’re thinking something along the lines of ‘that’s stupid I can do what I want,’ this is not negotiable. You’re not walking home alone through the dark city at night. Emphasis on alone. I-I don’t…want a repeat of last time, or…Chase. So we’re getting you. Safety in numbers. Cool, see you then. Bye.” With a beep, the voicemail ended.

Schneep didn’t trust it. Not one bit. Anti had already proven himself able to influence technology, who’s to say this wasn’t a trick of his? Still, the question was, if this wasn’t a trick and Jack really had sent that voicemail, could he afford to ignore it? JJ and Chase had been alone when they were attacked. He’d been alone, that night in December. It wasn’t safe. But if the voicemail was fake, then it wasn’t safe either. Schneep continued to struggle with this dilemma all the way through his shift, even as he set bones and preformed heart surgery.

The clock ticked to twelve o’clock, and he checked out, still having not made a decision. He changed out of his scrubs and headed toward the exit. Quite honestly, he didn’t like walking down the hospital halls anymore, especially when they were fairly empty. He went out of his way to check that there were indeed other people in the building, to check that it actually was real.

By the time he got to the hospital entrance, he still wasn’t sure what to do. He stopped next to the reception desk. Shelly, the receptionist, glanced at him. “You ‘kay there, doc?” she asked cheerfully. “You look kinda confuzzled.”

Schneep shook his head. “My friend said he was going to come walk me home.”

“Oh, and you don’t see him, huh? Isn’t he the one that’s your clone or somethin’? ‘Cause someone like that came in and asked about you earlier.”

“Really?” Schneep asked.

“Uh-huh. I told him you were in the O.R., and he said he’d wait outside. Even after I told him it would be fine to wait here, it is the waiting room after all.” Shelly laughed. “But he was very insistent. It is a warm night, so I let him.”

“And…there was only one of him?” Jack said in the voicemail that JJ was going to come too. Had something happened?

“Yeah.”

“Can you…give a bit more of a description?”

“Oh, sure.” Shelly pursed her lips, remembering. “He didn’t look too good, really. Kinda sick. He was wearing a grey shirt and a grey scarf and he kept his hands tucked deep in his pockets. And he had a cap pulled down over his eyes.”

Schneep paled. That wasn’t Jack or JJ, that was…but it had been nearly three months since what happened back in May, why’d he show up now? True, sometimes the three of them would receive taunts from Anti about him, but Schneep got the feeling this was something more serious than mere mockery. “You—you said he was waiting outside?”

Shelly nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay, doc? You look…”

“I am fine,” Schneep insisted. “I-I am leaving now. Good night, Shelly.” He didn’t wait to hear her return his good night, just walked straight toward to hospital entrance and pushed outside.

The outside wasn’t exactly dark, per say. The hospital had lamps set up. But currently one was out and a few were dimming, and the hospital was short-staffed enough that replacing the bulbs was not high on the list of custodial priorities. There were patches of shadow all over the roundabout and the nearby parking lot. At first glance, nobody was outside. But then Schneep turned his head to the left and saw him. A familiar silhouette leaning against the wall, right in one of the dark patches. He turned his head toward the doctor with a sudden jerky movement.

Schneep inhaled sharply. “Chase?” he whispered.

There was no answer. For a moment, Chase just stood there. Then without warning, he pushed away from the wall and ran in the other direction.

“Wait!” Schneep knew that Chase wouldn’t respond, but he couldn’t stop himself from calling out. He started to follow him before stopping abruptly. This couldn’t be a good idea. But…it was Chase, for god’s sake. If there was a chance, he had to try. Though, just in case, he had to tell the others where he was going. He knew the phone wasn’t safe, but he texted Jack a quick summary anyway: "I saw Chase outside the hospital. He ran away and I know it is not best thing to do but I need to do this." After a moment’s hesitation, he added, "Jack, you know you are one of my best friends? I just want you to know. Tell JJ too. Thank you." Then he pocketed the phone and ran after Chase.

