Chapter Text
There are currently two things on Dave Strider’s to-do list.
Well, he thinks it’s two. Is it three? Does it count as three if the first two are basically the same? Like if you really looked at them, scribbled down in pathetic chicken-scratch on a mental sticky note ‘Don’t die’ and ‘Survive the next 24 hours’ are basically the same thing.
God, what was he thinking? He wasn’t really. That’s the long and short of it. He hasn’t been able to think for himself in so long that at this point Dave feels like he’s purely acting on impulse.
If this was a movie this is probably where a freeze-frame flashback would go. Explain this shitty situation in one big swoop. ‘You’re probably wondering how I got into this mess…’ That kind of shit. To be honest, Dave doesn’t know either.
Picture this: you’re 13, your dad sucks and you’ve just been fucking kidnapped. Like shoved in the back of a dark van kidnapped. You are Dave, in one of his defining memories as a kid. Why or how he got kidnapped ends up not really mattering, it’s where he ended up that matters more.
It’s a tall grey building, surrounded by other slightly shorter grey buildings in this ugly ass part of downtown. The only signifier is a large emblem of an M - Monarch Enterprises.
The rest of that story is a flashback better suited for another time, or preferably never, but here’s what you really need to know. Monarch Enterpises, or just Monarch, is an organization funded by the U.S. government to do research. Dave is the result of said research.
They took kids from parents who could care less about them into some bullshit program and gave them superpowers. Told them they were gonna save the world - not that Dave ever bought into that stuff, totally not, he’s way too cool for that - and then never let them see the light of day.
Legally Dave Strider has not existed for over 10 years, which is saying something because Dave is 33. 20 fucking years in that shit hole and he finally got out. On his own, too. Why did it have to hurt so much?
Time travel fucking sucks. It sucks so much. He never should’ve messed with it. Now that he’s slowly coming down from the ‘oh shit I’m gonna die’ adrenaline, he can feel the way his skin feels all wrong and his hair is standing on its end. This was just the start.
It would get worse, he knew. It’s all he’s ever known and its still the worst thing in the world. Like sure, you can try to ignore it. You can predict it coming, prevent it, take the steps to make sure you’re not sprawled out on the floor in agony.
Dave had no way of telling how much pain this trip would leave him in. Because the thing about time travel? You’re never suppose to be where you end up. It doesn’t matter if it was planned and you fully intended to end up there, on a molecular level you are not supposed to be there. You are an intruder.
Your skin crawls and you feel fundamentally wrong. It’ll spook most first timers, but Dave was used to it. Along with that, manipulating the time stream made his joints flare up. Aradia called it “chronic pain”, he just called it a pain in his ass.
Long story short, time travel is painful and Dave just made the biggest jump through time he’s ever done. He had been planning it for months. And now it’s all over with him collapsed and panting over a grave in the middle of a freezing winter night.
There was no way for him to have known where to end-up. It’s all intuitive, like jumping off a cliff with your eyes closed and just hoping you make it out alive. Dave had known three things going into this: One, he was legally dead. Two, his friends didn’t know he was still alive. Three, this meant they were out there and mourning him some how. A morbid train of thought to be sure, but also the most direct connection to his friends.
When Monarch had brought him into their program, they had also brought in three other kids - Rose, Jade, and John. They were Dave’s entire world for years (well, not really, there had been others), and then one day they just left. Aradia, his carer/best friend/god fucking damn it he misses her, had later told him that he was the only one left. He was the only one needed.
It had took him years to even figure out what the hell that meant, but basically it boiled down to this:
The four of them had powers that were being tested. Somewhere along the line Dave’s powers had mutated and suddenly that was all Monarch cared about. They had faked his death, ignored everyone else and zeroed in on him and his ‘potential’. This had led to his friends being somewhere out in the real world while he was trapped in the same grey walls that he had grown up in.
So when things had started getting worse than even he could handle, the knowledge that they were out there had been his only hope that he too could get out. And he had! Dave had gotten out.
Now what?
The pain was finally starting to dim down to the point that he could do things. Like move or think. Y’know, the basics. Dave still wanted to curl up into a little ball, but years of testing doesn’t lend to habits of comfort, so he pushed through it. Now that everything wasn’t in sensory overdrive, he could finally make out his surroundings.
For one, it was dark and cold. The ground was barely illuminated by the moon, but he could make out the rough texture of dirt and grass. His hands were starting to go numb from touching the slightly frozen dirt and he was just starting to notice the tears he had blocked out. Fuck. Okay, get comfortable then do the observing thing.
