Ellipsis

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/37674277.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandom: Dream SMP
Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot
& TommyInnit, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Toby
Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo
Characters: TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot, Phil Watson (Video
Blogging RPF), Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo (Video
Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo, Niki | Nihachu, Cara |
CaptainPuffy, Fundy (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt (Video Blogging
RPF), Alexis | Quackity, Sam | Awesamdude
Additional Tags: Vigilante TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Villain Toby Smith |
Tubbo, Villain Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Hero Wilbur Soot, Hero
Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Hero Technoblade (Video Blogging
RPF), Protective Wilbur Soot, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging
RPF), Protective Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort,
Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, TommyInnit-centric (Video
Blogging RPF), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Winged
Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Winged TommyInnit (Video
Blogging RPF), Winged Wilbur Soot, Winged Technoblade (Video
Blogging RPF), Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF),
Traumatized TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Self-Destruction,
TommyInnit Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit Gets a
Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Self-Harm, as in he hits his head against a
wall, Happy Ending, non-permanent suicide, the character knew they
would live after
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-03-12 Completed: 2023-09-23 Words: 162,203
Chapters: 26/26
 Ellipsis
by SamGoesBam

Summary

Rubrum walks the tightrope between hero and villain. Falling one way or the other could be a
huge mistake or a great relief, he just has to figure out which way to tilt. He seems to get the
attention of villains and heroes even out of costume, so he juggles his identity, past trauma,
and emotional baggage over a fire he lit himself.

Or,

Hero/Villain AU with Tommy as a vigilante, Sbi as heroes, beeduo as villains, and everyone
is trying to recruit Tommy.
 Chapter 1
Chapter Notes

New fic!! Super excited to write this one, will definitely be more committed to it than
my other SBI one. I'd say only 10% of this things is planed out but I'm sure it'll be fine...

WARNINGS: Violence/guns/blood

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy heard someone scream before he heard the first shot go off. He was moving before
he had the time to register what exactly he was running into. He was there before he was
ready. Standing on top of a short building in the city, looking across the street, there was a
group of three gunmen strolling by. It wasn’t even that dark out. They weren’t robbing
anything, they were just shooting. He ducked behind the lip of the roof before they could spot
him. When he peaked back up they were far enough ahead that he could get down unseen. He
clambered down the fire escape and ducked between building after building, closing in on the
shooters. He’d handled bullets before, it never got less terrifying.

Tommy managed to close in on the shooters and pulled a gun of his own out. He’d never
killed with it before and he didn’t plan to now. He kept in the shadows and undercover.
Activating one of his enhancements as he raised the gun, he felt his hands steady and he
focused on the man in the back. He pulled the trigger. The man let out a cry and his gun
clattered to the ground, Tommy slinked back out of sight and activated another enhancement.
Speed. He sprinted into the open and kicked the gun away, he shot at a second man as the
first made a grab for him. Tommy swung his gun into the man’s jaw and he ate pavement.
Tommy sprinted into an alley, bullets zipping past him. His breaths were already coming too
quick and he deactivated his speed.

“Rubrum’s here,” one of the gunmen called.

Tommy ran through the alley again and popped up in another opening. The gunmen covered
each other’s backs. One made the mistake of shooting at a civilian who thought they were
hidden. They screamed and tried to run. Tommy lunged at the gunman as he shot again, the
bullet struck a concrete wall and Tommy ripped the weapon from his hands and slammed it
into his head. The other gunman had his aim trained on Tommy. When the vigilante looked
up the bang rang out through the street and he felt a thump on his shoulder. So he charged, as
one does. The shooter, in his surprise, scrambled back at seeing Tommy so calm. Tommy
grinned and punched the gun out of his hands. He slammed the man into the ground and
punched him until he went unconscious.

As he was standing up someone tackled him to the ground. His face whacked the street and
he rolled with the body on top of him. Apparently one gunman hadn’t been knocked out. He
was relentlessly choking Tommy and pinning him down. Sirens blared in the background.
The man’s fingernails were long enough to dig into his skin as they squeezed. Tommy clawed
at the man’s hands and kicked out. He started to activate his enhanced strength but the man
was thrown off of him, another face appeared above Tommy.

“Are you okay?” They asked.

Tommy groaned and blinked aggressively until his vision cleared. A hand was held out and
he took it without realizing who it was.

“Rubrum?” Lanuae asked.

Tommy pushed off the villain.

“Woah, wait. Just come over here and we’ll patch you up.” The villain held out weary hands
like he was ready to catch Tommy if he fell.

“Your costume is still ugly as fuck,” Tommy said, turning his back to the hero. The insult
sounded weird coming from his modulated voice, all deep and monotone. “Why are you even
here?” Lanuae was clad in a black and white baggy suit, an ornate purple hand gun strapped
to each side and a mask that you could wear to one of those fancy balls.

“You’ve been shot, just, I won’t try to recruit you. Come here.” Lanuae grabbed Tommy’s
good shoulder and the vigilante whirled on him and slapped his hand away.

“Apis’ costume is even uglier.” Tommy turned back abruptly only to run into the one and
only, “Apis. Hi buddy.”

“Do you just not feel pain?” The bee boy asked, gesturing to the blood dripping from his
shoulder. Apis’ wings were flared in alarm. Tommy shrugged and pushed past him. Well,
tried. The villain grabbed his wrist and yanked him backward, he fell into Lanuae’s hold and
immediately started flailing.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Lanuae urged.

Tommy did activate his strength this time and burst out of Lanuae’s arms. He decked Apis
and took off into a dead sprint. The villains were calling after him but he had a feeling they’d
let him go. He twisted down the alleys of the city for a couple minutes before slowing to a
jog, finally a walk. He looked at his bloody shoulder and didn’t dare deactivate his last
enhancement. He kept suppressing the pain until he got to one of his stashed medical kits.
Patrol had only just begun, he couldn’t go home yet.

Tommy dragged himself to the roof he stashed the stuff on and rolled over the lip. He sat
against another building’s side and scoffed at the weakness in his left arm. He fiddled with
the plastic first aid box and popped it open. He dug through it for gauze and pain killers first.
He dry swallowed a small handful of pills.

“Oh my god you don’t need that many,” a frantic voice sounded from just above Tommy. He
startled and hit his funny bone against the wall behind him. Lanuae leaped down from the
wall above and stopped Tommy from getting up. “Don’t use your strength again,” he
commanded as if Tommy would listen.

“Fuck you. I really don’t feel like dealing with you.” Tommy pushed at the hand on his chest.
“Got a wife to get back to you know.”

“Yeah ok. Let me fix your shoulder.” Lanuae took the first aid box from Tommy’s lap and
glared when the vigilante protested. “I’m not going to try and kidnap you.”

“Like you could. It’s just a shoulder shot. I’m good.”

“Do you actually just not feel pain?” Lanuae ignored him, putting gloves on and fishing out
tweezers.

“Maybe.”

“This will hurt.”

“Mhm.” Tommy looked away as the tweezers were plunged into his wound. It felt disgusting.

“I always wondered if you had an enhancement like that, guess you do. Is it always active?”
Lanuae bit his cheek in concentration. Tommy heard a metallic ping and clatter on the
ground.

“Not telling you shit, bitch.”

“You’re getting tired, you lost a lot of blood. You should really–”

“I’d rather lick a rusty cheese grater than go back to your stupid secret villainy HQ.”

“I don’t get it,” the villain grumbled. “You’d get paid for doing the same stuff you do now if
you joined us.”

“No, I want to help people. You guys hurt people. Like, y’know, villains do.”

“We’re not after the civilians, we want the heroes.”

“You want power.”

“Well, yeah, but also no?” Lanuae started wrapping the shoulder. “Do you want this in a
sling?”

“No.”

“Rubrum…”

“Hurry up, I’ve got places to be and probably an angry Apis to escape.”

“I told him I’d take care of you. And no,” Lanuae clarified upon feeling Tommy tense, “I’m
not going to capture you. I swear.” He went to put a makeshift sling on anyway but Tommy
shrugged it off. The villain looked annoyed but packed up the kit anyway.
“Why aren’t you–” Tommy was cut off by the sudden stab of pain in his shoulder. He lurched
forward and gasped. Lanuae went wide eyed and held Tommy’s arms.

“So you can’t keep up the pain immunity for ever then,” he concluded. “Ice pack?”

“Leave,” Tommy groaned.

“Do you need help getting home?”

“No dumbass, I'm not leading you to my house. I can walk. It’s just a gunshot.”

“Just a gunshot.”

“Leave, Lanuae.”

The villain stood and pulled Tommy to his feet, he waited a few seconds to make sure
Tommy wouldn’t pass out and he reluctantly left. He could have easily taken Tommy in at
that point, why didn't he? Tommy would probably never know. Would never ask. Instead he
started walking in the exact opposite direction of his house. Patrol was not over. He would,
however, be resting on a rooftop somewhere keeping watch instead of leaping across city
buildings. He hoped clementine was doing okay, it’s way too cold in L’Manberg.

Cat food. He needed cat food. He’d get it later. Steal it later. Listen, Tommy was not a bad
person. He saved lives earlier. All he wanted to do was feed his cat, his best friend, so there
was really nothing wrong with stealing in that case right? Agreed.

**********

It was black outside but the sun would be rising soon. If he was going to get the cat food he’d
have to do it now. He could break in and get out real quick. Everyone knows he’s committed
crimes before, there’s no point in hiding when he knows he can get away. So Tommy broke
the window. He felt a little bad, because that was good money lost in a relatively poor
district, but his cat had to eat. He knew the silent alarm went off and he sprinted to the exact
spot the cat food was, grabbing one bag. The store was small and easy to navigate. He knew
the owner outside of his vigilante life.

In and out. Easy.

Until he jumped back out the window and an arm clotheslined him. His back whacked the
ground and he groaned, the cat food fell next to him.

“On your knees and put your hands behind your back,” Apis mocked. Tommy could hear the
smug grin on his face.
“Oh my prime, do you just patrol and look for me all the time? Don’t you have children to
steal candy from?” Tommy rolled to his knees and stood, surprised that Apis didn’t
immediately tackle him.

“Nah that job’s for the bigger villains.”

“Dude, I am getting cat food. You want my kitten to starve?”

“You can bring your cat to HQ.”

“I’m not going to become a villain.”

“Why do you have a cat if you can’t feed it?”

“I can feed her, if you’d fucking let me.”

Apis actually looked conflicted. Which is why Tommy took the hesitance as an invitation to
haul ass. He activated his speed with what little energy he had and bolted down the street.
Police sirens weren’t far off. However, Apis was spitting curses and growing much closer.
His bee wings hummed along with him.

“You sound fucking stupid bee boy!”

Apis didn’t retort and struggled to keep pace. He was speaking into a radio and Tommy knew
he was in for one hell of a chase. Primes, didn’t he already deal with these bitches today?
Surely Lanuae would pop out of nowhere any second. Tommy zigzagged down alley after
alley, occasionally pushing off walls to avoid Apis diving on him. Man this would be so
much easier if he could use his wings.

A flash of white light painted his vision and Tommy’s sprint staggered. He barreled into a
wall, blinded. He felt Apis’ arm wrap around his neck. He pulled Tommy down so they were
wrestling half against the wall. Tommy was losing air, fast. He elbowed and kicked, feeling
the speed in his system deplete his energy. He deactivated it and tried to strengthen himself,
but any spark that came wouldn’t reach his nervous system. He was too tired. He grunted and
gasped. Apis pinned one of his legs. Tommy wrenched his shoulders up and slammed them
backward, forcing the villain under him into the ground. Apis yelped and Tommy did it
again. The grip around his neck loosened and he did it again, driving Apis into the ground.
Tommy rolled off and jumped away.

“My cat’s gonna be starving because of you,” he rasped.

Apis looked slightly out of it but struggled to his feet. Tommy felt a new pair of hands wrap
around him and pin his arms.

“Can’t a man–” as his voice cracked he was thrown to the pavement. Lanuae diving on top of
him to hold him again.

“Just come with us man.” Lanuae sounded exasperated, which, valid. Tommy struggled and
squirmed as his face was shoved into the gravel below. He bucked his hips as hard as he
could and lashed out with his elbow. Lanuae grunted and flailed on the pavement. Tommy
jumped up and fell back to the ground, Apis having tripped him. The bee villain’s hands were
glowing green.

“Just fucking try to poison me, bitch,” Tommy dared.

“Paralysis, fucker,” the villain spat. Tommy’s leg started to tingle like pins and needles. He
grunted and kicked Apis in the head. When he looked back Lanuae had a gun aimed at his
face. His heart froze. Lanuae had never pulled a gun on him before.

“Woah–”

“Rubrum, get on the ground, I’m going to put the suppressor cuffs on you.”

“You wouldn’t.” Tommy could feel the depleted power stores in his core. If he got shot, he
would really feel it this time. Bye bye enhancement. Pain level one hundred. They didn’t
even need the cuffs.

“I don’t have much of a choice do I?”

“You do.” He just wanted to feed Clementine. His heart ached for her, alone all night. Cold.
Hungry. Fuck.

“On the ground.”

“I’m not a villain,” Tommy said. “You know I’m not.”

“Not yet, but you could be great. We’ll help you.”

“Oh yeah cuz pointing a gun at me is real fucking helpful!”

A car door slammed somewhere outside the alley.

“Lanuae, don’t move a muscle.” A voice said from above. Lanuae froze, he didn’t even
breathe. “Don’t get up, Apis.”

Tommy shivered. He knew that voice all too well. He wasted no time covering his ears and
backing away as the famed Mandatum dropped into view. His trench coat flicked like a
snake's tongue as he walked, his hood flapped in the wind but never fell. His wings were low
behind him, trying to seem unthreatening. Siren wings were naturally intimidating. It was not
working.

He was speaking and Tommy refused to hear it, whether he was using his power or not. The
hero was approaching him slowly, hands raised. Police flooded into the alley behind
Mandatum and Tommy’s heart leapt over the moon. Villains wanted him. Heroes wanted
him. Police wanted him. Everyone who was trying to catch him was in this alley. Mandatum
had Tommy pressed back into the alley’s corner, if Tommy ran he’d be caught. If he fought,
Mandatum would use his voice. The hero reached for Tommy’s hands, he let them be pulled
away. If he looked like he’d cooperate, the voice wouldn’t be used.

“Are you hurt?” Mandatum asked.

“No.” Tommy’s throat was like sandpaper.

“It’s really important that you come back to the tower with me.” Mandatum kept a soft grip
on Tommy’s wrists. He hated the upper hand the hero had right now.

“Fuck that.” Tommy tugged his wrist back and Mandatum held on.

“You have villains after you. We can help you.”

“Don’t need it, bitch.”

“You know that I have to take you in.”

“I know that you’re a pussy. And you’ve tried this before.”

“Lanuae you can breathe and Apis you can get up,” Mandatum said once the villains were
held by police. “Wait why aren't you wearing–” the hero started, but the police officer
holding Apis collapsed, heaving and seizing. “Gloves.” Apis dived for the other police
officers and Tommy wrenched his wrists out of Mandatum’s hands. The hero begrudgingly
let him go, seeing that his ears were covered again, and jumped into the fray with the villains.

Fuck fuck fuck shit shit.

Tommy stumbled on his half-numb leg, feeling the familiar ache in his knees and ankles
reappear. Primes, his hip better not start. This night was shit. He sprinted as best he could into
the cover of a new alley.

**********

Tommy’s legs shook as he hauled himself through the window of his apartment. The fire
escape was hard enough to climb but he had to basically summersault through the window.
Sloppy and sluggish. Once he was in he closed it again and heard his favorite sound in the
world. A little mewl.

“Clem,” he cooed. “Oh my god I had the worst fucking day. And night.”

The orange kitten waddled over to Tommy’s form slumped on the ground, she smushed their
faces together and climbed on top of his chest.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t get the cat food. I swear I’ll get some tomorrow.”

Clementine purred and sat in a ball on his chest.

“Fucking hell, everything aches.” Tommy ripped the mask off his face and tossed it away
onto the mattress nearby. The red Xs on the eyes needed to be restitched. Some of the spikes
on the bottom half needed replacing too. He should do that soon. He could move and do it
now, or move and just sleep. Or he could stay here. On the floor. With Clementine.

“Fuck,” he said again for good measure, and promptly passed out.

**********

When Tommy woke up again there was gold in his eyes. It was early morning. He barely
slept. Clementine was nudging him and meowing so he rolled to his side and started petting
her. His bones cracked and his muscles throbbed. He groaned and stopped petting the kitten
to massage his temple for a moment. Clementine made him stop, she pawed at his hand. He
didn’t want to get up. Or move. Or blink. Or breathe. This whole vigilante thing was getting
awfully exhausting but… he was just so good at it.

“Clementine–” the state of his voice startled him. “Shit.” The kitten pawed at his face, her
claws lightly scratched at his jaw.

Tommy rolled onto his front and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He groaned and
stood. He could feel his leg again but it was weak. He hobbled over to his cupboards and
pulled out his very last can of chicken. Clementine mewled as he pulled it open, Tommy took
half of the chicken and spread it onto some bread then set the other half down for
Clementine. Usually he’d save the chicken for himself, but he hadn’t been able to feed her.
He really should find her a better home. He knows that. He just loves her. And it gets lonely
sometimes. He was hoping to find somewhere to apply for a job today. He’d been
procrastinating but he can’t anymore. Not if he wants to keep Clementine healthy.

There was a familiar itch under the skin on his back. When he paid more attention to it, his
muscles started to twitch. Tommy reached down to his ankle, muscles pulling uncomfortably,
and he unclipped a bracelet. Immediately he felt his wings burst into existence behind him.
He could cry about how good it felt. He stretched them into the air and arched them around
himself. They were shaggy and dirty. In desperate need of preening. So he sat on his mattress
after finishing his chicken, and he reached the feathers he could. Even then it was hard to do
himself.

The wings were phoenix wings. They were orange at the top and faded to black. He had a
few splotches and zigzags of brown through them too. He always loved them. He could set
them on fire when he wanted to. If only he could have them out more. Who knows how many
people out there would go through the trouble of getting their hands on a phoenix avian. And
if the heroes knew he had these wings? He’d be an even higher priority than he is now. He’d
considered joining them for protection. Accommodations. Ultimately he decided that having
the freedom to help who he needed to and when he needed to was more important. Heroes
didn’t patrol the lower districts. They often left the police to deal with things too, and the
police aren’t competent enough to deal with anything more than the occasional mugging.
Tommy hated to admit he’d imagined himself meeting the SBI on friendlier terms. They were
a team, the civilians and fans call it a family dynamic, and they all had wings. Not just
regular bird wings, mythical bird wings. Like himself. How rare was that? How awesome?
He couldn’t lie, it hurt a bit to see them together and he wasn’t a part of it. Mandatum had his
siren wings, Gladius’ stymphalian wings, and Corvus’ roc wings, the biggest wings. They
were glorious. Tommy wished his wings looked half as good. He’d be embarrassed if they
saw his wings. They looked like a toddler’s crayon drawing in comparison.

Clementine hopped into his lap and it snapped him out of his own head.

“Shit’s getting harder Clem,” he sighed. She meowed and rammed her face into his palm.
“Hopefully going to find a job to apply to today.” She propped herself up, paws on Tommy’s
chest, and rubbed her head against his chin. He laughed but his heart cracked a bit. “I don’t
want to leave you alone all day to work. I– I’m going to find you a better home than this.”

She didn’t understand, clearly, and kept happily purring and nudging his hands and face.

He gave her a last pet and nudged goodbye before getting up and changing. He wore sweats
and one of his other two hoodies. He made a mental note to put another patch on his red
sweater that was sporting a brand new bullet hole. He also had to put the ankle bracelet back
on and his wings were not going to feel good later. His feathers were always bent and
scrunched up after. It was a bit cold out so he grabbed his baggy leather coat. The plan was
simple: loiter in the nearby café and check the papers for job opportunities.

Just as Tommy was about to open the door, Clementine mewled behind him. She cocked her
head curiously at him. It made his heart lurch all over again. He couldn’t keep leaving her
here. So, naturally, he put her in a backpack and took her with him. He left an opening just
big enough for her to poke her head out if she wanted. He’d have to hide her once they were
inside though. Walking down the street he got a few weird looks but it was worth it. The ride
must have been pretty bumpy for Clementine, Tommy was walking stiffly and unevenly.
Maybe that also got him a few weird stares. He only used his pain suppression when his
knees were bad going uphill. He should have taped them.

He entered the café and the cliché bell jingled above his head. It was a relatively new place
called "Just Café". It was busy despite how early it was, though there was still a table left for
him in the very corner. No one greeted him when he came in, nobody paid any attention to
him as he sat down. Thank prime. He set Clementine down next to him and she popped her
head out. She was hidden from view by the high table and if someone came over Tommy
could just put her under it.

Tommy spread the daily paper out in front of him and clicked his pen open. The first job
opening he saw was a lifeguarding position at a pool, which he was technically qualified to
do but he didn’t have proof of his training anymore. Actually, his certifications were probably
expired anyway. Kurt had made him take the courses. He shook his head, as if the thought of
Kurt would fall out of his brain and he’d forget the man. He crossed off the lifeguarding job.
There were janitor positions he could take, but, ew. Then there was a spot at another café
which looked decent, so he circled it. They were just looking for someone to work the front
desk. Tommy was pretty confident he could handle it.
“Hey man,” someone said, walking up to Tommy’s table. Luckily Clementine’s head wasn’t
sticking out. “If you’re looking for jobs, we have a few positions open here.” The guy was
tall. Annoyingly tall. His name tag read ‘Ranboo’ and Tommy, well, Tommy decided that was
a stupid name.

“The fuck were your parents thinking?”

“Um, what?”

What a great first impression.

“Ha. I mean– can I just give you my resume?” Tommy asked, eyes widening as he noticed
Clementine shuffling around.

“Sure, if you have it with you.”

Tommy did. It was in his bag. With the cat.

“Oh, actually I think I forgot it at home. But I’ll bring it in soon.”

“Okay… did you want to order something? I’m not really supposed to let you take up a
whole table if you’re not going to order something. We’re a really busy place.”

“Oh.”

Damn.

“Is that a cat?”

Tommy slowly turned to his bag, sure enough Clementine was trying to climb out of the
backpack.

“What’s the cheapest thing on the menu?” Tommy ignored him.

“You have a cat with you.”

“No?” Tommy tried.

“Dude, you can not have a cat in here.”

“She’s very polite though, you won’t even notice her.”

“You can’t stay here.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll take a bribe?” Not that he had anything to give.

“No. Have a nice day though,” Ranboo gestured toward the door. Fuck that guy.

Tommy remembered his resume first though. He held it out for the guy to take.

“Do I still have a chance?”

Ranboo sighed but he nodded.

“We’re pretty desperate. You just can’t bring the cat in.”

“Not a fan of pussy?”

“Okay never mind, take back your resume–”

“No no no, it was a joke. A little slash jay, a quirky little–”

“Goodbye now,” Ranboo said. A small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He lightly
guided Tommy to the front door. He even gave Clementine a head pat before they left. And
he kept the resume. A win, truly.

“Prime, it’s cold out,” Tommy mumbled. He’d just go drop off a copy of the resume to the
library then head home. He’ll apply to the janitor options too. Just in case.

**********

Tommy had been to the library before. There was a new owner, new management. He was
hoping to finally be let back in. It’s where he used to loiter when it got cold. The owner
thought he made the place look unwelcoming because he was dirty and unfriendly. He also
started sneaking Clementine in when he first found her, so they officially kicked him out. He
supposed she wasn’t really a kitten anymore, but she had been back then. He refused to leave
her alone when she was that small but he could do it for a few hours at a time now. She was
shuffling around in his bag as they walked into the library again. It’s been a few months.

“Welcome!” A voice immediately greeted, which surprised Tommy because it was supposed
to be, you know, quiet.

“Hi.” He hiked his bag up higher on his back.

The person who greeted him was tall too. Just as tall as the café guy, Ranboob. Was Tommy
just shrinking? What is with these L’Manbergians? He, like Ranboob, had shaggy brown hair.
He wore glasses and an ugly ass yellow sweater. Tommy would have joked about it but he
wanted to make a good first impression with the new staff. Tommy sat his bag down in the
corner of the library, out of view and on one of the beanbags. He took out another copy of his
resume and brought it to the man at the front desk.

“Hey, I was wondering if you guys were looking to hire?” Tommy placed the resume on the
desk. The man smiled up at him, his nametag read ‘Wilbur’.

“We’re not really,” he hesitated, probably to take in Tommy’s appearance. Was there about to
be some pity? “But I’ll talk to my boss about it. We might have you work afternoons only.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Tommy wanted so desperately to stop this whole polite thing, it was
exhausting.

“You okay man?” Yellow guy– Wilbur, asked. Why, did he look bad?

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, you just look pretty exhausted.”

“I’m a busy man, Wilbur. I’ve got wives, money, cats.”

“Cats?”

“Cats.”

“Wives?”

“So many.”

“You’re, like, thirteen.” Wilbur slides Tommy’s resume into a bag sitting under the desk.

“Eighteen actually,” Tommy scoffed.

“You are not eighteen.”

“And you’re not wearing the ugliest fucking sweater I’ve ever seen.”

“Correct.”

“Die.” Yeah fuck manners, who needs em?

Wilbur bursts out laughing and Tommy finds himself holding in a chuckle. He tries to look
offended but he knows he’s smirking.

“Well I’ll have to see some ID before we hire you, but for now I’ll take your word.”

Shit.

“Kids still read in today’s age?” Someone said, coming into the library behind Tommy.

“Oh my prime, what happened? Why couldn't you come in?” Wilbur groaned. The other man
that walked in had ridiculously long pink hair and he was buff.

“I’m not a kid,” Tommy grumbled.

“That’s what every twelve year old says,” the man laughed.

“I’m fucking eighteen, bitch.” The man raised an eyebrow but Tommy held his glare.

“Come to the back,” pinkie pie said.

Wilbur’s eyebrows furrowed but he went back, not before nodding to Tommy.

“Hire me!” Tommy called for comedic effect, then he went and flopped down into the
beanbag. In the back he could have sworn he heard Wilbur yelling. Something along the lines
of “holy shit you stupid mother fucker what is wrong with you?” and Tommy was pretty
curious, but he didn’t try to eavesdrop. Instead he reached his hand into his backpack and pet
Clementine as he soaked up the warmth of the library. The worst of the winter was over, he
just had to deal with spring now. Prime, he was proud of himself. He handled winter well. He
actually lived through it.

He had minimal breakdowns and only almost gave up about ten times. But he did it.

Now he would– well. Now what? He had to wait for interviews or whatever. So he could
nap? He’d have to do a bit of friendly robbing again tonight. He’d do better though. So
Tommy closed his eyes and let himself drift off, pretending that he’d been reading a book.
And hoping to prime that Clementine wasn’t smart enough to pull the opening in her bag
anymore. She shouldn’t be able to get out. He leaned back and pretended he fell asleep
reading a book off the shelf. He picked up something semi interesting in case he decided to
read for real. That was unlikely though.

**********

“Is that a cat?” Someone asked.

“Hm? No. S’ not.” Tommy slurred, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“I– okay.”

**********

“Hey.”

Tommy flinched.

“Kid?”

Tommy’s eyes fluttered open.

“Thomas?”
 “The fuck do you want?” He grumbled, voice deepened by sleep. Wilbur was hovering over
him. He looked amused.

“We’re closing now.”

“Huh?” Tommy sat up and felt something on his chest. He looked down and a fuzzy ball of
orange was sitting there, purring. “Oh.” He then looked out the window to see it was almost
dark. “ Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Wilbur started reluctantly, “you’ve been here all day. You do have somewhere to
stay right?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Your parents don’t wonder where you’ve been?”

“I’m fucking eighteen.” Tommy picked up Clementine and placed her boneless form into the
backpack. “You gonna ban me from the library again?”

“Again?”

“Last owner didn’t like Clementine. Or me.”

“You’re not banned. We don’t really have a rule against pets yet I guess.”

“Great, then you’ll be seeing more of us.” Tommy pushed himself up from the bean bag,
making sure to activate his pain immunity so he didn’t hurt his shoulder.

“Lucky me,” Wilbur picked up Tommy’s book that was discarded on the ground. “I’ll call
you tomorrow about the job, I have a good feeling you’ll get it.”

“Literally why? How?”

“Techno wants to work less, so you can take his afternoon shifts.” Techno must be the pink
guy. “You checking this book out?”

“Nope.” Tommy hiked his bag up his shoulder. “See you ‘round, bitch.”

“Bye Thomas.”

“Tommy,” he corrected. Wilbur got his name from the resume didn’t he?

Whatever.

Time to steal some goods.

Chapter End Notes

Hope the first chapter was alright. I'd love to hear what everyone's favorite tropes for
these AUs are so I can include it.

Until next time :)

 Chapter 2
Chapter Summary

Pacing who? We don't do pacing here.

Rubrum pushes himself, does some crime, stops some crime. The usual.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Violence/kidnapping/derealization (tiny tiny moment)/injury/blood.

Lmk if I missed some.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Okay Tommy wasn’t proud of this one. He did end up having to knock someone out who was
closing late. He just went in and snuck up on them, did a bit of casual choking them until
they passed out, then he grabbed a few things. He stuffed a bag with energy drinks and they
even had blankets in that little store. What a find. And no alarms had gone off, nobody was
even there. Someone would find them there eventually, they were passed out behind the
counter. But they were breathing and one hundred percent completely fine.

So Tommy was on his stealthy way home, dodging between alleys and even running over
rooftops. He was almost to his apartment when he heard a scream. It sounded like a child. He
stashed his bag and sprinted with enhanced speed until he found the kid and their attacker.
There was a man dragging the kid down the alley. He was old but he looked strong. A shulker
hybrid. He had purple carapace on his neck and arms. He was turned the other way, Tommy
and the kid met eyes. He tried to tell him it was going to be okay with just a look. Tommy
replaced his speed enhancement with his silence one and crept closer.

Tommy pounced on the man but he didn’t fall. He dropped the kid and they scrambled back.
Tommy’s legs were wrapped around the man’s torso and his arms squeezed the man's neck.
The shulker dropped onto his back on the pavement and Tommy slammed into it with a yelp.
He rolled away and activated his strength, all need for stealth gone. The man slammed him
into the alley wall and was trying to push a knife into Tommy’s throat. His strength wasn’t
quite enough to rival Tommy’s, and he was thrown to the ground. Tommy stomped on the
man’s abdomen, one of the only places that weren’t shielded by shell. He realized the kid was
watching.

“Look away! Go hide somewhere and I’ll find you–” the man slashed at Tommy’s face with
the knife and he just knew there was a rip in his mask. He grabbed the wrist wielding the
knife and twisted, the weapon clattered to the floor and the man punched Tommy’s neck. He
gasped and kept wrestling to hold the man down. When he had the guy’s arms pinned with
his knees he started relentlessly punching.

“Just. Fucking. Sleep. Bitch.” And finally the man was too out of it to keep fighting.
Punching through the carapace on his head had not been easy. He grabbed zip ties from his
vest and flipped the man on his back to tie his hands up. Tommy dragged him to a large
dumpster and tied him to the leg. Immediately after he went looking for the kid.

“Hey, it’s okay. I took care of him,” he called out to the dark. The kid scrambled out, ran up
to Tommy and wrapped their arms around him.

“Thank you! He was going to sell me.” The kid wailed. Tommy hugged them back and sank
to the floor with them.

“It’s okay. He said he was going to do that?”

“Yes. Yes–”

“It’s okay. You’re safe. Shh.” He wrapped the kid in his arms, they were shaking so hard and
crying into his sweater. “The police are going to be here soon, I just have to call them. They'll
get you to your parents.”

“I hate the police.”

Tommy laughed.

“Me too. What’s your name?”

“Cassidy.”

“I’m Rubrum.”

“I know. Is it cool being a superhero?” They asked through sniffles.

“Oh, I’m not really a hero. A vigilante.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I break a lot of rules,” he smirked. The kid smiled back at him. “Let’s get outta here.”

**********

After finding a cafe open late at night he was able to use their phone, he couldn’t use his own
for this. The person working there was kind enough to give them hot chocolates, on the
house. Tommy sat and talked to the kid, asking about their favorite things. Food, color,
animals. Tommy gave his answers too. Eventually he had the mind to ask why the kid was
out so late.

“I snuck out.”

“How old are you? Why would you sneak out like that?”

“Just turned 10,” they mumbled. “Wanted to see stars.”

And if that didn’t make Tommy’s blood boil, his heart stung. The kid wanted to see stars, and
got fucking kidnapped. What a world.

“Next time you should ask whoever you live with, I’m sure they’d do it with you.”

“I will. It was just late and it’s nice alone.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” He made a special effort not to call the kid “kid.” He hated that, and
Tommy was a teenager now but he hated it just as much when he was younger.

“Rubrum?”

Why, primes, why?

“Corvus. Ayup.”

Tommy turned in his booth and stood as Philza Craft approached. The number one hero.
Here. At a cafe during the middle of the night. Here for the kid? His obsidian wings were
folded politely behind him, his bucket hat slightly tilted on his head. He adjusted it as he
walked over. Instinctively Tommy kept his distance.

“Easy mate,” Phil said, hands raised and walking to the kid. He sat at their booth, the kid was
absolutely awe struck. Tommy didn’t blame them. It was Corvus. Philza fucking Craft.
“Come sit down Rubrum, I won’t take you in.” Philza Craft is not a liar. He hoped. Corvus
sat down.

“Why is the number one hero here for this?” Tommy asked. “I thought the police were
coming.” He sat back in the booth, next to the kid and across from Corvus.

“It’s quiet out, needed to stretch my wings. I like kids.”

“And you knew I was here,” Tommy guessed.

“I did.”

Tommy glared at the worker who he’d specifically told not to mention that he was here.

“Well, I should go then. You’ve got this covered.”

“Hold it.”
Tommy stood and Corvus’ wing stretched out in front of him. His black feathers were so
shiny and well kept. He wanted to reach out and touch them. He wanted his to look like that.
He backed into the booth again, eyes lingering on the wing for a few seconds. Corvus wasn’t
trying to be intimidating, he was being kind, he was eager. It still made Tommy nervous. He
was always nervous when one of the SBI showed up. He hated seeing their wings. He liked it
at the same time. They all looked so perfect.

“Excuse me,” Corvus called to the worker, “how long are you open for?”

“We’re a twenty four seven business.”

“Interesting. Can I get three more hot chocolates?” He retrieved his wallet and pulled out a
twenty dollar bill.

“Of course,” they said with a smile, taking the bill.

Philza Craft did not just buy me a hot chocolate. No fucking way.

“The police are actually still on their way to get you,” Corvus said to Cassidy. “I’m here for
Rubrum. Hope I’m not scaring him.” He winked.

“Why would you be scared?” Cassidy asked, turning to a very tense Tommy.

“I’m not scared.”

“That’s good,” Corvus laughed. “Mandatum thinks he scared you last night, I wondered if I
ever did.”

“I could never be scared of an old man.”

Cassidy gasped.

“Lil shit,” Corvus looked up to the worker bringing the drinks over right away, as if they
were already making more before Corvus asked. “Thanks.”

A car pulled up outside, a police car. Cassidy almost looked sad, but they were way too tired.
The police officer came in and pulled Phil away for a moment. They kept glancing back to
the table, a few times at Tommy, the rest at Cassidy.

“Mom’s gonna be so mad,” Cassidy groaned.

“She’ll just be glad you’re okay. You were very brave.”

“I cried and screamed.”

“Hey, I bet even Philza Craft cries. I cry. Everyone cries. And screaming was what helped me
find you. You did good, you were brave.”

Cassidy looked satisfied with that.

“You should be a superhero. You’re my superhero. You save people, I wanna be like you.”

Tommy’s heart absolutely did not warm and he absolutely would not remember that forever
because he is not soft.

“You’re a good person and I wanna be a good person,” Cassidy concluded.

“You will be,” Tommy promised. “You will be, but you don’t have to put yourself in danger
to be a good person.” He didn’t want to tell Cassidy not to become a hero or vigilante, he’d
be a hypocrite. Sometimes he regretted it though. Sometimes he almost wished after he got
away from Kurt he just left it all behind. It was hard and it was painful and it was stressful.

“Hey kiddo, ready to go home?” The police officer asked, walking over with Corvus.

“Definitely.”

Cassidy gave Tommy a tight hug before leaving. Then it was just Rubrum and Corvus. And
the worker. Who was most likely eavesdropping.

“Rubrum, you have villains after you. Correct?”

“Nope.”

“Nice try. Do you know why they’re after you? We’re assuming they want to recruit you.”

“No clue.” He shrugged. “Not that they’re after me,” he added with a smirk.

“Uh huh. I know we’ve tried to talk to you about this before–”

“I won’t join your stupid heroes program.”

“You’d be paid. You can keep your identity if you so choose. Plenty of heroes do. You’ll get
accommodations in the tower.”

“And bye bye freedom. I don’t think so. The heroes don’t do everything they need to, so
vigilantes pick up the slack.”

“If you don’t join us, we’re required to arrest you,” Corvus said with such a tone of warning
that it almost made Tommy want to get up and run.

“Bullshit.”

“You’ve broken into two different places within the past forty eight hours. You’ve caused
quite a bit of property damage, and overall you–”

“Stop a fuck ton of crime.” He didn’t even bother to ask how they knew the second break in
was him.

“You’re a good person. You have useful abilities, that we haven’t seen all of I’m sure, and so
much potential. We could have you training under one of us. SBI I mean.”
And didn’t that sound so nice.

“No.”

“We worry for you. We have reason to believe you’re younger than the media portrays you
as. I don’t suppose you’d give me your age?”

Tommy scoffed. Tell the number one hero he just turned sixteen a few months ago when you
weren’t even allowed to be a full hero until the age of twenty.

“Well, we guess that you’re only eighteen or nineteen. And you’ve been at this for a while,
two years maybe? Year and a half?” Had it really been that long since Kurt?

Tommy shrugged, slurping obnoxiously on his hot chocolate.

“We want you to be safe. It’s too much for someone your age to take on.”

“You underestimate me. And I am of age to be a hero.”

Tommy sort of wanted to say how young he was, just to impress Corvus. Prove him wrong.

“Why do you do what you do?” Corvus asked, leaning back in the booth.

“I want to help people. I want to give others the protection I was never offered.”

I want to stop another Kurt situation.

“Ran into a lot of crime when you were young?”

If you mean getting plucked off the street by a supervillain and betraying him after he used
you as a hostage when you totally agreed to it? Yeah.

“Something like that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t mean anything now.”

Tommy shook his head and took another sip. Now he had Kurt in his head.

“Tell me about it. Help me understand.”

“No.”

“If nobody could help you then, I’ll do my best to help you now. You just have to be open to
it.”

“I’m not. I don’t need it.”

Randomly Tommy’s shoulder flared in pain. He’d activated his pain immunity while
piggybacking Cassidy to the cafe, his shoulder wound was tender. He winced and his hand
flew to the injury.

“You’re hurt?” Corvus reached a hand out but Tommy slapped it away.

“Just a scratch.”

“Did it happen tonight?”

“You pry too much.” Tommy felt the ache in his knees start to fade in. “I’m leaving.”

Tommy stood in sync with Corvus and the man caught him by the shoulder. It wasn’t a
restricting hold and his other hand was raised placatingly. The black wings were puffed up in
alarm but they slowly retreated.

“You can fall back on us, Rubrum. We have a lot to improve on, but we heroes are good. If
you change your mind, we won’t turn you away.”

“You’re not arresting me right now though, right?”

Corvus smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

“If I look the other way you better be gone fast.”

“Yes Philza Craft, of course Philza Craft.”

“You can call me Phil.”

Tommy nodded and bolted out of the cafe.

**********

Tommy groaned as he entered awkwardly into his apartment. Clementine came trotting over
with a few squeaks. He’d dropped his bag, the one he stashed before helping Cassidy, and
started emptying it. He had cat food, finally. He wasted no time giving Clementine the
biggest bowl of her life. After that he unloaded the energy drinks and blankets, he tossed
those on the mattress. He pulled his mask off and grimaced at the rip in it. It was big enough
to stand out. Did he even have black thread anymore?

He tossed the mask on the floor and flopped onto his mattress. He looked around at the dingy
apartment. It was small, and structured strangely. There were two rooms, the bathroom and
the ‘everything else’ room. The whole building was relatively musty, cheap, but they didn’t
use this room at all and even boarded it up. They checked on it almost annually. Tommy was
quite sure they forgot it existed though, because it had been over a year since the last check
up. Usually he can find out when they’re going to happen and hide his stuff. Primes, he didn’t
know what he’d do if he ever got caught and kicked out. It was a super unorganized business
though, he felt relatively safe.

Tommy rolled onto his stomach and let his wings out. He almost didn’t want to look at them,
knowing they were stringy and ratty, they looked like trash. Corvus’ were so nice. He could
cry. His avian instincts were screaming at him to preen but he just couldn’t reach everything.
He didn’t even really know how to do it that well. Kurt only ever preened Tommy’s wings
when they were going to be seen together. Fair enough, Tommy should learn to do it himself.

Tommy sat up and curled his wings in front of him to reach the feathers. He arranged them
and picked out the dirt and blood. He could just set them aflame and burn it all, but he
learned his lesson after doing it once and realizing the smoke alarm actually worked in his
room. Oops. Maybe next time he was outside somewhere super private. After a few minutes
he was desperately reaching back to try and preen the sore feathers and muscles on his back
but he just couldn’t get it. With a frustrated cry, he face planted into the pillows. Clementine
wandered over and hopped on his back, he gasped in surprise at how painful it actually was
to have her there. But she… started kneading the muscles.

“Clementine, you’re the smartest fucker on earth.”

Tommy laid there like that, with his personal massage therapist cat, and tried to drift off to
sleep. He was still in uniform. He was not getting up. After a bit Clementine settled next to
him, and Tommy pulled the new blankets and covers over both of them.

**********

Tommy woke to the sound of his phone ringing next to him. He snatched it up and checked
the time, noon. He answered the unknown number.

“Hello, Tommy?”

“That’s me,” he answered, voice thick.

“It’s Wilbur. You sound like you just woke up.”

“Yup.”

“Okay, well I was just calling to let you know we’re ready to start you working at the library
tomorrow, show up at one?”

“Oh,” Tommy slowly sat up, “wow, thanks. Yeah I’ll be there.”

“No problem, see you then Tommy.”

“See you…”

They hang up.

“Huh.”

Tommy hung around in his apartment for another few hours before receiving another call. His
first thought was that Wilbur changed his mind.

“Ayup.”

“Hi Tommy, it's Ranboo. I’m just calling to let you know we have a position for you in the
mornings, you can start tomorrow.”

“Oh,” he got another one? “Yeah that’s great, thank you.”

“Just, no cat okay?”

“Understood. But I’ll have you know that she’s very polite.”

“I’m sure. Have a good day, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Ranboob.”

“What did you–”

Tommy hung up.

“Clementine, I’m going to be able to stop stealing shit.”

“Mrrrph.”

“I know!”

**********

Tommy almost ended up walking to the library first but just as he was leaving he
remembered that his morning shifts were at the café. He left a huge bowl of food for
Clementine and even a small bowl of milk, he stole a little carton from the night before,
because he felt bad about leaving her all day. He pulled his coat tighter around him. It was a
colder day. He hoped Clementine would be warm. She could curl under all of their new
blankets though. She’d be okay right? Right.

The café was only a ten minute walk from his house. Tommy was extremely lucky to find a
job in the lower districts. That café was probably the nicest building in all of the lower
districts too. The library was in the middle districts, harder to get to. He could be late a lot.
Tommy didn’t exactly want to tell anyone he was going to work two jobs, he felt like it’d be a
bit concerning and people would ask too many questions.

He opened the door and the little bell tinkled. Ranboo and another shorter, way shorter, boy
were talking behind the counter. One was cleaning appliances and the other was wiping the
counter down. The short one spoke in a way that was so familiar. The words were harsh and
playful, like he was speaking in bold.

“Hi Tommy,” Ranboo greeted. The other boy looked up with a smile. When he turned to face
Tommy all of his pure fucking muscle showed.

“Hi guys.”

“I’m Tubbo. Nice to have another person helping out. Ranboo’s gonna train you though.”

Tommy nodded and Ranboo waved him over. They went into a back room and Ranboo told
him he could leave his stuff anywhere. Not that he had much. He was shown the bathroom
and the “breakdown room” which was pretty funny and quite useful. It was a tiny room,
basically a closet, next to the bathroom. Inside there were water bottles galore and blankets.
Nice.

“The only rule for the breakdown room is that you have to tell someone you’re going to the
breakdown room,” Ranboo said. “We’ll never stop you.”

“Is working here going to make me break down?”

“Are you good with Karens?”

“Probably?”

“Then you’ll probably be fine.”

They spent a few hours going over the menus, how to use the equipment, what certain coffee
terminology there was, dress code, and what to do when the Karens arrive. Ranboo said that
he would get fired if he called anyone a bitch. He took note. He asked how many people
actually worked here and Ranboo said it was mostly him and Tubbo but someone named Niki
worked here and another was Jack.

Tommy ended up finding Ranboo pretty fun to hang out with, he thought the guy was going
to be uptight or just awkward. They both loosened up around each other quickly. He was still
too tall though, and Tommy would keep calling him Ranboob, boob boy, and boober. It was
almost noon and Ranboo told Tommy to pick any drink he wanted and try to make it. He
chose an iced vanilla latte and Ranboo let him take it for free. He thanked Tubbo and Ranboo
again for the job before trotting off to the library. Which was more like a twenty minute walk.

It had warmed up a lot and that was nice. Tommy’s knees were achy as per usual, so in came
the pain immunity enhancement. He’d have to start taping his knees before work. Maybe he
should invest in some good quality braces. Either way he made it and let his enhancement fall
away. The pain lingered and spiked when he moved but he would simply have to suffer. He
opened the library and there were a few customers and students there reading and studying.

Techno waved to him but Wilbur was the one to come over and greet him.

“Hey Tommy. Did you walk here?” Wilbur asked, pulling Tommy under his arm and half
dragging him to the counter.

“I did, don’t have a car.”

“Live far?”

“Not really,” Tommy said, letting Wilbur lead him to a back room like Ranboo had done. The
library was pretty large. Did they have a breakdown room too? The back room had two
couches and a couple of coffee makers. Wilbur let him put his stuff down anywhere and they
started by literally just having coffee together. Tommy still had his vanilla latte, but Wilbur
made his own drink.

“So, the work here is pretty easy. You’ll just be organizing books and covering the front desk
when Techno and I aren’t able to. You’ll need to learn where everything is in case someone
asks you, and you’ll do some cleaning,” Wilbur explained. “We pay minimum wage, and you
can pretty much take time off whenever because we’re not a super busy place.”

“Okay. Who else works here?”

“We’ve got another person named Fundy, he’s my son, and–”

“What? A son?”

“Yes.”

“Oh?”

“Okay he’s not like, really my son. I call him my son. He’s basically my age.”

Tommy nodded, a grin on his face. Because, what the hell?

“Sometimes the owner, my dad, comes in but not usually. Then we have Sally who’s Fundy’s
mother and my wife.”

“Also fake wife?”

“Yeah.”

“He wishes it were real,” Techno said, walking in on them.

Wilbur just shrugged.

“Oh, Wilbur, I am an excellent wingman.”

“I don’t need a wingman.”

“He really really really does,” Techno whispered, passing Tommy.

“Prick,” Wilbur mumbled. “Let’s go learn how to organize!” He said like a cheery adult
speaking to a child. Tommy realized with that thought, that Wilbur never actually ID checked
him. Is that just not something people actually do? Do they care? His age was included in his
information he supposed. His fake age. Of eighteen. So he could work more.

All of the books were labeled by the author’s initials and put in shelves alphabetically. They
were also organized into sections like young adult, fiction, non-fiction, science, history, and
more. Wilbur warned Tommy that Techno was super particular about the mythology and
history section. They unpacked a rolling shelf of books that had been dropped off, some were
returns and others were donations.

He’d been standing for hours. His ankles started to ache alongside his knees, he was nervous
about his hip starting too. It was hard not to limp when his hip started hurting. And it stayed
like that for hours too. Finally though he and Wilbur took a break while Techno covered, not
that there was actually much to cover.

“So, first thoughts?” Wilbur asked, sitting down on the couch next to Tommy.

“It’s nice here, quiet. Calm.” Tommy turned himself toward Wilbur, stretching his legs out to
the man.

“Share the couch maybe?”

“I was here first, there’s a whole other one right there.” He pointed to the couch directly in
front of the one they were on.

“Uh huh. Well, I’ll train you for the front desk tomorrow and we’ll look at the computers.
After that you’re on your own but we’re there to help obviously.”

“Sounds good,” Tommy said, holding back a wince when he finally feels his hip throb.

Shit. I was almost through too.

He would try to keep up his pain immunity when he stood back up, he was already so tired
though. Did Wilbur notice his discomfort?

“Guess I’ll let you go for now, dad wants to meet you. He might come in tomorrow,” Wilbur
said after checking his phone. “He’s a nice guy so don’t be nervous.”

“I’m never nervous.” Tommy stood hesitantly and retrieved his bag. Pain immunity in action.
“I’ll see you around Wilbur.”

“You can call me Will,” he smiled, “do you want a drive home? It’s cold out.”

Desperately.

“No thanks,” he said anyway. Can’t have Will see his awful apartment. Though it would be
nice to not have to use his enhancement right now. He waved to Techno on his way out and
started the excruciating walk home.

Overall it was a good day. Tommy had two jobs now which was such a relief after he lost his
last one. It was at a gas station, he’d come in late too many times and was caught stealing. He
wasn’t proud of that. He was going to do better. And he didn’t have a resume that time, he
also told those people his real age. After that job he picked up his slack. No more mistakes.

Halfway through the walk Tommy’s enhancement cut out. He started half-limping down the
street and ended up stopping back at the café. He only then looked at the name, “Just Café”
which was the stupidest thing he’d ever had the displeasure of reading. He slumped into the
booth, not bothering to speak to Tubbo, who watched him in between speaking to customers.
Ranboo must have gone home. He held his head in his hands and tried desperately to stretch
his legs.

He waited there for about fifteen minutes before Tubbo came over, a girl at the counter taking
his place. Niki. Tubbo hopped into the booth with Tommy and poked him until he looked up.

“You okay?”

“Tired. Long walk. Sore legs,” Tommy mumbled, pulling at his kneecap to try and alleviate
the pain.

Tubbo’s brow furrowed.

“Need ice?”

“Nope, just a break. It’s only ten minutes and I’m home.” He smiled. It was fake. It was
bitter.

“What have you been doing all day?”

“Big man shit.”

“I’m sure someone here can give you a drive–”

“Nope.” He sprung up with feigned enthusiasm. “I’m going. Thanks, bye.” Tubbo let him out
of the booth and he activated his immunity just long enough to leave the café.

Tommy felt eyes on him all the way home, he stopped inside an apartment that most
definitely was not his. When he thought it was safe he left again and went home, limping the
whole way. He sat on the fire escape before trying to haul himself through the window again
to catch his breath. He did his daily flop onto the floor. A content Clementine padded over to
greet him. He lifted a shaky hand to pet her, and laid there for way too long.

**********
“Yes I’m patrolling.”

“Mrrph.”

“I won’t walk much, I’ll sit on the good roof.”

“Mrrrrrph.”

“Sorry Clem, wasted too much time already,” Tommy gave her a few scratches behind the
ears and was back off into the outside. Still a bit sore but at least having enough energy to
move. Like he said, he wasn’t going to specifically look for trouble, he’d sit on the best roof
for watching over the district, and if trouble found him then so be it.

Only after he lugged himself to the roof did the pain return. He settled on the ledge and
watched the setting sun. He liked these moments but sometimes they were scary because they
didn’t feel real. Watching the sun that sat so far away, showing Tommy just how small he
was. It was also hard to believe that something so beautiful existed in this world. In this
garbage dump of a world.

Kurt had watched the sunrises with him more often. Tommy was always forced to get up
early for training. Any day that wasn’t a training day he was also forced to get up early. To
“keep up the habit” Kurt had said. He owed a lot of his skill to Kurt. He was an excellent
fighter because of that man, good at keeping a poker face, decent pain tolerance, and a
mediocre liar.

Sometimes he missed Kurt. Because sometimes Kurt was nice, and it was really nice and
made him feel safe. He was tough but he made Tommy tougher. He got used to the insults,
the banter that got a little too personal, too harsh. That too made him tougher. So yeah,
sometimes he wished he’d never sold Kurt out. He felt guilty. He had to remind himself that
he was being used. That Kurt was in the wrong and needed to be stopped. Tommy had to
remind himself that Kurt was a villain.

I did the right thing.

He tried to convince himself. He did the right thing.

The city bustled below, even though the sun had fully dipped behind the horizon. Everyone
was trying to get home. To their families and friends. Ouch. Tommy was going to start
throwing himself a pity party wasn’t he? He was lonely. He tapped the ledge he sat on,
frustrated, and he kicked his feet out and stretched his legs a few times. The knee pain
lingered.

Tommy spontaneously thought he heard something but when he looked behind him there was
nothing. He enhanced his hearing, and sure enough, breathing.

“Who’s there?” Tommy asked, stepping away from the ledge. They could be hiding behind
the bulkhead. “I can hear you.”
“Damn, thought I’d be able to scare you,” Apis said, stepping into view from behind the
bulkhead. Original. Classy. Good one Apis.

“I am so not in the fucking mood to fight you.”

“No no no, sit back down. I wanna talk.”

“I am not sitting on the edge of a roof with a villain.”

“Probably smart. Whatever. I wanted to talk to you about our next mission. Lanuae and I,
we’ve got an ally who’s looking for–”

“I am not helping you, I have no patience, fuck off or square up.”

“Jeez man, it’s not even an evil villain thing. We’re actually gonna do some good. Hear me
out at least.”

Tommy did not trust Apis. And usually Lanuae was attached at his hip. So where was he
then?

“I’ll take your silence as an invitation to speak–”

“Apis, get on the ground hands behind your back,” a new voice boomed from another side of
the building. Now that time, Tommy hadn’t heard them approach.

“Gladius, please. I am in the fucking middle of something,” Apis groaned and whipped out
his steampunk-esque gun. Glowing green and yellow like it was radioactive.

Gladius just raised an eyebrow and summoned a huge blade, stymphalian wings spreading
behind him. Huge and imposing. Glimmering and annoyingly perfect.

“Well, you two have fun, I’ll be on my way,” Tommy said, making a move toward the fire
escape on the side of the building.

Gladius sprung a hand out in Tommy’s direction and he immediately activated his pain
immunity, only to realize too late that it was the wrong enhancement to use. Every drop of
blood that had been in his legs rushed up and he felt pins and needles rattle up his limbs. He
kept trying to wobble away but tumbled against the roof parapet. He heard clashing and Apis
crying out for Lanuae. There was an animated ‘bloop’ and a flash of purple before Apis was
gone. Tommy uncomfortably hauled himself to sit against the parapet, glaring at Gladius with
all of the bitterness he could muster.

“Did he hurt you?” Gladius asked, kneeling in front of Tommy.

“No. And I was trying to enjoy the peaceful sunset and night sky when you two pricks
showed up, so if you wouldn’t mind.” Tommy made a shooing motion with his hands.

“I smell blood on you.” Gladius’ wings fluttered behind him.

“Old wound. Also that’s weird. Can I have use of my legs back?”
Normally Tommy would still be able to walk, although difficult, but he was also dealing with
weakened knees and ankles. He was stupid sitting out there in such bad condition. He knew
that, but he’d always been a bit self destructive.

“Where’s the wound?”

“Oh my prime. Give me my legs man.”

“Where. Is. The. Wound?”

Tommy yanked the collar of his sweater down, pulling harshly on the strap of his vest to
show the bullet hole, healing decently as far as Tommy was concerned, in his shoulder.

“It’s starting to get infected. I can smell that too.”

“You’re so fucking weird man.” Tommy let go of his collar and crossed his arms like a pouty
child. “Legs please.”

“Let me clean your shoulder and you can have your legs back.”

“Die.”

“Okay. New deal. Let me take care of your shoulder and I won't drag you to the hero tower
and lock you up.”

“Meh meh meh meh meh. I’m Gladius. I’m a righteous prick. Let me help you little vigilante.
I am a Chad. Such a fucking–”

Tommy was hauled into the air by Gladius and restricted in his arms.

“Okay then.”

“Wait– Hold on big man it was a– a joke.” Tommy struggled and Gladius jostled him. “Fuck.
Fine, you can fix my shoulder.”

Satisfied, Gladius put him back down but held him up. Curse his numb legs.

“I can’t walk like this.”

“Yeah, Mandatum’s bringing the first aid stuff.”

“What the hell?” Tommy shrieked. “Why are you people like this?”

“He wants to see you.”

“You’re both supposed to arrest me,” Tommy deadpanned. He and Gladius sat back down
against the parapet. The man’s boar mask looked kind of funny from a side angle.

“We will if you keep refusing to join us.”

Ah. Tommy sensed an ultimatum coming.

“Stop stealing stuff.”

“I’ve stolen nothing.” Tommy smirked.

“If money’s the problem, the hero program–”

“Not listening.” Tommy covered his ears.

“I’m serious. I can’t have Mandatum going soft for a criminal.” Gladius pulled one of
Tommy’s arms down as he spoke.

“Huh?”

“He and Corvus are pretty sure you’re a child and they want to basically adopt you–”

“Shut up,” Mandatum said, lobbing the medical kit at Gladius and landing gracefully on the
roof. “You said that you–”

“Nope. I’ll stop you right there.” Gladius opened the kit and took his original spot kneeling in
front of Tommy. “Mandatum, you hear that?”

Mandatum pressed on his earpiece.

“Fuck. You do it,” Mandatum groaned.

What were they on about?

“I’m already busy here,” Gladius said, taking out an antibiotic of some kind. He slapped
Mandatum with his wing. “Go.”

“I’ll talk to you soon Rubrum,” Mandatum grumbled and took off, diving over the edge of
the building. Oh how Tommy longed to do the same. To finally fly. But he’d be seen. He’d be
a target.

“Or don’t!” Tommy called after Mandatum.

“Okay sweater off,” Gladius instructed.

“Man, it’s freezing out.”

“I’ll be quick.”

“Where’d he go?” Tommy asked, unclipping his vest and pulling the hoodie down his
shoulder. Gladius scowled at him. “That’s the best you’re getting. I am not taking my shirt off
out here.”

“Fine.” Gladius had a bottle of water and a cloth out, he gently washed over the torn skin.
Tommy tried to activate his pain immunity. He wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. He
was so fucking tired. “We got an alert, break in somewhere downtown. Huge group of
criminals.”
“I see. Why were you both in this district? Heroes don’t patrol here.”

“I’ll be honest with you, we’re supposed to be keeping an eye on you. We’re also supposed to
recruit you, as you’re aware.” Gladius put the cloth away. He tucked his wings tight into his
back. He retrieved the antibiotic again, it looked like a cream or jelly.

“You guys are starting to get real annoying.” Tommy felt his immunity slip as Gladius
applied a layer of the jelly stuff.

Tommy let his head fall back, uncaring that Gladius was watching him with concern.

“You’re exhausted,” the hero said, sliding a bandage carefully over the wound. The wound
that Tommy literally left open after taking Lanuae’s bandage off the day after it was put on.
“You patrol every night. Take a break. Apis could have had you.”

“For once, I plan on it.” Tommy looked back at Gladius, he realized that the feeling in his
legs had come back. Tommy really did plan on taking a break. It was rare for him. But he just
got two jobs, he needed energy for them.

“You know,” Gladius pulled Tommy’s collar back up, “I’m sure we could arrange for you to
patrol these districts even as a hero.”

“No,” Tommy groaned. “No, no no.”

“Okay. Okay, just think about it. It’d be good for you.”

“I’m not the one that matters.”

“Rubrum…”

“Bye, Gladius.” Tommy stood with the last of his energy for the night, turning to hop onto
the fire escape below when he felt arms wrapping around him. With no time to react he was
being hefted into the air by Gladius. He was horrified at the cheep threatening to claw up his
throat. He heard the wings flapping so close. He was flying so close. Smoothly he was set on
the ground.

“Don’t think I didn’t see the way you leaned to one side. You’re hurt somewhere else.”

“Just sore.”

Gladius clamped a hand down on his shoulder.

“Take care of yourself. If you’re endangering yourself too much it just gives us more reason
to bring you in. We can’t keep letting you off the hook.”

Gladius sounded so sincere that Tommy didn’t feel like it was appropriate to make a snappy
remark. He nodded. He understood.

“Thanks,” Tommy said, rolling his shoulder, because he’s not a jerk.
 “Any time.”

Gladius started to leave and his wing brushed against Tommy who clenched his jaw. The
second the hero was out of earshot he let the chirp escape.

Soft wings. Shiny wings.

Red painted his face even though nobody was there to hear the chirp. How fucking
embarrassing.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed! My favorite things to write are hurt/comfort and fluff so expect an
unnatural amount at some points. Writing that stuff is how I stay motivated.
If you spot any mistakes let me know, and if you have any other comments feel free to
leave them for me.
Until next time :)
 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

After three works of working Tommy is already starting to struggle.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Injury/violence/guns/drealization (tiny bit)/panic

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Patrol was rough. Tommy had been working at the café and library each for about three
weeks now and he worked almost every day. It was a lot of walking, very little downtime,
and he got no sleep. He was getting sloppier. Tommy was in the middle of tying up a group of
four, all unpowered, who still managed to beat Tommy up. He was going to have a nasty
bruise on his jaw, it almost knocked him out. They had him on the ground and started
kicking. He had to use his pain suppression instead of strength but he still managed to get
them off. One of them at some point took a knife out and Tommy got a juicy cut across his
stomach. It hadn’t stopped bleeding. It was concerningly deep.

“You guys are pricks,” he mumbled, tying the last one to a pole outside a gas station. He
didn’t even really know what they were planning on doing, but they all had knives and masks
and did not look like upstanding guys.

“I hope the heroes get you, then you’ll know how it feels,” one of the criminals spat.

“Except I don’t hurt people, and they want me in their ranks. Dumbshit.” Tommy slapped
him for fun.

“Oh my god, is that Rubrum?” A high voice shrieked from the gas station’s roof. “He’s my
favorite!”

Tommy couldn’t stop his shoulders from slumping.

“What the hell man? Go away.”

Apis did a showy flip and soared down on his wings. He rolled when he hit the ground and
landed in a bowing position before Tommy.

“M’lady.”
“What are you doing here? Primes, go away. I am so sick of you,” Tommy groaned, quite
literally shoving the villain into the ground from where he was kneeling.

“I’m actually just letting you know,” Tommy felt new eyes on him, “that they have back up
coming.”

A shot rang through the air and Apis pulled Tommy behind the wall of the gas station. The
villain pointed to where the shot came from, then he spotted the growing wet spot on
Tommy’s stomach. Apis’ eyes went wide and he whipped Tommy’s vest and shirt up while
he was looking the other direction.

Tommy really needed a vest that covered more.

“Ay what the hell?”

“That’s gotta hurt.”

“It’s fine. Why are there gunmen raiding a gas station?”

“Someone valuable inside.”

“And you’re here because?”

“I knew you would be… and I have business with the person in there.”

And they could totally just storm in there and you and I could do nothing about it so why the
fuck aren’t they?

Another shot from a new direction. Tommy and Apis split up. The villain flew into the air,
brave bitch, and swirled and swerved around dodging bullets as he closed in on the gunmen.
Tommy kept up his pain immunity and darted between the gas station and another building.
As he got there, three people were waiting for him. They were just as surprised as he was, but
Rubrum had always been a quick reactor.

Tommy pounced on the closest person and kicked out at another. A gun clattered to the floor.
Just a pistol. Tommy had his batons this time. He slammed one into a criminal’s temple and
another one’s gut. He dodged under a punch and brought his baton under the third’s chin.
They went out cold. Tommy lunged for the next closest one, kicking the gun further away
from the other. They dived to get it and Tommy kept his opponent between him and the
other’s gun.

Shots rang out through the street where Apis was fighting and Tommy felt an unfamiliar pang
of concern for the villain. He shook it away as a bang rang right next to his ear. He slammed
the gun away with his elbow, not even sure if he’d been shot anywhere. The gun was flung
away again and Tommy wrapped his arm around the criminal’s neck. He pulled the man
down to the ground and ruthlessly jabbed his baton into the man's head until he went
unconscious. It was fine.

“Don’t move, Rubrum.”

Tommy was getting used to having guns pointed at him. Criminals were accessing them more
easily recently. Tommy moved anyway, giving the man jazz hands. Apis laughed behind the
gunman while ripping the gun from his hand and turning it to the man’s chest.

“Don’t shoot him,” Tommy warned.

“But it makes such a cool sound when the bullet hits the heart.”

“What the fuck? No.”

Apis sighed, reaching up and forcefully grabbing the man’s face with one hand. Tommy
watched the guy go limp and fall to the floor. Tommy was grateful for the mask he wore, it
covered every inch of the skin on his face. One pro of thick goggles.

“There’s more coming. Actually there’s more here,” Apis said, already heading back out.
“You haven’t been shot again have you?”

“Don’t think so,” Tommy said, following the villain. Primes, he was teaming up with a
villain. Apis abruptly turned back to check him over, lifting his shirt again to see his wound,
he grimaced. “It’s fine, let's go.”

“Okay, you go in and keep the person safe, look for a guy named Karl.”

“This makes no sense,” Tommy groaned, slipping into the gas station’s broken glass doors as
more criminals showed up. Maybe they weren’t arriving, maybe they’d been hiding.

“Hero alert,” Apis called before disappearing into the sky again.

Better than villains.

Well, is it though?

“Karl? I’m Rubrum, I’m uh- here to help? Apis is here?”

“Oh thank god,” a man popped up from the counter. Shit hiding spot. Where are the self
preservation skills? And it was that easy to get the man to show himself?

“Just, stay there I guess? I’ll stop anyone who comes in.”

“Cool, cool, cool… cool.”

He turned back to the door and Tommy felt an arm wrap around his neck and squeeze. His
instinct said to activate his strength but he was too injured. He struggled and flailed and
snarled. Then he felt a hand pressing into the cut across his stomach and he could gag.

“Oh come on. That’s gotta sting dude,” Karl groaned.

An unwanted memory flashed in Tommy’s mind. He pushed it down.

Tommy took advantage of Karl's misplaced hand and shoved him away.
“Is this some ploy to kidnap me? The gunmen are hired aren’t they?”

Which was odd though, since Karl was definitely showing his face. Karl shrugged and
advanced forward, as he did Tommy heard the gunfire stop outside. There were still sounds
of fighting. Heroes. The heroes were there like Apis warned. Karl lunged at Tommy and
Tommy swung for his jaw. Karl passed through him and appeared behind. His arm was
wrapped around Tommy’s neck again. Squeezing hard and pulling down.

Tommy gasped, unable to dislodge Karl. He grit his teeth and let his pain immunity go to up
his strength. He launched Karl off himself and into a shelf of chips. The man crashed to the
floor and scrambled to grab an ear piece. Tommy stomped on it and Karl pulled Tommy’s
legs out from under him. Fuck he was feeling the pain now. Karl pinned Tommy down and
dug his fingers into the wound on Tommy’s stomach. His vision whited out and he screamed.
Karl covered his mouth and just kept pressing. Tommy couldn’t see past the blur of tears and
fog.

There was a slam to their side and Karl suddenly had a knife pressed to Tommy’s throat.
Tommy tried to reactivate the pain suppression but he couldn’t concentrate, he couldn’t build
up the energy. He screamed again, muffled by Karl's hand, as finger pressed further into his
wound.

“Come any closer and I slit his throat,” Karl said all too calmly.

Tommy was pulled back in time to that night. That night when Kurt had his arm around
Tommy’s neck, holding them over the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the city, a gun
pressed to Tommy’s skull. He was trembling and crying but he made no sounds.

“Come any closer and he gets a bullet in the brain.”

“I don’t care if this fucker dies, he’s useless.”

“Oh come on heroes, you’re gonna let this kid die to save your precious government? Can’t
evacuate them hmm? They’re all stuck inside, gonna die in the explosion? Ouch. Big hit.”

BANG.

“I think you’ll find that you’re outnumbered here. Time to pack it up.”

Tommy was back there, looking down at the city below. Sirens and flashing lights, so many
eyes on him. Heroes, villains, civilians. Kurt, his villain name was Somnium, wanted the
heroes to give something up. Tommy wasn’t even told what it was. He said he’d kill Tommy
and blow the building up if they didn’t.

“We won’t give it to you,” Said the hero Custos.

“I’m not surprised,” Kurt said with a shrug. “Bye bye kiddo.”

BANG.
“We have Apis already, the gunmen are gone. You’re alone.” Tommy could not hear who was
speaking. He was too busy trying not to suffocate. He could barely gasp.

Tommy fell. He fell and fell and fell and kept falling until he had the guts to catch himself.

“You lived!” Kurt exclaimed. “That’s so good, I thought I actually killed you for a second
there.”

“You pushed me off the building.”

“You have wings.”

“They’re broken!”

“Don’t ever raise your voice at me.”

He was back. He was back. He was back.

BANG.

Falling falling falling.

An arm slid under Tommy’s back and under his knees. He whined as he was hoisted into the
air, someone shushed him. There was hot, sticky blood all over him. There were hot, salty
tears all over his face. Tommy tried to wriggle away, he pushed and flailed and kicked and it
just hurt him more. He couldn’t activate his enhancements. Primes, it hurt so bad.

“Don’t use your immunity, don’t be a baby.”

“Get the press out of here,” whoever was carrying him said. “Or at least cover us.”

“He needs to be sedated.”

BANG.

Tommy clawed into his own arms and curled inward so tight it ached.

BANG.

“Come any closer and he gets a bullet in the brain.”

“You’re my hostage tonight, Tommy.”

“He’s not breathing.”

“Here.”

A door slid closed and Tommy was set down on something soft. Someone started pulling at
his mask. It snapped him into awareness. His eyes shot fully open. Mandatum was pulling his
mask off. He slapped the hero’s hand away and punched him in the jaw. He readjusted the
mask. Gladius rushed over and in a glorious moment of adrenaline, Tommy got his pain
suppression working. Still disoriented, Tommy launched to his feet and dodged Gladius.

They were in one of those hero vans. It was their version of a getaway car, ambulance, and
hideout all in one. He had been set on the hospital bed, at its foot was a sliding door that he
was sure was locked by now. The driver didn’t stop the van despite the commotion. The
heroes’ wings weren’t out, they were more agile and closing in on him, cornering him.

“Look at him. Kid, you didn’t die. You’re fine. Stop crying,” Kurt said, getting closer as
Tommy backed into the wall. “I’m trying to help you, stop moving away.”

“We’re just trying to help,” Mandatum said, holding up two empty hands. “Let’s get you back
on the bed okay?” They were closing in.

“Ignis, a little help? I can’t put him to sleep if I can’t touch him and he can’t hear me.”

“We’re just going to put you to sleep so you don’t hurt yourself more. ”

“He’s in bad shape, we should get Callahan.”

“You’re in really bad shape,” Mandatum said, shuffling closer and lowering in front of
Tommy. “That man took advantage of your wound and he made it worse, we’re going to fix
you up.” Mandatum’s hands were on Tommy’s upper arms.

“Yeah fine, guess we’ll fix him up.”

“Please–” Tommy choked. “Stop– please I can’t,” he collapsed onto his knees with a yelp,
Mandatum softening the fall. “Not again. Not again.”

“You’re safe. You’re with me and Gladius in a sturdy, safe, private van. We’ve got you.”

“He’s out of it. He’s seeing stuff that’s not happening,” Gladius said, kneeling next to them.

Tommy got aggressive again. He punched and tried to headbutt, hitting Mandatum twice
before they got him under control.

“Gladius–”

Tommy shoved and squirmed but Mandatum held him close, whispering to him and assuring
him. He firmly but carefully pushed Tommy’s head to the side. There was a pinprick of pain
at the base of Tommy’s neck. The vignette in his vision filled in. Tommy saw black. A hand
rested on the back of his head.

**********
Tommy did not wake up with the heroes.

Was that a good thing or not?

“What’s up bossman?” Apis asked, face floating just a few inches above Tommy’s. “Saved
ya.”

Tommy tried to sit up immediately, hands that weren’t Apis’ held him down. Lanuae’s gentle
fingers rested on Tommy’s forehead and slid down to his neck to feel his pulse. The villain
pulled a blanket up under Tommy’s chin.

“What?” Tommy croaked. Both villains winced at his voice.

“We blew up the van and snagged you from it. Literally all went according to plan. This is
awesome.”

“You got a bit banged up in the explosion so… sorry,” Lanuae said. “But we didn’t take off
your mask, we just cut a hole into it so Apis could figure out how to filter oxygen into it.”

This was his only mask.

Did the heroes see his face?

“The heroes didn’t get your mask off before we saved you,” Lanae assured.

“And sorry about Karl, he got a little compromised and may or may not have seriously ripped
the wound on your stomach open more.”

“We had a friend do their best to heal you but it looks pretty messy. You were never meant to
get that injured. I swear it,” Lanuae seemed desperate to make Tommy feel safe. It was not
working.

“You were screaming in your sleep too. We have a villain therapist if you need one,” Apis
said with a laugh, leaning against a table next to the bed Tommy was on.

“You need to learn to shut up.”

Prime. I’ve been taken. Prime, fuck shit. Shit fuck balls.

“Please don’t start hyperventilating again, we’re not going to hurt you.”

They took my weapons off me. All I have is my wings, my fire, my enhancements, and my
massive brain. I can do this.

Tommy controlled his breathing.

“Good. Apis, please get some water.”

Apis nodded and scuttled off. Bitch. Tommy hated that guy. So smug and such a fucking
comedian.
“You’re not in some secret base or anything. This is just a temporary hideout. This isn’t a
kidnapping.”

“You sure?” Tommy’s stomach pinched.

“Do you want painkillers? We can get some strong ones for you.”

“When are you letting me go? Or am I slaughtering my way through you two?”

“We’re letting you go when you’re healed, and only if you don’t like the job we have to
offer–”

“No bitch. Die.”

“It’s a good cause! It really really is. We’ll explain when you don’t sound like you’ve been
smoking for eighteen years.”

Tommy tried to get up and it only took one hand for Lanuae to keep him down. Apis came
back with the water in what looked sort of like a sippy cup. He grinned at Tommy.

“No way I’m handing you glass.”

“Here,” Lanuae adjusted the bed he was on, a hospital bed, so he was mostly sitting. It gave
him the opportunity to look around. They were in a back room somewhere. It was run down
and dusty, smelled of mold and probably covered in asbestos. What the hell kind of hideout
was this?

Apis handed Tommy the plastic bottle and he took it with trembling hands. He drank slowly,
knowing well enough not to make himself sick.

“You have my full attention until I finish this water, then I kill you both.”

“Sick. You ever heard of the pit?”

Tommy shook his head.

“If you’re not going to behave I’ll sell you to the pit. Hell, I’ll donate you.”

“Well, kind of,” Tommy decided.

“It’s an underground fighting ring and recently they’ve been getting into taking kids. They
force people to fight each other down there.”

Tommy couldn’t help but notice Lanuae’s discomfort as Apis spoke.

“We were both a part of it. I was there for five years, Apis for four.”

That was… a lot of years of torture.

“We’re working with someone, a powerful someone, who’s going to take the pit down.”
“Why not give the heroes your intel and let them do it?”

“They wouldn’t do what it takes. They’ll arrest a bunch of people but that’s it. They won't get
the right people, or enough people. We have to take this thing down from the root.”

It was true, the heroes were lazy. They didn’t do anything difficult if it could be avoided and
passed off as a win for the good side.

“Listen, we’ve seen what you’re capable of and what you can do. We want you as an ally,
you don’t have to be a villain full time but… work with us a bit. We do some good now and
again.”

Tommy couldn’t think straight.

“Think about it.”

I can’t. My brain is mush. My head is throbbing.

“Time’s up, let me go.”

“Yeah let’s just see if you can even walk,” Lanuae said.

“It’s been two days, he’s fine.”

“You did not just say two days,” Tommy shrieked, hopping up and pulling on his wound. He
successfully suppressed the pain and swung his legs over the bed.

“Well, almost. It’s like one AM right now.”

Tommy stood and immediately wobbled, Lanuae steadied him by the shoulders. Tommy
pushed him off.

“You’re actually letting me go?”

“Yes. Think about the pit, gather some of your own info. Nobody can call themself a criminal
until they know about the pit. Ask around, interrogate. Contact us,” Lanuae said.

“What bad have Lanuae and I ever done anyway? Nothing more than you.”

“I don’t kill.”

“I’ve never killed,” Lanuae said.

“You would though.”

The villain did not argue.

Tommy should ask more questions. He should be more scared. He should run or fight or just
do anything other than trust these two. He was getting whiplash, being tossed from fighting
Apis, to fighting alongside Apis, to being set up by Apis, to being taken by heroes, to being
taken back by Apis, to being let go by Apis.
“I hate you,” Tommy said to the villain. “You’re fine,” he said to Lanuae. Tommy took a
steph and his knee popped. Lanuae caught him and sat him back on the bed.

“Okay maybe you should stay with us–”

“No.”

“Listen, your wound won’t get worse but you should have someone helping you look after it
and I’m sure that your family and friends don’t know your identity so–”

“No.”

Tommy stood again, pain suppression even stronger. He wobbled and stumbled but he was
led out of the back room of what was apparently an abandoned pet store. He went the
opposite direction he lived in. It was dark out and he prayed that the heroes wouldn’t find
him. Everything was fuzzy around him as he walked. The pavement dipped and waved in his
vision. The lights dimmed and brightened. He couldn’t feel his own hands when he wrung
them together. He lost track of time talking to the villains. He didn’t feel like it took that long
but he was awake with them for an hour or two. He couldn’t recall their whole conversation.
This happened to Tommy a lot.

Primes, Tommy wished he taped his knees. He was going to start doing it even when he
thought it’d be an easy patrol. Even when they felt better. He should always tape them. He
released the pain suppression and leaned against a wall. He activated his enhanced hearing
and didn’t think Lanuae and Apis were following him. It was like they were all toying with
him. Why did they keep letting him go? Gladius and Corvus let him go, Mandatum never let
him go exactly, but he didn’t put in maximum effort to catch him. Even the villains? They
barely had a moral code. Why let him go?

And the pit? Was he really going to look into it? Kurt didn’t talk about it much. He said pretty
much what the villains did: it was an underground fighting ring full of unwilling participants.
Kurt had contacts from there, he’d been there and watched fights. He’d bid on fights. So
Tommy knew it existed. Plus if it were true that the two villains were forced to be a part of it
they’d want revenge. Tommy needed to know more about the “powerful someone” they were
working with.

Tommy caught his breath and pushed off the wall, confident that he wasn't being followed.
He looped back, not that same way he came, to make it to his apartment. He only stopped to
catch his breath a few times. There was no way he’d be going into work. He’d have to call in
with his hoarse and shaky voice. It had only been three weeks. Three weeks and he was
struggling to keep up. Why was Tommy never able to do everything he needed?

I’m just never fucking good enough to keep up. I’m always too tired or too scared or too hurt.
I should go to work. I need the money. I can’t afford to be lazy.

But Tommy had to be smart. He was injured, it was a hard injury to hide. He wasn’t getting
any sleep that night for sure. All of his coworkers would be suspicious. He had to be careful.
He could still be productive at home. He was just lucky he didn’t have work the day before
this.
Tommy took twenty minutes more to get home than he should have, even then it had already
taken an hour. All of the breaks, the doubling back and taking detours, it added up. He sat
down on each level of the fire escaped as he climbed up. It took him three minutes to get
through the window into his room. Clementine greeted him and he at least managed to get to
his mattress before collapsing into a wheezing heap.

BANG.

“You’re my hostage tonight, Tommy.”

BANG.

Falling falling falling.

Tommy heaved. He was on his stomach, barely holding himself up on his elbows. His vest
was gone. His hoodie was gone, cut off when his wound was being treated by the heroes. His
shirt was gone too. He was wearing a random sweater.

“Fuck!”

Tommy shot up and pulled the sweater off. There could be a tracker in it. Holy shit, holy
fuck. He felt through the fabric for anything at all that was weird. It was relatively thin fabric.
And at the collar, there was a thin but hard piece of something. He stumbled to get a knife
and cut the sweater open. He pulled a thin-as-hair slip of metal out of the neckline. He set it
on the ground, stood, and stomped down on it. Then just to be sure he duck taped the pieces
to a can of really old… something. The label had come off. He hauled himself painfully
through the window, activated his strength, and lobbed the can as far away as he could. It
soared far over multiple buildings. Hopefully it didn’t hit anyone.

“Fuck. Fuck. I’m so stupid. They could know where I live. Would they have been tracking
me for the whole hour?”

Tommy shriveled up in the corner on his mattress again. He started to shake and he felt tears
stinging his eyes.

BANG.

“Primes, it’s pretty sad that you can’t take care of yourself. You need me to do it.”

“Shut up Kurt.”

“I’ll take care of you Tommy, because I love you. Just quit being dramatic okay?”

“You don’t. You don’t love me.”

Tommy gagged. His head felt light one second and heavy the next. He was flashing between
cold and feverish. He wasn’t sick. Not as far as he could tell. His heart was racing so fast it
hurt. He rubbed at his sternum to try and soothe the pain. He let his wings out, he needed the
relief. The feeling of freedom.
“What do I do, Clem? Where do I go if they know where I live?”

He banged his head back against the wall and Clementine eagerly climbed into his lap,
distracting him.

“Fuck.”

Tommy passed out from exhaustion and pain. As stressed as he was, his body could not stay
awake, his racing mind was not a distraction enough. Clementine stayed in his arms, his
wings spread out behind him. He curled in on himself and around Clementine. Tears fell until
he passed out. Tommy was trained not to make a sound when crying.

**********

Tommy woke up to the sound of a Phone ringing. He screamed out his frustrations before
answering it. Because it was Wilbur. He’d missed calls from Ranboo. He’d missed his
morning shift. Now he was getting a call from Wilbur. Because he was lazy and unreliable
and fucking selfish. He checked the time. His shift started ten minutes ago.

“Hey Will.”

“Woah, Tommy, are you okay?”

“I’m so great, you don’t even know. I’m really really sorry I’m late. I can still come in–”

“No. No, I mean, only if you need some company. You don’t need to work today. You sound
awful.”

Only if he needed company? Company would be nice. Tommy needed a distraction from
literally everything. And work was where he got away from heroes and villains. Work felt
more normal than anything else. He knew he couldn’t walk there. He knew he’d pass out.
Hell, Tommy probably couldn’t read the names of the books with the way his brain was
jumbled.

“Tommy?”

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t think I should come in today.”

“Are you sick? Do you have someone to look after you?”

“I don’t need to be looked after, bitch. I’m fine. I’ll be good as new after a long nap.”

“You sound like you’ve been crying.”

How could he tell? Nobody can fucking tell that, weirdo.

“I just woke up.”

“Don’t you have like, seven alarms set?”

“Yes.”

Wilbur chuckled. Tommy loved making Will laugh. It was a good sound. It was one of his
favorite sounds next to rain and Clementine’s purring. He’d only known Wilbur for three
weeks but they got along so well. There was constant banter and teasing. It made work fun.

“Seriously, are you alright? You need to talk?”

“I’m good. I’m perfect.”

“Call me any time, for anything. If you decide to come in that’s fine, but you don’t have to.
We’ll survive one day without you, child.”

“Thanks, Will.”

There was a pause.

“You– Tommy are you sure–”

“Bye.”

Tommy hung up. Only after did he realize he didn’t get mad at Will for calling him a child. He
felt like a child. He felt as helpless as one and as small, as weak. He pulled up his shirt and
looked at the nasty healed scar of his wound. It had really been ripped open. Whoever the
villains had as a healer did a mediocre job at fixing Tommy’s skin. It still hurt, but he’d live
and it seemed he was at least protected from infection.

Tommy picked up his phone again and called Ranboo back. The call was picked up after the
first ring.

“Tommy?”

“Hey, I’m sorry I know I missed the whole shift and I didn’t call or give any notice–”

“Are you okay?”

It was weird being asked that more than once in a day. More than once in a month. Nobody
used to care. Well, no, no. Kurt cared. Or– wait. Tommy shook his head. Didn't matter. No
time to think about it.

“I’m okay. I’m sorry, I swear it won’t happen again.”

Except I probably just lied to you. I kind of have a track record like this.

“No it’s fine, I was just worried about you. You don’t seem like the type of person to just
ditch and not say anything.”
 “Yeah… I had a rough one last night. And I don’t mean I was out partying,” Tommy said
with a nervous laugh.

“Well, get some rest. Let me know if you’re coming in tomorrow, no pressure. Remember we
have a breakdown room too.”

“Yeah. Thanks Ranboo.”

“Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

Tommy threw his Phone across the room.

Chapter End Notes

Wrote this whole chapter in one day and edited the next. It's that fastest I've ever written
that much. I feel like this chapter was rushed in some parts but I don't worry about
pacing. My writing focuses on hurt/comfort if you couldn't tell.
Twitter
 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

Realizing I spell Wilbur's shortened name "Will" instead of "Wil" but I'm too lazy to
change it even if I like the second one better.
MMmmmmMmMmmMmmMmMmMmMmmMm

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Violence/implied or mentioned child neglect/guns/knives/injury

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy was on his way to work at the café and his knees were ready to give out. They were
taped but it was barely helping. His stomach still hurt and realistically he knew he shouldn’t
be going to work. He just felt so bad about ditching, he needed the money, and he needed a
distraction. He’d been thinking a lot about the heroes. Would they be looking for him? They
probably think that he’d been kidnapped. There was no way he was going to patrol tonight
though, so they’d have to be stressed about it for a little while longer. If they even cared.
Which, why would they?

The café was just up the road, he could almost see the sign. He made sure he looked as clean
as possible and like he didn’t have somebody ripping their fingers through his knife wound.
He even took a few old lozenges. They were very very very old. It didn’t really help but he
just wouldn’t talk much. His voice didn’t sound all that bad. Hopefully.

Tommy made it in, doing his best not to limp or wince at the bites of pain under his kneecaps.
He started to feel it in his ankles too. Ranboo greeted him with a quick wave before
disappearing into the back with a box of something. Tommy followed him to the back and set
his bag down, Ranboo was waiting patiently and holding a drink out to Tommy.

“It’s strawberry coconut. I think you would like it and we might start serving it,” he said.

Tommy took it gratefully. It looked like a kind of lemonade. It was sweet and creamy and
cold.

“It’s good but it needs a bit more flavour.”

“That’s what Tubbo said,” Ranboo rolled his eyes and snatched the drink back. He held it
under the strawberry flavouring and gave it an extra pump. He handed it back to Tommy.
“Much better,” he said, taking a large sip.

“The next few days, weeks even, aren’t going to be too busy because there’s a new place
opening just down the street that I bet everyone’s gonna try,” Ranboo was saying.

“Mhm,” Tommy said, only half listening. He was cleaning off the pumps and counters,
something that should have been done the night before.

“I don’t think it’ll last though. We’re the local legend, everyone says we should be in higher
districts.”

“That’s true if you ask me, you’d get more money up there and you’ve got good quality shit
here,” Tommy said.

They talked and served the few customers that came in. Niki worked with them, showing up
just after opening, and it was a calm day. Tommy was, however, standing the whole time and
he wasn’t sure how much more his body could take. If his hip started hurting it would be
almost impossible to hide from Wilbur and Techno if he was there.

“You okay? You can go early if you want, there’s only five minutes left,” Ranboo said,
noticing the distraught look on Tommy’s face.

“Just thinking about my cat,” he said, because why not?

“Is your cat okay? That was a pretty sad face.”

“I miss my cat.”

“Of course. Well, I see Tubbo,” Ranboo said, pointing out the window and across the street.
“So you can still just go and see Tangerine.”

“It’s Clementine dickhead.”

“My apologies.”

Tommy grabbed his bag and met Tubbo as he was walking in, they waved and said hi. It was
time to make the trek to the library. At least his bag wasn’t heavy. It had money in it, his
mask, stashed into a secret pocket he sewed in, lunch when he had enough food for it, and a
jacket.

He was already limping up the street but nobody was around so he didn’t have to hide it. Any
time someone did pass though, he would slow down enough that it was easy to hide. He
stopped to take a breather halfway through and honestly considered calling Will to say he
couldn’t come in. He was going to find a cozy alley and curl up in a ball and sleep. Hopefully
nobody mugged him.