It soon became clear that Chase wasn’t trying to run away, he was trying to lead him somewhere. Whenever Schneep got too far behind, Chase would stop and wait for him to close the distance before taking off again. Schneep tried to look around and memorize his surroundings, where they were in the city. But it wasn’t too long before he didn’t recognize anything. Where could they be going?

They reached an office building that looked like it had been abandoned for years. The windows were boarded up, and the stone facade was cracked in places. Schneep watched as Chase walked up to the door, pulled it open, and went inside. After a short pause, Schneep went inside as well.

The door swung shut behind him. Schneep immediately spun back around and pushed on it, but it wasn’t locked. It opened fine. That was odd. He could leave if he wanted…

He stood there for a moment before letting the door swing shut again. Then, slowly, he turned around again.

The medium-sized room was devoid of furniture. There were bare lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling. The walls were ripped open, exposing pipes and a lot of electrical wires and equipment. On the far side of the room was a pair of elevator doors, and an empty door frame revealing a stairwell going up. Chase was standing in between the elevator and the stairs, hands in pockets, a scarf around his neck. Schneep couldn’t stop himself from noticing how pale and thin he was. His cap was tilted up, and the static film was visible even across the room.

“Chase?” Schneep asked hesitantly. No answer. “Chase, can you—can you hear me?”

“Ye̸s̨.”

Schneep shuddered, hearing the white noise breaking his voice. “Why are we here? Did you…did you want to see me?”

“The͠y̸ w̵ant͏ed t͠o̵ s̡ee y͝ou̵.͡”

“But what about you, Chase?” Schneep said softly. “What do you want?”

“I want͡ to ̸he̛l̡p the͝m.“ Chase pulled at the scarf around his neck and let it drop to the floor. “S͠ee̷?”

The sight of the green stitches made Schneep’s heart wrench. “That is not—Chase, that is not proof of good intentions. We just want you to come home, why can you not do that?”

“B̛eca̧uşȩ ̡I̛’m aļready ͢t̴hȩre͡.” The elevator doors opened. Without looking away from Schneep, Chase backed up and stepped inside.

“No—!” Schneep sprinted forward, but the elevator doors closed before he was even halfway across the room. Still, he would not be deterred. He ran through the empty doorway and into the stairwell. Looking up, the stairs extended in a rickety spiral. He didn’t know where Chase was going. He didn’t even have a guess. So he’d be forced to check each floor systematically. Fine. He’d do it.

First floor from the bottom. Nothing. More bare lightbulbs and exposed wiring. A few cables dangling from the ceiling. There was only one room, as the door into the next had been boarded up. Second floor from the bottom, same result. But on the third floor, things changed. The lightbulbs were red now. A few TVs were stacked in the corners of the room, showing static. There was no boarded-up door, because there wasn’t a door at all.

Schneep was just about to leave when there was a break in the hiss of the static from the TV screens. A laugh. “Do you en͏̸͏j̴o̶̴y͟ going in ç͟͠i̸͟rc̕le̶̕s͏̢̡?̴̨” There was no doubt about who was asking that question.

“Shut the fuck up,” Schneep growled. He went back out into the stairwell and slammed the door behind him.

The fourth floor was just like the third, but with the addition of more TVs. “Why so h̢͞o̧s͡t̛i̸͞lȩ, doctor?”

“You know exactly why!” When he returned to the stairwell again, the lights had gone red.

Fifth floor. There were wires on the floor and the TVs were mounted on the walls. “You’re blaming m̨̨e̷͟ for what happened t̵o̡̢ ̛͝y̨o̶̡̕u̕r̷͢ ̨f̵̧riend̛̛s̕? Those two ş̸e̴̢͠a̷͢l̷ed ̡̧͢t͟͝h̕ei̡ŗ̴ ͢o̴̧͞w̵͠n̶͞ ̸̛fa͠t̛͞e͟s̴.͞ I had nothing to do with it.”

