'Karkat. Karkat. Karkat. Karkat.' This was all that was on the Capricorn's name the second he heard his friend's footsteps fade away. Karkat was going off to battle who knows what and Gamzee couldn't protect him. What if he fought the Condesce? She would use her stolen telekinesis and make Karkat belly flop his way off a cliff. And what about Jack? Jack was an old ally of Karkat, but Jack wouldn't care. He'd kill Karkat off without a second thought. And what about Lord English? Gamzee worked for that demon, he saw what he would do to those ghosts.

A low growl escaped from the throat of the Capricorn and a hiss was returned from the outside. Gamzee froze.

"What, did your shitty chuckle voooooooodoooooooos sense me coming?" An all too familiar voice sing-songed from the outside of the fridge. Gamzee stayed silent, not even daring to honk the horn in his mouth. "What's wrong, clown? Spider got your tongue?" She chuckled and suddenly the fridge was lifted up in the hair. Gamzee was pressed against the fridge door, the corpses sharing the kitchen appliance following in suit.

Gamzee didn't know what was going in but he prayed to the mirthful messiahs that he wasn't about to get thrown off this meteor. A good ten minutes later, his prayers were answered and the fridge was roughly set down on its back, throwing Gamzee down. The Capricorn lay on top the corpses in confusion, he didn't know where he was or why Vriska had so suddenly moved the fridge. What about Karkat? Did he know about this? Just then he heard a voice. A soft but stern elegant voice. A voice that threatened to kill him and came pretty close once.

"Might I ask why the refrigerator containing that psychotic clown is up here with the rest of us? I thought that this was a meeting for our upcoming battle." Oh, so that's where he was. A meeting. But why was he here?

"This is a meeting and we're going to need this fridge for later purposes."

"Might I ask what sort of later purposes? Are we perhaps going to let him loose and let him tear our enemies apart? Was that the oh-so-clever battle plan of yours? Because I have no doubt in my mind that he will just turn and rip us apart instead." Gamzee grimaced at the words. Was Kanaya really that upset? He hasn't done anything in a sweep! He's changed! Then again no one but Karkat knows that for sure...

"Hey, instead of standing around like idiots gawking at a fucking kitchen appliance we should get this shitty show on the road." Karkat. That was Karkat. Gamzee wiggled in delight and honked the horn lodged into his mouth.

"Hey look, it honked when Karkat talked. Dude must've imprinted on short and shouty." That was Dave. Gamzee remembered all the things Karkat had told him about Dave. All the insults and late night movie marathon cuddles and feelings jams. Now Gamzee knew what Karkat meant by the quadrant confusion.

"Fuck off Strider." Gamzee honked again upon hearing the voice of his friend. He wanted to worm his way out of this corpse infested contraption, but he was tied up and the fridge was sealed shut. There was no way out for Gamzee. He sighed through his nose and decided it best to wait this out. Hopefully they'd let him out to help, that's all he wanted. He wanted to prove he wasn't a murder happy clown with a spiked club with their name on it. So, the clown eased onto the bodies behind him and waited.

Gamzee listened to the entire meeting. He listened to Vriska gabble away about her plans and the teams. He heard Terezi and Vriska talk right outside his fridge, he heard Karkat argue with Vriska. He heard Tavros and Kanaya and Rose and some unfamiliar voices. He heard all this but not once did he hear them mention letting him out to help. That was it. Gamzee was done.

The groups departed and Gamzee was moved yet again. This time he was with Tavros and couple new voices. Then, Nepeta joined the party. Nepeta. Gamzee grimaced at the thought of her. He remembered how he had killed her. He remembered drawing in her blood. He remembered swinging that club of his against her skull so many times. No. No more thinking like that. Gamzee pushed those thoughts aside.

Vriska's voice rang outside, all staticky but understandable. The times were in place and she was heading out now. Rose, John, and Roxy just left along with Dave, Dirk and Terezi would follow. Karkat and Kanaya left but only Kanaya came back. Now she was off to gather her treasure and fight a bitch. Wait did she only Kanaya came back? Was that good? Bad? Gamzee didn't know. Everything was so confusing. Gamzee could only pray and hope that Karkat was fine.

The fridge shook and moved slightly then was left still again. The voices of the others on the outside faded away and finally disappeared. Gamzee was alone again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well look who finally joined the party." Gamzee's eyes fluttered open. He had fallen asleep waiting for someone, anyone. The fridge was pulled forward and Gamzee was pressed against the door. It tilted back and Gamzee stood in line with the corpses.

"Shut the hell up, Serket. I was getting someone." Karkat? Karkat was okay. Karkat was okay and that's all that mattered.

"I STILL don't see why we need him."

"And you never will. It's confidential shit that I learned while I was knocked out in a fucking cave thanks to Kanaya. By the way, next time to don't knock me out near any damn lava. I was almost fried to death." Oh, that brought back painful memories.

"Yes, well, you weren't fried to death. So let us consider that another win." Gamzee couldn't see it but he knew Karkat was rolling his eyes. "Enough with this, we might as well get this metaphorical show on the metaphorical road. Vriska, hand Karkat the key."

"Alright, when I let him out we all have to go over some ground rules. Absolutely NO fucking weapons. We don't need that shit. And no Kanaya, I don't know if he will or won't attack but you know what, I'm willing to take my chances. Also don't treat him like a fucking retard or a psychopath. He isn't either of those things." The lock clicked and the chains fell. Gamzee's blood pusher was ejecting blood at double the speed. His mind was racing. What if this was a trick? No, Karkat wouldn't do that. Would he?

The door slowly opened and the Bard of Rage fell out into the arms of the Knight of Blood.

The first thing that Karkat noticed about Gamzee was the smell. God the smell was overwhelming. It smelled like rotting corpses and Karkat wasn't surprised that it was. But there was something else mixed in with that...it smelled like...feces and dried urine. Karkat wrinkled his nose in disgust.

He propped Gamzee up and pulled the bicycle horn from his mouth. Gamzee let out a happy honk, his voice much deeper than three years ago. Karkat let his now candy red eyes roam Gamzee, taking in the new appearance and noting any changes. His fangs were larger and sharper. His hair was longer and poofier but mostly tangled. The white make up managed to stay caked onto his face but it was starting to crack. His eyes were smaller, beady, but a vibrant purple. They mainly looked intimidating but with a hint of kindness. His horns were a bit bigger than before and he was taller. God, how had he fit in that small fridge?

"Come on Gam..." Karkat said, cutting the ropes off of Gamzee and letting his arms loose. The subjugglator raised his arms, his claws making shadows across Karkat's chest, and hugged his smaller friend tightly. Purple tears welled up and spilled onto his cheeks. Karkat tensed up but the tension soon faded away and was replaced with a returned hug and tears of his own. He had missed him. He missed Gamzee. He missed his giant clown best friend with all the hugs and smiles and honks and just about everything else. He missed being there for Gamzee. He missed Gamzee. And he wasn't about to let someone take him away again.

"Come on Gam, let's get you cleaned up."