Except it was short notice and he felt bad about yesterday and Wilbur’s company was going
to make him feel much better. He saw the last street to turn onto and figure turning around
wasn’t worth it anyway. Plus he got to sit down a lot more in the library. It was also less
social, customers didn't talk to him very much there.
Techno was leaving the library as it came into Tommy’s view, they were walking toward each
other and Techno looked exhausted. As exhausted as Tommy felt.

“You alright?” Tommy asked when they got close.

“Long couple of nights. You weren’t doing too great either I hear,” Techno said, masterfully
changing the subject.

“Was a bit sick, better now though.”

“That’s good. Were you walking funny?”

Shit.

“Was I?” He thought he’d been doing well.

“Hurt your foot or something?”

“Nope, all good,” Tommy said, willing Techno to leave first. Alas, he did not. “Are you
waiting for me to walk?”

“Yes.”

“Prick,” Tommy mumbled, walking past Techno as confidently as he could. He still thought
he was hiding it well. Techno however, was not satisfied and followed Tommy into the
library.

“Will,” Techno called, “come get the kid.”

“Not a kid.”

Wilbur came from the back room and excitedly greeted Tommy and Techno. He looked a
little less tired.

“You still look sick,” Wilbur frowned. “Is he sick?” He asked Techno, who shrugged.

“I do not look sick, you both look like shit,” Tommy said, walking past Wilbur and heading
for the back room to put his stuff down.

“Are you hurt?” Wilbur asked from behind. Literally how could they tell? Tommy had been
perfecting the art of injury hiding for years.

“No,” he said, ducking through the back door.

“He is. He’s doing what Phil does,” Techno said.

Tommy set his bag down and shook out his legs before Will and techno followed him.

“Tommy,” Wilbur said.

“Yeeeees?”
“Where are you hurt? How’d you get hurt? Is that why you weren’t in yesterday?” Wilbur
pushed Tommy across the room and onto the couch, sitting next to him. Tommy couldn’t help
but notice Techno wasn’t leaving either.

“Just sore, really it’s fine, I’ll just stretch later and be good as new.”

Not optimal. Not optimal. This was not optimal.

“I dunno, that’s kinda concerning.”

Tommy stood up and pushed past Wilbur to start sorting through the book cart, he left the
back room with only Techno on his heels.

“I’m going to get food and coffee, you want anything?” Techno asked, instead of pressing
any further.

“No thanks. You’re off now right?”

“Well technically yes but I also just spend a lot of my free time here.”

“That’s really… nerdy of you.”

Techno rolled his eyes and started to leave as Wilbur came out, now wearing his signature
yellow sweater. It was a bit cold in the library.

“Sooo… about yesterday,” Wilbur started as Tommy wheeled the cart over to the ‘myths and
legends’ section. “When I called you.”

“Uh huh?” Tommy wasn’t really listening. Maybe if he played dumb Wilbur would leave him
alone.

“You sounded really terrible.”

“Mhm.”

“And I just wanted to see if you were really okay.”

“Cool.” Tommy stuck three books, all part of a series, into the shelf.

“So? Are you okay? Were you okay? For real?”

“Yep.” Tommy had to kneel a bit for the next books, it fucking hurt but he kept his face
neutral.

“You can tell me if you’re ever not. I’d hate for the only interesting person in the library to
get all sad and cranky.”

“I am pretty interesting aren’t I?” Tommy had to reach high for the next book and he wasn’t
sure he could do it without shattering his knees. So he shoved the book under the rest of
them, hoping Will didn’t think much of it, and wheeled over to the romance section.
“Does your injury have anything to do with last night?” Wilbur decided to be less of a bitch
and helped put some books away.

“I’m not injured.”

“You must live with someone though right? I mean, not that I believe you’re eighteen, but if
you were, rent is expensive and young people need company.”

“I have a roommate,” Tommy said, not really lying in his mind. Clementine counted.

“Oh.” Wilbur paused in the middle of putting a book back. “Did they help you last night?”

Clementine gave me some delightful hugs and purred very loudly which blocked out my own
ugly sobs, so yes, yes she did.

“Yep.”

“That’s good,” Wilbur trailed after Tommy as he pushed the cart to the mystery section. “Uh,
I don’t want to pry,” Tommy groaned, “but seriously, what happened to you?”

“Robbed a bank and smoked. A lot.”

Wilbur laughed. “Sounds like you. But, you don’t actually smoke right? That’s not a good
habit for a kid to get into.”

“Not a kid, and you’re not my dad.”

Wilbur didn’t push much more. Tommy was grateful. He also appreciated the concern. It had
been a long time since somebody expressed any kind of care, interest, or literally anything
toward Tommy. Work made him feel less lonely. Getting to know Wilbur and Techno had
been one of the most enjoyable parts of his life pretty much ever. Tubbo and Ranboo helped a
lot too. He almost wanted to tell Wilbur about his knees and ankles, maybe he’d know how to
fix it. Google hadn’t been helpful.

After rolling the cart around for a while Tommy’s knees had not gotten better. His ankles
stayed at least uncomfortable. But his knees burned. He felt his hip starting again too. There
was no way he'd hide that limp. It was one of the only things that ever made him think he
should stop being a vigilante. He was breaking his body doing all of that. He did it every
night and had no idea how to take care of himself. Still it usually seemed worth it at the end
of the night.

He’d had the problem when he still lived with Kurt but he also had braces. Not just tape. And
the braces made it so much easier to move, they relieved most of the pain. However he didn’t
get to keep them and he hadn’t found any to steal so he settled for bingeing taping videos on
YouTube for the best patterns. He also didn’t have to deal with his hip until he left Kurt. It
wasn’t really something he could tape.

Anyway, he dealt with it through most of his shift. Techno came back with the coffee and
ended up getting a sandwich for Tommy, which he took because he’s not a dick, and he didn’t
have lunch with him. Will and Tech joined him for his break because there was pretty much
nobody around. They talked about books and TV shows. The brothers were both appalled to
find that Tommy simply did not watch TV. Not that it was his fault, it’s not like he could
afford a TV and he hadn’t watched anything since he did with Kurt

“We have a TV upstairs, we should use it some time,” Wilbur said.

“Why do you have a TV upstairs?” Tommy asked.

“The owners before us hosted movie nights up there, usually horror I think.”

“Tommy’s too young for horror,” Techno said, nudging Tommy in the side.

“I’m eighteen.”

“Show us your ID.”

“No. Fuck you.”

Tommy did not have an ID.

“We could just look him up,” Will said.

“No you can fucking not.”

They couldn’t, could they?

“Dad can,” Techno said. He paused, seeing the look on Tommy’s face. “The fact that that
made you nervous does not make me think you’re eighteen.”

“I am.”

“Is your emergency contact one of your parents? We should call and ask, it’s on your
resume,” Wilbur said.

Those were fake numbers.

There was a ring at the counter and Tommy saw this as a great opportunity to escape.

“I got it!” He yelled, getting up abruptly from the couch.

As he sprung up he immediately felt a stab of pain in his hip, some in his knees, and it echoed
down to his ankles. He made it two steps before he cried out and fell, hand resting on his hip.
He landed harshly on his knees, one palm on the ground. Techno had tried to catch him and
his hands were around Tommy’s waist.

“I got him, you go,” Techno said. Wilbur hesitantly left the back room to greet whoever was
at the counter.

Techno knelt at Tommy’s side and Tommy sat back, stretching his legs out in front of him.
He felt his cheeks heat up and he really didn’t want to look at Techno.
“Tommy.”

“Techno.”

“I’m going to move you back to the couch and you’re going to tell me what’s wrong.”

“No–”

Techno looped an arm around Tommy’s back and under his knees, he heaved him up like he
weighed nothing. Tommy thought about squirming but he was placed on the couch a few
seconds later. He rolled his eyes at Techno and tried to get up and just leave but strong hands
pushed him back. Techno knelt in front of him like he was about to start lecturing a child.

“Where are you hurt? Show me,” he said, rolling up Tommy’s pant legs. “Your hip is part of
it?”

“I’m just sore,” Tommy groaned, trying to slap Techno’s hands. He gave up when the first
bits of tape were showing. Then he let Techno roll the whole leg up.

“Do you have tendonitis?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Wilbur came back into the room in a bit of a rush and knelt right next to Techno. Tommy ran
a hand down his face as Techno poked at his knees.

“What’s that?” Will asked.

“Just hurts sometimes I dunno,” Tommy admitted, then wrenched his leg away as Techno
started to peel the tape off. “Stop it. I need that.”

“I’m taking it off. I want to look and I can show you how to tape it better.”

“How long has this been happening? Have you ever been to the doctor for it?” Wilbur asked.

“It’s been years.”

“Doctor?”

Could he really tell them that he’d never once been to the doctor? Was that really a good
idea?

“Tommy. Tell me you’ve been to the doctor for this.”

“Don’t need a doctor.”

Wilbur and Techno both stared up at him with different expressions. Wilbur’s was worry,
Techno’s was disbelief.

“Your parents never took you to a doctor?”

Could he really tell them that he didn’t have parents? Was that really a good idea?

“No?”

“And your hip, has that been hurting for long?” Techno asked.

“Started a year or so ago.” Tommy instantly regretted spilling everything to them. He should
have just made them leave it alone. He probably could have too.

“And all of these bruises?”

“Never seen bruises before?” Tommy should have just said he fell a lot. Or ran into things.

“Right,” Techno, after removing all of the tape and putting a new pattern on, rolled the pant
legs back up. “You are going to a walk-in doctor.”

Tommy’s brain stalled.

“Yeah you should take him to the one next to the tower.”

Tommy can not afford a doctor. Tommy can not be identified.

“Come on, we’ll just go now,” Techno said, obviously about to pick Tommy back up.

“No! Uh, no,” he scooted away. “Not doing that.”

Wilbur grabbed Tommy’s arm and his first instinct was to punch him in the face and run, but
he held back.

“If it’s the money, Tech and I can pay. It’s more important that–”

“Nope. You can’t pay for me, I won’t allow it. I’m fine. No doctor.” Tommy was about five
seconds from making a dash back home. But he had to keep this job. He didn’t want Will and
Techno to worry or get suspicious but he would fight anyone he had to to avoid going to a
doctor.

Techno looked a little uncomfortable. “Are you scared? Of doctors?”

Could Tommy go with that? He could make that work right?

“Maybe just a little,” he lied. And, it was kind of a lie, he was scared of going but not
because the people actually terrified him.

“Oh… I can go in with you, the one we’re thinking of is really clean and well organized.”

“Well, actually, how about no.”

“Tommy,” Wilbur started, but Tommy just got up and started limping away. “Tommy.”

“My break is over,” Tommy said, shutting the door in Wilbur’s face as he tried to come
through. Tommy briskly walked to the front desk and realized there was still nobody around.
There were some readers at tables but nobody he could assist. Nobody to check books out.
He has also finished organizing the books on the cart. There was no escape.

“Thomas Innit,” Wilbur said.

Tommy stiffened. He hadn’t heard anyone say his name like that other than Kurt. He
swallowed down the nerves. Wilbur joined his side at the counter, Techno stood in front of it.
They both leaned on their elbows. It seemed like a way to trap him. If he jumped over the
counter he’d get caught. If he escaped to the side away from Wilbur he’d get caught. Pricks.

“Is it your parents? Would they be mad? You say you don’t live with them but–”

“Stop fucking prying,” Tommy groaned. He put his elbows on the table and ran his hands
through his hair. “You’re annoying and nosy, bitch. Bitches.”

“It’s medical neglect if they don’t take you to a doctor.”

“You’re medical neglect.”

Techno snorted and Wilbur glared.

“I’m eighteen,” Tommy said for the millionth time.

“But they didn’t take you before did they?”

He should say they’re dead shouldn’t he? Or missing. Or whatever. He doesn’t have them and
he should just say that. Or he should admit he’s sixteen and quit and go home and curl up in a
ball and cry and rot away.

“Will, you’re stressin’ him out.”

Tommy glared at Wilbur and watched the man look him over. He didn’t want to give the
conversation up. Tommy could tell. Maybe if he started crying Will would shut up. He didn’t
really want to do that in front of them though, that would be embarrassing.

“Okay. I'm sorry. I won’t pry anymore, just answer one question?”

If you ask me what my age is, I'm going to kill you.

“Are you really eighteen? I won’t freak out if you’re not.”

You bitch. You are dead.

Could he tell them? Was that smart?

“You’re not,” Techno guessed.

“I’m not. No more questions, you’re both pricks.”

Tommy very plainly and outwardly ignored both of them from there on. Wilbur didn’t freak
out or pry anymore. Tommy slapped his hands away whenever he came to bother him and
poke him for attention. Techno left at some point. The rest of the work shift was quiet. He
still ached and limped. He hid it whenever Wilbur was watching though.

When it was time to leave again he waved and went out the doors, Wilbur followed him out.
And pestered him, as he always did, to let him drive Tommy home. Which was not an option.
Then he offered to walk Tommy home and Tommy refused again. He quite literally ended up
having to lose Wilbur in the streets. And that lead to Wilbur calling him and telling him to
‘not fucking hang up or I’ll fire you’, which Tommy laughed at.

When he claimed he was home he hung up on Wilbur and climbed back through his window.
Clementine greeted him and he fell on his ass when his joints gave out again. He felt like an
old man in a teenager’s body. Clementine crawled into his lap and he let himself relax on the
floor with her for a while. He promised himself no patrol that night and instead, for once, he
took care of himself. He stretched his knees and iced them. He made sure Clementine had
food, and he curled up in his bed and slept early.

**********

“What if he’s being tortured?” Mandatum asked.

“He’s not.”

“We don’t know that. They’ve obviously been trying to recruit him, Phil. We have to bring
him in next time.”

“They wouldn’t torture someone they’re trying to recruit, at least not right away.”

“I think Will’s right, he’s not in good hands. He could be dead,” Gladius said.

“We’re trying. We are. And if we see him again, I agree, we bring him in. He’s not safe on his
own.”

**********

Wilbur made Tommy take the next day off of work so he wasn’t pushing himself. Wilbur did
not know that Tommy also worked in the café, luckily though his hip was better and his
knees barely hurt. He used the taping technique Techno showed him and was relieved to find
another roll of the tape in his first aid kit.
The walk to the café was way nicer than the day before, and since Tommy didn’t have to
work at the library he’d be rested enough for an easy patrol later.

As per usual he greeted whoever was working with a wave, that day it was Jack. Tommy did
his usual serving and cleaning, had an easy break and spent it with Tubbo. It was smooth and
calm until the second-worst possible person who could have walked in, walked in.

“Fucking hide me,” Tommy said, ducking under the counter, hopefully avoiding Techno’s
gaze. At least it wasn’t Wilbur.

“Why?” Jack said, slightly amused. “Did a school bully walk in?”

“Shut up and open the back door for me.”

“Seriously?”

Tommy slapped Jack’s leg.

“Shit, fine, fine.” Jack pulled the handle and opened the door for Tommy to crawl through.
The door shut behind him and Tubbo was sitting inside organizing menus.

“What’s up?” Tubbo asked.

“Hiding.”

“From?”

“Doesn’t matter, I just can’t let him see me.” Tommy stood up awkwardly. “Take over for
me?”

“Sure… is this something I actually need to be concerned about? Has someone been
bothering you? Because I can deal with it,” Tubbo said, looking dead serious.

“That’s, uh, appreciated? But no, I’d just rather not have them know I’m here. It’s the big guy
with pink hair.”

“Gotcha, do the menus.” Tubbo set the stack aside. Tommy nodded and stayed out of the
open door’s sight.

Tommy picked up the stack of menus and stuffed the drink ones in the drink section of the
shelf, the breakfast in the breakfast, and so on. They really should only need one menu in his
opinion but whatever. When he was done with that he figured he might as well do some extra
cleaning too and see what they needed to stock up on. Tubbo came back through a few
minutes later saying that Techno had left and was only picking things up.

It was really unfortunate that out of all of the places Techno could go to get his coffee, he
chose the cafe that Tommy worked at. They were the best though. At least, Tommy took
Ranboo’s word for it because he’d never had coffee anywhere else. He only drank iced coffee
too, so, what did he know?
The rest of the work day went as smoothly as before and Tommy left feeling pretty optimistic
about that night. That was, until he started thinking about running into heroes. Because they
probably thought he was being held captive somewhere and they’d have a load of questions,
they certainly wouldn’t let him go now. Did he have enough energy to escape a hero tonight?
Probably not.

Tommy decided to patrol anyway, because he was just the biggest, smartest man.

**********

Tommy had a roughly patched up mask and a new, totally off brand, black hoodie, with no
vest. He didn’t have many zip ties but at least Apis and Lanuae left him his batons after they
kidnapped him. He made two slits in the hoodie in case his wings ever needed to come out
and hoped nobody paid close enough attention to notice.

He was walking along a lengthy stretch of rooftops, enjoying the night air and clear sky. The
moon was just barely a sliver and the city was too bright for the stars to show up well.
Hopefully most of the lights would be off soon. Tommy promised himself that he wouldn’t
get into a fight unless it was one hundred percent necessary. He’d call the cops in any case he
could, which probably wasn’t going to be many.

The first crime of the night he noticed was somebody preparing to break into a gas station.
Tommy didn’t like gas stations anymore. Not after Apis set him up with a fake crime and
fucking napped him. So Tommy called the police and just as the person broke in, they came.
He could have prevented a broken window, but the owner would handle it. It was fine.

The next crime he witnessed was a mugging. He did step in for that one and it was a quick
take down. Just one trash piece of man taking advantage of a young girl. Tommy beat his ass
and tied him up in record time. He walked the girl back to her home. They had a lovely chat
about different flavours of jam and why it was superior to jelly.

The third crime was just somebody wearing full leopard print. Shirt, pants, jacket, everything.
Tommy bravely jumped down in front of them to let them know it was too much. They barely
acknowledged him and just took a picture before walking away without a word.

There wasn’t any more crime for a while and Tommy was grateful that it had been an easy
patrol after his last big incident. It seemed it was time to end the night with what one might
call a ‘final boss battle’ of sorts, when Tommy witnessed another kid get taken. Now, he felt
a little bad for what he did next, and that was to let the kid get taken. It seemed like a good
idea at the time, to follow the van they were put in. Then Tommy realized he’d have to fly to
keep up. And that was not a good idea. And the child would be traumatized and terrified, and
Tommy could fail at getting them out when the van reached its destination..
Tommy lobbed a ball of fire at the van before it got moving, an ability he didn’t use often for
fear of giving away his phoenix identity. He rushed over immediately to get the kid out,
hoping to every living thing on earth that he didn’t hurt them. They were crying and scared
out of their mind but Tommy pulled them out.

“Hide please,” he whispered to them. “I’ll get you after.”

The kid ran off and hopefully didn’t go far. Tommy turned his attention to the two guys
scrambling away from the soon-to-explode car.

“You guys stealing kids for the pit?” Tommy asked, approaching and twirling his batons.

“Imagine if we took Rubrum to the pit,” one of them said.

“Oh, the money we’d get.”

Tommy blinked.

“You just admitted that? That you– really? Because I should interrogate you and I don’t think
you’d like that.”

One of the men drew a pocket knife, the other a gun. Primes, Tommy hated guns so so so
much.

Tommy activated his speed enhancement and dipped and whirled around, trying to get the
knife guy in front of the gun guy. He kept them like that as best as he could. Gun guy tried to
shoot him twice before Tommy kicked his gun away. He slammed knife guy into the ground
and bashed a baton against his head, he whirled around and intuitively ducked as the man
made a lazy shot.

“Ha! That– that was epic,” Tommy laughed, surging forward and wrenching the man’s gun
into the sky. He shot again and Tommy jabbed his baton into the guy’s gut. He doubled over
and Tommy kneed him in the face. He tossed the guy to the ground and removed the gun
from his hand. Not really knowing what to do with it, Tommy kept the gun. He never really
wanted to use one, it was too easy to kill by accident with. One may never know though.

“You both asleep?” Tommy nudged each of the van guys. They didn’t react. “Oh, good.”
Tommy tied their wrists behind their back and around the nearest door handle he could find.
He left a little note, using the pen from gun guy’s pocket that read ‘kidnappers for pit’ with
the words divided between the criminals’ foreheads. He reported the crime and set out to find
the kid.

“Hey, I got the bad guys. They’re not going to hurt you, so you can come out okay?” He was
saying, walking down a few alleys. “I’m Rubrum, I help people in this city. I’m gonna get
you home.”

“Are you a hero?” A shaky little voice asked from behind a trash can, in the corner of an
alley.
“I’m better than a hero,” Tommy said. Letting the kid come to him. He had tears and dirt all
over him. He waddled into Tommy’s outstretched arms.

“What’s better than a hero?”

Vigilantes, Tommy was going to say.

“Just people that want to help.”

“Isn’t that what heroes are?”

“That’s what they’re supposed to be,” Tommy said bitterly, realizing he probably should have
taken the conversation another direction. “Not all of them are.”

Tommy hoisted the kid into the air and walked out of the alley. He asked where the kid’s
parents were and why he was out so late. He said they were just walking home after visiting
some family really late. He got separated. Tommy asked what he did during the visit as he
walked back to the scene with the van. He kept the kid distracted until he heard sirens in the
distance. He calmed the boy down and told him jokes and stories.

“Okay, I can’t let the police see me. Can you tell them what happened on your own?”

“Yeah.” The boy wrapped his arms around Tommy again and gave him a tight hug. Tommy
returned it gratefully.

“They’ll get you back home and keep these men off the streets.”

“Thank you,” the boy said, muffled by Tommy’s shirt.

Tommy watched from a nearby roof as the police cleaned up and took the kid. If they
couldn’t be trusted to stop real criminals he could at least trust them to get a kid back home.
Hopefully. Usually. Tommy was about to leave when he heard footsteps behind him, rushed
and coming very loudly.

“Holy prime, Rubrum,” Mandatum breathed, already right in front of Tommy when he turned
around. He almost backed over the building’s edge in surprise. Mandatum grabbed his
shoulder and hastily brought a hand to his cheek, wings puffed up behind him in alarm.

“Heyyyy…” Tommy said eloquently, as always.

“Fucking prime, are you okay?”

Mandatum is just as much of a bitch as Wilbur is apparently.

“I’m great,” Tommy slapped Mandatum’s hand away from his face but it came back a second
later. Tommy did not like the position he was in. Being pinned against a drop and too close to
the enemy. Enemy?

“We thought you’d been kidnapped. You were so injured, can I see? Will you come back to
the tower with me?”
“What do you think my answer to both of those questions are going to be?”

Mandatum chuckled, wings ruffling behind him. The motion alone made the bird side of
Tommy feel warm. He shoved it down deep. This would be the most awful time to let a chirp
out.

“You scared the shit out of Gladius and I. You were hallucinating and freaking out and
delirious, there’s no way you’ve really recovered from that.” Mandatum’s hand left Tommy’s
cheek to rest on his upper arm.

“Apis and Lanuae had me healed and let me go,” Tommy said, thinking he wasn’t giving
much away by being a little bit honest.

“Why would they let you go?”

“Beats me.” Tommy shrugged. He had to wrench his eyes away from Mandatum’s wings,
they looked so fluffy.

“You’ve got a new look.”

“Yeah, lost my vest and favorite hoodie.”

“Black suits you.”

“I know.”

Part of Mandatum’s mask covered the bottom half of his face and his neck, it was just black
fabric. The second part of his mask covered the left side of his face and looked like half of an
ornate masquerade ball mask. It was decorated in feathery and scaly patterns. Still, Tommy
could see the concern leaking through. He saw the urgency in the hero’s gaze.

“You know I need you to come with me,” the hero said softly.

Tommy immediately snapped his hands to his ears and shoved past Mandatum, knocking the
guy over. He heard him curse and scrabble up. Tommy leapt from building to building and
eventually dropped into the shadows below. Mandatum stayed flying high and Tommy heard
him talking into a com every time he got close.

“Found him… district… just stopped a…”

Tommy couldn’t hide forever and he knew that Gladius or Corvus, or both, were on their
way. So he made a risky choice. He pulled off his black sweater, wrapped it around his
batons, gun, and mask, and stashed them away in a corner behind some trash. Prime please
let that be there tomorrow. And Tommy was reckless but he wasn't always an idiot. He still
did his best to lose the hero and not be seen. He was pretty sure he wasn’t followed, or caught
walking into the open street Rubrum was close too. Changing was an extra precaution.
However he did not expect Gladius to find and stop him as Tommy.

“Why are you out so late,” the hero asked, scaring Tommy half to fucking death.
 “Why do you care?”

“It’s dangerous out here for kids. Lot of you guys are getting taken now.”

Yeah way to be blunt about it.

“I’m eighteen shithead. Leave me alone.”

Surprisingly after that Gladius let him go. Or tried to make Tommy think as much, because
Gladius was definitely following him. So Tommy did what he always did and walked away
from his apartment, stopping in some random one and hiding out for as long as he could
before being called out for loitering. He watched the hero leave and still waited a long time
before heading back out.

He couldn’t decide if ditching the suit was smart or not.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed, packed quite a bit in this one because I simply don't do pacing ever.
IF you like this story and my writing check out some of my other fics and consider
giving me a follow on Twitter
Have a nice day/night and drink some water :)
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

I switch between American and British spellings because I am Canadian and we use a
mix of both so ignore it pls aha (ex: color vs colour, organize vs organise) I also started
using "Wil" instead of "Will" for Wilbur's nickname so ignore all of the unchanged
"Will"s

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: None I think??? Lemme know if I missed some

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Ditching the suit had worked. Tommy got back home and had a, we’ll say fitful, night’s
sleep. He went to work the next day and got the suit back on the way home. He avoided any
questions about his knees and hip but ended up having to let Techno see them again. He
insisted he needed to make sure Tommy was at least taping them properly. He worked for
about another week and a half and took a break from patrols. He felt so guilty about it.
Halfway through the second week he caved. He had to go out again. Tonight. He’d go
tonight.

But first. Work. He didn’t work at the café this morning. He only had to go to the library.
Days like this were such a relief as much as Tommy hated to admit. Working two jobs was
hard, walking to them both, patrolling after, getting a maximum of six hours of sleep at night.
If he was lucky. It was getting really hard. But, he’d only had two breakdowns in the past
week and a half and they were both only thirty minutes long so… that was an improvement.

Tommy was walking into the library, swinging the door open, expecting to see Techno
leaving, and who was standing at the counter?

“Tommy? I didn’t know you could read,” Tubbo said with an awkward wave.

“First of all fuck you, second of all what are you doing here?”

Techno was at the counter, checking out books or answering questions or whatever the fuck
Tubbo was having him do. This was probably his last customer before he got to quit. Tommy
decided he would keep Tubbo here just a little longer to annoy the man. Had Tubbo noticed
that Techno was the one he avoided that day at the café?
“It's a library. What do you think I’m doing here?”

“What do you even read?” Tommy asked, refusing to walk to the back and let Tubbo know he
worked here. Did this violate his employment contract in either establishments? Probably not.
Why would it?

“Bees.”

“Bees?”

“Bees.”

Tommy just nodded and gave Techno a curious side-eye. He looked very exhausted. Tommy
suddenly did not want to keep Tubbo here any longer.

“Do you come here when you’re off work?” Tubbo asked, like a bitch.

“Uh, yeah. It’s nice here, quiet.”

Techno looked a little more invested in the conversation but he was still tapping away at a
computer.

“The Master Bee Compendium is currently out, we can email you when it’s back,” Techno
said, glancing up at the front door as Wilbur walked in.

“[email protected],” Tubbo said.

“No fucking way, that is not your email,” Tommy cackled. “Do you do business with that
shit?”

“Nah I have a professional one too.”

“Okay, Bee Boy.”

That’s what Tommy called Apis. Prime, imagine Tubbo was Apis. That would be one hell of
a coincidence. But, they looked similar in build. Tubbo kind of acted like Apis. Talked like
Apis. Huh.

Tubbo slapped Tommy’s arm and started for the door before turning around and dooming
Tommy.

“See you at work tomorrow!”

And Tubbo was out the door.

Wilbur joined them at the counter, dramatically dropping his elbows onto it next to Tommy.
Immediately Tommy left and escaped to the back room, dodging the start of Techno’s
question.

“Do you–”
The door closed behind him and he set his stuff down. He had probably three seconds to find
a place to hide before he had to answer a bunch of questions. He dived behind the couch and
snuggled between it and the wall. Wilbur and Techno came in and took all of two seconds to
find him. Wilbur laughed and whipped out his phone before Tommy could get himself
unstuck from behind the couch.

“You bitch,” he groaned, flopping onto the cushions.

“I’m sending that to dad, he still hasn’t met you. Actually, I’ve decided, he’s coming in today.
I’m making him,” Wilbur walked to the other side of the room and put the phone to his ear.

Tommy groaned again. “I don’t want to meet your dad.”

“He’s your boss,” Techno said.

“How is he the boss? He’s never here, he hasn’t met all of his employees.”

“He’s the busiest man in the world, I swear,” Wilbur said, still waiting for an answer on the
phone.

“Do you work two jobs?” Techno asked. Tommy was going to get whiplash with the way that
man changed topic. “That’s not healthy for someone your age.”

“Dad! Hi…” Wilbur was saying in the background.

“So what if I work two jobs? It’s minimum wage innit?”

“Yeah but that’s… that’s not good for a kid. If money’s an issue we–”

“I’m not a kid. I can take care of myself. You both act like parents,” Tommy said, pointing
between Wilbur and Techno.

“What’s your other job?”

“Now? You’re coming now? We haven’t even told him…” Wilbur was saying.

“I work at Just Cafe. I saw you there a while ago.”

Wilbur hung up the phone and slumped onto the couch next to Tommy. He strung his arm
over the back of the couch and let it flop over Tommy’s shoulders. He did not push the arm
away. Usually, with anyone else, he would have. Bad memories of kind touches with bad
intent resurfaced for a moment, Techno’s next words cut him out of it.

“We can pay you a lot more, kid,” Techno said. Their worry over him was becoming
annoying. More so than comforting. Tommy needed this to fucking stop. Techno was
standing in front of the couch, arms crossed, stance wide. He could be a scary guy, if Tommy
didn’t know him well.

“I’m making enough money,” Tommy said, and it was true. He might be able to afford a real
apartment before winter came.
“Sure but how’s your health, hm? You’re so young and your body’s already destroyed,”
Techno gestured to his ankles, knees, all of him. “I can’t imagine what your mental health is
like.”

“My mental health is fucking fine.”

“Tech, it’s uh, it’s not like he has to worry about working here much longer,” Wilbur said.

Tommy’s heart plummeted. The arm on his shoulder didn’t feel so friendly anymore. Was this
it? He was getting fired? Did they figure out his hybridity? Is he getting sold?

“We’re not firing you!” Wilbur said quickly, noticing Tommy’s panic. “Dad– uh, dad’s on his
way and it’ll make a lot more sense when he gets here… stop breathing like that.”

Wilbur placed a hand on Tommy’s chest, over his heart.

“Would someone be mad at you? If you got fired?” Techno asked.

“Not that we’re firing you,” Wilbur reiterated.

“No, no I just,” need the money and the company and friends and something to do and
distract myself with me and if you make me go and stop I think I’ll die, “I like this job.”

The brothers blinked at him.

“Oh.”

“Well we can offer you–”

“Boys?” Someone called, approaching the back room.

How’d he get here so fast?

“Dad,” Wilbur said with a smile as someone walked through the door.

As Philza fucking Craft walked in. Wings out and ruffled. Flapping and folding behind him.
He shut the door behind him and set a hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. Tommy… Tommy was
biting his tongue.

Do not chirp. Do NOT chirp.

“Hey, mate,” Philza said. To Tommy. He was talking to Tommy.

“Aww Tommy’s a Corvus fan, look he’s all awestruck,” Wilbur taunted.

“Nice to meet you,” Philza said, holding a hand out to Tommy.

Tommy stood and took it. His human instincts screamed to run, hide, cover his face, never
speak. His bird instincts said he was safe, touch the feathers, say hello. Chirp hello.

“Hi,” Tommy squeaked.

“Hi,” Philza said with a chuckle.

“Tommy, this is Phil, our dad, Corvus,” Phil poked Wilbur in the side, “Ow. Dad, this is
Tommy, gremlin, your employee.”

“He’s just how I pictured him,” Philza said, “they talk about you a lot.”

“They do?” Tommy asked, completely genuine in shock.

“Oh yes, all the time, Tommy did this, Tommy said–”

“Shut the fuck up,” Wilbur huffed. “We were about to tell him about the library.”

“Oh, well, go on then.”

And Philza Fucking Craft casually sat on the couch, Techno sat next to him and Wilbur
pulled a second couch a little closer for himself and Tommy. Tommy sat very, very,
hesitantly, across from Philza.

“Tommy,” Techno started, “we were never going to fire you. It’s just that the library is
closing.”

That’s not fucking better.

“Soon we’re going to make a pretty big, very public announcement, and uh, the library won’t
be run by Phil anymore. It’ll be out of use until someone new buys it.”

Tommy thought it was odd that Wilbur was calling his dad by his first name.

“What’s the announcement?” Tommy asked, glancing back at Philza fucking Craft.

“Will and I are heroes too,” Techno said, bluntly, as per usual. “Meet Mandatum and
Gladius.”

Woah. Woah. Huh?

“You are shitting me.”

“We’ve decided to go public,” Wilbur started. “Can’t keep working here if people know who
we are. We’d get swarmed. Plus there’s more benefits for us–”

“Money.” Techno cut Wilbur off.”

“-if we reveal ourselves.”

Corvus had sons. Everyone knew this. But nobody knew that they were heroes. It made sense
though, didn’t it? That he would work so well, so closely, with his sons? That’s why he tried
so hard to protect them in battle, something the media went nuts over. There had always been
theories as to what Mandatum and Gladius were to Corvus. Some thought brothers. Others
thought something a little more awkward than that.
No way he’d been working with the heroes for months. No way. What, two? Only two
months he’d been right under their noses. How many times could they have figured him out
by now?

“Prove it,” Tommy found himself saying. “There’s no fucking way.”

“ Tell me your real age, ” Wilbur said. No, commanded.

“Sixteen,” Tommy said immediately before slapping two hands over his mouth.

“Will,” Philza chuckled, an amused reprimand.

“You bitch,” Tommy hissed.

Oh prime. He was sitting in a room of the three heroes he had the most trouble with. The
ones that made his instincts scream. The ones that were so insistent that they could help him
and keep him safe. Out of all of the people he could have ended up working with– fuck. What
if they know? What if they’re just toying with him and playing around. Did they know the
whole time? Were they trying to gain his trust?

“We’re making the announcement in about a week and a half but we wanted to give you
some warning…” Wilbur said, sounding nervous or maybe guilty.

“That’s uh, wow, yeah. Hm.”

“I was also going to suggest you come work for us,” Techno started, looking at Philza and
Philza only, “because we can pay you really well and you won’t have to work two jobs.”

“We could use an assistant,” Philza nodded, “but it comes with some risks.” Phil and techno
were still only looking at each other.

“Think about it,” Wilbur said, “no need to decide now.”

Tommy already had his answer. Fuck that. Still he nodded like he’d consider it. Wilbur
smiled at him but again, it didn’t feel that safe. Maybe it was a good thing, actually it was
definitely a good thing that he wouldn’t be working here much longer. What if they’d told
him who they were and not gone public? Were they dumb enough for that?

Tommy glanced at Wilbur again who was still smiling fondly at him.

Yeah. They were dumb enough.

“Gladius and Mandatum are Corvus’ sons…” Tommy said, just making sure he was
understanding.

“Yes,” Philza– Corvus– fuck, that guy, said.

“So… you… but you’re rich. Why would you work at a library?” Tommy looked from
Wilbur to Techno.
“We can’t just have everything handed to us,” Wilbur said, but he sounded mildly whiny.

“It was mostly a hobby at first,” Techno said, “I came here to work under the last people and
then Phil bought the whole library ‘for me.’”

Tommy snorted.

“Then I had to do more work and talk to more people instead of doing what I liked to do.”
Techno was scowling but it was playful.

“I bought it for other reasons too, and you know that.”

Techno rolled his eyes.

“But, I came here all the time when the old people worked here, where were you?” Tommy
asked.

Techno shrugged. “In the back organizing and buying new books, if you came late at night I
was in the attic.”

“Watching TV?”

“No, we have the oldest, most valuable books up there. A lot of people don’t know about
them, unless they came for movie night.”

“Which you were never there for,” Tommy guessed.

“Correct,” Techno said.

“Wanna see our wings?” Wilbur asked suddenly. “I wanna show you our wings.”

NO. NO NO NO.

“Mate, what if somebody walked in?”

Bless you Philza Craft.

“It’d just be for a sec.”

“My shift started five minutes ago, you can show me later,” Tommy said, already getting up.

Tommy was allowed past everyone, thank fucking prime, and he found his beloved book cart.
It was time to stress organize and over think everything. He was going to the conspiracy
section first, because apparently that was a thing. He picked up a book about the queen being
a lizard and calmly put it in its spot. Middle of the shelf, almost perfectly. How calming.

This routine went on for another while. He didn’t have as many books to organize so instead
he did some cleaning. He wiped down their tables and cleaned the floors. He took his break
halfway through the shift and then more people had brought books in. They went on the cart
and Tommy got to organize again. There were only five or so books, he didn’t need his cart
but he loved it too much not to use it. It needed a name. Linda maybe. And when he was
done his shift was almost over. He slipped the last book into place.

Tommy turned around and slammed right into a chest.

“Woah, sorry, you okay?” Wilbur asked, hands catching around Tommy’s back and shoulders.

Something soft brushed Tommy’s arms and his back. His breath hitched.

“Tommy? I’m sorry–”

Safe. Warm. Chirp, say hello, say hi.

Tommy chirped.

They both froze. Wilbur’s arms loosened for a second before tightening again. The wings
around Tommy pressed firmly against his back.

He chirped again.

“Tommy, I didn’t know–”

Tommy shoved himself out of Wilbur’s grip and his instincts wailed. He shuffled over to the
backroom. Techno and Philza had both gone by now. There was nobody in the library. Why?
Why did Wilbur have to have his wings out? What if somebody came in late? Looked in a
window?

Go back. Go back. Safe. GO BACK.

Tommy slammed the door to the back room open and clawed at his bag, picking it up and
swinging it over his shoulder. As he was going to leave, Wilbur stepped into the doorway,
wings still out and rustling.

Safe, Safe Warm. Say hello. Chirp.

Tommy wrestled back his chirp.

“I’m leaving early,” Tommy said. “Let me out.”

“Okay… can I help you get home at least? It’s dark.”

“No.”

Tommy didn’t look Wilbur in the eyes and shoved past him, dodging the touch of his wings.
There were tears in his eyes. Wilbur could not fucking see him like this. Or chirping. Never
again. Fuck that.

Big brother. Get help. He can help Safe, Safe.

“Shut up!” Tommy hissed, ducking out the front of the library and into the closest alley. If
Wilbur followed him it would really just be the cherry on top of the cake wouldn’t it?
Tommy speed walked through the alleys and streets of the city, ignoring his buzzing phone.
He wiped a few tears from his eyes. Fuck. That wasn’t supposed to happen. That was never
supposed to happen. He might have to move cities. Wil was going to want to know what kind
of bird he was, he was going to want to see the wings. Fuck. And Tommy had never
imprinted on anyone like he was supposed to. He could not let himself imprint on Mandatum.
Never.

Fuck oh shit oh fuck this is bad shit shit fuck.

Tommy’s wings burst from his back as soon as he was in his apartment. He screamed, it hurt
so bad. They’d been hidden for so long, and then the chirp and the instincts and– fuck! They
were flaming and he needed them to stop, the stupid fire alarm would go off. He breathed
slowly, he counted the breaths. His wings were flapping and stretching and trying so
desperately to get comfortable.

Get big brother. Preen. Preen.

“Shut the fuck up!” He screamed.

His wings stopped firing, dying out from exhaustion. They flopped to the ground and
distantly, Tommy realized Clementine hadn’t come to see him. He looked up, searching
through the tears.

“Clem? I’m sorry, I didn’t,” he choked, “I didn’t mean to scare you. Please come here.”

She poked her head out from a cupboard. She looked sleepy. She didn’t look that healthy. It
made Tommy sob.

“Clem, come here. Come on,” he held a hand out for her and she padded over. She stuffed her
face into his hand and he pet her. He sat up and leaned against the wall under the fire escape
window.

“You need a better home,” he decided. “Look at me, I’m a mess. I can’t– I can’t take care of
you.”

She let out a little mewl of appreciation and he started to scratch her stomach. She rolled onto
her back and purred.

Never mind. No fucking patrol tonight. Prime, this is pathetic. I’m pathetic.

Tommy’s phone buzzed in his bag, again, and he took it out. It was Wilbur, of course. After
Tommy declined the call, Wilbur texted.

Wilbur

let me know if you got home ok

Tommy groaned. Because seriously, fuck this guy.

Me
im home

Tommy did his near-nightly routine of chucking the phone across the apartment. Clementine
jumped at its clatter. He instantly felt worse.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You’re not healthy here, I don’t… I don’t know what to do yet okay?
I’ll find you somewhere.”

Clementine kept happily purring away, curling up in his lap. He didn’t dare move. As
uncomfortable as his position was, he would not move her.

**********

Tommy woke up to Clementine pawing at his face. He’d fallen over in his sleep and her
beady eyes were right in his face. Her paw tapped at his temple.

“Hello.”

“Mrrph.”

“In this economy?”

“Mrrrrrrph.”

“Wow.”

Tommy got up and immediately went to fill Clementine’s food bowl. He felt good knowing
they had plenty left. He felt bad knowing he was going to leave her alone all day again. He
was considering asking Wilbur and Techno, or mostly Phil, if Clementine could live in the
library. Then she wouldn’t be lonely and there would be more for her to do and explore. But
it didn’t matter anymore, did it? Since the library was closing. Shit. He had to look for
another job.

He started getting ready for the day, realizing he hadn’t even checked the time yet. When he
found his phone again it was buzzing with his alarm. He was basically on time. It had been
going for about five minutes.

Before leaving Tommy crinkled up some paper and threw a few little balls for Clementine to
play with. She always loved those. He gave her multiple because she lost them under things
all the time. Prime. He loved that cat.

Tommy headed off to work. The second he stepped outside and saw rain, he knew it was
going to be a breakdown night. And he’d been doing so good too.
“Bye Clementine,” he called, shutting the door and pulling his hood up. It would be a good
time to steal a raincoat, wouldn’t it?

**********

“Prime, Tommy, you don’t have a drive? Or a coat? Or anything?” Ranboo asked, handing
him a towel.

“No and no. Thanks,” Tommy said, taking the towel and starting to dry his face.

“But it’s so cold.”

“Yeah fucking tell me about it.”

Tommy followed Ranboo to the back. Tubbo was in today. The best days were when both
Ranboo and Tubbo were there. They were good friends, they shared his humour. Tubbo had
his energy too. Ranboo got tired sometimes but Tubbo always matched him. It was nice being
chaotic teenagers with people. People his age. Wilbur and Techno were chaotic but they were
also older than Tommy and acted more like brothers. It was nice, but friends were different.
Friends were stupid together. Brothers were stupid but protective.

“Coffee or hot chocolate today?” Tubbo asked.

“You don’t have to make it for me.”

“You’re having a bad day, and usually that’s funny, but you look sad, so. Coffee or hot
chocolate?”

Tommy blinked at him for an uncomfortably long time. “Coffee.”

“Prime, you are having a bad day.”

Tommy huffed and started drying his hair with the towel. A few minutes later Tubbo set a
coffee down on the table next to him. Black with three sugar. Tubbo always teased him for it.
Told him it was ruining the coffee and that nobody should ever under any circumstance put
sugar in it. He insisted that two milk was the best way to go. Ranboo agreed.

Pussies.

“Today is gonna be busy,” Ranboo started, breaking out a box of napkins. “Everyone likes to
sit in a café while it rains.”

“I’d like to go sit in a grave and be buried alive.”

“Okay Tommy.”
“Maybe jump off a building.”

“Of course Tommy.”

“Poor hot coffee down my throat.”

“I’ll arrange it.”

**********

Work was fast paced. Ranboo was right. Everyone flocked to the café because of the rain.
They all had cozy sweaters on and corduroy. No rain jackets. Because why would anyone
wear a rain jacket in the rain? People came in with their hair soaking claiming that they loved
the feeling. They opened some windows too to let the smell in. Ranboo told him the scent
was called ‘petrichor’ and Tommy really didn’t care at all.

Halfway through the shift he took his break. It was a few minutes late. He didn’t bother
eating anything and fell asleep as soon as he hit the couch cushion of the back room. This
couch wasn’t nearly as comfy as the one in the library. The library owned by a millionaire
and his two sons that could buy literally anything they wanted. Maybe he was a billionaire.
Fuck Philza Craft. Eat the rich.

He had a good ten minute nap. He’d set an alarm for ten minutes and gave himself five to
wake up after. Tubbo and Ranboo left him alone the whole time. Thank prime. He sat up for
the last minute of his break and practiced his customer service smile. He didn’t realize
Ranboo was watching.

“Do you need the breakdown room?”

“Not yet,” Tommy snorted. He fixed his apron and went back to the counter, trying to look
like he wanted to be there.

“Hey what can I– oh.”

“Large iced vanilla latte, light ice, cheese muffin, and a large black coffee,” Techno listed off
with a smirk. “Nice apron.”

“Who’s the latte for?”

“Me.”

Tommy snorted and put the order in. Techno tapped a card, it was gold in colour, it was kind
of like the guy was swiping a block of gold and its residue was enough to pay for his order.
Dude was rich. No, wait, dude’s dad was rich. Man, Techno gets all of the ladies doesn’t he?
“You’re a bitch,” Tommy said, not caring that other people heard.

“Tommy,” Tubbo hissed from behind him. Then he saw who Tommy was talking to. “This
guy bothering you? I can kick him out. Spit in his coffee?”

“No. No–” Tommy laughed, “he’s a friend. He literally helped you at the library today?”

Techno raised an eyebrow and moved over to the pickup area.

“You don’t have to lie. I can take care of him,” Tubbo insisted, taking Tommy’s forearm in
his hand. “He won’t bother you again.”

“That is just so so creepy. No. He’s a friend, he just didn’t know I worked two jobs and he’s
kind of a mother hen.”

“You work two jobs?”

“Prime,” Tommy sighed, “yes. I work two jobs. Hi, what can I get for you?”

The next person ordered, she got the new strawberry coconut drink and told Tommy to have a
nice day. Tubbo was working at the other register, putting in some huge order. A pump of this
and this and that and a sprinkle of blah blah blah. Poor Tubbo. However, he seemed excited
when he passed them the drink and they said it was perfect.

Tommy looked around for Techno and found that he was sitting at a table. Then Tommy
realized he wasn’t at work. Maybe he was off today. But it was weird for him to sit at a table.
He didn’t like crowds. He’d rather take everything home or eat in his car.

“Switch?” Ranboo asked, coming out of fucking nowhere.

“Prime, just– yeah, yeah we can switch. What’s there to do in the back?” Tommy asked.

“Cleaning?” Ranboo said, asked? With a smile. He never liked to do the cleaning, and when
he did he insisted on wearing gloves at all times, even if he was just wiping something down
quickly. Tommy figured he was just a germaphobe.

“Okay.”

And so Tommy cleaned until his shift was over. And when it was, Techno was still there,
having drank both drinks instead of the one. Tommy slid into the booth across from him.

“What are you still doing here?” Tommy asked.

“I’m working next shift, figured I’d drive you there.”

He must have gotten the black coffee for Wilbur and decided to stay in the end. Or he was a
weirdo who orders a latte and a coffee.

“Oh… what about Wilbur?”

“He, uh, he told me what happened yesterday.” Tommy’s face heated up and he looked
anywhere but Techno’s eyes. “He thinks he made you uncomfortable and wanted to give you
some time.”

I think he did the opposite of making me uncomfortable.

“I’ll have to text him then. It just caught me off guard.”

Which wasn’t untrue. He was surprised. Maybe if he hadn’t been caught off guard he could
have held back the chirps. He was scared of people finding out what he was. Hopefully they
just assumed he was some simple songbird, maybe a crow. Actually no, their dad would love
that too much and bother him. He seemed like the kind of guy to say ‘twinsies” way too
excitedly.

“Yeah… maybe it’s too personal but, do you have wings?” Techno asked.

“No,” Tommy said immediately, “no, I don’t. I uh, have the instincts but not the wings.”

“Do you have to be vegetarian?”

Technically he did, but Tommy wasn’t about to tell Techno he could eat meat because he was
a bird of prey. A phoenix could kind of eat anything it could kill, so Tommy could too.
Techno had stymphalian wings, so, did he have to eat people like they did in the myth? Ew.
Prime.

“Do you eat people?” Tommy whispered, dodging the question.

“No– what? No–”

“Cool. ready to go?”

“Uh, yeah? Let me get a coffee for Wil though,” Techno said, grabbing his bag and heading
to the counter.

Tommy followed him and slipped behind the counter, he gently nudged Jack out of the way
with a grin.

“What can I get for you?” He asked.

Techno snorted. “Large black coffee.”

“Name?”

“You know my name. You don’t usually ask for names?”

“Name?”

“Techno.”
Tommy gestured to the pick up area and Techno waited as Tommy made the most dramatic
black coffee he could. He made it all in slow motion. And finally, he wrote the name on the
cup. Then, as he went to place it down he called the name out.

“Teacup? Anyone here named Teacup? ”

Techno shot him an unamused glare and stole the cup from his hands. He started to leave
without Tommy who scrambled back around the other side of the counter, cackling.

“Everyone watched you.”

“I know,” Techno groaned. “I was trying to be nice, driving you, getting a coffee for Wil?
Never again.”

“Teacup,” Tommy kept giggling and followed Techno to his car.

The car was simple. It was mundane. It didn’t scream rich like Tommy expected it would. In
fact, it was kind of ugly. The front was way too round for Tommy’s taste. The inside was nice
and neat though. Techno let Tommy sit in the front and control the music, he just turned on
the first station. It sounded fine, he left it.

“You didn’t answer my question about your diet,” Techno said the second he started driving.

“Oh, well, I’m not supposed to eat meat really but it doesn’t bother me much.”

“It’s not healthy though, and I bought– prime, I bought you a sandwich with meat in it. You
should have said something.”

“It was a good sandwich.”

“Where are your self preservation skills?”

“With my parents.”

“And where are they?”

Dead.

Tommy laughed. Hard. Like, choking, wheezing.

“What?”

“Inside joke.”

“With who?”

“Me, bitch.”

It wasn’t long before they were pulling up on the road next to the library, parking just in front
of it. Tommy hopped out and beat Techno to the door. He pointedly did not hold it open for
the man.
“Why are you being such a nuisance this morning?”

“It’s just my personality.”

That’s what Kurt always said.

Tommy expected to see Wilbur at the front desk but he wasn’t there. He looked in the back
room and set his stuff down. No Wilbur. Had Tommy really upset him? Prime, Wilbur better
not be awkward around him now. Fuck, he felt bad.

“Not here?” Techno asked.

Then Techno checked his phone and froze.

“What?” Tommy asked.

“Shit. Shit. Okay– uh, stay here. Don’t leave. Seriously, if you leave I’ll be so pissed,”
Techno rambled, tossing his bag down too and heading back out to the front.

Tommy followed him to the front and they went to a side door Tommy had never been in
before. He had asked what it was and nobody ever told him. It had a keypad and Techno
tapped the code in faster than Tommy could memorize. Not that he was trying to… that
would be wrong.

“If you try to get in here and do the wrong password twice it’ll send an alert to Wil, Phil, or
myself,” Techno explained.

They fled down a set of narrow steps that Tommy was sure he’d trip down if they went any
faster. They came to another door and Techno put the code on that one too, presumably a
different one. He swung the door open and bright light flooded into the hall behind them.
There were neon whites lighting it up. Two suits hung on the wall. Corvus’ and Gladius’.

“There’s been an attack, I gotta leave. Close the library, stay here until one of us comes to get
you,” Techno said, pulling his chain armour off the wall.

As soon as he took it down the whole outfit shrunk into a round puck. Techno slammed it
against his chest and it started to expand over him, rebuilding itself to fit perfectly. In a matter
of seconds, techno had transformed into Gladius. His wings extended behind him. They could
turn sharp like blades, however they were regular until Techno lunged into motion.

“I mean it, Tommy, don’t leave. The attack is close.”

“No, I wouldn’t. Stay safe,” he said, hiding a knowing smirk. He was so going to join
whatever fight that was.

“Don’t leave with anyone other than Phil, Wil, or myself.”

“Okay.”
 And Techno was off. Tommy followed him up the stairs but prime, that guy was fast. As soon
as he was out the door Tommy sprinted to the back room for his own suit. Which was still a
black hoodie and poorly put together mask. Thank prime his voice modulator still worked. If
it broke he’d never get a new one. He still had the old one from when he worked with Kurt.

He suited up and left the library, after putting up the closed sign, and couldn’t wait to get into
some trouble.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed, and if you did consider reading some of my other works. (D&D Au
and one shot booklet)
Or you can follow me on Twitter
for some updates, sneak peaks, and more.
:))
 Chapter 6
Chapter Summary

Fire

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Fire/Injury/Violence/

See the end of the chapter for more notes

When Tommy got to the fight scene what he expected to see was a villain, maybe a few,
hashing it out with the heroes. Two of the city's largest buildings burning was not it. His first
thought was Jameson. Because it always went back to them, to those villains. But it couldn't
be. He was out of the picture now and should be out of Tommy’s mind. He needed to focus.
So Tommy followed Gladius to the base of the buildings and scoffed seeing the heroes
standing outside instead of rushing in to help the screaming people.

“Why are we waiting?” He heard Gladius ask.

Mandatum and Corvus were there. Wilbur and Philza. Tommy also saw Custos and Vulpes.

“We have orders to wait until Fluctus gets here,” Corvus said. “Maybe Ventus.”

Fluctus. They needed him to douse the fires but who knows when he’d get here. Or Ventus,
she could possibly blow them out? It was useless waiting while people were trapped. And
Tommy was mostly fireproof. So, take that heroes. He waited until Mandatum was
specifically looking away from him and sprinted ahead. He activated his speed.

“Rubrum!” He heard Corvus yell. Then a muttered: “Fuck.”

“Rubrum—” Mandatum started, but Tommy was already through the glass doors.

And prime, it was toasty. Parts of the building were crumbling and the elevator had fallen.
Fully actually just plummeted. Tommy heard voices approaching from outside the building
and glanced back, seeing Gladius and Mandatum through the smoke. He rushed to the stairs
and started to climb. There were people meeting him halfway and he didn’t bother to help
them down, the path was clear enough.

Tommy made for the top floor first, hoping that the heroes would fucking get their act
together before the building fell. His speed was dialed up to a hundred and he was
desperately trying to get his breath back once he reached the top. He had to dodge around a
few burning patches and holes. Other than that he figured it’d be easy enough to get people
down. At the top of the stairs there were office cubicles, the top floor was a glass globe. This
was where all the rich pricks worked and they had “work umbrellas” and “super conditioned
air” for the hot and sunny days.

There was an unnatural wall of fire separating most of the workers from the stairs. The
cubicles looked relatively flammable but Tommy had to work with it.

“Come here!” He yelled, pulling the only cubicle wall—literally fabric—that he could reach
over and dumping it on the fire.

Three people ran over it before it went up in flames. Somebody else took the hint and did the
same thing from the other side. Once they were all over, with minimal burns, they made for
the stairs. Until Tommy heard a cough from the other side of the fire wall.

“Get as far as you can, I’ll be there soon,” Tommy said to the nearest person.

Then he jumped through the fire as high as he could and searched for the coughing. He found
a man heaving and gasping on the ground, barely able to hold himself up on his elbows.
Tommy looped an arm around his torso and hauled him up, not bothering to ask him
anything. He awkwardly used another cubicle to make a bridge. It lit up even faster than the
others and the man yelped as fire licked his heel.

“Fuck, sorry,” Tommy said, activating his strength to get the man on his back.

Tommy had his arms under the man’s legs and was hobbling down the stairs. The guy was
barely awake and his breaths were slow and rattly. The next floor down had a single hall that
led into other divided rooms. Tommy listened quickly for anyone inside and made a note to
come back and check after. He kept carrying the man down the stairs and seeing Corvus
ahead.

“Rubrum? Prime— let me,” Corvus said, wings hidden, taking the man off Tommy’s back.

“Is Fluctus here?” Tommy asked.

“Ventus is, she’s doing what she can. You have to get out of here—”

Tommy bolted back up the stairs with a roll of his eyes. He activated his stamina and already
felt himself tiring. What kind of a shit hero got tired already? He opened all of the doors and
kicked open the locked ones. No one was on that floor that he could tell. It was collapsing as
the fire upstairs spread.

Tommy moved to the next floor and it was the same layout. Also crumbling, most doors left
open. The ones that weren’t he kicked open. Nobody there either. He moved to the next floor
and it was just a lounge. Tommy found a second to scoff at the absurdness of the room.
Decorated in ugly rugs and couches. A fucking water fountain, TVs, there was a mini bar.
But nobody was there.
It seemed, thankfully, like most people made it out. There was no sign of explosion so
somebody straight up set fire to some of the rooms. Tommy’ mind went back to Jameson. But
he was gone. He was paralyzed and left and out of the fucking picture. It shouldn’t matter. He
shouldn’t even consider the possibility. Nothing that came before mattered right now.

The next floor down—Tommy was really starting to feel the burn—was a four way
intersection of hallway and rooms. He slammed the first door open and no one was there. He
heard screaming from the one on the opposite side of the hallway.

“Move away from the door!” He yelled.

He didn’t wait long before kicking it open. His foot was starting to get sore. There were two
women huddled in the back corner, calling for help. They were blocked off by rubble and
flame. The room was dangerously small and half fire. The door was completely blocked by it.
Fuck. Tommy could get through with minimal pain but they would not.

“Hold on!” He yelled.

Fuck fuck fuck what do I do.

Tommy whirled around and slammed back into Corvus who caught him and shoved him into
Mandatum’s grip.

“Rubrum, leave this building and stay out.”

“No— you prick, fuck.”

Tommy’s feet moved without permission and he was sprinting for the stairs. He just had to
get out of this one and he could run right into the second. Because Mandatum didn’t say to
stay away from the fires, so, eat shit hero boy.

Tommy didn’t fully trust the heroes to make the right calls when it came to civilian lives. He
was nervous for every second he lost, every minute he wasn’t pulling someone from under
rubble or jumping over fire. And there were two buildings. Two. And Fluctus wasn’t even
here yet. Or, maybe he was, hopefully he fucking was.

Tommy leapt down the last five steps and burst through the open doors, dodging Custos’
swiping hands.

“Rubrum you can’t—” the hero started.

Tommy had already pranced across the street and through the other building’s doors. The
second he was through he knew that this one was worse off than the other.

The whole thing was already crumbling and Tommy was worried they were too late. He
should have come in here first. He sprinted up the stairs and listened past the crackles and
slamming concrete for yells. He was relieved to hear the first of spraying water from Fluctus
above.
This building was the registry of powered individuals. It was where people went to report
their kids having powers, late power developments, and powers that came from being a
hybrid. It was supposed to be highly secure. It was the target of multiple robberies and low
level attacks each year. Not many people liked being recorded by the government and
carefully watched for their powers. It means they could be recruited as heroes or police or
more jobs of the like.

Tommy didn’t mind the whole building being taken down but he didn’t want the people
inside dead. In fact, he would consider throwing all of the files he could find into the fire to
save all of the rare hybrids like himself from being stuck in the records.

Tommy didn’t know what floor he was on when he heard crying. He was bursting through a
door with little thought and saw a girl stuck under rubble. There were pieces of burning wood
lodged into the pile and she was screaming like it had already started burning her. Maybe it
had and he couldn’t see it.

Tommy jogged over to her and stepped through very small flames on his way. He pulled off
the biggest rocks, they were blazing on his hands, even through his gloves. He pulled all of
the biggest chunks off as more fell around them. Glass was spread everywhere and the whole
room was decaying. Finally he was able to give her enough room to crawl out. He helped her
onto his back and she just thanked him over and over.

“It’s okay, it’s okay but I need to hear if anyone else is in here,” Tommy said, he figured
telling her to shut up wouldn’t help calm her down.

“Rubr—”

Tommy barely saw Vulpes in front of him before the metal stairs broke from below the hero.
Vulpes latched onto the stair ahead and heaved himself up in time to see Tommy climbing
down what remained of the stairs. He hopped over the gaps and the wiry stairwell shook.
Vulpes, thankfully, kept going up to look for more people.

Tommy got the girl to the bottom, having to dodge around so much fire. She got burned a lot.
He felt bad but he left her just outside and basically threw her at Glacies. The ice-wielding
hero. After catching the girl, passing her to paramedics, and glaring at Tommy, she started
spewing ice and freezing water up at the building.

Tommy ran back in. He itched to get his wings out and use them how they should be used.
However he could start more fire. That wouldn’t be good. Tommy wasn’t great at keeping the
fire off his wings under pressure. And if he got sprayed with water while his wings were out?
It fucking hurt.

Tommy made it past the rickety stairs and kept listening for anything. He checked all of the
rooms he came across. Then he heard Vulpes again.

“Up here!” The hero called.

“Where?” Tommy yelled. They were up, but the stairs either fell away down the giant fucking
crater in the building, or they were never there.
Vulpes cursed under his breath. Tommy finally spotted him above, there was a whole in the
floor above too and Vulpes had two people with him. One was leaning against him, barely
awake, and the other was bleeding profusely from their temple.

“Get someone who can fly, fast!” Vulpes yelled.

And Tommy had a decision to make. Fly up himself and help now, risk his identity, be an
even bigger target for heroes, become a target for hunters. Or take extra precious time to get
another hero.

And call Tommy a coward, but he turned back and ran. Speed activated, calling out for any of
the three winged heroes. He saw the ceiling crumbling before he was able to stop. He skidded
forward as the ceiling collapsed on him. He cried out in fear and let go of his speed. Prime,
let him keep up his pain immunity.

The rubble struck.

**********

Tommy was laid out on the grass in the tiny park next to the two buildings. Mandatum
hovered over him worried and frantic. Mandatum cupped his face and was speaking to him.
What the hell was he saying? The hero rested a hand on Tommy’s chest and looked like he
was speaking into his comm. It was muffled and patchy.

“...delerious…barely any b—”

Tommy tried to push away after the situation caught up to him. Mandatum used both hands to
keep Tommy’s shoulders pressed into the ground.

“Rubrum, st—”

Tommy thought he was trying to give a command but it didn’t matter, he could barely hear a
thing. He squirmed in Mandatum’s grip, the hero having to sit on his legs to keep him still.

“Please. Please, calm down, shhh,” Mandatum said. It all went fuzzy again soon after. “...help
you…shhh.”

There were hands cupping his face again, thumbs tapping and rubbing lightly at his cheeks.
His face was still covered by his mask. Prime, that better not be burned. Was his voice
changer still working? Tommy realized he stopped struggling, and Mandatum looked pleased.
He started flailing again.

“Rubrum, hey, stop, you're gonna hurt yourself more.”

Tommy wondered if his hood was still secured to his hair.

“You hearing me? Hey,” Mandatum asked, tapping lightly at Tommy’s cheeks. “Fluctus is
finishing up. It’s done.”

What was done?

“Can I take your mask off? You’re not breathing well and I don’t know when the medical
stuff for heroes will get here—our van was sabotaged and another is on the way—Rubrum?”

Tommy heard “mask” and “off” and flung himself into a panic soon after.

“No, no, hey— fuck. Rubrum stop struggling.

Tommy went limp and felt his heart rate pick up, if it could even get any higher.

“There. I’m not… hurt you. Not gonna… mask.”

Tommy decided to stop trying to listen. He stopped trying to get away, it was obviously not
going to work. Mandatum said to stop struggling. Moving did not count as struggling. He
could burst into flames and reveal his wings. Something told him that counted as struggling.
But… what if he made himself think it wasn’t to get away and it was just to stretch them?

“Corvus?” Mandatum asked, looking past Tommy’s head.

“He’s okay. I’ve got him, deal with Rubrum,” Gladius answered.

Tommy’s vision came back to him, at least a little less blurry, as he regained energy. He
couldn’t activate his pain suppression and so many things hurt in so many ways. And then,
prime, and then Mandatum’s wings came into view. They were flared behind him and
Tommy felt the tug of muscles in his back.

Tommy groaned and felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“Stupid vigilante,” Mandatum mumbled, resting a gentle hand on Tommy’s chest. “Gonna
give us all gray hairs. Corvus is already old, he doesn’t need that stress.”

If Tommy wasn’t pinned under the hero that was going to take him in, maybe he’d laugh. If
Tommy wasn’t covered in bruises, burns, and scratches, maybe he’d laugh. If Tommy wasn’t
also being hauled up into someone’s chest, he’d laugh. But now Mandatum was carrying him
with a hand under his knees and behind his back. Tommy was being taken to one of their
stupid hero vans.

“Rubrum, stop struggling. Work with me man,” Mandatum said as Tommy was able to
squirm again.

Tommy heard the sliding of the doors and then was relieved as the blaring sun was finally off
of him. It smelled like smoke and his throat was raw, it was hot and his everything hurt. And
he started thinking. He almost failed the two women in the first building. That was when he
ran into Corvus and Mandatum. Forced to leave. He didn’t know what to do. He could have
been the cause of their death. He needed to be better.
And then he remembered Vulpes and froze. Vulpes, who asked for a hero to fly up. He asked
Tommy to get a hero that could fly. Tommy could have helped them. Prime, please let them
be okay. Prime, if they were dead…

“Vl’ps?” Tommy croaked.

“What?” Mandatum asked, “what is it?”

“Is Vl’ps kay?”

“Vulpes… I don’t know. I didn’t know he was hurt.”

Tommy was laid out on a soft table at the side of the van. Mandatum had to duck slightly
while standing. Gladius could stand on his toes and touch the ceiling with his head. It was
wide too, there were boxes and cushions and pockets of supplies.

“Mate?” Corvus asked, looking at Tommy, sitting across from him on a second bed.

“Lay down, Corvus,” Gladius said.

Tommy finally found the strength to actually speak.

“If you take my mask off I’ll kill you all.”

“Yeah, okay,” Gladius snorted.

Mandatum elbowed him. Wilbur. Wilbur elbowed Techno, and then Wilbur turned back to
Tommy and kept a hand on his chest. The van started up and Tommy heard police sirens
approaching. The drive was smooth but painfully long. Or, it felt long because Tommy’s
heart was pounding wondering what the hell the heroes were going to do with him. He
couldn’t escape Mandatum. At least not yet. And he couldn’t stop thinking about Vulpes.
Leaving them was a mistake. A failure. Something that probably got them killed.

And fuck. The heroes all had their wings out now and it was hurting Tommy’s soul. His bird
brain was screaming. His back ached to let his wings loose. There was a chirp trying to
bubble its way up his throat. And then because Wilbur is a bitch, he fluffed up his wing and
rested it over Tommy’s leg.

The chirp came out.

All three pairs of eyes locked onto him.

Tommy let himself pass out to avoid his problems.

**********
Tommy woke up only a little bit confused. The first thing he did was reach up to see if his
mask was on. It was. The second thing he did was look around and discover that he was in
the hero tower, very high up, and in a hospital bed. Then he acknowledged the three other
people in the room. One of which was asleep on a hospital bed parallel to his own.

“He’s awake,” Gladius said, kicking Mandatum who was reading some long paper.

They were sitting against a window on some hastily brought in chairs at the foot of Tommy’s
bed.

“Okay, you finish this then,” Mandatum shoved the paper into his brother’s hand and pulled a
chair next to Tommy’s bed. Gladius got up and left, sparing Tommy only a quick glance.

Tommy flicked his hands up to cover his ears but one of them was held down by a cuff. He
groaned and laid his head back further. He didn’t bother to look at Mandatum. Whose wings
were noticeably not showing.

“First of all you’re stupid,” the hero started. “Second of all… the nurses are going to take
your mask off—”

Tommy went rigid.

“But no hero is going to see. I promise. We have a patient confidentiality-privacy-bullshit

thing for non-heroes who get brought here.”

“No. Why do they need to?” Tommy asked, pulling on the cuff to test its strength.

“To give you oxygen and check for concussion or other injuries. You can have it back after.”

“It is literally protocol to unmask me.”

“You’re a special case.”

“Aw, you mean that?”

Mandatum rolled his eyes and noticed Tommy pulling on the cuff. What were they going to
do after the nurses made sure he was fine? Keep him cuffed and interrogate him? Threaten
him with a choice of prison or becoming a hero? Even then, the nurses would see how young
he was and tell the heroes. Then they’d have to see Tommy’s face. If they hadn’t already
figured out who he was.

And Tommy had chirped. He chirped. Because he was tired and young and they were all
fucking there with their dumb wings showing and Mandatum brushed his wing over Tommy’s
leg to keep him warm and it was really nice and he chirped and his chirp at least sounded
different because of his voice modulator but—

“Hey, it’s okay, breathe,” Mandatum was saying, speaking softly and holding Tommy’s
shoulder.

“I can’t stay here, I can’t. You have to let me leave,” Tommy sputtered.
Tommy shoved Mandatum away with his free hand and yanked on the cuff hard enough for it
to split skin. Tommy registered Corvus sitting up from his bed before he heard Mandatum
speaking.

“Rubrum, stay still and breathe.”

Tommy instantly stopped squirming and sucked in a huge breath, and another. He had to
think. Maybe there was going to be a gap between when the heroes left and the nurses came
in. Tommy could try to summon a bit of fire to melt the cuffs. It would hurt, because the hot
metal might drip right onto him but he’d be mostly okay. Heat hurts but it heals fast. And if
there wasn’t a gap of time Tommy could take some nurses. What are they gonna do? Throw
bandaids at him?

“Hey, mate,” Corvus said.

Tommy finally turned to fully acknowledge the hero. He was shirtless and covered in
bandages. His wings were out and one was wrapped. Tommy ignored the wings and Corvus
and turned back to Mandatum to glare.

“Okay. Gladius said the nurses are on their way,” Mandatum said, looking at his phone.

The hero went to his father’s side and started drawing a curtain closed. It went halfway across
the room, blocking Corvus from seeing Tommy. That meant that the hero was going to be
there while he was trying to escape. Which really made things harder.

“They can’t tell us anything we don’t need to know,” Mandatum said.

“And what would be considered something you need to know?”

I’m an illegal vigilante that you have sitting in the hospital at your tower and you’re not
going to take advantage of that?

“They’ll tell us if you’re a minor and they’ll tell us if you’re a wanted criminal.”

Was that not exactly what Tommy was? Both a minor and a criminal. Well, a criminal in their
eyes.

“We’re making exceptions for you,” Mandatum said, guessing what Tommy was thinking.

“Because you want to recruit me.”

Mandatum stared, considering his answer. “Yeah. We do.”

The door opened and two nurses came in, Gladius stood at the door waiting. Mandatum
nodded to the nurses, then to Tommy. He and Gladius left. That meant Tommy only had to
deal with Corvus on the other side of the curtain and the two nurses.

“Alright,” one said, he looked extremely grumpy, “I’m going to lift your mask off and we’re
going to do some blood tests.”
Oh hell no, they’d see his hybridity if they did blood tests. No way.

The man started lifting Tommy’s mask away, feeling behind his head for the clasp. Tommy
flinched away and squirmed but he didn’t make it very far, Mandatum’s voice still lingered in
the back of his head. Fuck you, Wilbur. The clip clicked and the mask fell loose, the man
pulled it away and grimaced at Tommy’s face.

“You’re young,” he said plainly.

“How old are you?” The other nurse asked. She was arranging some things that Tommy
couldn’t see. Probably preparing for the blood test.

Tommy didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His voice modulator was gone and he couldn’t have
Corvus hearing him.

“Mate…”

Fuck you, Philza.

Tommy prayed that the bruises and cuts on his face made him look older. He steeled his
expression. He refused to wince as the first nurse cleaned the dirt away from the wounds.

“If I leave, will you speak to them?” Corvus asked.

No. Because if my face didn’t give away my age my voice would.

“You’re not leaving Corvus,” the girl nurse said—kinda rude that they hadn’t introduced
themselves—he’ll call her ‘Two’. “Are you a minor?”

Tommy shook his head.

“He looks like he could be eighteen at least,” the first nurse—One—said. One was a dick. He
was rough now with Tommy’s face. “You don’t need stitches.”

“We do have questions you need to answer,” Two said, “so I’ll find you something blank to
write on.” She whispered something to One and left the room.

Tommy figured now was the best chance he’d get. He started to summon his fire, feeling his
palms heat. This always took so much energy, but it would be worth it. One was writing on a
clipboard. Tommy urged himself to heat faster. He felt the spark of a small flame on the tip of
his pointer finger—the one on his free hand. One turned away from him and he seized the
opportunity. He rested his pointer finger on the chain, it was easier to break than the actual
cuff, and let it heat.

Come on. Come on. Come on…

The chain became hot red and melted away. It started to fall and Tommy caught the part
unattached to him before it could clink against anything. One turned back to him abruptly and
Tommy kept his hand where it was, hoping the nurse didn’t look too closely.
“Are you a hybrid? It could affect how you heal,” asked One.

Tommy shook his head.

“He’s an avian,” Corvus said, like a bitch.

He heard the chirp then. Or his sons told him about it.

“Wings?” One asked.

Tommy shook his head.

“He says no,” One told Corvus. “Do you know, sir?”

“I don’t believe he has wings,” Corvus said. “I’m sure he would have used them many times
if he did.”

You would think, wouldn’t you?

One turned away from Tommy. Immediately he scoured the room for his mask, he hadn’t
seen where One put it. He spotted it easily on top of the counter though. He just had to get
that, get out the door, and avoid everyone in the building. Judging by the window at Tommy’s
feet he was high up. That meant a lot of stairs or risking an elevator trip. Two would be back
soon, he had to go now.

Tommy got up quietly, making shuffling noises but apparently that wasn’t a cause for
concern. As One was turning around Tommy got behind him. They faced each other, One in
shock, and Tommy punched him as hard as he could in the jaw. He activated his strength and
the man crumpled. Tommy grabbed his mask and slipped it on, fastening the clip. He
stumbled out the door. He could hear Corvus scrambling after him.

As he got outside the room he slammed into Two. He kept running even after she was
knocked over. He finally noticed that he was in a hospital gown too. His hoodie and vest and
fuck—everything—was gone somewhere. Too late, no time. He kept running and prime, his
body hurt. His knees were weak and his ankles cricked, his hip was popping, and this was
going to suck.

“Rubrum!” Corvus called after him. Gladius and Mandatum were there with him somehow.

Tommy covered his ears and saw Gladius start coming after him. He activated his speed and
crashed through anyone and everyone in his way. He turned down the nearest stairwell and
vaulted down them and over the people going up them. He landed harshly and nearly
crumpled at the pain in his knees. He was injured in so many places that he hadn’t even
bothered to look at before he escaped.

He rushed down more and more stairs until he heard Gladius coming behind him. Then he
ducked into the next floor. That's when he saw Custos. That green creeper fuck. And that
hero started chasing him too. It would have been easy, fun even, if Tommy wasn’t held back
by his exhaustion. And pain. And overall shittiness.
Tommy ducked back through the door and down the stairs again. He saw a glimpse of
Gladius above him and he launched himself down the stairs again. The exit was definitely
going to be blocked which meant Tommy would have to find a window. Would they be
villain proof though? Like unbreakable? Hopefully not.

“Rubrum,” Gladius growled, “we can help you.”

Tommy scoffed and threw himself down more stairs.

“You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Tommy cackled. This was fun despite the consequences of getting caught. Honestly, a good
game of chase to wake you up in the morning? Well it was actually dark out now. Either way
there was nothing better.

Tommy risked barging into the next hallway, shoving the door open and actually knocking
someone over with it. He didn’t apologize. He was just evil like that. There was a big open
area at the end of the hall that looked like a living room. It had many windows. Tommy could
see the outline of a neighboring building. He was—maybe—three stories up. And that was a
really rough guess.

Tommy ran full speed ahead, bracing his arms before his face, and he rammed his shoulder
into the window. He hit the glass and heard a crack but it didn’t shatter. He did it again and
again until he had to dodge out of Gladius’ way. Glancing around the room, Tommy saw no
other way out. He was getting tired. His knees were giving out. He couldn’t break through the
window before Gladius caught him.

Here’s what was good: Gladius wasn’t throwing blades at him or metal feathers. Everything
else was bad. Custos came barreling down the hallway, trident out and poised to be thrown.
Tommy made it look like he was going to try and get past Custos. It Got Gladius out of his
way and Tommy got back in front of the cracked part of the window.

“Calm down, we’re trying to help you,” Gladius said.

Custos pulled back his trident, it made Gladius stiffen and mutter something to the other hero.
Custos shook his head. Gladius muttered something, obviously agitated.

“He’s a vigilante,” Custos said, making sure Tommy heard.

“Don’t.”

Custos threw his trident and Tommy lurched away. The window shattered and sparks flew
with the broken glass. The trident was already on its path back. Tommy lunged, diving head
first through the window. Gladius swiped at him and missed, calling after him.

Tommy was a little higher than he figured he’d be. He activated his pain suppression. He hit
the ground and rolled. The impact was rough and messy and Tommy knew he was going to
be in so much pain. Gladius was still calling after him and Tommy glanced back to see the
hero flying down after him.
Tommy got to his feet and stumbled immediately. Prime, he better not have broken anything.
And he landed on glass. Fuck.

“Rubrum…”

Gladius sounded more concerned than frustrated, and Tommy could see his wings, and he
couldn’t feel any pain but it all felt wrong, and this was just shit.

Gladius knelt in front of him, Tommy scrambled back. Gladius just stayed kneeling.

“You just jumped out a fourth story window. I don’t even want to know what’s broken.
Prime, you’re coming with me. Stop fighting.”

Tommy wondered if Techno forgot about the library, and how Tommy was actually supposed
to be there.

“You’re spacing out.”

Gladius was getting closer. And Tommy didn’t know what else to do. Tommy started heating
his palm, faster than ever and channeling his fear, anger, and adrenaline. As Gladius came
within arms reach, Tommy tossed a little ball of flame at his face and fucking ran.

Tommy didn’t bother to see if Gladius was following or if anyone else started running after
him. He just fucking ran. He kept up his pain immunity but he was still limping. Things were
broken. Stitches were popping. His head was pounding but not in the painful way, in the
stuffy, congested, heavy, tired, and fucking every other way.

He just kept going.

**********

“You weren’t supposed to get up,” Wilbur said as he helped settle his dad back on to the
hospital bed.

Phil shrugged. “Couldn’t just let him go.”

Techno slammed the room’s door open and stomped in. He was unmasked and had tears
dripping down his face. His skin was red and agitated. His eyes were red too, it looked like
he was struggling to keep them open.

“What happened to you?” Wilbur asked, catching Techno’s shoulder and tilting his brother’s
face to see the burns.

“Rubrum can apparently shoot fire from his hands.”

“The nurse will be here soon, sit down.”

“I have to call Tommy,” Techno said, wincing as he reached behind himself to get his phone
from the jeans he had changed into.

“I can’t believe he’s escaped us twice now,” Wilbur said. “Rubrum is too reckless, man’s
gonna get himself killed.”

The phone started ringing.

**********

The phone started ringing.

Tommy had just made it to his apartment five minutes ago. And the phone was ringing. He’d
changed out of the hospital gown and checked for trackers immediately. Then he collapsed
onto his mattress and pulled his mask off. Clementine was weary of coming near him, he felt
bad about it and gave her canned tuna before trying to pass out again. Maybe he should have
checked his injuries. Maybe he should have cleaned himself up. But he was tired and so it
would wait.

Tommy picked up the phone and saw Techno’s name above the red and green buttons. He
hovered over the red for a minute, wondering how freaked out Techno would be if he didn’t
answer. Surely the man would assume that Tommy had just gone home by now. Tommy
clicked the green button and put Techno on speaker.

“Hey man, is everyone alright?” Tommy asked, hoping Techno didn;t notice the rasp in his
voice.

“Yeah everyone’s okay, did you go home?”

“I mean, I saw everything on the news at the library and it seemed like it had calmed down,
so I assumed it was safe…”

There was a radio they listened to and Tommy had learned how to use the TV upstairs, a
valid excuse he thought.

“Okay as long as you’re alright. We’re going to keep the library closed for a day or two so
don’t go in tomorrow.”

“I thought you said everyone was okay.”

Tommy knew for a fact that Techno’s face was fucked and Wilbur probably inhaled so much
smoke. Not to mention the state Phil was in.
 “Dad got burned pretty badly and Will’s having trouble breathing but we’ll all be okay,”
Techno said, very obviously leaving his own injuries out.

“What about you? Are you hurt?”

Tommy wanted to hear the blade say he was bested by Rubrum. He needed to hear it, he’d
cherish the moment forever.

“Had some trouble with a vigilante but it’s nothing serious.”

That’s all? That’s all you’re gonna give me?

“Okay… well, keep me updated.”

“Okay, bye Tommy.”

Tommy hung up and chucked his phone across the room.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you all enjoyed and if you did consider following me on Twitter (I'm trying to
meet some writing friends)
I'm enjoying this story a lot so far, thanks for reading and have a good day :)
 Chapter 7
Chapter Summary

Tommy looks like he got run over by two and a half busses and he is finding it harder
and harder to keep his awful health from people :)

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Mentioned child abuse/injury/violence/kidnapping/guns (brief)/always let

me know if I should add more :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Rubrum is awesome man, and the way he acts with heroes? He’ll be a villain, don’t worry.”

“I dunno Tubbo, he seems pretty set in his ways. He wants to help people.”

“Our current mission is helping the victims of the pit. He’ll see us as the good guys, he’ll
have fun, don’t worry we’ve got him wrapped around our finger, boo.”

**********

Tommy called in sick to the cafe for two days. When he woke up after that night he could
barely move. His muscles were so sore. He lost his voice and ended up texting Tubbo that he
couldn’t come in instead of calling. Ranboo wasn’t at work for those two days either, so
when he got back to the café on day three they were there together. He was also informed that
the library was opening again today. Yay…

“Tommy.”

“What?” He asked. It was his break, give him some fucking peace.

Oh. That was Niki.

“As the owner of this café, a friend, and a responsible adult, you have to tell me how you got
so hurt. And why the hell didn't you take the week off?”

“It looks worse than it is,” he lied. It actually hurt so bad but he really needed the money still.
People have tried to follow him home—heroes mostly—too many times and he’d rather not
have them see that he was dirt poor. That would lead to more pity and give them another
reason to try even harder to recruit him.

“Some of those are burns,” she gestured to his arms, “those bruises look bad enough to make
me think you were attacked.”

She wants to know if I’m being abused.

“It’s personal business, Niki. I’m fine, my shift is basically over soon.”

“Yeah and then you work a second job.”

Shit. Had Tubbo told them about that? What a prick.

“Just forget it.”

“No.”

“Niki—”

“No. I care about you, and I can’t have my employees looking beat up at work anyway. So if
you’re going to keep working here then you’ll tell me what’s going on.”

“The fuck?”

This was blackmail. What could he say? What excuse could he have for the state of his body?
The burns were mild but they’re large. There are bruises everywhere, he had a sweater but it
got too hot and he’d thought he’d be alone for a bit. He leaned against the counter every
chance he got because his ankles and knees were so bad. His head was pounding and the heat
wasn’t helping. What could he say that would justify coming into work?

“Is—” she was going to ask, wasn't she? “Is someone hurting you?”

“No.”

“Is it an attention thing?”

Tommy blanched. “What? An attention—huh?”

She thought he was coming in hurt for attention? That was the last thing he wanted, attention.
He was desperate. For money, a distraction, anything that made him more than Kurt's—
nothing. Nothing, he was Kurt's nothing. Forget Kurt. Fuck that guy.

“Go home, Tommy.”

“Woah, wait. Niki—”

“I’m not firing you, I’m telling you to not come into work until you feel better or you’re
ready to talk to me. Do you need a drive?”

Fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you.

“No,” he said, fighting to keep the bitterness in.

It shouldn’t have hit him as hard as it did. Niki thought he was a little attention seeking brat.
Was he? He tried to cover the injuries. He knew they’d show a bit and he knew it’d be hard to
hide but did that make him an attention seeker? He didn’t want to be rude and get a bunch of
days off either. What the hell did she want from him? People have personal shit in their lives,
she can’t just black mail him like that.

Tommy made it to the library early and debated not going in. He had his hoodie on, despite
the heat, and the worst anyone could see was a bruise above his eyebrow that wasn’t all that
big. He thought he had his limp—from his stupid fucking knee problems—fixed but Wilbur
and Techno were apparently injury-spotting-experts. Which made sense considering they
were heroes. Fucking heroes. As he was debating turning away a hand landed on his
shoulder.

“Hey Tommy,” Wilbur greeted. “You’re early.”

And suddenly Tommy was overwhelmed by fear. Anxiety crawled under his skin. This was a
mistake. Everything was a mistake. Working there Getting two jobs. Betraying Kurt—no that
wasn’t betrayal—not that it mattered it was the right thing to do—stop thinking about Kurt.

“Hi,” Tommy said, not moving when Wilbur went forward to enter the library.

He could run now. He could get home and drop off the face of the planet. He could turn to a
little extra crime and steal only what he needed to live. He’d find Clementine a home first.
Then he’d continue on as Rubrum and have a purpose, do some good. The stealing would be
excused by his help to the city.

“Tommy?”

This was a mistake. It was all a mistake. Wilbur was going to catch him. They’d capture him
again and he had run out of tricks. He’d used his fire and surely they’d figured out that’s what
happened. He wouldn’t be getting away again. And prime, the villains, fuck, he’d have to
avoid them too because he was not going to give the heroes any more reason to go after him.

“Hey,” Wilbur held Tommy’s upper arm. “Come inside. You’re okay, right?”

Tommy let himself be led inside. He had to think. He had to decide. What was worth it? He
wasn’t giving Rubrum up. No way, never. He could handle leaving the cafe. He couldn’t keep
Clementine healthy on his own, maybe he’d give her to Wilbur. Wilbur liked cats. He’d miss
Wilbur and Techno but it was too risky to stay so close to them considering their alter egos.

“Here, sit.” Wilbur gently pushed him onto one of the couches in the back room after taking
the bag from Tommy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

No. No he was fucking not. He couldn't think straight. He had to decide. Run now and risk
Wil catching him, or try to wait until they announce their identities and close the library? Was
talking to Wil even an option? He wanted advice, he wanted help. Well, okay, no, he didn’t.
He wanted to do it himself.
“Can you even hear me right now?”

“Sorry,” Tommy whispered.

Think. Think. Fucking think idiot. What do you do? What do you do?

Tommy was a fucking attention seeker wasn’t he? He should have turned away. He should
have gone home and called in sick or quit not long after they spilled their secret. Now he was
sitting with Wilbur knelt in front of him, on the verge of hyperventilating, unable to think. He
just had to get through today. Just today and he’d figure it all out tonight. It was too late to
leave.

“—okay. It’s okay, Tommy. I just wanna know what’s going on.”

“Just personal shit. It’s stressing me out.”

“It’s gotta be pretty bad if it’s making you panic like that,” Wilbur was holding a glass of
water, how did he even get that? Plus, he hadn’t even been panicking that hard. Probably.
“You can talk to me, and if you need to go home you can.”

No. Prime, this isn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want people to worry. He didn’t want
attention. He… he wanted a really long nap.

“Don’t start suffocating again,” a new voice said, monotone and scaring the shit out of
Tommy. “Consider deep breaths.”

“Techno,” Wilbur scolded, then turned back to Tommy. “What’s bothering you?”

Wilbur had one hand on Tommy’s knee and the other on the couch cushion. He was looking
up at Tommy from where he was crouched with a patient, concerned look and Tommy
wanted nothing more than to be able to tell him. But he couldn’t.

“Don’t really want to talk about it. Didn’t expect it to bother me so much today,” he said,
hoping that Wil would drop it and forgive him for the waste of time.

“Okay…” thank fuck, “but at the tower we have this really great therapist, so if you came to
work for us you could go for free.”

You bitch.

“I don’t need therapy. But thanks.”

“How are your knees… and ankles? And hip?” Techno asked.

“Sore,” he said, he could at least try to be honest sometimes, “but the taping you showed me
was a huge help.”