“It’s not just about Jackie and Marvin and you know it!” Schneep realized he was just encouraging him. He resolved to not answer him any more, and concentrate on finding Chase.

As the stairwell rose higher and higher, it began to break down. Even more exposed wiring, holes in the drywall, even a few missing steps. Every floor got increasingly worse, the rooms getting smaller, but packed with more screens and wires. And something even more concerning: green string looped around the cables, strangely shimmering. Every time Schneep opened a door, Anti had a message for him.

Sixth floor. “You’re upset about th̸e̡ ͠o̶͡th̵͡er̛͠ş͡, then? I assure you, I never meant Jack any harm. Not p͏̡̛e̷͝r̴m̵̶͡an͞e̕nt̴̡l̵̨̛y͞.”

Seventh floor. “Or are you thinking of t̢he͟͞ ͠f͏͏a͟͞k̷̛e͏ m̷̢a̵g̢͡i͏cia̷n͏̕'͠s̴ silence? If he wasn’t casting spells, he didn’t r̶̸̕e̢͟͢al̵̢ly̴̕ ̨ne̸̴e̢͞d̷̢ to speak, did he?”

Eighth floor. “But I’m a fool for forgetting our fa̸͞v̵͡or̡i͡t̶̶͡e̢͝ ̵̕bo͞y̛̛. He made his c̕͞h̨͢o̡͟įc̨e͞͡. He did it t̛o̢͢ ̶͡h͏̶͝im̵s͢el̕͟f͏͠͞. I simply gave him the right i̢͞͝n̛͞cen͟͏̸t͝͠iv̴͠ȩ.”

Ninth floor. “Oh, doctor. It’s no f̡̢͞u̶̸n if you don’t respond. Have you given up so e͟͞ą̧si̢̨l̴̶̨y͠? No, you just won’t give me the sa̢t͠is͡f̧a̡c͠t̵͝i̷̵͢on̵. But how do you know this isn’t exactly w̶hąt̸ ̧I ̶̛w̨ant̷ed̵? You, with nothing to do but have all the times you fai̴ļ͡e̷͞d̷͡ yo̡u̵̢̧r̷͏͡ ̸f̴̷r̴ie̸͟n̶ḑs͠͝ rattle about your brain.”

The stairs ended at the tenth floor. The highest he could go. If Chase wasn’t on this floor, Schneep didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t feel like going back down, searching, while those words hissed in his ear. Taking a deep breath, Schneep opened the door to this floor.

It opened into a room, just like all the other floors below. But unlike the others, this room had a door, and it was ajar. Giving a quick glance to all the screens in this room, Schneep half-ran over to the door and pushed through it. There was a long hallway beyond, in equally bad repair as the rooms and the stairwell. Green string was intertwined with sparking wires. The red lightbulbs overhead were few and far between, leaving long stretches of darkness between them. There was one door all the way at the end of the hall, one on the left side, and one on the right. There were more TV monitors, sitting on the floor and mocking him with their white noise. He was really starting to get sick of that static.

The door to the left was the closest, so he decided to start there. It led to a small room, completely empty except for more screens and a set of elevator doors, which Schneep immediately walked over to. As he passed the screens, they whispered to him…worthless…useless…you almost lost Jack on Halloween…you couldn’t remove Jameson’s stitches…you lost Chase to this demon…why can’t you do anything right?…why do you always fail them?…

The elevator was empty, and there was nowhere to hide in the room. Well, that was one option down. Now to check the room on the right.

This one had less monitors, but more green string draped across every square inch of the place. And there was a table in the middle. Square, wooden. Nothing out of the ordinary. Schneep considered backing away, but when he thought about it, there could be clues on the table. Clues as to what this glitch is, and how to get rid of him. So he crept toward it.