Pushing himself out of the position he had landed in - on his hands and knees, panting heavily - Dave was extremely grateful for the second layer under his sweatpants. The dirt was no more comfortable to sit on then it had been to kneel on. At least now he had some warmth.
Sitting up gave him a much better view of his surroundings. He was in some sort of graveyard in the middle of the forest. Judging by the rusting fence and the overgrown grass, this was the sort of place built to be forgotten. It was just cold enough to be winter, with remnants of snow and frost still on the ground. Every breath brought a puff of fog into the air, something Dave took silent delight in.
With every second passed, the pain was fading. Probably because Dave was doing nothing but sitting and breathing. Sometimes it was the only way he could cope. He had expected the pain in his hands - he wore wrist braces for a reason - but this time it was flaring through what felt like every joint in his body. He was also just starting to be aware of the very cold stone he was leaning against. A gravestone, to be precise.
Deciding to test his luck, Dave scooted around to try to make out the name.
David E. Strider
‘A song the world will forever miss.’
He really shouldn’t have been shocked. He knew the outside world thought him as good as dead, but he had never let himself think it was this solid of a concept. There’s something morbid about seeing your own gravestone. Like attending your own funeral after everyone has already left.
Tracing the encryption, Dave chuckled to himself. It was very obvious who had put it together. Each of his friends had contributed something. That thought made his heart hurt even more.
Rose… Fuck he missed her. She was the only one who ever called him his full name. She would’ve been behind including his middle name - considering she had been the one to give it to him. She had insisted all of them have one, something about maintaining normalcy. Rose would call him David, not Dave, every chance she could. It would have annoyed him if it was not the only thing keeping him from loosing his own identity after days of being Subject 4.
The phrase was very Jade. She had always said he was surrounded by music. Each of them had their thing. Rose’s was books, fantasy and fiction. Jade’s was crafts, embroideries of flowers and trees on all of her clothes. John’s was movies. Dave’s was music. ‘You would make the Moon sing and the stars harmonize if you could.’ She was a sweetheart.
It seemed inconsequential, but the date provided had to be John. He was always one to remember birthdays, holidays and other important dates. He’s the only one who would’ve known just how old they all were, taking pride in the growth of his friends. 25 years… That’s how long it said he had lived.
Shit. That means he’s 7 years in the past. He has enough time to stop them …
Dave’s musings are stopped when he hears a shout behind him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Tensing up, he turns his head (probably looking like a deer caught in a very big headlight). There are three figures walking towards him, one noticeable angrier than the others.
“Who the fuck are you and how did you find this place? Are you here to laugh at us?” they continue.
It’s Jade. Holy fuck it’s Jade. And she is pissed .
Time seemed to slow. They were alive. He was here. He made it. Now all he could do was stare and try to take it all in.
She looks a lot different then he remembers. Actually they all look differently - the other two figures being Rose and John. Jade stands tall, shoulders drawn back like she’s about to attack. Her dark curls are loose in a shoulder length cut, but pulled back from her face. A large puffy green coat covers a word down sweater and faded jeans with remnants of paint stains on them.
When they were kids Jade loved to dress up. She would customize any clothes she got with plants and designs. Hours were spent on them. It made her happy. But now it looked like she had different things to focus on. Comfort valued over appearance. Her face looked older, of course it did, but it also looked sadder. In the past her brown eyes would’ve had a spark, a smile lighting up her tanned face. Now it was sullen, tired.
Dave’s eyes flickered to her hands. One was tensed up, prepared to punch something, the other was clutching Rose’s hand like a lifeline. If he stared any longer than was polite he would’ve noticed the slight twitches in her neck or the little clicks she made.
Next, his eyes flicked over to Rose. She was shorter then Jade, not helped at all by the slouch in her shoulders. Wrapped in a charcoal trenchcoat, purple sweater and black jeans, she seemed tired by the world. Lavender eyes were filled with concern and disbelief, the latter mostly aimed at him.
Like Jade, it seemed like she had lost the higher maintenance outfits she used to wear, but it was harder to see. Her hair was no longer the short platinum pixie cut she had maintained as a kid, but was instead grown out into a braid over her shoulder. She was bare-faced, lacking any hint of makeup on her brown skin. Instead she just looked tired. Incredibly tired.
John was the most drastic change. For one, he looked unbothered by the cold, wearing a white button up and black slacks. Secondly, John Egbert was wearing business casual. John was wearing business casual . Dave had never seen him wear anything other than graphic tees and blue jeans. Thirdly, did John have a mullet?
