Project K-9

Chapter 19

"Penny for your thoughts?" Karl said, as he slightly squeezed Sapnap's shoulder from behind. The latter was currently seated on their couch, with a warm drink in hand, and had been staring off into space for the last 5 minutes.

"It's all just so messed up..." the raven head said, as Karl took the seat next to him.

"This whole situation...those phantoms were people special to Dream and Red. They knew that their friends worked for the agency, yet they still joined the opposing side." Sapnap stated.

"We don't know the whole story Sapnap, they could have been threatened..." Karl pointed out.

"Yeah I guess...still though, that man shouldn't have said something so harsh to Red," the K-9 argued.

Karl looked down at his lap, "I kind of get why he said that though..." he whispered out, and this caught the raven head's attention.

"I mean think about it, if my friend and I were to suddenly reunite and discover that we worked for opposing sides, that would hurt me a lot. If I was in that Phantom's place I may have done the same thing, so there would be a reason to distance ourselves from each other..." the agent continued.

"Now that's just dumb, all it does is stir up some unnecessary drama," Sapnap commented, and Karl's eyes flashed with anger.

"Can't you at least try to understand what that man is going through, he probably felt ashamed for Red to discover him like this. Yes, it wasn't right to say that to Red, but can't you see that it was his way of telling Red to forget him and move on with his life!" the agent ranted, before taking in some deep breaths to calm himself down.

Now normally Sapnap would have yelled his argument back, perhaps he was just too tired or had finally learned that yelling back would only escalate the problem.

One thought flew through his mind at that moment, a thought that for the first time ever actually scared him. "Do you want a new K-9?" he asked his voice shaky.

This made the brunette look at his partner with confusion. "Huh?"

"I made you mad so you probably don't want me anymore..."

"Yes you made me mad, but no, I don't want another K-9..." Karl answered, and Sapnap breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Why would you even think that?" Karl asked.

"You asked me before why I didn't have a master..." Sapnap started and Karl gave him a nod.

"Well I actually had several, but I always ended up arguing with them, and they wanted someone obedient. So they would return me to the training facility until another master came along, and the process would just repeat."

Karl suddenly felt sorry for the raven head, so he wrapped his partner in a hug. Sapnap was rather taken aback by this gesture, he had never been hugged by any of his masters before.

"I'm sorry you had to experience that, but I promise that I won't abandon you... yes, we will most likely argue again in the future, but when that happens we'll calm down and talk to each other." the brunette reassured.

It was gradual, but Sapnap soon found himself hugging Karl back. The pair stayed in the embrace, silently wondering why the gesture brought them so much comfort, and why neither wanted to let go.

~0~0~0~

George woke up earlier than usual the next morning when he heard shuffling coming from the living room. Groggily he got up and headed out of his room to find Dream in running attire. He felt his face flush a bit when he remembered his gay awakening last night, but he pushed it down to make way for his curiosity.

"Dream where are you going?" George asked, his voice still husky from sleep.

"Oh, good morning George!" the blonde greeted with a small smile, which made the brunette's heart flutter. "I'm heading out for a bit, I should be back in time for breakfast. I have my collar and phone, so just call me if you need me..." the blonde explained and the agent gave him a nod.

However, the minute that the door closed, worry started to eat at George. What if the MOB decided to make their move now and tried to grab him?

Without hesitation, the brunette quickly headed to the bathroom to freshen up a bit, then dressed in his own casual clothes. Grabbing his keys and phone on the way out the door, he quickly opened the PK-9 app on his phone and headed towards the blonde's location. To his surprise, he found himself at the entrance to a rather large cemetery.

He scanned around the area till he finally spotted Dream climbing the cemented steps to the top of a hill, where several graves stood. In the blonde's hand was a bouquet of flowers, which slowly dwindled as Dream would drop one flower in front of each grave that he passed.

George watched from afar, silently debating whether it was a good idea to disturb the K-9 when he heard footsteps slowly approaching from behind him.

He whirled around to find himself face-to-face with Fruitberries. The man was carrying a plastic bag and also a bouquet of flowers in hand, but this one was a much larger one than what Dream had.

"George?" the Chief called in a confused tone, then glanced towards the hill where Dream continued to drop flowers in front of the graves.

"Did you come with him?" Fruitberries asked and George shook his head.

"Whose graves are those, chief?" George asked in a shaky voice.

"The children of project underdog, and Dream's first master," the man answered grimly.

George thought for a moment to soak up the information. He then raised his gaze to meet the chief's eyes, "Chief...can you tell me what exactly happened to Dream? He keeps having nightmares but chooses not to tell me anything, and I don't want to push him."

Fruitberries let out a sigh, his serious face now showing a hint of pain. "It isn't a very nice story, George..."

"I know, but I need to know what he went through if I am to help him move on and heal," George stated with determination.

These words stirred something up in Fruitberries, and he could practically hear his old friend's voice.

"I am not the person who will heal him Fruit. That person will eventually come along in the future... My role, for now, is to make sure that he doesn't die before that person arrives," his friend said with a chuckle.

"You are quite optimistic considering how fate has been so cruel to the boy," Fruit remembered replying.

"I can't really explain it either Fruit, but it's just a gut feeling that things will turn around for him eventually."

A small chuckle left the Chief's lips, why are you always right? He thought.

Fruitberries then scanned George's face once again, to see if there was any sign of hesitation, but all he saw was determination.

"Brace yourself, it is no story for the weak of heart..." the chief stated as he motioned to a bench nearby, and the pair walked over to it.

Meanwhile, Dream had dropped his last flower at the last tombstone. This grave was much larger than the rest, which were merely cemented poles with names and numbers painted on them.

The blonde gently ran his fingers on the golden letters engraved onto the tombstone, while a sad smile decorated his handsome features.

"Happy birthday Master Illumina."