There were six objects on the table. Five of them were dolls. Cloth dolls, with yarn for hair and fabric for simple clothes. But Schneep could tell who they were modeled after. The dolls were them. But…broken. A doll in a black hoodie had the cloth of its throat cut, with stuffing spilling out. Another in a vest and with a mustache had green stitches across the small black line that represented its mouth. One with a snapback cap had strings sewn into its wrists and neck. And one wearing a white coat had its little button eyes missing.

Schneep picked that one up, examining it further. The eyes weren’t just missing, they were ripped off, with remnants of string where the buttons would’ve been sewn. He shivered, and put it back on the table. There was still one more doll. This one was…different. It looked like someone had taken apart two other dolls, then stitched them together in a twisted way. The limbs were loosely connected to the torso, which was bleeding stuffing. The little head had a tear right down the middle of its face. And the doll was wearing a cape, a hood, and two masks: blue and white.

“Mein Gott,” Schneep muttered. He was tempted to pick up the broken doll, but it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. And maybe that would have consequences for the two who the doll represented. Because there was no doubt about who that was. What was Anti doing to Jackie and Marvin? He almost didn’t want to think about it. Schneep forced himself to look away from the dolls and toward the last item on the table.

He recognized it. Chase’s gun. How it got here, he didn’t know. But it was loaded. Schneep hesitated, then picked it up. It was heavier than he expected. He had no idea how to use it, other than the general “point and shoot” method, and maybe it wouldn’t even work on Anti, but it made him feel safer.

The last room was at the end of the hall. Schneep had to be honest with himself; he was afraid to check it. But he had to. If Chase was there, if he could…Schneep steeled himself and started walking forward. Every step brought new static from the TV monitors, hiding words inside…You could have talked them out of this…you could have tried harder…you could have spent more time with them…none of this would have happened if you weren’t such a failure…if you weren’t so hopeless…you could have stopped this but you didn’t…

The room at the end of the hall was empty. There were no lights overhead, no strings anywhere. The room was so large and dark that Schneep couldn’t even see the walls. Piles of old TVs were scattered around, their endless static giving off a white glow. “Chase?” Schneep called. His voice echoed.

Of course there wouldn’t be an answer. Schneep clutched Chase’s gun tighter, and started his search. The TV piles weren’t ordered, just stacked at random. But he could remember where he’d been, couldn’t he? Or maybe he could find one of the walls, and walk around the edge of the room. He had to do something.

What was there to do?…did he really think he could do anything good?…he was a failure, an idiot…he couldn’t save his friends…he would do better to just give up…

“Stop!” Schneep shouted. He firmly planted his feet on the ground, not walking anymore. “I know it is you doing that! I know it! And you are doing no good, so stop!”

It was silent except for the static. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the shadow of a figure run past in the white glow of the screen. He spun toward it, instinctively raising Chase’s gun, but he lost it. Laughter echoed through the room. “If you’re so ç͢͝onc̶͝e̶rne͟͟d͞ about my whispers, that means they’re doing their jo̸b͟͢͞, and they’re doing it w͟͟ę͡l̡͡l.”

“I—I am not concerned!” Schneep’s eyes darted about. “It is just very annoying, having to listen to them for this long.”

“Li̕͟a͞r,̸” Anti hissed. “You’re in d̴e̢ni̵al͟, Henrik. Denial of t̶h͏̢̧e͠ t̸r̢ut̶̛h̸̛.”

Another shadowy figure darted past, almost too fast for Schneep to catch. “You do not call me that!” Schneep yelled. “That is for my friends to call me, not—not monsters!”

“How do you know they’re not o̴n̴e̢̕̕ ͡an̢̨d̕ ̨͏th͞͠e s͢͟a̶͏m̧e?” Anti asked.

“Shut up! Shut up!” He spun around, watching the figure rush past him yet again. “I will not have such fucking slander to my friends!”