Techno nodded, then he knelt to a grey backpack and pulled out a smallish box. He tossed it
to Tommy. Then he sat on the other couch, Wilbur stopped kneeling in front of Tommy and
sat next to him instead.
“A gift,” Techno said.

Tommy was fine with gifts. As long as that’s what they actually were. If it was money he was
throwing it back at Techno’s head. No pity money, as helpful as it might be.

Tommy opened the box and was utterly confused by the clump of fabric inside. Until he saw
that old logo. The upside-down check mark of the brand Ekin. He pulled the fabric out and
there were two identical pieces.

“Do you know what they are?” Techno asked.

Oh he knew. Prime, did he know. They were the same ones Kurt got him. The knee braces
he’d worn for years before he threw everything away. The braces that Kurt gave him as soon
as his knee problems started. He’d been so grateful that day, he was even allowed to hug Kurt
for it. The pain that he’d been enduring through training, patrols, everything, and Kurt got
him something to make it stop. And it did. Mostly.

“Tommy?” Wilbur asked. His name was starting to lose meaning.

They hurt to look at. To have back again. But he wanted them back. It was the only gift he’d
ever received in his life, other than maybe food and a few trinkets here and there. But he also
didn’t want the reminder of Kurt. He would spend minutes during his break time during their
spars just staring at that stupid logo, thinking he had to be stronger and better for Kurt.

“If you don’t like them—”

“No. No, I like them a lot. Thank you,” he squeaked.

Techno and Kurt were nothing alike. Techno didn’t want him to hurt himself. Kurt just
wanted him to be more useful, more effective. They were different.

“Thanks,” he said again.

“It’s no problem kid,” Techno said glancing curiously at Wil, “try them on.”

Tommy wrapped the fabric around his knee and velcroed them in place. There was a hole
where his kneecap stuck out. It was tight and already some of the pain was alleviated. He put
the other one on. It was so familiar. It took him right back to the day he got them.

“Thank you. It feels good,” Tommy said.

“I’m glad. Can’t have you hurting in every battle,” Kurt said.

“This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“You deserve it.”

And Kurt held his arms out. An invitation Tommy hadn’t gotten since he was first taken in.
Tommy crashed into Kurt, wrapping his arms around the man’s torso. Kurt hugged back with
a laugh.
Only now did Tommy realize it wasn’t a fond one.

“Tommy? You’re zoning out a lot, I don’t think you should work today,” Wil said.

“I can work. Thank you so much, it feels—” good “they’re great.”

“Wil’s right. It’s okay Tommy, take a day off. You can stay here or I can drive you home.”

Everyone was trying to get rid of him. What the hell?

“Stay here,” Wil cut in, freaky fucking mind reader, “most people are staying clear of the area
for a bit because of the fires, it won’t be busy for at least a couple days. Let’s just hang out.”

A day with the heroes while he’s injured and emotional? What could go wrong?

**********

“We need to meet him again. More people are getting taken and they’ll go back into hiding.”

“I know. We’ll look for him tonight.”

“You better, Apis. I want him on my side.”

“He likes Lanuae better, talk to him about Rubrum.”

“He’s not as ruthless as you are. Do what it takes.”

“Right,” Apis grumbled.

**********

This was a dangerous conversation and Tommy wasn’t sure how to go about it.

“You don’t have a favourite hero? You a villain fan?” Wil asked. Techno raised an eyebrow.

“No! I just don’t like heroes either.”

“So vigilantes then?” Techno asked.

Fucking shit.

“Just—I don’t know I like them more I guess.”

“You like Purpled?”

“No. That guy’s a prick. He’s like, the only one who didn’t use a latin name and that’s lame.
He just wants to be different. Quirky, even.”

“Venator?”

“He’s just a glorified assassin.”

“Rubrum?”

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck why why why.

“He’s mediocre at best,” Tommy said.

“I’d say he’s pretty good at what he does,” Techno—Gladius, said.

“He’s good,” Wil agreed.

Yeah. I’m fucking great, bitches.

“But you wanna arrest him?” He asked, knowing he should just move on.

“Well, not if he stays in line. We’d recruit him first,” Wil said.

Tommy nodded, deciding it was enough. It was nothing he didn’t already know. It was nice to
hear the heroes hunting him give him some credit. It was also suspicious and making him
fucking nervous because what if they knew and were playing with him?

“Yeah Rubrum’s an interesting one,” Techno said, fiddling with the sleeve of his sweater,
“the heroes have nothing on him.”

“Countless theories, but nothing solid,” Wil added.

“Theories?” Tommy asked, because he’s an idiot. This conversation should end.

“Well we think he’s really young, like eighteen.”

“Maybe younger,” Techno added. “But somebody under eighteen couldn’t get the tech that he
has, the voice modulator and the good quality mask.”

Yeah bitch, you think that.

“Makes sense I guess.”

"He could be going down a dangerous road. We've seen what happens to kids who get
involved in all this villain-hero bullshit," Techno muttered, it was bitter but Tommy detected
a bit of mourning."

Wilbur looked thoughtful, and then:

"Tommy what did you think about the Som—"

“No. Wil, no.”

“Okay.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow. Not only was it weird that Techno immediately knew what Wil
was saying, but it was weird that Wil agreed not to say it so quickly. It was weird that Techno
didn’t want him to know.

“I thought you…” Wil started, tilting his head at Techno.

“Me too.”

What the hell? Tommy didn’t want to push, but it was connected to Rubrum—him—so, it
was a little fair that he was trying to figure it out.

“You think you know who he is?” He asked.

“Not his identity. But something like that,” Wil said, keeping his eyes on Techno to make
sure he didn’t overstep.

Well, this was awkward.

“Your shift is almost over,” Techno said. “You should head home early.”

“Yeah, we can give you a drive home if you want.”

Ouch. They wanted him gone. Okay, point taken.

“I’ll walk, I wanna try out my new braces.”

“I dunno, you sure you're not dizzy or anything?” Wil asked. “Earlier you weren’t doing too
good.”

“Oh my prime, I’m fine. Bye Nice talk, see you guys tomorrow!”

Tommy left before he could be harassed about his well being.

**********

Tommy went out on patrol that night. Just a casual walk around. He’d call the cops for what
he could and he’d stop what he needed to himself. He was wearing the new knee braces
under his cargo pants and they were helping so much. He was still utterly sore and somewhat
nervous about having to fight anyone, but the braces made it better. Tommy couldn’t imagine
what he’d do if Techno somehow saw the braces on him as Rubrum.
“Hey man.”

Tommy jumped, he almost slipped off the edge of the building he was sitting on. He turned
around to see Apis, right in his face, kneeling before him. Lanuae stood a few feet away.
Then Apis sat on the ledge next to him.

“What the fuck?”

“How are your injuries?” Lanuae asked, sitting on the other side of Tommy.

“They’re fine.” He felt way too trapped. “What do you want?”

“White truck,” Apis said.

The villain nodded down toward a truck. Nobody was around it but Tommy could see
someone in the driver’s seat. There were hardly any people on the road at all except the odd
car going by.

“What?”

“Just watch,” Lanuae said.

Maybe two minutes later the guy in the driver’s seat got out of the car. He went to the corner
of a nearby building, leaning against it, he held a hand up to his ear. No phone though. He
was talking. Earpiece, probably. Then somebody came barreling around the corner—a
teenager—and the guy jumped in front of them. He tangled his limbs around them as
whoever was chasing them caught up.

Tommy lurched forward, ready to jump from window ledge to window ledge to get to the
ground, but two sets of arms pulled him back. He struggled against Apis and Lanuae.

“Let me go!”

“Shhh!” Lanuae hissed.

“We’re following the truck,” Apis said.

“No we are fucking not. That poor kid’s getting taken, we’re not using them!”

“I’ll paralyze you, fucker.”

Tommy activated his strength and wrenched himself out of Apis’ grip before punching
Lanuae in the jaw. The villain fell back and Tommy leapt down onto the first ledge. They
were a lot skinnier than he thought and he tumbled. He clawed out and grasped the second
ledge down, he felt his shoulders pull like they were hovering just outside their sockets.

Tommy heard a shout from above, and saw Lanuae’s shadow before he could dodge the
villain. He slammed into Tommy from above and there was a loud “vwoop”, and Tommy’s
stomach flipped. He was suddenly being thrown onto the ground back on the rooftop. His
back slapped the concrete and he grunted as Apis dived on top of him. Immediately Tommy
shoved him off with his powered-up strength.

“Come on Rubrum,” Lanuae sighed, “we’re doing something good!”

Lanuae kicked Tommy in the temple as he was getting up, sending him sprawling on the
concrete again. Then, Tommy felt Apis’ cool hand on his calf. He yanked his leg away but
Apis lunged forward, grabbing right under his knee.

Pins and needles exploded through his calf, his muscles clenched and his nerves were on fire.
The pins and needles spread to his waist and feet, then onto his chest and down his arms.
Apis let out an exasperated, but relieved, sigh.

“Can you get him?”

“Yeah,” Lanuae said.

Tommy felt Lanuae’s hand on his arm. Then there was another loud “vroop” before he was
flopping into a car seat. Lanuae was in the front passenger seat, twisted awkwardly to hold
Tommy’s elbow from there. Tommy heard the fluttering of Apis’ wings before the villain
hopped in the driver’s seat.

“You deserved it,” Apis said, somehow seeing Tommy’s glare through his mask.

Tommy hated paralysis. It was one of the worst things he had to deal with as a vigilante. It
scared him. Truly and genuinely terrified him. He was too out of control, too vulnerable. The
villains could do anything they wanted and Tommy could only suppress the pain for so long.

He made himself stay calm. He had to. They couldn’t see that this got to him, and he couldn’t
let himself get distracted like this. Prime, how did they always get him. Always these two.
Never the heroes. And when the heroes did catch him it was these two that got him out. It
was terrifying knowing that they could catch him so easily.

“These guys aren’t going straight to the pit, we think the kids are kept somewhere for a while
before being transported to the pit itself,” Lanuae was saying.

“Don’t give a shit,” Tommy spat, “un-fucking-paralyze me.”

“We just need to figure out where they’re being held and then figure out when they’re being
transported so we can follow them,” Lanuae continued. “Hopefully we’ll overhear some talk
about it but if not we can sneak in and uh… interrogate someone.”

“Oh prime.”

“Rubrum, this is a good deed. We’re just being more efficient than you or the heroes would
ever be,” Apis said.

“I am all for a bit of torture, okay? But I am not leaving a bunch of kids with those fucks for
longer than I have to.”
“Aw, you’re so pure.”

“Unparalyze me.”

“No.”

Apis started driving and Tommy started brainstorming. He could burn his way out of this,
light the car on fire and try to get the license plate of the white truck. How were they keeping
the kid in the truck? Did the kid get tied up and shoved under the tarp? Probably. He could try
to get on the truck and take it out, he could interrogate the drivers. He’d have to fly though.

“I sent the plates to Q,” Lanuae said.

“Good. He was on my ass about getting shit done, it’s about time we had a lead.”

“Who’s Q?” Tommy asked, now glaring at the car’s ceiling. This was hazardous, he couldn’t
move and nobody even buckled him in. Plus, he was lying down and could totally roll off the
seat. “Your boss?”

“Yeah.”

“Does he know you’re trying to recruit me?”

“Yeah. He suggested it.”

“Why me?”

Apis didn’t answer. That was sketchy. One might even say extremely weird and concerning.

“He’s checking to see if you’re following him,” Lanuae said, “turn off here and get back on
route ahead, stay further away next time.”

Apis nodded and the car swerved to the right. It made Tommy’s heart leap. Prime why why
why were they letting the van out of sight? And how long did this fucking paralysis last?

Just breathe. It’s fine.

They drove in silence for a bit, Tommy praying the whole time that the paralysis would give
up on its own and Apis couldn't keep him like this forever. Even Kurt understood to get
Tommy out of the paralysis as fast as possible if it ever happened. And it happened more than
one would think. Except the hero that did that was gone now. Venenum. The heroes found out
she’d been lying about her age and made her step down. Now though, she might be old
enough to become a hero again.

“You change the car’s colour?” Apis asked.

“Yeah, we’re red now.”

“You can change your car’s colour?” Tommy asked. That was useful as fuck, for villains.
“Well I designed this paint that changes colours in heat,” Apis started, Lanuae groaned, “and
I used these extremely thin plates of insulation made from—”

“Brief explanation, Apis. Please,” Lanuae said.

“I made special paint that changes with temperature and found a way to keep the inside of the
car the same temperature while heating or cooling the paint.”

That’s sick.

“Cool right?” Lanuae asked.

“Sure.”

It was really cool.

“That’s all? Just sure?” Apis asked.

“Yep. Let me move and maybe I’ll be friendlier.”

“You don’t have a friendly bone in your body.”

Tommy groaned, it was a concealed plea. He was getting sick of being captured. By heroes,
by villains. It somewhat sucked. A lot. Still, this went on for probably an hour and Tommy
was sore. He didn’t even know where he was, though, he was pretty sure they’d take him
back to L’Manberg. They wouldn’t leave the guy they were trying to recruit out in the middle
of nowhere right?

Apis had to turn off again and change the car’s colour so they weren’t suspected by the driver
ahead. And finally, finally the truck pulled off the highway. The thing was that it pulled off
the highway and onto the dirt. Where there was no road. The driver obviously did not care
that they were watching. Apis drove past it until they were out of sight and parked on the side
of the road.

“Where the hell are they going?” Apis hissed. “I didn’t even see a building back there.”

“I dunno, let’s just move before they get too far,” Lanuae said.

“They’re too far already I bet,” Apis said, but he reached back and touched Tommy’s arm
under his sleeve.

The pins and needles returned, crawling down his arm and over his chest, up into his skull
and down to his feet. His limbs twitched and with a grunt he lifted himself up, stretching his
arms.

“Fuck you.”

“Let’s go,” Apis said, hopping out of the car and pulling open the door for Tommy.
Lanuae rounded the car and put a hand on Apis’ and Tommy’s shoulders. There was the
dreaded “vwroop” before Tommy felt like puking again and stumbled on the dirt and grass.
The truck was nowhere to be seen.

“Damn it!” Apis kicked a small shrub.

“Now that poor kid’s gone,” Tommy snapped. “Prime, you two are stupid. Fucking dumb and
arrogant and careless.” He poked his finger into Apis’ chest. “You lost the kid, you’ve just
given them so much fucking trauma and you lost the truck and oh my god why don’t you just
let the heroes fucking deal with shit.”

Apis punched him in the face.

Tommy reeled back, holding his cheek. “I’m not wrong.”

“No. You’re not, but you deserved it.”

“Come on, let’s just look ahead for a bit,” Lanuae suggested.

“If this leaves a mark I’m gonna be so pissed,” Tommy grumbled, cradling his cheek.

**********

“Why didn’t you want to tell Tommy about the Somnium incident?” Wil asked. “I thought
you said it was better.”

“It was. I think. But I don’t want Tommy to find out,” Techno said.

“Mate, everyone thinks that order was mine anyway.”

“That doesn't make me feel better. You shouldn’t have taken the fall for my mistake.”

“We’ve talked about this…”

“I know.”

“You couldn’t have done anything else, Tech,” Wil said, scooting closer to his brother on the
couch. “It was the kid, or everyone else.”

“He’s dead. A child is dead while those stupid rich capitalist fucks live on—”

“Mate. I thought you were okay, I thought you were at peace with this… you’ll have to go
back to Puffy.”

“I’m not going back to therapy.”

“Techno,” Phil sighed, he came over to sit down on the other side of Techno. “It’ll help, I
know it annoys you but it’s been over two years and you still haven’t forgiven yourself.”

“I didn’t know the kid,” Techno started, wondering if he should keep this all to himself, “but
Tommy reminds me of him…”

“Oh,” Wil breathed. “Tech… that must be…”

“Yeah. I don’t want him to find out it was me but I don’t want him to think it was you,”
Techno gestured to Phil who grabbed his hand midair, “I don’t want him to think—I’m not—
he just doesn’t need to know what I did.”

Techno gave the order to attack Somnium. Techno gave the order because Phil couldn’t get
there in time and Techno was the next highest ranking hero. He regretted it every day. They
couldn’t let Somnium have what he wanted but they couldn’t let the whole parliamentary
building get blown up.

“Give me what I came here for and the kid lives, building stays standing. Charge at me and…
well you’ll see.”

The kid had explosives wrapped around his torso. Kurt could have set up the explosives in
any other way. Why use the kid? Why? It was just rubbing salt in the wound. The very angry,
red, bloody sick wound. He had a gun pressed to the kid’s temple and they stood at the edge
of the building.

“We won't give it to you,” Sam said.

“I’m not surprised,” Somnium said, that’s when Techno gave the attack order.

“Now,” he called into his coms.

“Bye bye kiddo.”

Somnium’s gun went off as Techno and Sam reached him.

The kid fell off the building and—supposedly—onto a balcony below. Nobody had the time
to catch him, not that it mattered with his brains blown out. Techno didn't wathc him hit the
balcony. He heard the explosions though. Then another. And Another.

“Tech, mate…”

Phil was kneeling in front of him and reaching one hand up to cup Techno’s face. Wilbur had
an arm around Techno’s shoulders and a hand on his chest.

“Was I…?”

“Fucking panicking? Yes,” Wil deadpanned.

“You’ll go see Puffy tomorrow. No arguing,” Phil said. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
He wanted to forget it. He wanted to go find Somnium—now they know his identity to be
some guy named Kurt—in Pandora and kill him. He was told, however, that such thinking
wasn’t very heroic of him.

“It’s not fair, that kid didn’t need to be there. It didn’t make sense. Why did Somnium do
that?” Techno leaned forward to put his head in his hands. Wilbur rubbed circles on his back
and Phil’s hands rested on his forearms. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“He was a villain. It didn’t have to make sense, it had to hurt L’Manberg.”

I thought I was over this. I thought I was better.

“I’ll kill him some day.”

“Techno.”

“I will. I don’t care if I’m supposed to be a hero. He deserves to die.”

“Therapy. Tomorrow. I’m accompanying you to make sure you go. Don’t even try to get out
of it,” Phil said, gently rubbing up and down Techno’s arms.

Kurt will die.

**********

“That was a bust,” Apis groaned.

“Maybe that wasn’t even a pit case,” Lanuae suggested.

“Oh fuck, you did not stop me from saving someone unrelated to the pit. Tell me you didn’t,”
Tommy whined. It was a manly whine though.

“I can’t tell you that.”

Another failure for the books. Oh prime that poor fucking kid. Oh fuck.

“Rubrum—”

“Don’t even start. Get me the fuck back to L’Manberg.”

“I know tonight was bad, but we could really use your help. You deal with kidnappings all
the time and I’m sure that a lot of them are pit cases, so if you could just report to us and send
us intel—”

“Fuck off. Take me home.” Tommy did not appreciate Lanuae’s rambling. His head hurt and
he was pissed and tired and now really fucking sad because he lost a fucking kidnapping
victim.
“Just… tell us if you hear anything. We won’t kidnap you again.”

“Probably,” Apis added.

At least this wasn’t them bringing Tommy to their boss or something. That would be… yeah
that wouldn’t be fun.

“Get. Me. Home.”

**********

“Well that went well,” Ranboo said, oh so helpfully as Rubrum got out of sight into the
streets of L’Manberg.

“Shut up.”

“He won’t work with us, he can’t trust us.”

“Q is gonna have my head for this.”

Tubbo started to drive. Everything was shit, Everything was fucked and shit and piss and
balls and Quackity was gonna be so mad.

“I’m surprised he was even out patrolling after those fires,” Ranboo said.

“Yeah, I could feel the burns on his leg when I paralyzed him.”

“He’s pushing himself too much, breaking his body.”

“Stubborn fuck. I hate him.”

“Didn’t you say he was awesome this morning?”

“Shut your fucking face.”

**********

Tommy pulled himself through the window and cooed at Clementine who trotted over
excitedly. She brushed against his legs and he unclasped his mask and threw it to the floor.
Then he pulled off his hoodie, revealing mismatched patterns of light burns—healing nicely
—and bruises. He went to fill up Clementine’s food bowl again, she ran between his feet as
he walked.
 He filled the bowl and she left him alone to eat. Tommy flopped onto his bed and let his
wings come out. They were so so so messy but he did not feel like preening them. They were
sore and tangled and ugly and he hated them sometimes. He thought about the SBI’s wings a
lot. They were the only other avians he knew of. Wilbur’s wings were so soft around him…

Tommy pulled out his phone and—maybe it was self-destructive—but he looked up pictures
of the SBI team. Their wings were always perfect. Always. They probably preened together.
A jealous warble left his lips and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

No. Absolutely none of that.

What would they do if they knew Rubrum had wings? Would they start using his bird
instincts against him? Yes. Yes they would. Or was that too cruel for heroes? Except, maybe
their instincts would latch on to him and control their actions.

Corvus’ wings are so big. Maybe mine will get that big.

Not if he didn’t take care of them. Not if he didn’t take care of himself and get the nutrients
he needed.

Gladius—Techno’s—wings fit him so well. I don’t deserve something as cool as phoenix

wings.

Then he came across an interview photo where Corvus had a wing around each of his sons.

Another jealous—longing? Warble made its way out and Tommy shut off his phone.

He hesitated before inevitably chucking it across the room and going to bed.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed despite how confusing Kurt's motives might seem right now.
Feel free to ask questions, leave theories and make grammatical/spelling corrections!
Here is my twitter if you want to come interact with me more.
Have a good week!
 Chapter 8
Chapter Summary

Actually just 6.6k words of our beloved main character having a bad time.
Just the usual.
When will he break for real I wonder...

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Discussions of child abuse and neglect/self-injury/panic/let me know if I

missed any more!
Also just keep in mind that the way Tommy thinks isn't always what's right or healthy!!!

// Technoblade

I will continue to write Technoblade's character because I think it's a wonderful thing
that he has created, and I want to bring myself and others comfort through the character.
I think it's a shame to leave the character in the dust and forget about it now. We should
not be afraid to enjoy Techno's content even after he's gone, and that includes his
amazing persona.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy’s patrol two days ago ended with him knocking out two kidnappers. It was the first
time he noticed a symbol tattooed on any of their wrists. The kidnappers had them just under
their thumbs and they were tiny. They were hollow circles inked in to be thin and barely
visible. Tommy’s first thought was that it was a symbol of the pit.

His suspicions were confirmed yesterday when he found another pair of kidnappers—with
the same tattoo—stealing a teenager off the streets. He stepped in and got the girl away but
the kidnappers were still cocky. They obviously didn’t know Rubrum that well. Because they
though they could steal him, and they weren’t careful about what they said. They were saying
he’d be great in the pit, he’d go for a lot of money and bring back all of the old customers.

Tommy took them down. He tried to question them before the police got there and ran out of
time. Again, he left a note for the authorities, telling them to look into the pit. He was out
again tonight, stalking the parks—as one does—and waiting for another pit-napper
appearance. That was what he’d taken to calling them.

Instead he was rudely interrupted.

“Mind if I join you, mate?”

Corvus had somehow snuck up on him, he jumped at the voice but the hero had already
plopped down next to him on the building’s ledge. His fucking wings were out.

“Prime, make this easy on both of us and leave,” Tommy groaned.

“Let’s talk first.”

Tommy started to get up but Corvus grabbed his arm and a wing spread around his back.
Tommy bit his lip and sat back down, praying to prime that Corvus would move his wing.

Fuck you Philza Craft.

“You don’t usually stop here, do you?” Corvus asked, relaxing once Tommy was sitting
again. He didn’t move his wing.

“Maybe I do.”

“What are you waiting for?”

Tommy had wanted to get the pit on the heroes’ radar for a while because the police didn’t
seem to be taking his notes seriously. And before he hadn’t trusted the villains to do anything
about it. So why was he hesitating to tell Corvus now?

“Alright, that’s not what I’m here to talk about anyway,” Corvus shrugged.

Tommy knew what the hero was here for. It was always to recruit him. To offer his “help”.
Tommy didn’t want it.

Corvus’ wing shifted, rubbing up his back. Tommy tensed hard enough for it to hurt, earning
a curious look from the hero.

“I wanted to ask you how you were doing.”

Tommy laughed. He didn’t mean to, it just came out. The reality of the situation was that he
felt like shit. Like a shit vigilante, shit person, shit. He let Lanuae and Apis lose the
kidnapped kid, he couldn’t help everyone in the fires, Clementine was suffering because he
was a shit owner, and he was lonely as fuck. He refused to even consider his past trauma.

“That’s what I thought,” Corvus said with a frown. “Have you been to a hospital for your
injuries?”

“They weren’t that bad,” Tommy insisted. Just some burns and bruises… cuts from the glass
he fell on from the fourth story of hero tower. And miraculously he didn’t break anything that
night.

Corvus hummed. “You dodged Custos’ trident,” the hero said.

Tommy forgot about that. In fact, he hadn’t even registered how nearly impossible that
should have been. Maybe his reaction time was enhanced? It was never something he could
do consciously but it had been known to happen.

“I did.”

“You threw fire at Gladius and burned through your chains.”

Oh prime. Oh fuck.

Corvus knew he was an avian and knew he could create fire. It shouldn’t take much thinking
to figure out he was a phoenix.

“But you also have speed and strength enhancements.”

“Kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“That’s all you get.”

Corvus hummed again. “And you can suppress your pain, I think you can increase your
stamina too.” Tommy didn’t respond. “I just have to wonder what’s a part of your power, and
what’s a part of your hybridity.”

“I may be an avian,” Tommy started, carefully mulling over the series of words he could use,
“but only barely.”

“So you’re trying to convince me that your powers are ‘general enhancements’ and ‘fire’?”

“I’m not trying to convince you of anything, I’d like to get back to my patrol actually.”
Tommy elbowed the wing behind him to get away but the feathers tightened around him.

“Did you know that only avian chicks can have chirps drawn from them?” Corvus’ wing
started to feel restricting more than comforting. Thank prime Tommy’s brain was strong
enough to overpower his instincts right then. “Adult avians only chirp when they truly want
to.”

“So you’re calling me a child.”

“Well, maybe.” Corvus’ other wing draped over the hero’s legs so Tommy could see them.
“Sometimes if an avian—no matter their age—has been alone for too long they will still
chirp unwillingly.”

“I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating here.”

Tommy started pushing Corvus’ wing away again but the hero put an arm around his back
and pulled him close.

Tommy bit his tongue so hard he could draw blood any second.
“I can’t quite tell how old you are but the nurses think you’re eighteen.”

The skin on Tommy’s back crawled. A chirp bubbled in his throat. He dug his nails into his
arms.

“You’re a little older than a chick, and you’re alone,” Corvus sighed, Tommy didn’t dare
open his mouth. “You don’t live with family, do you?”

Tell him. Tell him you’re alone. Tommy’s instincts said. He will help. Tell him how tired you
are.

“I don’t need family,” Tommy said instead.

Chirp at him. Greet him. Ask him for help. Chirp.

Tommy grunted as he enhanced his strength, he shoved Corvus off of himself and started
running.

Not before a terrified warble reached his ears.

Tommy froze.

Another sad trill, a plea for Tommy to turn around. He obeyed. Corvus was slowly walking
toward him, cooing softly. Tommy took two steps forward without thinking. When he
stopped Corvus cooed at him again. A chirp tried to leave Tommy’s lips, he clamped a hand
over his mouth. The sound came out scrambled and muffled. Another. Then another escaped.

“Mate, come here.” Corvus had his arms open. “Please.”

“I’m sorry,” Tommy sputtered, why was he apologizing? “I can’t.”

“Yes you can, it’s okay.”

Corvus chirped, pleading and saddened, desperate.

Tommy chirped back, a strangled sob.

Then he ran. He ran and he enhanced his speed. He didn’t hear Corvus coming behind him.
When he looked back, the hero was just standing there, wings folded back, arms at his sides.

Go back. Go back. You made him sad. Go back. Flock.

“No,” Tommy growled.

Tommy stumbled and ran on shaky legs back to his apartment, not bothering to see if Corvus
followed him from afar. He threw himself through his window and landed on the floor with a
sob. His wings exploded from his back, making him scream. He tried to muffle it in his
hands. He watched Clementine scramble off, terrified of the noise. He hated scaring her and
it made him cry more.
“Why? Why? Whywhywhywhy—” Tommy banged his head into the floor he was curled up
on. He banged his fists on the floor. Then his head again. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

Tommy cried for a while. It was an hour before he moved to his mattress. Another hour
before he got his wings to stop hurting—although they were still a little sore even after
stretching. And another hour until he fully stopped crying. That was when Clementine came
over.

“My patrol was shit, Clem. Didn’t even help anyone.”

She purred and nuzzled under Tommy’s chin. He huffed a laugh.

“Got called lonely by Corvus.”

Clementine rolled onto her back and reached up to paw at Tommy’s cheek.

“Do you think I could keep my wings in long enough to ask Wilbur or Techno for a hug?”

As soon as Tommy said it, heat rose to his cheeks. He draped an arm over Clementine. She
was so lonely with Tommy gone all day, he knew it. So tomorrow. Tomorrow he was going to
ask Ranboo to take her. Ranboo liked cats, he talked about wanting one a few times. Wilbur
liked cats too but he knew how much Tommy loved Clementine, he’d be too concerned if
Tommy gave her away.

More tears came back as he thought about leaving Clementine.

Tommy passed out after another hour.

**********

Phil left the elevator and stepped into the hallway. Every step closer to the door was a blow to
his heart. He hesitated at the handle before unlocking the door and walking in. If it hadn’t
been for Wilbur and Techno sitting right there, waiting for him, he wasn’t sure he could have
closed the door behind him.

“Dad? Are you okay?” Wil asked, standing with Techno to get to Phil.

Phil pulled his mask off with a distraught warble. Instantly two sets of wings unfurled in front
of him, and two hands took his wrists. He was led to the wide couch where his sons made
him sit. Techno started checking him over for injuries despite Phil insisting he was fine. Wil
sat next to him, arm around Phil’s shoulders.

“Rubrum is so lonely,” Phil finally said. “He chirps like a chick.”

“No way he’s that young,” Wil said.

“He doesn’t have family, his instincts haven’t had a chance to develop like an adult’s because
they don’t have a healthy outlet.”

Phil watched Techno, who was kneeling in front of the couch and looking up at him. His
son’s wings were all fluffy in alarm. His hair was messy and wavy, just taken out of its braid
for the night. As Techno stood back up, Phil couldn’t help but tug him down. He grabbed
Techno’s wrist as his back was turned to leave. Techno’s back fell into Phil’s chest who
wrapped his wings and arms around his son with a coo.

Wil snorted at Techno’s sputtering. “Guess I’ll make the tea then.”

But when Wil got up Phil’s instincts screamed, he let out a frightened chirp and received two
instant answering chirps of reassurance.

“I’ll just be in the kitchen, you can even see me from here.”

“Sorry,” Phil murmured, “don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“It’s okay,” Techno started, he leaned his head back onto Phil’s shoulder, “Rubrum has your
instincts all mixed up.”

Phil cooed at Techno and laughed at the shade of pink beginning to rise to his son’s cheeks. If
Phil didn’t really need the comfort Techno would have left him by now. Phil had a suspicion
Techno didn’t truly mind the physical affection, he just didn’t like to be seen vulnerable.

“So, he escaped again?” Techno asked.

Phil cringed. “No… I didn’t—I couldn’t—go after him.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, mate, I just froze… he was so scared and sad and I was the one to do that to
him.”

Phil remembered seeing the boy start to tremble, he felt him tense under his wing. It was such
a relief to finally have him tucked away at his side. Then Rubrum chirped and it sounded
painful. It was a held-back plea, it sounded like a crying chick. He couldn’t see the boys’
eyes past his mask but was sure there were tears all the same.

“You didn’t do anything to him,” Wil said, setting down two mugs of tea on the coffee table,
“you showed him he needed help and you offered yours.”

“I should go back out and look for him,” Phil said, making to get up but Techno chirped at
him. “Mate…”

Wil was bringing over a third mug of tea, he also chirped.

“I need to find him again.”

Two more chirps, both asking him to stay.

“Not tonight, dad,” Techno said, handing his father a mug. “You should come see Tommy
again tomorrow.”

“I’ll see him on closing day.”

“Yeah but we need you to help us convince him to come work for us.”

“I don’t think I can, I have a lot of preparations to make before you two reveal yourselves,”
Phil said, sipping his tea. He let it warm down his chest. He nuzzled his temple into the side
of Techno’s head. “Tell him he’ll make twenty-five an hour to start though.”

“Dad, you know that’s not how much we pay assistants,” Wil said with a snort.

“We all know he needs it though.”

Wilbur nodded and leaned into Phil’s side, grinning at Techno who was starting to look
sleepy. He looped one arm around Phil’s shoulder and played with Techno’s hair.

Phil cooed at his boys and tried to relax.

**********

“Tommy I told you that you can’t—Tommy?”

It was the next day. Tommy was at the café and he had Clementine in his backpack, he had
the last of her food with him and a single cat toy. He was a few minutes late getting to work
because he was still trying to decide if he was ready to do this.

Ranboo was looking at Clementine whose face was sticking out of the backpack. Tommy was
holding it out for his coworker to see. His eyes were red and puffy but he just had to do it.

“Will you take her?” Tommy asked, voice breaking.

“What? Tommy… here, just come to the back with me.” Ranboo put a hand on Tommy’s
shoulder and guided him to the back room where Tubbo was tying his apron.

“Hey, are you okay?” Tubbo asked, then he saw the cat. “Is she okay?”

Tommy nodded and turned back to Ranboo. “I need you to keep her, please.”

“Sit down man, you’re shaking.” Ranboo sat next to Tommy on their couch. They turned to
face each other, Clementine looked around curiously. “You love that cat, what are you talking
about?”

“Ranboo please, I can’t give her to anyone else and I don’t want to put her in a shelter,”
Tommy took a trembling breath, “I can’t take care of her anymore.”
“Why? What’s going on…” Ranboo glanced at Tubbo who took over the kitchen, listening in
but starting to brew the coffee. “You can’t afford it?”

I can, only because my apartment is stolen and abandoned.

“She’s miserable with me,” Tommy choked.

He hated this. He hated giving her away. He hated crying. He hated feeling like this. He hated
the look on Ranboo’s face. He hated everything.

“She’s not, she loves you.”

He thinks I’m crazy.

“No. No. I’m out all day and when I do get home I’m too tired to play with her and she
doesn’t get outside and her diet is inconsistent which is bad for her but sometimes I need to
buy different foods—”

“Okay, okay, breathe.” Ranboo reached out to unzip the backpack, letting Clementine out. He
placed the cat in his own lap. “I can keep her, but only if you’re sure that it’s for the best…”

“It is, I think. Please.”

“Okay. Yeah man, I’ll take good care of her it’s just a little inconvenient that you brought her
here.”

“Sorry, sorry, I just couldn’t bear to leave her alone again.”

And I didn’t want you to follow me home to get her.

“She can hang back here, I swear she won’t be any trouble,” Tommy said.

“Okay… is there anything else going on?” Ranboo bit the inside of his cheek. “Niki said you
were having a rough time lately… and I kinda noticed how stiff and tired you’ve been.”

“I’m good Ranboo.”

“Convincing.”

“Just make sure she’s happy,” Tommy said, scratching behind the cat’s ears.

“I’ll do everything I can.”

**********

Tommy let himself be late getting to the library. He was giving himself time to think. And it
was a simple question that he was asking himself but there were so many things to consider.
The question was whether he should ask Wilbur or Techno for a hug or not. It felt pathetic to
think about. It was sad that he had to do much thinking at all. Wil had said many times that he
could ask for anything. Techno had said many times that he was there for Tommy. And the
library was closing in two days. After that who knew when Tommy would see them outside
of his vigilante get up.

So, should he ask for a hug? Simple question. The cons were that it could draw on his
instincts and he’d be chirping—which he did literally fucking yesterday in front of Corvus—
which is not only a connection from him to Rubrm, but it was fucking embarrassing.
Especially now that Corvus—Phil—told him that only chicks did it. Or seriously lonely
people. Did Wilbur know that? He must have, Phil would have mentioned it. He would have
mentioned his encounter with Rubrum.

The pros were that it would make him feel better. Even if it were just for a second. He would
be wrapped up in warm wings against a steady chest. And even if just for a second, he
wouldn’t feel so alone.

Tommy watched the pavement pass by under him, his footsteps heavy and slow as he
deliberately matched his pace to the beating of his heart. Which was getting faster. And that
wasn’t making thinking any easier. He was trying to go slow. So he took a deep breath. Why
the fuck was this stressing him out so much? Pathetic. He was Rubrum, the vigilante. He’d
been shot and smacked around and held hostage and been manipulated—well, that part was
debatable—and had his wings messed with and he’d been kidnapped by both villains and
heroes. This was pathetic. He shouldn’t be making pros and cons lists about asking for a hug.
He shouldn’t need a hug anyway.

No fucking hug. Don’t be a baby.

It could give him away if he started breaking down as he had in front of Corvus. So it was
pathetic and also risky. He’d have to settle for seeing Clementine later.

Oh. No. He didn’t have that anymore.

Despite having new knee braces to keep him steady, Tommy’s legs gave out and he crumpled
into the side of some random building. There were people—not close to him—around and he
had to enhance his strength just to stand again. Tears were rolling down his face and he
couldn’t breathe. This was becoming an all too familiar occurrence. Tommy ducked into the
nearest alley and slid down the wall. It was small and there was a dumpster to sit on the other
side of so no one from the street would see him.

Tommy cried. Again. Because he could never seem to stop and if he didn’t feel pathetic
before he felt utterly worthless now. What was this? He was supposed to be brave and strong
and help people. He was supposed to save kids like himself. He was supposed to prevent
situations like his own. With Kurt. But now he would give almost anything to have it back.
Even if it wasn’t real love, even if Kurt did some bad things, at least it was something
Tommy knew. It was constant. He didn't have to make his own decisions and take care of
himself.

It was two days until the library closed and Tommy was sitting in some alleyway crying
about his cat and about not being able to ask for a hug. And he was suddenly remembering
every awful thing that had happened to him over the past… how long had he been alive?
Sixteen years. All of his failures. The fires, the kidnapped teenager, betraying Kurt,
burdening Wil and Techno and Phil. And fucking—and Niki and now Tubbo and Ranboo
were stressed out.

He had to think. He just had to think. Why was that so hard? There was always a solution.
There had to be. So he just had to fucking think. Prime, why was his brain so scrambled?

Think. Fuck!

Tommy hit his head against the alley wall. Not hard enough to draw blood. Just hard enough
to sting a bit. It was a habit he’d picked up when he lived with Kurt. If he couldn’t do
something properly he’d hit his head until he was under control and calm. He would literally
be knocking sense into himself. Or distracting himself. Or letting his anger out. He couldn't
explain it.

Okay. He just had to focus on being a vigilante. That was what he wanted the most and that
was what was important. He wanted to help people and that’s what he’d do. So he was going
to quit his jobs. Easy. He could rely on the apartment he had for now. Clementine was being
taken care of so that was one worry gone. He was good at getting away with stealing—which
he understood was immoral and illegal but in the end, it was for the greater good—so he
could get the essentials like first aid supplies and food.

Tommy would devote himself to being Rubrum. Maybe he wanted friends and relationships
and people to talk to but it was just too much. He couldn’t do it. He had to stay focused. And
once he was focused on one thing, everything would make sense again. He would forget
about Wil, Techno, and Phil’s identities and just know them as heroes and nothing more. He
shouldn’t need anyone else. That was just too complicated.

There. Easy. Figured out.

Tommy’s phone rang.

When he looked at the caller ID and saw Wilbur’s name, his whole plan went out the
window. He couldn’t answer. Not while he was wheezing, he’d probably sound like a smoker.
His throat was sore. And his head hurt. Prime, what was he thinking? He couldn’t just forget
Wil and Techno. He couldn’t just forget Phil and Ranboo and Tubbo and Niki. They were the
best thing to happen to him since… well… okay, ever.

The phone kept ringing and Tommy kept staring at it. He couldn’t answer. He couldn’t let
Wilbur hear him like this. He’d just let it ring out then he could text him something. He could
say he was going to be late. Except he was probably going to be sitting here, unable to get up,
for a while. So he could say he can’t come in and he forgot to mention it. Which was a dick
move but better than anything else.
Or I could answer him.

The phone couldn’t have many rings left now.

I won’t see much more of him after tomorrow anyway.

Surely the phone was on its last ring.

Tommy answered.

“Tommy? Hey, are you okay?”

A mistake. This was a mistake. A very bad very big mistake.

Tommy panicked and hung up.

He stared down at his phone. Its screen was cracked and there were bubbles in the protector.
It was old and slow. Damaged from his habit of lobbing it across his apartment. He felt the
sudden urge to throw it at the brick wall ahead of him. Then it started to ding and beep, the
screen lit up with messages from Wilbur and Techno.

Wilbur: “Tommy please call me back.”

Techno: “Kid, we need to know you’re okay.”

Just answer them. Say you’re fine. Don’t worry them.

Wilbur: “I’m calling again, please answer me.”

The phone rang and Tommy let it sit on the pavement. He owed Wilbur an answer but he
couldn’t bring himself to give one. He wanted to disappear. He could still disappear. He could
give up being Tommy and he could still just be Rubrum.

Then a text from Ranboo.

Ranboo: “Hey, your coworkers called the café asking if you were here.”

Ranboo: “You okay?”

The ringing ended again and he could bring the messages up to full-screen.

Ranboo is typing…

Techno is typing…

Wilbur is typing…

Tubbo is typing…

Tommy is passing out…

Or he was on the verge of it. The only other time he’d ever felt so overwhelmed was after
that night Kurt held him hostage for the heroes. It was the most scrambled his brain had ever
been. He could barely comprehend anything anyone had said to him. He couldn’t sleep. He
was so light-headed but he couldn’t pass out at the same time.

Just answer. Answer someone. Anyone. Just say you’re okay once.

Tommy clicked on Wilbur’s name, thinking he’d probably scared him the most. And he
started typing. His screen was blurred, he wasn’t sure what he’d said was coherent. He tried
to say “I’m okay, sorry for not answering.”

Little did he know it came out as “In ojay, sorry for n swerij.”

Wilbur called him again and he felt like such a dick. He was making everyone worry. He
didn’t mean to. He really really didn’t mean to. Now he did want to get a hug from Wilbur.
And Techno. And Phil—who just sent a message but Tommy couldn’t see what it was. And
Ranboo. And Tubbo.

The call ended again and Tommy sobbed so hard it was more of a scream. He threw his
phone against the wall. He heard it shatter. He ended up smacking his head back against the
wall.

“Why am I so shit?” He gasped. “Why am I like this—”

He banged his head back again. It wasn’t meant to be that hard. It wasn’t meant to hurt.

Tommy heard footsteps. Fast ones. Multiple sets of feet, light on the concrete. So light that he
almost didn’t hear them coming. He didn’t realize they were coming into his alley until
someone was slotting their hand behind his head and another person held his face in their
hands.

He didn’t realize it was Techno ad Wilbur until they started speaking and he could keep his
eyes open.

“Tommy. Tommy, hey, kid?” Techno asked.

It was Wilbur’s hand on the back of his head. He wanted to say he wasn’t relieved they were
there. But he was too tired to lie to himself.

“Deep breaths. Follow me, come on,” Techno guided. His voice was soft and calm and it was
way too gentle for what Tommy deserved. “Good, that’s it.”

“How did—” his breath hitched and Techno shushed him.

“We had known you left the café—keep breathing kid—so we kept calling you to follow the
phone ringing.”

Wilbur was playing with Tommy’s hair and holding his right hand. Techno made him breathe
in patterns until all of their legs were numb from sitting on the ground. Wilbur hadn’t moved
his hand once, his arm must have been sore.
“I’m going to pick you up, okay?” Techno said.

He didn’t wait for permission, which was actually very unlike Techno, and it told Tommy to
keep his mouth shut whether he liked being carried or not. Techno picked him up bridal style
and Tommy assumed he was going to be carried to the library but instead Techno sat against
the wall with Tommy in his lap.

“Car?” Wil asked.

Techno nodded and reluctantly Wilbur left them with a quick ruffle of Tommy’s hair. Techno
was looking down at him and Tommy couldn’t take it. He stubbornly kept his head turned
away. As soon as he had the energy he was getting out of this. But. It was kind of like a hug.
So… he let himself have it for now because it was already happening. Why waste an
opportunity?

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Tommy.”

I am being cradled like a child.

“You also don’t have to tell me anything right now but I do need to know if you’re with me.”

Tommy nodded. He didn’t want to hear his own voice.

“I need a verbal answer.”

“I’m here, bitch,” Tommy croaked.

“Good.”

Techno cupped Tommy’s face and turned it toward him. Tommy knew his whole face was
red, if not from embarrassment then just from the crying. He tried to wriggle his way out of
Techno’s hold but he was shushed and held tighter.

“Tech, car!” Wil called from the road.

Tommy was being hoisted into the air and taken to a car. This one wasn’t Techno’s and
Wilbur was definitely extra enough to have a bright yellow car. It was some kind of sports car
or something, Tommy didn’t know, didn’t really care. But he was being carried inside, still in
Techno’s lap in the back seat.

“This is hazardous,” Tommy mumbled.

“Wilbur will drive safely. And slowly. Right Wil?”

“As always.”

This is when Tommy realized that they were not, in fact, going to the library. They passed the
library in seconds. Wilbur wouldn’t have gone to get the car if they were just going to the
library.
“Where we goin’?”

“Our place. You can go to sleep if you need to.”

Their place…

Tommy was, again, too tired to think about it.

**********

Tommy woke up on his stomach. He was hugging a pillow and under some heavy and soft
covers. He immediately knew he wasn’t home. He didn’t own anything that nice. But
grogginess weighed him down and he didn’t feel in danger yet. He shuffled and squirmed a
bit, trying to get his hands under him to lift himself up. A warm hand settled on his back and
added just enough pressure to keep him down.

“Hi Tommy,” someone said.

Tommy turned his head to see Wil sitting against the headboard of a bed with a book in his
lap. Except the book was closed and he was looking at Tommy so fondly that it hurt.

“Hi,” Tommy said, half-muffled by the pillow squishing his face.

“Your head must be sore.”

From being a crybaby or from hitting it against the wall?

“M’ sorry for scaring you.”

“Don’t be sorry, you were overwhelmed. But it’s okay, we’re with you now.”

Wil set hit book on a bedside table and lay down next to Tommy so they were facing each
other. Tommy rolled onto his side. They just looked at each other for a moment. Tommy was
relieved that he was there but also wished that he wasn’t.

“Tech’s out getting pizza, hope you like pepperoni,” Wil said.

Tommy was so hungry he’d eat his own sock. Pepperoni was a blessing.

“Wil, where am I right now?”

Wil’s smile twitched. Tommy couldn’t tell if it was nervous or amused. “You’re in the hero
tower. Uh, our floor.”

What.
“I’ve wanted you to come here anyway so you could see where you’d be working—that is if
you took up our offer—we would turn Phil’s office into a room for you because he doesn’t
really need it,” Wil rambled.

Holy fuck. I should steal some cool shit.

“And I know you don’t like heroes all that much but I like to think that Phil, Techno, and I
are alright. I mean, you’d get paid twenty-five an hour and that’s just to start. Plus we’d really
miss—”

“Wil, man, are you trying to out-do my panic attack?”

Wil snorted. “Sorry I just really want you to come work for us… and we should really talk
about that.”

Oh sure I’ll just explain that I started freaking out because I couldn’t decide whether to ask
you for a hug or not.

“What had you so upset?”

I am failing.

“Just some personal shit. Don’t really wanna talk about it.”

Wilbur’s wings weren’t out. Tommy appreciated that at first, when he and Techno always
made sure Tommy never saw them or heard one of them chirp. He wanted to see them more
than anything now. He wanted to touch them and be wrapped up in them. Instead of asking,
Tommy bit his tongue.

“You passed out in the back of my car. You smashed your phone against the wall. And… and
your head.”

“Ah,” Tommy chuckled, “bad habit.”

“Very bad.” Wilbur adjusted the pillow he lay on, then reached over to feel the back of
Tommy’s head. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

Wilbur hummed. His hand went limp, resting on the back of Tommy’s head. “You answered
my call once.”

“I did.” Tommy winced.

Wilbur’s hand retreated and Tommy wanted to ask him to put it back. He bit his tongue again.
A familiar word ricocheted through his mind.

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.

“You know you can ask me for help any time you need it. Any time. Or Techno, or Phil.
Right? You know that?”

Tommy knew that. But he couldn’t tell Wil anything that was bothering him because it all
came back to Rubrum. It almost made him want to patrol tonight and find one of SBI to
accept their recruitment. It almost made him want to reveal himself. It almost made him want
to show his own wings.

“I know.” Tommy rolled onto his back. “There are just some things I can’t tell you.”

Wilbur shuffled closer, he also lay on his back. He and Tommy were pressed to each other’s
sides and it felt so much safer—stupid bird brain—than being a couple of feet apart.

“Is it your parents?”

My parents are dead. Clementine was all I had.

I gave up Clementine.

“Oh, fuck, it is isn’t it?” And Wilbur was leaning over and pulling him into a hug. “You have
to tell me what they did, please.”

“It’s not,” Tommy paused to take a shaky breath, “it’s not my parents. It’s a lot of other
bullshit.”

Tommy turned into Wilbur. He bit his tongue so incredibly hard to keep the chirps at bay. He
wanted to see Wil’s wings so bad.

“But if your parents ever were to do something, we could help you.”

Wil didn’t believe him.

“Wilbur…” was he going to regret this? “I don’t have parents. They’re not abusing me from
their graves.”

Wilbur’s arms only tightened around him. “Oh.”

“You’re awake,” Techno said. Tommy jumped, not having heard Techno open the bedroom
door. “Can you two handle sitting apart to eat for a minute?”

“Shut up,” Tommy mumbled, lightly pushing Wilbur away.

They both sat up against the headboard and Techno passed them each a plate of pizza.
Tommy didn’t take a bite before asking what he always did. “How much do I owe you?”

“For the pizza?” Techno asked. Tommy nodded. “You don’t owe me anything, kid, you need
to eat and Phil’s rich.”

Wil snorted.
“Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Do you feel better?”

Tommy did not know. He wasn’t crying anymore, which was a nice change of pace. The past,
what, thirty-five-ish hours had been made up of him crying and breaking down. So he was
better. He felt generally safer and happier with Techno and Wilbur.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good.” Techno glanced at Wilbur. “Did you two… talk?”

Tommy felt heat rise to his cheeks. It was bad enough having Wilbur ask him why he was
breaking down in an alley, but having gruff and tough Technoblade ask him? Humiliating.

“A little,” Wilbur said. “It wasn’t his parents.”

It was obvious that they had suspected Tommy’s parents were hurting him or neglecting him.
Or both. They saw the bruises. They knew he didn’t eat much. They knew he worked two
jobs. They knew everything. Tommy wasn’t surprised.

“They’re dead,” Tommy said, excited to watch the relief drain from Techno’s face.

“Cool. Mine too.”

Tommy blanched.

“Techno!” Wil hissed.

“Adopted?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, Wil and I are adopted. His parents are out there somewhere, we think. Dunno, don’t
care. Phil’s better.”

Tommy grinned, then he started to laugh. Wilbur inevitably laughed too. That happened to be
the moment Phil himself walked in. Tommy froze up, catching the last of his laughs in his
hand.

“Hey boys.”

Corvus. Corvus was there. The hero that offered him a hug and help and comfort yesterday.
The one he could barely think about without his bird brain acting up. And now he was taking
a seat on top of the desk next to Techno. His wings were not out. Thank prime. Over and over
again, thank prime.

“You okay mate?” He asked Tommy.

“I’m good,” Tommy said. It didn’t come out as a squeak, which was another blessing.
Miracle even. “Thanks for letting me come here.”
“Any time.”

The conversation went from small talk, back to if Tommy was really okay, then to small talk,
then to a rant about ant eaters, and back to if Tommy was really actually okay. At some point
he and Wil drifted back together, Tommy was curled into his side and under Wil’s arm.

“So. Tommy—and sorry to keep bringing it up but—do you live alone then?” Wil asked after
a long bout of silence.

And in a moment of weakness, Tommy couldn’t lie to Wilbur. Not even if it risked his
autonomy.

“Yeah. I do. When I said I had a roommate I meant my cat.”

Phil sucked in a sharp breath and Wil’s hand ran up Tommy’s arm a few times.

“You shouldn’t have to do that,” Phil started, sharing odd looks with Wil and Techno,
“provide for yourself and be alone like that.”

Oh prime, oh fuck.

This was the part—that if he didn’t play right—could result in him getting sent to a school or
foster home.

“I like it. I want to be independent.”

“Don’t you like being a kid too? It’s stressing you out, being on your own. Prime, mate, I can
barely handle being alone for too long.”

Tommy liked being Rubrum. Tommy liked being able to do whatever he wanted, whatever he
thought was best. He didn’t want some adult telling him when to eat and go to sleep and what
to wear and how to act. He liked things now. He liked this. Mostly.

“It’s really important to me,” Tommy started carefully, “that I can do what I want to when I
want to, and how I want to.”

I’m scared I’ll end up with someone like Kurt.

“I understand…”

Phil please. Please just leave it.

Phil kept glancing at Wil and Techno. They were having some private conversation that
involved a lot of pity and a lot of scheming. Tommy could smell it.

“Please,” Tommy whispered, “let me keep this. Don’t let me get put in a home.”

Phil looked thoroughly distressed and Techno was deep in thought. He looked a bit angry.
Hopefully, that wasn’t because of Tommy. And Wilbur—Tommy looked up at him from
where he was slumped into the hero’s side—looked as upset as Phil.
 “If anything, I would take you in, Tommy,” Phil said.

Instantaneously tears started to well up in Tommy’s eyes. He tried to blink them away. All
he’d ever wanted, was to be wanted. For real. Not for his powers or his hybridity. He wanted
to be wanted as Tommy. Phil said he would have Tommy.

That doesn’t mean he wants you. It’s pity.

And there were still tears. Because he’d gotten his hopes up.

“But I won’t force you into anything. Okay? Just know that if you need a better, stable place,
you can tell me and you’ve got a room on this floor. No strings attached, you’d just live
here.”

It sounded too good.

“Oh, Tommy. You need to sleep, okay? Stay the night, Ranboo already said you didn’t have
to work tomorrow,” Wil said, pulling Tommy to lay back down. “Just think about it—
everything—some other time.”

Tommy nodded, burying his face in Wil’s t-shirt. He was so tired. He was so tired and
confused and ashamed. How could one cry this much? How? And he was going to miss a
patrol while kidnappings were going rampant. He needed to talk to Apis and Lanuae again—
even if he hated their guts—about the pit. There was so much to do. And the library was
closing tomorrow, which was sad. And now he had to think about Phil’s offer and what that
meant for him as Rubrum. Prime.

“Goodnight, boys,” Phil said as he and Techno left the room.

The lights flicked off.

Tommy had no phone to throw before he went to sleep.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed this, I was making comments about this chapter on twitter because
my thoughts while writing this were funny.
If you like my writing, consider checking out my SBI DnD AU, or my SBI
Hurt/Comfort Oneshot Booklet.
I appreciate the comments and support, let me know if you see any typos and feel free to
leave theories and questions!
Have a good week and take care of yourselves :)
 Chapter 9
Chapter Summary

Tommy gets back on track.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: Violence/Injury/Guns/Let me know if I missed more

See the end of the chapter for more notes

When Tommy woke, Wilbur wanted him to talk. He wanted to know what yesterday was
about and he asked what it was that bothered Tommy so much. He refused to talk still,
Wilbur didn’t push again. He reminded Tommy that he could talk to him multiple times of
course.

Wilbur took him to the cafeteria for breakfast and started giving him a tour. They had
breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Tommy kept his head low and explicitly told Wilbur that he
didn’t want to meet any heroes. He was shown the training rooms and gym, the rest of the
hero team floors—they didn’t go inside of course—and a lounge. The lounge had pool tables
multiple TVs with Xboxes and Playstations set up at each. Rich fucks.

But finally, Wilbur took him to the medical room. Tommy thought nothing of it at first, just a
normal part of the tour. He thought they were going to peek in and leave. Instead, they went
right in and stayed. Techno was there, talking to the hero Custos—who was known as Sam by
the public. He was one of the tower’s doctors and a hero. Useful on the field, and it was good
to have someone tough to protect the patients. At least that’s what Tommy always assumed
they had him for.

“Tommy, I’m sure you know who this is,” Wil said.

Tommy nodded. Custos lobbed his trident at Tommy’s head a while ago, he was wary. Sue
him. Sam wasn’t getting any manners from Tommy.

“Techno was just telling me you were having problems with your knees and ankles,” Custos
said.

“And hip,” Techno added.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. They weren’t about to…

Were they?

“I was hoping to do a routine check-up for you, free of cost of course. As a favour.”

Tommy groaned, turning around to leave. Wilbur grabbed his elbow and he glared back at the
man.

“No,” Tommy spat.

Custos put his hand on his hips. “I’ve been a medic here for years, I promise I’m good at
what I do.”

“No.”

“You said you haven’t been to the doctor, like, ever,” Wilbur deadpanned. “This won’t cost
you anything.”

“No.”

Wilbur tugged on his elbow a little more, pulling him closer. Techno shifted, blocking
Tommy from the door. Tommy suddenly felt unsafe, boxed in by heroes.

“I know you don’t like doctors or heroes, but this is really important,” Techno started, resting
an airy soft hand on Tommy’s shoulders. “Phil asked us to.”

Techno gave him a weirdly pointed look. He remembered telling them that he lived alone,
and they knew he was a minor. One word to Custos and he was required to do the check-up
and set Tommy up in a home. Was this blackmail? Was this Phil’s way of taking care of him?

“I don’t care what Phil fucking asked you to do, I’m eighteen and I can choose to do this. I’m
saying no,” Tommy challenged.

Would they rat him out?

They were frozen. Techno looked mildly annoyed and slightly impressed. Wilbur looked
simply distressed.

“No needles or blood tests,” Custos said carefully, “I’ll just inspect your knees and ankles,
and hip if you’ll let me.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“He might be able to fix them, Tommy,” Techno said.

Wouldn’t that be nice? Being able to run without pain. Not having to limp around after a bad
patrol—during patrol—and having to wear those braces. Patrol was so much more enjoyable
when he could run without hurting himself. He was so much better at it.

“I can see you thinking about it.”

“I’ll be quick,” Custos said.

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek. “Okay. Fine.”

Tommy couldn’t decide whether he hated the smiles on Wilbur and Techno’s faces or not.

**********

Custos ended up feeling his knees, asking him to move in a few different ways and to tell him
if it hurt. He used a little gun-looking thing that was apparently an advanced sort of x-ray
machine. He also ended up asking Tommy questions unrelated to his knee, which he
answered hesitantly. He was asked about his eating habits and sleep habits. Tommy lied a lot.

Techno and Wilbur stayed with him like they were trying to comfort a scared child. All three
of them were sitting together and waiting for Custos to come back.

“Won’t you be relieved to know what’s wrong?” Wil asked.

Tommy flipped him off.

With a snort Techno added, “If we have to we’ll get a healer to take care of it for you.”

Expensive, Tommy thought.

“From the tower,” Wil said as if reading his mind. “For free.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. He really wanted to leave. He wanted to get to the library, close the
damn thing, then patrol already. He had to find Lanuae and Apis.

“So,” Custos said, coming into the room with a clipboard. “It’s what I expected, you have
tendonitis in your knees, ankles, and even your hip, which I imagine is quite painful.”

Tommy nodded. “I don’t know anything about tendonitis.”

“It comes from overuse. You use those joints too much without stretching them and taking
care of your body. Generally, two to four weeks of rest and care is enough to get rid of it—
and taking care of yourself after that—but your case is a little more extreme. I’d say about six
weeks of rest and very little exercise would have you feeling a lot better.”

Well that was absolutely not ever happening. Tommy walked to work and patrolled as often
as he could. His knees would have to cope.

“But you’ll have to follow some stretching exercises, those braces you have there,” Tommy
was wearing them almost constantly now, “should help too.”
Custos held out a light blue pamphlet decorated with people doing different poses and
multiple-step stretches.

“And… if you wouldn’t mind just sitting up here for a minute,” Custos patted the bed.

They were in a private little nook, closed off by curtains. Tommy felt like something bad was
about to happen.

“Why?”

“I want to look at one more thing.”

Wilbur and Techno were nodding encouragingly. Red flag.

“No. We’re done,” Tommy said, backing up toward the door.

But Techno got behind him and stopped him. Tommy’s heart spasmed in panic.

That wasn’t fair. He trusted them. He trusted Wil and Techno. He fucking broke down in their
arms yesterday. He trusted them. They made him feel safe. This wasn’t fair. They couldn’t do
this now.

“Just sit on the bed, it’ll be okay,” Techno soothed.

“Tell me what you’re gonna do,” Tommy hissed.

“Just a special kind of blood test, it doesn’t hurt, it’s super fast,” Custos said, rummaging
through a drawer.

“You lied,” Tommy pushed back against Techno.

“We weren’t going to make you until Sam told us he thought it was necessary.”

Techno was strong and gently pushing Tommy closer. He had very few options now: let them
do it and run away forever once they know he’s a phoenix and powered, or reveal himself as
powered—and by association, Rubrum—now and escape before they find out he’s a phoenix
too.

“Breathe Tommy, it’s okay. It’s an advanced kind of test, no blood actually has to be drawn,”
Custos started. “I only want to see a few things. This won’t tell me anything about powers or
hybridity, and I’m not allowed to use it to identify you or put you in the system.”

That had to be a lie. It had to be.

Custos held a slip of clear plastic, or silicone, or rubber or something. It looked gelatinous
almost. He was approaching. Techno was holding Tommy’s arms and Wilbur was hovering
right around them.

Tommy activated his strength. He started to tear out of Techno’s grip but Wilbur caught him.
Traitors. Fucking traitors and liars.

Then Techno was on him again and they were both holding him. He was trapped. He was
trapped unless he became Rubrum. He was trapped unless he burst into flames. He was—he
was trapped.

Something cold and a little bit wet was spread over Tommy’s wrist. It didn’t prick him, he
saw no red. Instead, it started growing really cold.

“This will take about three minutes, could you sit on the bed now?”

“Could you die?” Tommy snapped.

Somebody was rubbing circles into Tommy’s shoulder, he tried to shrug away. They didn’t
get the memo.

“Stop it,” he elbowed Wilbur in the gut. He barely got a reaction, but he did stop trying to be
comforting.

Tommy knew that their intentions were good. They just wanted to make sure he was okay
because apparently, that’s what friends did. He understood. Tommy appreciated it a tiny little
bit. However, they didn’t understand the danger they were putting him in. He couldn’t be
found out. He couldn't. He couldn’t.

“I’m sorry Tommy, we didn’t want to scare you,” Wilbur said.

Tommy didn’t answer. He prayed to prime that Custos was telling the truth. That he wouldn’t
see anything important and he wouldn’t tell anyone anything. He couldn’t put Tommy in the
system. That was the end of everything.

There was a beep. The cold clear patch was being peeled off of Tommy’s arm.

“You’re eighteen?” Custos asked.

“Yes,” Tommy said.

Nobody corrected him.

“Then you can choose whether you want Wil and Techno to hear what I found or not.”

“Tommy—” Wil started.

“No I want it kept private.”

Whatever it was.

Custos made Wilbur and Techo leave, they were hesitant. Tommy was grateful that they at
least had some morals.
“You’re extremely malnourished, Tommy,” Custos said, taking a seat on a stool in the room.
Tommy sat on one too. “You have a bad iron deficiency too.”

“Cool. I’m leaving now.”

Custos stood when Tommy did, silently daring him to try.

“If you come back in two or three days—”

“No.”

“I can have some vitamins for you. And I’ve heard that SBI are trying to get you to work here
—”

“No.”

“So if you did you could have free food at the cafeteria—”

“I’ll jump out this fucking window so help me.”

The hero before him smiled sadly. Then nodded exasperatedly before gesturing to the door.
Tommy wasted no time rushing out, not even bothering to wait for Wil and Techno. They
caught up as he was storming down that hallway. Was he going the right way?

“Tommy? You okay?” Wil asked.

“Fuck off, I’ll find my way out.”

“It’s basically time to go to the library, just catch a ride with us,” Techno said.

“No. I’m not going. Got shit to do and people to avoid.”

Tommy wasn’t as mad as he wanted to be. He was more pissed that he couldn’t be pissed.
They were trying to take care of him. He felt evil for being made about it. But he wanted to
be mad because they forced him. And it was just a mess. Everything was a mess. He was
overwhelmed. His brain hadn’t caught up from the day before either.

“Oh, Tommy,” Wilbur sped out in front of Tommy and stopped him with two hands on his
shoulders, “I’m sorry. I am. I really—I wish we didn’t do that—I thought we were helping.
We just wanted to make sure you were okay, you understand that never having gone to the
doctor isn’t healthy, right?”

“I know,” Tommy grumbled. “Can we just get out of here?” Wilbur’s brows furrowed.
Tommy felt guilty. “I’m not that mad. I just really want to leave now.”

“Come on,” Techno said, pulling them both forward.

Tommy ended up going to the library with them. He found that he couldn’t stay mad. He
found that he couldn’t decide if he should or should be.
 **********

Phil ended up coming for closing and even he apologized profusely for telling his sons to
take Tommy to the tower’s doctor. Tommy’s cheeks heated, he glowered at Wil and Techno
wondering which of them told Phil he freaked out.

Phil had brought a cake—Tommy only liked ice cream cake but he ate a small piece to be
polite—and some “adult drinks” drinks. Except he only brought a soda for Tommy because
“you’re not old enough” as if it mattered.

They still worked, people came in to say they were sad to see Phil and his boys go. It was
nice, however, Tommy didn’t interact with many people. Today has been a bad enough day
already, why risk an awkward interaction now?

Wilbur did at one point ask Tommy about what Custos said he found, Tommy told him he
had an iron deficiency. He didn’t mention the malnourishment.

All in all it was a pleasant last shift and a good long distraction. As the afternoon was coming
to an end everyone was a little emotional. Tommy thought it was dramatic at first until he
started to realize how little he would end up seeing these people. He barely saw Phil outside
of his hero getup, and Wil and Techno would be so busy as celebrity heroes.

“I’ll miss you guys—a little—not a lot—you suck,” Tommy stuttered with a shy smile.

“This doesn’t have to be a goodbye, mate,” Phil said with a wink.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to work for you. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Phil nodded—they were in the middle of leaning up their back room, “I just wish you could
tell us why.”

Tommy knew Phil wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty but it still happened. He wanted—
only sometimes—to tell them everything. He felt like they deserved to know who he was and
what he did, just because of how much they’d done for him these past weeks. Months? He
was terrible at keeping track of time. The days started to melt together a long time ago. He
may have missed his own birthday.

No, no, his birthday was in April. Or was it August? One of the ‘A’s. On the ninth or the
nineteenth. Or the twenty-ninth. There was a nine in there somewhere. It was late March now.
He should really find out when his birthday was. Well, not that it mattered really. He
wouldn’t want to celebrate it.

“You gonna watch the announcement tonight?” Wilbur asked, joining Tommy and Phil in the
back room. “There’s so much hype on Twitter about it. Everyone’s theorizing which heroes
are being revealed. Everyone thinks Fluctus is going to be one.”
Tommy couldn’t help but grin at Wil’s excitement, he only hoped that the fame didn’t
become too overwhelming. He wondered how much thinking had to go into this decision.

“I think I’ll find time to see a clip or two.”

“It’s so funny, everyone who says it’s gonna be Techno and I are getting hate for literally no
reason. They’re all like ‘no they said they were never going to do it stop pressuring them’ and
—”

Tommy listened to Wilbur rant about the stupid people on social media for a few minutes. It
was ten minutes until they closed the library, hopefully, it would be well taken care of by the
next owners. They could make a profit by saying things like “great heroes Gladius and
Mandatum worked here! They sorted these very books! Hey kids, reading is cool, Gladius
and Mandatum sure thought so!”.

“Alright boys, that’s it. We’re done. The library is no longer under my ownership,” Phil said
with a clap of his hands.

Techno mumbled a “finally” and Wilbur was being dramatic, giving the library a few “parting
words”.

“If you ever change your mind about wanting to work for us, you have our numbers,” Phil
said.

“Uh. No. My phone’s broken…”

“Ah,” Phil chuckled, “right. Well, we’ll have to fix that.”

“Uh, what?”

Phil left the building, Techno hot on his heels. Tommy shrugged, choosing to ignore that, and
walked out with Wilbur. He asked if Tommy wanted a drive home because he needed to rest
his knees but he refused—as always.

Tommy walked home after giving Wilbur a short hug and refusing to give one to Phil and
Techno out of spite—because they awwed at him.

**********

Tommy was running along the rooftops, back where he belonged. Whizzing by windows and
over fire escapes in the cool spring breeze. There was more energy in his heart, he was
motivated again. He had a mission. He was becoming part of something again and it felt
good. It wouldn’t take long to find the villains, they always showed up somehow.

Maybe they did have a tracker on him.

Either way he would run into crime to stop and attract their attention, or he would find them
out and about.

It ended up being the first option.

Tommy watched a group of five guys shatter a store’s window and barge in. It was a high-
quality jewelry shop—high quality for lower districts anyway—and they were all armed with
guns. Three of them were pistols and Tommy hoped they were only nine millimeter, but
when had he ever been that lucky? He didn’t have a clue what the other guns were but they
were long and looked fully automatic. Always fun.

Tommy backtracked a bit and crossed the street to climb up the roofs on the other side. He
was going to drop down on top of the two guarding the store’s front. He looked down at
them, trying to figure out what kind of criminals these were. Sometimes if Tommy thought
somebody was stealing because they needed it—like that one time someone was running out
of a store stealing diapers—he let them go. However, the guns and the fact that there were
multiple people gave them away.

Tommy felt no guilt dropping his entire weight onto the first guy—the two outside both had
the scary long guns—and knocked him out with barely a thud. The first one was always the
easiest. The other one was shouting at the three inside and aimed their gun at Tommy. He
activated his speed and lunged for them. Approaching footsteps and snarling voices sounded
from inside the jewelry shop.

Tommy slapped the gun away from his face and activated his strength. He punched the
gunman in the jaw and the gun came swinging back at him. He ducked and tackled the
gunman to the ground. The gun clattered across the pavement and Tommy snatched it up. On
most occasions he didn’t use firearms against his opponents, however, there were five this
time and Tommy was alone. He kicked the one on the ground in the temple as hard as he
could before whirling on the others leaving the store.

“Fucking Rubrum?” One of the robbers groaned. “Man I’m trying to feed my family.”

“You gonna shove jewelry down their throats?” Tommy laughed.

It could have been true, in fact, it was probably true that he was just getting any money he
could. Maybe this man had been roped into the operation. But, Rubrum was known for letting
people in need go and this guy was trying to take advantage.

Tommy shot the hand holding the pistol. He laughed in surprise at his good aim—he didn’t
even activate that enhancement—and the man’s gun fell away from him. Two more people
came out and bullets were flying everywhere. Tommy ducked into the alley next to him just
as the gunmen ducked around the other side of the building.

If they were smart, one would go behind the building and catch Tommy’s other side. But
Tommy is smart too. Activating his agility enhancement, Tommy launched himself between
the walls of the alley, climbing higher and higher until he could leap onto the roof.
Sure enough he saw a gunman round the building. Smirking, now that they were split up,
Tommy dropped onto the one rounding the corner—to where they thought Tommy would be.

He covered their mouth as he grabbed their head. He slammed them into the back wall. It
made more of a sound than Tommy expected. The other gunman, and the one whose hand
Tommy shot, ran to the back of the building and started firing at him again. Tommy
reactivated his speed and shot back at them blindly while running back to cover in the alley.

A bullet tore through the side of Tommy’s upper arm. Thankfully not his shooting arm. He
started vaulting up the alley again to get to the roof but the gunmen appeared under him.
Bold. Another bullet grazed Tommy’s side. Tommy tumbled, hissing in pain.

Tommy tossed his hand out as he was falling and lobbed a ball of fire at the gunmen. He
heard them gasp and then he heard the fire hit. He watched it bloom in front of them. There
were grunts of pain. Tommy hit the ground and rolled to his feet, he dived through the flame,
and his hands collided with metal. He ripped the gun away and tossed it behind the dimming
wall of orange. Tommy slammed the butt of his own gun into the jaw of another gunman.
They fell limp to the ground.

A body slammed into Tommy’s own, sending them both sprawling to the ground. The
attacker was poised on top of Tommy, choking him with their hands. It was the one he shot in
the hand.

Tommy resisted the urge to grin at his attacker. Instead, as he was wheezing for breath,
Tommy raised his pistol and shook it like jazz hands above his head.

“You forgot something,” Tommy gasped.

He shot the man in the shoulder and shoved him off. Tommy hopped to his feet and delivered
a swift kick to that guy’s temple too.

Already knowing that an alarm would have gone off, Tommy scaled the buildings again and
watched in satisfaction as the police rolled up next to the shop. He wondered if any of the
SBI would show up looking for him. They assumed he caught most of the crime—which was
true, he did—and it had always been the easiest way to find him.

“That looked fun.”

Tommy let out a relieved sigh and turned to face Apis. Then his eyebrows furrowed. “How
long were you watching?”

“Since you shot that guy in the hand.”

“And you didn’t think to help?”

“You lived.”

Tommy shook his head with an amused huff. Lanuae appeared with a warping sound a few
feet away. These two were always together. Were they a thing or something? Married? Maybe
it was complicated.
“I was hoping to find you two tonight,” Tommy admitted, briefly looking back at the scene
below them, “but I have some heroes looking for me and they might come here.”

“Right…hold on then,” Lanuae said, reaching out to Apis and Tommy.

One of these days Tommy was going to get kidnapped like this.

Wait.

That happened already.

But there was a vwoop and everything in Tommy’s vision swirled and shrunk before
exploding back out in front of him. They were on another roof across the district. A roof only
two or three buildings away from Tommy’s apartment, funnily enough.

“You got shot,” Lanuae said.

“Indeed I did,” Tommy winced. He was grateful at least that his hoodie was black now. “You
wouldn’t happen to have some gauze on you?”

“I don’t…I thought you stashed stuff around the city.”

“Yeah. Ran out.”

Tommy snickered as Lanuae raised his eyebrows. But he wasn’t here to impress anyone with
his recklessness. Instead, he was—ew—accepting recruitment.

It took a lot of late-night thinking. The heroes were incompetent, that was Tommy’s main
point. And this shit needed to stop. So. Here they were.

“Rubrum, you wouldn’t happen to be trying to join us, would you?” Apis asked.

Tommy ignored the smugness in the villain’s voice.

“Yeah. I am,” Tommy started, “So whoever ‘Q’ is, better have a good plan.”

The villains were frozen. Maybe they didn’t hear him.

Then Apis’ shoulders slumped in relief.

“Finally, man, Q has been up my ass about you,” the villain groaned. He held out a hand to
shake. “Welcome to the team.”

A handshake? That was it? No initiation or anything? No blood ritual or curse to keep him
bound to them forever?

“You’ll have to meet Cicatrix, Q, he’s eager. He’s had a plan for a while now.”

Hold on.
Cicatrix. The villain of Las Nevadas? The dirty trickster that’s been under the heroes’ noses
for years? Foiling plans and breaking his friends out of Pandora’s Vault? He’d been the only
villain ever to successfully break into and back out of Pandora. Cicatrix was nobody to fuck
with. He was more powerful than Kurt. Maybe a little more lawful at least.

“And he needs me for it?”

“Yes.”

What did Tommy have that Cicatrix couldn’t get himself?

“I could take you to him now,” Lanuae said. “He wants you as soon as possible, doesn’t care
when.”

Oh fuck.

“Why do you call him Q?” Tommy asked first, pathetically buying himself time.

“We’re close. Just a nickname,” Apis said.

Tommy wrung a hand through the hair under his hood. He was not expecting to have a
meeting with a supervillain tonight.

“Okay. Take me to Cicatrix then. If this is a trap or something I’ll kill you.”

Tommy liked a little spontaneity.

**********

After Lanuae teleported the three of them to Las Nevadas he passed out on the floor. Apis
cursed and caught him, grumbling to himself. Tommy could have helped, Lanuae was much
too big for Apis to hold comfortably, however, he was enjoying seeing the tiny bee villain
struggle.

They were in a lobby. It was dark all around but had brightly painted murals and flashy
colored lights. Cicatrix was doing way too much honestly. Two people in burgundy suits
greeted them and took Lanuae off of Apis, who hesitantly let them go before guiding Tommy
toward a door.

Apis swung it open and casually walked past a few exhausted looking—were they guards?
Who also wore burgundy suits. They gave Tommy weird looks. Some of them were annoyed.
Some surprised. Others blank. One just looked severely disgusted by Tommy’s presence.

Apis took Tommy down a few hallways but there were barely any doors along them. Until
they finally reached a floor-to-ceiling double-door. Also, way too flashy. Apis knocked. It
was in a pattern, but Tommy only realized it was a coded knock after it was too late to
memorize it.

The door opened with a grinding sound that made Tommy wince. Dramatic much?

“Apis! Hey—and, no. Does my eye deceive me?”

Right in front of them was a large desk covered in papers and monitors. At it sat who Tommy
could only assume to be Cicatrix. One of his eyes was pure gold and a scar ran through it
from forehead to chin. He was wearing a suit with a fucking beanie.

“He wants in,” Apis said. “Right Rubrum?”

“Am I going to have to wear an atrocious hat like that?”

Tommy liked to let people know how annoying he could get early on. Don’t let them have
high standards.

Cicatrix just laughed and stood from his desk. Tommy and Apis stepped in enough to let the
doors close behind them. The room was just as flashy as the rest of the building.

It was only when Cicatrix grinned at him, did Tommy notice he wasn’t covering his face.
Tommy was seeing Cicatrix’s face.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Cicatrix said, holding out a hand.

Tommy shook it, studying every feature of the villain. From the scar to the gold eye, to his
height—short—the colour of his hair and the shape of his face.

“You have a plan or am I here for small talk?” Tommy asked.

Cicatrix was too collected to care about Tommy’s disrespect. “Yeah. I have a plan. And I’ll
put it—and you—to use in two days if you think you’re ready for it.”

“I’d be ready right now,” Tommy said with a shrug, Cicatrix glanced at the bullet holes in his
hoodie, “but I want to hear it from you. Why take down the pit?”

“Good question, come sit.”

Apis and Rubrum sat with Cicatrix in bean bags. Fucking beans bags. In the corner of the
room. Cicatrix offered Tommy a drink, which he honestly really needed but who knew what
the villain could put in there? Liquid tracker? Poison? Laxatives?

“The pit is a competitor of mine, first of all,” Cicatrix started, leaning back—it looked stupid
in the bean bag. “I have a fighting ring here too—with willing participants, of course.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow, turning to Apis who shrugged. “I’ve seen it. It’s not like the pit.”

“It’s not,” Cicatrix agreed, “but they’re stealing my business because it’s more entertaining
when people don’t agree to be there.”
“So you’re doing this because you want more money and business,” Tommy said,
unsurprised, unamused.

“That’s a big part of it. However, Lanuae and Apis here have grown to be pretty important to
me, I want to hurt the thing that hurt them too. And, well, blowing the pit up would just be so
much fun.”

“So what’s the plan then?”

He didn’t care that Cicatrix just wanted to save his business and get a little revenge. It was as
good of a reason as Tommy expected to get from a villain. But he wouldn’t be blowing
anything up if people were inside.

“We need to find the pit first. You’d think I’d be able to do that easily with all of my contacts
—I have a lot of sources underground. However, the leader of the pit gets to my spies before
they get back to me. They’ve always been found out. Whoever it is is smarter than I like to
admit. I don’t know how they’re keeping it from me.”

“So what makes you think I could help you more than anyone else?”

Cicatrix chuckles. “Lanuae and Apis would do a fine job honestly, but I don’t want to put
them in danger. And we need somebody… young. I can’t have any of my other allies doing
it, they’re all adults.”

Oh prime.

“I’m not a kid,” Tommy said.

“Apis tells me differently.”

“How would you know?” Tommy asked, facing the bee villain.

“Lucky guess.”

That was unsettling. Then again, the heroes thought Tommy was young too. It wasn’t like he
acted very mature.

“You want me to get kidnapped by the pit,” Tommy guessed.

“Precisely. You’ll have to go out-of-costume of course—” Tommy was about to protest, “but
I’ll make sure none of us see what you look like, or remember what you look like if there’s an
accident.”

Yeah right.

“How would you do that?”

“Don’t you know what my powers are, Rubrum?” No. The heroes wouldn’t let the public
know and Cicatrix didn’t use it on civilians. Let alone did he show up in public often. “I
charm people. I make them believe whatever I want them to, true or not.”
That was dangerous. Tommy was in danger. A lot of danger.

“That’s a lot of trust to put into a villain. A villain I just met too.”

“You’ll be compensated richly.”

“How much?”

Cicatrix smirked. Either he was thinking—about the price or about how to trick Tommy—or
he was analyzing him. It was creepy. He was just staring.

“How does fifty thousand sound? Twenty-five for finding the pit, and another for helping us
destroy it.”

That could get Tommy a home. Holy shit. But this could risk his reputation, he could be seen
as a villain if people found out he worked with Cicatrix.

“Make it seventy. I’m risking a lot to even be speaking to you right now.”

Cicatrix nodded. “I’ll make it a hundred if you stick with us permanently.”

Tommy was ashamed to say he hesitated. “No. Seventy is fine, I’m not a villain.”

“Not yet, but we’ll see. Let me give you some details and I’ll have you sent back home.”

**********

Tommy got home safely. Thank prime. Cicatrix had him taken in an inconspicuous car, but as
they were leaving one of his lackeys shoved a cloth over Tommy’s face. Another opportunity
that they could have taken to kidnap or kill him. However, he woke up a few minutes later
back in L’Manberg, entering his district. He pointed the driver to an apartment building that
wasn’t his, watched the car leave, checked himself for trackers, and went home.

Tommy had actually liked Cicatrix’s plan, despite the danger it put him in. Everything about
it made sense but Tommy didn’t trust Cicatrix with his identity. The basic idea was that
Tommy would let himself be taken to the pit, Cicatrix was going to give him some resources
to get out. They were going to track Tommy and get him out of there after. Tommy liked that
plan a lot better than trying to follow an already-kidnapped child.

So Tommy was climbing through his window, relatively satisfied by his endeavors that night.
As unprofessional as he found Cicatrix, he liked the villain. Something Tommy would never
admit to anyone. Ever. He was a funny guy, he knew what he wanted and he knew how to get
it. Well, those qualities were dangerous in a villain but Tommy couldn’t help but find Cicatrix
a tiny bit cool.

“Clementine! I’m home,” Tommy called into his apartment.

 He set his bag down by his mattress and started peeling his mask and hoodie off.

“Clem?”

Then he remembered.

“Oh.”

He wasn’t going to cry though.

“Oh.”

She was happy with Ranboo. He hasn’t been gone that long. Tonight was a good night.

“Tonight was a good night… tonight was a good night. A good night,” Tommy repeated as he
settled into his mattress.

He reached for his phone.

That didn’t exist anymore.

“Tonight was a good night.”

But he’d get to see Wil and Techno tomorrow at the—

Ah.

“Tonight was a good night.”

The library. That was closed.

“Tonight was a good night…”

Chapter End Notes

As always I hope you enjoyed. If you did, consider checking out my other fics:
SBI Hurt/Comfort Oneshots
SBI DnD AU
Wilbur Lore Twoshot
And come interact with me on twitter.
Have a good week and stay hydrated :D
 Chapter 10
Chapter Summary

Tommy gets kidnapped I guess

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: kidnapping/chloroform/violence/torture/injury/gore/gun violence/knife

violence
Always let me know if I missed anything!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

So, Tommy was a little bit nervous. Not a lot, but just enough to make him shaky, which in
hindsight might help him hold up the act of “scared teeneger”. They were using Cicatrix’s
plan tonight. Tommy had met up with Lanuae and Apis again, they got him the trackers—two
in case one was found or broken—and helped him get set up in the best location. Cicatrix had
found the most common spot for the kids to be taken, near a park but not on the park because
it was surveilled.

That’s where Tommy was. He was wandering systematically around the park, through alleys,
down short streets, then he would circle back and hopefully be noticed by some kidnappers.

He’d gone over every way that things could go wrong. They could find the trackers, they
could knock him out, they could be regular kidnappers and not pit kidnappers, the police
could stop them first, and they could kill Tommy if they think he wouldn’t be good enough
for the pit. Hey could torture him and shit, which involves mostly pain but Tommy could
simply use his powers to ignore it. So long as they didn’t like… waterboard him.

Okay, he was freaking himself out. So he kept walking and waiting and forced himself to
think better thoughts. What could go right? He could find the pit location, he could not get
hurt, he could not fuck it up. This meant he could save a bunch of kids, and get on Cicatrix’s
good side.

And potentially be getting on the heroes’ bad side…

Tommy shook his head and kept walking.

“Hey! Kid! You lost?”

Tommy grinned before turning around. This was it, it had to be. There was a man clad in dark
colours, what looked like a scarf hanging around his neck—Tommy knew it was a mask
waiting to be pulled up—and something large in his pocket.

“Yeah. I’m trying to get back home,” Tommy said, stepping toward the man. “Can you help
me get to Logstead?”

“Oh, sure, I’ve got a car if you want to hop in.”

Tommy nodded, coming to the man’s side and walking out of the alley with him. He tried to
get a glimpse of the man’s wrist to see if he had the pit’s symbol but his sleeve was too far
down.

They came to the street and Tommy saw only one car. Black, not a van. There was another
person in the back seat though. This was starting to get a little more exciting.

The person in the back got out and waved.

“That’s my buddy, he’s good with directions,” the man next to Tommy said.

The new Guy waved and opened the back door for Tommy. In a real-life situation this would
have terrified any teenager, did these kidnappers really believe this shit? As new Guy
grabbed the door handle, Tommy caught a glimpse of his tattoo. He felt giddy knowing these
were the right people. He was going to find the pit tonight. Fuck yes.

“I really appreciate this,” Tommy said, sitting in the back of the car, holding back a giddy
laugh.

“It’s no problem kid. Want some water? You’ve been walking a while haven’t you?” New
Guy asked as the other man sat in the driver’s seat.

“Oh, no thanks,” Tommy held back another laugh, “I shouldn’t take stuff from strangers.”

New Guy laughed, he hadn’t closed the back door yet. Then there was a hand over Tommy’s
mouth, a cloth under the hand. His face was being pinched, a body was pushed against his,
keeping Tommy still as a scent filled his nose. Chloroform.

Tommy squirmed but ultimately he knew that they weren’t going anywhere until he was
unconscious. Instead of pushing the man off like he so easily could, Tommy pretended that
struggling was hard. He let himself go limp after a minute, “passing out” early.

The man pulled away. Tommy was woozy, he didn’t think he could sit up straight, but he was
still awake. It was all that mattered. He heard doors lock and New Guy was in the seat in
front of him.

The car started rolling. Tommy wondered if Apis and Lanuae were getting a kick out of this,
or if they were nervous.

The car drove for a while, Tommy barely saw the city a few times after blinking his eyes
open once or twice. He must have passed out earlier because they were further than they
should have been able to get after one of the blinks.

“Is he still asleep?” the driver asked.

The other guy peeked around his seat to look at Tommy, slumped over, eyes shut. “Yeah.”

Idiots. Tommy waited for the guy to turn around before giving the finger to the back of his
seat.

The drive kept going, passing through one of the higher districts. Tommy closed his eyes and
after he blinked them open again there were no more buildings. This was going well, he just
wished he could see out the window, but he was slumped so far to the side.

Then he blacked out again for a while.

**********

Tommy woke up to blaring police sirens and their accompanying red and blue lights. The car
was swerving all over bumpy terrain. Tommy’s head bounced on the seats. The men in the
front of the car were swearing, then Tommy heard the sliding of a window. He watched
through barely open eyes as the guy in the passenger leaned out of the car, pistol in hand.
Shots started going off.

Tommy heard returning fire and bullets smacking the car. He just hoped they didn’t crash and
die somehow. That wouldn’t be too efficient.

“Got one!” the guy shooting said. “Not the driver.”

Oh prime, was Tommy really going to let these guys shoot the cops? They could die. That
wasn’t very moral of him. But he couldn’t jeopardize this night, this mission. Finding the pit
would save more lives.

Tommy let them continue shooting.

“Driver down!”

Tommy heard a crash in the distance and did his best not to move or wince. He breathed,
reminding himself that it had to happen this way.