He seriously did. Or something like it. Dark hair cut in a way that it both framed his face and went down til his neck. It honestly suited him, since he hadn’t bothered taming it so it still had the volume it had had when it was shorter. John was also now sporting several silver piercings in a very bored looking face.
Jade had apparently had enough of Dave sitting and staring as she was suddenly infront of him. Their air was buzzing, she had teleported over.
“Say something ,” she growled, moments away from being right in front of him. “How did you find this place? Don’t lie and say you have no clue who we are, I saw you tracing his grave like some kind of weirdo. Stop this fucking grave.”
Did she think he was out to get her? Looking at her more deeply, Dave could see fear etched into the anger. Jade was scared, and furious, but definetly scared. Another twitch before she tensed up and picked him up the goddamn shirt .
When had she gotten this strong? In an instant Dave was hauled to his feet and forced to look her in the eyes before she continued, “Is this some kind of sick joke to you? What could you even want by trying to be him, you’re 5 years too late asshole. If you don’t say something in the next 5 minutes, I will rip you to shreds so that you can’t even crawl back to whichever sick fuck hired you.”
Somehow, before this Dave had been in shock. He should’ve noticed it, but it had been so hard to move, to comprehend. The reality of the situation finally hit him - he had got so far, only for it to fail. They didn’t recognize him. They thought he was out to hurt them. That had always been the furthest thing from his mind. The thought was all too much.
And just like that, Dave could feel the start of a tear trail down his face.
Frozen. He was frozen again. Fuck . He was crying. He wasn’t supposed to cry. Tears were weak, why was he showing weakness. Breaths were coming shorter and shorter and his brain was screaming at him to shut it down .
Almost like instinct, Dave jerked his head to the side, wiping the tear away before someone noticed. It was all he could do to keep from crying more.
In the process, he had somehow swept his hair back from his face in a desperate attempt to dry his eyes. His hair was longer than it used to be, blonde curls often falling in his eyes. Because of this, he usually had them tucked away or pulled back. Today wasn’t one of those days.
The way they fell at his movement revealed something he hadn’t let himself thing about in years - a small tattoo right behind his ear. It had been his 18th birthday gift to himself. When the group had reached that milestone, they had been allowed to go out on town with the carers - aka their closest friends outside their group. Dave and his friends had ended up getting small matching tattoos.
The hand holding him up freezes up as Jade lets out a small gasp.
“You…”
Her voice shook, thick with emotion slowly being drained of anger.
“Oh…” Jade whispers, “ Oh…”
Dave had no time to process anything before he’s pulled into a crushing hug. Jade is warm, so much warmer than the cold surrounding them. Really, it felt like coming home. Dave all but melted into the hug, simply going limp in her hold. He was safe now, he no longer had to run and hide.
The last thing he heard before his vision went dark was “I missed you so much.”
—
The first thing he notices when he’s aware again is just how much his body aches. It’s all over, just this dull throbbing. Thankfully no longer the sharp pain he had been dealing with before. Did Aradia take him away to rest again?
Usually when he faints the doctors leave the room and Aradia takes over. She doesn’t like involving herself in the testing, instead dealing with the data and the aftermath. He can’t hear her rustling around so she must not’ve gotten in time.
The second thing he notices is that he is in fact not lying on the cold hard ground. That’s weird. The surface is soft and firm, the lights above him low instead of blinding and harsh. There’s the smell of food being made and he could feel a thin blanket over his body. He wasn’t at Monarch.
Instinctually he tensed up. This wasn’t a safe environment, no matter how much his brain wants to believe it. Monarch wasn’t safe but it was familiar. He has no clue what’s happening here.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’re not gonna hurt you,” a familiar voice says to him.
Finally opening his eyes, Dave slowly looks over and sees John sitting on a loveseat opposite where he was lying - which turned out to just be a couch. John was no longer wearing the formal wear he had been wearing earlier and instead was decked out in a simple blue tshirt and jeans, haired tied back in a ponytail. The short sleeves showed off something Dave hadn’t expected - half a sleeve of tattoos on his right arm with a forearm tattoo on his left.
John must’ve noticed him staring, “Forgot you haven’t seen them before. I’d explain them but I think Jade might kill me if I don’t tell her you woke up.”
He looked almost guilty for a moment, breaking the eye contact before continuing softly, “We’ll talk later, ok? I missed you dude.”
And with that, Dave’s (former?) best friend walked off without another word.
What the fuck had happened while he was gone.