Anti laughed. “Are they your friends if you’ve tą̧k͝e͢n more from them than g̡iv̸e͢n̷ to them in turn? Are they your f̶̢ri̵̡e͟n͢d̛͡s if you’ve never helped them o̕͞n̡c̸͠͝e in the moment it matters? Are they y͡͠ơu͠r̶̨͠ ̴f͞͏r̡i͢͝en̡d̸s̶ if you di̸̵d͟n͏͢'̴t̨ ̵͞s̕a̶v̧e̶͢ ̷̨͡t̨͟ḩ̕e͢m?”

“You know nothing about this.” Schneep glared into the darkness. He’d find him, he would.

“Avoiding the qu͠e͠͡s̵̶tio͟͞n I see! Are you t̵o̶͞o̸ af̸̨ra͡i͟d̸̛̛ to answer? T͠o͟͠o͞͡ ̶̢a͏f͏̷̵r̸ai͏͢d̴̢, because you know the answer… i̡͞s̸ n̴̨̛ơ̵?”

“You know nothing!” Schneep repeated, screaming. The figure ran past him, and again, and again, while Anti laughed.

“W͏̕͏e̡͟aķ̵̴!̵” he shouted. “W͢o̷̵̸r͞ţ͢h͏l̵̢e̵̵s̨s!̷ Fa̷i̛͏l̶҉ure̛͞!̨͢ You͡'҉ve ne̸ve̵r̛ h̶elpe͝d an̢yǫnȩ aņd̕ y̧ou̧ ̵ n͏̜͎̹e̹̕v̵͖̼̳e̯r̰̥͡ ̡̰̼͓̟͔w̯̙̼ͅi̜̘̲̞̪͇̤l̗͇̟̯l̪̭̮!”

“Get away from me!” Schneep screamed.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. Quickly, Schneep spun around, raised Chase’s gun, and fired. The kickback made him stumble, and he instinctively closed his eyes as the loud bang from the gun drowned out everything else in the room, leaving a ringing in his ears.

Even the static seemed reduced. Schneep opened his eyes and looked at a body sprawled on the ground. Had he done it? Schneep edged forward, staring down at the body.

It started slowly, then built up. A mad laughter, crackling with white noise. “Y͏̶҉̭̟͉̳̪͖o̻͡u̷̢̯̜͔͖͓̦̕ ̩̦̝͕͖̻͞m̨̖͕͔̖̳̕į̝̘͝ͅs̘͖̙̗̰͞ṣ͍e̡҉̗̯͎̰d͓͖͔͢!̱͍̞͍̥͉ͅ”

The light from the TV screens intensified, allowing for better sight. Schneep gasped. “Chase!” he shouted. “No no no no no!”

He threw the gun to the side, then scrambled forward, kneeling by Chase’s side. The bullet had hit him in the chest, and he was losing a lot of blood. Schneep tried to remember what could have been hit…what he could have…

“Chase please answer me!” Schneep shook his friend’s shoulders. There was no reaction, but now Schneep’s training was kicking in. He pressed two fingers to Chase’s wrist, checking for a pulse beneath the stitching. He found nothing. He repeated the process with Chase’s neck, but still nothing. “Chase no you can’t be—!”

Chase’s eyes were still clouded with static, still dull and lifeless. Schneep could feel tears running down his face. “Please, I did not mean—I did not mean—I am sorry, I did not—! Chase, please!”

Schneep felt a hand on his shoulder, but he barely registered it through the panic and the shocked grief. “It doesn’t matter w̕h͠a̵t͠ ̴͠y̡͡ou͝ ̴͟m̸̨e̵͞an̸̨͡t̵̵,” a voice said. “What matters is w̴h̕a͠t ̡̨y̸o̡͡u ̴d̵̕id. And what did you do, He̷n̵̷͢ri̴̛k̸?”