The man in the passenger seat was laughing as he looked back at Tommy. He mumbled
something about Tommy still being asleep, and another something about taking a new route
to avoid the backup.

Tommy let himself fall back to sleep, not willing to think about what he had allowed to
happen.
 **********

When Tommy woke up again he was tied to a chair in a dim room. It was old and dingy and
almost certainly a resting place before they continued the drive. There was crust in his eyes,
his mouth dry, throat phlegmy. Ew. They had to be pretty far away.

The room was small, there was a single window to his right. Through it Tommy saw blank
plains. Under the window, he saw the one of guys that drove him here. He was slumped over
but not asleep, just watching Tommy. Looking around, Tommy noticed that the car was
inside, there was a garage door on the wall in front of Tommy. The second guy was sleeping
in the passenger seat.

Tommy glared back at the guy under the window, he had sat up fully by then. He had a bottle,
most likely beer, discarded on the ground next to him. And his pistol. And a knife. Which is
when Tommy realized he should probably act a little more scared than he was, but what were
they going to do? Take him back if he wasn’t scared enough? If they wanted fighters, they
wanted fiery ones.

“Where am I?” Tommy asked.

“Right where no one will find you, kid.”

Helpful. Tommy testily tugged on the ropes around him. Sturdy but easy for Tommy to get
out of if he upped his strength or burned through it.

“Where are we going?”

“The pit. You know what that is?” Tommy shook his head, the guy grinned. “It’s a fighting
ring, and we don’t get many willing competitors, so we take our own.”

“And kids are easier to get,” Tommy guessed.

“And more fun to watch squirm.”

Tommy clenched his fists just to keep fire from spewing out of them. He kept his eyes on the
man’s, glaring with all the same heat that lay just under his skin.

“Can you fight as hard as you can scowl?” the man at the wall asked through a laugh.

“Get me out of these ropes and we’ll see.”

The man laughed again, slapping his knee and actually wheezing. “We’ll get good money for
you.”

Tommy steeled himself and took a few breaths. Taking these two down was not worth
potentially giving up the pit’s location. He just had to keep himself in check.
“How far is it?” Tommy asked.

“Not very,” a voice answered from right behind Tommy.

A hand slammed down on his shoulder, making him jolt. And just for fun, Tommy snapped
his teeth at the man next to his chair. He jumped back with a curse before surging forward to
slap Tommy across the face.

“Fucking prick,” Tommy groaned scrunching his nose and swiveling his jaw.

Then the man sat next to his buddy, they were muttering something. Tommy enhanced his
hearing.

“—reported heroes not far from us.”

“Coming here?”
“They think so.”

“Shit.”

Shit.

Tommy, as much as he hated criminals, really hoped that these guys were good enough to
escape while they could. Or maybe it was a miracle and it was a false alarm. Really, how
would the heroes have known about this? And they wouldn’t have followed after them, that
was a cop thing. Heroes were too lazy. Or as the press put it, “too good for lowly
kidnappings”.

“Alright kid, time to go to sleep,” one man said, walking past Tommy to the car. The other
was picking up his weapons. “We gotta move before your saviours get here—”

“Too late.”

Tommy whipped his head toward the back of the room where the shadow of Gladius stood,
half covered in darkness. Tommy held back a curse. Of course, it was one of SBI.

Techno lifted a hand, ready to boil their blood, but a gun’s barrel was pressed to Tommy’s
temple. His chair was dragged roughly to face Gladius.

“Put your hand down and maybe I won’t shoot him.”

Techno, upon seeing Tommy’s face, immediately dropped his hand. Tommy was left with a
decision: save the heroes a bit of trouble and pull himself out of the ropes as soon as he
could, or let the criminals do their thing and hopefully get away with Tommy.

“ Put down— ”

A gunshot rang out right next to Tommy’s head, making him flinch so hard the ropes scraped
his bare arms. He didn’t feel any pain, apart from the newly forming headache.
“I can shoot faster than you can talk, the next one’s hitting his head.”

Tommy didn’t dare turn his head, but he knew that Wilbur—Mandatum— was behind them.
The other guy who’d helped kidnap Tommy was at their side, he faced Gladius, the other
faced Mandatum.

“Let him—” Mandatum started, but he slapped a hand over his mouth as the gunman’s hand
twitched. Mandatum raised his hand in surrender.

“Let him go,” Gladius supplied. “You won’t kill him, he’s your leverage.”

Tommy activated his pain suppression, knowing exactly what was coming. Technoblade was
supposed to be smarter than that oh fuck—

A knife sliced across Tommy’s collarbone, deep and deliberate. Tommy refused to wince—
whether it hurt or not—and make it more difficult for Techno and Wil. He didn’t need them
feeling guilty about this.

“We don’t want to kill him, he’s worth a lot. But we can hurt him.”

“He can handle a little blood loss,” Gladius said, stepping forward so confidently Tommy
was almost hurt.

“Oh yeah?” Knife Guy taunted. He promptly drew a red line down Tommy’s arm, starting
under his t-shirt sleeve and ending at his elbow. “You’re probably right. Where should the
next one go?” Knife Guy held the blade under Tommy’s chin. “Here?”

Gladius didn’t move. Tommy wished he could see Wilbur. Was Phil here?

“Where are you taking him?” Gladius demanded.

“As if you heroes don’t know by now.”

Tommy cringed. They really probably didn’t. As much as Tommy loved Techno and Wil, the
heroes were so completely incompetent. They did not care enough to investigate anything
this effortful.

“Enlighten me.”

“Tell them, boy, where are we going?” Knife Guy tickled Tommy’s chin with the metal.

“The pit,” Tommy spat. “Fighting ring.”

Techno’s gaze was glacial. Everything in his stance tense, sturdy like diamond, just as rough
and raw. He was holding back so much fury, Tommy almost wanted to see him unleash it.

After a breath, Gladius spoke. “Do you think we won’t follow you? Even if we were to let
you go? We’d follow you right to the pit.”

“Oh, no, you’re going to let us go and I’m going to shoot you both in each of your legs.”
Techno scoffed. “Like that would do much.”

A shot went off, Tommy flinched, he didn’t hear a grunt. When he opened his eyes, Gladius
had a hole in his left pant leg. He stayed standing.

“Cute.” Techno looked down, unimpressed. “You should try it again.”

Another shot went off. Tommy cringed again, watching as another hole made its home in
Gladius’ left leg, just above the other. Prime, that must have hit bone. Surely.

“Gladius stop—” Tommy started, but the barrel of the gun was shoved into his temple and a
cut was ripped down his chest.

“Don’t talk until we ask you to,” Knife Guy spat.

“You should shoot again, third time’s the charm right?” Gladius laughed.

“Gladius—” Mandatum tried, but Knife Guy shoved the tip of the knife into the back of
Tommy’s shoulder.

Mandatum shut his mouth with a click. Tommy was eternally grateful for his pain
suppression abilities.

“Come on, this is good practice for me,” Gladius teased, voice void of humour.

A third shot went off, this time hitting Gladius’ right leg, his thigh. Tommy couldn’t help but
squirm in his seat, eager to get out but not willing to let his pain suppression go.

“Stop—” Tommy started but was promptly nailed in the side of his head by the butt of a
pistol.

The world went blurry for a moment before he blinked it away. He missed something because
Gladius was kneeling, pressing a hand over a wound in his stomach. Mandatum was next to
him. Tommy shook his head. He instantly regretted the action. Everything swirled.

“You fucking idiot,” Mandatum muttered. Tommy barely heard it.

Then Techno whispered something. The words ammo and gone . Was all Tommy needed to
hear to figure out precisely what Techno had been doing. And before he could laugh or
scream or cry, Wilbur bellowed.

“ Put your— ” a gun clicked, “ weapons down. ”

As the knife was centimeters away from Tommy’s throat, it dropped onto his lap, the gun
clattered to the floor next to him. The two men started backing away but Techno’s hand was
already raised. As they tried to run, each of them fell, blood spilling from their eyes.

Tommy didn’t have much of a chance to look before Wilbur was crouching next to his chair
and cutting off his ropes.
“Tommy! Tommy. Toms. You’re okay, you’re okay,” he was whispering. “We’ve got you.”

“I know, Wil. I’m okay.”

The ropes came loose and as Tommy was about to get up to check on Techno, Wilbur pulled
him into a hug. Wil’s wings burst from his back like he couldn’t help it, they encompassed
Tommy completely. Tommy hugged him back, biting his tongue and closing his eyes.

“You’re safe,” Wil muttered, hand clenched a little too tightly in Tommy’s hair.

“I—yeah. I’m okay. Is Techno?” Tommy asked

Wilbur pulled away to see Tommy’s face. Then he frowned and cupped Tommy’s left cheek.
When he pulled his hand away it was bloody.

Tommy ignored that. “Wil? Is Techno okay?” He wiggled his way out of the circle of feathers
and tried to walk over to Techno. Wilbur just stopped him and scooped him up bridal style.

Tommy didn’t entirely mind as long as the wings stayed back. They did. Wilbur sat Tommy
next to Techno, leaning against the wall. Techno was talking to someone through an
earpiece.

Tommy was starting to feel the exhaustion from keeping up his pain suppression. It was
going to be pretty embarrassing if he started whining in pain after all of this.

“It’s okay. Techno’s talking to Phil. Let me see you,” Wil said, looking over the cuts littering
Tommy. “Holy prime.”

Techno passed something to Wil, a thick wad of red fabric.

“Is that your cape?” Tommy asked.

Techno nodded as he continued to talk to Phil. “They didn’t lie, let them go.”

Tommy, on the verge of asking who the hell he was talking about, remembered Techno’s
many bullet wounds. He slapped Techno.

“Why the hell did you have to do that? You could have drawn their ammo in another way
You didn’t have to get them to fucking shoot you five times.”

“It was only four,” Techno shrugged.

“Well were you going to take all ten rounds?”

“It would have only been eight and I counted the bullets they fired when the police chased
them. We were flying above it all.”

Tommy would have laughed at Phil in the background going “ you take care of your fucking
bullet wounds Techno I swear to prime what were you thinking? You’re grounded—fucking
grounded—” if it weren't for Wilbur pressing on the wound running down Tommy’s chest.
They cut right through his shirt.

Techno kept talking to Phil, convincing him everything was fine and that he just needed to
get here quickly. When he stopped, Techno turned to Tommy and held up a hand, slowing the
leaking blood.

“Focus on you, dipshit,” Tommy urged, pushing Techno’s hand away.

Techno grabbed his wrist and held it down. As Tommy was about to start using his other
hand, Wilbur spoke.

“ Tommy, sit still. ”

Techno put Tommy’s hand on the ground and brought his own back up to keep the blood
inside of Tommy’s body.

“You must be in shock, you barely reacted to the cuts,” Wilbur muttered. “You got hit in the
head pretty hard but it’s too dark to see your eyes. Do you feel dizzy?”

He did, a little. “No.”

“Good.” Wilbur pressed a part of Techno’s cape to Tommy’s chin. Maybe the knife did get
him toward the end. “What else did they do to you?”

Tommy suddenly wondered why nobody was watching the men they’d just brought down.

“Prime, are they dead?”

“No. What else did they do to you?”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, trying to will himself to look over Wil’s
shoulder. His command to sit still was too strong.

“Chloroform.” Tommy watched, cheeks reddening, as Wilbur and Techno’s expressions both
fell into smoldering fury. “Really, I’m okay though. I wasn’t scared—and I don’t even feel
anything.”

“That’s because you’re in shock,” Wilbur said, practically holding Tommy’s head up. “You’re
drowsy. Stay awake.”

Tommy was struggling to keep his pain immunity up. Struggling a lot. And Wilbur’s wings
were all fluffy, just barely showing over the man’s back, they took a good chunk of Tommy’s
attention and thus weakened his concentration.

“Techno, are you okay? Why did you do that?” Tommy asked again, desperately wanting
Techno to look after himself. “I’m okay, please stop yourself from bleeding out.”

“I physically cannot bleed out. It’s part of my power. Just relax Tommy, you’re okay.”
Tommy groaned, slumping forward slightly. The hand that was on Tommy’s chest, holding
the cape there, came up to Tommy’s shoulder to keep him upright. Prime he was so tired
now.

“How’d you find me?” Tommy asked before Wilbur could berate him with concerned
remarks and questions.

The question made the heroes tense. Techno was the one to answer.

“It was some villains. Apis and Lanuae. Said they watched you get taken.”

Tommy’s breath stuttered in his chest. “Isn’t chasing kidnappers a police job?”

“Not when the kid being taken is you.”

Tommy’s chest tightened. He didn’t know why the villains sent the heroes after him. But
why, why did they know to tell SBI? They had to have said “Tommy”. They couldn’t have
said Rubrum. SBI wouldn’t have gone after anyone else.

“Why did they tell you?” Tommy asked, trying not to sound shaky.

“They called it a favour. I guess we owe them.”

No, no no no. They knew who he was. Cicatrix was supposed to charm them into forgetting.
That liar. That bastard.

“Breathe, Tommy, you’re starting to panic,” Wilbur whispered, rubbing a thumb over his
cheek from where he held Tommy’s chin wound.

Tommy took a breath reeling himself in. He needed to check his trackers immediately. He
needed to do it before the heroes found them. They were sewn into the waistband of his
pants.

Prime he was so tired, his brain was mush.

“Stay awake Tommy, Techno’s almost done clotting the blood.”

“I’m so confused,” Tommy mumbled.

“You’re okay,” Wilbur soothed. “Hey, eyes open.”

Tommy felt the pain start to slide in. It was slowly throbbing into existence. He didn’t
manage to hide his winces. Techno kept a hand on his shoulder, Wil’s hands were still
pressing on his chin and chest.

“It hurts,” Tommy said before immediately regretting it. “I mean—it’s not that bad.”

“Tommy, you’re allowed to feel pain. It’s okay, Phil’s on his way.”
Tommy whined before he had to fully let his pain suppression go. The sting of the cuts and
thrum in his head hit immediately. Tommy slumped forward, wanting to hide his face and
unable to stay up. He curled his arms in to paw at the cuts on his chest. Wilbur stopped him,
pulling his hands away and letting Tommy lean into him.

“You need to lay down?” Techno asked.

Tommy didn’t answer, so Wilbur maneuvered him to lay down, his head in Techno’s lap.
Tommy looked up at Techno, whose hands were hovering hesitantly over him. Techno gave
him a sad smile and put a hand in Tommy’s hair, the other one over the cut down his chest.

“The bleeding is done, it’s clotted. You’re okay Tommy,” Techno said.

“What about you? The bullets must have hit bone.”

Techno sighed and laughed fondly. He scratched through Tommy’s hair. “My bones are fine.”

Tommy mumbled something. He himself wasn’t even sure what it was supposed to be.
Wilbur’s eyes flickered to his, pooling with concern. Tommy tried to tell him he was okay but
it came out as more slurring. He shook his head. Prime he was tired.

“I’m okay,” he managed to get out.

“Yeah, you are,” Wilbur agreed, brown wings twitching. “Phil’s flying here, he’ll be fast.”

Tommy hated seeing the tenseness in Wilbur’s wings. It had his instincts wailing. He was so
glad that Techno’s weren’t out. Tommy ached to reach over and smooth out the fluff. He only
realized that he acted on the thought when Wil let out a surprised chuckle and pushed his
wing closer.

“Stop stressing,” Tommy demanded. “You look stupid.”

He stroked over the feathers, fighting down his own distressed tweets. Wilbur’s face was all
contorted in a mess of fondness and concern. Tommy didn’t know how to feel about it so he
looked at Techno. When their eyes met, Techno started sorting through Tommy’s hair again.

“Tommy, do you think you can tell us what happened? What you know about the pit?”
Techno asked.

Tommy nodded, twirling a loose feather between his fingers and pulling it out. “I was
walking through the city, and these fucks chloroformed me. Woke up a few times in the car.
Then I woke up here.” Tommy bit his cheek, debating whether or not to tell them anything
more about the pit. He decided that Cicatrix had this handled. “Don’t know much though.”

Wilbur hummed. “That’s okay.”

A car drove near outside, then one of its doors thumped closed. Wil stood from his kneeling
position, shooting up like a rocket. The two men were still out cold. From a doorway next to
the car came a figure, waltzing in with his wings out.
“Oh, Phil, thank prime,” Wil breathed, kneeling back down beside Tommy and Techno.

“The van’s outside. Wil, take Tommy. I’ll get Tech.”

“I can walk—” Techno started.

“No.”

Tommy was lifted bridal style again and stiffened as Wilbur’s wings circled him. He closed
his eyes and pretended they weren’t there. Wilbur’s steps were quick and gentle, he waited
outside the van for Phil and Techno to get there. Phil opened the door and Tommy was
swiftly placed on one of the cots. Phil forced Techno onto the other.

“Phil I’m fine. ”

“You’re grounded is what you are. You can’t just let people shoot you! That’s not smart, you
fucked up your bones and muscles and shit—Techno—”

“I knew there were only four bullets left and I had to draw them out,” Techno urged.

Wilbur shook his head in exasperation. He was kneeling at Tommy’s cot and smoothing back
his hair. As Tommy slapped his hand away Wilbur reached for their first aid kit. He pulled
out the gauze, bandages, and antiseptic. Phil and Techno made good background noise. It
kept Tommy occupied, he didn’t have time to think about how the mission failed while Phil
was listing off every bad effect the bullets could have on Techno.

“He’ll be okay though, right?” Tommy asked, he was only expecting Wil to hear him.

“Yes,” Phil sighed, we have wonderful healers at the tower.”

Tommy nodded. “Good.”

He knew he was being taken to the tower—he was getting really sick of that place—but he
was confident he could worm his way out of it. And with how eager Cicatrix was to get the
pit out of his way, Tommy was sure Lanuae would pop in to steal him if it came to it.

**********

“The fuck do you mean I can’t leave?”

“Just let us take care of you.”

“No, fuck you!”

“Yes, come here!”

Tommy dodged Wilbur who was trying to fucking swaddle him in blankets so he’d stop
squirming.

“You need to rest!”

“I can rest in my own house,” Tommy spat.

Phil came around the corner, leaving Techno’s room, two mugs in his hand. He saw Wilbur
chasing Tommy around and completely ignored it in favour of making more coffee.

“Phil! Phil! Phil! Tell him to let me leave,” Tommy screeched, running toward Phil.

He’d been in the hero tower for a day per the insistence of all of SBI. He was told he could
leave if Custos thought he wasn’t still in danger. He wasn’t. He had a few “just in case” tests
done on him—yes he tried to get out of them—then he was given some supplies to look after
his cuts, and now he was trying to leave.

“Wil, we promised we’d let him leave.”

“He shouldn’t be alone.”

“Stop whining bitch, I’m leaving,” Tommy said, thinking he could just walk by Wilbur now
that Phil had put his word in. He was wrong. “Hey—”

Wilbur attacked him, wrapping the blue blanket in his hand all the way around Tommy before
kicking his legs out from underneath him. He pulled the blanket around Tommy’s legs and
chest, then pinned the ends between Tommy’s back and his stomach. They were on the floor,
Wilbur dragged them back to lean against the couch.

“You shouldn't be alone.”

“Fuck. You.”

Wilbur laughed and pulled Tommy’s head back to lean on his shoulder. Phil looked down at
them tiredly. Then he pulled his phone out and Tommy almost considered activating his
strength enhancement just to get away. The picture Phil ended up getting had Wil laughing
his ass off with Tommy scowling the deepest scowl mankind has seen.

Exhausted, Tommy gave in and let himself fall limp against Wilbur. “I’m leaving later. I work
tomorrow.”

Phil hummed disapprovingly. “You should take some time off.”

“No.”

Tommy was eternally grateful that Phil didn’t push any further. He was also grateful that
Wilbur was moving them to the couch—but he also kind of wasn’t because this was
humiliating.

“Let me go,” he tried again weakly.

“Later.”

**********

Tommy lied about having to work the next day. Tubbo told him to take the day off because he
wanted to work that day. So Tommy was out late that night scouring the area for his new
villain accomplices. He saw Apis alone and decided to sneak up on him. It was on a building
in the same area Tommy usually found them—or where they found him. He wondered if Apis
was looking for him too.

Tommy jumped over the ledge of the roof from a fire escape, startling Apis who turned,
ready to shoot. Shoot? Since when did Apis have a gun?

“Your trackers malfunctioned,” Apis said simply. “They overheated. Which should not have
been possible unless you were driving through fire.”

Ah. Tommy’s skin did get dangerously hot when he was holding back fire.

“Nice to see you too. Is Cicatrix pissed?”

Apis put his gun away with a shrug. “He’s annoyed but he’s not worried. We sent the heroes
after you, now they owe us.”

“Yeah,” Tommy grit his teeth, all of the heat returned to his fists. “You had to tell them who I
was. You would have to give a name for the heroes to come after me. Even if you saw my
face, I never gave you a name.”

Apis only glared, arms crossed. Tommy didn’t need more than the silence to lunge forward,
cuts stretching over his flesh. He enhanced his speed and knocked Apis to the ground. He
pinned the hero down. He activated his strength to keep him down.

Vroop!

Hands snapped around Tommy’sneck, pulling him back and slamming him into the building’s
stone roof. Tommy rolled over himself and to his feet. Lanuae was walking toward him,
Tommy didn’t give him any time to react before lobbing a ball of fire at him.

Lanuae yelped, pawing at his face and falling back from the force of the fire. Apis flew over
Lanuae and charged at Tommy. With burning hands, Tommy caught the villain and swung
him to the ground. Tommy pulled his entire weight onto Apis and pinned the villain’s wrists.
As he heard Lanuae running over, Tommy yanked Apis’ mask off.

Lanuae’s hands gripped Tommy’s shoulders, he surged up and whirled on Lanuae. Tommy
flicked his mask off with a deliberate punch. By the end of the motion, Lanuae was pinned
under Tommy, unmasked.
Tommy scrambled back, eyes wide and words caught in his throat. Tubbo and Ranboo stood,
facing him on the rooftop.

“Tommy, listen—” Ranboo tried.

Tommy shook his head. Heat rose to his neck, smoke spilled off his palms. Villains. His best
friends and coworkers. Villains.

“We made Cicatrix let us keep our memory, Tommy, we don’t have to be enemies,” Tubbo
said. “I knew even before we did see your face.”

“You’re villains. Villains? Really?” Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

“Cicatrix has helped us a lot, he saved us. We owe him,” Ranboo said. “He can help you too.”

“And the fuck do you think I need help with?”

“You need a safe home. People to live with. So you can take Clementine back.” Tommy’s
blood boiled. He gave Clementine to a villain. Oh prime, he gave Clementine to Lanuae. “So
we can help keep the heroes away from you.”

“This doesn’t change the mission, Tommy. We still want the pit gone. That’s a good deed,”
Tubbo said.

Tommy wanted to say no. He wanted to quit work at the café out of spite, but he didn’t see
the logic in it. They had his identity, but he had theirs. They couldn’t blackmail him without
him doing it right back. It was mutually assured destruction. This wasn’t necessarily a loss
for Tommy.

“But Cicatrix still knows who I am now too, doesn’t he?”

“No. We didn’t tell him. We just said that you were a friend,” Tubbo said.

A friend.

“You are a friend, Tommy. We don’t need to agree on hero and villain politics to work
together every once and a while,” Ranboo added

Tommy huffed. Then he groaned. “Yeah. Okay. Fine. What’s next? The mission failed.”

“We’ll find you in three days with a gift from Cicatrix. Heal up. You’ll need a lot of energy,”
Tubbo said. “See you at work in two days though.”

Tommy shook his head with a bitter laugh. “Yeah. Guess so. Bring Clementine, I want her
back.”

“I’ve been taking good care of her, you can trust me with her, Tommy.”

“No. I want her back.”

 Ranboo nodded. Tommy left, rubbing his temple and mumbling to himself about villains
sucking and heroes being annoying and how he needed a long ass nap.

Chapter End Notes

ELLO ELLO, hope you enjoyed, speed wrote this. (Never beta read btw).
If you did enjoy this chapter and like my writing, consider checking out my other fics:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Hurt/Comfort Oneshots
And come interact with me on twitter.
Have a good week, drink some water, and take time to prepare yourself for school if you
haven't already started :)
 Chapter 11
Chapter Summary

Fast-paced drama and fire <3

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: fire/mentions of torture/violence/injury

Let me know if I missed any!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Hey Tommy,” Ranboo greeted.

“Where is my cat?”

Ranboo wrung his hands together. “Well, I just thought I could show you some uh, pictures
so you know she’s okay—because she’s safer with me—”

“I want my fucking cat, Lanuae.”

Ranboo’s eyes widened and he yanked Tommy into the back room of the cafe. “Don’t call me
that here.”

“Where the fuck is Clementine?”

Ranboo’s face was looking extra punchable today, especially now that he could see Lanuae in
it.

“Well after I found out that you were Rubr—uh—you know,” Ranboo started backing up as
Tommy got closer, “I kind of agreed with you that she’s safer with me—”

“I swear to prime Ranboo I’ll kill you if you don’t go get my cat right fucking now.”

Tommy backed Ranboo into the wall and ached to throw fire at his face. He could light his
hand on fire and just shove it right into Ranboo’s face.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll get her but… just, if you need help taking care of her I can help you.”

Tommy blinked. “Go now.”

“Cover for me,” Ranboo mumbled, grabbing his raincoat. Tubbo came into the back room a
second later. “Actually, you cover for me.”

Tubbo just glanced between Ranboo and Tommy, then he shrugged and started tying on an
apron.

“He didn’t bring my cat,” Tommy said.

“Right. He’s attached.”

“Is he more attached to my cat or his life?”

Tubbo snorted. A tiny bit of the tension in Tommy’s shoulders leaked out. He too started
tying on his apron. There were only three early customers.

“What are the next steps in the plan?” Tommy asked. Because what better conversation could
there be in the morning than discussing villainous intentions?

Tubbo paused, looking up at him and then at the closed door. “Q has something that’ll help
you follow a van.”

“I can’t drive.”

“No, it’s not a vehicle. Just, as long as you’re not too injured to do a lot of running, it can
happen in a few days. He wants you to rest up.”

Tommy nodded. He wasn’t sure what Cicatrix could have that wasn't a vehicle or a magic
pair of wings—Tommy had considered revealing his own wings for this before—but that man
had been known to be creative.

“You’re taking the counter first,” Tommy said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

**********

“Holy fuck,” Tommy gasped.

Clementine was plump. Healthily plump. Her fur was perfectly smooth like she'd been
regularly brushed. And she wasn’t skinny. Tommy held back tears looking at her.

Ranboo opened the kennel’s door and with an excited mewl Clementine padded right up to
Tommy and into his lap. She arched up and placed her paws on his shoulders to sniff at his
face.

“Hi Clem,” he whispered, stroking behind her ears. “You look so good.”
Clementine chattered her response and rammed her face into Tommy’s chin. He chuckled and
petted her back. She leaned into his hand and continued to rub her face on his chin and
cheeks.

“She’s not that cuddly with me,” Ranboo said.

“Of course she’s not, you’re you. I’m me.”

Ranboo picked through the kennel and pulled out a few cat toys. There was a crinkly bag,
some stuffed mice, and a fish that flopped around if you hit it hard enough.

“She likes the crinkly bag the best,” Ranboo said. “I also have her cat food in my backpack. I
use wet food.”

Wet food. That shit was way more expensive than what Tommy could afford. He looked
down at Clementine with a frown, she had flopped onto her back in his lap, paws slapping at
his hands.

“I also got a leash to take her on walks in the community garden but she doesn’t like it that
much. She’s getting used to it I think,” Ranboo went on.

“Oh,” Tommy croaked.

Clementine wrapped her paws around his hand and nibbled on his fingers. Then she licked
them. Then bit them. Then licked them again. Tommy scratched under her chin.

“You okay?”

No. He was not. Ranboo was obviously more capable of taking care of Clementine than he
was. She was obviously happier and healthier with Ranboo. And here Tommy was, about to
take good food and good care away from her.

Tommy nodded. Ranboo sat down across from him. “You don’t seem okay.”

“Shut up,” Tommy mumbled.

Clementine was much heavier. A good heavy. She was well-fed, with quality food. Tommy
sometimes had to switch up her food and it gave her stomach problems. Prime, he felt bad
every time.

“I was thinking maybe I could cat-sit for you… when you’re too busy to be at home. Just
every once and a while so she doesn’t get lonely,” Ranboo said.

“Do you live with anyone, Ranboo?” Tommy asked.

Ranboo nodded. “Tubbo and I are roommates. We’ve got another guy named Bill with us
too.”

Oh.
So now she was used to having someone with her almost all of the time then. And if Tommy
took her back he’d be out of the house in the mornings for work, and if he got a second job in
the afternoon, and then patrols. Fuck. She didn’t deserve that.

“You care about her, don’t you?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah. A lot. She’s a really great cat.”

Tommy’s eyes stung. “Do you think, maybe in a few days, you could take her back again?”

Ranboo’s mouth fell open. He searched Tommy’s expression, he might have seen the gleam
in his eyes.

“...Yes, if that’s what you want.”

“I want to see her every once and a while though.”

“Sure.”

“And if you hurt her or lose her or use her against me then I swear to holy prime—”

“You’ll kill me. I know. I’ll take really good care of her.”

“I’d kill Tubbo too,” Tommy murmured, picking Clementine up to rest against his chest.
“Thank you for taking care of her.”

Ranboo looked utterly distraught and Tommy thought that the face suited him. Loser. Tommy
snorted and listened gratefully to Clementine's purrs. She kept rubbing her nose across his
face and she pawed at his eyes.

“Do you need the breakdown room?” Ranboo asked.

Tommy nodded.

**********

Tommy had stayed in the breakdown closet for most of his shift. There wasn’t a lot of crying.
And when there was Clementine was especially clingy. He played with her and almost took a
nap. He’d come out at one point to work because he felt bad about leaving it all to the other
two—as angry with them as he was—but Tubbo told him to take another break. Weirdo.

Tommy ended up staying there until his shift ended. Ranboo knocked on the closet door and
told him it was time to go home. He stayed there for about five minutes, then he came out to
get Clementine situated in her kennel.
After he did he left the back room. He almost dropped Clementine's kennel when he saw
Wilbur fucking Craft standing at the counter, ordering coffee. Tommy swiveled on his heel
and started pushing the back door open.

“Tommy! Hey!” Wilbur called.

“Shit,” Tommy mumbled. “Hey, Wil,” he said, turning back to the counter. Tubbo was taking
the order but now was staring daggers into Tommy’s soul.

Tubbo went to make the coffee and Tommy came around the corner to wait with Wil. He set
Clementine’s kennel on the ground by his feet, she mewed and Wilbur crouched down to see
her.

“You bring your cat to work?”

“Uh, sometimes. Why are you here?” Tommy asked.

It was just a little bit awkward that Tubbo was seeing how close Tommy was to literal heroes
with all the identity revealing that went on a few days ago. Tubbo knew they were friends,
but maybe he didn’t realize just how close of friends. Oh prime this wasn’t fun.

“I’m getting coffee, obviously.”

Tommy squinted. “And?”

Wilbur grinned. “And because we need to see you at the tower for a bit.”

Tubbo paused at the counter. He recovered quickly and brought over Wilbur’s coffee, a
cautiously timid smile on his face. Wilbur thanked him and turned toward Tommy again.

“For what?”

“Just need a favour, you’re done working right?”

Tommy scowled. He could just say no but Wilbur probably knew his schedule somehow. He
could also say he was taking somebody else’s shift. Then it hit him. It was always for the
same reasons that Tommy was dragged to the tower.

“I’m busy.”

“Liar.”

“Go away.”

Wilbur sighed. “Please? I just—okay—Phil wants you to see Sam again about your injuries
—”

Tommy groaned and hiked his bag up on his shoulder. He grabbed Clementine and started to
stomp out of the cafe.
“—we just want to make sure you’re okay! That was a lot for a kid—”

“Not a kid.”

“—and we only let you go because we thought space would help but we want to make sure
you’re taking care of yourself— ”

Wilbur snatched Tommy’s elbow and ripped the bag off of his shoulder. Tommy whirled
around, glowering but making no move to grab it back.

“I just want to know that you’re okay,” Wil said.

“Why don’t you believe me when I tell you?” Tommy asked, genuinely curious.

Wilbur shrugged, looking a little guilty, and he gestured toward his car parked outside.

“You just seemed to have trouble telling us when something was wrong. Tech and I used to
have a hard time with that too, it was painful. Literally and emotionally.”

Tommy rolled his eyes but he followed Wil. It made him smile, and seeing Wil smile made
Tommy feel a little lighter. He didn’t want them to worry, as nervous as he was in the tower,
Tommy could handle a few minutes.

**********

“Tommy, this is important,” Phil deadpanned.

“I changed my mind,” Tommy said, crossing his arms and leaning away from Wilbur.

They were back in the hero tower. Tommy thought he could do it but they passed a lot of
heroes and he got nervous.

“It’s just a quick check-up and Wil can take you home.”

Tommy was sitting on the couch. Wilbur on his left, Phil on his right. If he even leaned
forward their hands snapped out to keep him there. They wanted Custos to check on him
again even though he insisted that he was fine.

“You were literally tortured,” Wil said. “I was on the edge of having a heart attack.”

“Your fault for getting attached,” Tommy scoffed.

Custos finally came out, a polite smile on his face. Tommy was starting to hate this guy’s
face. He was one of the heroes that didn’t hide his identity, Sam was his name or something,
Sans maybe? Tommy didn’t care, this guy was the bane of his existence.
“Hi there Tommy, I know you don’t like checkups and things so we’ll make this quick and
easy,” Custos said, he had a case in his hands. Doctor-y stuff probably. Maybe money Tommy
could yoink. “Can you take your shirt off?”

Tommy hated doing that. What if he had other injuries he’d forgotten about that they could
see? It’s what he thought every time he had to do this, but they’d already checked these
wounds before. They would have seen anything old, so he shouldn’t have to worry. The main
issue was the wing scars, but he would just keep his back pressed to the cushions.

Tommy pulled his shirt off and balled it in his lap. Custos leaned down in front of the couch,
Phil and Wil backed off and Tommy hated the way he missed their closeness. He wasn’t a
child.

Custos started to lift the bandages over his collarbone and a pleased expression crossed his
face.

“This looks really good, Tommy. Any extra pain? Itching?”

Tommy shook his head. He was honestly surprised that things were healing so well, he had
not been resting like he should have been. Custos started to clean off the wound and had
bandages ready to replace the old ones with.

“Do you still have the stuff I gave you to take care of this?”

Tommy nodded, watching the hero spread a glob of something over the cut. It stung a bit,
Tommy activated his pain immunity. Custos asked a few more questions Tommy didn’t see
the point to, and then he was putting his shirt back on and squirming away from Wil and
Phil.

“There’s just one more thing I want you to do for me, mate,” Phil said.

Tommy cocked an eyebrow. “What?’

“I want you to come talk to someone.”

“Who?”

**********

A therapist. It was a therapist. Phil tried to trick him into seeing a therapist and now Tommy
was running because Phil was obviously not going to let him leave. Tommy was running
down the stairs, Wilbur had been calling after him to which Tommy responded that he should
“unkindly fuck off”. Prime, these guys were so pushy.

But anyway, Tommy saw the front exit and he was wasting no time jogging to it. The second
he made it into open air, Phil dropped down right in front of him.
“Fuck—” Tommy screamed. “Holy shit oh my god , Philza Craft you are unbearable I am so
sick of you and your stupid sons pushing me to do shit I don’t fucking want to do—”

“Tommy.”

“You are fucking wronguns I am going to kill you one day, you should move so I can go plot
your fucking death—”

Phil put two hands on Tommy’s shoulders and stared down at him with an exasperated but
amused smile. “Okay. I’m sorry. I won’t make you. I know I hesitated when you said you
wanted to leave. I’m sorry.”

Tommy glowered up at him but rolled his eyes. He shoved past Philza, cat and backpack in-
hand. “It’s fine.”

“Let me give you a lift home, Tommy,” Phil offered, following behind him.

“No, go away.”

Phil snorted. “Okay. Fine, just call if you ever need anything.”

“Die.”

**********

Tommy had time to kill while he waited for Cicatrix to contact him again. He wondered if the
villain was pissed. He wondered if he was in danger. But Ranboo and Tubbo didn’t seem too
concerned. And it honestly wasn’t like it was Tommy’s fault anyway. So. It was going to be
fine. Most likely.

Tommy sat at home with Clementine until it got dark. They played, they napped, she purred,
Tommy might have cried. Maybe. He wished he had a new phone so he could take pictures of
her. And maybe they could have used those snapchat pet filters together.

“Clem I am losing my mind.”

“Mrrrph.”

“I’m serious.”

Tommy listened to her purrs and content mews until the sky was too dark to ignore. He
started to put his vigilante gear on. He just needed his mask—which Clementine was
currently laying on.

“Clem. I need that,” Tommy said, trying to pull it from under her. She clawed at him. “Hey!
No, Clem—I need that.”
Clementine did not give up the mask. Not when Tommy scooped some extra food into her
bowl, not when he rolled up some paper for her to chase, and not when he pulled out the
fucking catnip—another thing Ranboo had gotten her.

“People could be dying, cat.”

Clementine made a sound similar to a snort and Tommy just blinked at her. Okay, that was
the last straw. Tommy activated his pain immunity and snatched her off the ground. She
clawed at him and nibbled on his fingers. He felt nothing. Tommy dumped her on the
mattress and finally picked up his mask. He pulled it on and glared at her from under it.

“I’ll do a short one. Just a couple hours.”

Clementine turned entirely away from Tommy and curled up under the mattress blankets. She
flicked her tail.

“Watch your tone,” Tommy mumbled, securing a new vest he totally did not steal on one of
his last patrols.

Tommy left the apartment with one last fond glance at Clementine. It was nice having her
back. He hoped she was happy to be back. He hoped she didn’t think he’d abandoned her.

Tommy shook his head. Depressing thoughts later. Rubrum thoughts now. Vigilantes thought
about crime and fighting and… women. Not how much they loved and missed their fucking
cat.

Tommy took off into the night from the top of his apartment building roof. The air was cool
but Tommy was already warm from jogging. He watched the police manage to catch
somebody doing something, hopefully that went well. Or—maybe—hopefully it didn’t.
Whatever, the police hated Tommy and Tommy hated them.

Tommy was wearing his braces again and he couldn’t help but marvel at the difference they
made. He was amazed by it—and so grateful for it—every time. Tommy couldn’t really
remember a time his knees felt “normal” and he wasn’t sure if they ever were. Maybe he was
born with knee problems. Custos said it was from overuse but whatever.

Tommy took a break about thirty minutes in. He sat by the park he tried to get himself
kidnapped at and just watched. Which, honestly, was probably creepy. It would be just a little
bit funny if some kid saw a dark looming figure on the roof watching the park. It would just
be a tiny bit comical if they screamed. Kids weren’t generally at the park at this time of night
though, and of course, if they were they would never be alone.

Tommy heard the yell before he heard the crash. Somebody landed on the building behind
him with a grunt. Tommy was on his feet and jogging toward them instantly. It was a hero.
Fluctus.

“Hey, woah, are you okay?” Tommy asked, kneeling next to the groaning hero.

“Fine. You wanna help fight off Ignis?”

Tommy blinked. “Who?”

“Ignis, fire hero, apparently not in Pandora.”

Tommy couldn’t breathe. He pulled Fluctus to her feet and kept his hands on her shoulders as
she regained her footing. He couldn’t breathe.

“Yeah. Um—what’s going on?” Tommy asked. He couldn’t breathe.

“He showed up out of nowhere, burning down the Business Bay Bank as we speak. I’ve
called in the other heroes.”

Tommy nodded, still not breathing. Fluctus started off, hopping down the buildings and back
into the street. Tommy followed her, shaking out his nerves. Now was not the time to get
pulled into the past. Maybe it wasn’t even Jameson.

Tommy saw the smoke in the sky—a lighter grey cast against black—before he smelled it, he
saw the falling ash before it started to sting his eyes. Finally as he was sprinting in tandem
with Fluctus the first of flapping oranges rose over the skyline.

Tommy’s stomach dropped. It was loud, the fire was huge, people were screaming, alarms
were blaring. And still he hadn’t noticed. They only ran for about eleven minutes, Tommy
should have seen it. He wasn’t paying attention. Holy fuck.

“I have to quell the fires, I need you to distract him until the others get here,” Fluctus said,
water already leaking from her fingertips.

“Okay,” Tommy said, because he was self-destructive and stupid and holy fuck this was
going to be bad—

“Are you okay?”

“Thriving,” Tommy said, sprinting off to find Jameson.

Raging water ran with Tommy, not touching him, but all around him as he sprinted into the
fire. He listened for the most commotion. An explosion came from the bank’s roof and
Tommy thought he caught a glimpse of someone up there. He needed to get up there quickly,
and he—oh this was so risky—needed to get his wings out.

Tommy ducked into an alley and ripped off his sweater and vest, leaving him bare-armed.
Tommy crouched and pushed his wings out, they were already flaming. Tommy hissed and
stretched them, prime, they were so sore. He flapped them a few times and used the wall to
stand himself up. He left his sweater in the alley and strapped his vest back on. From his vest
he pulled a beanie to cover his hair—listen, he knew it wasn’t the greatest disguise.

With a few more experimental flaps, Tommy took flight. He just needed to get up there. He
needed the extra fire immunity that came with his wings. He stayed in the dark of the alleys
and flew up the sides of the buildings. He made it to the bank wall and climbed the sky. Over
the ledge of the roof Tommy saw a figure, fire dancing in their hands, they looked down at a
gaping hole in the ceiling. Smoke bellowed from inside it, and fire lit it up.
Tommy landed, wings flared to the sides.

“Jameson?” he asked.

The figure didn’t flinch or freeze, they just turned around expectantly. Dressed in all black,
classic white bandana stuffed under greasy black hair, he turned around. He looked confused
until his eyes landed on Tommy’s wings. Tommy’s flaming phoenix wings.

“Oh, you , are so dead,” Jameson spat.

Tommy rolled away from a column of fire aimed at his face. He unhooked his batons from
his belt, and for the first time in a long time, Tommy wished he carried guns instead. He
charged and fire clipped his side.

Tommy swung at Jameson's temple, his baton was blocked. He swung with the other and
struck Jameson's neck. Tommy was shoved away and quickly enveloped in fire. He rolled.
Back on his feet, Tommy kicked. He kicked again. Jameson spewed fire all over the rooftop,
Tommy activated his speed. He dodged from side to side until he found Jameson in the wall
of orange.

Looping his baton through the man’s legs, he swept Jameson to the ground. Jameson grabbed
Tommy’s wrist and pulled, his foot connected with Tommy’s stomach and pushed. Tommy
soared over the building’s ledge. He smacked a fire escape and kept falling. Tommy
reoriented himself and dived. He arched back up and sped toward the roof. Water rushed
below him and he prayed nobody was watching.

Tommy spotted Jameson and aimed to land on him feet-first. He slammed into Jameson's
back and pressed his soot-crusted boots into his back. Jameson head bounced off of the
concrete. Tommy gasped for breath and put all of his weight on the man. It did nothing.
Jameson launched him off and an explosion of flame engulfed the entire roof again.

Tommy heaved in a few breaths full of smoke and shook his head. He listened for any
shuffling past the rushing of air in his ears. A boot struck Tommy’s temple and he whipped
sideways. Another struck his side. Tommy pulled his wing over himself out of instinct.
Another kick came. Tommy jabbed with his baton and struck Jameson's kneebone with a
sickening crunch.

Jameson yelled and Tommy got to his feet. He wound up his swing and aimed for Jameson's
temple again. The hit was blocked Tommy tried the other side and struck true. Jameson
flailed and smacked the roof. The hole was growing larger. They were dangerously close to
it. Tommy waited for Jameson to move, the man curled on himself.

“How are you walking?” Tommy demanded, fear replaced with unrivaled anger. “I was told
you were paralyzed and locked up.”

“They thought I was,” Jameson hissed, “you’re the reason I could have been dead.”

Tommy shook his head. “No. You don’t get to tell me I’m a traitor, not after everything you
three did to me.”
Jameson got to his hands and knees, and then one knee. He faced Tommy, clutching the side
of his face. His other fist was painted in flames.

“Kurt saved your life.”

“Kurt used my life.”

Jameson's hand shot out and Tommy’s sight was lost in more ash. Jameson barreled into him
and Tommy’s skull was cushioned by stone. Jameson's hands curled around Tommy’s throat
and Tommy made his hands burn. But as his skin glowed hot red Jameson's didn’t char. With
Jameson's whole weight on top of him, Tommy was pinned. He thrashed and smacked with
his batons but couldn’t get any power behind the blows.

“You’re the reasons my best friends are gone, Tommy, and you were stupid enough to come
fight me?”

Tommy wheezed. He retracted his wings before they could break under all of the weight. He
activated his strength and pushed against Jameson's hands. It gave him enough leeway to take
a breath. Jameson's hands were burning around his neck, and now it was starting to hurt.

“Hard to stay fireproof when there’s no one to take care of your wings huh?”

Tommy groaned trying to hold Jameson's hands off his neck. He tried to lift a leg and kick
but Jameson had everything pinned.

“I missed making things out of your feathers, bring your wings back out I need a new
bookmark—”

Jameson was pulled away and Tommy sat up with a gasp. He watched as Apis held Jameson's
bare hand, and paralyzed him. Lanuae appeared next to Tommy and before he could greet
him the villain’s hand slapped his shoulder. With a sudden pop they were back on the ground
and notably not at the burning building.

“What the hell?” Tommy rasped. He stood to face Lanuae and coughed a few times. “Get me
back up there.”

“No, Ignis is dealt with, the heroes will handle the fires.”

Tommy scoffed and started to run back out of the alley. Lanuae popped into existence in front
of him. Tommy tilted his head as a challenge.

“Cicatrix needs you alive and ready for the next mission.”

“I don’t give a fuck what he needs, get out of my way.” Tommy started forward, ready to
push past the villain—Ranboo.

Lanuae’s hand snapped out to stop him and Tommy twisted it away. He ducked under
Lanuae’s swiping hand and pushed the villain away. Tommy activated his speed and ran back
out into the streets. A tsunami of water was rising over the bank, and Tommy saw Apis flying
down toward him. Jameson's body was not in his hands.
Why did that make Tommy’s heart seize?

Sprinting undercover and weaving through more alleys and cars, Tommy tried to lose the
villains on his tail. He found Fluctus standing on another nearby building and bending water
around the fire. Two more figures flew over her head—SBI. Tommy watched them dive into
the hole in the roof and his lungs squeezed. He started toward the front door of the bank.

He couldn’t use his wings with all of these people around. So Tommy sprinted and activated
his pain immunity before grabbing the hot door handles. He scanned the lobby and saw no
one. This scene was familiar.

Vwoop.

An arm looped around Tommy’s torso and his gut swooped at the sudden teleportation.
Tommy was tossed back onto the pavement and clutched at his churning stomach.

“You idiot,” Lanuae hissed. “There’s no one in there, let the heroes handle it.”

“It’s because the hero brothers went in there, isn’t it?” Apis asked, crouching in front of
Tommy. “They’ll be fine.”

Tommy sat back on his ass and glared at Apis. “There could be people left.”

“If there were people who didn’t get out they’re long dead now.”

Tommy leaned back, holding himself up with one hand. He heard a gargantuan splash and
prayed that his—the brothers, were fine. After a minute of coughing out the soot in his lungs
and breathing, Tommy got himself standing. He glowered at the villains next to him.

“I’m going to get some shit I left in an alley, don’t fucking follow me,” he said.

He didn’t need anyone noticing the slits in the back of his t-shirt. He backed away from the
villains and searched out the alley.

“We need to talk—” Apis said, obviously not having listened to Tommy’s instructions.

“No. Later. Bye.”

Tommy activated his strength and ran. He found the alley and put his hoodie on despite how
hot he was. Heat exhaustion was very much on the table. Tommy looked out at the bank. The
fire was mostly put out. Tommy watched for wings, figures in the air, in the cloud of smoke.
He didn’t see anything.

Moving closer and staying under cover, Tommy listened for voices or screaming or more
rushing water. He heard nothing. Circling the back of the bank Tommy saw no more spilling
fire, just a lot of falling ashes. Finally, he made it back to the building that Fluctus had been
on top of, she was on the ground and talking to the SBI brothers.

Tommy let out a relieved breath and decided to get out of there while he could. There were
flashing police lights, Tommy hadn’t heard or noticed their arrival though. Prime, he hadn’t
been very observant at all lately. Tommy shook his head, trying to stop himself from
dissecting the whole night until he got home.

He walked with his shoulders hunched and his speed heightened. His head was really starting
to fog up.

**********

Clementine was sitting in front of the window when Tommy climbed through it. His night
was instantly improved when he saw her. She greeted him with a meow and rubbed her face
over his calf. Tommy pulled the window down and closed the blinds. Then he took off his
mask, vest and hoodie. He tossed them away and sat down to hold Clementine.

But Clementine started licking his face, which wasn’t completely abnormal, but she didn’t
stop. Tommy gently pushed her head down.

“What are you doing?”

Clementine meowed and started licking his hand in the same way. Tommy lifted his hand and
finally understood what she was trying to do. He was completely covered in soot and ash.

“No! No—Clem, you can’t lick that,” Tommy sputtered, picking the cat up and putting her
back on the ground. Tommy chuckled, “You don’t need to fucking clean me.”

Clementine meowed and Tommy ignored her to get a towel for his shower. Before he went
though, he made sure that Clementine’s food bowl was full and she had some cold water to
drink.

Tommy showered quickly and found Clementine waiting right outside the bathroom door. His
heart swelled and he leaned down to pick her up. She practically jumped into his arms.
Tommy scratched under her chin and set her on the counter while he made himself a
sandwich. Clementine waited patiently and Tommy tossed her a piece of turkey.

Then Tommy sat on his mattress and enjoyed the delicacy that was turkey, cheese, and
spinach. Clementine curled up next to his hip as he ate and when he was done he lay down.
Clementine clambered onto his chest and Tommy pulled the blankets over them.

He intended to call Wilbur or Techno, or even Phil, from the café to ask if any of them got
hurt tomorrow. He also intended to steal a new phone soon. He’d go into a shop, have
someone set it all up for him—it would be kind of a robbery and definitely a crime—and then
he’d leave without paying. He could tip five bucks.

What he did not intend to do is think about Jameson. That was a line of thought for another
night. Not right now.

But he was supposed to be paralyzed.

 And in Pandora.

But Tommy wasn’t going to think about that. Because if he started to think about that then
maybe he’d realize that if Jameson was free, then maybe Austin was free. And if they were
both free then maybe Kurt was free.

But Jameson said that “both of his best friends were gone”, so that couldn’t be possible.

But Tommy wasn’t thinking about it right now. Just, if he were to think about it he might also
realize that if Jameson lived tonight he could come after Tommy again. He could try to get
revenge.

But Tommy wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that. So he shook his head and focused on
petting the purring cat on his chest.

An image of Jameson backed by rolling orange was seared into his eyelids.

Not that he was, but if Tommy were to start thinking about it again he might have realized
that Jameson knew his identity too and could use that against him. He could tell SBI.

But he’s probably dead.

And since Tommy wasn’t thinking about it he totally hadn't made up his mind that he would
force Tubbo to tell him what happened with Jameson tomorrow.

Tommy slapped his hand over his eyes, Clementine let out a startled meow. He scratched
under her chin and tried to sleep.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed, I'll warn you that updates from now on could come slower because
I'm very overwhelmed IRL and need to focus on other projects more.
Also consider checking out my other fics:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Hurt/Comfort Oneshots
I will also be participating in Whumptober and I will do my best to post all 31 oneshots,
one per day of October! So stick around and watch for that series to come out.
Finally, consider coming to interact with me on twitter.
Have a great week :D
 Chapter 12
Chapter Summary

Bedrockbros enjoyers, this one's for you!

Crimeboys enjoyers... wait your turn
Angelduo enjoyers... you've had your chapter

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: violence, panic

Let me know if I missed any.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“How the hell are these going to help me find the pit?” Tommy asked, staring down at the
small green and purple discs.

“Those are power enhancers,” Apis said, looking out over the city. “If you lose them Cicatrix
is going to kill you. So don’t.”

Tommy rubbed his thumb over the green disc’s ridges. “Yeah yeah yeah, how do they work?”

“As long as they’re on your person, your powers will be about triple their regular strength.”

Tommy gaped. A few questions came to mind immediately. How did Cicatrix have them?
Who knew about them? Were there more power enhancers?

“If you don’t have both discs it won’t work. But, you should be able to run fast enough to
keep up with a car, and if you end up in a fight you’ve got the strength of three yous.”

“Awesome,” Tommy said, a giddy feeling rising in his chest. This was going to be fun.
“When should I do it?”

“As soon as you can. But not tonight. I need to make a heat proof tracker, it’ll be done
tomorrow.”

Tommy hummed. He looked over at Tubbo with a quirked brow. “You’ve never asked about
my fire.”

Tubbo shrugged. “Don’t really care. I figured it was a hybrid thing but that seems like a
secret. And you’re my friend, Rubrum, I don’t need to know anything that could put you in
danger.”

Tommy nodded, surprised and oddly reassured. He slipped the discs into the pocket of a new
vest. A farewell was on the tip of his tongue when Tubbo turned to him.

“The other day. The fire. With Ignis. What was that about?” Tubbo asked.

Tommy stopped breathing. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

Tubbo considered him, biting the inside of his cheek. “If you have people after you, enemies,
or something like that… Q can protect you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Tubbo looked back out over the city, his wings twitched behind him. Tommy wondered if he
should ask what Tubbo did with Jameson. If he was dead.

“I’ll have the tracker for you tomorrow at the cafe. Hide it well,” Tubbo said.

“I’ll see you then I guess…”

Tubbo dived off the building, leaving Tommy to the rest of his patrol and answerless.

**********

“Have you considered turning it off?” Tommy asked.

“What?” the criminal asked.

“Your voice. Have you considered not speaking? Your voice is just fucking grating.”

Tommy dodged another punch easily. These power enhancers were making his night
incredible. He could jump so far. He could jump across roads. And he was strong enough to
lift a whole dumpster. He wasn’t even tired yet and he’d been running and jumping for two
hours!

Tommy threw the man against the alley wall. He looked terrified. It was great. Tommy just
threw him like he weighed nothing. Is this how Techno felt?

“When did you get strong?” one of the other criminals asked.

“You a fan?” Tommy asked, leaning against the wall nonchalantly.

“Huge.”

That was clearly sarcasm but Tommy chose to ignore it. He took a sharpie out of his vest as
all four criminals advanced on him.

“Good, good, I keep this for autographs.”

The first person launched at him and Tommy side-stepped and grabbed their elbow. He
swung them into the next oncoming person like a ragdoll. He laughed. The next person
lunged, Tommy ducked, he hoisted them over his shoulders in one swift movement and
tossed them backwards.

“Are you on steroids?” the last one asked, throwing a punch.

“Oh,” Tommy gasped, “I should try that too—”

A punch landed, making Tommy stumble back. An arm slinked around his neck from behind
and began to squeeze. It took him half a second to dislodge the arm. Tommy whirled around
and kneed the person behind him. They doubled over and he kicked them to the ground.

Tommy spun and caught the next punch in front of his face. He twisted the criminal’s arm
and pulled them forward to knee them. They doubled over and he kicked them aside.

“I’ll stop beating your asses if you let me tie you up now.”

Tommy looked around at the four people on the ground groaning. Two of them put their
hands up. The others looked at each other, then back at the surrendering ones, then they
nodded and put their hands up.

“Wonderful.”

Tommy got some zip-ties out and fully expected to be ambushed the second he got close to
the first one. He knelt behind the first one without any issue, keeping an eye on the others. As
he started to wrap the zip-tie around their hands he heard ripping fabric.

Then he was slapped in the face. By wings.

Tommy flailed backwards, smacking the ground. Somebody landed on top of him, trying to
pin his arms. He wasn’t worried. Another set of hands, then another, grabbed his arms and the
person on his chest pressed into his lungs.

Then there was a knife shoved against his throat.

“Oh,” Tommy said. “Yeah I should have seen that one coming.”

The person on top of him had bat wings. They looked sick. Tommy wished he had bat wings.
He imagined they’d be easier to take care of then fully feathered wings.

“We should unmask him,” one of the criminals said.

Tommy rolled his eyes. He was very confident that he could get the winged person off of him
if he just pushed his stomach up. He wanted to see this play out. Just for a second.

“No, no, please don’t,” he said, tauntingly sarcastic.

“We could sell his identity,” one suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, get a camera.”

“Nooooooo,” Tommy wailed dramatically. “My beautiful manly handsome face can’t be seen
by the public.”

The one with the knife started reaching for his mask and he decided that he’d waited long
enough.

Apparently Gladius thought the same.

The bat-winged person went flying off of Tommy and the other criminals scattered as the
stymphalian hero raised his hands to start his hemocraft. Tommy sprang to his feet, excited to
fight beside Techno—then realizing he should escape—but also he could fight with Techno—
but he should really leave…

Tommy jumped into the fight, heart buzzing with excitement. He watched Techno magic
someone to the floor—maybe draining their legs of blood? Tommy decided he’d use his
batons and activate his speed instead of strength.

He unhooked the batons from his belt and tossed a flurry of hits that the criminal couldn’t
hope to keep up with. Another jumped in, trying to help, and failing. Tommy grinned as he
was able to dodge and hit and spin and kick—prime this was so cool. They just seemed to
move so slowly.

Tommy had the two knocked out on the ground and he turned to look at Gladius. The hero
was leaning against the alley, watching him back. The two other criminals were on the
ground, pale and unmoving.

“Are they…”

“I’m a hero, Rubrum, I don’t kill people.”

Tommy nodded, smiling and looking back at the criminals he’d so easily defeated. He took
out his zip ties and knelt next to the criminals.

“Do they even need to be tied up?” Tommy asked. “The police will be here soon.”

“Nah, leave em,” Gladius said.

Tommy nodded. He pried the knife out of the bat-winged one’s hand and slid it between his
belt and his pants for now. Could be useful in the future.
Then he turned back to Gladius, who had a new expression on his face. It was a barely-there
expression and Tommy couldn’t decide if it was guilt or confusion. Or both. Or neither.

“Don’t arrest me,” Tommy said.

“I have to.”

“Uh, no. You don’t. What are you? A rule follower? Boring.”

Gladius’ wings went from their metal state to fluffy feathers, and Tommy knew exactly what
the hero was trying to do. Tommy pointedly ignored the wings and started backing away.
Gladius followed at the same pace.

“I’m not a criminal, you know that,” Tommy laughed.

“You have stolen many times. That vest, you literally stole that yesterday.”

“No I didn’t…” shit. How did he even know that? “Okay. Okay but who hasn’t stolen once or
twice? Right?”

Gladius snorted.

Tommy ran. Gladius called after him but Tommy was simply too fast. He whipped by
pedestrians and weaved through alleys. He climbed up a fire escape at record speed, and
Gladius didn’t even catch him while flying. Tommy whooped as he made it to the top and
dodged Gladius’ swoop.

Tommy rolled away from a second dive and jumped to another building. He heard Gladius
gasp in alarm as Tommy's foot left the building. Then Tommy landed on a building on the
other side of the street.

“Heh?!”

Tommy cackled and kept going. Even if Gladius caught him Tommy could probably get out
of the hero’s grip. Surely Techno wasn’t stronger than triple Tommy’s strength… right?

“Come on Rubrum, I don't want to chase you around all night!” the hero yelled.

“Then don’t?”

Tommy leapt across the street again. He heard Gladius’ sharp breath and then sigh of relief as
Tomy landed safely again.

“How are you doing that?” the hero called after him. “Did you discover a new
enhancement?”

Tommy cackled again, leaping and rolling after a hard drop.

Then he felt himself getting dizzy. He glanced back and saw that Gladius had landed and was
aiming a palm at him. Tommy yelped and dived head-first off of a building without thinking
just to escape the hero’s view.

He stretched his arms out to catch a fire escape rail. He did. His arms were half-yanked out of
their sockets and his chest slammed into the bars. The extra impact made his hands slip and
his legs swung up. He landed on the next level of fire escape, head narrowly missing the
handrail.

Tommy groaned and rolled onto his hands and knees. He pushed himself up as Gladius
landed in the stairs next to him.

“You okay?” Gladius asked, clearly amused.

Tommy yelped and ducked away from the hero’s reaching hands. He started running down
the stairs and heard Gladius grumble something. The hero jumped off the stairs and flew
down to cut Tommy off.

Tommy turned right around to run back up the stairs.

“Are you a toddler? Just get back here,” Gladius said. “I’ll get Mandatum out here.”

“Fuck you.”

Gladius landed on the stairs in front of Tommy again and Tommy jumped backwards down
the stairs. He almost fell back over the railing. Then he lunged down the stairs past Gladius.

“I have other ways of stopping you,” the hero threatened.

“Die.”

Tommy tripped down the stairs. He heard Gladius land next to him, laughing. Tommy rolled
away and swung wildly. Gladius deflected his fist and then grabbed his arm. Tommy ripped it
away with a curse and kicked at the hero.

“Would you stop it?” the hero hissed.

“Did. Fuck you. Die. Die.”

“You are a toddler.”

Gladius grabbed both of Tommy’s forearms. And Tommy felt fear. Gadius had the decency to
look slightly apologetic. Tommy wondered what would happen if he just called Gladius
Techno. Would the hero be stunned enough to let him go?

No. That’d be stupid. Tommy had triple super strength. He'd be fine. He activated it.

Tommy started pulling his arms toward his body. Gladius tried pulling them back. When he
struggled to do so, the hero looked at Tommy with wide eyes.

“What are you on?” he asked, stupefied.

Tommy shoved Gladius backward and the hero sprawled out over the fire escape. Tommy
pulled himself to his feet using the rail and sprinted down the stairs again, speed activated.
By the time Gladius recovered and got in the air Tommy was running through alleys again.

He didn’t realize what direction he’d been going in until he saw the building. The scorched,
closed off building.

Stopping in his tracks, Tommy stared up at the building he’d fought Jameson on a few nights
ago. He’d been trying not to think about it. He tried to distract himself, to reassure himself
that it was over. Jameson was definitely dead this time… probably. Fuck, he should have
asked Tubbo when he brought it up.

Fuck fuck fuck.

He heard Gladius’s wings flapping nearby. Tommy ducked into the shadows of an alley and
hid himself behind a dumpster.

“Rubrum, come on, don’t make me do this.”

Do what? Bitch, Tommy thought. Gladius had nothing on him.

Then the hero chirped.

Tommy got goosebumps. He felt the muscles in his back convulse. He slapped a hand over
his mouth and didn’t breathe.

Another chirp.

Tommy strained, holding back instinctual responses. It hurt his throat. His back was
twitching so hard. He crouched, covering his mouth with his knees and holding his hands
over his ears.

Go away go away go away.

If the hero chirped again, Tommy didn’t hear it. He did, however, see the hero fly by
overhead. He’d been looking down but Tommy must have hidden in the shadows well.
Tommy didn’t hesitate to take off sprinting as fast as he could back home.

He ran for ten minutes and he leapt his way up the fire escape from rail to rail. He didn’t
make it through his window before the wings burst from his back and he cried out. He
crumpled on the fire escape, wings popping through the slits in his hoodie and lighting
aflame. He reached up, trying to lift himself on the window ledge.

His wings shook and shriveled in pain. Tommy whined, activating his pain immunity just so
he could stand up. Then he pried the window open and threw himself inside. He landed
roughly on the ground and internally begged his wings to douse themselves.

“Shit. Shit, shit… shit!” Thank prime Clementine was with Ranboo again. She hated
Tommy’s fire. “Fuck.”
Tommy pressed his forehead into the floor and tried to breathe. He banged a fist against the
ground.

“Every time,” he hissed.

Every time he started having fun, or enjoying himself, or anytime he wasn’t actively stressed
out it got ruined seconds later.

“Every time!”

Tommy wished he could cut off his wings. He wished he could carve the instincts out of his
being. He wanted to rip out the bird part of his vocal cords. Tommy wanted to be able to look
at Techno’s wings and not think they were the most impressive thing in the world. He wanted
to look at Wilbur’s and not think about being wrapped up in them. He wanted to look at
Phil’s and think anything other than flock—

Tommy smacked his forehead into the floor to shut himself up.

“Bullshit. Bullshit. This is bullshit.”

Tommy sat back on his knees. His wing flames died out slowly as he retreated into an old
familiar state. His brain quieted and he stared at the kitchen cupboards for a while. He
couldn't think if he tried. He just stared. And he could move if he wanted to, but why would
he? He stared and stared. He stared until his wings stopped seizing on his back and he stared
until he realized he was staring.

Even then he didn’t stop. And instead of staring because he couldn’t stop, he stared because
he didn’t want to do anything else. He numbly thought of nothing and sat there long enough
for his legs to fall asleep.

When they did fall asleep Tommy didn’t go to his mattress, he just fell to his side again and
lay there. After a gruelingly long time, Tommy fell asleep.

Then of course he woke up an hour later, jumping out of a nightmare. He did not go back to
sleep. He stayed awake, flitting between aware and numb.

**********

There was a package in the café for Tommy signed by Phil the next morning. Inside it was a
brand new cell phone. There was a sticky note pressed to the front of it that read: Our
contacts are in there. Don’t try to pay me back. Password is 696969, change it please.
Tommy scoffed but he took the phone. He’d give it back somehow. What if Phil had a tracker
on this thing?

As Tommy walked into the back room Tubbo pressed something flat and black into Tommy’s
palm without a word and Tommy stuck it in his pocket with a nod. They didn’t talk much for
the rest of the shift but they took their lunch break together because they had an extra person
working today—Jack—he worked occasionally. Not even part-time.

Tommy was going to ask about the Ignis incident but he got too nervous. He didn’t want to
hear something that’d make him panic before work was over. He’d had enough panicking in
front of other people lately. He’d had enough of panicking at all, really.

So he waited until the end of the shift and he caught Tubbo before he left. He pulled Tubbo
into a booth and they sat in the corner. They couldn’t go to the back room because Jack was
there.

“I need to know what happened with Ignis,” Tommy whispered.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Tubbo please, I need to know if he’s alive.”

Tubbo’s face stayed blank. Tommy couldn’t decide if Tubbo was thinking, ignoring him, or
trying not to give anything important away.

“He’s not a problem anymore,” Tubbo said.

“Is he dead?”

Tubbo hesitated and that made Tommy’s lungs stop. Tubbo at least had the decency to look
guilty. Tommy couldn’t meet his eyes.

“He’s not going to be a problem,” Tubbo reiterated.

“He will,” Tommy said, holding back his anger, “he will if he’s alive… oh prime.”

Tommy got out of the booth and nearly forgot to pick up his bag. Tubbo got up after him. As
soon as Tommy slung the backpack over his shoulder he felt the energy of the discs fight off
his exhaustion.

“Tommy—Tommy we need to talk about this,” Tubbo urged, following Tommy out the door
and onto the sidewalk. “If you tell me about him I’ll tell you what we did with him.”

Tommy wasn’t listening. He stomped down the sidewalk, speeding up when Tubbo got up
next to him.

“Cicatrix has him,” Tubbo whispered. “He’s locked away with the greatest villain in the city.”

Tommy’s chest hurt. A wave of pain ran through him and he had to lean against a light post
to breathe.

“Cicatrix won’t let him out,” Tubbo said, putting a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “You’re
protected as long as you’re with us.”
Tommy shook his head, pushing away from the pole, breath still not coming. “You can't keep
me safe. Not from them.”

“Breathe, man. Who? Who is ‘them’?”

Tommy shook his head again. “Leave me alone.”

“No, Tommy, you said ‘them”, Jameson and someone else?”

Tommy started running. He had the discs on him, he could get away from Tubbo. And Tubbo
didn’t chase him. Tommy felt like a child, running away from Tubbo. Running away from
anything that scared him.

He cornered himself in an alley and leaned against the walls.

This was all getting to be a lot.

And Tommy needed a distraction. He put down his bag and fished for his new phone. He
scrolled through his contacts—there were three—and stopped over Techno’s number.

Something stopped him from clicking the call button though. A moment of human clarity,
pushing through the subtle avian instincts screaming at him to get to Techno—

“Shit.” Tommy tossed his phone back in his bag. “Shit.”

He really needed to avoid those guys. But he really needed a distraction. Tommy picked up
the phone again and hovered over Phil’s number. No. No, he was just as bad as Techno…
Wilbur’s contact lay under Tommy’s thumb.

They were all just as bad as the other.

Tommy closed his eyes, scrolling blindly, then he clicked one and heard the phone ring. Only
once it rang twice did he open his eyes. It was Techno.

Fuck. Fuck that was the worst one it could have been. After the instinct mishap as Rubrum—
with Gladius—and—fuck.

“Tommy?” Techno asked. “You okay?”

Tommy took about five whole seconds to answer before he couldn’t dare let Techno say
another thing.

“Yes. What are you doing right now?”

“I’m on patrol. Do you need something?”

Oh. Oh, this was probably annoying.

“Oh. Uh, sorry. Sorry, no it’s okay. Have a good patrol,” Tommy said, starting to hang up.

“Wait, wait. It’s okay,” Techno said. “Where are you?”

“...Just left the cafe. But seriously it’s okay, it’s nothing. I’m hanging up now.”

“I’ll be th—”

Tommy hung up and started walking home, feeling severely embarrassed and even sadder. Of
course he shouldn’t have called, they were heroes. Heroes. That was so dangerous and
annoying and bad. Heroes. He had to stop hanging out with heroes.

“I’m going insane,” Tommy mumbled to himself.

He left the alley and walked with his head down, avoiding all pedestrians to the best of his
abilities. He tried not to think about anything other than crossing the road safely. He failed.
As Tommy was walking into a crosswalk he got honked at, a car skirted to a stop just before
taking him out.

Tommy looked up at them blankly and kept walking. He’d already started crossing, might as
well keep going. The car honked at him again, he didn’t care so he didn’t look back.

“Tommy.”

Tommy stopped and turned around. Gladius, in full hero costume, stood there with his arms
crossed.

“You have to actually pay attention when you cross the road,” Techno said.

“Why are you here, I said it was fine,” Tommy groaned. “Were you in the area?”

Techno shrugged. “You don’t usually call. Thought something was wrong… is something
wrong?”

Tommy hesitated. It wasn’t weird to just… want to hang out right?

“Just wanted some company,” he mumbled.

Techno smiled. “Oh. Well. Okay, come on patrol with me.”

Tommy blinked. He had to act like a civilian. “I can’t keep up with you.”

“I don’t need to go that fast.”

Tommy blinked again. “I can’t fight.”

“I wouldn’t let you into the fights, Tommy. But you could watch from the safety of very, very
far away.”

Tommy blinked a lot. “Wouldn’t taking me with you make you less efficient?”

“Maybe a bit.”

Tommy couldn’t help but grin. He agreed to go with Techno.

 **********

Tommy watched from a whole building away as Techno fought a low-level villain on a
slightly lower roof. Techno had carried him up to the top and they planned on sitting there to
watch for a while, then Techno spotted Gravitas.

“Don’t make any noise,” Techno said after they landed. “Stay low, stay hidden.”

Then he flew off, diving down the side of the building and popping up behind Gravitas. The
villain caught Techno’s punch and the two descended into a full-blown battle. Well, as full-
blown as a battle with Techno could be. He was quickly overpowering Gravitas.

Techno’s metal wings flashed in the sunlight and he used them as shields. Gravitas jumped
and flipped all over the place, wielding gravity and with stunning agility. Not a single one of
the villain’s punches had any effect on Techno, and all of Techno’s punches had the villain
staggering back.

Tommy realized quickly that Techno was playing with the villain. He wasn’t fighting like he
would against Rubrum. And there was more flare in his moves. He was more eccentric, more
dramatic.

He was putting on a show for Tommy.

With a smile Tommy watched Techno sweep the villain's legs out from under him. Gravitas
reached hand up—probably trying to shoot Techno into the sky—but Techno pinned the
villain too quickly. Tommy couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other.

A couple of minutes later Techno raised his hand to do some freaky blood-magic-thing. The
villain was out cold. Techno stood up and spoke into an earpiece. Then he looked back over
at Tommy and took to the air.

“I have to take you over there so we can watch him,” Techno said as he landed. “Phil’s gonna
come get ‘em.”

Techno held his arms out again so they could fly. Tommy glared at him. “I will not be carried
again, Techno.”

“It couldn’t have been that embarrassing. I am literally a hero, if anyone saw that they were
jealous of you.”

Tommy really wasn’t sure his instincts could take it.

“You fly over, I’ll climb the fire escapes.”

“Seriously? We are like five stories high.”

Tommy turned his back and made for the rickety metal stairs. Techno snorted and waited for
Tommy to climb down the ladder onto the first platform. He peeked his head over the ledge
to peer down at Tommy.

“See you in ten minutes I guess.”

“Die.”

Tommy started the very long journey down the fire escape. He heard a picture being taken
from above him but as soon as he looked up, Techno flew away. When he thought Techno
wasn’t watching him, he activated his agility and instead of walking down the steps, he
jumped from rail to rail.

He landed by grabbing the rails with his hands and planting his feet between the bars. The
levels were close together enough not to hurt. The bars under the rails were tight, his feet
didn’t fit very well. He managed to get more than halfway down before Techno decided to
fucking check on him.

“The fuck are you doing?” Techno hissed, landing on the same level as Tommy. He grabbed
Tommy’s hand before he could jump down to the next one.

“I’m getting down faster, obviously,” Tommy said, trying to pull his hand away.

“Are you shitting me?” Techno held Tommy’s hand in place and stepped closer. Tommy
knew what was coming but he couldn’t get away. “Come here.”

Techno wrapped his arms around Tommy’s back and lifted him awkwardly over the rail.
Tommy yelped and tried to wrestle out of Techno’s grip. Techno’s wings turned feathery and
Tommy stopped squirming to focus on not chirping. Then Techno took off and Tommy was
tossed into another battle of human sensibility versus hybrid instincts.

“You can not expect me to watch you jump from rail to rail from five stories up,” Techno was
saying.

“Die,” Tommy squeaked, trying to cover the strain in his voice with a laugh.

The fly wasn’t long. And Techno let Tommy down the second they touched ground. His
wings also turned metallic again right away, which is when Tommy realized that he was
actively trying not to set off Tommy’s instincts. Wilbur and Phil did that too. The human part
of him appreciated it.

“Phil’s going to take Gravitas to the hero tower, there’ll be some kind of court visit… I don’t
really know what’s going to happen to him. He’s never really done anything that bad,”
Techno explained, sitting against the building’s parapet.

“Never killed?” Tommy asked, sitting down next to Techno.

“Not as far as we know. Just a lot of stealing, alliances with bigger villains, things like that.”
Tommy hummed. He looked over Gravitas. He’d never had an encounter with the villain
before, and he wasn’t even a new villain. He just didn’t come out of hiding very often.

“Did something happen earlier?” Techno asked suddenly. “To make you call?”

“I told you. Just wanted some company.”

Techno nodded. “Sure. But, that sounds like code for ‘I was sad’ or scared or hurt—”

“No,” Tommy said, faking another laugh. “Have you considered that I just like hanging out
with you?”

“It’s been considered. And I consider it bullshit. You can admit if you’ve had a bad day, I
won’t make you tell me about it.”

Tommy rolled his head against the parapet to look at Techno. “Okay. Fine. I was having a bad
day.”

“Is it better now?”

Tommy hummed. He turned his head back to Gravitas, on the ground, cuffed and
unconscious. Then back at Techno.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Phil landed on the rooftop in front of them, making Tommy jump. Phil shot Techno a curious
glance, then looked back at Tommy.

“He needed something to do,” Techno shrugged. When Phil raised his eyebrows Techno
raised his hands placatingly. “I didn’t let him get near the fighting. I even stopped him from
falling off a five-story fire escape.”

Phil’s head whipped toward Tommy. “What?”

“Long story,” Tommy said with the wave of his hand. “I think it’s about time I head home
anyway.”

“I can take you home,” Techno offered, wiggling his wings.

“Fuck you.”

“You are not allowed to go down the fire escape.”

“Fuck you!”

Techno ended up flying him back to the ground. Tommy gave him the finger as he left. Then,
just because he could, he gave one to Phil too.
 Tommy didn’t immediately dissolve into sobbing as he got home, which was maybe the first
time that that happened in eight or so days.

Win!

Chapter End Notes

Ellipsis is back!! I realize that this chapter is rushed and the pacing isn't good, I simply
don't care <3
I hope you enjoyed and if you did consider reading the following:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Hurt/Comfort Oneshots
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Have a good day :D
 Chapter 13
Chapter Summary

Tommy finds the pit...?

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: injury, violence, imprisonment, children get hurt, manipulation,

kidnapping. Let me know if I missed any!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy was sitting at a different park this time, worried that the pit had figured out they were
watching the other one. He sat atop a roof, feet swinging idly, watching children play. It was
creepy, he could admit that. It was weird. But it was for a good cause.

He was concerned though for a few reasons, the main one being that these power enhancers
might not help enough. He needed to be fast enough to keep up with a car speeding down the
roads, losing police and angry parents. Which was his next problem, the parents seemed to be
taking good care of their kids right now. Keeping them in sight, staying within arms reach.

He needed a kidnapping for Prime’s sake.

Tommy also kept an eye on the people walking by. Especially the men. Fuck men. But like—
not actually fuck them—but fuck those guys.

Tommy glared at anyone who wasn’t a parent walking by the park. He watched cars, vans
mostly, and couldn’t help but take in the license plate numbers.

And just as he was thinking about switching parks or going home—it was really too dark at
this point for families to be out—a van parked. Black van, waiting. But there was a parent
with the two kids that were there.

Tommy got to his feet, ready to launch himself down the fire escape to get to them. He had a
feeling the pit was desperate, and they were going to start taking kids by force. There was no
evidence, really, to support this thought but it seemed like something that was bound to
happen.

But nobody got out of the van, and the parents and their two kids left the park. Leaving
Tommy and the van to wait for children. Man this was weird. But he didn’t want to leave now
that he knew the van was here. So he decided he’d follow it wherever it went tonight. And
hopefully, that would be back to the pit.

He felt the discs tucked into his vest pocket, sitting against his chest. He was energized, he
needed to move a lot—hence the leg swinging—and he was more than ready to sprint after
the van. It would be a thrill for sure.

But it was taking so long. He needed it to move already.

Tommy waited there, pacing on the rooftop, watching the van, for another half hour. He had
work tomorrow. He was going to be exhausted. But he didn’t want to wait any longer than he
had to to do this. More people would be stolen and hurt.

Then Tommy watched a teenager turn the corner and walk toward the van. Tommy started his
vault down the fire escape, jumping like he had the other day with Techno from level to level.
He kept his eyes on the van and paused on the ground, just as the teen passed the vehicle’s
doors.

As expected, the driver and passenger seats flew open. The teenager glanced back at them
and started running. They didn’t get very far. The two men from the van grabbed the teenager
and dragged them backward, hand covering their mouth. Tommy felt like a piece of shit.

But when the van rumbled forward there wasn’t any more time for guilt.

Tommy activated his speed and felt pain in his chest at the spark of adrenaline that hit him.
He took off after the van, nearly toppling over himself as he tried to round the corner. It was
easy, at first, to wave between alleys and buildings following the van. He was able to catch
his breath when it stopped at the lights.

It became difficult when the van left the immediate city and traveled over open roads and
highways. It was traveling at a hundred miles an hour no doubt, and Tommy was running at
maybe ninety. And that was if he was really pushing himself.

But the van pulled off after a grueling—however long it was—to the same familiar, vacant
spot, and continued driving in the plains off-road. Tommy expected that they would stop in
the building the heroes found him in the first time, but he didn’t see it. It was smart of them,
really, the building would have been searched and monitored.

So he kept fucking running. The van sped up and Tommy slowed down, exhausted. He was
fast but that didn’t help his stamina. And he was going to lose the van. Cicatrix was wrong,
these power boosters weren’t enough.

But, he did say it would enhance Tommy by three times his abilities, right? And his power, as
he called it, was interchangeable enhancements. He could only do one at a time regularly but
what if he could do more now?

He tried it. He called upon the stamina enhancement—he didn’t use it that often, usually
prioritizing a skill—and he laughed out loud, feeling the extra air in his lungs, the energy
reentering his muscles. It worked.
As he picked his speed back up, he wondered what else he could enhance, and he wondered if
it would take up too much energy to use three powers at once. It felt like he was strong
enough, but he wasn’t going to try it yet. He kept his focus on the van.

It was a long time before anything interesting appeared in the distance. Tommy had to stay
far back enough that the darkness covered him. He couldn’t be caught now. And as the truck
ahead started to curve again, Tommy followed, eyes glued to the buildings in the distance.

It was the middle of fucking nowhere. Was this the pit? Out here in the plains and dirt
dessert? Just a camp of stone, shitty, abandoned looking buildings? Had they all misjudged
how organized this place was?

Up ahead the van slowed, driving next to other parked vehicles. It stopped and Tommy
slowed himself to a walk to take everything in. It was like a little village of buildings. There
was one bigger one, Tommy assumed that it was where the fighting was happening. But there
wasn’t much room to keep people in. Maybe this wasn’t it. Maybe this was a pit stop.

Tommy deactivated his enhancements to sneak his way closer. The people from the van got
out and were greeted by others. They stood outside for a while and Tommy enhanced his
hearing.

“Got one teen. Female, maybe fifteen years old.”

“I thought you were told to go after vigilantes.”

Tommy’s brows furrowed. Vigilantes were good targets, if he thought about it. Hard to steal,
they’re almost always powered individuals. But the heroes didn’t care if they went missing,
neither did the police, and neither did the villains. Unless it was a villain’s ally.

Tommy wondered if he should make it known that he was an ally of Cicatrix just to protect
himself. But he didn’t want the heroes knowing that.

“We should start moving away from kids. People are starting to get morals or whatever.”

“No they’re not, they just want to incentivise us to get real fighters.”

“We should.”

“Are you in charge here?”

“I know you certainly aren’t.”

Tommy mentally chanted fight fight fight, thinking that if they did he could sneak right by
them, or at least closer. He needed to make sure that this was the pit before he reported back
to Cicatrix.

He watched the almost-fight for a few minutes before they managed to calm down and
stopped arguing. The van people strayed carried the unconscious teen to the big main
building. The people who had come out to greet the van entered a side building.
Tommy assumed there were cameras, or people watching. He needed to move in quickly and
keep as undercover as possible. There were dips, small hills, and bushes, the grass here and
there was tall. He ducked between them, reactivating his speed. He could see the building
more clearly now, lit by dim orange lights. The outside was cracked and very old.

This could not have been it. There was no way.

There was only one door into the main building, but Tommy intended to take a look on the
roof. He figured it was safe to take to the air here, and he severely hoped nobody was
watching the sky, they would see his black silhouette against the dark blue.

Tommy unfurled his wings, wincing at how sore they were, and they slipped past the holes in
his hoodie. He shook them out, flapped them experimentally, and checked his surroundings
again. He didn’t see cameras, but honestly what was the worst that could happen if they saw
him…

Stupid question.

Tommy went anyway. He took to the sky and aimed for the top of the building. There were
no lights up there, it was hard to see. There could have just been a vat of poison for him to
fall in or something.

As he flew closer, hearing still activated, Tommy heard clicks and the smallest adjustment of
something. His first thought was that it was in fact a camera and he was being stupid, but
after a few more seconds of flying closer, he found that he was very wrong.

“What the hell is that?” someone shouted.

“Shoot!” Another called.

Tommy let himself fall out of the air before the gunfire went off. He flew low toward the
building wall, knowing damn well that he’d just let himself get caught. He landed on the
ground, not yet hiding his wings. He was in the light, if someone peeked over the edge they
would see him.

“It’s Rubrum,” someone above hissed.

Tommy glanced up to see a man looking down at him with a gun pointed at his head.

“Don’t shoot! Just catch him!” someone else yelled.

Tommy shook his head, forcing himself out of shock. He activated his speed and made a mad
dash for the front of the building, forcing his wings back into hiding as he went. The smart
thing to do would be to escape, but Tommy didn’t want to fail this again.

He just needed to see the pit and the people they were holding. He needed confirmation. So
Tommy activated his strength and intended to charge right into the place that was looking for
vigilantes.
He rounded the corner and people with guns appeared in front of him. They were ordered not
to shoot, but Tommy imagined they would anyway. They just wouldn’t kill him.

They started shooting, and Tommy could tell they were aiming for his legs. But he was
moving so fast that they could barely blink before he was right in front of them. He enhanced
his strength and punched the nearest one in the jaw. They went flying backward, startling
even Tommy.

He really hoped he didn’t just kill someone.

His next punch was a lot lighter, but it still knocked the person out. They were still firing, and
Tommy was grazed once or twice, but he was moving too sporadically for them to predict
where to shoot. In less than two minutes Tommy had them all on the ground.

Immediately he made for the front doors. He heard people coming out of them already and he
rounded the last corner at a full sprint. There was a larger group here. As he was running,
Tommy launched a fireball into the middle of them—which wasn’t affected by the discs
considering it was a natural ability.

They all scattered and yelped. Tommy sped forward and crushed a few heads under his foot
—not enough to kill—probably—he hoped. And he knocked some more people over. This
was amazing. Tommy was never giving up these discs.

The front doors were soon left wide open for him to enter. He did, easily pulling the heavy
metal open.

Something slammed into his forehead.

**********

Tommy woke and felt immediate shame. And fear. And a tiny bit of amusement—but mostly
fear and shame. He was on the cold ground, concrete, staring up at a stone ceiling. And if he
looked to the side he saw dirt walls. Dirt. Like, mud. Ew.

“Rubrum’s up,” someone huffed.

Footsteps soon followed and Tommy pushed himself up on his elbows. Ahead of him were
metal bars. He was in a cell. And who he assumed was one of the pit leaders was standing on
the other side of them.

“This is our best catch yet,” the guy said. He was tall, burly, and hairy. A hoglin hybrid?
“He’s going to make thousands.”

“Uh, yeah, no?” Tommy mumbled.

“I think that you’ll find you have no choice.”

Just for fun, Tommy shot a hand out and spewed fire at the man. He gasped in surprise and
ducked to the side. The fire caught his arm. That’s when Tommy realized that he’d been
doing a terrible job at keeping his fire a secret lately.

The man poked his head back around the corner. “That’ll be fun in the arena. Your first fight
is tonight.”

“Uh, sir,” the person who’d announced Tommy’s awakening said, “should we not remove his
suit and weapons?”

“Nah, his powers and weapons are what makes him Rubrum. The crowd will wanna see him
in costume.”

“I can literally light myself on fire, how do you think you’re going to move me to an arena?”
Tommy asked, sounding less angry than he meant to. It sort of came out as a genuine
question.

Man his head hurt.

“Patience, kid. You’ll see.” The hoglin man turned to the other, “I don’t want anyone sharing
a cell with him, don’t let anyone other than the pit masters down here.”

“Hey uh, wanna introduce yourself?” Tommy asked, deciding to stand up.

The hoglin grinned. He wasn’t even masked. How pretentious. He was going to get caught.
Dumb fucking idiot.

“I’m your new boss.”

Tommy scowled. The man laughed, glanced at the one guarding Tommy, and left. Tommy
watched him leave, heading up a staircase and turned. He heard a door open and close from
that direction. Then he glanced at his guard and decided to fling fire at him.

“Let me out.”

The guard yelped at the flinging orange balls. He ended up having to duck to the side of
Tommy’s cell. Tommy went right up to the bars, stuck his hand through them, and flicked fire
sideways. The guard gasped and grunted at the impact.

“This is going to be hard for you,” Tommy chuckled. “I’m famous for my ability to be
difficult.”

There was a click and a crackle. Then the guard spoke. “I need Effingo down here now.”

A pause.

“On my way,” Crackled through a radio.

“Who is F and go? That sounds dirty as hell,” Tommy said.

“Shut up.”

“Eat fire bitch.”

The guard grunted and backed further toward the staircase. Tommy laughed. He stepped back
away from the bars to give the guy a false sense of security. And he needed to look around.
There wasn’t even a cot in this cell. There was a hole in the corner that Tommy assumed was
for pissing. Great.

“Hey so, how haven’t you guys been caught yet?” Tommy asked. “You’re not that careful
about stealing people—and that pig guy wasn’t even wearing a mask.”

“The heroes are trash.”

Tommy shrugged. “That’s a little bit fair. Have you considered, though—and hear me out on
this one… volunteer fighters.”

“Not enough of them, and when they do volunteer they’re shit. Vigilantes, heroes, and
villains bring in the real revenue.”

“Villains? You steal villains off the streets?”

The guy laughed. “No. No, they come and willingly fight. It’s like going to the gym for
them.”

“Right. So. Volunteers.”

“Well, yeah, but nobody wants to see a villain beat up some ten-year-old. We need heroes and
vigilantes to fight the villains.”

Tommy’s teeth ground at the thought of ten-year-olds being held here and forced to fight. It
didn’t make sense.

“Who would want to see kids fight at all?”

“People with fucked up heads,” the guard said too casually, “plus they get good after a while.
It’s interesting to see their survival instincts take over. ‘Specially the hybrids.”

“That’s demented.”

“That’s business.”

“I’m here,” someone new said. “Is he really that much trouble already?”

Someone stepped in front of the bars and Tommy threw his hand out, tossing fire at them.
They held an arm up to block it and hissed, flinging themselves back into the wall across
from the cell.

“Rubrum, stop moving,” the person said.

Tommy scoffed and threw another ball of fire. Or, he tried to. But his arm couldn't lift. He
replayed the words back. The intonation of this Effingo guy’s words. They sounded like
Wilbur when he commanded people.

This person was dressed in all black. Leather coat, black denim jeans, black mask—but it was
reflective like a mirror. It only covered the top half of their face, and Tommy could see their
eyes through holes.

“What the fuck?” Tommy asked. “You have command powers—are you a new villain?”

Effingo smirked. “I’m not new. Just been underground for a while.” They gestured to the dirt
walls around them.

“That’s… sad. Get a life?”

Effingo rolled their eyes. “You throw a lot of insults for someone I could ask to remove his
mask.”

Oh… that wasn’t fun.

“Well if you’re looking for a compliment, your mask is nice. I can see my gorgeous face in
it.”

Tommy smoldered and winked. He was wearing his own mask of course, but he was going
for vibes not facial expression.

Effingo turned to the other guard in the room. “I’ll watch him until it’s fight time. Go help
with the rowdy kids.”

The guard left without a word, sending Tommy and the Wilbur knockoff into an awkward
silence.

“Sit down. Don’t move more than that.”

Tommy sat. “What the hell man?”

Effingo sat against the wall across from him. Hands resting on raised knees, eying Tommy
amusedly.

“So, Rubrum, how did you find the pit? How’d you hear about it?”

Tommy huffed. “You guys are shit at being discreet. It wasn’t hard to find you.”

“We do like to steal them right from under people.”

“You do understand that you’re mentally fucked right? You know that? It’s not normal to talk
about kidnapping like that—or to kidnap anyone in the first place?”

“I’m poor.”
“Doubtful.”

“I’m not as rich as I want to be.”

“Makes more sense. I hope you die soon.”

Effingo nodded patronizingly, tilting their head and smiling. They didn’t say anything else.
And Tommy didn’t feel like pushing his luck. So he sat and glared. Until he got bored. Which
was very quickly.

“Will you let me move now?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“You’ll throw fire?”

“I gotta piss.”

“Hold it.’

“Shit.”

“Hold that too.”

Tommy could almost snort. Almost. Instead, he went back to glaring. And waiting. And
prime, wait he did. For a long ass time. He was near falling asleep when the stair door
opened.

“It’s fight time,” the boss guy from before said. Effingo stood to greet him. “We’ll go easy on
you at first, just introducing you to the crowd. This is a treat for our guests, didn’t tell em’
you’d be here.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Tommy said, voice dripping with eccentric sincerity.

“And tomorrow, you’ll fight a villain. We’ll announce it tonight. Everyone’ll be flocking to
see it.”

“To pay for it,” Effingo added.

The hoglin nodded. “Get him up there, I’ll open the night.”

Hoglin guy glanced at Tommy again, chuckled, and walked back up the stairs. Tommy waited
expectantly for Effingo to release him so he could wreak havoc and burn him alive.

“Do not use your fire, you may move.”

“Asshole.”
Effingo walked to the side of Tommy’s cell, away from the stairs on the left, and kept going
until Tommy couldn’t see him. There was a thunk, and the metal bars started to descend into
the ground.

“Do not attack me,” Effingo added quickly, just as Tommy was about to charge at him. “And
don’t attack anyone outside of the arena either.”

“Bitch.”

“Follow me.”

“Bastard.”

Tommy followed. They went up the stairs, walls still made of mud and dirt, until they
rounded the corner and stepped through the door. Past it there was a hall of more cells, they
were much nicer than the one Tommy got.

“Why can’t I have one of those?” Tommy groaned. They had beds! Not that he intended to
stay in the pit for very long.

“Because we want you to be uncomfortable and we want to break your spirits.”

“What the fuck.”

The hall split into a four way sort of intersection full of more cells. But they continued
straight ahead and got to another door. Through that one was a room of guards. Tommy could
tell they were guards because they all had guns. Or maybe that was like their version of a
friendship bracelet. There were card tables, lockers, couches, and a few coffee makers.

“Nice for a bunch of criminals,” Tommy noted. “Is that an espresso machine—wow.”

“You should all be watching this show,” Effingo said to the guards as they crossed the room
to another door. “This one will be the best one in a long time.”

They went through that door and came to a large bustling area. There were two sets of
curving stairs that met at another level ahead. The walls here were also stone. They were
either underground, or Tommy had been transported somewhere new. Because all of this
would not have fit in the buildings he saw before he got caught.

“Up those stairs is the watch area for the arena. I’ll be cheering for your opponent from up
there.”

“Maybe you should fight in your own arena.”

“Oh I have. Top of the leaderboards. It’s pretty easy when you can tell your opponent to fight
on one foot or with their eyes closed.”

“Coward.”

“I prefer the word entertainer.”

They came to a large double door between the curving stairs and upper level. Effingo reached
out and knocked on it three times. The doors opened inward and they were met with a metal
fence ten feet ahead. Tommy could see the rounded pit beyond it. Two guards were holding
the doors open.

Effingo took him to the right side. They walked around the large circle until they came to a
gate that would lead into the arena.

“You have your gear, that’s fair use. Not too worried about you fighting us. I have you under
control.”

“For now.”

Effingo didn’t react. Tommy heard the large double doors close in the background.

“You fight until one person can’t get up anymore. Everything is fair, but the more you
entertain, the nicer we are to you. So if you want a bed, make it good.”

“I can’t wait to kill you.”

Tommy had been having more violent thoughts recently. He hoped that wasn’t a problem. He
usually didn’t mean it.

“I think you’ll love your first opponent,” Effingo said.

Tommy scowled.

An announcer started speaking. Tommy recognized the voice of the boss guy.

“Tonight I changed things up,” he said, silencing the crowd. “This is a treat, a special
occasion to celebrate our booming business. I’ve brought in someone you all love to hate.
But first, I’ll introduce their opponent.”

Past the gate Tommy could see the crowd bustling, he heard them murmuring and he saw
money being placed on platters. He hoped everyone was betting on him so he could let them
down. He was not about to fight someone who didn’t volunteer for this.

He was glaring across the pit, waiting to see someone emerge. He could see them moving
behind the metal bars, they looked short.

“Crrrrrrrrrimson!”

The crowd cheered and all Tommy could think was how unoriginal that name was. Until he
saw the figure emerge from the gate and into the open pit. They were short. Child-sized short.
They wore a full leather crimson suit and a decorative ballroom mask.

“That’s a fucking kid,” Tommy hissed, whirling on Effingo. “No. No fucking way—what
kind of entertainment is that?”

Effingo just grinned.

“And our special guest, who I’m sure you’ll all be ecstatic to see…” The gate started to open.

“Walk in,” Effingo commanded.

“Rrrrrrrrrubrum!”

Tommy walked in. He fought against the command with everything he had until he was sure
his face was red. As he got into the light the crowd raged and nearly shook the stadium. They
cheered and growled at seeing him.

Crimson’s eyes landed on him and they shuffled backwards.

“I know what you’re thinking,” the announcer chuckled, “Rubrum, versus an eleven year
old? What kind of a fight is that? Well, this is just an advertisement folks, tomorrow is when
you really want to be here. Rubrum will face someone of his level, perhaps… Fulmen?”

The crowd applauded and whooped.

“Perhaps… Solis?”

The crowd’s volume doubled.

“Find out tomorrow and pay for your tickets when you leave tonight!”

Tommy could only look at the kid before him. He decided easily that he would let this child
end his life if they needed. He would not hurt them. Surely Apis and Lanuae would realize
he’s missing and track him. They would find the pit with or without him.

“Fighters, get closer, introduce yourselves, come up with any rules you want to follow. The
floor is yours until I say go.”

Tommy strode forward and Crimson didn’t move. The poor kid looked terrified. They were
trembling.

He spoke softly. “I’m not going to fight you. Alright? You can do whatever you need to, I can
take it.”

They sniffled. “Do you remember me?”

Tommy blinked. “Who—what’s your name?”

“Cassidy. You saved me a long time ago—I wanted to watch the stars.”

Tommy’s stomach dropped. He could puke. And cry. And probably do both at impressive
rates. The shock must have been showing on his face.

“I’m sorry!” They cried. “I asked mum to take me out to watch the stars and she said no so I
went anyways and I got—I—”
“It’s okay,” Tommy said, kneeling in front of them. “It’s okay, it was a mistake. It’s alright,
I’m going to take this place down but we need to get through tonight, alright?”

“I can’t fight.”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I have a power that makes it so I can’t feel any pain,
and I know it’s scary, but you can do whatever you need to to win okay?”

“Why can’t—” they sniffled, “why can’t we just refuse?”

“We can try, but I don’t think they’ll allow it…”

“I don’t want to hurt you!”

Tommy felt tears in his eyes but he couldn’t let Cassidy see them. They probably couldn’t
through his goggles, but he steeled himself anyway.

“Contestants! Are you ready?”

“Fuck you!” Tommy yelled back.

The crowd roared with laughter.

Cassidy whined. “I’m scared. I don’t want to.”

“It’s okay,” Tommy said, knowing that it was definitely not okay.

He had to think. He couldn’t force this child to fight him—even if he wasn’t going to fight
back. They’d have blood on their hands—prime the trauma. They could cover their ears to
keep Effingo’s words out, but it would mean Tommy wouldn’t have hands to fight off guards
with—and he couldn’t risk Cassidy getting hurt—

“Separate yourselves,” Effingo demanded, now using a mic.

“It’s okay, do what you need to, I won’t feel it,” Tommy said as his body was forced back to
his side of the pit.

Cassidy was crying out loud now.

“Bastards,” he hissed. “Bastards!”

The crowd ate it up. Tommy looked up, searching for Effingo in the crowd. If he said one
wrong command, Tommy could shoot fire right at that fuck’s face.

He was grateful for the thrum of energy and confidence front he discs in his vest.

Tommy looked back at Cassidy cowering against their own gate.

“Fighters ready!” The announcer yelled. The crowd was louder. “Fight!”
Neither of them moved. It was risky, but he needed to see what they would do. If Effingo
commanded him to fight—prime. Oh fuck oh prime.

Tommy felt pain in his chest, the familiar burst of panic, the beginning bruise of more
trauma.

“Fight!” The announcer said again. “Don’t be shy.”

“Fuck you!” Tommy hissed. He probably wasn’t heard.

“Effingo.” The announcer said.

No. No no no no.

“Rubrum, Crimson,”

Nonononononon—

“Fight. And Fight well.”

Tommy’s body surged forward, quickly met by Cassidy’s small figure. He didn’t want her to
feel pain. He wasn’t going to do more than he needed to—but he couldn’t resist the
command.

Tommy activated his strength, enhanced by the discs…

And aimed straight for the kid’s temple.

**********

Tommy sat against the dirt wall, legs out in front of him, staring forward blankly. He was
trying to keep everything out of his head and found that it was impossible. Either he heard
Cassidy crying, grunting in pain, or hitting the floor. Or instead of hearing, he saw the mark
on their temple, the bright red suit, and some guards taking them away.

The announcer and crowd were frustrated. Tommy had been ushered out of the arena quickly
by Effingo, who by now was starting to lose his voice. They considered forcing Tommy to
fight someone else, but they ended up deeming him too unpredictable for now.

Effingo was sitting across from him again. Reading a book. Tommy didn’t bother
antagonizing him. If he did he might have to fight an infant next time.

He should have been trying to escape. He should have been trying to draw more commands
from Effingo so he’d lose his voice and be harmless. But Tommy couldn’t move. He was
stuck on a constant loop, thinking about how arrogant he was and forcing his way inside the
pit. How easily he got caught. How easily he was manipulated.
 And how terrifying people with command powers were.

But Wilbur would never hurt him like this.

Tommy was stuck on a train of guilty, dark thoughts. He was lost to his self-loathing and fear.
There would be time to escape eventually. Maybe if he got lucky a guard would fall asleep on
him or something and he could melt the metal bars.

But what were the odds he’d be left alone?

And even if he did escape, he’d be leaving Cassidy here alone.

Tommy bumped his head into the dirt wall behind him, tears rolling down his cheeks, soaking
into his mask.

They were going to make him do that again if he didn’t leave soon.

Chapter End Notes

A quick note on the discs!! They enhance Tommy's powers by roughly (estimate) three
times. Tommy's regular speed enhancement lets him go about 25mph (he can run more
than 6 without powers) but with the discs, he managed a little more than 80mph. So he
is a SPEEDY dude. He was almost going at highway speeds.

ANNNNND if you enjoyed this consider checking out my other works:

Villain Tommy Rehabilitation w/ SBI
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
It's nice to have Ellipsis off hiatus!!
Have a nice day! Drink water! Consider having a good snack.
 Chapter 14
Chapter Summary

the pit is like Disney Land but for evil people

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: children get hurt a lot, child abuse, fighting, gore, blood, injury, puking.
Let me know if I missed any.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy did not plan on staying here long. There were times he was left alone, mostly at night
when everyone was sleeping. There were night guards that stayed outside the stairway door.
It was his only chance to escape. But if he melted the metal bars, which would take a while
considering how thick they were, and how close together, he’d still have to fight his way
through the complex.

But he’d tested the strength of the dirt walls around him and they were relatively fragile.
With an enhanced punch he made a good dent in the back of the cell. He could minecraft his
way out of this bitch. He could dig himself out but he really had no idea how far underground
this cell was.

And it’d be easier with something other than his fist to work with. But he wouldn’t risk using
the discs and showing them. Or breaking them. But surely they were more durable than that.
It was really too bad that he’d lost his baton ages ago. He didn’t even remember when that
had been… maybe the first time the heroes had him in one of their vans?

It was dark, Tommy’s mind had reset, sadness temporarily replaced itself with rage and
determination. There wasn’t room to mourn or waste time. If he melted the bars they would
see it the next day but maybe they would just command him to stop and leave it at that. But
he couldn’t let them see the hole he was going to make.

Was this stupid? Was this going to work? He’d only ever heard of people digging out of their
cells in the movies. And the cells weren’t usually underground.

He would just have to see how far he could get.

Tommy started burning the bars, holding flaming hands to one rung. One of his hands was
high on the bar, the other lower. He was going to use the piece of metal to dig with so he
didn’t break his hands.

It took an hour just to heat the metal enough to pull the bar out, and when he did it took some
kicking and super-enhanced strength. One end came off with a string of melted metal. To
experiment, Tommy hit the dirt wall as hard as he could. It made a louder sound than he
expected, but he hoped the guards wouldn’t hear it. Or wouldn’t care.

The metal bar was about as long as Tommy’s forearm, and much more efficient than his fists.
He made the hole higher in the dirt wall, over in the darker corner, hoping that it wouldn’t be
noticed. He would have to pull himself up to it to get through. And he made foot holes in the
wall to get up to keep digging.

Tommy just didn’t have a better plan.

**********

“Wake up Sunshine,” Effingo called, coming down the stairs, “time to fight, you’re our
opening, mid-day, and closing fight!”

Effingo stepped in front of the cell and immediately noticed part of the bars missing. Tommy
charged forward and threw fire at the man before he could command him not to. Effingo
yelped and stumbled back, patting down flames.

“Do not use fire on me!” he hissed.

“Bitch.” Tommy dropped his bar and kicked it to the back of his cell. “I’m going to be the
least entertaining fighter you’ll ever have in here.”

“Give me the bar.”

Tommy grumbled and picked it up to hand over. Instead of placing it in the man’s
outstretched hand, Tommy full-force threw it at his face. Effingo slammed back into the wall
again slumped against the ground. Unconscious.

Tommy started cackling. And he couldn’t stop. He wondered if anyone else was going to
come through the door soon. He ended up sitting back against the dirt wall, excited to burn
the next person that stepped into view.

Except Effingo blinked his eyes open just as someone was coming down. Tommy readied a
flaming hand. Effingo’s eyes widened at the realization of what happened, and he started
trying to sit up.

A guard knelt next to him, stupid and unaware. Tommy showered him in fire. The guard
cursed and pulled himself out of sight along with Effingo. And finally, the man got his words
back.
“Do not shoot fire at anyone outside of the arena. Do not attack anyone outside of the
arena!”

“Oops,” Tommy said.

Tommy heard the guard mumbling, asking if Effingo was alright, to which the man sputtered
and denied his pain. Much like Tommy would.

“Rubrum don’t move until I say you can.”

Tommy froze, waiting with a smirk on his face. Someone flicked the lever that opened his
door and the bars started to lower into the ground.

“Is that a hole?” The guard asked as he stood with Effingo.

“No.”

Effingo sighed. “We’ll move him a cell over later.”

Shit.

“Follow me.”

Tommy followed. And they took the same route to get to the large double doors. Tommy was
taken to the right again, past the door guards, and to the gate he went through last time.
Supposedly, he’d be fighting a real villain this time. But maybe they would want to torment
him a little more and send in another child.

“If you don’t give this crowd a show, I can make you,” Effingo said.

“If you let me go now I won’t tell the heroes where you are when I escape.”

“Save that confidence for the pit.”

Tommy looked at Effingo, grinned, and plugged his ears. Then he started running. He didn’t
exactly expect to get very far, but he could at least make things difficult. He couldn’t hear
Effingo’s voice. He came to the double doors again, running, awkwardly stuffing his earlobes
into his ear holes.

The guards saw him and charged forward. He activated his speed, and moved slowly enough
not to be suspicious, but fast enough to be too hard to catch.

Until Effingo got there. And Tommy couldn’t get the doors open.

An arm looped around his neck and squeezed. Tommy refused to unplug his ears and he used
just enough strength to wriggle away. Effingo let go and shoved him into the wall. His hands
slipped.

“Rubrum, stop.” Tommy stopped and stared. “Do not cover your ears. Follow me.”
“Bitch.”

Tommy stood and followed. They ended up easily at the gate, and by then the announcer was
talking. The gate was in the middle of rising and Tommy hadn’t even heard the name of his
opponent.

“Get out there,” Effingo hissed. “Fight hard.”

Effingo shoved Tommy through the gate and it started to grind behind him, already closing.
Tommy glared back at him. Effingo wasn’t smug this time.

Tommy looked ahead at his opponent, who stood with their arms crossed, standing patiently
and confidently. Definitely older than Tommy. They wore flowy, baggy clothes—easy to
grapple and use to choke or tie—they wore oranges and light yellows. Their mask covered
three quarters of their face, shaped like a sun, the top right corner of their face showing.

Solis, Tommy’s mind supplied. They were probably going to burn him with some UV rays.
Tommy was sort of fireproof… did that apply to heat from the sun?

“Rubrum!” The hoglin guy greeted. “Nice of you to join us… feeling nervous were we?”

Tommy didn’t answer, instead further observing his opponent. If this was a villain, Tommy
had never heard of them or seen them before. And if it was true that Effingo wasn’t new,
there could have been a whole army of underground villains that the heroes weren’t ready for.

“Well, I’ll let you two get acquainted, the floor is yours for the next two minutes.”

Solis strode forward and Tommy put on his fighting face. He matched the villain’s stride and
lifted his chin. They met in the middle and shook hands.

“This is a good place for people like us, they become like family if you please them,” Solis
said. “You should think about joining our efforts.”

“Is that a joke?”

“You could lure SBI in for us, that’d be a treat.”

“I’m not going to kidnap people.”

Solis shrugged. “Suit yourself. Wanna do this without weapons? Just powers and fists?”

“Sure. I don’t care.”

Tommy turned his back on Solis with a scowl and trudged to his side of the arena. He crossed
his arms and looked back up at the hoglin and Effingo.

The hoglin spoke. “Seems like someone’s eager to get going…”

The crowd laughed.

“Fighters ready!”

Tommy was not going to give them what they wanted. Maybe he’d just let himself get
pummeled so they couldn’t have a show. He didn’t think he could knock this guy out in one
punch.

“Fight!”

Solis charged forward and Tommy stood still with his arms crossed. Solis stopped their
charge, confused, and instead walked forward to meet him.

“You’re really going to do this?” the villain asked.

Tommy activated his pain suppression.

“I’m not working for these fucks.”

“Boys…” the hoglin prompted. “I said fight!”

The crowd started chanting the word.

Solis pulled back his fist and struck. Tommy took it, not feeling anything, and he stood there.
SBI would reprimand him for this. He’d get a lecture and be locked forever in their base.

“Seriously?” Solis asked again.

Solis punched twice and shoved Tommy into the ground. By then the crowd was booing, and
when Tommy glanced at the hoglin he was passing the mic to Effingo.

Shit.

“Rubrum,” Effingo drawled, “Fight. And fight hard.”

Solis stepped back, allowing Tommy time to stand. And he did, with a growl, and a glare at
Effingo and the hoglin. He shook his arms and shoulders out, and Tommy readied for Solis’
next charge.

The villain’s one showing eye crinkled in delight. Tommy noticed that it was glowing golden.

Solis lunged forward and Tommy dodged. He enhanced his strength first, waiting to figure
out this guy’s style before enhancing anything else.

Solis didn’t move quickly despite being a bit spindly. He was slow but he packed a punch,
and he was calculated. He was good at covering himself, which meant Tommy needed speed.

He enhanced it.

Dodge after dodge Tommy started to feel exhilarated. And he hated that he wasn’t
immediately angrier. He thought, distantly, that in another life, a place like this would be fun
for him.
Then he pictured Cassidy and the rage came back.

“There’s the fight we like to see!” The hoglin cheered.

The crowd roared, mostly chanting Solis’ name. Tommy caught the odd “Go Rubrum” here
and there. And that was sort of nice. But then it felt bad knowing he had fans that participated
in this shit.

Tommy knocked Solis in the jaw and the villain flew back, slamming into the ground.
Tommy dived on top of him, intending to end this fight as soon as possible.

He pinned the villain and wound up a powerful punch. The crowd screamed and clapped.
Tommy felt a bit like a monster, the anger burning through him was a new feeling. He rained
punches down on Solis.

They had been in the arena for seven minutes.

Solis’ head flopped sideways, and Tommy stood. He glanced at the crowd around them, and
some of them cheered for him. He shot his middle finger up at the crowd.

“Fuck you!”

“Well…” the hoglin started. “That wasn’t very good entertainment Rubrum.”

“If you keep sticking me in here I’ll have everyone out in under ten minutes bitch!”

The hoglin sighed. “Sounds like the start of a new challenge, everybody! Who thinks they
can defeat the ten minute maniac? Sign up before you leave!”

Tommy turned his back to the hoglin with an inhuman snarl. He pounded on the metal of the
gate, waiting for someone to come and release him.

Effingo jogged up to him, smiling.

“You’re a lot tougher than we thought you’d be,” the man said, sounding excited. “And
you’ve just created the ten-minute challenge!”

“Kill yourself,” Tommy spat.

The gates started to rise and Tommy glanced back to see some guards picking Solis up. He
turned back to Effingo and tried to attack the man. It worked, to his surprise.

Effingo yelped as Tommy slammed burning hands into the man’s throat. He choked on his
own words and Tommy squeezed, cutting off his ability to speak. He pulled the man off the
wall and slammed him back into it with his enhanced strength. The man’s eyes fluttered, and
Tommy did it again.

Hand wrapped around his biceps and waist, yanking him off the man. Tommy snarled and
laced fire up his arms, burning the guards touching him. They grunted and hissed but didn’t
let go.
“Bastards,” Tommy growled. “I’ll blow this place to smithereens once I get out!”

Tommy was dragged down the hall, but he heard Effingo rasping, trying to warn the guards
that Tommy could easily break free from their holds. The hoglin guy was there, shushing
him, hands hovering over the man’s throat with a horrified look on his face.

Tommy, with his strength still high, rammed his elbow into the guard on his right and turned
to the one on his left. He shoved that one away from himself and then kicked their chest,
hoping some ribs broke.

He turned toward the double door and grabbed a handle. He hauled it open, panting with the
strength of fighting, running, and dragging the heavy metal.

Tommy activated his speed and stamina to accompany his strength.

He shot out the door.

“You look rabid.”

There was who Tommy assumed was another villain—a few of them actually—blocking his
way to the exit. To the right of the guard room door was another staircase up and Tommy saw
daylight coming down the hall. It shut out quickly as if someone closed a door at the top.

Tommy didn’t have time to take in the appearances of the villains in front of him.

Tommy shot fire at them and charged. A few of them gasped in surprise and dodged the fire,
others yelped when it hit. Tommy counted three or four villains, one might have been a
guard. And soon others would be on the way.

Tommy had to push past them.

He focused less on hitting them and more on dodging through them. But they caught on
quickly. They moved back as he punched forward, and they pushed him back.

“Don’t kill him!” Tommy heard the hoglin yell. “Subdue him however you need to.”

Tommy felt a searing pain in his side and again in his thigh. He looked down and saw blood,
then lifted his head and slammed it into the face of an opponent. They tilted backward and
Tommy bowled them over.

He sprinted for the staircase and vaulted up it, feet smacking the ground. Something smacked
the dirt next to him, maybe a dagger. Tommy reached the door and pushed.

The air met his face and he breathed it in as he took off through the plains. He figured he was
home free and deactivated his strength to focus more on his speed and stamina.

Gun fire followed him.

He passed the abandoned-looking village of buildings easily.

“Wait!” a young voice called.

Tommy stopped in his tracks. He looked back and froze. Cassidy was running toward him,
away from a guard raising a taser at her.

There wasn’t much of a choice in Tommy’s mind.

He swiveled on his heel and powered toward Cassidy in a blur. He knocked the man with the
taser to the ground and turned to scoop Cassidy up.

Except she was gone.

In her place was a villain in all white.

Tommy jolted as their arm stabbed forward. He glanced down, wondering how one punch
could hurt too much.

And they pulled a dagger out of his stomach.

Tommy instinctually turned on his pain suppression and tried to dodge the swipe of a knife.
He heard shouting from behind.

“Do not kill him!”

Tommy’s head whipped sideways and his body slapped the grass.

**********

Tommy barely had time to breathe when he woke back up. He was already being shoved into
another fight. He was told though that he’d been knocked out for almost twenty-four hours.
And his headache was murderous. His stabbed stomach was partially healed, but it twinged
with pain every time he moved.

Now he was being dragged back to the arena. Effingo was struggling to speak, which made
Tommy hopeful. He’d nearly demolished the man’s vocal cords when he attacked. One more
shot at the man could have Tommy home free.

But he couldn’t risk stopping for Cassidy again. Not if he got out. He couldn’t fall for any
illusions, which meant ignoring and dodging everything.

Not that there was any time to think about it. Tommy was staring across the pit, about to be
ordered to walk in and fight.

“Our first contender…” the hoglin started, “Acidum!”

Tommy groaned. Loudly. Was that Latin for acid? Sometimes the Latin names were boring,
and Tommy couldn’t help but feel grateful that his was cool.

Unoriginal in English… but whatever.

“Hey, are you listening?” Effingo asked, smacking Tommy in the shoulder. “Get in there.”

Tommy rolled his eyes and walked in.

He froze seeing his opponent and tried to turn around but his body wouldn’t move back
toward the gate.

“No,” Tommy snapped. “I won’t. I fucking won’t.”

It was another kid.

“Hey, that one’s fourteen. Isn’t that acceptable enough?” Effingo asked, tone dripping with
amusement.

“Fighters ready!” The hoglin called.

Acidum readied.

Tommy crossed his arms.

“Fight!”

Tommy didn’t move, but he was surprised to see the teenager charging with dust-kicking
speed. He activated his pain suppression.

The kid tackled him and Tommy took it. Even when they landed harshly on the ground,
Tommy didn’t struggle. He felt nothing as two hard punches ping-ponged his head.

Then the teenager stopped, sitting back and looking confused.

“You gonna fight back?” They asked.

“No,” Tommy said. “Go for it man, let out your anger.”

The teenager glanced up at Effingo, who was still standing behind the gate this time. Then
the teen glanced up at the hoglin.

“I volunteered,” they said. “They didn’t force me.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Tommy shrugged. “I don’t want to give them a show. And I don’t want to
hurt a teenager.”

“But you’re a teenager?”

Tommy blinked. “No I’m not.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“I’m twenty.”

“A bad liar is what you are.”

The hoglin cleared his throat into the mic. Ew. “Fighters… enough banter. Get on with the
brawl!”

“Dude I’m gonna keep hitting you,” Acidum said. “It’s not fun if you don’t fight back.”

“Pretend I’m someone you really hate,” Tommy suggested, relaxing his muscles.

“Well I don’t have to pretend but alright.”

“Effingo?” The hoglin prompted.

“Ah shit,” Tommy pushed the teen off of himself easily. “Don’t! Don’t! I’ll fight. Damn.”

Tommy threw himself into a sloppy stance and Acidum raised an eyebrow. Their mask
covered the bottom half of their face, it was toxic green. The rest of their outfit was tight
leather, green embroidered patterns.

There wasn’t much more time to observe.

Tommy dodged a charge so he wouldn’t be slammed into the ground again, and he pretended
to fight. He let the teenager make every other hit, and he handed back soft blows. This went
on for five minutes before Effingo caught on.

“Rubrum,” he sighed, “don’t pull your punches.”

“Fuck you!” Tommy yelled. He backed away from the teenager, preparing himself. “Sorry
about this.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Acidum grumbled.

It took two strong punches to the jaw.

“Eight minutes and thirty-two seconds!” the hoglin cheered. “The second contender of the
ten-minute fight has failed, will one of you be next? Sign up before you leave!”

Tommy bit the inside of his lip and stomped back to his gate, glad at least that the kid wasn’t
forced into this. Tommy was that young when he got into stuff like this. But… it still didn’t
feel nice knocking a fourteen-year-old out.

“You just can’t cooperate can you?” Effingo said, shaking their head. “Follow me.”

Tommy walked through the gate when it opened and followed Effingo back to his cell. He
glared at every guard and villain they passed. He should have been feeling like a dog in a
murky pond: alligator meat.
Mostly, Rubrum was furious.

**********

“Get in there,” Effingo growled, ripping Tommy’s fingers out of his ears. “Get in!”

Tommy was shoved past the gate and the hoglin laughed.

“There he is!”

Tears soaked into Tommy’s mask. He faced another young opponent. He didn’t even catch
their name. He plugged his ears again, activated his pain suppression, and waited.

But the kid didn't attack.

Tommy glanced back at Effingo screaming at him, but Tommy couldn’t hear it. Effingo
turned to head up to the watch area—to the microphone.

Tommy took this chance to jog toward the kid, who cowered back into the gate behind them.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Tommy said, kneeling a few feet away. “I’m not going to hurt
you but you need to knock me out, okay?”

“No!”

Tommy choked back a cry. He could hear them only slightly, but they sounded so small.

“One of my powers stops pain. I won’t feel it, alright? I promise I won’t feel it. Use your
powers, or if you don’t have any, hit me as hard as you can.” Tommy touched his jaw, “Right
here, okay?”

“No! No! No!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry but they’re going to make you, I’m trying to block out Effingo’s
commands, but they’re going to make you do it and I want you to know it’s okay.”

The kid plugged their ears. “Then I’ll stop him too!”

Tommy’s heart shuddered. “No. You can’t. They might punish you. It’s alright, I won’t feel it
at all I promise you.”

The kid was trembling. They were dressed in medieval-looking armour, with a red cape
reminiscent of Gladius’.

The gate behind the kid began opening, and that’s when Tommy caught the slight screeching
of someone rasping into the microphone.
Tommy stood again and prepared to fight with his fingers shoved into his ears. The kid’s
hands fell down as they yelped in surprise at the gate opening. They stumbled backward into
Tommy’s legs and he stepped in front of them.

Out came Effingo and three guards. The guards all strode forward and Tommy activated his
speed, strength, and stamina.

He launched himself forward and repeatedly—with only his feet and body weight—pushed
the guards back again and again, keeping them away from the kid. He did so well at this, in
fact, that villains from the crowd were called in.

“Just get him! Get him!” Effingo roared.

Not that Tommy could hear them.

It was only when two villains he didn’t recognize got around him that he realized the kid had
gone to the other side of the pit to hide. The two villains ignored the kid and grappled with
Tommy instead. They tried to pull his hands down but his enhanced strength was too much.

Until a guard slammed the butt of their pistol into Tommy’s gut and he doubled over himself,
hands falling for a split second.

“Rubrum stop!”

Tommy stopped moving.

“Anyone who isn’t a fighter right now, step out,” Effingo ordered, exasperated.

“Fuck you. Fuck you. I’ll kill you.”

“Rubrum, when the pit master says fight, you will fight your opponent, and you will—”
Effingo choked, grunted, and cleared his throat, “and you will make it entertaining.”

Tommy nearly collapsed at the landslide of painful fear tearing through his chest.

Effingo stepped back slowly, as if making sure their command worked. Then he turned his
back and left the arena. The gate closed after him.

Tommy could hear the kid behind him crying.

He needed to pass out. He needed to pass the fuck out.

Tommy activated his pain suppression and held his breath. He needed to pass out before the
hoglin made them fight. He looked around, wondering if he could break through the
command to slam his head into the wall.

As he tried to lift his hands again his arms started shaking but he couldn't move them enough.

“Fighters ready!”
No.

“Fight!”

Tommy turned to the kid, still holding his breath, feeling dizzy.

“Rubrum!” Effingo raged through the microphone. “Fight your opponent like it’s me you’re
hurting.”

Tommy sobbed.

And Tommy lunged forward.

**********

It was night again. This meant Tommy was left alone in his cell—a new one without a hole in
it—with guards outside the door into this lower level. All night he stayed awake. Mostly
thinking about his last fight. If you could call it that.

But he also had a plan. Of sorts.

He’d managed to take another bar off his cell. It took almost the whole night. but this time he
had a longer pole. Using the last of the time he had before Effingo came to pull him into the
pit, he heated one end of it with his fire and made it into a point.

Tommy heard people moving around from up the hallway and past the doors long before
Effingo came to get him. He waited, back pressed against the left wall of his cell, the entire
morning.

And finally the bastard opened the door.

Tommy heard his footsteps coming down the stairs, agonizingly slow. Half-acting, Tommy
let a cry slip past his lips.

“Oh, Rubrum, please. It’s not that bad here.”

A few more steps.

“Now, don’t attack—”

Tommy jabbed his pole forward, the tip glowing orange with heat, and he felt it pierce flesh.
He twisted it, and pushed with enhanced strength. Effingo made a shrieking, gurgling noise.
Tommy pulled the pole out and stabbed it forward again, ripping more of the villain’s throat
apart.
Next he aimed for Effingo’s chest, and by then they’d slumped into the ground, flesh burning,
blood bubbling.

Tommy stabbed over and over until someone else had run in and stole the pole from him.
And then he spewed fire. He tossed it everywhere.

And only after the whole room was scorched, painted black with ash, did Tommy fall back on
his ass in his cell and stare blankly forward.

Someone else was bound to come down here. They must have heard screams. Effingo was
certainly dead. He had to be. And Tommy needed to get out in case they could save him—but
he couldn’t find the strength to move.

“Holy shit—” someone new said through a gag. “In here! Effingo—the guards—”

Tommy let himself drift off. These guys would do what they would do, and later he would get
out of it. Because even if Effingo didn’t die, his voice was ruined for the next few days.
Maybe forever if Tommy was lucky.

“You should have been a villain,” someone said.

**********

Tommy had been moved.

He didn’t know what he was expecting after the stunt he pulled earlier, but it was not this. He
did not expect to be put in a metal cage inside another cell. It would take even longer to burn
through these bars but he intended to do it. There didn’t even appear to be a door or a keyhole
—how did this thing open?

Though, it dawned on him that bending them might be easier. So of course, when he was left
alone—which was often considering no one could be within ten feet of him or he’d attack—
he tried it. They moved but it was difficult. He took a lot of breaks in between pulling them.

And he was so tired from the trauma and abuse his body had been through.

He did it slowly to try and conserve energy. Rubrum needed every ounce of grit and strength
he could muster if he was going to break down the stair door and bypass the guards and
villains.

Or he could get out as someone came in to get him.

But they wouldn’t until Effingo could control him. Probably. So he’d prepare to have to break
his way out. But they did bring in food once a day. At least they did before. So. Hopefully,
they still would.
When Tommy bent the first set of bars enough to squeeze through—and he could barely
squeeze through—he turned the cage in the cell so the hole was facing the right wall. It was
loud, and he did it inch by inch, picking up a corner and swiveling the cage. He hoped the
hole would be less visible if someone came in.

Which they did. Tommy heard the door open and forced himself back through the bent bars.
A guard with what Tommy assumed was meant to be a fireproof shield came in with
packaged food items. They tossed them harshly at Tommy’s feet through the cell bars, but
only some of the food items got inside Tommy’s cage.

“I can’t reach all of those,” Tommy said.

“Stretch your lanky arms.”

The guard turned to leave, always keeping the shield between themself and Tommy.

“They aren’t lanky…” Tommy flexed his muscles, and he had muscles. He was not lanky.
Wilbur was lanky.

Tommy crouched to see what he was given for food. There was a package of mixed nuts, a
granola bar, and a package of dried cranberries. And one pouch of what Tommy thought was
water.

He wasn’t going to eat any of it. He couldn’t be sure they didn’t drug anything.

Tommy squeezed himself out of the cage and started bending the cell bars.

**********

Finally he made a big enough hole to fit through, with a bit of pain and enhanced flexibility.
He rested outside of the cell for a while, knowing nobody would be in to see him until either
the night, to see if he was trying to escape, or the next morning. But just to be safe, after he’d
gathered enough energy he rested up the stairs and by the door. He enhanced his hearing
occasionally and heard nothing useful.

Tommy wasn’t confident he could break through the heavy metal door any more. So he
planned on waiting for someone to come through. He just prayed to prime that they didn’t fix
Effingo up.

And finally, he heard the guards greet someone. It was most likely night time.

“Anything unusual?” the hoglin asked outside the door.

“Not that we’ve heard. Nobody’s been in since noon,” one of the guards answered.
Tommy stood to the side, so if the door opened it would block him from sight until the hoglin
passed him. Or the door would hit him, in which case he’d slam it into the man with all his
strength.

Tommy activated that. And his speed. And his stamina.

Man these discs were useful.

“Alright,” the hoglin said, “might as well see if he’s lost his mind or not.”

A passcode was pressed into the number pad on the other side of the door. Tommy figured
the hoglin had a fire shield like the guard before had.

The door began to open. It barely pressed against Tommy when it came to a stop. The hoglin
walked forward. The hoglin passed him.

The door started to close again and Tommy made his move.

He rounded the door and sped into the main area. He wasted no seconds looking around.
Tommy dashed for the same door he escaped through the first time. He was halfway up the
stairs by the time enough extra guards were called.

He slammed into the door and it didn’t open.

Tommy replaced his stamina with pain suppression and rammed himself into the door. It
rattled, and with another it flung open. Someone on the other side grunted. Tommy
reactivated his speed and shot through the plains.

Immediately Tommy heard Acidum.

“Wait—Rubrum I lied—” they shouted. “I didn't volunteer—take me with you!”

Tommy ignored it.

“Rubrum!” Cassidy called.

Tommy ignored it.

“Please don’t let them hurt me more!”

He knew he should have been too far away to hear them already. It was an illusion. It had to
be.

Gun fire chased him, but in the dark of the night he was almost untouchable. And when fear
took him over, his wings exploded from his back, and Tommy soared out of range.

After ages of flying, tumbling between altitudes, Tommy crashed into the ground with a cry
and wheeze. He was sure someone was sent after him—cars—villains—anyone. He knew
where the pit was. He knew identities. He saw everything.
 They had to be coming.

He couldn’t stop.

But Tommy could feel his dislocated shoulder from slamming into the door. He puked. A lot.
And when he was done his throat and stomach ached. He was dizzy. His palms were ripped
and bloody from crashing, slapping people, and bending the bars. Tommy was so stressed
that his wings refused to hide themselves.

Tommy was shaking but he forced himself to his feet. And he didn’t have his phone, they
took that off him—

So they must have checked his vest because that’s where he kept it. So they must have seen
the discs. And they must not have known what they were. Because they left them there.

And Tommy was hit with a new wave of nausea knowing that if he hadn’t had those discs—if
the pit hadn’t been so incompetent—he would still be there hurting kids. Being tortured.

But he reminded himself that he had a tracker that wasn’t hidden in his vest. Cicatrix had his
location. They were probably already organizing a raid of the pit.

It made the long stumble back to the city worth it.

At least that’s what Tommy told himself when he puked three more times on the way there.

Climbing up the fire escape to get to his apartment was worse than ducking between the
alleys to avoid getting caught. He didn’t have the strength to fly. His enhancements ran out.
His wings still wouldn’t retract.

The second he rolled through his window Tommy dissolved into tears and pained whines. He
wanted nothing more than to have Clementine pad up to him and lick his cheek, he wanted to
feel her soft fur against his rough hands.

But she was with Ranboo for the next couple of days.

Speaking of Ranboo—well more so Tubbo. Tommy should really contact them. But he lost
his phone again.

“... Rubrum?”

Tommy screamed. He couldn't help it. He screamed and turned to the window and screamed
again seeing Mandatum perched there.

Chapter End Notes

I hope you liked(?) this chapter. I am absolutely leaving it on a cliffhanger for a while
because I'm going away on a trip and won't have wifi to write. I come back April 18th so
you get nothing until after then <3

Also a note about Tommy's supplies and costume and stuff: he had a baton and lost it
ages ago, he stole a new vest a while ago so he has that back, his black hoodie was gone
when Apis and Lanuae "saved him" from the heroes, but he re-stole a red one when he
got his vest. Man's back in his colours.

If you like my writing consider looking at any of my other 50 hurt/comfort works, but
try these ones specifically:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, votes (that affect fics!) follow me on twitter. That's where
it was decided whether Wilbur, Phil, or Techno would find Tommy at the end of this
chapter :)

Have a great week! Drink water! Don't get in strangers' cars.

 Chapter 15
Chapter Summary

Mandatum watched Tommy fall through his own window, leaving a trail of blood and
tears, and probably mumbling to himself anxiously :)

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: panic, injury, blood, and a super brief flashback to Tommy's

imprisonment. Let me know if I missed anything!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy’s wings were out.

Tommy was battered to hell and back.

His hood was down.

Wilbur was looking at Tommy’s apartment. Wilbur was seeing Rubrum with wings in an
apartment after having been missing for what… two or three days?

“Breathe, it’s alright. I’m alone, it’s just me,” Wilbur said, climbing through the window. “I
watched you tumble through the window.”

After more than fifty hours of violence and fighting, Tommy's instinct was to burn Wilbur
alive. He didn’t though. He would never.

“Don’t come near me,” Tommy hissed, it wasn’t human at all. “Get out.”

Wilbur crooned at him. “Breathe. Calm down. I’ll stay right here until you’re ready.”

Wilbur slid down the wall and sat under the window he’d just come through. By then Tommy
had pressed himself back into his cupboards directly across from the man. His wings still
would not retract, and Wilbur’s were out too.

“Leave,” Tommy hissed again, allowing himself to draw on his instincts, hoping it would
make Wilbur listen better. “I don’t want you here.”

“I know you don’t, but I can’t leave now. It’s too late for that.”
Tommy felt a rattle climb up his throat and he let it release. The sound made Wilbur flinch
back into the wall. But Wilbur hunched down a bit and kept his hands visible. Then he
crooned again, it was low and long.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll fight you right now and make you leave,” Tommy spat.

He didn’t mean it. He wouldn’t hurt Wilbur. He wanted to be wrapped in Wilbur’s wings. He
wanted Wilbur to tend to his wounds. He wanted to tell Wilbur what he saw—what he did in
the pit. He wanted Wilbur to take him to the tower.

“I don’t think you're in any shape to do that, Rubrum. It’s alright, I’m not coming any closer.”

Tommy’s chest started jumping and he couldn’t stop the stress fighting past him. He wrapped
his wings around himself and dug his nails into his arms. He gasped and grit his teeth, trying
to muster more hisses and rattles to scare Wilbur off. He couldn’t.

Wilbur trilled at him and Tommy’s wings lit up with fire. Instinctually Tommy moved away
from his wooden cabinets but he stayed curled in a ball with the wings around him. He tried
to make them stop but it felt so safe—his body was stressed—the phoenix in him sensed
danger.

But Wilbur was seeing it. Seeing them. If he didn't know what Tommy was before, he did
now.

“Oh, Rubrum. No wonder you’re so secretive,” Wilbur said softly. “I’m not going to tell
anyone. Nobody needs to know about your wings, or your hybridity.”

“Even Corvus?” Tommy asked, voice cracking.

Wilbur hesitated and that prompted a scared chirp out of Tommy.

“It really depends on what happened to you and what your plans are from here on.”

Tommy plans involved working with one of the greatest villains in L’Manberg. Cicatrix. And
they involved raiding the pit—the place that did this to him. And they involved leaving this
fucking city right after because now everything was fucked up.

“Rubrum,” Wilbur trilled again, “let me help you. Let me fix you up and keep you safe.”

Tommy shook his head. “What do I need to do to get you fucks to leave me alone?”

Wilbur sighed, but he scooted closer, making Tommy hiss. He answered with more soft
sounds, trying to draw on Tommy’s instincts.

“We’re not going to leave you alone. So you’re going to have to decide if you want our help
or if you’re really going to keep fighting us.” Wilbur held his wings out, puffed in concern,
wide for Tommy to see. “You can’t run from villains and heroes your whole life. Something
has to change.”
And after Tommy got paid by Cicatrix he could go somewhere else. He could get the fuck out
of this city.

And leave the kids here to a city of crime?

Tommy groaned, it dissolved into more crying. When he looked back up Wilbur was way too
close for comfort. Tommy let out an avian shriek and threw himself into a defensive stance.
He would fight Wilbur off if he needed to.

“What happened to waiting until I was ready?”

“Sorry,” Wilbur said, raising his hands. “Can you turn off the fire? There’s lots of flammable
stuff in here—do you have a smoke alarm?”

He did. There was a smoke alarm.

“I can’t stop it,” Tommy admitted. “I need you to leave—I can’t deal with you right now.”

“I can’t leave you like this. I can’t let you disappear on me this time.”

“Come on man,” Tommy sobbed, “I just escaped—I just—I need a break man just give me a
day.”

“Escaped?” Wilbur stayed where he was, leaning forward, listening. Eager. “Nobody’s seen
you for a few days, did the villains have you?”

Tommy shook his head and grabbed a fistful of hair. “I don’t want to tell you anything—
we’re not friends—go away.”

Wilbur frowned and his eyes trailed over Tommy’s figure. And then, instead of leaving like
Tommy so kindly asked, Wilbur came closer. Tommy pulled his wings back, worried he’d
burn Wilbur. Then he remembered he should be keeping the hero away—but he was already
close.

“Here’s my deal,” Wilbur started, reaching forward but Tommy pulled back further. “Okay,
sorry. Here’s my deal. I won’t take you anywhere, I won’t tell anyone about this—Gladius
and Corvus included—as long as you let me help you. As long as you let me stay here with
you and talk to you.”

“You’re just lying. You’re going to take me in. You’re—you just lie all the time and—”

“No,” Wilbur crooned. “I can’t claim to know what’s best for you without understanding you.
So, we’ll talk. You’ll rest. I won’t force you into anything—”

“Yet,” Tommy hissed.

“Well… yes. Yet. But it’s this or I drag you to the tower now.”

Tommy was not going to win a fight with Mandatum tonight. He could accept his defeat now,
or he could have a chance to keep going.
“Fine,” Tommy breathed. “Fine but we stay here—tomorrow I need you to let me do a few
things.”

“Alright, and we’ll figure that out once you’re not bleeding to death. Let’s try to put this fire
out, hm?”

Wilbur reached forward again despite the fire coating Tommy’s wings, dripping over his
arms. Tommy pulled away again.

“You’ll burn yourself.”

“No I won’t,” Wilbur said. He lifted a hand and pulled his mask off, and then the black fabric
that covered the bottom of his face. “We do really need to stop this though.”

Tommy realized he was shaking, and figured there was no shame in admitting it.

“I’m too stressed.”

Wilbur reached forward one more time and Tommy let his hands be held. Wilbur sat criss-
crossed in front of him, and slowly rubbed circles into the back of his hands. They were
bloody, cracked, dry, covered in dirt, and sore.

“I know you are. So we’re going to take a few minutes to breathe. And if you feel yourself
starting to panic, or think about stressful things… chirp at me.”

Tommy sputtered, “No! No—no.”

“It’ll help.”

“No!”

“Okay. Alright, fine. Let’s just breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.”
Wilbur exaggerated his breathing and Tommy tried to match it. “Good, if you want you can
tell me what you see around you. Colours, objects, anything.”

It was dark except the city light coming in through the windows. Of which there were only
two. The fire escape window and one to their immediate right.

They breathed again.

“I see my bed. Your mask. There’s… my table and cupboards.”

They breathed for another few seconds, Wilbur nodded encouragingly.

“The wood floors. Windows. Uh, the door to the bathroom. And the bedroom I don’t use.”

“Why don’t you use it?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy shrugged. “It’s just full of stuff. It’s dirty. I like my bed out here with the rest of my
things.”
They breathed more. Wilbur played with Tommy’s hands, still exaggerating his breaths. He
played the piano on Tommy’s fingers, tapping his knuckles and the backs of his wrists.

The fire slowly died off his wings.

“Okay,” Wilbur whispered. “That took longer than I hoped it would. But now I can safely
tend to you, so why don’t we move to the mattress?”

Tommy glanced over at the mess of stolen blankets, and back at Wilbur nervously. That was
the nest. But he nodded. Wilbur helped him stand. Actually, Wilbur basically held him up.
His knees wobbled as they went. And as Wilbur was helping him sit down, the man’s hand
touched Tommy’s wing, startling a squawk out of him.

“Sorry,” Wilbur said quickly, but calmly. “Sorry, I won’t touch them on purpose.”

“It’s okay,” Tommy said. “First aid kit’s over there.”

Tommy pointed toward the foot of the mattress, to the corner of the room. Wilbur retrieved it
and laid it next to the mattress.

“Think we can get your sweatshirt off?” Wil asked.

Tommy cringed. “I don’t know if I can retract my wings right now.”

“... should we cut it?”

Tommy groaned. “I guess so. I… I think I could have damaged a half-healed stab wound.”

Wilbur cringed, and looked at Tommy with such despair and care that he felt bad for how
long it took him to agree to let Wilbur help.

They unclasped the vest around Tommy’s chest and set it off to the side. Wilbur didn’t check
it, or pause at feeling anything odd inside. So the discs were safe for now.

Wilbur got scissors from the first aid kit and cut away Tommy’s hoodie and t-shirt. He would
have to steal another one.

Wilbur’s eyes jumped from bruises to bruise and cut to cut.

“Your shoulder is dislocated—did you know that?”

Tommy blinked. “Oh. Yeah.”

“I’m going to set that right now.”

“Wonderful.”

Wilbur hesitantly settled at Tommy’s side, kneeling and pressing his hands around the
shoulder. He gave no warning before he slammed it back into place. Tommy yelped and
leaned over himself, clenching his jaw. Wilbur lightly rubbed the shoulder and sat back.
“I have to do these cuts next, they’re still bleeding—how long have you had them for?”

Tommy snorted. “Hours.”

“What?” Wilbur gasped. “They must have mostly clotted then—lie down.”

Wilbur guided Tommy down and rested his head on the pillow. He brought out antiseptic and
cleaned the cut on Tommy’s side, the half-healed cut on his stomach, and the one on his
lower thigh.

Wilbur laid gauze and bandages over the cuts and activated some of the ice packs. He
cracked them and shook them. They grew cold quickly and he wrapped them in hand towels
and Tommy’s cut shirt.

“Hold one of them here,” Wilbur said, guiding Tommy’s hand to hold the ice to his face.
“And keep this one here.”

“Prime, that’s cold.”

Wilbur smiled sadly. “What else hurts? I can get you painkillers and medicine for your head.”

“Am I concussed?”

“... yes, definitely.”

“That makes sense because I puked three or four times.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

“There are bottles in the cupboard closest to us.”

Wilbur leaned over to open the cupboard and pulled out a bottle. He observed it, maybe
looking at the date.

“It’s just water man, it doesn’t expire.”

“Technically that's not true, but I’m sure this is fine.” Wilbur paused. “Should I turn around
or will you lift your mask?”

Tommy tensed. “Turn around.”

Wilbur handed him the water and Tommy struggled to his good elbow. He took his time
drinking, realizing how nice it tasted. Much better than dirt and blood.

“Okay, you’re good,” Tommy said, lying back down with a sigh.

Wilbur turned back and took the water from Tommy’s hand. He screwed the lid back on and
placed it to the side.

“Nothing else I should tend to?” Wilbur asked again.

“Don’t think so,” Tommy said gratefully.

“It’s really weird seeing you with wings.” Wilbur sat on the mattress by Tommy’s head.
“Should I not ask about them?”

“Well… you know what they are. What else is there to ask?”

“Why you hide them? I mean—hunters and traders would do almost anything for a phoenix
but… wouldn’t they be useful?”

Tommy nodded tiredly. “S’ just another thing people can identify me with. And yeah,
collectors are an issue. And there were three avian heroes after me. Didn’t want you guys to
start using my instincts against me.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. We really don’t like to.”

“I know.”

Tommy’s wings fluttered nervously. He began pushing himself up on the mattress but Wilbur
tugged on his good shoulder.

“You should stay down. Just rest up.”

Tommy shook his head. “No. No, I want to talk. About—about things.”

“Okay.” Wilbur let him up.

“What happens next?” Tommy sat against the other wall touching the mattress, wincing at the
pain in his wings and back.

“I was hoping to hear about what happened to you.”

“I can’t tell you that yet.”

“Yet?”

“I’m dealing with something and when it’s over you can hear all about it, but for now I just
need you to let me handle it.”

“And how long will it take you to ‘handle’ it?”

Tommy shrugged. “I have to talk to some people.”

“So you have help.”

Tommy hesitated. He wasn’t sure if Wilbur liked the idea of him working with others or not.
It depended on who Wilbur assumed they were.

“Yeah. I do. And they’re probably wondering where the hell I’ve been so I really need to talk
to them.”
“Do you trust them?”

Tommy held back a cringe. He didn't trust Cicatrix. But Ranboo and Tubbo… maybe.

“Yeah. I do. But it’s not like there’s anyone else.”

Wilbur exaggeratedly pointed to himself.

“Okay. Well. Maybe you could have helped but I didn’t pick you so don’t go getting all
jealous.”

Wilbur smiled, but it was light and hesitant.

“If there’s some kind of crime business—a big villain—or I don’t know… a personal conflict,
I can still help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

But as he said it, Tommy leaned tiredly back into the wall, unable to hide his pained
expression.

Silence followed, but not for long.

“I’ll get you painkillers. I’ll get the good stuff from the tower, I promise I’ll be sneaky about
it.”

“No. No I don’t want you to bring back reinforcements—or a tracker or something.”

“Rubrum, you’re in bad shape. You should be in a hospital.”

“I’ll live.”

More silence, stretching longer this time.

“I’ll stay here with you tonight, you’ll rest up, and tomorrow I’ll pick up food to eat and
painkillers—this is not debatable—and you will have time alone to talk to whoever you need
to.”

But he could still bring backup. He could still bring some kind of drug disguised as a
painkiller that would knock him out or something—a liquid tracker—liquid pain suppressor.

“No,” Tommy mumbled, turning his temple into the cold wall. “No I need…”

“What is it? What do you need?”

Tommy weakly devolved back into gentle tears and laid himself face down on the mattress.
He was just too tired. Wilbur came forward and rested a hand on his back, between his wings.
Tommy almost decided to squirm away.

“It’s okay. It’s fine, relax, I won’t touch your wings.”

So Tommy convinced himself it was fine. And he wrapped his arms around his pillow.

“Are you going to light on fire again?”

“Don’t think so,” Tommy mumbled.

Wilbur scooted closer and rubbed a gentle circle over Tommy’s back. It was too close for
comfort. Tommy flinched and rolled away..

“Sorry. It’s alright, just rest. I’m here.”

Tommy drained so much of his own energy that he was struggling just to hold his pillow
tightly.

“How could you expect me to leave you alone after this?” Wilbur asked, whispering. “Can’t
you let me help? Can’t you tell me anything?”

“I want to.”

“What are you afraid of?”

What was he afraid of? What wasn’t there to be afraid of? The heroes could fuck up their
goal of taking down the pit. The heroes could arrest Ranboo and Tubbo. They could possibly
catch Cicatrix… he was a danger to Pandora's Vault. And his identity, Tommy couldn’t be
found out. That would mean… well… something.

“The more time I spend with you, the closer you get or figuring out who I am,” Tommy
settled on.

“Remind me why that would be so bad.”

“I’m a criminal.”

“You could become a hero.”

“I would hate that.”

“You can break a few rules,” Wilbur shifted but he didn’t reach back out. He might have lain
down. “I do. Gladius and Corvus do. I know part of the issue is how unfree you’d be as a
hero, but honestly it’s so easy to do things under our supervisor’s nose.”

Tommy’s face was hot with embarrassment.

“If I became a hero I would fuck it all up on purpose,” Tommy said. “I’d never listen, I’d do
it all my own way and get fired.”

“Maybe not,” Wilbur said. “Phil’s getting closer to becoming a supervisor. When he does
things are really going to start changing.”

“You called him Phil.”

Wilbur shrugged. “His identity isn’t a secret.”

“It’s weird—shouldn’t you call him dad or something?”

“I’m adopted, but yeah I do sometimes.” Wilbur shook his head. “We’re getting off track.”

Tommy mumbled, “That was the idea.”

Wilbur sighed. “This isn’t healthy. Or safe. Or legal. This has to stop.”

“This? You mean me?”

In the following silence, Wilbur got close again. At first it was comforting, but Tommy soon
registered how tense Wilbur was, like he was holding something back. A hand landed on
Tommy’s back again, but lower, away from his wings.

“Mandatum?”

Wilbur’s sighed.

“...I know it’s you Tommy.”

“...what?”

And Tommy knew that Wilbur was telling the truth. Tommy knew he would be found out
sooner or later. It wasn’t like his costume was anything high-tech. It wasn’t like there were no
opportunities to see his face while he was unconscious—when he woke up in the tower
hospital.

Was there any room to deny it?

Did he want to?

“I know it’s you. And I’m worried about you. And I’m going to help you,” Wilbur whispered.

Tommy clenched his teary eyes shut and asked, “How did you know?”

Wilbur breathed in relief, probably worried Tommy was going to fight or curse or light on
fire. He might have been smiling softly.

“Tommy and Rubrum have the same personality, both were avians ‘without wings’, you were
injured a lot—you have the same chirps. Rubrum started having less trouble running when
you got your knee braces…”

Tommy turned his head toward Wilbur.

“I—I feel like I can’t talk—like there’s just so much to say but I don’t have the energy.”

Wilbur reached forward and wormed his fingers under the straps of Tommy’s mask and
tugged them up over his head. He tossed the mask away and they met eyes. Wilbur’s pupils
were wide.

“Prime, Tommy,” Wilbur huffed, “you can go to sleep. And I won’t leave. And in the
morning… we’ll run your errands and see what we can figure out.”

Wilbur’s thumb traced over a harsh bruise on Tommy’s cheek.

Tommy couldn’t keep his eyes open.

**********

Waking up wasn’t pleasant.

But it was easier with Wilbur there, kneeling immediately at his side, bracing him as he
curled in on himself.

“I have the painkillers, alright? You just need to breathe and sit up long enough to take
them,” Wilbur said quickly.

Tommy held back groans between breaths and let Wilbur guide him to a seated position
against the wall. He had a glass of water ready and two large red pills in his palm. Tommy
took them gratefully, wincing with every movement.

Light streamed through the fire escape window, brightening the whole room. Tommy could
see Wilbur more clearly than in the dim firelight of last night.

“You look like shit,” Tommy rasped.

Wilbur’s face twisted. “I can and will find you a mirror—besides it’s the stress of keeping
you out of nightmares all night long—I mean prime, Tommy, who’s Cassidy?”

Tommy’s eyes started stinging. He shook his head. “Not right now… please.”

“Okay,” Wilbur said easily. “Okay. Finish that whole glass. I’ll get you more. And I have a
fruit salad… thought anything else would be too much for your stomach to handle.”

“Did you tell anyone?” Tommy asked. “Did you tell Phil?”

“No. Not Phil, not even Techno. Nobody knows anything.”

“Did they ask about the painkillers?”

“I was in and out before anyone noticed.”

Tommy relaxed back into the wall. “Thank you.”

Wilbur smiled. There were a few bags on Tommy’s kitchen table, and a backpack next to the
mattress that must have been Wilbur’s. He noticed Tommy looking at it and glanced back.

“Picked up groceries and brought some things so I could stay here with you for a few
nights… unless you’d be willing to come to the tower now that we have our identities out of
the way.” He was way too hopeful for Tommy’s current emotions. Wilbur sensed his
discomfort. “Or not. That’s okay, I’ll stay here with you—that’s not up for debate. I'll get
gray hairs if I’m constantly thinking about you being injured alone in your shady apartment.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “If you’re staying under my house you’ll follow my rules.”

“Yeah?” Wilbur snorted. “And what are those?”

“You don’t get to decide where and when I go places—I have shit to do as soon as possible.”

“...okay but I can’t let you do illegal things.”

How illegal was working with villains to take down a child fighting ring under the heroes’
noses?

“There’s nothing illegal happening. You also can’t tell anyone anything at all.” Tommy’s
throat got dry, he took long sips of his water, studying Wilbur’s expression. “Don’t pry.”

“Tommy, how can nothing illegal be happening if you got hurt this badly?”

“I ran into a pole?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Wilbur laughed. He steeled his expression. “I would prefer if you just,
you know, avoided vigilantism and crime in general.”

“Wilbur that is abso-fucking-lutely not happening.”

“I can’t just allow you to commit crimes!”

“I’m not committing crimes—just—okay I’m stopping some bad guys but I have it under
control and you are not allowed to be involved.”

“Why not?”

“The work is basically done—my part is basically done. You just can’t and if you try to pry I
will disappear and you’ll never hear from Rubrum or Tommy again. I swear Wilbur—I mean
it—I need you to trust me.”

“Okay,” Wilbur said, but Tommy expected more of a fight. Then he realized Wilbur was
speaking too softly for this to be regular acceptance. “Okay, take a breath.”

Tommy blinked. He blew out a large breath and took another stuttering one.
“Oops,” he mumbled.

“Oops indeed.” Wilbur shifted to sit on the mattress next to Tommy, leaning against the wall.
“When do you think you’ll be done with it?”

Tommy shrugged. “Gotta talk to my team.”

“Well, I got you a phone. So you can set it up after you eat your fruit.”

“Is there a tracker in the phone, Wil?”

“No! If I have to trust you, you have to trust me a little too, okay?”

Tommy huffed. “Just go get my fruit.”

**********

Tommy was standing on his roof. He finally managed to retract his wings, but could only do
so when Wilbur wasn’t watching. Then, as the man turned his eyes back onto Tommy his
instincts demanded they come back out. But he managed. He looked perfectly human again,
and he was waiting for Tubbo to pick up the phone.

“Who is this?” he answered.

“Hey beeboy.”

There was a brief pause before Tubbo gasped, and shuffled—probably getting somewhere
safe to talk.

“Holy fuck, are you alright? We were getting ready to storm the pit and find you.”

“So you had my location?”

“Yes—we—yes are you okay? I can come to you right now.”

“I’m alright. It’s really good to know that you could have come for me.”

Tommy ran a stressed hand through his hair. He paced across the roof, checking over the
edges to see if Mandatum would look back up at him, eavesdropping.

“What happened?” Tubbo asked.

“I got caught, and uh, they made me fight a bit—Tubbo, they have someone with
Mandatum’s power. Commanding people with their voice.”

Tubbo made an uncertain sound. “Good to know but it’s alright, doesn’t change our plan.
How did you get out?”
Tommy laughed. Just to keep the pain and tears at bay. “It was bloody, man, it was… yeah it
doesn’t matter. But I’m here, you have the location, what’s next?”

“Right, well. Let’s meet up tonight and we’ll talk about the next steps—we were going to
storm the place tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Tommy hissed. “I don’t know if…”

If he could handle going back so soon. And in this condition.

“You don’t have to come. If Cicatrix tries to make you, I’ll fight him.”

But he worked so hard to get them here. He needed to see the place fall. He needed to see the
kids get out.

“No I’ll be there, I’m not missing that for the world.”

“Alright. I’ll meet you on top of the sportsplex at nine?”

“Sure. See you then.”

“Okay but Tommy, if you’re hurt, if you need anything, I’ll get it for you.”

Tommy was taken aback by the concern and persistence in Tubbo’s voice. Though, it was
obvious to anyone that getting stuck in the pit—caught by the enemy was by no means easy
to deal with.

“I’m okay. Thank you. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay. Bye Tommy.”

*********

“You’re meeting with your team tonight and doing ‘good shit’ tomorrow.”

“Yes, that is what I said.”

“Tommy that is not very specific.”

“I don’t have to be specific. Just know that after tomorrow I can tell you what happened.”

Wilbur’s face scrunched. “Are you going to get hurt more? You have not recovered yet.
You’ve barely even rested.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tommy placated, trying not to subtly cradle his stomach. “I’m not really going
to participate in anything, I’m just kinda of going to watch some shit happen.”
“That is so ominous.”

“You’re not allowed to pry and boss me around, remember?”

Wilbur groaned and turned away from Tommy to continue organizing food in the cupboards.

“This is a mutual agreement. If I let you do your ominous vigilante shit, you talk to me about
everything after tomorrow.”

Tommy groaned and lay back on his mattress.

“Was that a pained groan or an annoyed groan?”

“It was a ‘fuck you’ groan.”

“You should be nicer to the guy that healed your injuries and stopped you from burning down
your apartment.”

Tommy groaned again. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.”

It was through banter like this that Tommy realized how much lighter he felt now that Wilbur
knew who he was. There was so much to talk about—so many questions he had. When did
Wilbur find out? What was the first clue? Did he ever talk to the others about it? And was
Wilbur going to ask about the injuries he’d had—the fires? The hospital escape?

“You’re making the overthinking face.”

“Shut up.”

“My instincts are latching onto everything you do, you know.”

“Well stop it, because I am not indulging in that.”

Wilbur closed the last cupboard and folded the fabric grocery bags together. He turned
around and leaned back against the counter.

“You should. I figured you might want to now that we’re not hiding things…”

“No. No no, the problem is that I am not a chick, Wilbur, and—” he was going to say that he
didn’t want Wilbur near his wings, but that would be a lie.

“And?”

“And you’re a huge fucking dickhead and I don’t want to deal with all that instinct shit.”

“First of all, you are a chick. Second of all, even if you weren’t, it’s not healthy to be without
a flock. Your wings look like the end of an old broom.”

Ouch.
Tommy glanced back at his wing—Wilbur convinced him to keep them out while inside the
apartment—and frowned.

“I’m sorry,” Wilbur rushed, he came to the mattress. “Sorry, that was mean. They are out of
order though, and you really need to let me fix them.”

Wilbur was sitting in front of Tommy on the mattress now.

“No,” Tommy started, backing himself further into the wall. “No. No, I don't want you to
touch them.”

Wilbur lifted his hands and didn’t move forward, surrendering. “I won’t force you, Tommy.
But sooner or later they’re going to get so messed up that they’ll hurt—and eventually you
won’t be able to fly with them like that.”

Tommy didn’t want to say that they already hurt all the time.

“I don’t like the instincts.”

“That is… sad.” Wilbur leaned back on his hands. “It would help you relax and take away
some pain. It’d help you fall asleep.”

Tommy squinted, considering.

“I’m winning you over.” Wilbur grinned. “Consider it trust building.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s wholesome.”

“It’s overwhelming.”

“Yeah, it is, but I promise it’s worth it.”

Tommy’s mind flashed back to the harsh metal and crusty dirt walls of his cell in the pit. He
remembered thinking that he’d give just about anything to have Wilbur’s company. In those
moments he might have freely given his identity just to hear the man speak one word.

Prime. Wilbur knew his identity. He hadn’t really processed it yet. Wilbur knew who Rubrum
was. There was no way Wilbur could let him be a vigilante—he wouldn’t just pretend not to
know Tommy’s identity. Would he?

“Hey, that’s the face. That’s the overthinking face. Let me distract you.”

Tommy rolled his head to the side, “Wil I don’t know if I can handle that right now.”

“I’ll stop as soon as you tell me to.”

Tommy looked back down at his broken feathers and swollen joints. He winced and glanced
up at Wilbur’s wings. Pristine, shiny, organized.
“Fine. Fine, but just this once, and if you don’t stop when I tell you to I’ll fucking fry you.”

“Noted. Wanna sit or lie down?”

“I don’t know?”

“You should probably lie down because of your injuries but you’ll feel more vulnerable.”

Eagerness and embarrassment fought for space in Tommy’s head. “I’ll sit.”

“Okay, c’mere.”

Wilbur moved forward and didn’t seem to mind when Tommy barely reacted. He did pick
himself off the wall and scoot toward Wilbur, but as he was preparing to turn around and
show his back, Wilbur stopped him.

“Like this,” Wilbur said, pulling Tommy forward. “So you can lean against me.”

Tommy was easily settled against Wilbur’s chest, chin resting over the man’s shoulders, legs
extending beyond his back.

“This is not less vulnerable than laying down,” Tommy grumbled.

“It’s the easiest way to reach the feathers attached to your back.”

“I am in your lap.”

“You’ll survive.”

Tommy’s bird brain was chattering obsessively in the background. It was making it hard to
complain about how they were sitting. Or care.

preening, flock, chirp chirp chirp, thank him, preening—

“Ready?”

Tommy warily wrapped his arms around Wilbur’s back. He nodded.

“Let me know if it hurts, we might need to stretch the wings first.”

“Okay,” Tommy whispered, waiting patiently.

Wilbur placed one hand on Tommy’s lower back, and the other pressed between his two
wings. The pressure was enough to make Tommy shift in slight pain.

“Muscle pain?” Wilbur asked. Tommy nodded. “Okay, we’ll work on that too.”

Wilbur moved the hand, and brushed it over Tommy’s left wing. Tommy looked forward
blankly, mind stilling. Wilbur brushed his palm over the feathers again, and a few more times
to let Tommy get used to it.
“Tommy?”

“It’s okay.”

“Okay.”

Wilbur brushed the left wing one more time before bringing his other hand up to do the same
to the right one. Tommy’s bird brain stayed quiet. His human brain was bamboozled.

It was only when Wilbur started to move the feathers and pick apart the tangled ones that
Tommy’s instincts acted up again.

chirp, chirp, say thank you, flock, preen, say thank you—

Wilbur’s fingers carded through the feathers, like brushing out soft hair, except Tommy’s
feathers were coarse and caked with blood and dirt.

thank him, thank him, chirp, thank him—

Tommy buried his face in Wilbur’s neck.

“You okay?” Wilbur asked, hands pausing.

“M’ fine.”

Wilbur kept going, organizing the most sensitive feathers first. They were the ones attached
to Tommy’s skin, the little ones right at his back. They were sore, and a good chunk of them
fell out after being brushed through.

“You’re not getting the nutrients you need. Your wings are thinning.”

“I’m trying to save up for a real apartment.”

“So you don’t buy food?”

“I don’t buy much. I can’t cook in here unless it’s with boiling water from the kettle—I don’t
have a fridge.”

Wilbur tilted his head into Tommy’s as an extra comfort. “Well I brought back enough for the
week. After your ‘good shit’ tomorrow we’ll look at a more long term solution.”

“Like making me live in the tower.”

“Only if we decide, together, that it’s what’s best for you.”

Wilbur’s hands moved to the feathers further along his wings, brushing out the loose ones,
arranging the crooked ones. It shut Tommy up easily. Wilbur gently ran his hands over the
wings again a few times to settle Tommy’s nerves.

It was only when Wilbur let a croon slip out that Tommy’s muscles fully relaxed. He melted
into Wilbur’s arms.
“Sorry,” Wilbur said, but he chuckled. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

Tommy didn’t answer, too lost in the unfamiliar feeling of comfort and care.

With Tommy no longer holding himself up, Wilbur had to brace one hand on his back and
preen one wing at a time. If he didn’t, Tommy would topple sideways.

After a few minutes of Wilbur holding back his fond sounds, Tommy regained enough
composition to lift his arms and hold on again. He didn’t, however, have enough of his
human mind to realize that he was playing with Wilbur’s feathers.

“Tommy?” Wilbur paused. “Are you in there?”

Tommy made a vague noise that was supposed to mean yes.

Wilbur continued the preening and didn’t try to hide his amusement as Tommy brushed
through his feathers. Tommy’s arms got tired quickly though, and when he struggled to keep
them up Wilbur chirped at him.

relax

Tommy nodded lightly and took weak fistfuls of the back of Wilbur’s shirt.

Wilbur brushed through the first of the larger feathers. It was different from the little ones,
there was more pain relief as these ones fell out and into place.

thank you, Tommy chirped.

Wilbur’s hands froze.

preen, Tommy chirped again.

Wilbur’s hands stuttered back to a start. They seemed to move with more energy—not
quickly—but they were fueled by something less than human. Wilbur couldn’t stop his own
chirping once it started.

flock, he said. fledgling.

The tiny sliver that remained of Tommy’s logical human brain said that he shouldn’t let
Wilbur call him either of those things.

flock, he chirped anyway.

After another few minutes, Wilbur’s wings closed around them, swaddling Tommy in
softness. His own wings were bunched closer to his back so Wilbur could reach the tips of
them and not have to let go of him. Wilbur’s wings pushed Tommy’s to wherever they needed
to be.

thank you, Tommy chirped again.

 fledgling, love, Wilbur answered.

And at the end of it all, Wilbur leaned back, lying down with Tommy tucked under his chin.
They didn’t even need blankets, Wilbur’s wings covered all of Tommy.

Chapter End Notes

As I was writing that preening scene there was a crimeboys fanart by @dooberdrop on
twitter stuck in my mind that perfectly depicts how Wilbur and Tommy were sitting. It's
so cute. Consider giving Kota a follow and leave some love on the art <3

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! And if you like my writing consider reading
some of my other fics, such as...
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Have a great week, I'll see you for the next chapter! Have a fruit salad if you can :)
 Chapter 16
Chapter Summary

Tommy meets with the villains again. Finally. It goes really well...

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: injury, panic, violence, gun violence. Let me know if I missed any!

Also, in this chapter, Tommy often switches from referring to SBI as their hero names
and their real names, that's on purpose because he sometimes sees them as more of a
threat/enemy and sometimes sees them as the people he started to really like and care
about.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy, for the first time in a while, didn’t beat Apis and Lanuae to their meeting spot. He
climbed over the edge of the roof from the fire escape and was greeted by their worried faces.
Well, as much as he could see from behind their masks. They rushed him, sputtering, barely
managing to get their questions out.

“How bad is it?” Ranboo asked.

“You’re limping!” Tubbo scolded. “Sit down.”

Tommy sat against the roof’s edge. The painkillers had worn off, he was supposed to take
more in another twenty minutes. Or so Wilbur said. So he hoped this wouldn’t take long.

“We can get you back to Q for some healing,” Ranboo said, gently pressing on Tommy’s ribs.

Tommy hissed and swatted the hands away. “Stop it, I’ve been treated.”

“By who?”

“A friend. That I trust. That doesn’t know anything about you, or the plan, so don’t worry
about it.”

Tubbo leaned back. “It was a hero, wasn’t it?”

“So what if it was?”

“Are they not getting suspicious? You were missing, showing up injured—surely they want
to know what’s going on.”

“I’m not telling him anything, I trust him. He stopped me from bleeding out and now we
have a deal—he’s not going to get involved.”

“Bleeding out?” Ranboo hissed.

“Yeah, the pit, believe it or not, wasn’t very kind to me.”

Tommy couldn’t help the bitterness in his voice. Tubbo was being a little too suspicious for
Tommy’s fragile emotions right now.

“Hey, watch it. Lanuae and I were there for a good chunk of our lives,” Tubbo warned. “If
anyone knows what it’s like it’s us.”

Tommy grit his teeth. “Sorry.”

Ranboo sighed. “It’s fine. But you’re in no condition to come with us tomorrow. We won’t
mess it up, I promise we’re going to get these guys.”

“No no I need to see it happen. And I need to make sure the kids in there get out alright.”

“You can trust us, Tommy. We’re not amateurs. Cicatrix is the best of the best.”

“Yeah but he needed me to find the pit?”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t about to lose someone he actually cared about.”

“What is your issue man? I just got beat to fucking mercury and back for this mission.”

“My issue is that you got help from a hero before us. How are we supposed to trust you if
you play both sides!”

“I was very clear from the beginning that I am not a villain and I never will be.”

Not again.

“Can we maybe just ignore our egos for now. Tommy is in pain and we have things to
discuss,” Ranboo said. “Like the discs. Tommy, do you have those with you?”

Tommy hesitated. “Can I keep them for tomorrow?”

Ranboo and Tubbo shared a look.

“It’s not a good idea to use them for very long. They can start to have some bad effects on
you,” Ranboo said.

Tommy bit his tongue. He’d practically been wearing them on his person since he’d received
them. But he felt fine.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me that before?”

“Because we didn’t think you’d use them until it was time for the mission.”

Tommy snorted. “Seriously? Those things made my job so much easier.”

“So you’ve been wearing them a lot?” Tubbo asked. “Like every day?”

Tommy pressed his lips into a thin line under his mask. “Yes.”

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

“Well explain, maybe? Give me some context? Consider that this is your fucking fault?”

Ranboo nodded in defeat. “It is. Just, if you have them on you, hand them over please.”

“I need them for tomorrow.”

They shared another look.

Tommy was really starting to feel the burn again. The painkillers faded into dull numbing
agents, and swung between working and failing. His body was pulsing with the effort of
fighting off the ache.

“Tommy, the issue with the discs is that they can become addicting. They can really corrupt
you and eventually make you dependent on them,” Tubbo said, sounding much less frustrated
than before.

“If the heroes knew you had those they’d send the whole tower after you. There haven’t been
many power enhancers made, one of them is located in another hero agency across the
continent but this city has always been a hotspot for things like that,” Ranboo explained. “It’s
why we’ve had the worst villains, it’s why the best heroes are here.”

L’Manberg was in the middle of the continent, anything being transported ran through here.
This was the capital city. This was where the government hosted themselves, where the best
of the hero trainees were sent to see if they could handle the top level criminals.

“Makes sense,” Tommy mumbled. “But I’m not dependent on them, I’m just a little injured
right now and they make it easier to get around.”

“You literally just said that you need them to get around.”

“Tubbo please, it’s just for tomorrow. Just so I can pull my weight and help those kids stuck
in the pit.”

Tubbo placed a gentle hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Tommy you have done way more than
your part.”
“Cicatrix is very pleased with you but he also feels bad,” Ranboo said. Tommy snorted,
disbelieving. “He knows you’re young and he didn’t want you to get caught in the pit. He
wants to see you, he wants to thank you, and he wants you to rest under his protection.”

Tommy leaned his head back, exhausted, confused, and still aching.

“We don’t have to take them from you now, but do you have the discs with you?” Ranboo
asked, speaking like he would to a child.

“Yes I have them on me.”

Ranboo nodded. “I can teleport us to Q, he’ll have some people to fix you up a bit better.”

Tommy shrugged. “If that’s what you need to feel better. I have to tell my friend I’m leaving
though.”

Tommy started reaching for his phone despite the uneasy sounds from Tubbo.

Then Tommy glanced up.

“Oh fuck,” Tommy said, looking at Corvus standing just behind the villains.

They turned to see him and both stood in front of Tommy. Tubbo held a hand back out for
Tommy to get up, Tommy took it and let himself be pulled to his feet.

“Rubrum?” Corvus asked. “What’s going on? Where have you been?”

Tommy groaned, half in pain and half in fear. “Mind your fucking business.”

“Villains are my business, mate.” Corvus walked closer, making the three back up. “You’re
injured. They’re protecting you.”

“This is really not a good time,” Apis warned. “We’re not committing crimes, we’re leaving
now.”

“No, Apis, you’re not. Not with him.”

Tommy pushed forward, much to the villains’ dismay. They each grabbed one of his arms so
he couldn’t get too close.

“I’m not fucking going with you. When are you going to get that idea into your thick fucking
head!”

Corvus’ shoulders fell. “Rubrum, you need help.”

“And I have it.”

Apis suddenly seemed very proud, and his grip loosened on Tommy’s arm as a symbol of
trust.

“So you’re a villain now?” the hero asked. He didn’t sound accusing, he sounded curious.
“No. I’m still a vigilante. And if you ask me, these guys aren’t really villains either.”

“No?”

“Don’t tell him too much,” Apis hissed.

Tommy scoffed. “Corvus, you really don’t want—”

Lanuae hit the floor, pinned under the weight of Gladius who swung his metal wing out at
Tommy’s legs.

Apis yanked Tommy out of the way.

“Get out of here!” he yelled, shoving Tommy toward the fire escape.

Tommy did not do that, instead he activated his speed, strength, and pain suppression, and he
charged toward Gladius. He slammed into the hero, hitting his metal wings and knocking him
over enough to allow Lanuae to crawl a few feet away.

Gladius lunged for Tommy but the discs made him too quick, he danced around every swipe
and punch.

“Careful,” Corvus yelled, “he’s injured!”

Tommy felt Gladius’ swings soften, and watched as his fighting style switched to defensive,
trying to tire Tommy out instead of knock him out.

“Fuck you,” Tommy spat, landing a crooked punch to Gladius’ jaw.

Then another to his shoulder. He stopped away from another grab and backed into Tubbo
who looped a foot in front of Tommy.

They spun around each other and Tommy blocked Corvus’ hits instead. He heard Techno
slump to the ground, falling victim to Apis’ paralysis.

Gladius never did wear as much protection.

“Back off Corvus!” Tommy heard Tubbo yell.

Phil’s eyes went wide and he put his hands up, making Tommy freeze. Tommy backed up
too, and looked back at Tubbo, standing over Techno, holding him at gunpoint.

“Hey,” Tommy hissed. “Not cool.”

“I don’t care how you feel about these fucks, Rubrum, if they’re going to try and stop us now
—when we’re so close—”

“I know,” Tommy said. “Prime, I know.”

“You’ll regret that,” Corvus said, and it wasn’t the voice Tommy had grown to associate with
the hero. This voice was dark, warning. “I’ll make you regret it if you pull that trigger.”
Gladius couldn’t bleed out. But a shot to the head offered a bit more than blood loss.

“You owe us, remember?” Apis said. “For the kid, Tommy. And you’re going to owe us a
second time, for not killing your son.”

Tommy was caught off guard by the mention of his real name.

Corvus glanced at Tommy. “Not villains, eh?”

“Lanuae, get us out of here.”

Lanuae took Tommy’s hand and put a hand on Apis’ shoulder. Tommy glared at Corvus
before they blipped away.

Except, they didn't. Instead, Ranboo collapsed with a cry and Tommy caught him before his
face hit the concrete. He curled on himself and groaned, eyes wrenched shut.

Apis still held the gun at Gladius’ head.

“What is it?” Tommy asked, rubbing Ranboo’s arm. “What happened?”

“What did you do?” Tubbo demanded, flicking the gun closer to Techno’s head.

“Easy,” Corvus urged. “It wasn’t me. If I had to guess, Gladius caught him with a power
suppressant.”

“What? How?”

Corvus’ hands were still up in surrender. “New tech, liquid suppressors in dart form.”

“How do we stop it?”

“It has to wear off.”

Apis nearly growled, Tommy could feel the anger radiating from him, and saw the poison
dripping off his hands.

“Well, like I said, you owe us. So you’re going to let us go, and if you make one wrong move
you’ll have a funeral to plan.”

Tommy’s stomach churned. He ignored it to help Lanuae into a sitting position, and lifted his
face so they could meet eyes.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Lanuae nodded, but he was still hunched over himself.

“We do owe you,” Corvus admitted. “So I’ll make you a deal.”

“No. It doesn’t work like that,” Tubbo fumed. “You’re going to let us go or I’m killing this
fuck.”
Corvus’ mouth clicked shut.

“Lanuae, Rubrum, get out of here. You know where to go.”

“And you?” Tommy asked.

“I’ll handle it.”

Tommy was only fifty percent sure Tubbo wouldn’t shoot Techno.

“Apis drop the weapon.”

Apis dropped the gun. Tommy’s heart bounced from rib to rib when he saw Mandatum—
Wilbur—land behind Corvus.

“Don’t move,” he said. “Rubrum, come to me.”

Tommy couldn’t help the way he followed the order, teeth grinding in frustration and terror.
But it was Wilbur. They had a deal. Wilbur was trustworthy. It was Wilbur.

Lanuae held Tommy’s arm and tugged him back.

“Lanuae don’t move, let him come to me.”

Lanuae let go and Tommy was free to walk to Mandatum. When he got there, Wilbur pulled
him into his side, keeping an arm over Tommy’s shoulders.

He whispered, “Them? You’re working with them?”

“Please let us go,” Tommy said, low enough so only Wilbur could hear. He tried to let every
ounce of desperation leak into the words. “Wil.”

“Glad you made it,” Corvus said, approaching them. “I’ll get him back to the tower and send
back up for you. Not sure how long Gladius will be out for.”

“Don’t you think I should take him?” Mandatum said, squeezing Tommy’s shoulder subtly.

“No, I need you here to keep these two out of commission. If they get away they’re going to
come back for him.”

“Right, well let’s make sure he behaves then,” Wilbur looked at Tommy. “Do whatever
Corvus tells you to.”

And it wasn’t a command.

But it sounded like one. And that’s all Tommy needed.

“Okay, come here mate,” Corvus said, holding out some cuffs. Tommy rolled his eyes and
held out his hands. “We’ll get back and take a look at your injuries first and foremost.”

“Fuck you.”
“I know, I know. Let me carry you.”

And Tommy had to. Tommy let himself be carried in a bridal hold, cheeks burning—mostly
in anger.

“I’ll send Vulpes and Fluctus,” Phil said. “Take care of your brother for me.”

“I will, fly safe,” Wilbur said, but he was only looking at Tommy.

And Corvus took off, soaring gently. Tommy held on but he considered pretending to fall
unconscious just so he didn’t have to listen to anything the man said. He’d rather die than
listen to Phil Craft right now.

“Holding up okay?” Corvus asked.

Tommy didn’t answer, making the hero sigh.

“I’m sorry things have gotten so tense. But I know you understand my motives. And I think
you know I understand yours.”

Tommy knew that Phil tried to understand, but he really didn’t get it. Mostly because he
didn’t know everything.

“Can you tell me where you’ve been?”

Technically, Corvus didn’t tell Tomm to answer, so he didn’t need to.

With a snort, Corvus corrected himself. “Tell me where you’ve been, Rubrum.”

“I don’t remember,” Tommy said. “But Lanuae and Apis got me out, wherever it was.”

Corvus hummed. “Did they hurt you?”

“No.”

“So your injuries are from whoever had you?”

“Yes.”

“And do you have any idea of who this could have been?”

“No.”

“Any idea how you were taken?”

“No.”

Corvus hummed again. “We’ll figure it out. They won’t get you again.”

It would have been comforting if Phil knew the context, and knew who Rubrum really was,
and knew how scared Tommy was of getting caught by them again.
He pretended that Phil was saying it to Tommy instead of Rubrum.

“I need to land for a second, I’m getting alerts… hold on.”

Tommy knew an opportunity when it slapped him in the face. The second Corvus landed he
would attack. Well—hopefully he’d just escape. It’d be hard with cuffs on. But if he had to,
he'd fight the man off.

“I’m going to set you down,” Corvus said, about to land, “just sit still and wait for a minute.”