Someone was pulling him away from Chase. He tried to stay with him, he had to, he had to let him know he was sorry, but he was being pulled away. He fought against it, clawing at the ground, legs flailing, but it was not use. He was being taken away, Chase was being taken away, he was sorry, it was his fault, he never does anything right, he was sorry Chase, Chase please wake up, please be fine, please—

A hand grabbed his head and pushed it back, pushed it until the back of his head hit something hard. A warm, prickling sensation started to fill his mind, pulling him down…down…down…and the last thing he saw before the static blocked his vision was Chase’s body…his fault…

Anti watched as the static from the TV crossed through the screen, latching onto the doctor’s head. Schneep slowly stopped struggling, and his eyes filled up with white noise. Not like Chase’s had, where it was a film that you could still see the eyes through. No, they were completely blocked out by static, which then spilled down his cheeks in trails of tears. In the white noise given off by the television, you could hear a voice, crying and shrieking. “ ̵ ̡ ͢͢ ̸̨ ͞ ̸͟ ̛͞ ̧͝ ̸̴ ̴̷̕ ̵ ̸͟ ͟ ̴ ̷̢ ̷͢͡ ̧ ̶̸̡ ̶ ̨ ͢ ̛̕ ̶͞ ̵ ͞ ͏ ̶̡ ͟͝ ̷ ͟ ͡ ͏͠ ̡̧ ͏̴̵ ̸.”

Anti smiled. Perfect. “You can ̵g͏̧et ̴̶͡ųp now,” he said.

The body stirred. Chase sat up, acting perfectly fine despite the bullet lodged in his chest. Anti eyed the bleeding wound. Maybe he should fix that soon. Wouldn’t want his dear friend to bleed to death. But he could handle it a bit longer. “Didn’t I t̢e̕͢l̸̛l y̛o͡u͏̷ the bullet wouldn’t h̢u̵͝r͏t you?” Anti asked, smirking. “And I was r̵̶͢i̴̡̧gh͢͠t̴̨. This is why you tr͏͡u͟s̡̨t̶̸̴ ̢m̨̧e͠͏.”

Chase nodded. “Y̡e͢s͢.͞ ̡I d͏ơn'̧t̡ kn̨ow why I̕ ̴doubted y̕o͢u. I'm͝ ̡so͢r͡r̕y.”

“You’ve realized your m̛iş͡tak̛̕e, so I’ll a̢c͞c̡̕͡e̷p̶t̵͡ ͢͠yo͟͞u̢r ̧a̢͝p̨o͝lo̢g̷̛y̛͞.͟” Anti stood up, then reached down and pulled Chase up as well. He held him tight by the wrist, enjoying the texture of stitches on skin. “Now…we have to drop it off, d̢on͟'̷t̛͡ w̡͡e̵͢͝?͝”

Chase looked down at the empty body. “Y̵e͠s͝.̵” Then a look of confusion managed to make its way onto his expression. “B͏ut...̵w̡hy̶ di̴dn̡'t ̢w̶e͏ ju͞s̡t.͏..͡”

“Why isn’t he l̸̴͞i̡ke̷͡ ̡yo͏̢͝u̸?” Anti leaned closer to Chase, keeping one hand around his wrist and wrapping the other around his neck. Chase showed no reaction. “It͏̶'ş͞ ̵s̷i̕͠mp̨ļ͞e̶,̶̡͟ Chase. He wouldn’t ļe̵̸t̶ ̸̴m̡e̵. You heard how a̸͞͡ng̢r̷̕͝y̵̨ he was. He would have rather b̵̨r̷̡o̵k̶̨e̢̕n than seen the light. So, we had to ge͞t͢͞ ̵r͡į̵d ̶̸o̶f͟ ̵͠hi͞m̡͞, understand?”

I͠ u͡nde͠rst̡a̢nd,” Chase repeated. “W͢hat̛ ḩappene̴d͞?”

Anti walked toward Schneep’s body, kneeling beside it once more. “Don’t worry, he’s still a̢l͠i̶ve. You can check for a heartbeat if you want. I’ve just separated his ş̶̴ou̶̷l͠ from his b̵͠͠o̸̧̨d̷̢y̶̢. For all intents and purposes, this is a coma.”