The second Tommy’s feet touched the ground he fell into a low stance and hooked a leg
behind Corvus’s foot. He kicked his leg up and threw his back into the hero’s chest, knocking
him down.

Tommy lurched forward to run but Corvus’ hand looped around his ankle. Tommy slammed
face first into the stone and was dragged backward. He kicked his foot out of Corvus’ grip
with a grunt and turned to face him, shuffling backward.

Stay, Corvus chirped.

Tommy let a hiss rattle up his throat and jumped out of the way of Corvus’ lunge. The hero
rolled back to his feet before Tommy got to his and knocked him back onto the concrete.

Tommy deactivated his strength to enhance his agility.

Phil reached for him and Tommy easily slinked away.

STAY, Corvus demanded.

Threat, Tommy hissed back.

He hoped if he hurt Phil’s feelings he’d back off again.

No, no, safe, Phil chirped, slowing his movements.

Predator.

Safe. Safe.

Tommy turned to run, not knowing where the fire escape was, and not seeing any other
reasonable jumps to make. Despite this, he flung himself off the building. Corvus shrieked in
alarm and Tommy heard the sound following him.

He landed harshly on a lower roof that he hadn’t known was there and rolled back to his
knees. He hopped to his feet.

Corvus tackled him onto his back and wrestled him into the rough roof.

STOP.

DANGER, Tommy shrieked.

Corvus flinched back but quickly reoriented himself.

Tommy let go of his agility to enhance his strength and started pushing. Corvus squawked in
surprise at how easily Tommy was fighting back. Corvus was pretty much as strong as
Gladius, and Tommy was weakened by his injuries. He still struggled to push Corvus all the
way off.

Calm, calm, Phil tried.

It was reminiscent of Wilbur’s croon.

Tommy’s muscles slackened enough for Phil to repin him.

Calm, calm, relax—safe.

Danger, Tommy rattled.

No, safe.

Tommy had the urge to go limp.

Relax.

“Stop,” Tommy choked.

Calm. Safe.

Corvus lifted his crow mask, showing his face, making it harder to ignore the emotion in his
voice. Tommy looked away, struggling weakly.

Look here,

No.

Phil removed one hand from the pin and turned Tommy’s head so their eyes could meet. Not
that Phil could see Tommy’s.

Calm, he crooned, hand traveling behind Tommy’s head.

To the straps of his mask.

NO.

Calm. Relax.

“Stop—stop please—”

“I need to know who you are,” Phil whispered. “Just in case you do get away again.”

Tommy gathered every ounce of rage, fear, and prey-like instinct he could, drawing on his
strength.
Phil slid the mask off.

Tommy exploded into flames.

Phil launched off of him with a grunt, patting out fires and rubbing at his face. Tommy kept
his back turned to Phil, leaning against the taller building attached to this one, heaving in
terrified breaths.

Spreading his flaming wings for the man to see.

Phil still had his mask.

“Give me my mask,” Tommy spat.

Instead of answering, Tommy heard Phil’s feathers ruffle, and his foot slid back. At his lunge,
Tommy launched himself over the side of the building. He dived, and glided into the next
alley.

He activated his agility again, kept up his pain suppression, and reinforced his speed.

But he didn’t hear Corvus following him.

Tommy flew far and fast. Sometimes he had to shoot out over the open road. People below
were shouting, some kids thought he was a shooting star. They were scrambling to get inside.
Tommy only heard his vigilante name called once.

He found somewhere to hide, between a dumpster and an alley wall. He landed on his ass and
smacked the wall. His chest rose and fell to the rhythm of his heart. He clutched his chest and
watched the sky.

Tommy needed his fire to go out or else he’d be found.

What did he see? There were some crooked bricks. A pebble. Another pebble. A third pebble.
The dumpster.

Tommy took deep breaths.

He saw his vest when he looked down; remembered that his phone was in there. He never
used to carry one while vigilante-ing. Tommy pulled it out, the plastic case was a bit melted.
He hoped the device was okay.

The first person he called was Tubbo.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

Four more times.

“Rubrum?” Tubbo asked, out of breath. His wings were fluttering in the background.

“I’m out. Are you out?”

“Meeting Cicatrix in seconds. Where are you?”

Tommy took a few extra seconds to breathe. “I don’t really know. Lanuae?”

“He’s good. He’s running.”

“What do I do?”

Tubbo paused, also breathing. “Hide. Do you still have the trackers on?”

“No. I can find a landmark.”

“Do that, go now.”

Tommy did, still holding the phone to his ear. He was maskless, flaming, wings out, and he
was flying back up to the rooftop. Visible. Vulnerable.

“I don’t have a mask anymore,” Tommy admitted, landing on the rooftop.

“We’ll get you one.”

Tommy looked around, ducking low when he poked his head over the building’s edges. He
didn’t see a lot, not even a street sign.

“There’s a clothing store. Clara’s.”

“Next to McPuffy’s?”

Tommy nodded, breathed, then answered, “Yes.”

Tubbo didn’t say anything for the next minute or so, leaving Tommy in a tense silence,
watching his surroundings, the sky, the floor, the edges. Then he heard a car door slam, and
he heard Tubbo say his location.

“We’re coming for you, lay low.”

“Tub—Apis I’m,” Tommy bit his cheek. “I’m a bit on fire and I can’t stop it.”

Tommy could hear the confused blink.

“Like… not on fire but on fire.”

“Yes.”

“Can you dunk yourself in a water source nearby?”

“HE’S ON FIRE?” Tommy heard someone yell.

“He’s fine,” Tubbo said. “Find water. Maybe a hydrant?”

Tommy nodded again and didn’t answer Tubbo. There were a few fire hydrants within range.
There were also people around. And Tommy didn’t have a mask.

Think think think.

Tommy glided to the street’s level and found a car tucked into an alley. There wasn’t a lot of
room, but he slid under it.

This was stupid. The car was going to start burning.

But Tommy gripped the drain plug and turned it with his enhanced strength. It would have
hurt his hand if his pain immunity wasn’t active.

It was loose enough that Tommy could catch falling oil on his hands and climbed out from
under the now-charred car.

Tommy smeared the oil over the top half of his face, leaving his mouth exposed. Then he
touched his wing to the oil mask.

It lit.

Fire obstructed his vision a little, but in the car’s rear view mirrors, Tommy could see that his
face was covered by fire. Matching his wings.

He couldn’t get in a car like this.

But his identity was hidden if a hero found him. And again, he was mostly fireproof so this
wouldn’t even hurt that much at the end of the day.

Prime. He had flaming oil on his face.

“Rubrum?!” Tubbo was calling.

“Oh—shit man sorry, was distracted—”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m good. How far are you?”

“Thirty minutes. How did you get so far?”

Tommy tried to laugh, it probably sounded more like a sob.

“Adrenaline.”

“Mandatum commanded you to listen to him, how did you get away? Did it wear off?”

“I think it did, or at least it was weakened because I found a loophole.”

“Give me the phone,” someone said, and all Tommy knew was that the voice wasn’t Ranboo.
There was some shuffling, hushed whispering, someone given directions to the driver, tires
screeching, and then Tommy heard someone breathe into the phone.

“Rubrum, how injured are you?” Cicatrix himself asked. “Is thirty minutes too long?”

Tommy was stunned for a moment. “No, no I’m good. I can wait, I'm just struggling to hide.”

“You don’t sound good. I’m going to come to you, the car will be there after me.”

“You don’t have to do that—”

“I’m already getting out of the car. See you soon.”

The phone was handed back to Tubbo. Tommy never heard the car stop moving but he did
hear a door close.

It was a shock knowing that Cicatrix came out to help them. He came out himself to help his
team. Risked his own safety for his team.

Kurt never would have done that.

“How is he going to get here before a car?” Tommy asked, still breathless.

“He has wings.”

Tommy felt himself shaking. “Avian?”

“Yes.”

Tommy lifted an oily hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, but the line of oil left there lit on
fire. Tommy cursed and wiped it on his already charred jeans.

“Hang tight, he’s quick.”

Tommy backed himself into the alley’s corner and slid himself down the wall, wings tucked
tightly behind himself. They were squished into the wall. He was trying to block out the light.
Prime knew Corvus was still out there looking for him.

But he would tell Wilbur that Tommy escaped, and maybe Wilbur would keep the man
distracted. But, fuck, Wilbur must have let Apis and Lanuae go—how would they have
gotten out? And then Phil and Techno would be suspicious—

“Keep it together man,” Tubbo said. “Don’t pass out because we might not find you.”

“Tubbo,” Ranboo hissed.

Tommy ignored it and gave some kind of an agreeing hum.

Now Tommy was in deep shit. Wilbur knew his identity, Wilbur knew he was working with
villains, Wilbur betrayed the heroes for him—fuck was he going to get punished for that?
Would Phil let that happen? Would he be fired? Sent to pandora?
Footsteps sounded outside the alley. Frantic, running footsteps.

Tommy jumped to his feet, dropping the phone, preparing to fight his way past whichever
hero just found him. Because that’s who it had to be.

“Rubrum,” they whisper-yelled.

It wasn’t SBI, that was for sure.

“It’s me—”

A character in all black, new face, passed the charred car, looking at Tommy.

Tommy’s wings fell, dragging on the ground—still flaming—and he tried to take a step
toward Cicatrix but he stumbled. He caught himself on the wall.

“Easy,” Cicatrix said, his face was different from the last time they spoke. Physically, literally
different. “Can you stop the fire?”

Tommy shook his head, leaning his shoulder into the wall.

He could feel his pain suppression letting up.

“I didn’t know you were an avian,” the villain said, walking up slowly. “Are you strong
enough to fly any more?”

Tommy nodded.

Cicatrix looked uncertain. Then he glanced around the alley, back out at the street, and back
at Tommy.

“We’ll stay here. Sit down, let me go find a fire extinguisher or something.”

Tommy blinked.

Then he listened and sat down in the corner again. Cicatrix flew into the air, uncaring of how
exposed he was. It took him six minutes to come back with a fire extinguisher, leaving
Tommy tense, tired, and with dwindling enhancements.

“Hold them out, kid.”

Tommy plastered his wings against the alley wall and let Cicatrix extinguish them. It was a
bit embarrassing, but it was mostly relieving. Until Tommy realized that his fire mask could
have come off.

He covered his face quickly.

“I didn’t see anything. Here.”

Something hit Tommy’s lap. He turned away from the villain to look down at it. A plain
black mesh mask that would cover his whole face. It looked a bit like a fencing mask.
He slipped it on.

“Okay, good. Let me look at you,” Cicatrix said, kneeling just behind Tommy.

Hesitantly, Tommy turned to him and leaned his back against the wall. Cicatrix kept a hand
on Tommy’s shoulder and unclipped his vest with the other.

“Wait,” Tommy sputtered, “wait I need that.”

Cicatrix shushed him. “I’m not taking it kid, just trying to make you comfortable.”

Cicatrix was a lot less intimidating when he talked like that. And when his fluffy gold wings
were out. And when he was saving Tommy.

But after a few seconds of the discs no longer being on Tommy’s person, the pain faded in,
and the immunity fell away completely.

Tommy hunched over himself with a groan.

“Too tired to keep up your powers, hm?” Cicatrix rubbed Tommy’s upper arm. It was weird.
“I never meant for you to get caught. I never wanted you to be stuck in that place.”

Tommy shrugged—it hurt. “Isn’t that why you didn’t send one of your own?”

Cicatrix ignored the comment and lifted Tommy’s red hoodie. His eyes traced from bandage
to bandage and bruise to bruise.

“That’s a good stab wound.”

“Thanks,’ Tommy mumbled, head falling back into the wall.

“You reopened it.”

“That’s the second time.” Tommy hummed to himself. “Third time’s the charm, maybe it’ll
kill me.”

Cicatrix didn’t reply, only inspecting further. He looked at Tommy’s arms and legs, his head,
and asked him a few basic questions to test his consciousness.

“Is the plan still on for tomorrow?” Tommy asked.

“...yeah, Rubrum, it is. But I don’t think you should come.”

“I need to. Please.”

Cicatrix sighed, but he didn’t say anything else until the car got to them. And when it did,
Cicatrix peeled Tommy off the asphalt and helped him limp to the car. Tommy desperately
tried to retract his wings.

“It’s fine, nobody will touch them,” the villain said. “We need to get out of here.”
 Tommy got in the car next to Ranboo. Tubbo was on the other side. They both stared at his
wings with wide eyes.

Cicatrix sat in the front next to the driver—someone Tommy didn’t recognize. The windows
were tinted. And as he was looking out the window, Tommy noticed the car changed colours.
From black to bright red. He forgot they had that technology.

Unconsciously, Tommy leaned sideways into Ranboo—who didn’t mention it. And he tried
not to wince at every stop, start, and turn. He tried not to groan or whine. And he did well. So
well, in fact, that he passed out and made no more sounds at all.

Chapter End Notes

As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope I've left you excited for the next
one.
I wonder if Phil caught a glimps of Tommy's face or not... I wonder if Wilbur let the
villains go on purpose... I wonder if Wilbur's going to tell Phil and Techno things now...
I wonder how Techno's feeling...
ANYWAY, try reading some more of my fics!!
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Get some sleep tonight! Drink cold water! Think about something nice that happened
today :D
 Chapter 17
Chapter Summary

the Pit raid is attempted...

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: injury, blood, violence, guns, Tommy makes an inappropriate joke about
killing himself, death (not mcd), explosions, killing. Let me know if I missed any!

Enjoy.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I’m so sorry Phil I—”

Phil tugged Wilbur into his side, a sloppy hug. It was forgiveness, but at the same time it was
for his own comfort. They walked together through the tower halls, toward the elevator.

Phil sighed as the doors closed. “It’s alright mate, they’re tricky. And so is Rubrum.”

“Rubrum escaped?”

“He did. And I have something to tell you and Techno.”

They traveled to their floor and went down the hall to their main area. In the living room,
actively trying to stand from the couch, was a very shaky Technoblade.

“Hey,” Wilbur hissed, “Sit back down!”

Techno tried to take a step, barely able to move his numb body. He ended up tilting back into
the couch cushions with a groan of annoyance.

“Apis has never been this powerful before,” Techno said. “It should have worn off by now.”

“Maybe he’s never tried that hard before,” Wilbur said, detaching himself from Phil’s side.
“Go sit, I’ll make coffee.”

“This late?” Techno asked.

“You don’t have to have any.”

“No, give me one.”

Wilbur snorted.

He was doing well at disguising his anxiety. His guilt. But he had a feeling Phil was going to
say something about Wilbur’s power wearing off quickly—or not working. Or he’d figure out
that Wilbur completely betrayed them. And be pissed. And ground him. And suspend him
from Rubrum’s case.

“Wil?” Phil asked.

“Hm?”

“Did you hear me?”

Wilbur shook his head, clicking the coffee machine’s top button. The largest coffee setting.
Phil’s hand landed between his shoulders.

“Cream this time?”

“Oh, sure. Both of you?” Wilbur asked.

“Not me,” Techno called.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. “Black coffee isn’t good, you just want to seem cool.”

“I like the taste.”

“You like the taste of shit.”

Phil gently rubbed Wilbur’s shoulders and went back to the couch, lowly asking Techno how
he was feeling and if he needed anything.

Wilbur stuck the next mug under the machine and clicked the large button. He picked the full
mug up and delivered it to the side table by the couch.

“Can you even lift it?” Wilbur asked.

“My arms are fine. Legs are fucked.”

“Am I going to have to carry you to bed?”

“Am I going to have to throw this hot coffee at you?”

Phil rolled his eyes but it was lazy, he was distracted. Caught thinking about everything they
were about to discuss. It made Wilbur’s stomach drop.

“So,” Phil started, “tell me about the villains escaping.”

Wilbur tensed and loosened his fists a few times. He opened his mouth, facing the coffee
machine, but Techno spoke first.
“They noticed a loophole in Wil’s command.”

“Remember what it was?”

An idea struck.

“I told them to listen to what I told them next so I could preserve my power and not get a sore
throat. Well… they listened, to my words, but they didn’t follow the orders and I didn’t catch
on until it was too late.”

“They pretended to do what he said,” Techno supplied.

Wilbur turned back to see Phil nodding, realization sweeping across his face.

“You said the same thing to Rubrum.”

“Precisely.”

Wilbur hated lying to them. He hated it. But he promised Tommy his trust. And maybe there
really was something the heroes couldn’t help with. Maybe this was just a job for vigilantes
—and villains?

Wilbur picked up the last two mugs, both with cream, and brought them to the couches. His
hands were shaking.

“That uh, brings me to our next big problem,” Phil said.

Wilbur expected some sort of plan or extra protocol to bring Rubrum in. He’d have to pretend
to carry out the orders, but hopefully not for long. Tommy’s job would be done after
tomorrow. He only had to lie for a day or two.

“What is it?” Techno asked.

Wilbur sipped the scolding coffee.

“Rubrum… is Tommy.”

Wilbur spat out his scolding coffee. He choked, covering his mouth, leaning over the side of
the couch. He’d heard Techno sputter, but they both quiet as Wilbur hacked up a lung.

“I got his mask off… I don’t think he knows that I saw.”

Wilbur turned back to the others, holding his coughs, trying to clear his throat.

“I think… I kind of knew,” Techno said. “Not for sure, but I wondered.”

“Me too mate. It was the instincts—those young chirps.”

Techno and Phil looked at Wilbur expectantly. And he didn’t want to lie. They knew. What
could he do? Deny that it was Tommy? There was no point in hiding anything from them,
they were going to find Tommy after all of this anyway.
“I uh,” Wilbur cleared his throat again, “I knew. For sure… I saw his face.”

Phil raised his brows. “You knew.”

“I only found out two days ago! He was—he was really hurt, and freaking out, and I
promised I wouldn’t drag him to the tower if he let me take care of him.”

Phil’s expression softened, he leaned back into the couch. “Okay. I’m glad you could help
him. But were you ever going to tell us?”

“Yes, I was. but I told him we were going to work things out—something we were all happy
with. We basically traded trust—I let him have a few days to finish some personal things and
he trusted me with his location, identity, and uh… wings.”

“Wings?” Techno asked.

Wilbur smiled fondly. “He let me preen them.”

“Wings?”

“Ah, yes. He’s a phoenix,” Phil said. “Certainly surprised me. Lit himself up like a
matchstick.”

“Really?” Wilbur asked. “You must have scared him…”

Phil frowned. “I did. I—I’ve never heard that kind of hissing from either of you boys.”

Wilbur rubbed a hand down his face. He looked between Techno and Phil for a second, and
let the silence coat his ears. Way too much had been happening lately. He deserved at least
one peaceful sip of coffee.

He raised the mug to his mouth.

“You let the villains go on purpose, didn’t you?” Techno asked.

Wilbur cringed and put the mug back down. “I did. But I trust Tommy. I think they’re really
doing something good.”

“They’re villains.”

“It’s Tommy.”

“He’s not a hero, Wilbur.”

Wilbur twitched. “He’s not a villain.”

“Apis was going to kill me.”

Wilbur bit the inside of his cheek. He breathed. “You’re right. They should be brought in. But
it can wait for Tommy’s plan to be done—which is tomorrow by the way.”
“How much do you know?” Phil asked.

“Not much. But wherever he was missing these past few days, that’s a part of it. I really think
they’re taking some bad guys down.”

Techno’s arms were crossed, he was looking intently at his own shoes.

“And Tommy will come to you when it’s over?”

“Yes. He will. And if he doesn’t, I know where he lives.”

Phil blinked a few times, considering. But he nodded and sighed. “Alright, Wil. Just keep us
updated. Don’t forget that Tommy is a vigilante.”

“It will be fine, Phil. Tommy trusts me.”

**********

Tommy was being gently, but inefficiently, guided somewhere through the halls of Cicatrix’s
headquarters. The villain’s arm was around his back, and Tommy’s arm was draped over his
shoulders. On his other side, helping carry him the same way, was Ranboo.

Automatic doors slid open, revealing a room with a front desk and hospital beds off to the
left.

“It’s mostly exhaustion,” Cicatrix said to the nurses approaching. “I think.”

They were led to a nearby bed. Ranboo and Cicatrix helped Tommy lie across it, he groaned
and curled his wings tight.

“Don’t touch his wings,” Cicatrix said. “Give him the full member treatment. Update me on
his health, I’ll be where I usually am.”

The nurses said something, Cicatrix was already out the door though. Ranboo and Tubbo
were still there.

“And check on them too,” Cicatrix said, poking his head back in momentarily. “Lanuae needs
a suppressor antigen.”

They both groaned. One of the three nurses looked at Tubbo and Ranboo, then decided
Ranboo needed to be treated first. Tubbo went with him, leaving Tommy alone at the hands
of two strangers. In an unfamiliar place.

“What kind of wings are these?” One of the nurses asked.

Tommy didn’t answer, instead he glared and curled the wings in further.
The same nurse reached out to inspect the feathers closer.

“Hey!” Tubbo snapped from where he sat on another bed. “Did you not hear Cicatrix? Don’t
fucking touch his wings. He’ll fry you alive.”

The nurse pulled his hand back. “Sorry.”

Tommy’s heart pinballed between his ribs. He hated being laid out for a villain’s medical
team. He hated being weak and scared. He couldn’t rest with them hovering over him. He
wouldn’t rest in this bed. He wasn’t going to sleep tonight at all.

“Rubrum,” Tubbo said, moving to his side. Thank prime he came back. “You can relax.”

“Oh, can I?” Tommy jeered.

“You need to. Especially if you expect to come with us tomorrow.”

“I’m going, one way or another.”

“Uh, no. Not if you can barely move in the morning.”

Tommy opened his mouth to retort, and found his mind blank. Instead he let out a breath. It
wasn’t meant to be a sigh. He was just too tired to do anything else.

“You can come stay in my room later, okay?” Tubbo said. “Or Lanuae’s. They’re right next
door.”

Tommy nodded.

“Apis,” the nurse tending to Ranboo called. “Come sit.”

Tommy tried to let himself drift, focusing on the odd pattern on the ceiling instead of the
hands on his skin and wounds.

It took a long, excruciating time for them to finish up. And then, they wouldn’t let him walk.
Ranboo and Tubbo ended up taking him down the halls in a wheelchair.

Once they were out of range of the nurses, Tommy tried to stand up, only to be held against
the chair by Ranboo.

“Relax, it’s not far.”

“I don’t need a wheelchair.”

“Forget your pride man, you’re not even blinking right.”

Tommy blinked slowly, and kept his eyes closed for way too long. They turned a corner, and
after a bit they turned down another one. They stopped and he opened his eyes, looking past
his mask at Tubbo opening a door.

Tommy’s chair was pushed inside. The door was shut behind him.
“You can take my bed tonight,” Tubbo said. “I have an air mattress in the closet.”

Usually Tommy would have offered to take the mattress. But Tubbo was a villain and a
bastard so he could suffer on the floor.

Ranboo took Tommy’s chair to the bed and helped him up while Tubbo tugged the air
mattress out of the closet. It was rolled up in a tube. He laid it out over the ground and
retrieved a hand pump.

Tommy tried to climb into the bed and instead fell face first into the cushions. Ranboo huffed
in amusement and helped readjust him.

“You’re going to be so sore tomorrow.”

“Perfect motivation to get the job done quickly,” Tommy mumbled.

Tubbo started pumping the air into the mattress in the background.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Ranboo said. “You can take your mask off. No one will come in here
without our permission.”

Tommy considered.

“You can’t sleep with that on,” Tubbo said. “You might suffocate.”

Tommy relented and turned onto his back, reaching up with a heavy hand to pull the straps of
his mask. He set it on the bed next to him.

“So,” he breathed. “How’d you guys get away?”

Ranboo and Tubbo glanced at each other in the middle of removing their own masks.

“Mandatum let us go,” Ranboo said. “Guess the heroes don’t owe us anymore…”

Tommy smiled, relieved that Wilbur really did trust him. And then he realized that he needed
to trust Wilbur the same way. He needed to tell him everything after this. And fuck, that was
coming up soon.

“You and Wilbur Craft,” Tubbo chuckled. “Rubrum and Mandatum, allies. That was
unexpected.”

“Was it?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah man, you’ve been those heroes’ top priority for a while. You’re all over the news every
day, everyone thinks you guys hate each other.”

“Sick.”

“Except that one interview,” Ranboo said. “Where Corvus said he wanted to help Rubrum,
and you reminded him of his sons.”
“Twitter went wild,” Tubbo said, nodding. “Did you know there are fanfictions about him
adopting you?”

Tommy stared blankly, gaping at Tubbo.

Then he grinned evilly.

“Why are you looking at my fanfictions Tubbo?”

“It came up on my timeline! I keep up with hero, villain, vigilante shit.”

Tommy laughed, clutching his sore stomach. He listened to the air pump move faster as
Tubbo worked away his embarrassment.

“Go to sleep, Tommy,” Ranboo said, throwing the blankets over his face. “I’ll see you two
tomorrow.”

“Night Ranboo,” Tubbo said.

Tommy freed his face from the blankets after the door was closed again.

He tried to sleep.

**********

Tommy was woken by the sound of his phone ringing. When he picked his phone up from the
side table, he saw Ranboo and Tubbo both frozen, staring at him, suited up for the raid.

“I’m going to take this call, and then you guys are going to tell me why the hell you didn’t
wake me up,” Tommy said.

The only reason Tommy was taking the call was because it was Wilbur’s name on display. He
swung his legs over the bed, glaring at the other two, and he walked into the bathroom. He
retracted his wings before answering the call—thank fuck he could.

“Hey, Wil.”

“Hi, Tommy. Are you alright?”

Tommy leaned against the bathroom wall, looking himself over in the mirror. He was bloody,
bruised, tired, and stuck with a permanent frown on his face.

“Been better. We’re leaving soon.”

“Okay… and when you’re done? Call me? Can you meet me at your apartment?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how long this is going to take. I don’t even really know how we’re doing
this thing, I’m just along for the ride.”

“With villains.”

Tommy sighed.

It was too late for Wilbur to figure anything out now, right? If Tommy let a little more
information spill, what harm could that do?

“We’re taking out The Pit, Wilbur.”

The silence shook his phone. Tommy could have dropped it in the toilet.

“You were there, weren’t you? Stuck in The Pit?”

Tommy shuddered. “Yeah, but now is not the time to relive that. Just know that we’re taking
that place out while the heroes sit back and chase vigilantes.”

Tommy wasn’t sure where all of that venom came from.

“Tommy. We’ve been looking. We’ve been following the kidnappers, we always seem to
catch decoys. We’ve been looking and looking and interrogating villains and criminals—how
did you find the pit?”

“You’ve been looking?”

“Yes! Ever since you got taken—and the villains told us—oh wow. You’ve been working
with them for a long time haven’t you…”

Tommy caught his own distraught face in the mirror. “I guess so. But, listen, I just followed a
kidnapping, okay? I guess I got lucky.”

“No, that doesn’t seem right. We’ve had heroes on this ever since you were taken and nobody
has caught a real kidnapper.”

“So what are you saying?”

Wilbur hestated, shuffling on the other end of the phone. “Have you considered that they
wanted you to find them?”

“Can’t you just accept that maybe I’m good at what I do?”

There was a knock on the bathroom door and Ranboo spoke, “If you’re coming with us you
need to get out here now.”

“Yeah,” Tommy answered. Then he spoke back into the phone. “Wil, maybe they did just
want me. Maybe they let me close so they could have Rubrum in the pit, but my escape—that
wasn’t on purpose. They aren’t ready for us.”
“I really hope you’re right. Don’t get yourself stuck in there again because I know you won’t
give me the location.”

“Correct. Bye.”

“Bye…”

Tommy left the bathroom, shoving the phone in his pocket. Ranboo ws standing there
holding out Tommy’s mask and vest. Tommy grabbed the vest first and didn’t feel the discs
in the front pocket.

“Where—”

“Cicatrix has them again. You’re not getting them back.”

“But—”

“No. Too dangerous. You’ve had them long enough.”

Ranboo stuffed Tommy’s mask—the mesh fencing one—into his hands. Prime, he wanted his
old one back. It looked cool and it was more comfortable and easier to see through.

“We’re meeting Cicatrix in the medbay,” Tubbo said.

“Why?”

“Because we just are.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, sure he was about to get lectured by the nurses or a final check up. Or
they’d try to strap him to a bed and leave him there…

They walked down the hall and came into the medbay where Cicatrix was waiting. He stood
up from leaning against the front desk and smiled. His face was different again. He’d
charmed Tommy into forgetting his last one.

“Rubrum, good to see you up,” the villain said. “We’re just here so I can give you three some
things.”

Cicatrix gestured to one of the nurses who went to a door behind the front desk. She pressed
a code into the keypad, covering their view with her body, and she entered the back room. A
minute later she came out with a small wooden chest.

Cicatrix took it and opened it toward the three. There were vials of pink glowing liquid.

“Lanuae, Apis, take two. Rubrum, you can have one,” Cicatrix said. They all reached up to
take their vials. “Lanuae and Apis know the plan, Rubrum you’ll come with me.”

Cicatrix started walking away and Tommy had no choice but to follow him. He glanced back
at Tubbo and Ranboo nervously, but they seemed relaxed. Or at least neutral.
Tommy caught up to the villain as they strolled down the halls. Tommy wondered where the
hell this could be that the heroes haven’t found, but if they couldn’t find the pit they’d never
find this place.

“We’re not taking a large team,” Cicatrix started. “But a stealth team will enter first and take
out the leaders—people like Effingo.”

If he survived.

He couldn’t have, right?

Tommy cringed at the name. “I’m guessing Lanuae’s on that team.”

“Yes. He is. You’ll be a part of the group that’s storming in once they're done. Your job is to
fuck up the people keeping the place in business—the guards, the bidders.”

“Okay. Is that what you’ll be doing?”

“I’ll be leading the charge, kid. You, Apis, and I with the addition of a few others you haven’t
met yet.”

Tommy nodded. But he had a pit in his stomach. What Wilbur said was getting to him.

“I found out recently that the heroes have really been looking for The Pit,” Tommy said,
making Cicatrix snort. “What if The Pit let me find them?”

“Honestly Rubrum, that possibility has been considered. But your escape was not a part of
their plan I imagine. They weren’t expecting you to get out with the location.” Cicatrix turned
to Tommy with a grin. “And they certainly aren’t expecting you to be working with me.”

Tommy nodded, confidence returning again.

They went through a set of double doors and were standing on the top of a small staircase.
They walked down it into an open garage area. It housed cars, trucks, limos, and bikes. All,
Tommy assumed, equipped with Tubbo’s colour-changing paint.

“You’ll ride with Apis and I, but you have to wear a blacked out mask until we’re far enough
away.”

“Right…”

A line of vehicles was ready to be taken out of the garage. Cicatrix led Tommy to the one in
the front.

“Take a seat in the back, we won’t be long now.”

Hesitantly, Tommy did. He had the vial in his front pocket where the discs usually would be.
Would it get smashed there? Was he supposed to know what this was?
Cicatrix sat in the front passenger seat and a second later Apis was already there. When he
scooted into the seat next to Tommy, Tommy leaned over.

“What is this?” he asked, twirling the vial between his fingers.

Tubbo blinked. “A healing potion. Never seen one?”

Tommy’s eyes widened. Healing potions weren’t easy to come by. The heroes didn’t even use
them often. They were expensive, and easy to corrupt into harming potions.

“Do I drink it or pour it?”

“Either. Pouring it will heal one target faster, drinking it will heal all of you slowly.”

Tommy looked out the window and watched people pour into the garage and get in cars. His
eyes caught on Ranboo, entering another vehicle on the front line.

There weren’t many cars, maybe six or seven.

Someone hopped in the driver seat of their car, and another person squished in next to Tubbo.

“Alright, remember,” Cicatrix started. “Stealth team heads in first to get the pitmasters and
the other dangerous powers. On their signal the rest of us will head in. I want you fighting
every guard and supporter you come across, nobody is getting out.”

Cicatrix looked at the driver and nodded. The car lurched into a start and rolled forward, the
other vehicles stayed in place.

Tubbo tapped Tommy’s shoulder and held a thick black bag out. “Sorry, can’t have you
seeing where we are.”

“I know,” Tommy grumbled, taking the bag and putting it over his head.

The car continued forward.

“If we get them all subdued we’ll round them up in the pit arena,” Cicatrix said. “If things
start going to shit, we have backup measures in place.”

Tommy quirked a brow. Nobody saw his confused face of course.

“If we’re lucky, taking out their leaders will make the rest of them surrender. When they’re
rounded up we’ll set the kids free and give the heroes their locations.”

“We can’t take them back to the city?” Tommy asked.

“No. We’ll free 'em but we’re not their babysitters. We’re not taking them home.”

Tommy crossed his arms. He didn’t expect much more from a villain anyway. As long as they
were out, Tommy could make sure SBI got them home safely. Hell, maybe he could stay
behind with them while all the villains made their cowardly escape.
“Now Rubrum, you can stay outside if you need to. Don’t push yourself, we’ve got this one.”
Cicatrix said.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I’m good to go though.”

There wasn’t much conversation after that. They drove for a while and Tommy was
extremely bored, not being able to look out the window. At least not until half an hour of
driving first.

His eyes had to adjust to the light when he was allowed to take the hood off his head. Then he
could see Tubbo clearly enough to chuck the bag at his head. Tubbo sputtered but he didn’t
throw it back.

They were now in the open plains on the long dirt road that Tommy remembered following.
He looked out the rear window and saw two more cars with them, but spaced extremely far
apart. He could barely see the last one.

“Nervous?” Tubbo asked, glancing down at Tommy’s bouncing leg.

“Uh, yeah? I feel pretty out of the loop. This plan seems like a lot of ‘get in there and pray’.”

“Well, that’s all that you have to do. Lanuae and I got a lot more instruction. Don’t worry,
we’ve been ready to do this for ages.”

Tommy kept his arms crossed and looked back out the window.

“So what are you going to do after this?” Tubbo asked.

Tommy scoffed. “Probably leave the city.”

“Or you could stick with us,” Cicatrix said. Tommy could hear the smirk in his voice.
“Permanently. With a salary, protection—”

“Yeah yeah I’ve heard it all before.”

Cicatrix chuckled.

Tommy spent the rest of the car ride thinking about the benefits of joining Cicatrix versus
joining the heroes. It wasn’t that hard of a decision. Tommy was attached to the heroes, and
they were attached to him. He trusted them so much more.

And he’d already promised Wilbur.

And Wilbur promised him.

And Wilbur preened his wings.

And Tommy wasn’t ready to let go of whatever that was yet.

The car rolled to a stop. Cicatrix turned in his seat, looking back at everyone. He grinned, and
glanced specifically at Tommy.

“Ready?”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

They all left the cars, ready to walk the rest of the way so they weren’t spotted or heard. The
stealth team moved ahead, Tommy watched them go. He felt like he needed to run his anxiety
off, or burrow into the ground and hide under the surface.

Cicatrix and Tubbo both fell into place at Tommy’s sides. They seemed way too calm for this
but he supposed that was a good sign.

“You’ll know the signal when you see it,” Cicatrix started, “but I’ll still lead the charge. So
stick with me and you’ll fit right into the chaos.”

Tommy nodded.

“If this doesn’t work I’m probably going to have to kill myself,” Tommy mumbled. because
he thought it’d be funny.

Tubbo smacked him in the chest. Hard. “Don’t say shit like that.”

“Sorry,” Tommy mumbled.

“It’ll work. And if it doesn’t, it’s not on you,” Cicatrix said.

Tommy blinked in surprise at the sincerity in the villain’s voice. He kept walking, wondering
when Cicatrix started seeing Tommy as more than a tool in his scheme.

The walk was twenty minutes. The area was bumpy with hills and rough with tall grass. It
was easy to hide in, hard to move through.

Later, Cicatrix stopped them; the stealth team continued on.

“Just over the next hill,” Cicatrix said. “Remember, subdue the guys at the top, kill them if
you have to.”

Tommy watched with a slight frown as the stealth team, Ranboo included, started forward,
spreading out slowly over the hills. Ranboo walked with two others, and once they were
almost at the top of the hill, they put their hands on each of the others’ shoulders. They
blinked out of existence.

The wait was grueling. Tommy spent most of it staring at Apis, trying to see if he got
nervous, or if he seemed off at all. Nobody spoke, or at least not much. And they stayed
hunched down in the grass or sitting.

After fifteen minutes Cicatrix signaled another person, and they started toward The Pit.
Tommy searched Tubbo’s face for answers. He still seemed calm. Tommy watched the person
edging over the hill. They looked beyond it for a minute or two and descended again.

“They’re all in,” the person said.

Cicatrix nodded.

Tubbo shuffled over to Tommy’s side. “That guy can see heat signatures through walls.
Stealth team is wearing suits that mask it, but there’s one patch in the shape of the Las
Nevadas logo that isn’t heat proof.”

Tommy nodded.

“Cool.”

They kept waiting. Tommy’s leg bounced furiously, faster every minute that went by in
silence.

Cicatrix had just signaled the person forward again when a short boom across the hills.

Tommy launched to his feet along with every other team member. Tubbo’s head snapped
toward Cicatrix.

“Well, that was signal B,” Cicatrix said. “If you’ve got wings, fly yourself in!”

Three or so winged people took to the air, shooting off toward the pit. Tommy watched with a
weak stomach as Apis’ wings released, and he soared off too.

Cicatrix nudged Tommy, and they started running over the hill.

Tommy was in pain, he noticed. Quite a bit of it. Because he didn’t have his discs and
everything was a lot harder like this. He activated his pain suppression, speed, and—

Oh, he could only pick one now.

He activated his stamina and kept in pace with Cicatrix.

“Just flash bangs—means they fucked up and got caught, so no we’re storming in and
wreaking havoc,” Cicatrix shouted.

More bangs went off, delayed from each other. The first one was the biggest.

Tommy grit his teeth and powered on. He anticipated Pit guards to be outside by now, but
maybe they were preoccupied inside.

The first of the ground team reached the door and easily knocked it open.

Cicatrix threw himself through the door first, and Tommy followed thoughtlessly. They flew
down the stairs and into the open fray.

Tommy’s eyes locked immediately on Lanuae dodging around another villain, it was a villain
Tommy hadn’t seen before. His eyes were then drawn to the onslaught of guards pouring
through two side doors next to the arena entrance.

“Lanuae!” Cicatrix yelled, “where?”

“Top!”

Tommy cringed as Lanuae was slammed into the ground. The sight kicked him into action, he
started forward only to have his elbow snagged by Cicatrix.

“He’s fine, come with me.”

Tommy grit his teeth again and followed. But only because he watched Lanuae effortlessly
teleport back to his feet behind the villain.

Cicatrix dragged Tommy up the right set of stairs, past the stream of now-distracted guards.

At the top they ran into more guards.

Cicatrix kicked the first one back and Tommy surged forward to slam into the next one. He
turned to his right and caught the punch of another. He threw their fist sideways and knocked
them against the chain netting of the arena.

“Keep going that way, clear it,” Cicatrix said as he waved his finger in a circle over his head.

Tommy charged further right, immediately meeting more guards.

With guns.

Which was a bit unfair—prime he really wanted those discs back—and he activated his
agility

This area was skinny enough to force two guards at most to stand side by side. At least three
bullets grazed Tommy but he got close enough to knock the guns away from himself.

He flicked fire in a wide fan in front of him, blinding and searing the guards before him.
They stumbled back a few steps and Tommy kicked one of them down. He stomped on their
hand and kicked the pistol forward, then he dived after it.

Tommy rolled back to his feet and shot at the back of the other guard. They crumpled with a
cry.

Tommy turned again to greet a fist with his face.

His back smacked the wooden floor and someone fell on top of him. Instinctually, he grabbed
their arms and summoned his fire.

They jerked backwards and fell on their ass at Tommy’s feet.

He chased them with burning hands and wrestled their neck into his grip.
Then he heard them choke—this one was masked—and they sounded just a little too young
for Tommy’s liking.

He stopped burning them and instead activated his strength to ram his pistol into their temple.
They fell limp.

Tommy jumped off of them in time to hear shots from behind him again. He barely looked
back before shooting his own. He missed at least three times before a bullet struck their
shoulder.

Tommy tossed a ball of fire at their face, they ducked back behind the doorway.

He continued around the loop at the top of the arena. He came to a wider section where
bleachers began to form rows of higher seating.

And holy shit, there were a lot of guards up here.

They were crowded around the bidders that had been in here when they started the raid. Any
villains or powered people made themselves known by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with
the guards.

Tommy was surprised by their loyalty.

Tommy started spewing fire again. He pushed it from his fingertips with as much power as he
had blood in his body. It arched and twirled, covering the area in heavy smoke and orange.
Bullets rained on him almost as quickly.

Anyone who didn’t draw soon enough was writhing and burning, trying to hide behind each
other.

The wood floors crackled and lit.

Tommy clutched his shot thigh and shoulder separately, trying to hobble back out of the
guns’ sights.

Arms wrapped around his chest and yanked him backwards.

“Just me!” Apis urged, seeing Tommy’s hands smoking.

They fell backward around the curb, covered by thick smoke.

“There’s so many of them back there,” Tommy wheezed.

“I know. Cicatrix and I can handle this—we weren’t expecting—just go help downstairs.”

“But—”

“I have a bulletproof suit and so does he.”

“Okay.”
Tommy hauled himself up with a grumble and forced himself back through the top floor
archway to the stairs.

This mission was all over the fucking place. Why couldn’t anyone have just given him
specific instructions?

There was a villain running up the stairs at Tommy, and guards coming up the other set. In
his periphery, Tommy saw Lanuae appear to block the guards from getting to him.

The villain reached the top and Tommy swung at them.

Even though they were right in front of him, Tommy felt their punch from his left. Then
suddenly they were at his left. He turned that way and hit with a fiery hand. Again, they
appeared to his left and nearly knocked him down the stairs.

Displacement, he thought.

Tommy aimed his punch to the left this time, but they appeared to his right.

He recovered too slowly and they rammed into him. He caught himself one step down. He
had to guess where they would appear.

Tommy aimed left again and missed, but he ducked in time to avoid their hit. He aimed right
and grazed their shoulder, he side stepped their kick. He aimed right again and knocked their
head sideways.

Tommy rushed forward but they displaced themself again to the left.

Two hands snaked around his elbow and yanked him backwards. Tommy grabbed the railing
with his other hand. They kicked his legs out and he tumbled backward down the stairs.

They laughed, but he caught himself halfway down.

Tommy shot a hand out and created a torpedo of fire, like dragon’s breath. He sweeped it
back and forth, catching them no matter where they displaced. Their hair smoked.

Tommy did it again, slowly ascending the steps.

They ducked through the archway to escape the heat.

Seconds later Tommy watched their body go flying over the rail and he heard it hit the floor
over the gunshots and clanging metal.

Lanue looked down at him from the top of the stairs and gave him a goofy thumbs up.

Had this fucker already taken out those guards? Since when was he that strong?

Tommy rolled his eyes even though Lanuae couldn’t see it and turned back down the stairs to
where the fight was growing.
Las Nevadas was losing. There were agents on the ground, writhing in pain—bloodied. There
were villains towering over them.

Tommy ran down the stairs and scoped out his next target. He ended up locking onto a villain
in a dark blue suit. He lunged for them when their back was turned and squeezed his arm
around their neck.

Their hands touched his own.

Tommy’s hand cramped and sizzled with pain. He grunted as the villain knocked him off
their back. He looked down at his hand and saw black veins crawling up them.

The villain reached for him and Tommy stepped back. He saw their face—it was a black
skull. It wasn’t human.

He yelped like he’d touched a spider and sprayed orange like a flamethrower. The villain let
out a rattling hiss and walked effortlessly through the fire.

Tommy regained his composure and forgot his fire, instead aiming to shoot the skull. His gun
was knocked out of his hand but he caught it clumsily with his other and slammed it into the
skeleton's temple.

It stumbled sideways and its face flickered between human and undead.

“Are you alive?” Tommy half-shrieked half-asked.

“Yes,” the skeleton rasped.

“Is this a hybrid thing? Wither skeleton?” Tommy asked, dodging their quick combo of hits.

“Power,” the villain said.

Tommy knocked the pistol across their jaw again, turning the skeleton head a hundred and
eighty degrees.

Tommy laughed and kicked the villain’s legs out.

They turned their face back and it flickered into a human’s. They grabbed Tommy’s good
hand and black lines traveled up his skin.

He slammed the pistol into their head for a third time, and finally they stopped moving.

Tommy pried their clutched hand off his arm, hissing in pain. His skin there was wrinkled,
dry, cracked, and bleeding in places.

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

Tommy swung back with his gun—

And landed flat on his ass back outside on the grass.

The gun fell from his hand and Lanuae knelt in front of him, looking back at the building.
Tommy looked around them and found that the entire stealth team, and most of—if not all of
the Las Nevadas agents were outside with them.

Lanuae fell back on his ass too, panting, exhausted.

“What are we doing?” Tommy asked, getting weakly back to his feet. “Did you do that?”

Cicatrix rounded in front of Tommy and held his shoulder, also watching the building.

“Cicatrix?”

No answer.

Fuck, everything hurt. He’d been shot and grazed and tossed down the stairs and withered—
was this a new record?

Tommy looked behind him at all of the other agents. They were all just waiting. And Apis
was there—Tubbo was walking over. Even through his mask he looked worried.

“I just need you to know,” Tubbo started. “That I didn’t want it to happen like this.”

Tommy turned fully toward Tubbo, tilting his head, mouth hanging open to speak.

A blast of air and tremble in the ground had Tommy whirling back toward the building.
Another explosion rang out. And another. And another. Rubble catapulted across the grass,
chunks of wall and ground were torn up.

Tommy’s heart dropped into his churning stomach.

“There’s kids in there!” He snapped, pushing Cicatrix’s hand off his shoulder.

He activated his speed and caught the last of Cicatrix’s shout.

“—ch him!”

Tommy heard wing beats behind him.

More explosions went off, and as Tommy closed in he heard screams and orders being
barked.

A weight landed on Tommy’s back, pinning him face-first in the dirt.

“Tommy stop,” Tubbo said lowly. “Stop, it’s too late.”

Tommy called his wings forward and demanded that they emerge in flames. Apis was thrown
off his back, groaning at the burns, and Tommy took a running leap into the air.

Another person slammed into him from the side, knocking them both out of the air.
Cicatrix pressed Tommy into the ground painfully, pinning the fire-covered wings between
Tommy and the grass.

“You’re calm, aren’t you?”

Tommy snarled, “don’t you try your fucking charm shit on me—bastard!”

He activated his strength, slowly but surely lifting Cicatrix off of himself. Until Apis got
there again and helped.

“There’s kids in there! There’s fucking children in there—”

“That’s not true, is it?” Cicatris said, voice infused with power, “we got them out,
remember?”

“Stop it,” Tommy hissed. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Tommy tried everything. He tried to strengthen himself, he tried to buck Cicatrix off of
himself, he tried to call more fire. In fact, he was so desperate that he demanded his flames
cover his whole body—

And they did.

Fire trudged up his arms, down his torso, over his mask, his shoulders, his legs–everything.
He was personified fire.

Still, Cicatrix stayed there. And Tommy realized that if their suits could be bulletproof, they
could certainly be fireproof.

“Bastard! Bastard! You just gave up!”

“It was really a long shot, kid. If we won, great, if we didn’t, that was fine too.”

“You wanted to blow it up!” Tommy squirmed under the hold of fireproof hands. “That
whole time—you always knew you’d have to.”

“I gave us a chance. And this was a first mission for mst of those agents.”

“A first—this was training for them? The kids—”

“Won’t even know what hit them, right?”

Yeah, that’s probably true—

“Stop it!” Tommy growled.

Fire shot from his mouth, hitting Cicatrix’s open face. The villain flinched back and Tommy
was able to buck him off. Apis tried to grab him, but Tommy slammed his fist into his jaw.

Tommy started running again, flapping his wings to take off. He touched the sky, and he
soared toward the door. Both arms and hands thrummed with the pain of being withered and
weakened.

The explosions had slowed down. The front of the building was a pile of rubble. Tommy
heard the odd cough, groan, and cry. But the fighters’ quarters and cells were further
underground. They were buried.

Tommy needed the heroes.

He should have fucking told Wilbur.

Tears stung his eyes.

Tommy was about to land on the pile of rubble at the front of the building when something
struck his back. His right wing went limp and he rolled to the side. He landed awkwardly on
the dirt on his neck and shoulder. He heard a pop and a crack.

“T—Rubrum! Don’t move—don’t move!” he heard Lanuae calling.

He moved. His neck hurt like hell now. He tried to push himself up but his right shoulder had
no muscle behind it. he could barely move his withered hands. His fingers were too stiff now.

“Please stop—please stop,” Lanuae begged. He dropped to his knees next to Tommy and
curled his arms around Tommy’s chest. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Lanuae pulled him back into his chest, the movement had Tommy blinking away white spots.
Then, with a pop, they were back by the other agents.

Another chain of explosions started going off.

Tommy stared blankly at the puffs of dust and smoke dancing in the air. Tommy heard talking
behind him, and two people knelt in front of him. He tried to look past them but Lanuae
wouldn’t let him move.

“Please let me see,” he whispered.

Someone said no. Tommy tried to differentiate the voices.

“He’s delirious,” Cicatrix—probably—said. “Hold off on the tranquilizer. Shouldn’t be long

before we can go make sure it’s all gone.”

“Bastard,” Tommy muttered.

“Can I heal him?” Lanuae asked. “He didn’t use his.”

“No. He’ll live. We need him out of commission.”

“...Okay.”

Lanuae carefully slipped out from behind Tommy and laid him down on the grass. Tommy
looked up at the darkening sky. He wondered, then, why they didn’t do this at night.
“Let me see you,” Cicatrix said to Lanuae.

And Tommy was left alone on the grass. He was being watched of course.

Tommy did try to sit up, but he couldn’t. His arms wouldn’t move more than an inch. His
legs were stunned by soreness. He couldn’t reach for his own healing potion.

Desperate to do something, Tommy wiggled himself into a tilt, praying that his phone would
fall out of his vest. He’d gotten into the habit of carrying it lately.

He tried to look natural in his wiggling, he tried to make it look like he was in slight pain—
which wasn’t hard. And eventually the phone slipped out.

Which meant he didn’t have a very safe pocket did he…?

But he had the phone. And he wasn’t sure how closely he was being watched, but he inched
the phone ever so slightly, every so slowly, into his hand.

With a thumbprint unlock—and holding it to the most covered side away from Cicatrix—he
muscle-memoried his way to his contacts.

He only had so many, and Wilbur’s was at the very bottom. Thank you alphabetical ordering.

But he needed to give Wilbur the location. He couldn’t just call and expect Wilbur to be able
to track him in time—or even understand what was going on.

He needed to get up.

It hurt.

Tommy took a shaky deep breath.

“Rubrum? Y’alright over there?” Someone asked.

“Fuck you,” Tommy choked.

“He’s fine,” Cicatrix said. But Tommy felt his eyes lingering, so he stayed still. “Explosions
are done. I want Portrait, Blank, and Slate, with me. We’re checking the ruins. Nobody go
anywhere.”

Tommy watched the figures heading toward the building. It was eerily silent. And it was
somewhat safe to assume that Lanuae and Apis were both resting or being treated—as were
many of the other agents.

So if Tommy somehow managed to get up, how possible was it that he’d get away long
enough to call Wilbur?

He was lying down and still felt lightheaded.

Tommy activated his strength, and he really pushed it. He put every inch of consciousness
and energy he had left into it. He relied on his core muscles to sit him up instead of his arms.
Itw as shaky, and he failed twice before he balanced.

“Take it easy, man, you’re not getting away,” someone else said.

And Tommy realized that he didn’t have to get away. Now sitting up, he could see a break in
the circle of agents in the area. A point he could turn to, to have his back covering his front
completely. From most of them.

He just had to hope no one was that observant.

He twisted himself away from the majority of them.

Tommy tried to look as sad and pathetic as possible, maybe they’d leave him alone. They
would think he’s mourning.

Tommy set his phone on the grass and barely managed to drag his hand to rest next to it
between his legs. Wilbur’s contact tab was already open. He clicked messages, and managed
to type one letter a minute.

Or so it felt like.

His fingers twitched five or six times before they actually did what he wanted them to.

And halfway through typing the location, Wilbur sent a message. He must have seen
Tommy’s typing bubble.

Wilbur: all done?

Tommy slowly, painfully, kept typing the coordinates. He hoped he was remembering them
correctly. He didn’t even know what coordinates meant for fuck’s sake. Tubbo—Apis told
him what they were after he’d tracked Tommy’s location to The Pit.

Wilbur: Tommy?

Tommy almost let a sob slip by. He was so fucking close.

Wilbur: do I need to come get you somewhere?

Tommy’s hand shook furiously before he typed the last digit. And he hit send with a sigh of
relief.

Me: 50.8229° N, 0.1363° W

Wilbur’s bubble came up.

Wilbur: will I need backup?

Tommy did let out a cry this time.

“Rubrum?” Lanuae asked. “Let—no, let me go to him.”

“Cicatrix said to give him space. We can’t help him.”

Me: ya

Tommy’s whole body shook with the effort of staying awake, of holding himself up.

Wilbur: we’re coming

Wilbur: are you hurt?

Tommy couldn’t be bothered to try and answer anything else. Especially not since Lanuae
teleported right in front of him, and looked down at his phone.

“...Tommy?” he whispered.

“Shoot me if you have to,” Tommy whispered. “But the heroes are on their way.”

The half of Ranboo’s face that was showing morphed into horror, and they stumbled back to
their feet. He looked at Tommy a little too long to be comfortable, and then they jogged back
toward the others.

“We gotta go,” Lanuae was saying. “I don’t care what Cicatrix said, we gotta go.”

There was a pop, as more people were probably teleported. And then another one. And by
then, Cicatrix had returned.

“What are you doing?” he snapped.

“The heroes are coming,” Lanuae said.

There was a pause. Tommy felt eyes on him.

“Was it Rubrum, Lanuae?”

“Yes.”

The eyes were back on him. But he didn’t care. The heroes just needed to get here. Because if
anyone else was alive, the heroes would get them. If those kids were buried—but alive—the
heroes could do it.

How was Lanuae teleporting so many people?

“We’ll leave him here. Let’s move,” Cicatrix said.

“But—”

“If they’re really on their way I’m sure he’ll live.”

Another pause. Then a pop, and Tommy was left alone.

 Until Lanuae appeared in front of him one last time. Tommy yelped and almost fell
backwards. Lanuae unmasked himself and held onto Tommy’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I am really really sorry.”

Tommy shook his head in disbelief. “How were you okay with that? You.”

“There weren’t that many kids… and Cicatrix needed to send a message.”

Tommy’s blood boiled. “Are you shitting me? That’s you fucked up logic? Your fake fucked
up logic?”

Lanuae pulled Tommy into an uncomfortable hug. “I’m sorry.”

Tommy didn’t answer. But he did wrap his arms around Lanuae for a moment.

Lanuae pulled away. “Bye, Tommy.”

“Fuck you.”

Lanuae disappeared with a pop.

And with him gone, Tommy held up what he’d guessed to be in a hidden pocket of the
villain’s suit.

It made a lot more sense.

He looked down at two round black discs.

Chapter End Notes

I hope you liked this chapter! You may have noticed my unoriginal naming (Portrait,
Blank, and Slate) wow I wonder what that's a reference to. And I also want to say that I
feel like this chapter was pretty weak, I feel like it's a bit of a let down so sorry if it is...
and if it's not that great lmao.

If you like my writing, consider checking out my other fics:

SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Thanks for reading! Drink water! And happy pride month!
 Chapter 18
Chapter Summary

SBI find Tommy at The Pit.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: gore, blood, injury, implied child death, death, violence, puking, Tommy
internally makes an inappropriate joke about killing himself, seizures. Let me know if I
missed any!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy opened his eyes when hands landed on his cheeks. They were cold hands. On his
very hot face. On his—oh—his unmasked face. Gentle thumbs swiped slowly back and forth
under his eyes, then over his cheekbones. It was really soothing. He leaned into it.

It was the thump of more knees landing next to him that had Tommy blinking, slightly
shaking his head to clear the fog.

“Easy, it’s just Techno and Phil.”

Tommy’s chest jumped. He smiled in relief, it was probably crooked and bloody.

“Wilbur,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I’m here. We made it.”

Someone’s hand touched his hair. It made him smile again.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “For coming.”

Tommy only heard a small sad sound in response. Wilbur moved away and Tommy let his
smile fall. Someone was poking around his shoulder, another gently picked up his left arm.
They rolled up his hoodie sleeve.

“Withered,” Phil said.

Oh—hey—they were seeing his face. Oh man, they knew who he was now.
“He’s been shot twice,” Techno said. “Grazed in a few places. The shoulder that’s been shot
is also dislocated.”

Tommy blinked a few more times and could really see. His brain was catching up to his body
now. And not only was the pain back in full force, but the fear.

Tommy’s eyes blew wide, he breathed in sharply, and he tried to sit up—finding
unsurprisingly that he could not.

“Don’t move, kid,” Techno said. “We have you. It’s all taken care of.”

Tommy shook his head, dislodging Techno’s hand from his hair. “The Pit—”

“Is destroyed,” Wilbur said. “You did it. Although this level of destruction isn’t really
something I can condone…”

Tommy shook his head, sob building in his chest, tears spilling from his red eyes.

“There’s people in there,” he choked. “There’s kids—you need to help them—you gotta—”
the sob came free.

“There were people in there when you blew it up?” Phil asked, voice neutral.

“I’m sorry,” Tommy cried. “I didn’t know!”

Wilbur’s hands landed back on his face. “Okay. Okay, just breathe, Techno and Phil are
gonna go look. Right now, they’re going.”

There was some light sputtering before the two heroes stood from Tommy’s side. Phil moved
a box into view—first aid kit.

“There are some other heroes here too, they're gonna go help, okay?” Wilbur said.

Tommy nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Shh. I’m gonna fix you up a bit and we’re gonna go to the ambulance okay?”

Tommy shook his head. “I need to see them get out.”

“No, you need to be treated immediately,” Wilbur said, pulling back again to route through
the first aid kit. “Phil and Techno can handle it.”

Tommy, remembering he had the discs in his vest again, activated his pain suppression and
stamina. Just so he could breathe and stay awake.

“The withering will be slow to treat but everything else is doable,” Wilbur said, voice low.
“You’ll be on bedrest for a long time, but you’ll be alright.”

“I need to know if they’re okay,” Tommy rasped, grabbing weakly at Wilbur’s approaching
hands.
“I will let you know. I’ll keep you updated when I can,” he soothed. “Stay still, there’s a
bullet in here.”

Tommy closed his eyes and kept up his pain immunity, only wincing when he felt Wilbur dig
around for the bullet. A minute later Tommy heard a little thump as the bullet was dropped in
the grass.

“Pain immunity is so lucky right now,” Wilbur said, gently patting Tommy’s chest. Right
over the discs. “You’ll need it when I do that shoulder. Are you gonna be able to keep it up
that long?”

Tommy shifted, trying to feel the discs in the pocket against his chest. With them he could do
it. He nodded.

“Good, good. You’re doing so good.”

Tommy did not feel very good. Mentally, emotionally, physically, or morally. He felt like shit
in every way. He was the shittiest.

“Do they see anything?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t know, I can’t see them right now. Focus on breathing and relaxing, I’m doing your
shoulder.”

Wilbur shuffled over Tommy to his other side, he had tweezers in his hand.

“The bullets are small. Does this have an exit wound?”

Tommy shrugged, making Wilbur wince.

“Don’t move your shoulder.” Wilbur lightly lifted Tommy’s shoulder to feel for a wound
behind it. “Oh. Oh yeah, that’s an exit wound. Prime—how unlucky do you have to be to get
shot in your dislocated shoulder?”

“If it helps,” Tommy mumbled, “it was shot before it was dislocated.”

“Prime,” Wilbur hissed. “What are the chances you could sit up?”

Tommy hummed. “With some help?”

“Of course.”

Wilbur helped Tommy sit up. Except in this case “help” just meant Wilbur did all of the work
and even continued to hold Tommy up when he was sitting. Tommy tried to look past Wilbur
at the collapsed building but Wilbur guided his head away with a gentle hand.

“I’m going to set this, wrap up the rest of your bleeding, and then we’ll head to the
ambulance.”
Tommy frowned, trying once again to see The Pit but Wilbur pushed his shoulder back into
place, making Tommy cringe in discomfort.

“That didn’t hurt, did it? Are you too tired to use your pain immunity?”

“No,” Tommy said, “just felt gross.”

Wilbur reached over Tommy’s legs to grab the first aid kit. He let Tommy lean sideways into
his chest, and held his knee behind Tommy’s back. Tommy didn’t pay much attention to what
Wilbur got from the kit, or what he was doing to the shoulder. Tommy’s wings were sort of in
the way.

How long had he been out for? How long did it take the heroes to get here? Was it too late for
everyone in there? Was Wilbur pissed at him? Were Phil and Techno pissed at him? Did they
know who he was before they got here? Were they going to lock him up? Was he a criminal?

Wilbur’s hand rubbed up Tommy’s back and landed between his wings, stilling Tommy’s
mind for a moment.

“Phil and Techno went wild when they saw your wings. I had to fight off the equivalent of
two mama-birds—they were trying to pick you up,” Wilbur chuckled. “Wanted to wrap you
all up and take you to the nest.”

Why didn’t he let them? Just because he was bleeding and beat up and dislocated and
jumbled and shot?

Wilbur finished cleaning Tommy’s shoulder. He started dressing it. Wilbur’s hand then
traveled back into the space between Tommy’s wings.

Wilbur gasped and cursed. “You have a wound on your wing back here too.”

Tommy hummed a confirmation, then said, “S’ what made me fall on my shoulder.”

Wilbur had to dig a bullet out of that wound too. He seemed to be doing this one a lot faster,
eager to get out of the grass. Eager to get Tommy away from the crime scene.

“We’re going to take you to the tower, that’s fair right?”

Tommy shut his eyes with what he would deem a manly whine. “Guess I probably deserve it
now.”

Wilbur rubbed a couple of gentle circles into his back. “I… I can’t say I’m impressed with
your judgment. But this also doesn’t feel like the right time to lecture you or say I told you
so.”

Tommy cringed even harder. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.”

Wilbur finished cleaning the wing wound and laid Tommy back down to deal with the others.
“Do you see anything yet? Are they saying anything?” Tommy asked.

“Not yet. I know you’re eager, but we are going to leave before they're done in there.”

Tommy shook his head. He found that it was starting to ache dully. He was getting too tired
for powers.

“Yes. I don’t know what the verdict will be but you are in no shape to think about it or engage
with it any more for today.”

“Wil—it’s my fault.”

Wilbur pulled his lips into a thin line, and he didn’t answer for a painfully long time. Tommy
expected him to agree, to call Tommy a fuck-up, and to quit the caring act now that he knew
what Tommy was involved in.

“Maybe it is. I don’t know yet though, and you’re obviously sorry. Whatever happened, you
didn’t mean for it to go that way—did you?”

“No no no not at all,” Tommy urged. “He fucking tricked me.”

“Well… then we’ll talk about this later but you need to know that I am here for you. I care
about you. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Tommy whined again. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“I’m revoking your right to worry about anyone but yourself right now. Legally, you have to
stop.”

Wilbur cleaned some smaller cuts and carefully avoided Tommy’s withered arms.

Tommy’s pain suppression was dwindling quickly. He winced and flinched at Wilbur’s soft
touch.

“Tommy?”

“Now I’m getting too tired.”

“I would imagine. I’m almost done. All the hard stuff is over.”

Tommy tried to move his hands and pain raced up his forearms. He winced harder and
Wilbur braced a hand on his chest.

“We might need the heavy duty stuff for your arms.”

“Heavy duty?”

“Potions. Specifically regeneration… but we’ll need permission

Lanuae had taken the healing potion Cicatrix gave him when they asked if they could heal
him. Cicatrix said no. Fucking hell—why did he even let Tommy come? He must have
known that Tommy wouldn’t react well—why even bother bringing him?

“I think it might be worth wrapping or splinting your arms, the skin there is really delicate
and probably super sensitive.”

Tommy was hit with a small wave of nausea. It’s how he knew everything was really taking
its toll.

“Wil I’m—I’m gonna pass out.”

“That’s… not really ideal but it’s okay, I’ve got you if you do.”

Tommy tried to take a deep breath and instead found the air stuttering in his lungs. He
blinked blearily up at Wilbur, finishing up with the last of the grazes.

“Thank you for helping me.”

Wilbur’s frown grew soft. “I’m always going to help you.”

Wilbur finished with all of the open bleeding and packed up the first aid kit.

“There are medical resources and police waiting on the road for us. I imagine once Phil and
Techno have the place checked out they’ll let the police over to investigate and gather their
data. Anyone who’s found will be taken care of.”

Tommy choked on his next words, “If no one is alive—”

“Not right now. Don’t think about it right now. We’ll know soon enough, don’t jump to any
conclusions.”

Wilbur looped his hands under Tommy’s knees and back. He lifted Tommy off the ground
and circled him in a shield with his wings.

Tommy rested his face easily against Wilbur’s collar. “I’m so sorry.”

Wilbur trilled sadly, “I know. I know Tommy, you’re not a bad person.”

Maybe if he spent the rest of his energy apologizing it would mean something. Maybe if he
did everything his body could handle right now to prove he was sorry—maybe that would
mean something.

calm, calm, relax, Wilbur crooned.

can’t, Tommy answered.

“Will it be too rough on you if I fly?” Tommy shook his head. “Alright, the take off will be
bumpy but I’ll be as gentle as I can.”

Wilbur’s wings fell away from around Tommy, he bit his tongue to hold back his discontent,
and Tommy braced for the force of taking off. It didn’t end up being too bad, and once they
were in the air Wilbur flew smoothly, flapping his wings as little as possible.

His eyes stayed on Tommy for most of the flight, and Tommy pretended not to notice.

When they landed, the back of an ambulance was already open and ready.

“Can you take us to the tower hospital?” Wilbur asked, allowing the paramedics to help lower
Tommy onto a gurney. “He isn’t really suited for the civilian one.”

Tommy didn’t hear an answer but he assumed they nodded because he was being rolled into
the ambulance. Wilbur sat in the back with him.

“We can look at these wounds and see what we can do,” one paramedic offered.

“Oh, thank you, but technically heroes aren’t supposed to be treated by paramedics outside of
our team.”

The paramedic still checked Tommy’s pupils and awareness.

“Why’s that?” They asked.

Wilbur shrugged. “We don’t want to use up civilian sources. And Sometimes it’s not safe.”

“Interesting,” another paramedic said. “But isn’t he a vigilante?”

Tommy stiffened. Wilbur placed a placating hand on the blankets over his knee.

“Sort of. He’s somewhat of an honorary hero. I treated him out there so you guys wouldn’t
have to. Just figured if he starts uh… well if things get worse I wanted him to be in an
ambulance instead of one of our vans.”

Tommy blinked slowly, vision blurring.

“No lifesaving equipment in the vans?”

“Not like in here. And not usually with the training you guys have.”

Tommy zoned out with the conversation droning on in the background. Eventually, he fell
asleep despite Wilbur’s well-disguised nervous pleading.

**********

When Tommy started moving under his hands, laid out on that grass, bloody, bruised—
withered—he sobbed. Just once, a quick release of relieved noise. Phil and Techno were
further back scouting the place out, and Wilbur didn’t wait to pull the mask off Tommy’s
face.
He wasn’t sure what he was expecting the pit to look like, but a huge rickety warehouse in
the middle of nowhere was not it.

Now, Wilbur had just sent Phil and Techno off to check the building out, leaving himself to a
half-blubbering teenager with way too much trauma for one human lifetime.

He tried to calm Tommy down before anything, and let him know that things were going to
be okay. Wilbur started tending to the bullet wound in the outside of his thigh first, he had to
fish around with tweezers for it and had never been so grateful for Rubrum’s pain immunity
powers.

But he started hearing things through his comms that made keeping a calm composure
difficult.

“There’s so much blood,” Techno said.

“I can already see three dead. Adult males,” Phil added.

Wilbur grit his teeth and focused on Tommy.

“Good, good. You’re doing so good.”

“Do they see anything?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t know,” Wilbur lied, “I can’t see them right now. Focus on breathing and relaxing,
I’m doing your shoulder.”

“There’s a basement level that we can’t get to,” Phil said.

“I can sense a lot of blood in there too,” Techno said.

Wilbur lifted Tommy into a seated position to treat his shoulder. Tommy breathed heavily and
closed his eyes a few times.

“Oh prime,” Phil sputtered. “Prime. We need all the heroes down here. Everybody—there’s
so many bodies.”

Tommy frowned, trying once again to see The Pit but Wilbur pushed his shoulder back into
place, making Tommy cringe in discomfort.

“That didn’t hurt, did it? Are you too tired to use your pain immunity?”

“No,” Tommy said, “just felt gross.”

Wilbur then went on to treat the other wounds. He talked about Phil and Techno’s reactions to
his wings.

“Do you see anything yet? Are they saying anything?” Tommy asked.

“Those kids can’t be more than twelve,” Vulpes said, voice shaking,
“We took so long to acknowledge The Pit—we should have tried harder,” Techno was saying.
“There’s so many.”

“Not yet. I know you’re eager, but we are going to leave before they're done in there.”

Tommy shook his head.

“Yes,” he insisted, “I don’t know what the verdict will be but you are in no shape to think
about it or engage with it any more for today.”

“Wil—it’s my fault.”

“They’re all long dead,” Phil choked.

“Maybe it is. I don’t know yet though, and you’re obviously sorry. Whatever happened, you
didn’t mean for it to go that way—did you?”

“No no no not at all,” Tommy urged. “He fucking tricked me.”

“Well… then we’ll talk about this later but you need to know that I am here for you. I care
about you. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Wilbur didn’t know how to handle this. He didn’t know what to tell Tommy. He didn’t know
how to act like he wasn’t horrified and disappointed and he felt a little betrayed—but it was
Tommy.

Wilbur was teary eyed when they got to the ambulance, but Tommy was too out of it to
notice.

“There’s at least ten children.”

“Same amount of teenagers.”

When Tommy fully passed out Wilbur let himself cry.

**********

“He’s going to need a lot of time to recover. Not only because of the injuries—the trauma,”
someone was saying. “Not even just from two days ago. From everything.”

Tommy pretended he wasn’t awake so he wouldn’t have to engage.

“The fires, and getting caught in our tower.”

Ah, yeah that wasn’t fun.

“The torture and kidnapping.”

Well that was sort of on purpose but it wasn’t the greatest day of his life.

“The loneliness as an avian.”

Okay, yeah, maybe he was lonely.

“And just as a teenager living alone.”

Shut up about loneliness.

“His shitty unsafe apartment.”

It’s not that bad.

“Working two jobs for a while.”

That was shit.

“Vigilantism.”

Nuh uh, vigilantism is his thing, his raison d’etre!

“We can assume that being captured by The Pit is the worst of it…”

“Would we be surprised if he had a tragic past?”

Oh man, was he going to have to explain that someday? He really didn’t feel like explaining
the whole thing. What would he say? ‘Hey I’m that kid from the Somnum incident that you
guys think is dead and you all feel really guilty about’.

Actually that’d probably work.

“Hey,” someone said, they nudged his cheek. “You there?”

Tommy blinked an eye open at Wilbur. Then he blinked his other eye open and looked at
everyone around him—wow that was too many people.

Custos was there.

Seeing him. As Rubrum. Because Tommy—he looked down and—oh he wasn’t in costume.
They were talking about his traumas openly—everybody knew who Rubrum was. Oh man.

“How do you feel?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy glared at Custos. “Fine. Where’s my shit?”

“Confiscated.”
The discs.

Phil was sitting on a stool to Tommy’s right. He put a hand on Tommy’s knee, stealing his
attention.

“We’re going to ask for permission to use a potion on you for your arms,” Phil explained.
Tommy looked down at his heavily wrapped arms. “Regeneration is the only thing that will
fix it. Our healers have done whatever else they can for you.”

Tommy stared blankly for a moment. “Okay. Thanks…”

He glared back at Custos again who raised his hands and started to leave the small room.
Before he got out the door he said, “You know our rules Phil.”

And the door closed. Which prompted Tommy to look around the room. It was so small that
there was barely enough room for three people. The walls were a calm light green, pastel
maybe? And Tommy was resting on a hospital bed.

“You’re in a hospital room meant for villains,” Phil said. “Because the higher ups consider
you a threat.”

Tommy’s stomach curled. “Oh.”

“But,” Phil soothed, “you won’t be locked in here. You’ll be under our watch.”

Tommy nodded. He looked over at Techno, who hadn’t spoken much since Tommy woke up
on the grass with Wilbur latched onto him. Techno didn't react.

Oh prime they think he’s a villain.

Techno thinks he’s evil.

“If you’re feeling up to it, we can talk about… uh, everything,” Phil continued. “We’ve been
granted permission to house you with us.”

Maybe Phil still likes him a little.

“Okay,” Tommy said. He hadn’t meant to be so quiet.

“I want to speak to you alone first though,” Wilbur said. And when Phil and Techno didn’t
react, Tommy figured it was okay. “It’ll be quick.”

Phil and Techno got up and left the room, letting the door fall gently shut.

Wilbur frowned and leaned forward to wrap Tommy in a hug. Tommy didn’t hesitate to
return it—or try—his arms were weak, slow to rise. Wilbur’s wings couldn’t get around
Tommy, but they were fluffed up and resting at his sides.

“Phil and Techno,” Wilbur started, voice low, “don’t know much. They think you’re going to
need villain rehabilitation.”
“Wha—”

Wilbur pulled away from the hug but sat close enough to keep a hand on Tommy’s chest. He
seemed to need the closeness.

“They love you. They aren’t really mad at you, and neither am I. But what you participated
in? At The Pit? That was a felony. That was grand villain level shit.”

Tommy leaned his head back, clenching his jaw and eyes shut.

“But I told them that I think you were manipulated. I just need you to be honest about
everything—and I need you to know that you will not be sent to Pandora, you will be taken
care of first and foremost by myself, Phil, and Techno.”

Tommy tried to muffle a cry but it still sounded like a whimper. “Wil I really want to fix this.
I promise I’m not evil.”

“I know,” Wilbur said, moving his hand up to Tommy’s cheek. “You can explain your story
in just a few minutes. I just wanted to give you a little update on things.”

“How many people did I kill?”

Wilbur shook his head, it dipped down and he frowned. “No, no, I’m not going to tell you
that.”

“So it was a lot then.”

“It was more than one…”

“Wil—”

Wilbur shook his head. “Let me warn you about a few things.”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek, trying to read Wilbur’s demeanor. He was tired, sad, and
probably super confused. And concerned. Maybe he also thought Tommy was a villain now
—maybe he was just trying to keep Tommy complacent and make him think he had a friend
here still.

“You’ve been put on what we call ‘White Code’. It means basically that you aren’t allowed to
leave the tower because of your injuries in combination with your fragile mental state.”

“Ouch.”

“Villains have a similar code but it’s ‘Red Code’, and they are always kept in hospital
confinement rooms. You’re sort of on an unofficial pink code I guess.”

“Right but what does this, like, mean.”

“It means that you’re required to keep wearing the hospital clothes you’re in, and if a hero in
the tower ever sees you alone they will report it directly to us three and then escort you back
to us or the hospital floor.”

“So I’m being babysat.”

“Yeah. And you also have a vital tracker implanted in your neck.”

“What—Wil—what?” Tommy groaned. “No no no—”

“I know that you understand why we did that,” Wilbur said. At Tommy’s frown he continued,
“That’s not all. We’re going to have to put a case together for you—just an explanation of
your life and vigilantism that our committee can use to determine whether you can be labeled
as a villain or not.”

“Oh,” Tommy whispered.

“We just need your honesty. Everything will be taken into account—your age, your
background, your trauma, your resources—and you have Phil, Techno, and I to vouch for
you.”

“My background?”

“Family situation, how you got into vigilantism, things like that.”

Somnium, Tommy thought. I’ll have to tell them about Somnium.

“That's uh, that’s a lot…”

“I know. We’re not going to get it all done immediately. But the sooner the better, because the
media is all over the hero committee about this. There are police watches set up outside The
Pit to keep journalists from heading in to investigate.”

“Do they know I was involved?”

“Not yet.”

“But they will?”

“Depends on what the committee allows heroes to say about his whole thing, and if they let
us talk about you it really depends on those individual heroes.”

“Prime—Wil—I know I fucked up by I don’t want people to think I wanted this—I don’t
want everyone to hate me.”

“Rubrum helped a lot of people, maybe they’re more trusting of you than you realize. But
let’s just get to the living room so we can work out some of these details, okay?”

Tommy nodded. Wilbur pulled the covers off of him and Tommy was immediately cold. He
tried not to shiver. The clothes he had on were loose and white, the pants were thick and
warm whereas the shirt was barely-there.
Tommy swung his legs over the bed. He could feel that they were bruised all over, his outer
thigh was bandaged, one of his ankles looked a bit swollen.

“We weren’t sure if you’d be able to walk,” Wilbur said. He stood up and revealed that he’d
been sitting on a wheelchair. “You look pretty shaky.”

Tommy tried to stand and felt nauseous. Wilbur reached forward to steady him by holding his
side.

“I really don’t feel good,” Tommy admitted with a small voice.

“Okay. Maybe you need more time, we’ll let you rest but I do want you to settle on the couch
out here—or we can bring this bed out.”

“No, no the couch is fine,” Tommy insisted, letting Wilbur guide him into the wheelchair.

Wilbur pressed a code into the keypad by the door, Tommy didn’t even try to memorize it,
and the door unlocked. Wilbur pressed another button and the door stayed open. Then the
wheelchair was pushed through the wide doorway and down a hall.

Wilbur pressed another button to keep the door into the living room open. When they rolled
in, Tommy met Techno’s eyes first, and then Phil’s.

Phil smiled at him. “Hi mate.”

Tommy offered a nervous smile.

Phil seemed to be making tea and Techno was brewing coffee in their side kitchen area. They
had three steaming mugs ready, and what looked like a bottle of water fresh from the fridge.

Wilbur took Tommy to the couch and helped him onto it, he leaned into the armrest. Once

he was sitting, Wilbur passed him a blanket—that he could barely hold—and rolled the
wheelchair to the side of the couch. Then, Wilbur sat next to Tommy, helped put the blanket
on, and put an arm around his shoulders.

Hesitantly, Tommy leaned away from the armrest and into Wilbur’s side. Wilbur’s right wing
curled around Tommy’s back and hugged his side.

“You could let your wings out if you wanted,” Wilbur whispered. “They retracted in your
sleep… which isn’t a good sign by the way.”

Tommy wasn’t sure how comfortable he was willing to get with his wings just yet. But he
asked, “Why is that bad?”

“It means you’ve trained your body to keep them in as much as possible. Which avians are
not supposed to do.”

Tommy hummed in consideration.

“And… you got shot in your wing. Right on the shoulder of it. So it’s really not optimal that
it’s hidden right now because it needs space to heal.”

Tommy bit his cheek for a second. “It’s gonna hurt.”

“We’ll get ice for it then,” Wilbur said, nodding up at Techno as he and Phil put the drinks on
the coffee table.

He nodded, glanced concernedly at Tommy, and went to the fridge.

Tommy leaned forward and Wilbur loosened his wing from around Tommy’s back. Tommy
summoned his wings and cringed at the familiar pull of his abused muscles. He held back a
groan and settled for letting a tiny huff of pained breath out instead.

The wound in his wing pulsed and Tommy’s good wing flapped in distress—without his
permission.

“Woah,” Wilbur soothed, “alright they’re out—thank you.” Wilbur received the ice from
Techno and held it to Tommy’s wound.

Tommy sat up a little straighter and leaned back into Wilbur, folding his left wing over his
own lap. Wilbur’s wing came back around Tommy’s shoulders, cupping him gently.

Techno and Phil were sitting on a couch across from them, waiting patiently for everyone to
settle.

“Your wings are gorgeous, Tommy,” Phil said. “I’m sorry you had to hide them for so long.”

He didn’t really know what to say to that. His wings looked like shit next to Wilbur’s. They
were wiry and out of order. Probably smaller

“I’m serious mate, they’re beautiful.”

“Thanks Phil,” Tommy said, trying not to sound too disbelieving.

“You don’t think so?”

Suppressing a groan, Tommy said, “They’re small and ugly.”

Phil crooned—the sound caught Tommy off guard. “Oh no, they’re stunning. They need a
few rounds of preening, but they really are beautiful. They’re stunted because of how often
you hide them and how little you eat.”

Tommy shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

“He’s right,” Wilbur said. “But should we maybe talk about the herd of elephants in the
room?”

“If you’re up for it, Tommy?”

Tommy nodded. “What do you wanna know first?”

Wow. He was doing this. Like… actually doing this. Spilling everything. To all of them.

“Start with The Pit, that’s our most pressing issue right now. I want to know how you found
it, why the villains were looking for it, and what happened from there.”

Tommy took a deep breath and glanced at Wilbur, who nodded approvingly and tightened his
wing around Tommy.

“I joined the villains because they were going to pay me… but more importantly I didn’t
think you’d get the job done well… heroes have a bad habit of waiting for permission to take
the measures you need to—and then the villains find out about everything and prepare to
counter your attacks.”

“That’s fair,” Phil said, surprising Tommy, “I’m confused though, as to why you would trust
Apis and Lanuae to do better.”

“Oh man,” Tommy mumbled, cracking his knuckles nervously. “Well it wasn’t just them—it
—I joined Cicatrix’s team.”

Everyone froze.

Then Techno spoke. “Cicatrix was involved in this?”

Tommy nodded. “They had a plan and resources… and Apis and Lanuae had been kids in the
pit for years so they had incentive to take revenge.”

“Since when do Apis and Lanuae work with Cicatrix?”

“Since forever apparently.”

Techno was taking notes.

“For the record… I’d never do it again,” Tommy murmured.

“I’m surprised that you did at all,” Techno started, earning a warning look from Phil. “It
doesn’t make sense—not because it was just a dangerous risk, but because it doesn’t seem
like something you’d ever do.”

“Well—I thought I could trust Apis and Lanuae.”

“Do you know their identities?”

Tommy tensed. He pushed himself into Wilbur, trying to draw out the comfort. He nodded
before he answered. “Yeah.”

“And will you tell us?” Phil asked.

It would be pretty counterintuitive if he didn’t.

“If you promise they won't go to Pandora. You have to rehabilitate them—like me.”

Phil tilted his head and he frowned. “I can’t promise that, Tommy. They’re situation is
different from yours. They’re already considered villains.”

Tommy shook his head. “I won’t let them get put in there. I won't tell you shit.”

Wilbur put down the ice pack to instead keep his hand on Tommy’s back, between his wings
as usual.

“We can’t promise anything, but we also don't have to take action right away,” Phil
continued, feeling Tommy rile up. “Tell us about how you found the pit instead.”

Could he afford to mention the discs?

Oh fuck—the discs.

“Um—I will but first, where are my things? My vest?”

Techno’s face went dark. “You mean those power enhancers? I’m guessing you got them
from Cicatrix.”

Tommy’s chest tightened.

“Sorry Tommy but you’re never touching those again. We’re having them locked away for
good,” Phil explained. “We… we’ve been looking for those for a long time. I guess we
finally know who stole them from us.”

Why was he nervous? It was good that the heroes had them. It was good that they were off
the streets—out of the playing field.

“But I—they’re mine.”

Why did he say that?

Techno’s head snapped toward Phil’s, who side eyed him back.

“How long did you have those?”

“Like, maybe a month?”

Phil’s shoulders loosened a bit. “And how often were they on your person?”

Tommy crossed his arms, feeling judged and defensive. “Every day. Took em’ to work and
stuff.”

Phil’s shoulders hiked back up again. “What?!”

Tommy flinched at Phil’s yelling, which sobered the man up. Phil stood up and pulled a
phone from his back pocket.
“I need to make a call, you boys… keep talking.”

“Who are you calling?” Tommy asked, stiff with fear.

“Someone who’s going to be able to tell me how far into the corruption you are.”

Tommy blinked. “I’m not addicted to the discs.”

Phil left to make the call anyway. Tommy turned to look up at Wilbur, who was somehow
still calm. Maybe he was finding comfort in comforting Tommy, because he just pulled
Tommy into a real hug.

“If we find that your mind was swayed by the discs it’ll help us get you an easier
punishment,” Wilbur said.

“What if I just—”

Killed myself, he was going to say. He didn’t think Wilbur and Techno would find it funny.

“What if you explained how you found The Pit—you used the discs somehow obviously,”
Techno said.

“Enhanced my speed and stamina enough that I could follow a kidnapper.”

“Right… not the most lawful tactic. So you followed the kidnapper to The Pit and then what?
Got caught?”

Tommy nodded. “Didn’t realize how many of them were there.”

More hesitantly, Techno asked, “What happened during the time that you were in there?”

Tommy felt something in his throat. It was physical—a bubble. It hurt, and he knew he was
making a pained face. He wrapped his wings around his body.

“Tommy?” Wilbur asked, gently rubbing between his wings.

The gesture forced the bubble out and a nervous trill shuddered up Tommy’s throat. He froze
after that, and shrunk back into the couch cushions.

Two deep croons blanketed him—and Tommy was surprised to hear Techno’s this time. He
figured the man was angry with him. Why try to comfort him?

Phil poked his head back into the living room from the hallway and looked curiously at each
of the boys.

Techno chirped, it’s fine.

Phil hovered for a second before getting back to his call.

Techno turned back to Tommy, all of the neutrality he’d been holding on his face was gone.
He looked sad, and extremely concerned, obviously having given up on his bad-cop
character.

Is that what he was trying to do? Be the tough guy while Wilbur played the friend?

“What happened to you, Tommy?” Techno asked.

Tommy shrugged, it kicked Wilbur’s hand back into action—soothing circles pressed into his
sore back muscles.

“Nothing really happened to me. It’s more like I did things to other people…”

“That… that does not sound good Tommy,” Techno urged.

Tommy felt another bubble in his throat and tried to choke it down, but this time Wilbur and
Techno knew what it was.

safe, Wilbur crooned.

calm, Techno soothed.

Tommy rattled off another scared trill and curled his wings tighter around himself like a
blanket.

“There was a villain called Effingo—he could command people like Wilbur does. And he
made me fight in the arena.”

“Effingo… that’s Latin for copy. He must have come into contact with Wilbur before,”
Techno said, having taken over Phil’s note-taking.

Oh…

“And you must have gotten hurt a lot,” Wilbur guessed.

“Yeah but I didn’t really mind that,” Tommy shrugged, Wilbur gave him a stern look. “He
made me uh, he made me fight the kids that they kidnapped.”

Wilbur crooned sadly and glanced at Techno.

“Stop it with your sad fucking bird noises,” Tommy grumbled. “I’d rather you be angry.”

That probably wasn’t true.

“Unless you tell me that you willingly blew up The Pit knowing there were children inside,
that probably won’t happen,” Wilbur said.

Phil came back into the room and closed out of the call. When he sat down Techno handed
him the notepad to read over.

“Tell us more,” Phil prompted, obviously not willing to discuss the disc thing.
Tommy grumbled under his breath and kept his arms crossed. “I had to hurt Cassidy… you
remember them?”

Phil thought for a moment, brow raised. Then his expression soured. “They got caught
again?”

Tommy nodded. “And I hurt her.”

Not as badly as he pummeled Acidum.

Tommy knew he was just going to start spewing things at Phil because he needed Phil to
know what happened. He needed the most experienced hero—person—in the room to be
honest with him and either tell him he fucked up or that it’d all be okay.

Tommy cringed. “And there was some fourteen year old—prime I really did a number on
him.”

Phil looked sad but concentrated, allowing Tommy an outlet, and opportunity to just speak.

“They commanded me to fight him as if he were Effingo,” Tommy continued. “Prime—I

really hurt him. I hit him and burned him and I know I broke bones—”

Wilbur’s hand pressed a little harder on his back, reminding him again that it was over, he
was safe, Wilbur was here to help.

“I tried to kill him and they pulled me off—he was fourteen.”

Tommy remembered flashes of the fight. He remembered hearing the kid scream when
Tommy had him pinned, when Acidum realized he couldn’t escape.

“Now he’s probably dead—fuck he’s probably dead and I never got to apologize—”

Wilbur crooned and turned his body toward Tommy so their eyes could meet. “It’s not you’re
fault.”

“He’s dead—Cassidy—” Tommy gagged. “Cassidy is dead.”

Tommy pushed away from Wilbur because he knew he was going to puke, but Wilbur held
on to him. When Tommy tumbled to the floor Wilbur followed, holding his waist while
Techno lurched forward with a little garbage can.

Tommy sobbed through bile and retches. “I killed them I killed them I killed them—”

Distantly Tommy realized Phil was speaking to himm, calmly, softly. But Tommy didn’t want
to hear it. He needed them to hear him. He needed them to know that he understood how bad
he messed up. He needed them to know that he was at least a little self-aware.

“I’m so sorry—I killed them I killed them—”

He puked some more but only spit and watery something came up.
Wilbur started speaking but Tommy didn’t listen. Phil had gotten up and left—maybe he was
sick of seeing Tommy like this. Patheticallly crying and breaking down—

But Phil wasn’t like that.

“...unshine…”

Tommy blinked through tears. “I tried—I promise I tried not to listen to him and I tried to
escape faster and I tried to get home faster—I promise I tried really hard—”

“I know, I know you did.”

“I thought I could trust t—Apis and Lanue and I thought villains and heroes weren’t always
black and white but I was fucking wrong and I thought I could monitor the situation—”

He puked again. It hurt, and he could feel his withered hands starting to hurt from holding
himself up. Their wrappings were tight, scraping across his skin as he began to shake
uncontrollably.

“Woah, woah—Phil!”

Tommy fell sideways, head landing on Wilbur’s quick hand, and he couldn’t stop shaking.

He blinked once and couldn’t open his eyes again.

**********

When Phil came back in at Wilbur’s yell he did not expect to see Tommy seizing. He had
gone to wheel the hospital bed into the living room so they could keep Tommy on it. He saw
the boy seizing, knew Wilbur and Techno had it under control, and he ran back to the hospital
room to hit the panic button. Sam or Ponk would be up soon.

He pushed the bed into the living room space and left it nearby. He knelt with Wilbur as
Techno pulled the coffee table out of the way, and moved the garbage can. Wilbur was now
cushioning Tommy’s head on his lap.

The seizure ended ten seconds after Phil got there.

“What was that?” Wilbur asked, voice high with stress. “Why did he seize.”

“Stress,” Techno guessed.

“Help is on the way,” Phil assured. “We’ll run some tests but we can be pretty sure it was just
stress. He’s been through a lot more than what the average person can handle—hell he’s been
through more than the average hero can handle.”
 “Most of the ones with trauma like this are villains now,” Techno said lowly.

Phil gave him a knowing look. “He could never.”

Techno frowned down at him. “You’re probably right.”

Tommy blinked and Wilbur gently rubbed his thumbs over the boy’s cheeks, then up through
his hair.

“Deep breaths,” Phil prompted. “I’m sure the floor isn’t comfy so we’ll get you up on the
bed.”

Tommy didn’t really react. It made Wilbur glance up nervously.

Techno started to pick Tommy up and Wilbur followed quickly, making his way to the side of
the bed that Phil rolled out. Techno held Tommy for a little longer than he needed to, and Phil
recognized it instantly.

“He’ll be okay. We’ll have to take things even slower I think,” Phil assured.

“We don’t really have time to take this slow,” Wilbur said. “I won’t have anyone labelling
him a villain.”

“They can’t. There’s no proof he had any malicious intent, and we have him now. He’s
honest, and he’s good. He will be okay.”

“I really need him to be okay,” Wilbur whispered.

Phil looked at Techno and could tell he was biting his cheek.

Phil sighed, “How did we all get so attached?”

flock, Wilbur chirped.

flock, Techno agreed.

Phil smiled and ruffled Tommy’s hair, making the boy blink sluggishly up at him.

“Hear that?” Phil asked him.

fledgling.

Chapter End Notes

As always I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did consider reading some of my
other (hurt/comfort-heavy) works!
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Also, I have removed Dream, Sapnap, and George from this fic. Dream is now Kurt,
Sapnap is Jameson, and George is Austin. They are not secretly those characters, I will
be changing their personalities and looks altogether. Don't bother complaining about this
because I'm just going to block you and delete your comments.

Thanks again!
 Chapter 19
Chapter Summary

Some things get explained, but mostly things get complicated.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: brief mention of past suicidal thoughts, violence, guns, explosions, gore,
blood, injury, panic, vomit, implied abuse. Let me know if I missed any.

Also, I shouldn't have to say this, but shippers and boundary breakers DNI. You're not
welcome here under any circumstance /srs.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

They waited a week to ask Tommy anything more than if he was feeling alright and what
hurt. He insisted that he could handle it and talk about everything because he wanted to get to
work on taking Cicatrix down immediately. With fond but sad looks, he was told no, and
“take it easy, rest your mind and body”.

At one point, Tommy just started talking. He was sick of waiting so he just went for it and
talked more about The Pit. He started detailing the layout, the villains he saw, the cells, and
he started talking about how he broke out.

Phil was the one to stop him.

stop, he’d chirped. calm, rest, stop.

Tommy had done his best to ignore it, but eventually, Phil cornered him into a hug and
crumbled his mental wall of “ew instincts”.

stop. calm, relax, rest.

Tommy melted into it with a frustrated chirp and that was the end of that. He didn’t try that
method again for fear of being chased and dragged into another battle of “stop being stupid
Tommy” and “fuck you Phil”.

Eventually he pleaded again that he could talk. He made it clear that he just felt restless and
guilty and useless because they weren’t making any progress. It seemed to break Phil’s
stubbornness a bit.
“Only if you promise to stop when it’s too much.”

“It’s not going to be too much. I’ve had plenty of time to think about it and rest.”

So they talked. And they started by recounting a few details they’d already discussed. Then
they moved on to some tougher things. Like Tommy’s escape and return to the villains. And
finally, Tommy told the whole story of the Pit raid from the second he got in Cicatrix’s car to
when Wilbur found him lying on the grass.

Permission was granted for them to use a regeneration potion on his arms, and the rest of his
body was taking its sweet time to heal. After that seizure, Tommy was sentenced to bedrest,
but he still had to suffer through physical therapy. For the weakness in his arms while they
healed, for his overexhuasted muscles, for his shot wing, his shoulder—that had been
dislocated many many times—his knees that were especially sore even with his braces on, his
ankles and hip too, and yeah, there was a lot of physical therapy.

What sucked the most about it was that Custos was the one doing it with him. And the hero
was nice about it, but Tommy didn’t like him. So it pissed him off when the man praised his
good efforts or asked him to try a little harder.

Then, there were some things that Wilbur, Phil, and Techno could do. They could help him
stretch his wings and follow exercises that Custos—they all called him Sam but Tommy
didn’t want to—advised he do. And they preened his wings.

Well, that had only happened once so far. Because Tommy refused most of the time. And the
one time they managed to get him to agree was because he was tired and sore and sad. Not
that he said it out loud. They probably just knew.

Now, Tommy was sitting on his hospital bed, in the living room, half asleep while the three
heroes discussed their next actions.

“Everyone has been ordered to keep a special eye out for Apis and Ianuae. We have our
teams out looking high and low for anyone who knew anything about The Pit and Cicatrix’s
rivalry,” Phil said.

“Haven’t heard anything about Cicatrix’s fighting ring either. Turns out he’s got a tight-knit
community… they’re all too loyal to say anything. We haven’t been able to bribe anyone or
anything,” Wilbur said.

“We don’t know anything about a next plan or project so we can’t do anything preventative
right now but we have investigations happening at the vehicle dealerships for the cars we
know Cicatrix used.”

“And we have identities from the… uh, aftermath to look into and follow connections from.”

Tommy cringed in his half-awake state. “Y’ever gonna tell me how many died?”

“Tommy,” Phil scolded.

“I’m gonna see it online eventually.”

“Prime, we are not letting you on the internet. You do not need the stress of the rest of the
world.”

Tommy snorted instead of arguing because his eyes would no longer open. He was lying on
his side, wings tucked against his back, and he hugged a pillow.

“Hey uh, when is that guy coming to check my disc addiction?” Tommy asked, muffled by
the pillow.

“I don’t know, unfortunately. Jschlatt’s a busy man. He’s trying to find time though.”

Tommy hummed. “M’ not addicted. They just made me feel safer.”

“Right. Like alcohol makes people feel calmer,” Techno said.

“It is not like that.”

Tommy turned his head away from the heroes so he could be clear that he would not take the
slander. All that did was make the heroes speak more quietly, trying to let Tommy fall back
asleep.

But the living room door slammed open, making Tommy leap up with a gasp, followed by a
hiss of pain. Wilbur jumped to his side and they both watched Custos storm into the room,
holding a black envelope.

Phil stood to take it from him.

“What’s this?”

“See who signed it,” Custos snapped.

Phil flipped the envelope to the back and his eyes went wide. He glanced back at Techno and
Wilbur briefly before opening it.

“From Cicatrix,” he grumbled.

Tommy sat up straighter and Wilbur’s hand strayed to the spot between his wings. He
couldn’t help but ask, “How did that get here?”

“Some charmed civilian. We’re interrogating them now,” Custos said. “Walked right up to the
front door with it in their hand. The second we took it off them they shook Cicatrix’s power
off.”

Phil’s eyes glided over the paper, back and forth, taking in every word.

“Phil?” Techno prompted.

“He wants the power enhancers back.”

Wilbur snorted. “We knew that. What’s he proposing?”

“If only it were a proposal.” Phil ground his teeth together. “Says he’ll do more than
Somnium ever could if we don’t give them back. We have a week.”

Techno’s wings stiffened into metal. He glanced back at them like he hadn’t meant to do it.
Then at Phil, at Custos, at Wilbur. Then he looked at Tommy and lingered there for a bit. Phil
opened his mouth to say something but Techno cut him off.

“I’m heading out,” he said.

“Techno—”

Techno shook his head and was already leaving.

“I’m gonna follow him,” Wilbur said quietly. “We can talk about this later, right?”

“Yeah,” Phil breathed. “Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

Wilbur ruffled Tommy’s hair and squeezed Phil’s shoulder on his way out to follow Techno,
leaving Tommy with shaking hands in a room with Custos and Corvus.

“How does it say we get the enhancers to him?” Custos asked.

Phil’s fury only grew as he read and reread. “He says he’ll find us ‘out there’.”

“Wonderful. So he can see and watch us but we can’t find him.”

“He’s the number one villain for a reason mate. I’ll take this to the higher-ups and see what
they think. Once I hear from them I’ll contact you and we’ll make up a plan,” Phil said,
patting Custos’ shoulder.

Custos pinched the bridge of his nose. “Right. This is… yeah, okay. Take care you two, call
me if you need anything.”

“We’ll figure it out, Sam.”

Custos nodded and left.

Phil stayed looking at the door for a while before turning to Tommy. “He and Techno took the
last incident like this pretty hard. They might get a bit distant and stressed, but none of this is
on you. They aren’t mad at you.”

Tommy knew his breathing was about to pick up.

“How is… how is this like the Somnium incident?”

Phil sighed. “I guess we never really told the public, did we?”

Phil set the envelope and letter on the coffee table and started toward the kitchenette. He open
the fridge and retrieved two water bottles before starting to explain.
“That night Somnium blew up the parliament building, he was demanding that we give him
something.”

Tommy’s jaw dropped. “The discs.”

Phil hummed a confirmation. “We think he had plans to cast the whole tower into an endless
sleep with them. We couldn’t just give them up but we… it hit us hard.”

Tommy blinked.

And blinked again a few more times.

His head was spinning and his brain thrummed with the hard work of deciphering what the
fuck—

“He almost killed me for a fucking power enhancer?!”

Phil cocked his head sideways. Which is when Tommy realized that Phil didn’t know he was
that kid.

“What, mate?”

Tommy pulled at some of his hair before having to look away from Phil. He tugged on his
light white shirt in distress.

It was painful to think about how he’d almost died for those power enhancers and later in life
he used them casually to help another supervillain.

“Explain that. Run that by me one more time,” Phil urged, lightly touching the back of
Tommy’s neck.

Tommy turned back to Phil with a lot more anger in his expression than he meant to throw
out there. Phil’s hand shuffled through the hair on the back of Tommy’s head.

“Tommy, what experience do you have with Somnium?”

Tommy blew out a breath. “This is not the kind of thing I want to explain twice so maybe we
should wait for Wil and Techno.”

Phil considered. “No. Techno can’t handle that right now. I’ll explain it to them later. I—he
almost killed you? For the enhancer?”

Tommy rubbed weak fingers over his forehead and nodded. “Oh man, this is gonna throw
you for a loop.”

Phil handed Tommy a cold water bottle.

“Phil I was—I was the kid Somnium supposedly killed.”

Phil blanched. His mouth fell open and his eyes darted between Tommy’s. He turned away
for a second and looked around the room like Somnium would appear out of nowhere to
confirm it.

“No. No, you can’t be. You were rigged with explosives. They went off after he shot you—
after you fell—we have the footage.”

“He didn’t really shoot me, Phil. I caught myself before I hit that balcony. I had an easy way
to take the explosives off.”

Phil shook his head. “No. No. I know that’s not true because I was the one who went looking
for your remains. Because Techno and Sam couldn’t stomach it. I found the body.”

Tommy furrowed his brow. “Well… you just didn’t though.”

Phil didn’t believe him. Fuck. No no, he really needed Phil to believe him. Of all the awful
things that could have come from telling him this, not being believed was the worst. Because
it had never crossed Tommy’s mind that it was within the realm of possibility.

“I couldn’t bear to remove the mask that he—you? Were wearing. I—Tommy that boy was
very very dead. And I watched him be taken away in a body bag on a gurney.”

Tommy shook his head, chest tightening. “No, Phil. I caught myself. I flew to safety and
dumped the explosives.”

Tommy had never seen this much confusion and hurt on Phil’s face before.

“I pulled the limp corpse out of the rubble.”

“It was me. Please, believe me—how can I—why would I lie about this?”

“I don’t think you’re lying. I think something’s lost in translation here… was there a decoy?”

“No. No—he pretended to shoot me, I fell and almost hit the balcony, but I got my wings out
and dove through a window. I dropped the explosives on my way in, and they went off and I
got out of there.”

“Then who did I sob over?”

Tommy didn’t mean to flinch back the way he did when Phil’s hand touched his cheek. He
tried to make up for it by leaning back into it.

“Who did I find dead in the rubble? Who did we mourn?”

Tommy’s trembling was growing in intensity. “I don’t know.”

Phil leaned down to wrap his arms around Tommy and buried his nose in Tommy’s hair.
Tommy shakily hugged back.

“This might be worth reviewing the footage for. But I would never ask you to do that—”
“I want to see it.”

“Tommy—”

“I need to see it. I need to see what you saw. It was two years ago… I’ll be fine if you’ll be
fine.”

Phil pulled out of the hug. “Are you okay?”

“What…? Like, right now?”

“Yes. Are you? Is this too much?”

Tommy shook his head. “I’m just confused. I really want to know what the hell is going on so
can we just get on with this shit show?”

“You want to watch it? Now?”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Yes, Phil. I’ll be okay.”

Phil took a deep breath and let out a steady sigh. “I’ll go request it. I shouldn’t be long. Hang
tight and remember that you have a panic button on your bed now.”

Tommy pushed Phil’s hand off his shoulder. “I know. Hurry up before I go find that fucking
tape myself.”

Tommy didn’t even know there was footage. It made sense though, the whole world was
watching. Journalists, teenagers in nearby apartments, and outdoor store cameras. And still,
Tommy had never thought to look it up.

He waited for Phil to return, taking deep breaths and rubbing his palms together.

**********

“You’re supposed to punch the criminals, not the walls,” Wilbur said, jumping down to meet
Techno.

Gladius was standing over a group of street gang members with bloody knuckles, metal
feathers, and—

“Your face is bleeding.”

Techno looked everywhere but at Wilbur, and as his brother started to approach him Techno
ducked away to start zip-tying the criminals’ hands.

“Police are on their way,” Techno said. “You patrolling with me or watching for fun?”
Wilbur’s hand landed on Techno’s back. “Let me see your face.”

Techno stood up with exasperation leaking from his figure. He grunted at the effort of having
to stand up straight again, meaning Wilbur would have to trick him into going home early to
sleep.

There was a deep line sliced across Techno’s nose, barely missing his eyes.

“Tech, I can’t help but notice you haven’t stopped the bleeding yet.”

“Busy.”

“Not now, you’re not.”

Techno rolled his eyes and held a hand over the cut. he kept it there for half a minute and let
his hand fall back down. The bleeding was done but the cut was raw, red, and raised.

“That’s going to scar,” Wilbur said. “One of these guys managed that?”

Techno shrugged. “Feel like it’s fair to say I’m a bit distracted.”

Wilbur hummed, following Tecno’s lead by helping zip-tie the rest of the gang members.
They must have been having a meeting or a dispute or something.

“Things are different this time. We have more heroes. We have better plans, more safety
measures,” Wilbur tried to reassure.

“We’ve also never been directly threatened by Cicatrix before. You know he doesn’t see us as
threats. We’re pests. He’s ready for us.”

Wilbur frowned. “And so what? We just let him have his way?”

Techno turned back to Wilbur with a deadpan look. Then it turned sour. Then tired. “No. I
just wanted to complain.”

They finished tying up the gang and heard sirens in the distance. Technically they should stay
and talk to the police, but Techno was already dragging Wilbur into the sky and Wilbur didn’t
feel like handling anything other than his brother.

They landed on a roof a few buildings away.

“We kind of need you back at the tower you know. If we’re gonna come up with a plan and
all.”

Techno sighed. “I know. Phil or Sam will have to talk to the supervisors before we make any
decisions though so I figured I had time.”

Wilbur nodded, leaning his elbows against the tall ledge of the building. “How’s stuff with
Puffy?”
Techno snorted. “She thinks I should visit the kid’s grave and ‘talk it out’.”

Wilbur shrugged. “Sounds relieving.”

“Sounds stupid.”

Wilbur smacked Techno’s arm. “Or consider taking some Tommy time to clear your head.
Preen his wings man, I’ve never had instincts like I did when he finally let me touch them.”

“Yeah?” Techno smiled. “Feeling all brotherly?”

Wilbur huffed. “It was borderline paternal.”

“Well. Can’t say that I think it’d have the same effect on me but we’ll see what he says.”

“You underestimate how sweet he is when his guard’s down.”

“You underestimate how empy my heart is.”

Wilbur leaned into Techno’s side and rested his head on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go back
to the tower.”

Techno shook his head. “I’ve got too much negative energy pent up in here. Don’t want that
around Tommy right now.”

“Then maybe we spar in the gym?”

Techno thought about it. Then, “No. I need to actually pummel someone and you’re being too
nice to me right now.”

“I can start insulting you.”

Techno’s now feathered wing wrapped around Wilbur’s back. “Or maybe we can see who can
stop the most crimes in the next hour.”

Wilbur pursed his lips, exaggerating his pensive expression. “Maybe…”

“Winner gets to preen Tommy’s wings tonight—if he lets us.”

“Oh, you are on.”

**********

“Remember, if you need to stop we can. If you need me to review this by myself—”

“Phil please, I think I need to see this more than you do.”
Phil had been granted permission to review the footage of the Somnium incident but only
after he said he may have new information about ‘the boy that died’. He brought a USB back
to the SBI floor and helped Tommy settle in front of the TV. Now he was setting up the
video.

“This is footage from nearby stores and a highly respected journalist,” Phil explained. “The
journalist wasn’t allowed too close to the area though so the footage isn’t as good but it’s
longer. This is a compilation of them mixed together.”

“And we can see my body fall?”

“As far as I know.”

Phil sat on the couch by Tommy’s head—his bed was perpendicular to the couch and it was a
bit cluttered in the living space. But Phil’s hand landed on the top of his head and he started
playing with Tommy’s hair as the footage sparked to a start.

It started with store footage, the cameras showed Somnium standing on a roof, waiting to be
met by heroes. Holding Tommy roughly, with a pistol in his hand, aimed right at Tommy’s
temple.

“That’s you?”

“That’s me.”

“How did he get you?” Phil asked, letting the footage roll on.

Tommy sighed. “He was—I lived with him. He sort of adopted me. It was all set up. I agreed
to be his ransom.”

Tommy looked back at Phil to see his jaw hanging open. He glanced between Tommy and the
screen a few times, then down at his hands.

“Sorry,” Tommy whispered. “I want to say that I didn’t know any better but…”

“Mate, he was a supervillain. I’m sure you didn’t really have a choice at all.”

Phil fast-forwarded to the point in which Custos and Gladius showed up.

“We only have sound because Custos’ suit records audio if he wants it to. We laid it over the
videos,” Phil said. “It was after this that we started considering body cams for all heroes but
it hasn’t come into effect yet.”

Tommy nodded, unable to decide if he wanted Phil to shut up or keep talking. He knew his
reaction to this video wasn’t going to be pretty. He didn’t want to see it all again but he felt
like he needed to. Tommy needed to see it one more time. And he needed to know what it
was that the heroes saw that night.

At one moment Somnium squeezed Tommy hard. And Tommy remembered that moment. He
remembered grinding his teeth, biting back a whimper.
“Come any closer and he gets a bullet in the brain,” Somnium said.

“You have us where you want us, let the kid go,” Custos said.

Somnium laughed. “You know what I want. He’s not leaving until I have it back.”

“We won’t give it to you,” Custos said.

“We had made up our mind,” Phil said, pausing the video, “by that point, we knew we
couldn’t give the enhancer up, no matter what he was going to threaten, destroy—not even
for an innocent kid. The damage he’d do with those discs would have been worse.”

“I understand Phil.”

“I’m still sorry.”

At least, Tommy thought, it sounds like he believes that this is me.

“We thought we could attack him and stop the building from being exploded—we didn’t
know until it was too late that the explosives were attached to you.”

Tommy clutched at the neckline of his shirt. “It’s okay, Phil.”

Maybe Phil was letting himself believe that the kid was Tommy just so he could explain, just
so he could apologize.

“Give me what I came here for and the kid lives, building stays standing. Charge at me and…
well you’ll see,” Somnium said.

Custos was shaking his head, but it was Gladius that spoke.

“How do we know that the second we give it to you, you won’t blow the building up
anyway?”

Somnium tilted his head with a chuckle. “I guess it’s a leap of faith.”

“And that was the moment Techno decided that they couldn’t risk it, and the best thing to do
was to at least try and take him out.”

Tommy had found himself wondering many times what he would have done in Gladius’
position—

Wait—

“Attack,” Gladius commanded.

“It was Techno?”

Gladius and Custos surged forward.

BANG!
Tommy’s body fell limply. Too limply. And it fell for longer than Tommy remembered. Was the
building really that high?

And his wings weren’t out. But he was approaching the balcony. But his wings weren’t out.
He was in full sight of the camera.

“I don’t—what?”

His face wasn’t visible. He couldn’t see a bullet wound. He couldn’t see if his eyes were
open.

“Tommy?”

“Phil I don’t—that’s not—”

Tommy’s body slammed into the balcony. It barely bounced. The sound made his gut convulse
and Tommy lurched up in his seat. He heard Phil curse from behind him.

There was a delay of about three seconds before explosions rang out. The camera caught the
start of the building crumbling.

“No no that—okay but we didn’t see me die.”

“Tommy… if that were you, you would not have had time to catch yourself, get the bombs
off, and then also escape.”

Tommy shook his head violently; confused, terrified tears stung his eyes. “No no no, it was!
It was me! I have those memories I have that trauma—that was me. I remember it Phil I
fucking remember it—”

Tommy caught himself just in time to land lightly on the balcony, simultaneously ripping the
vest of explosives off. He left it in the balcony doorway and ran into the building. He sprinted
for a window and threw himself through it.

He didn’t think Kurt would do it. He didn’t think it was going to go that way. He thought the
heroes would save him. He remembered trying not to cry at the pain in his wings—his broken
wings from ‘hardcore training’ as Kurt called it.

He jumped out of a back window and into an alley. Then he ran. He started running back
home—back to Kurt’s apartment. And his wings hurt so bad from having to catch his weight.
He hadn’t been ready for that.

Tommy had run through the main apartment entrance, past the front desk who didn’t bother
asking questions, and all the way up to the room. Which is when he realized he didn’t have a
key—he ended up having to get in through the window.

He turned on the TV, hoping to see what was happening but by then the battle was over.
Tommy was watching the cleanup.

“—mmy. Tommy, kiddo, I believe you. It’s alright—”

He hadn’t waited long before the villains got back home.

“You lived!” Kurt exclaimed. “That’s so good, I thought I actually shot you in the head for a
second there.”

And Tommy hadn’t meant to let the anger get the best of him.

“You pushed me off the building.”

“You have wings.”

“They’re broken!”

“Don’t ever raise your voice at me.” Kurt raised a hand, froze, and the groaned and let the
hand fall. “You played your part tonight. You didn’t fuck it up.”

“...Did you get what you were after?” Tommy asked.

“No,” Kurt snapped. “No but I will. I will and I’ll kill Gladius—oh I’ll rip him apart.”

“Tommy, you’re scaring me,” Phil was whispering. He was swiping soft palms over Tommy’s
hair, down the sides of his face. “You’re in the tower with me. Just you and me, safe and
sound.”

“Do you think… can you help me with my wings?” Tommy asked, dizzy, nauseous.

Kurt scoffed. “You really need me to put your wings in a sling? Figure it out yourself. I need
to help Austin when he gets back. He took bigger hits than you did.”

Tommy shuddered.

“I’m here Tommy. It’s just you and me, in our living room, in the tower. Feel that?” Phil
pinched Tommy’s good shoulder. “Hear me?”

Tommy nodded.

Austin got back, half-carried by Jameson, groaning in pain. He looked ready to throw up. He
was settled on their couch and Tommy stayed very far away in the corner of the room.

Later, Kurt turned his attention back to Tommy. By then, he’d slid down the wall and was
gasping in pain and panic.

“Look at him. Kid, you didn’t die. You’re fine. Stop crying,” Kurt said, closing in on him.
“I’m trying to help you, stop moving away.”

“Do you feel this? Tommy?” Phil was passing ice over Tommy’s wrist in gentle circles.

Tommy nodded again. “J’s thinking…”

“I know, mate, but you’re sort of disappearing on me here.”

Kurt grabbed Tommy’s wrist and yanked him to his feet. Tommy yelped at the rapid
movement. Then Kurt grabbed Tommy’s left wing and tugged it forward. Tommy gasped in
pain and almost fell back to his knees.

“Your wings are fine,” Kurt scoffed. “Go to sleep, Thomas.”

And Tommy fell face first on the ground.

Tommy shook his head and grabbed Phil’s hand, the one holding the ice. “I’m good. I’m
alright but—but Phil that wasn’t—that footage must have been tampered with.”

Phil leaned forward and wrapped Tommy in his wings.

“It hasn’t been tampered with. I know it hasn’t, I was there for the tests, I was there for the
proof. I found your body—it was torn apart. Tommy, there was no surviving that. It wasn’t
you.”

Tommy launched himself out of Phil’s embrace. “It was! It was—how can I prove it? A DNA
test? Get Wilbur to make me tell the truth—please—please Phil.”

“Take some deep breaths. We can do that, okay? We can get Wilbur to do that, or we can
have our friend Schlatt do it. He’s the one who’s going to assess your attachment to the
discs.”

“When? When can we do it? Phil my whole fucking brain is scrambled—I know that was
me.”

“We can do it as soon as one of them gets here, okay? I don’t know how long Wil and Techno
will be—prime Techno… Techno’s going to want to hear this from you I imagine.”

Tommy let out a frustrated breath. Then he sat back defeatedly in his bed. “You know,
everyone thinks that you gave that order. The one to attack instead of give up the discs.”

“I know.”

“But I don’t think Techno really did anything wrong. Why hide it?”

Phil nodded, thinking. Then he shrugged. “It wasn’t really on purpose. But I just never
corrected it. There are people in this city that couldn’t give two shits about the government
buildings and think we should have let it be destroyed. It really is unfortunate that it was
destroyed either way… but we kept the enhancers away from him and that was the important
thing.”

“Then Cicatrix stole them away?”

“Apparently. About a year later.”

“Huh.”

“Huh indeed. Listen, I’m not going to play the rest of this—”
“There’s more?”

Phil hesitated. “It’s footage of heroes searching the area and removing injured civilians.”

“Can we see my body being taken in that video?”

Phil cringed. “Yes.”

“Play it. Play it, please.”

“Absolutely not. You started dissociating—hallucinating? That was… no, that wasn’t healthy.
I can’t have you seizing again.”

“I’m okay. I am, really. I’m just so confused Phil. I need to see it, I really—I won’t be able to
sleep if I can’t figure this out.”

Phil hummed nervously. “You have to sit with me.”

Tommy blinked. “What?”

Without replying, Phil leaned down to pull the covers off Tommy’s bed, then looped his arms
under Tommy’s knees and behind his back. Being so physically weak, Tommy couldn’t do
much protesting.

Not even as Phil sat on the couch, with Tommy still on his lap. He turned Tommy so his back
was to Phil’s chest, and Phil’s wings folded around him.

“This is so I can use your instincts you draw you in if you start floating away again.”

“If that’s what you think we need to do,” Tommy mumbled, leaning back into Phil.

“Ready?”

Tommy nodded.

The video started again. This time from a slightly different point of view. The journalist’s,
Tommy guessed. He watched Corvus arrive. He landed just outside the crumpled building
and stopped to talk to Custos. Gladius was nowhere to be seen. The villains were gone.

After a bit, Corvus flew over some rubble and went inside.

“What’s happening now,” Phil started, “is that I’m searching the lowest level, searching the
rubble for pieces of that balcony.”

The video only showed Phil again when he’d clambered up the rubble a little more.

“Can you help me in here, Custos?” Corvus asked. The hero hesitated, making Corvus
reconsider. “Uh, no actually, that’s alright. If someone else comes by send them in.”

And Custos didn’t argue.

Shortly after, Fluctus was there. She headed in to meet Corvus.

“Niki was late to the scene too. Not long after me of course, but we had both been occupied
elsewhere. She was patrolling on the other side of the city. I had only been doing paperwork
in the tower.”

The footage was somber and uneventful for the next two minutes. The audio was faint,
because Custos was standing so far away from the pile of rubble they were searching.

But…

“Found him!” Corvus called.

Custos turned away from the rubble, palm plastered over his forehead.

“Right now Niki and I are uncovering the body and… and I’m glad it never really gets shown
to the camera because it was barely a body at all.”

Tommy felt sick. And obviously Phil could tell because he crooned, low and soft. Tommy’s
muscles slackened, and he kept watching.

“I won’t describe much to you, I puked twice uncovering that body, but if that was you…
you’d be half a torso with a crackled skull.”

Tommy shivered and Phil crooned again.

Phil fast-forwarded to a point where people with hefty suits and gloves were taking care of
the body. All they could see on the camera was a gurney with wrapped-up plastic sheets over
it, covering the mess that should have been Tommy.

And it was undeniably a dead body. Tommy could tell that it was too small to have legs or
arms. But that should have been him.

And there were other people in the building, but Tommy had found out that night by
watching the news that Vulpes managed to get inside and guide the people that were trapped
out.

Tommy should find him sometime and ask about that. Austin should have been watching the
people. Did Vulpes defeat him? Was that why he came home so injured?

Another croon reeled Tommy back in. He realized that the video had ended, he’d been staring
off again.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Tommy asked again.

“Would you blame me?”

“I’m not lying.”

“I—I don’t think you’re lying. I trust you, Tommy, but you must be remembering something
wrong. Somnium is tricky, he plays with sleep and nightmares. Maybe he influenced your
memories through dreams—made you think it was real.”

Tommy whined. “Then I’ve been dwelling on this for the past two years—nearly three at this
point… then all of those nightmares and self-loathing nights were for nothing. I hated myself
for participating in that! I hated myself for going along with it—I had phantom pains from
that! I—that was—I wanted to…”

I wanted to kill myself, Tommy thought.

Phil pressed his cheek against the top of Tommy’s head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what
happened to you, I don’t know what’s going on. We’ll figure it out. I’ll make sure we figure
this out.”

“I spent so long working on getting through that shit—I became Rubrum because of that
night. That was… that was my whole history. Someone fucking tampered with that footage.
Or set up a decoy body. You’re wrong. Something’s wrong.”

Phil sighed. “I’m so proud of you, kid. I hope you know that. For everything you’ve been
through. Somehow you’re still good.”

Am I? Tommy wondered.

“I’ll call Wilbur in a minute, Just take some time to cool down.”

Tommy blew out a breath he’d been holding. “This is insane.”

Phil swiped a hand over Tommy’s hair and put his cheek back on Tommy’s head. “Cool down
for a minute.”

**********

When Wilbur finally got Techno home, they both failed to hold in their adoring croons at
seeing Tommy asleep in Phil’s arms. When they’d come in, Phil’s eyes snapped open, but he
was obviously sluggish, probably only half-awake.

Phil held his head up straighter and met Wilbur’s eyes first.

“Shit. I was supposed to call you.”

Wilbur quirked an eyebrow and turned back around quickly to close the door after Techno
was inside.

“About what? Everything okay?”

 Phil sighed. “I’ve learned some pretty alarming—confusing—information about Tommy. And
the Somnium incident. But now that he’s asleep maybe it can wait for tomorrow.” Phil met
Techno’s eyes next. “Feeling okay?”

Techno rolled his eyes and stalked toward the kitchen. “I’m alright.”

“It’s normal if you’re not.”

“Was stressed. Had to blow off some steam. I’m good now.”

Phil looked down at the exhausted kid buried in his wings. He opened the cocoon just a bit
and saw the fluffy smokey wings.

“You boys feel like helping me with his wings?”

“Oh, Phil,” Techno snorted. “I stopped more crime than Wilbur tonight so he’s not allowed to
help.”

“Says who?” Phil laughed.

Wilbur groaned. “Technically, says me.”

“You already got to do it once. It’s only fair,” Techno said.

“There are two wings,” Phil reminded.

“Yeah but it’s alright, Techno needs to get some big brother instincts out.”

Techno slapped Wilbur with a wing. He had a smile on his face for a second before it fell;
Phil and Wilbur both followed his eyes to the TV screen.

“What are you watching?” Techno asked, seeming to already know the answer.

“I meant to have it turned off before you got back,” Phil said. “I’ll explain everything in the
morning. For now, we take care of Tommy—and you, actually. Wilbur can preen your
wings.”

Techno’s expression was challenging, eyebrow raised, pure ‘oh really?’ energy.

The answer was yes, really. Because Wilbur dragged Techno over to Phil and wasted no time
running his hands through Techno’s silky feathers. Techno hesitantly ran a palm over
Tommy’s, and the boy’s only reaction was a soft content sound.

“Alright, fine. We can handle all of that,” Techno glanced at the screen, “tomorrow.”

Chapter End Notes

I really hope you liked this chapter and may have noticed that there are only six left after
this... yipeee!!!
If you like my writing consider checking out my more than fifty other fics (all
hurt/comfort), but here are some of my best:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy Rehabilitation w/ SBI
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
 Chapter 20
Chapter Summary

Woohoo 5 (maybe 4? idk yet) chapters left!!

Also, you will notice the spelling change from Lanuae to Ianuae. This is because I
recently discovered when I translated the word it was not in fact showing me a
lowercase "L" even though I typed the word in lowercase, and it was actually showing
me an uppercase "I" instead. So this whole time it should have been Ianuae, and now I
will change it <3

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: injury, panic, arguments, discussions about addiction/mental

illnesses/trauma, violence. Let me know if I missed any.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I sort of forgot you existed,” Tommy said, looking up tiredly at the hero Aries. “I should
have known it’d be you.”

Aries, or Schlatt as the others have been calling him, grinned. But his expression simmered
out into concern, calculation, and confusion.

Wilbur had let Schlatt in while Phil was making coffee and Techno was off somewhere
sulking about everything Phil had explained in the morning. Techno took it hard. And that
just meant that he reacted with nothing more than silence and intense frowning.

Now, Aries was here to evaluate Tommy’s “addiction” and supposedly prove to SBI that
Tommy was telling the truth about the Somnium incident.

“You know what my powers are?” Schlatt asked.

Tommy nodded. “You can sense truth and emotions. You can’t physically lie.”

“Correct. I can feel mental illness and addiction too,” the hero explained. “But did you know
I can draw them out?”

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Like, force truth and emotions out of people?”

“Mhm.”
“Start with the power enhancer thing so I can get this coffee into Techno’s system,” Phil said.
“I have a feeling our second topic isn’t going to be fun for anyone.”

“Didn’t know I was here for more than one thing,” Schlatt mumbled.

He sat on the couch next to Tommy—whose hospital bed was off to the side—and angled
himself toward Tommy.

“This won't take long, give me your head.”

Tommy blinked. “What.”

Schlatt reached forward as Wilbur sat on the couch perpendicular to theirs. Tommy let the
hero’s palm spread over his forehead. There was pressure between his temples, and he was
forced to close his eyes at the squeezing sensation.

But soon it was done, and Schlatt pulled back with a hum. “It’s not bad, actually.”

“Really?” Wilbur asked. “But it’s not good either is it?”

Schlatt shrugged. “As long as you stay away from them and don’t touch them, you can
completely recover naturally. Most of what’s drawing you to them is the feeling of safety you
get from knowing you can keep multiple powers active.”

Tommy nodded. “Pain immunity, stamina, and strength at the same time feels pretty
indestructible.”

“I wouldn’t even call this an addiction. You’re not corrupted, you’re just scared. Those
enhancers made you strong enough to survive some tough situations.”

“The Pit,” Wilbur supplied.

Tommy cringed. “I’m not scared.”

“Kid, you know what my power is.”

“Shut up.”

“Now you feel embarrassed.”

“Nuh-uh.”

Schlatt chuckled. “Well, I looked into some other stuff in your freaky head too.”

“I didn’t give you permission to do that,” Tommy grumbled.

Wilbur leaned forward on his knees eagerly. Then Phil walked in without the cup of coffee
he’d taken to Techno. That probably meant he’d be out here soon enough too.

“What’d you look for?” Tommy asked.

“Mental health crisis’.”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and glanced at Wilbur, then at Phil. He didn’t really want
to know. He figured if he didn’t have any Schlatt would have just said so.

“And?” Tommy prompted, nervously.

“Depression, first and foremost.”

Tommy snorted. He had expected it. But his amusement earned him a concerned look from
Schlatt and a stern one from Wilbur.

“What else?” Wilbur asked.

“PTSD.”

“Ah.” Wilbur nodded, he looked at Tommy. “Sounds about right.”

“And a dissociative disorder. I’d have to look again for specifics…”

Tommy felt awfully scrutinized under the gazes of Wilbur, Schlatt, and now Phil who was
walking over with a tray of coffee mugs. He almost hoped Phil would drop the mugs on him,
just to distract everyone from… him.

Schlatt frowned at him. But he couldn’t read thoughts so he probably didn’t know the exact
nature of that thought.

Burning coffee trumps this bullshitery and embarrassment.

“So what else am I here for?” Schlatt asked.

Tommy glanced at Phil and Wilbur, wondering who was about to explain it. But at that point,
Techno walked in. His hair was thrown up in a messy bun. He had a bit of coffee spilled
down his shirt. Basically, he looked like shit. And he had a new scar on his face.

Techno noticed Tommy staring.

“Don’t talk to me until the coffee from this cup is gone.”

“Noted,” Phil said. Then he looked back at Schlatt. “We’ve run into some confusion
regarding the Somnium incident.”

“That was two years ago. What could have changed?”

Phil’s head rolled toward Tommy dramatically. “Tommy, apparently, was the kid that
Somnium held hostage that night.”

Schlatt laughed. Then he realized nobody else was.

“Oh. Damn, you—you mean it.”

“I’m not dead,” Tommy mumbled.

Schlatt nodded. “Probably explains how you got into the vigilante stuff.”

“You believe me?”

Schlatt shrugged. “I literally can not help but know when people are telling the truth.”

Phil blew out an exasperated breath. “So it really was you then. And you know for sure that
you managed to catch yourself, and there was no decoy?”

“Not that I know of,” Tommy said. “Why would Somnium fake my death? Honestly, he
could have just killed me for real. I wasn’t that important to him.”

Phil glanced at Schlatt who nodded in confirmation.

“Is there a chance he just wouldn’t have told you that he was going to do that?” Phil asked.

“I mean, there is a chance. But I don’t… I guess maybe? I don’t know how he would have
pulled it off though. I didn’t see a body when I went by and those explosions were immediate
after I dropped them.”

“He’s not lying,” Schlatt said.

“And do you think there’s a chance it could have been a dream? A nightmare he gave you?
To mess with you?”

Prime, Tommy thought, it couldn’t be. It was so real. That night still haunts me. It has to be
real.

“I don’t know. I was so sure.” Tommy cracked his knuckles. “How do you know the footage
wasn’t tampered with?”

Phil gestured to Schlatt, who explained, “I was there for the whole process. I made sure
nobody lied about what they did to the videos. I made sure no one lied about who they let
near it.”

But nobody catches everything.

“...So…what the hell then?” Tommy asked. He didn’t mean to be so quiet.

“Listen, guys, I really don’t have time to sit around and be your lie detector,” Schlatt said.
“Wilbur can basically do that.”

“Maybe this is worth a trip to Pandora,” Phil said, ignoring Schlatt’s exit.

Tommy raised both eyebrows, hiding absolutely none of his surprise, jaw dropped for a
moment. “You want to interrogate Somnium?”
Phil shrugged. “It’s important to learn what we’ve missed. And it’ll bring you some peace…
I hope.”

“But this isn’t really the best time to plan that, considering the next Somnium incident that’s
nearing,” Wilbur said. “Any word on that, by the way?”

“Higher-ups say we are not giving up the enhancers. I mean, we don’t really know what
Cicatrx’s motives are but he could do a lot more damage than Somnium ever could have,”
Phil said.

Schlatt was fully out the door at this point.

“He had the enhancers for a long time,” Tommy said. “If he was going to do something big
wouldn’t he have already?”

“Obviously he’s waiting for something,” Techno said, discarding his mug. “Maybe it had to
do with raiding The Pit.”

“He blew that whole place up and I’m pretty sure I killed the only useful guy in there,”
Tommy said.

Well, he sort of killed everyone in there, didn’t he?

“Your escape was pretty impressive you know,” Techno said. “You were resourceful.”

Tommy thought back to the spear he melted out of the bars. He remembered stabbing it
through Effingo’s throat. He remembered twisting the spear and pulling it out. He
remembered the gurgling sounds and how little regret he felt.

He remembered hearing someone say he would have made a good villain.

“The plan we’re working with right now,” Phil said, changing the subject knowingly, “is to
draw Cicatrix out with decoys—we have to hope he’d only trust himself to retrieve them, or
Apis and Ianuae. We’ll have to fight or trap him.”

“It will never be that easy,” Wilbur said.

“We don’t have anything else to work with. We have to keep looking for more information.”

Tommy crossed his arms with a frustrated sigh. “I don’t want to just sit around. There has to
be something we can do.”

Phil smiled sadly at him. “There isn’t right now, but if there was, you wouldn’t be
participating.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Tommy your arms are still half withered. Your wounds haven’t fully healed. Your wings are
stiff and sore,” Wilbur listed. “Not to mention we just discovered how dog shit your mental
health is.”
Tommy scoffed. “This is not the worst state I’ve been in. This is like a little head cold to me.
I could still take you on if I had to.”

“You think so?” Wilbur laughed.

Tommy groaned. “It’s going to be so boring. Let me go do some digging or something! Let
me go find Apis and Ianuae, I’m sure I could figure it out.”

“No,” Phil said. “But we should probably find you something to do other than sit here and
sleep.”

“Do not tell me to read books.”

“You can not be on the internet right now. I will, however, go get you an extra phone—that
only has the ability to call us three and Sam,”

“You can’t just keep me from the internet forever! At least give me YouTube!”

Phil hummed. “You can watch YouTube on the living room TV, but only if someone’s here
with you.”

“That is such bullshit Phil I am—I might be seventeen now actually.”

Phil blinked. “When’s your birthday?”

“Well that’s the thing, Phil, I don’t really remember.”

“Maybe some more DNA tests are in order too,” Techno said. “We can find you in the
system.”

“Yay,” Tommy grumbled.

“Alright, well. I’m supposed to head out on patrol,” Phil said. “And unless I’m mistaken, so
are you, Wil.”

Wilbur sighed. He stood without a word to start getting ready.

“We’ll figure this all out Tommy, your only task is to relax and heal up.”

“Yipee.”

**********

Honestly, they should have expected this. They really should have known better, especially
Wilbur who had probably seen the most of Tommy’s abysmal health. He was a bit self-
destructive, but mostly, he was curious.
So he wasn’t feeling too guilty when he clicked on the YouTube newscast about the Pit raid.
Especially not since it was Techno that left him unsupervised.

“It was a devastating loss of life.”

“As far as we know, no survivors.”

“A total death count of more than fifty people, at least fifteen of which were children and
young teens.”

“Not much has been said by the heroes.”

“Rumours have started that the vigilante Rubrum was involved, and other rumours insist that
this was the doing of Cicatrix.”

Tommy shut it off after that. Because he was mature and knew better… and definitely not
because he was crying and struggling to get a grip on himself.

Tommy wasn’t really thinking when he turned off the TV and stood up. He wasn’t really
thinking when he activated his pain suppression and started toward the door to the hallway.
They hadn’t locked him in because they trusted him. They didn’t think he’d be stupid enough
to leave so injured. Everybody figured he was smart enough to realize how little he could
actually do right now.

They were wrong.

He hobbled down the hallway and took the elevator to the second floor. He wasn’t about to
walk out the front door. The front desk knew to alert SBI if they saw him alone. He was still
stuck on white code. Tommy just had to hope that nobody else would see him before he could
toss himself off a balcony somewhere.

He would fly, obviously.

There was a small plan, and that was to head to the café. He could either run into one of them
there, or he could get Niki to call them and ask for the phone. There was a chance that
Ranboo would give him something. Ranboo felt bad about everything. Or, at least it seemed
like it.

Tommy found an empty lounge room with a balcony and showed himself out. The air was
somewhat warm, it was sunny for now but it was getting late.

Tommy looked at himself and realized he definitely looked like an escaped hospital patient.
He was going to be found so easily, but hey, he had a bit of time.

He jumped off the balcony and glided to the ground. Immediately as his feet touched
concrete he retracted his wings and jogged toward an alley. He hated the way he could
already feel his body losing energy.

And he hated how undisguised he was. Nobody knew Rubrum’s face yet—unless the
paramedics that helped Tommy after the Pit explosion said anything. There was hopefully
some legal obligation to shut the fuck up about it though.

With his stamina activated—weak either way from exhaustion—Tommy walked through
alley after alley, and across a few streets on his way to the café. And since he looked like a
hospital patient, Tommy wasn’t surprised when somebody stopped him and asked if he was
okay, and where he was coming from.

He ended up saying he was fine with the most charming, sane, healthy smile he could muster,
and very quickly scrambled out of there.

He was only a block or two away when Techno called him. And because Tommy didn’t want
to terrify the poor man, he answered.

“Oh good, the new phone works,” Tommy said, greeting Techno.

“Where the hell are you?”

“Don’t waste your time Techno, I’m running an errand and I’ll be back… eventually.”

“I’m activating that tracker unless you give me your location right fucking now.”

“Techno please, don’t be so dramatic.”

“It’s being activated. See you in ten.”

There was a quick vibration in Tommy’s neck

“Fuck you!”

Techno hung up. Tommy started running. Not that he could go very fast but he was trying his
best. And again, he would probably have a bit of time before Techno got there. There was no
way he was going to get to Tommy in ten minutes.

No way.

Still, Tommy burst through the café doors, startling the customers, and he zeroed in on Niki
at the front counter, who didn’t seem surprised at all to see him.

“Tommy?” she asked, walking around the counter.

He rushed up to her and started sputtering nonsense. “I don’t have much time—I need your
phone—or no I need you to phone Ranboo—or Tubbo—actually—”

“Okay, hold it. Come to the back with me,” she took his wrist gently, he cringed at the gross
feeling of his half-withered skin moving under the bandages. Then she apologized to her
customers.

In the back, the familiar back of the café that Tommy wished he could still work at, Niki
turned to him with crossed arms.
“What are you doing here?”

“Can you call Ranboo for me? I don’t have his number anymore.”

Niki tapped her fingers on her crossed arms. “Why?”

“He’s—” oh god he has Clementine. Tommy choked, “he’s cat-sitting for me and I need her
back now.”

“I can call him for you… but he doesn’t work here anymore. You all sort of abandoned Jack
and I.”

Tommy cringed, but he was a bit busy trying not to have a panic attack, so he struggled to
sound sincere.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, pulling out her phone, “I know what’s been happening.”

“...You do?”

Niki handed Tommy a ringing phone and said, “You probably have three minutes before
Wilbur gets here.”

Tommy froze. “Wait—Wilbur? How do you know Wilbur?”

“Tommy. I’m Niki. Fluctus. Same person.”

Tommy blinked a few times. “That’s you?”

“Yes, idiot. That’s me.”

“I thought the name was just a coincidence!”

“Ranboo answered you.”

“Shit,” Tommy scrambled to get the phone up to his ear and Niki left to tend to the front
counter again. “Hey, uh, hey Ranboo.”

There was a long silence, Tommy almost considered hanging up.

“Hey Tommy.”

More silence.

“You have my cat.”

“Ah. Yeah, I do. She’s well.”

“I want her back, Ranboo.”

More silence.

“I can’t risk bringing her to you.”

“Ranboo.”

“No. Sorry Tommy. She’s safe with me, I'll never hurt her, I’ll never use her against you. But
I can’t get her to you without compromising myself or one of my allies.”

“You bastard,” Tommy hissed. “What is wrong with you? Have you seen the news? All the
kids that died—all the people? You unapologetic fucking—I’ll kill you! If I ever fucking see
you again—”

“Bye, Tommy.”

“Bastard! Bastard bastard bastard…”

Ranboo had hung up.

Which sort of meant Tommy needed a new plan.

Tommy lifted the phone to spike it into the ground before remembering that it was Niki’s.
And then, upon remembering that it was Niki’s, he almost wanted to throw it into the ground
out of spite. He’d been working for Fluctus this whole time?

And how the hell was he supposed to know that the Niki the heroes kept mentioning was
Niki from the bakery?

He started sorting through Niki’s other contacts and saw Wilbur, Phil, and Techno in there.
But, he also saw Tubbo.

He read the number a few times, and did the same with Ranboo’s, hoping he could remember
them.

Then he heard the door to the back opening again, which probably meant that he was out of
time. So he threw the phone behind him, heard someone who was definitely not Niki gasp in
surprise, and he ran for the back door.

Shooting outside, he activated his speed, and he tossed himself into the street to cross it. A
few cars honked at him, and he heard Wilbur yelling after him.

Tommy figured if he was going to get away he’d have to hide because there was no way he
could outrun Wilbur. Then, at the pinching feeling in the side of his neck, Tommy
remembered that he had a tracker implanted under his skin.

Oh man, they’d be so pissed if he broke it or cut it out.

But he couldn’t just sit on his ass in the tower while the heroes were figuring out how to fix
his mistakes. He just couldn’t go back to that tower yet—
Wilbur slammed Tommy into the ground and put all of his weight into keeping Tommy
pinned.

“Where did you even come from?” Tommy wheezed.

“I have never in my life seen you move so sloppily,” Wilbur said, patronizingly patting
Tommy’s cheek.

Tommy activated his strength and spun Wilbur off balance—but only barely. Wilbur
reoriented himself with a stronger grip and pressed Tommy into the concrete. They stared at
each other, Tommy now on his back.

“Just stop, you can’t get away from me.”

Tommy started heating up his hands. He wasn’t going to burn Wilbur that much. Probably.
But once Wilbur realized what was happening his expression became a lot less relaxed. Less
playful.

“Tommy. I don’t want to use my voice on you.”

“I’m not going back,” Tommy said. Stupidly.

Wilbur activated his communications by pressing the button on the side of his head with his
ear. As he spoke, Tommy upped the heat.

“He’s not cooperating so you know the drill.” Wilbur hissed in pain at the burning sensation
in his forearms. “Would you stop that?”

“Would you stop wasting time on me?” Tommy snapped. “Get off!”

Wilbur ignored him and instead spoke on his comms, most definitely to Phil and Techno.

“No, I don’t want to do that,” he said. “You know why.”

Tommy really wished he had the discs right now. But all he had was his wings. And since
they were mostly hidden, Tommy let them free. They scrapped over the concrete as they
slipped out from behind his back. He started flailing them and smacking Wilbur with them.

“Stop—Tommy stop—we made a deal that night—ow—after The Pit!”

“I told you everything. That was my end of the deal.”

Tommy made his hands burn a bit more and Wilbur cringed. Hard.

“You said you’d let me help you. We need to go back to the tower. We’re supposed to do this
together, remember?”

“‘Together’ has to include me too you know,” Tommy hissed, ignoring the smoke rolling off
his hands. “You aren’t letting me do anything!”
Wilbur started making poorly concealed pained sounds between his words. “That’s because
you’re hurt, and if you get more hurt, you won’t be able to do anything whether I let you or
not.”

Tommy’s arms gave out before Wilbur’s did. He let go with an exhausted breath and weakly
squirmed under Wilbur’s gentler hold. Looking at the place he’d been grabbing, Tommy saw
angry red and black marks charred through Wilbur’s suit and into his skin.

“I know you want to help fix this, but you can’t yet. Not only because you’re too physically
weak,” Wilbur paused to let that sink in, “but because there isn’t anything to be done yet. You
won’t find anything useful outside the tower. Unless you know something else and aren’t
telling me.”

Two sets of feet landed on the ground down the alley. Tommy heard their quick footfall
coming closer. He knew it was Techno and Phil. So instead of continuing to argue and
struggle, he vowed internally that he would conserve his energy to try again later.

Phil tugged Wilbur off the ground and Techno tugged Tommy up to his feet. He didn’t sway
but prime, he was tired. He managed to retract his wings, at which Phil frowned for some
reason.

Phil’s attention turned to Wilbur’s forearms though.

“Why did you let him do that?” Phil asked, gingerly prying open the charred fabric to see
underneath. “That has to hurt.”

Wilbur was only looking at Tommy. “We’ll have to see if I ripped any of your stitches. That
wound on the back of your wing shoulder probably got fucked up.”

Tommy crossed his arms.

“I’ll take them back,” Techno said. “You should finish up the patrol, Phil.”

“My arms are fine,” Wilbur said. “If you can handle him alone I can keep going.”

Tommy’s crossed arms tightened in indignation. He kept his eyes locked on the ground at
Phil’s feet.

“If that’s what you want,” Techno said.

Tommy knew that Wilbur was trying to meet his eyes but he only turned his head the other
direction.

“Just be gentle with him,” Wilbur said.

“Of course.”

“Fuck yourselves,” Tommy grumbled, walking forward with Techno.

Tommy heard Wilbur and Phil take off behind them. He wondered if it would be any easier to
escape Techno than it would have been to escape Wilbur. He was pretty sure that Techno was
slower than Wilbur was, but he was also much stronger.

And just generally scarier.

But Wilbur had his voice… which he didn’t seem to want to use.

“I’ll have a car come for us, just sit down here with me,” Techno said, leading Tommy to the
wall further up the alley.

Tommy sat. Purposefully falling harshly into the wall and ground. Techno’s hands jutted out
to catch him too late, and he sat too with a disappointed look on his face.

“Really? You’re gonna pull the toddler sit down?”

“If you guys are only gonna see me as a kid maybe I should start acting like one.”

Techno sighed. “Tommy that’s not what this is—although acting like a child for a while
might be healthy for you.”

Tommy sputtered. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Easy,” Techno placated. “I’m just saying it might do you some good to rely on other people
—be greedy and needy and have other people worry about your problems.”

“Like that’s not already happening.”

“You are far from greedy or needy.” Techno pulled his phone out and started texting someone
about sending a car over. “You should start asking for things you want and start leaving some
things for other people to handle. The good of this city is not your responsibility.”

“No. It’s yours. But since you heroes are shit at it, I have to pick up the slack.”

“There are a lot of things wrong with this place, but the hero system is as good as it’s going
to get until Phil is in charge. You can’t really tell me that the world would be better off
without us.”

Tommy turned his head the other way so Techno wouldn’t see him roll his eyes.

“You’re not thinking straight right now. You just heard some news that you weren’t ready for
and acted on impulse and emotion.”

“Can you stop talking?”

“Can you stop needing to be the hero all the time?”

Tommy laughed, shocked by Techno’s words. He spun back toward the hero and weakly
pushed himself up the wall. Techno stood with him, confused, but not willing to reach out
and grab him again.
“You think that’s what this is?”

“Tommy I didn’t mean that you—”

“You think I just ‘want to be the hero’? That I stop criminals for fame? That I tried to take on
The Pit without heroes to prove myself? I ran into those burning buildings with one thing on
my mind: wow a bunch of citizens that don’t know anything about me are going to find me
so cool for this! What’s next? I—I volunteered to be Somnium’s hostage that night because I
always planned on selling him out after? Or do you think I planned on fighting him off on
that rooftop while the heroes watched? Maybe I should just stop wearing a mask and let
everyone see my face and know who I am because that’s all I want—I want to be recognized
on the street for being stabbed and pummeled and fucking up the heroes' plans and working
with villains and stealing. Have you forgotten that I’ve been known to commit crimes?
Because I have and I did it a lot and there are people out there that hate me and hate Rubrum
but yes Techno I did it all for fucking fame and I’m still trying so hard to just make the world
love me it has nothing to do with the trauma nightmares I have for days at a time or the
flashbacks I get when I close my eyes and it has nothing to do with the fact that I just don’t
want anyone else to end up like I did!”

Tommy blinked and Techno was catching him before he fell again.

His face was pressed into Techno’s chest, the hero’s arms around him, holding him up, but
not moving him. It was a hug.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry,” Techno whispered. “I know you’re not trying to get
famous. I know you’re just trying to be good. And you are. You are.”

Tommy pushed against Techno’s arms and wasn’t let go. “I need to do something about The
Pit.”

“You will. But not right now. It just can’t be right now.”

Tommy wrenched himself away from Techno and leaned back against the wall. “Is the car
here yet or what?”

“... It’ll be here soon.”

**********

Tommy had immediately gone into his room—the hospital room on SBI’s floor. He tucked
himself into the bed and poorly barricaded the door with the wheelchair. Techno looked in at
him from the window when they got back, but Tommy pointedly turned his head away and
Techno left.

He slept for a while and now he was ready to do… something. He was still tired. And weak.
And angry. And occupied thinking about everything Wilbur and Techno said to him.
Was he really just causing more problems by trying to help? They were wasting time and
effort taking care of him. He wished they wouldn’t do that, but he knew they always would.
And if he couldn’t get away from them he should at least be out of their way.

But Tommy convinced himself to stop trying to logic his way through everything within the
next hour. He stepped out through his heavy door into the hallway. He moved across the hall
to the door into the main SBI area.

Muffled speaking leaked through the cracks in the door so Tommy stopped to listen. When he
couldn’t hear well enough he quietly popped the door open and wedged his foot between it.
He peeked in and saw Phil, Techno, and Wilbur sitting at their living room table.

Phil and Wilbur were facing each other, Wilbur’s back was to Tommy. So was Techno’s. And
Phil was too focused on tending to Wilbur’s burnt forearms to notice Tommy listening in.

“So you know our supervisors said we aren’t giving up the discs under any circumstance,”
Phil was saying. “And they’re asking us to press Tommy for more information. But I’m not
sure he has any left to give.”

That was pretty much true.

“And did they say anything about my suggestion?” Techno asked.

“They more than liked it. But we don’t have anywhere to start. I can put together an
assassination team, but until we can find Cicatrix, that’s no good.”

“Nothing from the car companies? From the spies in that area?”

“Not a single thing.”

“If we can’t get Cicatrix the next best thing is to catch on of his accomplices,” Wilbur said.
“But we don’t have a lot on Apis and Ianuae.”

Tommy crossed his arms, fingers squeezing tightly.

“And Tommy won’t give them up for some reason,” Phil said. “So we’re stuck.”

Techno shook his head. “Don’t blame him. They’re young like him, from unfortunate
backgrounds. His whole motive is that he doesn’t want anyone else to uh, ‘end up like him’.”

“He said that?” Wilbur asked.

“Course’ he did. Poor guy’s had it rough since he was a kid. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again, it’s a miracle he isn’t a villain. Do you know how strong you have to be to endure
something like that and still be good?”

If Techno still thought he was good, maybe he really was. Maybe.

“This is a sacrifice he might have to make,” Phil said. “I’m not saying those kids deserve
Pandora, but they’re terrorists. They’re big-time villains because of this. They need help, not
freedom.”

And Tommy was finding himself increasingly angrier with them anyway. Maybe he should
sell them out. They really did some awful shit—they killed people. A lot of people.

Wasn’t that Ranboo’s first time killing someone?

Tommy thought back on the time that the heroes had him, and he woke up with Apis and
Ianuae instead.

Tommy stood and immediately wobbled, Ianuae steadied him by the shoulders. Tommy
pushed him off.

“You’re actually letting me go?”

“Yes. Think about The Pit, gather some of your own info. Nobody can call themself a
criminal until they know about The Pit. Ask around, interrogate. Contact us,” Ianuae said.

“What bad have Ianuae and I ever done anyway? Nothing more than you.”

“I don’t kill.”

“I’ve never killed,” Ianuae said.

Tommy smiled sadly. Then he remembered that after that…

“You would though,” Tommy said.

The villain did not argue.

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek.

Then he bit it harder remembering that back then, he had never killed. Never once. But since
them—since he’d gotten more and more tired—desperate—

Tommy pressed a hand over his mouth.

When did he get so comfortable with hurting people?

Even Wilbur.

“Let me talk to him about it,” Techno said. “I just… I just feel like I could get through to
him.”

“And I couldn’t?” Wilbur asked.

“No—no. It just seemed like he felt a bit threatened by you earlier.”

Wilbur frowned. “I tried to be gentle.”

Phil finished wrapping one of Wilbur’s arms and rubbed his hand up and down the outside of
it.

Tommy suddenly felt guilty. About a lot of things. More things than usual.

He really was quite the burden to these guys. And he hadn’t even realized it before. He was
just letting them expend all of their energy on him and they still had to go out and patrol. He
hurt Wilbur. He snapped at Techno. And Prime knows Phil was doing everything he could to
keep Tommy away from villain status.

“We can’t give him all the space he wants this time, he’s going to start closing up again. So
when it’s time to work on his exercises, I’ll talk to him about it,” Techno said.

“He won’t do it tonight,” Wilbur said. “He needs time to cool down.”

They were talking about him like he was being difficult. Which is how Tommy realized he
was being difficult. And not the good kind of difficult. This was the stupid, impulsive,
egotistical kind of difficult.

There was a bout of silence before Phil spoke again. “Can we think of anyone else we’ve
seen Apis and Ianuae interact with? or anyone we know Cicatrix has worked with?”

Tommy just couldn’t handle this anymore. He shouldn’t be covering for Tubbo and Ranboo.
They needed to make up for their mistakes too. Tommy would fight to keep them out of
Pandora, but they deserved less than what he’d allowed them to get away with.

Tommy swung the door open and walked in. Wilbur looked up at that and his expression
grew nervous.

The guilt doubled, making Tommy’s stomach heavy.

“I’ll tell you who they are,” he said.

Phil and Techno turned to him.

“You will?” Phil asked.

Tommy scratched his arm and nodded. He didn’t move forward, not knowing if this was
about to be a quick drop of information or some in-depth conversation that circled back to his
trauma.

“Come sit down,” Wilbur prompted. “I uh, assume you were listening for a while.”

Tommy sat on the other end of the couch that Techno was sitting on. He looked over at Phil
beginning to tend to Wilbur’s other arm.

“Sorry for hurting you.”

Wilbur smiled at him like he’d said the sweetest compliment anyone had ever heard. “It’s
alright.”
“It’s not. I know it’s not. I was frustrated and I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Wilbur held back another frown. “Okay. That’s fair. But I forgive you.”

Tommy shrugged and looked cautiously at Techno, and Phil who has just finished cleaning
up Wilbur’s arms.

“So,” Techno started. “If you’re really willing to tell us, what do you know about Apis and
Ianuae?”

He should just say it before he can chicken out, right?

Impulsivity. It was his specialty apparently.

“It’s Tubbo and Ranboo.”

“Niki was right!” Wilbur exclaimed. “Holy shit—”

“Wil, please,” Phil lectured. Then he turned momentarily to Tommy. “We’ve wondered about
them before.”

“...Oh.”

How long did Niki know?

“How long did you know their identities?” Techno asked.

Tommy brought his knees up to his chest. “A long time. Since uh… since the night before
Ignis escaped.”

“Now that is something we haven’t discussed yet,” Phil said. “You fought him with Niki that
night.”

Tommy’s stomach dropped. He gasped. “Cicatrix has him—Cicatrix has Ignis Tubbo got him
and took him to Cicatrix—”

Techno scooted down the couch to get to Tommy but before he could reach out Tommy
reeled himself in. He stuck a hand out to stop Techno.

“I’m okay. I’m good I just forgot.” Tommy ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, man.”

“Well… we did wonder where he was hiding so I guess it’s good to know,” Techno said.

“You think they’d ever work together? Things were tense between Cicatrix and those guys,”
Wilbur said, wincing at Phil’s wrapping.

“Probably not.”

“No no,” Tommy started, then he forced himself to be calm for everyone else’s sake. “Listen,
Cicatrix has Ignis, one of Somnium’s allies and best friends. And Cicatrix is going after the
power enhancer that Somnium wanted. That—that’s weird, right? And Cicatrix is the only
villain who’s ever successfully broken in and out of Pandora—”

“Tommy,” Techno inched closer, “Somnium is not getting out of Pandora. Neither is
Absconditus. We won’t let that happen, I don’t know why Cicatrix would ever help break out
his competition.”

“How are they competition? Won’t teaming up just make them unstoppable?”

“Maybe it would. But they won’t, their egos are too big. They want to beat each other.
They’re showmen.”

Tommy didn’t believe that for a second.

“Let’s circle back to that later,” Phil said. “Tell us about Tubbo and Ranboo.”

Tommy blew out a big breath. “I mean… they were both raised in The Pit. Cicatrix got them
out—they call him ‘Q’ if that means anything—and they were sort of indebted to him. He
treated them well and seemed to really care. Oh—he’s an avian with gold wings if that wasn’t
already known.”

Tommy waited for a reaction. When he saw Techno taking notes and Phil nodding along he
continued.

“He’s fast on his wings, like really fast. He has healers in his base, like, good healers and
doctors. Um… Tubbo and Ranboo lived together and had a roommate named Bill. You know
they both worked at the café, but they quit after the uh, well everything. Oh—Tubbo is super
smart with technology. He made Cicatrix colour-changing cars.”

“Good to know,” Techno said as he scribbled things down on an iPad. “Definitely how
they’re evading us so easily.”

“Cicatrix trusted Ranboo enough to use the power enhancer during the Pit raid. They’re both
my age. Um… Tubbo’s last name is Underscore, Ranboo’s is Beloved. I’m sure Niki has a
bunch of info like that on them.”

Techno nodded as Tommy spoke.

“What about any special places or other allies?” Wilbur asked.

“They kept me in an abandoned pet store once. I don’t know the address but it was on a road
called Mirkstone or something.”

“Okay, that’s something maybe.”

“Yeah, that was the night they blew you guys up and stole me from your van.”

“We haven’t even talked about that yet either,” Wilbur mumbled.
“Oh—that guy Karl. Gas station guy that held me hostage. Haven’t seen him since then but
he was a friend of theirs apparently.”

Techno continued furiously writing all of this down.

“Both Tubbo and Ranboo have rooms in Cicatrix’s base so I imagine they’re staying there…
but Niki was able to contact Ranboo from his phone number so maybe you can track his
phone!”

“Yes—brilliant idea,” Phil said, “we’ll have to be quick now because I’m sure Ranboo could
have realized he can be found that way by now.”

He stood up, now finished with Wilbur’s arms, and he walked off to the side to start making
calls.

Wilbur began packing up the first aid kit.

“Why didn’t you go to the hospital floor?” Tommy asked.

Wilbur glanced at Techno quickly before answering. “The healers are all busy dealing with
injuries worse than mine. Right now heroes are on a strict emergency-only hospital
allowance.”

“... So the team’s pretty dwindled then.”

“I won’t lie to you and say we’re strong right now.”

“I mean, I guess I appreciate the honesty?”

Techno stopped writing and looked up. “What about strengths and weaknesses?”

“For Tubbo and Ranboo? I mean, Ranboo’s an enderman hybrid so he doesn’t like water.
And he—” Tommy frowned, “he has my cat and is very attached to her.”

“Oh, Tommy I’m sorry. You must be worried about her,” Wilbur said. “We’ll get her back.”

After a few seconds of silence, Techno gracefully changed the subject.

“So he’s an enderman hybrid… is their teleportation their power, or a hybridity thing?”

“It has to be his power because the discs enhanced it.”

“Odd coincidence,” Techno said with a shrug. “But I guess he does do it a bit differently than
an enderman. You know without the particles, longer range—can take others with them.”

Tommy nodded. “As for Tubbo, I don’t really know. He’s not a hybrid or anything, just
themed himself around bees. I mean you know he needs skin contact and he can control how
bad his poison is and the areas it affects—and for how long it lasts.”
“Actually we didn’t know he had that much control over it, so it’s good to know now,”
Techno said, obviously thinking back to that night Apis had him incapacitated.

“I don’t know what else to tell you about them. Tubbo took out books at the library pretty
often.”

“That’s alright. We’ll have an easier time finding them than Cicatrix. Especially if we can
track one of their phones before they get rid of them,” Wilbur said. “Everything you told us
will help at least a little bit.”

“That’s good,” Tommy whispered.

Phil ended his calls with whoever. “Fundy is working on the numbers with Niki. We’ll know
tomorrow for sure if we can get anything. Maybe much later tonight.”

Why was Tommy so nervous about the outcome?

If they found them, great! If they didn’t… Tubbo and Ranboo had a chance to do the right
thing.

That was very wishful thinking.

“They were pretty good friends until The Pit, weren’t they?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy sighed. “Yeah, I mean I was mad when I found out they were villains. But obviously
not mad enough.”

“How did you find out?”

Tommy snorted. “Wrestled the masks off their faces on a roof one night.”

“Okay, someone add that to the list of traumas to talk about,” Techno said.

“It was a shock but it wasn’t traumatic,” Tommy insisted.

“Yeah we’ll see what your therapist has to say about it when we get you one.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Is there anything else you guys want to know?”

“Not tonight,” Phil said. “Their identities being confirmed allows us to proceed with a few
investigations, so what you said was plenty for now. We should all rest up.”

“‘We’ includes you,” Wilbur told him.

“Yes,” Phil agreed. “It definitely does.”

Tommy got up without having to be told twice. And as he entered the hallway to his get to his
hospital room, Techno stopped him.

“Hey, Tommy?”
 “What? I promise I am actually going to sleep.”

Techno huffed. “I know. I know. But, just—come to me if you need anything. You know…
nightmares?”

“...Oh. I don’t know, I feel like that’s something I should learn to handle myself.”

“Why?”

Well he hadn’t been expecting that question.

“Don’t interrogate me right now I’m too tired.”

“I mean it. Come to me. Or go to Wil. Or Phil.”

Tommy patted Techno’s shoulder. “Sure thing pal.”

Techno sighed as Tommy turned away and went to his room.

He was getting sick of this room.

**********

Tommy woke up with a start to the sound of his room door opening. He knew Techno
wouldn’t be able to stay away. He just had to come check on Tommy.

Tommy tossed the blankets off of himself and ruffled his messy wings. He turned onto his
back carefully and a hand slapped over his mouth.

Vwoop.

Tommy landed on hard concrete with Ianuae towering over him and a starry night sky in the
background.

Chapter End Notes

As always I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and like where the story has brought
us so far. If you like my writing, consider checking out some of my other popular works:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
 Chapter 21
Chapter Summary

The aftermath of Tommy's kidnapping. Again.

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: kidnapping, violence, discussions of previous fighting/murder/trauma. Let

me know if I missed any.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy knocked Ianuae sideways with a slap and an outraged grunt. He rolled to his knees,
veins pumping adrenaline. Ianuae was standing a few feet away watching him, and Tommy
got to his feet. With curled fists, he started toward Ianuae.

“My arms might be withered but they can still shoot fire Ianuae,” Tommy warned, smoke
curling from his fingers.

“Don’t fight me just—”

Tommy blasted rays of arching fire at Ianuae and unleashed his wings. He let them combust
and hoped someone was seeing this scene unfold.

Between shooting the fire and hearing Ianuae gasp in pain, Tommy glanced around them.
They were on a roof somewhere.

“Stop! You’ll hurt—”

Tommy punched through the smoke and fire and connected with Ianuae’s face again. The
villain fell and Tommy felt around his pockets for a phone he already knew was on his
bedside table.

Mrrph.

Tommy snapped his head up and looked behind himself.

“You’re scaring her,” Apis said, holding a cat carrier.

Tommy’s wings dropped and the fire extinguished, washing them in darkness, and he started
toward Apis who backed up a few steps.
“Hold on, you can have her but you have to listen,” Apis whispered. Why was he
whispering? “I’m not gonna hurt her but you have to listen.”

“I’m so over listening to you two,” Tommy said, glancing back at Ianuae who was slowly
circling around him.

“We’re done with Cicatrix,” Ianuae said. His voice was shaky. “We didn’t think—we don’t
like what he’s doing.”

“You only have a problem with him now?” Tommy knew he was yelling and he hoped—
prayed—that someone somewhere was calling heroes.

“Please—” Ianuae urged, looking around nervously. “Just quiet down.”

“You draw the line at threatening another Somnium incident but not murdering kids?”

“Shut up,” Apis hissed. “We’re trying to tell you what his plan is but he has people looking
for us so if you want to hear it, shut the fuck up!”

Tommy needed to stall and hope that someone would notice he was gone. After his recent
escape, they should have some kind of alarm or something right?

“Well? Talk then.”

“He’s going to do exactly what Somnium did—the parliament building. He’s gonna blow it
up the day before the end of the ultimatum,” Ianuae said. “He’s going to charm the people out
of trying to escape. It’ll be afternoon rush hour for as much damage as possible.”

Cicatrix was a showman, Techno had said.

“Why would I believe you? Seriously, why?”

Ianuae made a short, scared sound. “We’re risking our asses to tell you this, I don’t know
what to say to you other than that.”

“You could let the heroes take you guys in for questioning so we know you aren’t lying.
They’d keep you safe from him,” Tommy said.

Oh, how the turn tables.

He sounds like the heroes did when they were trying to ‘help’ him.

“You know what they’ll do with us,” Apis said.

Tommy shook his head. “No. Not these guys, not SBI. They don’t want that for you. For
anyone, really.”

Come on Wilbur, Tommy thought. Of all the times to be slow finding me…

“Our situation is way different and you know it. We willingly—we did that.”
“You don’t sound proud.”

“Of course I’m not proud,” Apis choked. Oh, he was fully just—just crying. “I’m not proud.”

“Then make up for it,” Tommy said. He wished he could sound angrier. “Make up for it. own
up to it and confess everything to the heroes. Because honestly? Without you guys we’re
fucked. This city is fucked. And you’ll never be able to make up for it after this.”

“...We can’t—don’t make it sound so easy.”

“Can’t be harder than killing a bunch of—”

“Stop it!” Ranboo snapped. “Stop! We know. We know. Listen, there’s more.”

Tommy clenched his jaw, grateful for the chance to prolong this.

Come on Wil. Get here already.

“He needs the discs to break into Pandora. He’s going to free Somnium and…”

Tommy’s ears stopped working at that point. He didn’t mean to shut down like that but now
he was just staring at Ranboo and not really listening because—because Somnium is going to
get out again.

“Hey!” Ranboo shook him by the shoulders. “Now is not the time for trauma. Please listen.
He’s getting them out and together they’re going after the rest of the known enhancers from
all across the world.”

Tommy grabbed Ianuae’s shoulder and squeezed it hard. “If you’re fucking lying about this
—”

“Listen. When he has those power enhancers he and Somnium can charm and force anyone
and everyone they want to sleep. He wants to make an empire.”

Why do all villains want to run the world?

“And he just,” Tommy shrugged, “freely told you this. He trusts you that much.”

“Tommy he raised us,” Apis said, voice steadier now. “We were loyal to him for years. He
raised us.”

Manipulated them like Kurt did to Tommy.

“I’m supposed to be the one that teleports his team into that prison,” Ianuae said. “That’s
supposed to be me and I’m running away now, because all he has to do is charm me into it
and I have never been able to stop him.”

Ranboo sounded scared. Really, truly, scared of the man that raised him.
“Come back to the tower with me,” Tommy said. “This is your only chance to end up on the
right side of this fight. If you can tell us where his base is, we can stop him. If you can tell us
where he gets his supplies, who his enemies and allies are—come back with me.”

“No,” Apis said, pulling Tommy’s tight hand off of Ianuae. “This is all we’re doing. We’re
warning you. But we’re leaving. We’re leaving this city, and these identities. We’re not doing
any of this villain-vigilante-hero shit anymore.”

“You won’t get away from it until Cicatrix is defeated.”

“I have faith in you.”

Tommy’s wings lit back on fire. “Don’t you put this on me. Don’t you dare put another thing
on me!”

The villains must have forgotten they wanted this interaction to be quiet.

“Well it can’t be us! I guess we’re just not strong enough or good enough or smart enough
because it’s not going to be us. We won’t ever be able to do what you do and we won’t ever
have what you have.”

“Yeah?” Tommy scoffed. “And what’s that? Human decency?”

“Purpose.”

Tommy blinked.

“You have a motivation—you want to do good things. Ranboo and I are just trying to make it
to tomorrow.”

Tommy was struggling to decipher whether Tubbo was fishing for sympathy or trying to
encourage him.

Or just… confessing?

“We can’t do this anymore,” Ranboo said. “I’m sorry but we were never going to be heroes.
And I’m just glad that this city has you.”

Tommy’s bewildered expression soured. “You can’t just put this on me.”

Apis shoved the cat carrier in Tommy’s arms and took a few rapid steps back. Ianuae quickly
followed and Tommy knew that he couldn’t chase them with Clementine in his arms.

He set her down gently as Apis dived over the edge of the building, wings unfurling, and
Ianuae jumped after him.

“Don’t leave this up to me!” Tommy screamed, wings spreading as he ran toward the edge of
the roof.
A shadow landed on the roof, blocking his path. Feathered wings blocked his view of the city
beyond and Tommy met Wilbur’s eyes.

“They’re—”

Phil and Techno dived from the sky and twisted after the running villains.

“Being chased,” Wilbur supplied. “Phil and Techno will get them.”

“You should go too,” Tommy urged, pushing past Wilbur’s wing to look over the edge. “They
need your voice or Ianuae’s just going to teleport.”

Wilbur turned him away from the edge. He cupped Tommy’s face and turned it this way and
that.

“They didn’t hurt me.”

“Can never be too sure,” Wilbur mumbled. He tugged on the bandages on Tommy’s arms.
They were loose. “How do you feel?”

“...What do you mean?”

Wilbur lifted Tommy’s shirt to look for bruising, and at the scars of Tommy’s recently healed
wounds.

“Gonna be sick? Feeling spacey?”

Tommy shook his head. Then he hesitated. “Maybe a little.”

“To which one?”

“Both.”

Wilbur let Tommy’s shirt fall and prompted Tommy to turn around by guiding him with a
wing. Wilbur’s hand brushed over the feathers around his wing wound.

“Seems okay,” he murmured.

Wilbur’s wing guided Tommy back around and then enveloped him. Wilbur’s hand rested on
the back of Tommy’s head, and Tommy wrapped his arms around Wilbur’s back.

“I thought it was Cicatrix,” Wilbur said. “Thought—thought he was going to use you like
Somnium did.”

Tommy laughed, pained by the idea.

“It’s not funny.”

Tommy leaned his weight onto Wilbur as he sighed. “No. It’s not, is it?”

Wilbur swiped his hand over Tommy’s hair a few times.

Mrrph. Mrrr.

Tommy jumped and pulled himself out of Wilbur’s hug. He stumbled over his own feet and
jogged toward Clementine. Wilbur sputtered nervously behind him and gasped at Tommy
tumbling to his knees next to Clementine’s kennel.

“Tommy—careful.”

Tommy opened the kennel and Clementine strutted right out of it and into Tommy’s lap. She
hopped up and balanced on her back paws to nose at Tommy’s face. He picked her up under
the arms and huddled her close to his chest. He curled his warm—but doused—wings around
her. She started purring and rubbing her nose under Tommy’s chin.

“Oh,” Wilbur breathed. “Aw, Tommy, I’m so glad you have her back.”

Tommy didn’t say anything and bit his tongue to keep from crying. He lowered his face into
the cocoon he made of his wings and knees and let Clementine lick his chin.

Soon, Wilbur’s hand rested in the middle of Tommy’s back, and an extra wing fortified the
cocoon.

“We can take a minute,” Wilbur said. “But I want you safe and sound back in the tower as
soon as possible.”

Tommy nodded and lifted his head. He leaned himself sideways so he could rest against
Wilbur. He kept Clementine snuggly in his arms and wings. She purred and chirped happily.

“Wil, they told me some stuff and I don’t know how true it is, but I’m really scared about it.”

“That’s okay. We’re doing better than we were before, you know that right? Once you told us
about them—and if Phil and Techno manage to catch them—”

“They won’t,” Tommy whispered. “They’re scared and desperate. And Ianuae is too hard to
catch. He’s better than I am at… at running away.”

Wilbur hummed. “Even if they aren’t caught, maybe Phil and Techno can talk to them. Just
seeing them—you having spoken to them—is progress. Even if very little.”

Tommy kissed the top of Clementine’s head and then rested his cheek on it. “I don’t know
why they wouldn’t tell me where his base was. They’re leaving him.”

Wilbur was glancing around and checking his watch. “Let’s go. I don’t like being out here
right now.”

Tommy would never admit how scared he was hearing those words from Wilbur. Because if
Cicatrix had people out looking for Apis and Ianuae, they could see Tommy too.

“Come on, we aren’t very far. Can you fly with me?”
Tommy looked up tiredly at Wilbur. This isn’t how he hoped their first flight together would
go.

But he nodded.

“I’ll be right there if you get too tired,” Wilbur said, nudging Tommy to get up. “Why don’t
you let me carry Clementine?”

“No. I want to carry her,” Tommy mumbled, placing her gently before the kennel. “Sorry
Clem, it’s safer for you in there while we fly.”

She didn’t seem to have a problem going back in. Tommy closed the door for her and put his
finger through the front gate to scratch under her chin.

“I’ll be as graceful as I can,” he told her.

Tommy picked up the kennel and flapped his wings a few times.

“We’re heading straight that way,” Wilbur said, pointing. “I’m gonna fly right above you.”

Tommy nodded and stepped atop the short ledge next to Wilbur. He spread his wings and
jumped outward with a quick push. He heard Wilbur follow him, and soon he could see
Wilbur’s wings dip into the edges of his peripheral while they flew.

Tommy held Clementine’s kennel from the handle and supported it with the other hand at the
bottom.

By the time the tower came into view Tommy was starting to get tired. His wing beats
became too slow for Wilbur’s pace. To help him the rest of the way, Wilbur wrapped his arms
around Tommy’s chest—careful not to knock around the cat carrier—and lifted him in the air.

Tommy only had to focus on lifting his wings and Wilbur did the steering and pushing. Their
landing wasn’t the smoothest thing, but they made it without falling over.

Walking through the front door, the receptionist and multiple others inside gasped at seeing
Mandatum and Rubrum return. Custos was there, and he was approaching.

But Wilbur said to him, “We’re both fine.” And that was that.

Wings dragging behind him, Tommy followed Wilbur to the elevator and they rode up to the
SBI floor again. Tommy stayed leaning against Wilbur the whole time. And when they got to
the SBI floor, Wilbur didn’t even make Tommy go back to bed. Wilbur let him flop onto the
couch and let Clementine out.

“I’ll have someone pick up some food and toys for her,” Wilbur said.

“That’d be good,” Tommy whispered, stroking the top of her head.

She was lying over his chest, paw resting on the side of his jaw, purring as per usual. Wilbur
sat on the ground in front of the couch and petted along her back.
“You seem pretty dazed right now. I’m gonna watch you for shock,” Wilbur explained,
reaching for a blanket hanging off the end of the couch. He laid it over Tommy and
Clementine. “When Phil and Techno get back it’ll either be with or without the villains. And
either they’ll explain everything or you can tell us what you learned tonight.”

Translation: There is progress to be made so you can stop feeling useless and stuck.

“Do you think… I can have some water?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t like how much you hesitated to ask for that,” Wilbur said, definitely getting up to
bring gallons of water to Tommy.

“You should have some too.”

Wilbur hummed. “I will.”

And he brought two large glasses of cold filtered water back. He stayed sitting on the ground
in front of Tommy.

“Do you need me to pour it into your mouth so you don’t disturb Clementine?” Wilbur asked
with a grin.

Tommy snorted. He scratched one of Clementine’s ears and slowly sat up, letting her slink off
his chest and instead sit on his lap.

They all sat there for a little bit in the safety of the tower with the lights low, refreshing
glasses of water, and cozy company.

Tommy almost didn’t want Phil and Techno to come back any time soon.

But Wilbur’s phone rang, and Tommy saw Phil’s name.

“Hey Phil,” Wilbur greeted.

Tommy couldn’t really hear what Phil was saying on the other end. He just hoped Wilbur
would have the decency to keep him updated once it was all said and done.

“We were actually just waiting for you,” Wilbur said.

More muffled speaking noises.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

Oh…

“There’s no point, Techno’s right. Just come home.”

There was a pause before Phil said something else.

“If you stay out any later Tommy’s just going to fall asleep.”
That was true.

“Yes. Come home, we’re waiting.”

And he hung up. He looked at Tommy expectantly who guessed, “They didn’t catch them,
did they?”

“No,” Wilbur sighed. “They didn’t. But they did keep them separated long enough to yell a
few warnings and offers at them. Then, well, the second Ianuae got close enough to Apis they
popped into the abyss.”

“Right.”

“Oh hey, we should look at your arms. the bandages need to be replaced.” Wilbur got up to
retrieve a first aid kit.

Clementine was currently pawing and sniffing at his arms. She seemed distressed so he tried
to calm her nerves by scratching the back of her head.

Wilbur came back and set the first aid kit down. He sat on the coffee table in front of Tommy,
then he opened it up and picked out some bandages, and he had what was left of the
regeneration potion they’d used in there too. Once he had everything, he gently nudged
Clementine out of the way and picked up Tommy’s right arm.

After the bandages were unraveled, Clementine meowed loudly and anxiously pawed at
Tommy’s free arm.

“She can smell the rot,” Wilbur said. “But it looks a lot better now than it did before. I’ll put
the last of the potion on them and hopefully, this will be the last time you have them wrapped
up.”

Wilbur uncorked the regeneration bottle and held it out for Clementine to sniff. Her low
meows mellowed out once she realized Wilbur was going to help Tommy. Wilbur put thin
rubber gloves on and poured a few drops of the potion into his hand. Slowly and gently he
washed the potion over Tommy’s grey skin.

The veins in his arms and hands were popping. His fingernails were tainted black. His skin
was flakey and sore. But the potion was refreshing and cool to the touch.

“Least’ you haven’t had to wear the gloves that long,” Wilbur said.

Tommy wore gloves the first few nights of being withered. He was able to take them off after
the first use of the regeneration potion. Most of his healing process was a bit of a blur though,
he really only had room in his brain for arguments, fights, and traumatic events.

And even those were getting foggy.

Wilbur closed Tommy’s hand into a fist and guided him in stretching it out again. His fingers
were stiff and his joints rolled like they were rusty. But it was better than the previous
feelings of pinpricks, acid, and decay.
Wilbur switched to the other hand and flushed more potion over Tommy’s skin.

“Does this feel alright?” he asked.

Tommy nodded. “You could use some on your arms.”

Wilbur smiled. “No. I don’t need it. This is for you.”

Tommy didn’t see much point in arguing. “Seems like everything’s about me lately…”

“I mean, yeah? Kind of has to be, doesn’t it?”

Tommy groaned and rolled his head to the side. “When I became Rubrum I never expected to
get into anything more than a few gang fights and street chases. Now I guess I’ve signed
myself up for hero-level shit.”

“It surprises me a little that you don’t want that.”

“Why does everyone think I want to be some legendary—big shit famous fucking…”

“Ah, Techno told me a bit about that. It’s not really that we think you want to be some big
legend. You just seem like someone who was meant to be a part of big things.”