Anti paused, letting the static fill the air. And with it, the voice trapped inside: “ ̵ ̡ ͢͢ ̸̨ ͞ ̸͟ ̛͞ ̧͝ ̸̴? ̴̷̕ ̵ ̸͟ ͟ ̴ ̷̢ ̷͢͡ ̧ ̶̸̡ ̶ ̨ ͢ ̛̕ ̶͞ ̵ ͞ ͏ ̶̡! ͟͝ ̷ ͟ ͡ ͏͠ ̡̧ ͏̴̵ ̸!”

He smiled. “S͠w̶ee̷t̶̨͢ d̛̕re̛a̵͡m̢͢s͠͝͏, He̛͝n͝͡r͏i̴̸k̶̢͠,” he whispered, though he knew they would be anything but.
.............................................................................................

“Look, it’s probably fine, he just…” Jack trailed off. “Okay, no, you’re right, it’s bad.”

JJ nodded firmly, adjusting his mask. It was a recent acquisition, one of those fashionable surgical masks you can order online. This one was blue with a black mustache on it. Jack had gotten it for him, so he could go out without having to show off the stitching.

Jack reread the text Schneep had sent him once again. “Maybe I would’ve done the same thing,” he muttered. “I don’t know. But I think he should’ve at least waited for my reply. When did he get so…impulsive?”

They’d looked everywhere for him. Or at least, everywhere around the hospital. He couldn’t have gotten far. Now, it was four a.m., and they hadn’t seen any sign of Schneep at all. JJ insisted they head back to Jack’s apartment, presumably to get some sleep and continue in the morning. It was hard to tell, as Jack and JJ were still only beginning to learn sign language so most of the time they had to resort to vague gestures.

When they finally got back to Jack’s apartment, it was eerily quiet. Jack noticed. “My neighbors in this apartment usually have their TV on all the time,” he explained to JJ. “No break. I once woke up at five and still heard it. Why stop now?”

JJ didn’t even try to say anything, just grabbed Jack’s forearm nervously.

“And here we are, home sweet home.” Jack stopped in front of his apartment door and fished out the keys. It unlocked with a click. The two of them entered the apartment, shut the door behind them, and then Jack reached over and flipped on the lights.

Schneep was sitting in one of the chairs.

Jack jumped. JJ ducked behind him. “Dude, it’s fine, Schneep is just…back.”

JJ shook his head vigorously. He clearly thought something was up.

“Okay, fine, look, we’ll…talk to him.” Jack cautiously approached. He was having flashbacks to May, and what happened with Chase. But he had to know. “Schneep? Doc?” Jack reached out and touched his shoulder. There was no response, so Jack walked around to get a look at his face…and gasped upon seeing the empty eyes of static and tears.

“What the fuck?” Jack said gently. “JJ? You want to look at this?” JJ, pressed firmly against the wall, shook his head. “I think it’s fine. It’s, like, a different thing. His eyes are…and I don’t see any stitches…” JJ took a couple tentative steps, and when nothing happened he walked right over, though he kept his distance.

“He’s breathing, but he’s not…there…” Jack waved his hand in front of Schneep’s eyes. He shook his shoulders. He punched him lightly in the chest. Nothing. Jack swallowed. “I don’t know if this is worse.”

JJ sat on the sofa, then reached over and grabbed a pen and pad of paper from a nearby end table. He scribbled down, 'Do you think we should wait? To see if something happens?'

“Yeah…yeah, good idea.” Jack sat down next to him.

An hour passed. More. The sun began to rise. Nothing. JJ seemed keen to watch for a while longer, or perhaps he was just too scared to take his eyes away. Jack was…tired. Not just physically from staying up all night, but…mentally. Was being okay just, not a thing that could happen anymore? Was there any way to stop this all? Anti wouldn’t stop by himself. Not until everyone was hurt, everyone was suffering.

And Jack made a decision. His friends wouldn’t be victims anymore. They wouldn’t be in pain anymore. He refused to let it happen. He refused to let Anti win.

He’d do anything for them.