Wilbur finished with Tommy’s arms and wrapped them again.

“Yeah well that’s basically what Apis and Ianuae said before they dumped the responsibility
of taking Cicatrix down on me.”

“... You don’t want to do that?”

Tommy stumbled over his words. “It’s—I want to but there’s—it’s a lot.”

“I hate to remind you, Tommy, but you aren’t doing it alone this time. It’s not all on you.”

It was nice to hear out loud.

The door to their living area opened, and in walked a sulking Technoblade and wind-whipped
Phil. They both noticed Wilbur taking care of Tommy’s arms and relievedly smiled in sync.

“I’m going to get changed,” Phil said. “We’ll discuss soon.”

Technoblade strode toward the couch. Wilbur asked, “Aren’t you gonna change too?”

“Don’t feel like it.” Techno flopped onto the couch next to Tommy.

“You wouldn’t happen to be paranoid, would you Tech?”

“Could you blame me?”

Wilbur shrugged and finished wrapping Tommy’s arms. He packed up the first aid kit, and as
he stood he lightly patted Techno’s head.
“There there.”

Wilbur left and Techno tried to trip him. He failed, unfortunately. Techno dramatically turned
his head to Tommy.

“How are you?” he asked.

Tommy pursed his lips, thinking. “Don’t really know how to answer that.”

“Are you in shock again?”

Tommy snorted. “No. You guys got there just as it was getting bad.”

“Getting bad?’

“Things were getting heated.”

Techno nodded and made an “ah” shape with his mouth. Phil walked in wearing a baggy shirt
and pajama pants. He sat on the couch opposite Tommy and Techno. Wilbur swiftly joined
him.

“Well, Tommy, what did they want?” Phil asked.

Tommy blew a stressed breath out. “They’re abandoning Cicatrix and they told me his plan
but not where his base is. They wouldn’t—obviously—come with me to prove they were
telling the truth.”

“But do you believe them?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to decide, just let me tell you what they said.”

Phil nodded, prompting Tommy to keep going. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to see their
reactions to this information.

“First of all, Cicatrix is going to blow up the parliament building like Somnium did. He’s
gonna do it the day before the end of the ultimatum.”

“Not surprised,” Techno said. “He’s dramatic like that.”

“But there’s more. He needs the discs to—to fucking break Somnium out like I said.”

Phil crossed his arms and sat back, listening intently, trying to hide his stress and tension in
his posture.

“Why does he need Somnium out?” Techno asked.

“Together they’re gonna go after the other enhancers that exist—in other cities. Apparently,
Cicatrix is finally ready to start his own empire or whatever.”

“And they just didn’t tell you where his base was because…?”
Tommy made a frustrated, sad sound—it probably sounded like the start of him crying. “I
don’t know. Maybe they still feel indebted to him but don’t want to contribute to all of this
damage anymore.”

“Well,” Phil started again. “Since we have nothing else to go off of, we’ll be ready for it in
case it’s true. In the meantime, we keep searching how we’re searching and get extra eyes out
for Apis and Ianuae.”

“They’re trying to leave the city,” Tommy added. “So watch out for cars like theirs leaving,
and have people watching public transport.”

“Good idea. And what we know now is that Tubbo is eighteen, so technically we’re allowed
to broadcast his face if we want to.”

It felt wrong to do. Tommy didn’t comment on it. If Phil thought that was the best move,
Tommy wouldn’t stop him.

After a minute of pensive silence, Tommy said, “I don’t think I’m gonna be going back to
sleep tonight.”

Phil hummed. “That’s alright. I’ll stay up with you, we can watch a movie or something.”

“I’m staying up too,” Techno said.

Tommy looked at Wilbur, expecting him to say the same thing, but he was leaning sluggishly
against Phil.

“I’ll do my best,” he said.

Phil smiled down at him. “Yeah, okay mate.”

**********

Tommy did fall asleep at one point, he wasn’t sure for how long, but when he woke up his
head was resting in Techno’s lap and the man was sipping coffee. He was talking to Phil who
was doing something in the kitchen area.

“That’s good to hear,” Techno said.

“What is?” Tommy asked sluggishly.

Techno looked down at him. “We somewhat have eyes on Apis and Ianuae. They’ve been
spotted a few times and we’re slowly working out their patterns.”

“Already?”
“Yep. They had their phones for a little bit but destroyed them last night, so we can’t track
those anymore, but we have eyes all over the place.”

Tommy sighed in relief, “That is good to hear.”

“Tommy I can make you a decaf coffee if you want,” Phil said from the kitchen.

“Yes please.”

Phil snorted.

Tommy turned his head toward the other couch and saw Wilbur fast asleep there. It was nice
to wake up with them all here. Safe. Relatively happy for the moment. It was a fantastic
change of pace.

“The plan today,” Phil started as the coffee maker sputtered, “is to keep following the villains
and hope they stop somewhere soon, take the information you told us to the higher-ups and
wait for instruction, and keep up our patrols and other searches.”

“I hate waiting around,” Tommy grumbled.

“Phil, aren’t you forgetting something?” Techno prompted, ignoring Tommy’s moping.

“Oh!” Phil clasped his hands together. “The people assessing your case have decided that we
can not declare you a villain!”

Tommy blinked. Then he looked at Techno for a reaction, who was just looking at him for a
reaction.

“Really?” Tommy asked.

“Really,” Techno said. “It is, however, still up for debate on whether or not you’ll be required
to become a hero.”

“Oh…”

“Would that be a bad thing?”

Tommy shrugged and sat up. He swung his legs over the end of the couch and Techno tugged
him into his side.

“You’ll get a break first, I promise.”

Tommy hummed, “That would be appreciated.”

**********
The day passed slowly without a single update on Apis and Lanuae. Without a single update
on Cicatrix. Without an update on much, really. Tommy spent the hours with at least one of
SBI. They passed the time by working on Tommy’s physical therapy, going over some of the
information he’d already shared about Cicatrix and his base, and napping. A lot of napping.
And a lot of playing with Clementine.

Nothing came up all day and it made Tommy antsy. He waited eagerly to hear the result of
every phone call Phil received, and not once was it an update.

Techno was out on patrol today. Tommy bravely asked if he could tag along again. The
answer was obvious, but he figured there was no harm in asking. After he’d asked and was
reminded what “resting” and “taking it easy” meant, he went back to sitting on the couch anc
scrolling through youtube.

This boredom and anxiety bled into the next day. It was an excruciating step closer to the end
of the week. To the end of the ultimatum. And still nothing was happening. Nobody was
being found, nobody was coming forward, nothing was adding up.

There were three days left before Somnium attacked. And if they believed Apis and Lanuae,
he was going to do it a day early. At the parliament building.

But Tommy just had to sit there and wait.

**********

“So we have a guess of where Apis and Lanuae are but we’re not going after them?” Tommy
asked for the third time.

“Mate, we can’t risk the time. Supposedly, Cicatrix will attack tomorrow. We can’t send
heroes out for them right now. We just can’t.”

“But Phil I don’t know if they were lying—let me go to them.”

“No. We don’t need to know if they were lying, we’ll just be ready for anything.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

Phil sighed. “I know. We’ll be ready for him at the parliament building tomorrow, and if they
lied to draw us out we have a few solo heroes posted around the city with the military. We
aren’t utterly defenseless.”

“And Tommy,” Techno said, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder, “If you try to leave at any
point between now and the fight tomorrow, we’re going to come after you. You can not use
this as a cover to escape. You are not going after them.”
“I’m not going to run away,” Tommy mumbled. “Believe it or not my goal in life isn’t to
make things harder for you.”

Techno ruffled his hair and walked toward the coffee machine for the fifth time that day.

“We’ve decided that Techno will be staying with you in the tower tomorrow anyway,” Phil
said.

Tommy sputtered. “Techno? You need Techno. He’s like, the best fighter?”

Techno smiled smugly back at him and Phil.

“We need Wilbur’s voice, I’m the head hero, we need Niki on fire and crowd control, and I
don’t trust anyone else to keep you safe.

Tommy blinked. “Safe from Cicatrix’s guys? He doesn’t want me.”

“He wants leverage.”

Tommy blinked again. “Phil I’m not helpless. I’m pretty good at running away.”

Phil smiled amusedly, but it turned sad. “I know. It brings me a lot of comfort to remember
how skilled you are. But it doesn’t stop the fact that you are no match for Cicatrix. And
honestly… neither is Techno. But I think together you two will be alright.”

“And don’t forget that you’re still injured,” Techno called over the coffee machine's gurgles.
“And I think I could take Cicatrix in a fight.”

Phil scoffed. “Only if he didn’t have his wings and his powers and all of his allies and tools.”

Techno crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. Still waiting for his coffee. “I’d
do alright…”

“You’d do better than most.”

Tommy didn’t feel like being lighthearted. He didn’t feel like joking about this.

“What I’m saying is I think Techno should go with you guys. I can handle myself. He won’t
come after me, it doesn’t make sense.”

Phil hummed. “No, it doesn’t make sense but it's a precaution I want to take.”

That was a very “do not argue with me” kind of tone. So Tommy dropped it. But he didn’t
like it.

Phil must have seen Tommy’s discomfort. He tugged him in for a hug as techno sat down on
the couch with his coffee.

“This will all be done with tomorrow,” Phil said.

“What if you lose?”

Phil’s wings circled Tommy. “He won’t get all of us, that, I know for sure. So we’ll just have
to regroup and try again.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Maybe that’s because it is.”

Tommy snorted and pushed out of Phil’s hug with his wings. Which were much healthier
now. They were stronger. He was eager to fly with them. But Phil kept insisting that they
were still in need of a lot of care, which Tommy found hard to believe.

Wilbur walked into their living room from another patrol. He looked exhausted. He smiled
briefly at Phil and Tommy standing there before trudging off to his room.

Phil glanced back at Techno with a look.

“Wilbur can wait until my coffee is done,” Techno said.

“Techno, you know how he gets.”

“How does he get?” Tommy asked.

Techno sets his coffee down on the side table and stands. “He doesn’t take care of his voice
and it starts to hurt him.”

Techno brushed past them to follow Wilbur and Phil gestured for Tommy to follow him to the
kitchen.

“I’ll show you how to make a tea that soothes his throat.” Phil opened the fridge door and
brought out some honey. “He doesn’t really like the tea, but he needs it.”

Tommy nodded, following along as Phil put honey, lemon, and a teabag together in a hot cup
of water from the coffee machine. Then Phil reached into a cupboard and brought out a white
container. He screwed the top off and spooned out a mountain of whitish-pink powder.

Dumping the powder in the tea, Phil explained, “Sam created this mix of vitamins that
soothes the pain and keeps his voice strong. Sometimes I sneak it into his food after patrol. I
think he knows I do it though.”

Tommy huffed a soft laugh and turned around as Wilbur was being guided into the living
room, stumbly and tired. And wearing Techno’s sweater. His eyes landed on Tommy and
Wilbur’s wings puffed up.

“You—” Wilbur coughed and reached toward Tommy. “Come he—”

“Stop that,” Techno swatted him on the head. “Don’t talk.”

Tommy stood there a bit stunned, and Wilbur wobbled toward him with his hands out. He
didn’t move away as Wilbur engulfed him in very fluffy feathers.
 “I have had the worst—” Wilbur rasped, “patrol.”

“Shut up,” Tommy poked him in the ribs. “If you keep talking I’m gonna lock myself away in
my room.”

Wilbur closed his mouth with a click and started pulling Tommy toward the couch.

“But really, Wil, you need your voice tomorrow. So no complaining about the tea,” Phil said.

Wilbur and Tommy flopped onto the couch. Wilbur half-mindedly started playing with
Tommy’s feathers—which Tommy hadn’t really let them do yet.

“Ay, just cause you’re hurt doesn’t mean you can preen my wings,” Tommy said, flapping his
wings so Wilbur couldn’t hold them.

“Oh,” Wilbur said tiredly. “Sorry—thought it was okay now.”

Maybe it is, Tommy thought. He couldn’t decide.

The tea was brought to Wilbur, and Tommy sat next to him. He picked up Wilbur’s wing and
decided it was the least he could do.

Wilbur crooned a thank you as Tommy started sorting through the feathers.

Clementine came padding up to the couch and hopped up to lean against Tommy’s leg.

“Are you guys sure I can’t come tomorrow?” Tommy asked one last time.

It earned him a few stern looks.

“Okay okay, I know. Figured I could at least ask one more time…”

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter (I know it was a bit all over the place)
consider reading some of my other works. I have various short hurt/comfort works and a
few longer stories :)
Some examples:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy Rehabilitation + SBI
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Have a great week!
 Chapter 22
Chapter Summary

This fic will have a happy ending (/srs)

And there will be no MCD (/srs)

Anyway, this chapter kinda sucks (in a sad way) (but also in a low-effort way... oops)

Also, don't try to offer me criticism on it because I will just delete your comment and
probably laugh at you. However, compliments are more than acceptable (wink wink
nudge nudge) (/nf /lh)

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: blood, injury, violence, gore, manipulation, fire, dissociation. Let me

know if I missed any.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The day was here and the heroes had already left. Tommy was sitting silently on the couch
with Techno next to him. The TV was off, they both stared blankly out the window. Wilbur
and Phil left an hour ago to ready final preparations for the Cicatrix attack. They had to
evacuate as many people as possible as discreetly as possible.

After a while, Tommy couldn’t handle the silence.

“What if they start losing? Will you go to them?” he asked.

There will be a broadcast sent to the tower and other heroes’ comms.

“Yes. If they need me, I’ll go to them.”

“And at what point am I allowed to come help?”

“You’re not—”

“No, seriously. Me getting a little more hurt does not compare to the damage Cicatrix will
cause.”

Techno hummed uneasily. “Tommy, if we're still losing even after all of the heroes and
military get there, you aren’t going to make much of a difference.”
It hurt but he knew it was true.

“But aren’t I better than nothing?”

“You are so much better than nothing, kid, but we also might need tower defense once
Cicatrix takes us out anyway.”

Tommy shuddered and curled in on himself. “We’re not ready for this.”

“Yes we are. We are highly trained, professional heroes. This is our job. We’ve been caught
off guard, but we know what we’re doing.”

And after that they both went back to silently staring out the window. Techno didn’t make
any coffee, and Tommy figured it was because the adrenaline was keeping him wide awake.
Neither of them wanted to move off of the couch.

Until Techno received the broadcast to his wristband—he was in costume.

“It’s time,” he said, switching the TV on and casting the video to it.

Their perspective was from the same building Phil and Tommy had watched the old footage
from. This is what made Tommy realize he was going to have a few bad reactions. Probably
any second now.

“You don’t have to watch this,” Techno said—Tommy scoffed. “Okay, fair.”

They couldn’t see heroes anywhere. They were laying low until Cicatrix got there. They
couldn’t have him knowing they discovered his plan.

“And we have to remember that the villains could have been lying,” Tommy said. “I—I really
want to believe they were telling the truth.”

“So do I. Makes things so much easier for everyone. Plus, they seemed like good kids…”

“I feel like I should be angrier at them,” Tommy admitted. “But they just—they were
manipulated like I was and I can’t help but sympathize for them.”

Techno rolled his head toward Tommy. “We should maybe talk more about your previous life
with Somnium.”

Tommy snorted. “Let’s unpack that another day.”

Techno grinned and turned his head back toward the screen.

They waited for an agonizingly long time. They waited until they couldn’t bare to watch the
vacant streets anymore. Well—they weren’t vacant. There were a few military personnel
posing as civilians so it wasn’t obvious that the area was evacuated this morning.

However if Cicatrix had people posted in the area they would have heard about it…
But, the heroes were monitoring everyone that left and communicated via phone, text, or
email. So hopefully they could intercept something if it came to it.

“Techno why hasn’t anything happened yet?”

“He might not attack today.”

Tommy waited tensely, holding a fist over his mouth and chin.

Techno received a message to his comms. Tommy could tell by the way he clicked the
earpiece on his left.

Tommy waited.

“Nothing here,” Techno said. A pause. “We’re doing alright.”

Tommy kept waiting. And as Techno turned to speak to him, Tommy curled even further into
himself.

“It’s quiet over there,” Techno said.

So they kept waiting. On that couch. Wordlessly watching the broadcast. Endlessly waiting to
hear more from anyone.

Techno’s phone beeped this time. He glanced down at it. A message from Custos. He opened
it and frowned.

“I need to go check on something,” he said.

The hairs on Tommy’s arms raised. “What is it?”

“Someone suspicious in the building. A delivery guy that wasn’t scheduled until tomorrow.”

Tommy didn’t mean to chirp in fear.

But it was too late to take back and Techno reached toward him. His wing landed around
Tommy’s shoulders.

“Phil knows about it. They’re ready to get back here if they need to.”

calm, Techno urged.

“Can I come with you?” Tommy asked.

Techno shook his head. “In case this is something, you can’t be seen. You can’t be
compromised.”

“And if this is about to be an attack?”

“Then you hide in the reinforced room. And if you need to, you get out of this building.”
Tommy started sputtering, shaking his head.

Seriously, Techno chirped. Listen.

Techno pulled out an earpiece and a wristband from a pocket. “Take these in case, I’ll be in
contact the whole time.”

He clicked the rubbery band around Tommy’s wrist and a small screen lit up on top of it.
There were words displayed across the screen in a deep red colour: Welcome Rubrum.

Techno curled Tommy’s fingers around the earpiece. “Just put it in, you don’t need to do any
setup. Just listen for me.”

Techno got up, waited for Tommy to put the earpiece in, and he left with a reassuring nod.

So Tommy was alone. On the couch. Staring forward. At the TV where nothing was
happening. And out the window where nothing was happening. Alone. On doomsday.

“Tommy? Hear me?”

“Yes,” Tommy said, probably too eagerly.

“I’m just taking the elevator now. I’ll keep you updated as best as I can.”

“Thank you.”

Techno knew how uneasy Tommy was feeling. And Tommy knew for a fact that having this
mode of communication was helping Techno too. Tommy was just wondering why they
didn’t give him his own comms sooner.

Maybe the “higher-ups” just mandated it. Maybe they really are forcing Tommy into heroism.

It was a small wait before Techno mumbled that he could see Custos and the suspicious guy.
It wasn’t as much detail as Tommy would have liked, but Techno needed to be discreet about
who he was talking to on the other side.

So Tommy, again, waited.

And he waited for fifteen minutes without hearing anything. Numbly staring at the ground,
not even the TV, as if focusing on too much at a time would mean he’d miss Techno’s words.

“Techno?” Tommy finally asked, holding his earpiece.

When he didn’t get an answer he first assumed that something had gone horribly wrong. So
he jumped to his feet and went to stand in front of the front door. He held himself there for
another five minutes, convincing himself that Techno just wasn’t in a position to answer yet.

“Can you just—cough or something so I know you’re okay?”

A few seconds passed.

And then a cough sounded in his ear. It was loud and unpleasant but Tommy was still
grateful. He almost collapsed against the front door in relief.

And then he did collapse against the front door as the building shook. Tommy’s temple hit the
heavy metal and he blinked, sitting against the wall on the floor.

The building shook again. Something roared below him.

Tommy wanted to curl up and cry.

Instead, he rolled to his feet, shook out his wings, and swung the heavy door open. He
stormed into the hallway, bypassed the elevator, and threw himself down the stairs.

Techno was down there. And down there was currently exploding. Should he get outside and
fly down? Was the tower going to crumble? It was strong right?

An alarm started blaring.

Was Techno okay?

Tommy pressed his earpiece harshly. “Techno? Are you okay? I’m—I’m coming.”

Tommy pranced down the stairs three at a time, wings trailing after him. He could smell the
smoke rolling off of himself from stress. He did not need to start any fires right now.

Tommy slammed himself into the next door he could find and shot out into the hall. He saw a
window and prayed there was a balcony attached to it. He got close enough to see a
reinforced glass door around the corner and sprinted toward it.

“Tommy, are you on this channel?” Phil asked.

“Yes—yes I’m here,” he said, wrapping a tight fist around the door handle.

“We’re sending reinforcements. Get out of the building. Your print is in the system.”

The balcony door was locked. Tommy slapped his palm over the scanner on the keypad and
its light flickered from red to green. He heard a click, and he threw the door open.

Tommy dived off the balcony.

“Techno?” Phil asked.

Tommy’s wings flung out to catch the air, he glided onto the nearest roof and landed harshly,
falling to his knees. He looked back at the building to see rubble at the bottom. The front
entrance was destroyed.

Techno had said he was going to see a suspicious delivery guy. No doubt at the front
entrance.
Tommy dived off the second building and landed with a roll across the front lawn. He started
jogging toward the front door.

Another explosion pulsed, rattling Tommy’s bones. The pile of rubble crumbled and some
slabs of concrete fell apart. Debris flew from inside the building from a small opening at the
top of the rock pile.

“Tommy, are you out?” Phil asked.

“I’m out.”

“Stay hidden.”

Absolutely fucking not. Because Techno hadn’t answered yet. And Tommy was not just
going to ignore that. Maybe his earpiece was broken. Maybe he was still around people that
couldn’t hear he had comms. Maybe he was okay.

“Stay hidden, Tommy.”

“Okay.”

Tommy climbed the rubble.

“Tommy I can see you on the broadcast!”

Tommy’s heart squeezed. “Sorry Phil.”

Tommy’s hands scraped over rough concrete and rock. Debris tumbled under his feet, but he
vaulted over the top of the hill. There were some emergency lights intact, but it was still dark.
Tommy looked for bodies. He didn’t see any.

What he did see, was a door torn off its hinges that he’d never been down before. A basement
level. It sat behind the receptionist’s desk.

Tommy ran for it.

“Tommy, please!”

“It’s for Techno.”

Tommy hopped over the front desk.

“Tommy don’t—he can handle himself.”

“Not if he’s passed out under a collapsing building!”

Tommy almost fell down an immediate set of stairs, again bypassing an elevator that was in
the side of a short hallway. The emergency lights were dim in the stairwell. But he came to
the first floor soon anyway.
The door there was thrown off its hinges too, laid out on the floor like a welcome mat.
Tommy jogged over it. He listened for anything. He only heard the roar of another explosion
above.

He didn’t know where they were coming from.

There was a hallway to Tommy’s right and left, two doors ahead of him. One of which was,
unsurprisingly, lying flat on the ground again.

“Techno?!” he called.

A responding figure jogged into the doorway from inside.

Tommy choked on fear and stumbled backward.

Cicatrix’s wicked smile widened. His golden wings spread beside him as he passed through
the doorway, and he held his hands out like he wanted a hug.

“Tommy!”

Tommy’s wings lit on fire and Cicatrix laughed.

“I have someone that can do that too,” the villain said.

Ignis stepped through the doorway with a short laugh. Then, he stood at Cicatrix’s side.

The room reeked of smoke.

“Tommy we’re almost there, please come back—”

Tommy had to tune Phil out. If there was any time he needed to concentrate, it was right now.
And maybe never again.

“Where is Gladius?” Tommy asked.

Cicatrix and Ignis glanced at each other, confused.

Tommy’s heart soared. They don’t have him. He’s not down here.

He’s not down here.

“I can’t tell you where that guy is,” Cicatrix said, closing in, “But I’m sure you’d love to tell
me where that enhancer’s gone.”

They don’t have the enhancer.

Techno isn’t here and they don’t have the enhancer.

“How would I know?” Tommy spat.

The villains knew the heroes wouldn’t trust Tommy with their location.
“I told you they’d move it,” Ignis grumbled. “There was no security down here.”

“Tommy, I’m with you,” a deep voice whispered. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

Tommy tightened his fists. They were on fire.

“I need you to take care of him while I go find someone who does know,” Cicatrix said.
“Prime, these heroes are making things so difficult.”

Tommy was blocking the only way out. The only way back to everyone else. And he
intended to stay there until the heroes could take his place.

Ignis charged forward and fire met fire.

Tommy enhanced his stamina. He blocked a first punch and wheezed at the effort of blocking
the second. His arms were ready to snap.

Tommy kicked at Ignis and slapped him with a fiery wing. Smoke filled the room around
them. Ignis’ entire body was lined with flames. Tommy wasn’t completely fireproof. Ignis
was.

It started to burn. Every touch. Every punch and breeze carried smoke into Tommy’s lungs.

But there was more sound than crackling fire.

Cicatrix grunted. Tommy heard clanging metal, curses, and more grunts. He was fighting.

“I’m here Tommy!” Techno yelled over the fight. “I’m with you!”

Tommy’s head knocked sideways. He slammed into the stone wall and rolled away from
pinning hands. He kicked out again at Ignis and connected with the villain’s stomach. Ignis
stumbled back a few steps, giving Tommy time to see Techno with a raised hand extended
toward Cicatrix.

There was blood spurting from Cicatrix’s ears. Still, the villain spoke.

“Your powers don’t work on me, remember Gladius?”

Techno’s hand twitched like it was going to fall. Blood still leaked from the villain’s head.

“They’re useless, remember?”

“That’s not true—” Tommy’s shout was cut off by Ignis kicking his legs out.

Tommy’s back hit the wall and his elbows caught him on the floor. Tommy grabbed the harsh
foot that tried to stomp on his ribs. He yanked it up and Ignis stumbled. Tommy kicked the
villain’s standing leg.

Ignis caught himself on two hands. Tommy kicked his nose in. Blood splatted on the ground.
Tommy got to his feet in the second Ignis clutched his face. He kicked Ignis under the chin
and watched the villain fly backward.

Tommy ran two steps forward and raised a foot over the man’s neck.

He stomped with enhanced strength.

Ignis caught his foot and fire burned up Tommy’s pant leg. Ignis’ burning hands squeezed
around Tommy’s calf, searing his skin off.

With a cry, Tommy tried to stomp through the hold but had to pull away. He limped a few
paces. Ignis, with a familiar glare, stood step by step, knee by knee.

Tommy looked back at Techno and Cicatrix.

“How could you forget?” Cicatrix was saying, wrestling against the pin the Techno had him
in. “If you touch my skin you’ll die.”

Techno flinched backward.

“If you touch any part of me for too long, you’ll wither away. Isn’t that true?”

Techno’s hold slipped away. “N—no that’s—

Cicatrix swiped a long dagger at Techno’s face.

Ignis knocked Tommy into the wall. Tommy kicked a leg up, planting his foot on Ignis’
stomach, and he shoved.

The villain was forced back. Tommy pushed himself off the wall with his wings and arms. He
slammed a fist into Ignis’ jaw. Then, with enhanced speed, he punched again. Tommy traded
his speed out for strength again.

“We’re here boys—Cicatrix has people outside—we’re trying,” Tommy heard Phil say.

Another explosion has a section of the ceiling crumbling around them. Rubble landed on
Tommy and Ignis, casting them both sideways.

Tommy blinked blearily up at the new hole in the ceiling. But Ignis’ face soon blocked his
view.

Tommy tried to kick the man off again but his dominant leg was caught painfully under slabs
of concrete.

Ignis’ hands wrapped around his throat, charring his skin, tightening.

Techno’s hand wrapped around the man’s neck and yanked him sideways. Tommy watched
Ignis’ body roll three times before he could get up.

Techno reached down and pulled the slabs of concrete off of Tommy’s leg, making him
scream in pain.
“Pain suppression,” Techno barked.

Tommy activated it and dragged himself onto his knees in time to move out of the way of
Ignis barrelling back into Techno.

Cicatrix was pulling himself off the ground using the wall.

“Gladius,” Ciciatrix drawled. “I think you forgot again—you can’t touch Ignis either. You’ll
disintegrate.”

Techno’s hands flew off of Ignis’ forearms.

“No,” Tommy snarled. “That’s not true Techno.”

“Rubrum,” Cicatrix started, now standing against the wall, “Tommy. Gladius isn’t—”

Tommy tuned the man out with an angry groan and focused on the sound of the flames on his
wings crackling.

Something knocked into Tommy’s back. He jumped away from it, but it was just Techno who
launched Ignis across the room.

Techno held a hand toward Ignis and clenched his fist.

Ignis began writhing in pain, screaming on the ground. Techno clenched his fist harder and
blood bubbled out of Ignis’ mouth.

Tommy blinked, horrified.

He heard Cicatrix’s footsteps charging and knew he needed to hold him off. Tommy met the
man’s strike, catching a wrist armed with a dagger.

“Ignis is your ally, Tommy. Jameson is your friend, isn’t he?” Cicatrix said, straining against
Tommy’s grasp.

Jameson wasn’t as good of a friend as Techno was—Tommy shook his head. Jameson wasn’t
a friend at all.

Tommy summoned fire to his fingertips and boiled Cicatrix’s skin.

“Jameson helped you so much. You’re going to return the favour, right?”

Tommy always returned his favours. He wasn’t some scammer.

He glanced back and saw splits in Ignis’ skin, bleeding in the shape of Lichtenberg scars.

“Wait—wait Techno—”

Techno turned his head toward Tommy, eyes widening, and he directed his power at Cicatrix
instead.
Ignis stopped screaming and curled on himself to breathe.

Tommy blinked. A sharp force ripped through his stomach and he whipped back to face
Cicatrix. Tommy landed on his ass on the rough floor.

“Gladius—those discs are burning your hands!” Cicatrix said.

Techno dropped the discs—the discs?

Tommy heard the clatter of the power enhancer falling to the ground. He scrambled away
from Cicatrix, feeling hot blood leaking through his shirt.

Tommy screamed when he noticed Ignis crawling toward the dropped discs. The villain got
there before Techno could react. Techno was knocked away and Ignis stood with newfound
strength, still bleeding all over.

“Let’s go,” Cicatrix said.

Tommy shot a rocket of fire at him. Cicatrix blocked it with a wing and the gold turned
ashen. Cicatrix grunted with the force of the blow and flicked his wings to put out the
lingering flames. Tommy shot more of them. He spewed the fire so fast that it turned into a
steady, concentrated stream.

“Techno—Techno you have to get them—” Tommy wheezed.

“I—I can’t touch them.”

“You can! You won’t—” Tommy yelped as Cicatrix broke through his stream of fire and
landed on top of him.

“Gladius—Techno,” Cicatrix lilted, “if you attack Ignis you’ll disintegrate, remember?”

Tommy wrestled against Ciciatrix’s grip, demanding that fire burn up his arms. Cicatrix
hissed in pain but held on.

Ignis backed away from Techno, slowly coming to Cicatrix’s side.

Techno raised a hand—

“If you use your powers on us you’ll die.”

“No you won’t!” Tommy yelled.

“You will, isn’t that right?”

Techno shook his head and stepped back dazedly. “Tommy—I can’t.”

“He’s killing me!” Tommy screamed, feeling the same dagger press into his throat.

Techno lunged forward. Waves of fire pulsed behind him. He tackled Cicatrix off of Tommy
and they landed against more rubble. Techno’s hand latched around Cicatrix’s throat, and
Tommy watched his power take effect.

Blood started forming like tears in Cicatrix’s eyes.

Flames engulfed Techno.

Tommy screamed his name and shakily forced himself onto his feet. He flapped his wings to
push himself forward—toward Ignis.

He slapped the villain’s hand down, causing fire to spew over the floor. Tommy swung for
the villain’s face and was met with a heavy hit to the temple.

In a flash Tommy was back on the ground, under the man’s boot.

“Let’s go,” Cicatrix hissed.

Ignis stepped off of Tommy’s stomach with very little humour left in his expression. They
turned to leave.

“We’re almost there. Hang on boys, just hang on,” Phil urged.

But they were getting away. And Tommy couldn’t move. He couldn’t get up.

He let go of his pain suppression to activate his strength. The second the pain flooded in
Tommy’s vision whited out. He tried to shake it off, he tried to breathe through it. But
everything flashed black and white. It was dizzying.

He reactivated the pain suppression.

And the villains were gone.

So he focused his energy on getting to Techno. He got himself to his knees, and then to his
feet steadily enough to stumble his way across the room. He landed next to Techno and shook
his soot-covered shoulders.

“Techno,” he rasped. “This is one of those times I need you to tell me it’s gonna be okay.”

Techno shifted, wincing in pain. Tommy didn’t expect him to be awake. He wished he hadn’t
said that out loud.

Tommy pressed his earpiece. “Phil we really need some help.”

“We’re trying to get through the rubble. We’re coming.”

Tommy clutched his bleeding stomach with a firm hand. “How long are you going to be?”

“Not long at all. Everyone’s back. Everyone’s here helping.”

Tommy’s vision almost whited out again from anxiety. “Phil no—no Cicatrix and Ignis are
escaping. They—they’re trying to leave. They were in here please look for them.”
“We’re watching all exits. How hurt are you?”

“I’m fine but Techno’s barely awake.”

“Tell me his injuries.”

Tommy took a deep shaky breath and patted Techno’s cheek. “Stay awake. Please just look at
me.”

“I’m okay,” Techno mumbled. “M’ a little burnt, that’s all.”

“Tommy, tell me how hurt he is please.”

“Sorry. Sorry, he—it’s actually not that bad. He’s burnt pretty bad—few cuts and bruises. Uh
—Cicatrix fucked with his head a lot.”

Tommy jerked in surprise as Techno’s hand landed on his stomach over the dagger slash.
Tommy watched the blood start seeping back inside himself. He had to look away to avoid
puking.

“And yourself?”

Tommy cleared his throat. “He’s taking care of a uh, a wound for me. I’m just—I’m not bad.”

“Help me sit up,” Techno said. “If you can?”

Tommy nodded frantically and needed nothing more than to do something helpful for
Techno. He helped Techno get his arms under himself and guided him to the nearest wall.
Then, Tommy sat against the wall next to him. Techno put his hand back over Tommy’s
stomach wound.

“Phil they have the discs,” Tommy said.

At that, Techno’s head dropped. He lifted his free hand shakily to his earpiece. “I’m sorry
Phil—I’m sorry I didn’t do a very good job.”

“... It’s okay. It’s alright just relax.”

Tommy leaned his head against Techno’s shoulder. “Did you have them this whole time?”

Prime it was getting hard to speak. Tommy poked his bloody, raw throat, and winced at the
texture.

Techno nodded. “Since this morning.”

“So when I got caught by them down there it compromised you.”

Techno’s hand moved from Tommy’s stomach to around his shoulders. “No. I went down
there after you because I chose to try and take Cicatrix on. That… that was stupid.”

“We’re almost through,” Phil told them.

“What happened?” Tommy asked.

The side of Techno’s head rested gently over the top of Tommy’s. Techno achingly lifted an
arm around Tommy’s shoulder and put his other hand over Tommy’s throat to stop the
bleeding.

“Delivery guy was rigged with explosives. They were hidden well—and by that I mean under
his skin. Knocked Sam and me out for a minute or two. Woke up and I just knew Cicatrix was
in the building somewhere… Ignis was sort of a surprise I hadn’t accounted for.”

Techno’s voice grew breathier as he spoke.

“I’m—I was—I don’t feel so good right now,” Tommy whispered, feeling floaty.

Techno’s hand rubbed up and down Tommy’s arm. “Phil’s gonna be here soon. He always
knows what to do.”

It sounded like Techno was going to pass out.

“Are you going to pass out?”

After a second, “Maybe.”

“Phil, please tell me you’re inside,” Tommy breathed.

“I’m here. I’m right here—”

Phil’s footsteps—followed by many others—echo down the stairwell. Wilbur was right
behind him, and then there were a few other heroes and healers.

Phil stepped out of the way for healers to get to them first. Tommy knew one of them pretty
well by this point: Charlie.

Charlie knelt in front of them, he was saying some things but Tommy was looking at Wilbur.
Wilbur had a black eye, a very ripped costume, and a huge ring of bruises around his throat.

Tommy looked at Phil. He was missing chunks of feathers and holding his arm delicately.

Tommy’s eyes were sluggishly drawn back to where Charlie was holding his hands over
Techno’s temples. Techno cringed, biting the inside of his cheek. Tommy grabbed his hand.

Charlie’s hands fell away after ten seconds, and Techno relaxed a little more. Then Charlie
looked at Tommy.

“Can I heal your neck?” he asked.

Tommy nodded and lifted his chin. Charlie’s hands touched his burnt and bruised skin as
gently as he could.

“It’s okay, my pain suppression’s on right now.”

Charlie nodded but he was just as careful anyway. Tommy felt his skin’s texture change, but
there was no sensation of pain to diminish or worsen.

“I’ll just do your leg too. There’ll be more in-depth checkups once we’re all out of here,”
Charlie said.

Tommy nodded again.

Charlie’s hands wrapped around his crushed leg—and it looked nasty. He was bleeding, it
was swollen, and was endlessly grateful for his powers.

Charlie’s hands glowed a dull pale green, and Tommy felt a tingling sensation over his skin.
But again, no pain.

Charlie pulled away and leaned back to grab something from someone. He unfolded a
blanket. Tommy didn’t really feel that cold right now.

Still, Charlie draped one over his shoulders, and another over Techno’s.

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Charlie said.

Phil and Wilbur finally rushed forward, leaning down to help each of them up. Wilbur lifted
Tommy by letting him get an arm over Wilbur’s shoulders, and he put an arm around
Tommy’s waist.

“You don’t look so bad,” Wilbur whispered to him. “You look alright. Right?”

Tommy soaked in all of the warmth and touch while he could. “Techno fixed the worst of it.”

He looked over at Techno being held up by Phil and Schlatt, who Tommy was somewhat
surprised to see.

They didn’t trudge toward the stairs like Tommy expected they would. Instead, they all
started down a hallway. The emergency lights were still on. Tommy heard more and more
people coming down the stairs behind them.

“Where’re we going?” Tommy mumbled.

Wilbur’s arm tightened against Tommy’s side for a second. “Somewhere safe. Another base.”

Wilbur sounded awful.

“Didn’t know there was another…”

“Mhm. It’s all ready for us. Plenty of supplies and room.”

Wilbur was obviously trying very hard to be comforting. It was working a little. But the
ground was still stretching away. The walls were shimmering. Tommy’s hand was outlined in
comic-like white and black lines. He stared at it.
“We’re not far,” Wilbur said. He tapped his fingers on the hand Tommy had on his shoulder.
“If you pass out we’ll get you there.”

“I’m okay. You should stop talking—I can tell it hurts.”

Wilbur stopped talking. He kept tapping on Tommy’s hand. And the walk went on like that.
The group was trapped in a somber silence. The corridor turned from hallway to tunnel
almost seamlessly. The brick walls became rough concrete.

They walked for fifteen minutes before Techno’s legs completely gave out. Wilbur and
Tommy stopped in sync to turn and look behind them. Phil had managed to catch Techno and
lean him against the wall.

“Sorry,” Techno murmured. “Sorry he—he really got me good.”

“It’s okay,” Phil soothed. “I promise it’s okay.”

Techno shook his head. Tommy’s heart broke a little more when Techno grabbed a handful of
Phil’s shirt and whispered.

“I’m really sorry.”

Phil just cupped his cheek with a sad sigh. “I forgive you, Techno. I forgive you.”

Schlatt was still there, hovering close and ready to catch Techno again if he fell any further.

“You guys keep going,” Phil said to everyone in front of them. “We can’t keep going yet but
we’ll be there soon enough.”

Wilbur nodded and tugged Tommy forward.

“But—we shouldn’t—”

“Techno needs a gurney. He’ll be okay with Phil and Schlatt. C’mon.”

Wilbur softly knocked their heads together. “Prime.”

They kept walking. Tommy glanced back to see Techno, Phil, and Schlatt, but other heroes
were in front of them now and blocking his view. He really hoped they got Techno to the
second base quickly. That man deserved the world.

**********

The second base was the underground section of a sports stadium. The stadium was in use,
but nobody seemed to know that the heroes organization had a whole mansion under it. There
were hospital rooms, living quarters, training rooms and gyms, and everything the original
tower had.

Tommy was already acquainted with the hospital section of course. He was half-asleep on the
same bed as Wilbur when Techo was rolled in. They both sat up in sync to see how he was
doing, but Techno was very very unconscious.

Phil saw their concern.

“He’s asleep. Finally. Cicatrix put a lot of energy into charming him, and since he managed to
overpower it a few times, he’s facing the consequences: migraines.”

Techno’s bed was put next to theirs. Charlie was one of the ones rolling it in.

“I can help him with it,” he explained. “There’s nothing to worry about, he’s just over
exhausted right now. Have to take care of these burns the old fashioned way to save energy
though…”

Phil patted Charlie’s shoulder. “You’re doing amazing. Don’t overwork yourself.”

Then Phil turned his attention to Wilbur and Tommy. “Nobody’s been in to see you yet?”

Wilbur shook his head and opened his mouth to explain.

Tommy cut him off. “We told them to look at the others first because Charlie already helped
us a bit.”

Phil hummed. “Wil, you need someone to take care of your voice.”

“Are the bruises from his power?” Tommy asked. They didn’t look like hand-made marks.

“They are,” Phil said. “And if he wants to be able to speak without pain in the next few days,
he’s going to have to accept some real healing.”

Tommy pointedly looked right at Wilbur. Who rolled his eyes and lay back down, dragging
Tommy with them.

“What about your arm?” Tommy asked.

“My arm is alright,” Phil said. “I’ll have a nurse put it in a sling for me when they’re free.”

Tommy breathed again.

“So… so everyone’s fine? Nobody…”

“Nobody died.”

With a huge breath of relief, Tommy turned his head into Wilbur’s chest. “Thank fuck.”

“Not even everyone got hurt. One lucky thing about today is that Cicatrix played this quickly.
He was in and out. Didn’t even bother to toy with us. Which means the only ones that got
hurt are the ones that were in his way.”

Tommy felt somewhat proud that he at least inconvenienced the villain.

“Civilians were able to flee the area,” Charlie said. “And we do have a little time to
recuperate.”

Phil blew out a heavy breath. “Right. The healthy heroes are going to be taking on a huge
load of work these next few days. I’m going to start checking in on everyone and putting
together a list.”

“You could also rest for, like, thirty minutes,” Charlie said.

Phil snorted. “Can’t sit still right now. Take care of my boys, I’ll be back later. Oh and
Tommy, we’re going to have a chat about the shit you pulled.”

Phil left before Tommy could think of anything useful to say.

Wilbur’s hand shifted against Tommy’s side. They were lying on their backs, Wilbur’s arm
around Tommy. Just resting together.

The ceiling started stretching away from Tommy. He had to close his eyes and breathe to
make it stop.

“Feel like I’m dreaming,” Tommy whispered.

Wilbur pulled the blankets further up Tommy’s chest. “You’re in shock. Or dissociating.”

“Or both,” Charlie said. He rolled over in a chair to observe Tommy. “Do you know any
grounding techniques?”

Tommy nodded.

“Do them. If you need help we’ll help you.”

Tommy tried to focus on everything he could physically feel. The sheets. Wilbur. The
mattress. His clothes. The sweaty hair plastered to his forehead—ew.

Then he remembered he was still keeping up his pain suppression. It had been a long time. It
was going to get hard to keep up soon.

“My uh, my power’s going to stop soon,” he admitted.

“Oh—oh, I’ll get the painkillers ready for you right now,” Charlie said.

“Thanks.”

“Wilbur, I’m going to look at your throat in just a minute.”

Wilbur nodded tiredly. Tommy imagined he was struggling with a bit of shock too.
When was the last time anything had actually gone right for Tommy? Maybe when… when
he’d gotten Clementine back. He smiled at the memory.

Then he gasped.

Then he half-screamed and sat up.

And he couldn’t really stop himself from the breakdown he started to have. He completely let
go of the concentration on his pain suppression. Because nothing hurt as much as knowing
he’d left Clementine in that crumbling tower.

He couldn’t stop himself from screaming and sobbing. And felt awful about it, in the back of
his mind. But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t quit screaming.

“Tommy, please, please breathe,” Wilbur said, folding Tommy into his arms and wings. “Shh.
It’s okay.”

Tommy shook violently.

Charlie was holding his hands. “You can tell us what’s wrong, we’re listening.”

“Clementine.”

Wilbur’s hug tightened and he choked on his words, “Damn it. Fuck, Tommy, I’m sorry.”

Tommy gasped and hiccuped. He couldn’t say anything else. He couldn’t think. He was
picturing her terrified, hiding from the sounds of explosions. He pictured her in the rubble.
He pictured her wondering why he left her alone.

Tommy turned so he could hug Wilbur back. He felt bad about how hard he was holding on.
And how loud he was being. And how difficult.

He really just dragged her into the shittiest life she could have been given. He just left her
again. He’d done it over and over again and he hated himself for it.

He hated himself for it.

“We’ll look for her,” Wilbur whispered, then he coughed. “I know how much she means to
you. I know.”

Tommy was hyperventilating but he did not care. He didn’t care if he ever took another
breath. He left her again.

What if she was dead? What if she was stuck somewhere? What if she thought Tommy did
this to her on purpose?

Tommy’s chest exploded with pain.

“Jesus Tommy—” Charlie yelped, “this is dangerous.”

 Charlie started scrambling for something, rolling around, clicking monitors on, and readying
what Tommy guessed was a sedative.

He felt so guilty about so many things.

Clementine.

“He’s going,” Wilbur said from above Tommy.

Tommy felt his body stiffening. His trembling turned into full-body tremors.

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

Tommy’s eyes rolled back.

Chapter End Notes

... Thaks for reading, I hope you enjoyed (?) this chapter. If you like my writing consider
checking out some of my other fics! I have a variety of short and long ones.
Good ones:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Take care of yourself! Go give your pets some love!
 Chapter 23
Chapter Summary

man...

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: panic, injury, a character tells another character to kill themself (not
seriously), kidnapping, non-consensual drug use. Let me know if I missed any!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Wilbur had decided he was going to do this the second Tommy started seizing. He had prayed
to every god that had ever been named that the damn cat was alive. Because they all knew
that Tommy deserved to have his fucking cat.

That kid couldn’t take any more hits. He couldn’t. No person could healthily deal with this
much. Wilbur didin’t think it was possible to be this concerned about someone. And he was
ready to fight anyone he needed to to prevent Tommy from being forced into heroism. He
deserved to get away from this violence. He deserved it more than anyone else in this
hellscape city.

These were the thoughts that motivated Wilbur as he picked through the rubble piles he was
supposed to be nowhere near.

Phil didn’t know he was out here. And technically, neither did Charlie. But it wasn’t like
anyone had explicitly said “Wilbur, don’t go back to the tower”, it was only implied.

So Wilbur was back at the tower. And it was hour two of searching the remaining floors.
He’d possibly been spotted from afar but he sincerely hoped nobody was going to think it
was weird that a hero was searching the rubble of their own tower.

Even if he was alone. And slowly losing energy. And bleeding from pulling apart sharp rocks
and splintered wood. Still with a black eye. And messed up wings. And only slightly faded
bruises on his throat.

But he wasn’t going to stop until Phil or another hero dragged him away by force.

The universe was cruel sometimes but Wilbur didn’t want to believe it was completely evil.
Clementine was not dead. She could not be dead.
When it verged on the third hour Wilbur started receiving messages and calls. He answered
Phil’s first.

“Hey. I’m okay, just out.”

“Out where, Wilbur?”

“... Out.”

“Where?”

Wilbur groaned. “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to stress you out more. Just give me another
hour and I’ll be back.”

“I need you to be honest with me. Now more than ever.”

Wilbur sighed. “I’m looking for Clementine.”

“Wilbur.”

“I know.”

“It’s not safe there, especially not alone.”

“I know.”

He kicked apart what looked like a section that could have a little cave or hollow under it.
Then, he was glad Clementine wasn’t there because that probably would have hurt her. Oops.

“I’m coming to get you.”

“You mean you’re coming to help me look.”

Phil hesitated. “Maybe.”

“Well… meet me at Tommy’s old apartment. I can’t find anything in here and if she managed
to escape I’m hoping she knew her way home.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you there. Be careful.”

Wilbur intended to make it out of this trash heap unscathed.

And he did. He flew with aches and pains in his unstretched wings. And he landed on the fire
escape of Tommy’s old, crusty, abandoned apartment. What he didn’t expect, was for Phil to
have beat him there.

The window was left open. Wilbur climbed in. Phil was sitting on the floor waiting for
Wilbur to get there, probably having already checked the apartment.

“Don’t see her?” Wilbur asked, voice still scratchy.

Phil turned his head toward Wilbur with a smile. Then he lifted a little orange kitten over his
shoulder. She purred happily and let herself be placed over Phil’s back.

Tears sprung to Wilbur’s eyes and he knelt with them. He lifted his hand for Clementine to
sniff at and she did. Then she pushed her nose into his hand.

Wilbur chuckled and sniffed. Then he told the cat, “You’re pretty incredible, you know that?”

Mrrph.

“Wilbur, your hands,” Phil fretted, putting the cat down. “Your wings…”

Phil held Wilbur’s hands gently and looked back at his wings, then he swiped a thumb over a
rough cut on Wilbur’s palm.

“I know, I know,” Wilbur mumbled.

“We’ll take care of this when we get back, okay?”

“Mhm. Let's reunite these two first,” Wilbur said, smiling as Clementine climbed onto his
lap.

**********

Tommy watched Techno. That’s all he did. Techno was asleep; he had an IV in his wrist and
some wires attached to his head. Charlie had said something about monitoring his brain
activity. Cicatrix’s powers were messier than Tommy realized.

So he watched Techno and waited for him to wake up. He planned on thanking him and
making sure Techno knew that Tommy loved him and didn’t blame him for anything.
Because he just remembered Techno protecting him.

That whole fight was a sequence of defending himself, protecting Techno, and Techno
protecting him. Even when Techno was convinced he would die if he attacked Cicatrix, he
did it because he knew Tommy was in danger.

And thinking about how much he loved Techno distracted him from thinking about
Clementine.

He wished Wilbur was here. Wilbur was really good at distracting him too.

“Hey Tommy,” Charlie greeted, walking through the door. “Feeling better?”

Tommy shrugged. His body was stiff and sore. Instead of saying that though, he kept
watching Techno.
“I think he’ll wake up soon. He’s had a good few hours.”

Tommy nodded.

“Have you been doing anything? Watching TV?”

Tommy shook his head. There was a TV on the wall opposite his bed. Charlie had given him
the remote but he didn’t feel like watching anything.

“Did you eat what the nurses brought to you?”

Tommy nodded to the side table where a half-eaten sandwich was laid out on a plate.

“Well, I guess that’s better than nothing. Try to finish it though.”

Charlie was suddenly very close when Tommy looked back at him. He handed Tommy a
bottle of water. It was cold.

“And please drink all of this. I’m going to work on healing Techno’s head a little more and if
I have some energy left I’ll try to strengthen your leg up again too.”

“Thanks,” Tommy croaked.

Charlie smiled at Tommy’s eventual speaking. Then he sat on the spinny chair and rolled
over to Techno’s side. Tommy watched him work.

It was a lot nicer to have company in the room. He felt a little less lost.

He was even pulled out of his thoughts when Charlie started healing his crushed leg. He got
to focus on the feeling of it rebuilding itself. Which was gross but it was better than thinking
about other things.

And then Techno woke up. Which completely pushed everything negative to the side. The
first thing he said when he was awake was:

“Where’s Tommy?”

So Tommy got out of his bed, stiffly, ignoring Charlie’s nervously outstretched hands, and he
leaned against Techno’s bed.

“Right here,” he said. “Everyone’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Yeah,” Techno breathed. “Okay.”

“Thank you for protecting me. I wish you didn’t have to.”

Techno huffed. “I wish you didn’t need protection too, kid, but I’m always gonna be there to
do it.”

“You were amazing,” Tommy continued. “I need you to know that.”

Techno looked at a loss for words.

“I love you and you protected me and you were amazing yesterday.”

Techno’s wing wrapped around Tommy’s back and pulled him in. Tommy went easily
hugging Techno carefully, trying to do so comfortably.

“I love you. And you were amazing yesterday,” Techno said. “After everything, you still held
your own against top-tier villains.”

Tommy wanted to lie down and melt right into the hug. Instead, he pulled back.

“I don’t know where Wilbur is but I think Phil’s been making a bunch of calls to hero
organizations in other cities—warning them about Cicatrix and… uh, Somnium.”

“Right to business, huh?”

Tommy cringed. “S’ not like there’s anything else to talk about.”

“What about this little miracle?” Wilbur said from the doorway.

Mrrph.

Tommy heard her paws padding across the floor before he was really ready to catch her. She
jumped into his arms, and Tommy looked up at Wilbur with stars in his eyes.

He was frozen.

Happy frozen. Overwhelmed. But happy.

Clementine was classically nudging her face against Tommy’s. Purring, chirping contently.
She licked his chin.

Tommy was still frozen, just numbly grinning down at her.

“Hi, Tech,” he heard Wilbur say.

Tommy stepped away from Techno’s bed to make room for Wilbur. And Phil who was
apparently there now. He stared down at Clementine with all of the warmth he had in his
heart. And, a bit shakily, Tommy sat back on his bed.

Clementine hyperly pawed and nudged and chirped. Tommy scooped her up into a more
secure hold and scooted further onto the bed, then he lay down. He curled around Clementine
and she continued to purr and chatter, occasionally licking his cheek or gently biting his chin.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, hoping only Clementine would hear it. “I love you so much.”

Mrrph.

Tommy scratched behind her ears, her scruff, under his chin—a little awkwardly. She turned
her head into it every time. She started kneading her paws into Tommy’s chest, right over his
heart.

“You’re so perfect,” Tommy told her, “I’m so sorry.”

Tommy’s bed covers were pulled up over his shoulder, covering all of Clementine but her
face. Tommy looked away from her only for a second and saw Phil smiling fondly down at
him. Then, Phil brushed his hand over Tommy’s hair and walked away like it was nothing.

Tommy turned back to Clementine who had somehow moved her face even closer to his. He
laughed in surprise and cupped the back of her fuzzy head to press their foreheads together.

“I fucking love you so much, cat.”

Tommy fell asleep there with her.

***********

Tommy woke up startled from a dream. Clementine jumped with a chirp but noticed Tommy
was awake and immediately started purring again.

“You okay?” Techno asked.

Tommy turned over to see Techno. He was lying down, watching Tommy, with an arm
hanging over the side of the bed.

“Don’t even remember what the dream was,” Tommy mumbled. “What time is it?”

He looked around for a clock and didn’t see one.

“Phil refuses to let either of us know the time because he thinks we’ll feel bad about just
lying around.”

“Bastard.”

“That’s what I said.”

Tommy sat up against the headrest and let Clementine climb all over him. She sat wherever
she pleased and Tommy would never complain about it again.

“How’s your head?” Tommy asked.

Techno shrugged. “Fine as long as I don’t sit up.”

“Oh… so, not fine then.”

Techno smiled but it was tired. “Phil has been checking in a lot. I’m sure when he comes in
next time he’ll update us a little.”
“I hate waiting.”

“You say that a lot.”

“I hate it a lot.”

But he had to wait for Phil to come back. If he tried to get up and walk away, Techno would
probably get up to try and stop him. Which would be bad for everyone. But he’d also
probably get lost, seeing as how the hospital section is the only one he’d been in so far.

It looked even more like a hospital than the one in the tower.

When Phil walked through the door Tommy thought about jumping out of his bed and
running for the man. He would tackle Phil, and… and… do something with all of the nervous
energy pent up inside himself.

“Hi boys,” Phil said. “Are you two feeling rested?”

Techno snorted, which Phil frowned at. He walked to Techno’s side and sat in Charlie’s chair.

“Your head’s still bad huh?” Phil asked, passing a hand over Techno’s feathers.

“It’s not great but Charlie thinks the pain can be mostly gone by tomorrow.”

Phil nodded, still petting Techno’s feathers. “And your burns?”

“Barely feel em’.”

Phil raised an eyebrow but Techno didn’t change his answer. Then, Phil switched his
attention to Tommy.

“And you? Your leg and other wounds?”

Tommy shrugged. “Charlie fixed them and I use my pain suppression when it flares up.”

Phil let out a stressed breath. “Well, not ideal for either of you but I’m afraid we have a lot to
discuss. Wilbur will be here shortly with Charlie and a few others. Don’t want to move either
of you to the meeting room.”

Tommy was glad to be included in these conversations, however, he really wasn’t that hurt.
Which meant Phil was being overprotective and forgetting that Tommy wasn’t fragile. It was
annoying. This could not keep happening forever.

“Phil what time is it?” Techno asked.

“You slept for six hours, both of you.”

Tommy’s eyes widened, and he was sure that Techno’s had too. “Did we miss much?”

“No,” Phil placated, “we’re just seeing who’s too hurt to participate in next actions, and
we’re keeping the public updated.”
The door opened again and Charlie walked in followed by Wilbur, Sam, Jschlatt, Vuples—
Fundy, and Niki. Sam was walking with crutches, Schlatt had bandages poking out from the
neckline of his shirt, Fundy had both wrists wrapped, and Niki had a mechanical-looking
brace on her knee.

“You all look like shit,” Tommy said.

A few of them smiled or laughed. But the amusement fell short, and everyone pulled over
beds or stray chairs to sit on.

Wilbur sat with Tommy and Phil sat with Techno.

“The people you see in here, other than Techno and Tommy, are the heroes that are well
enough to take on the next steps of our plan,” Phil said. “We’re sure that Cicatrix is going to
break into Pandora again for Somnium and Absconditus. He has Ignis and the power
enhancer to do it with.”

Tommy made sure not to look at Techno when Phil said that.

Charlie was listening while tending to various injuries. He was poking around Sam’s leg.

“The guards in Pandora will be overwhelmed without us, so a few of us will be heading there
to try and hold Cicatrix off. We considered hiding Somnium and Absconditus but we didn’t
think we could safely transport them.”

A wonderful thought.

“Sam, Fundy, and Wilbur will go to Pandora.”

Tommy’s eyes snapped toward Wilbur. Wilbur wrapped a wing around Tommy’s shoulders
and said nothing.

“The rest of us need to keep up patrols. The criminals know that we’ve been hit hard, they
will take this opportunity to run through the cities.”

“This isn’t sustainable,” Niki said. “So what are we doing to stop Cicatrix? Permanently.”

“We’re going after Apis and Ianuae. And by ‘we’, I mean myself and Schlatt. We’ll get
Cicatrix’s location, plans, allies, enemies, weaknesses, and everything we need to know from
them. Based on that, we’ll plan a raid.”

“We can’t raid him,” Niki argued. “We’re not strong enough.”

Phil nodded. “You’re right. We’re in contact with other hero organizations and requesting that
they lend us the known power enhancers to aid us in this fight. They don’t want to send their
own heroes, so that’s all they’ll give us.”

The room fell eerily silent, so Phil continued.

“If Cicatrix manages to get the villains out of Pandora, he will be going after the other
enhancers anyway.” Phil looked between each of the heroes in the room, and then at Tommy.
“To get the enhancers from other organizations we need Ianuae’s ability to teleport. It’s the
safest, fastest way to guarantee Cicatrix won’t get them first or intercept them. We’re going
after Apis and Ianuae tonight.”

Tommy hesitated, “I could help.”

Phil shook his head and started to speak but Tommy cut in.

“No—really I could help. They’re going to be way more threatened by you than by me.”

“Sorry Tommy. No. We know how we’re going to do this, we know it will work, and we
don’t have time to avoid scaring them.”

Tommy clicked his mouth shut. Clementine stretched an arm up and clawed a little pawful of
Tommy’s shirt, making him relax.

“So. We’ll get the villains, Ianuae will help us get the enhancers, we’ll decide who’s well
enough to join the raid and assign the discs to the most potent powers.”

A few of the heroes nodded.

“When are we moving to Pandora?” Fundy asked.

“Early tomorrow morning. I want you all rested, and I need to arrange a few more things for
your transportation.”

Fundy nodded, glancing at Sam, and then at Wilbur.

The door opened again and two people Tommy only vaguely remembered walked in. They
had healer’s uniforms on.

Phil nodded to them and started explaining, “I need Wilbur’s voice fully healed. Fundy’s
wrists should hopefully take very little energy. Looks like Charlie has Sam’s leg figured out
so… help Techno please.”

The healers nodded and wasted no time getting to their patients. Techno looked
uncomfortable at having Phil and a healer hovering over him.

“Right now I have an idea of who should get the enhancers,” Phil continued. “But nothing is
set in stone. We will, hopefully, have three of them to use.”

“There’s no way Sam won’t be one of them,” Fundy said. “You’d be impossible to hurt
holding those things.”

Sam nodded, considering this for the first time apparently.

“That is one person I had in mind, yes. I was also thinking Techno if he’s well enough.”
“I will be,” Techno said, wincing when the healer's hands started glowing over his temples.

“What about you, Phil?” Niki asked.

Phil had powers?

“Don’t really know how that would work. It’s not like my powers are that useful.”

“I thought you didn’t have powers,” Tommy said.

Phil shrugged. “I never need them.”

“... Well what are they?”

Phil grinned mischievously. “Nobody tell him. It’ll be a party trick for a rainy day.”

“I feel like this would be a very convenient time to tell me, actually,” Tommy said, crossing
his arms.

Nobody said anything.

“All of you are bastards.”

The healer stepped away from Techno, catching most of their attention. Charlie left Sam’s
side to go see Techno too.

Techno was asleep again. Or unconscious.

“I think I fixed a huge chunk of it,” the healer told Charlie. “Should be even easier from now
on but it’s really draining him.”

Charlie nodded. “I’ve noticed that too.”

He placed a hand on Techno’s temple, and his fingertips glowed a dull green again.

“You think it’s worth getting a regeneration potion for?” the healer asked.

Charlie shook his head. “No, no. You did a great job. I can completely fix this by tonight I
think.”

“Really?” Phil asked.

“Yes. My specialty is cell regeneration and pain relief, but Grian’s specialty,” Charlie
gestured to the other healer, “is specifically reversing the injuries.”

Phil nodded slowly. “Well, that is certainly good news. Thank you both.”

Tommy looked at Wilbur, who was now being looked at by the healer who had tended to
Fundy’s wrists. He looked uncomfortable, but he cooperated, moving his head wherever the
healer directed, trying to speak when needed.
He looked tired.

“And Tommy, I need you to come with me,” Phil said. “If you’re not too tired to walk a little
ways.”

Tommy stiffened. He knew what this conversation was about to be. “Yeah. Okay.”

Wilbur let him go with a gentle pat on the back and brush over his wings. Tommy glared at
him as he walked away. That prick. Although, Clementine was curling into Wilbur’s lap now
that Tommy was leaving for a bit, so maybe he was good for something.

Tommy kind of wanted to bring Clementine along.

Tommy followed Phil into the hallway. Phil’s wing naturally stretched behind Tommy and lay
over his shoulders like a blanket.

“You know what I want to talk about,” Phil guessed. “But this isn’t only about the shit you
pulled during the attack.”

“Oh…”

They walked a little ways to a set of stairs and went up one floor. The hallway they walked
up to was nicer in the way that it didn’t look like catacombs. It was decorated and cozier.

They entered a room that looked like a lab. There were tools, tables, benches, and expensive
looking… cases? Tubes? With the heroes’ suits in them.

“They’re all being repaired right now,” Phil explained. “We’re working on earplugs so we
can’t hear Cicatrix’s persuasion, and we’re trying to get some fireproofing.”

Tommy nodded, confused as to why Phil brought him here.

Until he saw it hanging, suspended int he air by wires. A red and black suit with subtle flame-
like patterns. A mask was on the table next to it, sitting a top a mannequin head. It looked
like Tommy’s old mask but better. The spikes on the mouth covering looked stronger, and the
Xs on his eyes weren’t stitched but glowing.

“Phil is that for me?”

Phil’s wing tightened briefly around his shoulder before he pulled away to take the mask off
the mannequin. He handed it to Tommy.

“This suit is yours as long as you want it. This does not mean you have to be a hero. This suit
is to help keep you safe and ready in case of another attack. And… if Schlatt thinks it’s safe,
we might need you to wield an enhancer for the raid.”

Tommy blinked. And blinked more. And glanced down at the mask in his hands and then up
at Phil again.

“You want me to come? And use an enhancer?”

Phil sighed. “I don’t really want to put you through that, but honestly mate, you have the skill
and powers that we need. If you can really have three active powers at once, in addition to
your fire and wings… you’re pretty powerful.”

“I want to do it. I really want to help.” Tommy put his mask on. “This is so sick.”

Phil chuckled. “The screen built into it is a new feature we’re working on. Might get added to
all heroes’ suits. It’s like the wristbands but right in your face.”

Tommy slipped the mask on and the Xs flickered out of sight. At that, he was slightly
disappointed.

“Oh—don’t worry the Xs are there, you just can’t see them. Don’t want to obstruct your
vision.”

“Awesome.”

Welcome, his mask said.

“It uh, doesn’t have a name registered yet. The higher-ups don’t want you operating under the
name Rubrum…”

“Oh… did they have another name in mind?”

Tommy was very attached to Rubrum.

“They didn’t pick one for you but Wilbur and Techno had a few ideas. Just—let’s worry
about your hero identity later. For, you know, if you decide to become one.”

Tommy nodded and reached up to slip the mask back off. Phil stopped him though. “Hold on,
I want to show you some features. You can press on either ear to activate your comms, or you
can voice command it by saying ‘activate comms’.”

Tommy pressed his right ear and heard a beep, confirming his request.

“You can speak a channel number and be transported there. Channel one has every hero on it,
so anyone with their mask on or earpiece in will hear you. Channel two is our medical team.
Channels three to twenty are separate for any other use like communicating on patrol and
missions.”

“What if I can’t speak for some reason?” Tommy asked, thinking about his throat being
singed again.

“You can press the spot over your temple and drag it around your ear until you reach the
channel you want. Try and go to channel twenty.”

Tommy pressed his middle finger into his temple and slid it backward around his ear. A
number in the bottom of his mask’s screen rose until he reached twenty.

“And you can press your ear again to turn off your comms.”
Tommy did so, hearing a confirming beep as they turned off. “So cool. That’s—wow that’s so
cool.”

“Mhm. And,” Phil reached forward and pulled the bottom part of Tommy’s mask up to his
forehead, “you can pull the spiked part up like this if you’re struggling to breathe or need to
take a drink.”

“Right.”

Phil pulled the spiked part back down for him. Then he lifted the goggle part of Tommy’s
mask up onto his forehead. “The goggles can also detach if they become obstructed for some
reason.”

“Okay.”

Phil lifted the goggles back onto Tommy’s eyes. Then he looked back over at the red and
black suit. “There’s a hood on the back of the suit that can be pinned to the top of your head.
It’s waterproof and warm. Also keeps your original look.”

“You really put a lot of thought into this, didn’t you?” Tommy asked.

“Sam’s been working on it since we decided we wanted to recruit you. Well—since we

convinced him we should recruit you instead of just catch you.”

“You really were hunting me down though,” Tommy huffed.

Phil grabbed the top of Tommy’s mask and slipped it off, messing up Tommy’s hair. “We
were worried you’d get into trouble. And we were worried you’d hurt yourself—since we
knew you were just a kid.”

“Okay—you didn’t know I was a kid until you attacked me with instincts.”

Phil shrugged. “If it works it works.”

Tommy smacked him with a wing.

“Oh—wings. Right. Your suit has wing slits of course. But the exciting thing is that it also
has extendable wing braces. Every winged hero has that feature. They support your wing
shoulders and joints so you can make deeper dives and sharper turns.”

Tommy smiled at Phil getting excited to tell him everything “Cool.”

“And there are knee braces built into your suit.”

“Ah. Yeah. I kinda… I don’t even remember when I lost my knee braces. They might still be
in my apartment?”

Phil hummed. “Maybe we can look for them. I didn’t see them when we got Clementine
though.”
“Wait—you found Clementine in my apartment?”

“Uh, yeah mate. We did. Wilbur went to check the tower first—very much so without
permission by the way—and we checked your apartment figuring she was smart enough to
find her way back. Which she did.”

Tommy tousled his hair and looked in a mirror on the wall to his right. “She’s awesome.”

“She is. You wanna try the suit on?”

Tommy smiled wildly. “Of fucking course I do.”

Phil pressed a button and the wires lowered the suit onto the table. Phil picked it up and
handed it to Tommy.

“It should be fine right over what you’re wearing but for the future, I wouldn’t try it with a
hoodie or jeans.”

Tommy nodded and toed off his shoes. He slipped his foot through the first pantleg, and
again through the other.

As he was putting the suit on, he asked, “How is this suit here? Wouldn’t it have been in the
other tower?”

“It was. With permission, a few heroes went back to recover extra suits and materials. This
was after Wilbur snuck out to find Clementine.”

Tommy slipped his arms through the sleeves and the suit started shrinking to fit him. The
back did itself up around his wings. Tommy looked up and Phil was holding out more pieces.
A black vest, very similar to Tommy’s original.

“I don’t know if the higher-ups will like how similar you look to Rubrum’s persona but
they’ll have to deal with it for now. The vest is bulletproof. Please wear it. Always.”

Tommy snorted and put the vest on. He put up his hood and found the attached pin to put it in
place. Phil handed him some gloves to put over the ones the suit had built in.

“These gloves will protect your knuckles, add grip for climbing and holding weapons, and
they each have one flare installed. You can activate it by clapping the backs of your hands
together, and then point the flare where you want to shoot it, your right one will shoot first,
then your left if you clap your hands again.”

“Philza Craft this is so fucking cool you don’t even know.”

Phil choked on a laugh. “It’s been a while since you called me Philza.”

“Philza Craft I’m going to do so many cool things with this suit.”

“Uh huh. There are a bunch of other safety features that I can give you a list of, but take it off
for now because we’re gonna talk.”
Tommy considered running. Instead, he reluctantly took off his epic suit and let Phil show
him how to hang it on the wires.

“Alright, come on,” Phil said, gesturing toward the door.

“Now where are we going?”

“Somewhere cozier than that hospital hall.”

Phil took him to an elevator this time and they went further underground. Only by two floors.
It was cold down here. Super cold. But Phil kept his wing around Tommy’s shoulder as they
walked. And Tommy only realized where they were going when Phil opened the door to a
living space.

It was decorated differently, but there was one thing that gave away who this space belonged
to: the big nest of blankets in the middle of the room. There was a dip in the floor with a
circular mattress in it.

Phil closed the door behind him. “Let’s sit.”

“Is this a fucking nest, Philza?”

Phil nudged him forward and walked into the mess of sheets and pillows. Phil sat down in the
center of it and waited patiently for Tommy to join him.

Tommy did. He stepped cautiously into the soft pit and sat in front of Phil.

“Honeslty, mate, I know that you know what you did was risky. I know that you’re aware of
how bad it scared us. And I think that no matter how much I lecture you and tell you not to
try and protect us, you’re always going to do it anyway.”

Tommy listened, confused and anxious. “So…?”

“So, I can’t say that I truly wanted you to leave Techno behind because—because I wasn’t
sure if he was going to be alright either.” Phil paused to think. “And I don’t think it’s fair of
me to be mad at you. And I don’t want to dwell on what could have happened. I just want to
celebrate the fact that you’re okay.”

Phil held his arms open.

With a relieved sigh, Tommy shuffled into them. They lay back together and cover
themselves in blankets. Phil’s wings closed around Tommy in a stronger hug.

“I just needed a minute with you,” Phil said. “Just a minute.”

It ended up being a lot longer than one minute.

**********
When Tommy woke up he was not wrapped up in Phil’s wings but he was still in the nest.
And now, Wilbur and Techno were there. Tommy was sleeping against Wilbur’s legs, and
Techno was doing the same on his other side. Wilbur was reading from a laptop.

Tommy sat up, feeling groggy. And his wings felt lighter. They felt limber. And clean. He
spread his left wing out to observe it.

“He preened my wings.”

Wilbur chuckled. “Yep. You were out like a rock in seconds apparently.”

Tommy folded his wings up and crossed his arms. He sat against the wall of the nest with
Wilbur. “I nearly gave him a heart attack, what was I supposed to do? Deny an old man some
love?”

Tommy looked at Wilbur’s screen and saw an article. He only caught one word of the
headline before Wilbur closed the laptop.

It had said Somnium.

“What were you reading?” Tommy asked.

“Ah,” Wilbur breathed. “Um. I’ll tell you later.”

Tommy turned more toward Wilbur. “No. Tell me now—what is it? Does it have to do with
why Phil isn’t here?”

Tommy looked at the screen, it wasn’t time to go after Apis and Ianuae yet.

“Phil and Schlatt left early because our plans have changed a little.”

Tommy grabbed Wilbur’s forearm. “Why? What’s changed?”

Wilbur studied Tommy’s face and he looked distressed which made Tommy distressed.

“Cicatrix has already broken Somnium and Absconditus out of Pandora.”

Tommy half shook his head, paused, tried to shake his head again, and then sputtered,
“When?”

Wilbur unclenched his jaw to speak. “The day after he attacked the tower.”

Mrrph.

Tommy heard Clementine coming closer but he kept his eyes trained on Wilbur. Because
maybe he was going to say it was a joke. Maybe he was going to start laughing and tell
Tommy that Cicatrix surrendered and everything was actually fine. Maybe Tommy got to
wake up and was immediately greeted with victory.
But in what world would that happen?

In what world could he wake up and have everything be okay?

Clementine nudged her face over Tommy’s elbow. Then she climbed into his lap and he
looked down at her.

“So while we were all sleeping and healing up he just—he did it.”

Wilbur nodded, watching Tommy.

“I don’t really… I don't know what to…”

Clementine wiggled her head under Tommy’s hand and he instinctually started petting her.

“The second we get Apis and Ianuae back here we’re going after the other enhancers. The
other organizations are ready for us, they’ve agreed to trust Phil with them.”

Mrrrph.

Clementine did not like that Tommy wasn’t putting much energy into petting her. He scooped
her up under the arms and held her close to his chest. She liked that a lot more.

“I feel like I can’t—my head’s all…”

“Don’t. Just don’t try to obsess over it. Don’t think about it. There is nothing to do right now
but to keep resting.”

“That’s what we thought while Cicatrix was fucking breaking Somnium out.”

Wilbur’s phone started ringing. The sound made Techno jolt awake. He looked tiredly over at
Tommy and squinted in confusion.

“Phil?” Wilbur answered.

“Put it on speaker,” Techno mumbled.

Wilbur clicked on the speaker.

“—eed you.”

“Sorry sorry, what Phil?”

“We need you in the tunnel.”

“Shit. I’m on my way.”

“Bring Tommy.”

Wilbur’s eyes flickered to Tommy. “Okay…”

Phil hung up and they shot to their feet, leaving a disgruntled Clementine and a stressed
Techno behind.

“Stay there,” Wilbur told both of them. “I mean it.”

Tommy followed Wilbur, jogging into the hallway and then into the elevator. They traveled
agonizingly slowly down the floors and shot back out into the hall. Tommy’s injured leg felt
heavy. He activated his strength to see if it helped. It did a little bit.

Wilbur guided him down a turn and through another door. Past the door was another
underground tunnel like the one they’d entered the complex from. About a hundred meters
down the tunnel, Tommy saw Phil holding Ranboo in his arms and Tubbo pinned against the
gross floor by Schlatt.

They were both in handcuffs. Ranboo wasn’t moving. Tubbo was screaming, struggling,
wings slapping Schlatt viciously.

Phil was in the middle of setting Ranboo down to help when he heard Wilbur and Tommy
storming down the hall. He kept Ranboo in his hold and greeted them quickly.

“Apis fought off the sedative faster than I’ve ever seen,” Phil said.

Wilbur nodded. “Apis, stop struggling.”

Tubbo went limp. Schlatt loosened up his hold, pressing Tubbo’s face less harshly into the
stone.

“Apis, follow us and cooperate.”

Hesitantly, Schlatt got to his feet, helping pull Tubbo up too. Tubbo glared until his eyes
landed on Tommy. It was how Tommy realized neither of them were masked. Or in costume.

“Nobody’s going to hurt you,” Tommy told him.

Tubbo grit his teeth, trying not to breathe heavily. “Not the heroes maybe.”

“As soon as you help us with what we need, we will arrange your hiding and protection,”
Phil said. “The last thing any of us want is for Cicatrix to have either of you again.”

“Let’s go,” Schlatt said, nudging Tubbo forward.

“Let me take him,” Tommy said, coming forward. “It’s fine, Wilbur’s here and I have my
strength.”

Schlatt looked at Phil for approval. Phil nodded and Schlatt let Tommy hold Tubbo’s arms
while they walked. Phil lead the way with Ranboo still knocked out in his arms and Schlatt
next to him. Wilbur stayed in the back with Tommy and Tubbo.

“Ranboo’s fine,” Tommy assured.

Tubbo retracted his wings like a whip. They almost hit Tommy in the face, which made
Wilbur’s hand flinch out.

“... Did you get hurt?” Tommy asked.

Tubbo’s shoulders were high, his arms tense under Tommy’s hands. He grumbled, “No.”

“We managed to get the sedative in their room service order,” Phil explained. “They were fast
asleep when we got in.”

Tubbo clenched his fists and Tommy felt him about to lunge forward, fighting past Wilbur’s
command. Tommy removed one hand from Tubbo’s arms and put it on his shoulder.

“Don’t even try.”

Nobody said anything else until they entered the real complex which was so much warmer
than those dark tunnels.

“We’ll go to one of the reinforced care units,” Phil said.

Tommy didn’t know what that meant until he saw a door like the one he used to stay behind
at the other hero tower. It was a reinforced room with two hospital beds inside it. Made to
keep patients safe or villains inside while being treated.

Tommy had to push a little bit to get Tubbo to walk inside. Ranboo was placed on one of the
beds and Tommy guided Tubbo toward the other one.

“I’m not sitting on that,” he said.

“Apis, sit on the bed.”

“Kill yourself,” Tubbo said as he sat on the bed.

Wilbur stepped forward, making Tubbo lean away from him, and he started undoing Tubbo’s
cuffs. At the same time Phil came forward with another set. They quickly cuffed Tubbo’s
hands to the sides of the hospital bed.

Then they did the same with Ranboo.

Schlatt closed the door behind them all.

“The first thing we’re going to do,” Phil started, pressing a button on the wall, “is have Aries
and one of our healers do a quick assessment of you two. Then we’re going to ask you a few
things.”

Schlatt leaned toward Phil and whispered something to him. At that, Phil nodded and said,
“I’ll see if Grian’s available then.”

Phil turned to Tommy and then glanced behind him at the door opening. Charlie was there.
“Ah, sorry Charlie I think this might be a job for Grian—but if you and Tommy could go
check on Techno that would be just as useful.”

Charlie nodded, looking over at Tubbo and Ranboo. “Yeah, okay I’ll send him your way.”

“Wait, wait,” Tommy said, “I want to be here.”

Phil nodded. “I know mate, and I promise when we start asking questions you will be. Go
check on Techno, give him an update, and by the time you get back we’ll be done with our
medical records and assessments.”

Tommy breathed. “Alright, Phil.”

Tommy followed Charlie out the door and heard it click behind them. Locking it.

“How’s your leg?” Charlie asked as they found the elevator.

“Doesn’t hurt, just kinda weak.”

Charlie nodded. “Makes sense. That should go away soon. Might be a good idea for you to
stay on your feet for a bit and walk around now.”

They got back to Techno and he was asleep again. Face down in the nest. Tommy snorted at
the sight and hopped down on the mattress. Techno flinched awake and looked up at Tommy.

“Oops,” Techno said.

“Oops?” Tommy asked.

“I didn’t mean to fall back asleep.”

Charlie stood at the edge of the nest. “I’m hoping to completely get rid of the headaches for
you now.”

“Nice,” Techno said, not moving.

“Techno if you don’t get up I’m gonna have to step into the nest.”

Something inhuman chattered in the back of Tommy’s brain. He didn't like the idea of
Charlie touching the nest.

“Get up,” Tommy urged. “I want to get back to Apis and Ianuae and Phil told me to come
update you, so, get up.”

Techno rolled into a sitting position, which revealed Clementine curled up behind him. She
must have been enjoying the warmth.

“Your cat tried to sleep across my face,” Techno mumbled, half-standing-half crawling out of
the nest.

“She does that.”

Techno threw himself onto a couch and Charlie followed. Tommy sat on a chair next to it and
started giving Techno the update.

“We have them, Phil’s getting their medical records or whatever that means. Then Wilbur and
Schlatt are gonna interrogate them. Apis fought off the sedative somehow—I think part of his
power is fighting off toxins and things.”

Techno hummed, barely listening, instead cringing at the feeling of having his brain messed
with.

Clementine climbed up onto the couch with Techno. The second Charlie pulled his hands
away, Techno blinked down at her.

“What?”

Mrrph.

“That’s what I was thinking.”

Mrrph.

“Okay,” Tommy clapped his hands, “Now that we’re done here I’m gonna go get back to the
villains.”

“Hold on,” Charlie said. “I think Phil just wanted to give them as much space as possible.
Let’s give them a minute to adjust and calm down.”

“I think I am the one the least likely to stress them out.”

Charlie shrugged. “Maybe. I imagine Phil was also worried about your stress levels.”

“No—no no I’m actually doing good right now. We have something big—we have next steps
and I want to get to work!”

Techno stood from the couch and did a testing few steps away from it.

“Wow. I actually don’t feel dizzy now,” he said.

“That’s good.”

“And I know for a fact that if I touch Cicatrix or Ignis… I won’t disintegrate. Right?”

Charlie blinked. “Right.”

“Did you still think you would die when you tackled him off of me?” Tommy asked, eyebrow
raised.

Techno crossed his arms. “And what if I did?”

Tommy’s jaw dropped for a second. Then he realized, “I guess we’re even then.”
“Well I wouldn’t say we’re even—because I wasn’t actually going to die. You could have
when you ran into a crumbling exploding building.”

Tommy rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

**********

When he got back, Grian was hovering over Ranboo, who was awake and looked like he’d
just come down from a panic attack. Tommy would know. Ranboo’s eyes flickered toward
Tommy when he walked in and the villain almost looked relieved.

“Hi Ranboo,” Tommy said.

He looked at Tubbo, and Tubbo looked exhausted.

He’d probably been frustratedly cursing and screaming at people. Especially if Ranboo was
panicking and they were touching him.

“We’re going to start asking you a few things,” Phil said. Then he looked at the camera in the
corner of the room and nodded.

Tommy went to lean against the wall next to Wilbur. Grian stayed sitting at Ranboo’s side for
a second, observing him, and then stood to leave. Phil thanked him, and as he walked into the
hallway, Grian released a colourful pair of wings. Parrot wings maybe.

“Alright,” Schlatt started, “If you didn’t know already, I can make you two tell the truth. And
I know when you’re lying so don’t bother even trying.”

“We’re not stupid,” Tubbo spat. “Just hurry up. What do you wanna know?”

“Where is Cicatrix’s base?” Phil asked.

Tommy’s chest tightened. This was it. This was where they found him.

“There are multiple entrances,” Tubbo started. “There’s one in a laundromat on Ash Street.
Another in the Venus Parkade. There’s a basement entrance in the MythAnn cafe. Oh and
also the cafe across from it… ‘Bluey’ something.”

“True,” Schlatt confirmed.

Phil was taking notes on an Ipad. “Are these entrances guarded?”

“Always,” Tubbo said. “The workers there are all Cicatrix’s people. Any money those
businesses make still gets to him.”

Schlatt continued to nod in confirmation so Phil continued writing this down.

“If we were to storm these entrances and enter the base, what complications would we face?”
Phil asked once he finished writing.

Tubbo glanced at Ranboo with a shrug.

“There aren’t any traps or anything,” Ranboo said. “But there are a lot of people with powers
and weapons—loyal fighters. It’s not a very hard place to navigate so… if you can blow
down a few locked doors and hack through a few passcode-protected areas you’re in.”

“Do you know these passwords?”

Ranboo shook his head. “I mean, I’m sure Cicatrix would have changed them once we left.
He knows we betrayed him obviously…”

“Ah. I guessed that he gave you wrong information in case you told us. Is that right?”

Ranboo looked down at his lap. “It would seem so.”

Tommy hadn’t even really had a chance to be mad at them yet. Maybe he didn’t need to be
mad about this. Maybe this part wasn’t their fault.

“What do you know about his future plans?”

“He wanted Somnium out to help him ‘create an empire’ or whatever that means,” Tubbo
said. “I think they’re gonna go after more enhancers for it. I don’t think he wants the whole
world to himself—I think he wants a city or something for his businesses.”

Schlatt nodded and Phil took more notes.

Tubbo was freely sharing a lot more than Tommy expected him to. Which gave Tommy a
little hope. It made him wonder it Tubbo was relieved in a way to be forced into helping
them.

“Does he plan to eradicate heroes?” Phil asked.

Tubbo shook his head, “He just wants to make sure that you won’t be able to stop him or
come after him when he has his villain city up and running.”

Schlatt nodded.

“They always get greedy,” Wilbur said. “Cicatrix may just want one city for now but
eventually it’ll be the state, then the country, and you know how it goes.”

“I um—I started working on something that you guys might find useful if you’d let me keep
trying it,” Tubbo said.

At that, Tommy straightened.

Tubbo did want to help.

“And what’s that, mate?”

“I think I have a formula for an antigen to Cicatrix’s powers.”

Phil looked up from his page frozen, pen tip resting against the tablet. He glanced at Schlatt,
then Wilbur, and back to Tubbo.

“Have you made any of this antigen yet?” Phil asked.

Tubbo shook his head. “A few that didn’t work, but I think I’ll have it right this time if you
can get me what I need.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Schlatt said. “What do you need?’

Tubbo sat up straighter. “I’ll need regen and healing potions mainly. I’ll also need milk and
epinephrine.”

“That is… weird,” Wilbur said.

“I was thinking that I could put the solution into a capsule that you can just crunch on and
then drink—maybe have a pocket for it in your masks and a way to release it whenever you
think you’ve been charmed. Or if you noticed someone has been charmed you can tell them
to take the antigen.”

Schlatt smiled, “He’s telling the truth. We might have ourselves some charm protection.”

“I can get you a lab space,” Phil said. “I’ll send for the supplies immediately. Thank you,
Tubbo.”

Tubbo blinked at the use of his real name.

“But, our next issue,” Wilbur started. “Getting to the enhancers before Cicatrix does.”

“Right.” Phil sighed. “Ranboo, we could really use your teleportation powers to get us in and
out of there quickly.”

Ranboo stiffened in his seat. But Tubbo pulled against his cuffs.

“You can’t make him do that.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Phil placated. “We’ll be too slow any other way.”

“No,” Tubbo barked. “No fucking way. We are done with all of this bullshit—we are so done
doing people’s dirty work!”

“Tubbo—” Ranboo tried.

“No. No fucking way. I won’t make the antigen if you force him into this.”

We know the ingredients, Tommy thought. We could figure it out.

“Tubbo I can decide for myself,” Ranboo said.

Tubbo turned to him, pulling harshly on the cuffs. Ranboo winced.

“Will you help us, Ranboo? From what we understand there is a range limit to how far you
can teleport, I'm sure we can get you safely within range and quickly back to hiding,” Phil
said.

“Ranboo,” Tubbo urged. “This isn’t a good idea.”

Ranboo ignored him and looked to Phil. “Are you sure it’ll be safe?”

Phil smiled sadly. “I can’t guarantee it, there will always be risks. But we’re going to do
everything we can to keep you out of danger.”

Tubbo had tears in his eyes, Tommy realized.

“I need to have seen where I’m teleporting to before I can do it,” Ranboo said. “A picture or a
video works… that’s how I got into Tommy’s room that night. Tubbo flew up, took a picture
through your window, and showed it to me.”

The image of Tubbo hovering outside SBI’s window with a camera was a little bit funny. Just
a little.

“We can easily do that,” Phil said. “Do you have a specific range for your powers?”

“Um, I’ve been getting stronger with them lately so I think, like, I can get all the way across
the city now.”

“Oh, wow. That’s… that’s more than I was expecting. That means we can get you right in the
outskirts of the heroes’ city to teleport in and out.” Phil’s voice was high like he was almost
excited. “That’s fantastic news.”

Tubbo was staring blankly down at his lap.

“Yeah,” Ranboo said. “I can even uh, I can even take one of you with me.”

“That’s what I was going to ask next. As much as I’d like to trust you, I can’t. So I’ll be
accompanying you to pick up the enhancers. We’re hoping to get all of them before Cicatrix
can—as far as we know there’s three.”

Ranboo nodded, smiling lightly. “If you let me hold one I can teleport even further, and more
often—with more people too.”

Phil hummed. “We’ll see how pressed for time we are. Do you think you can do this soon?”

“I’d be willing to do it right away if you’re ready.”

Phil grinned. “Perfect. We’ll aim to leave in about two hours. I’ll contact the first tower and
arrange for transportation. You just rest up. Oh—and I’ll have a temporary suit fitted to your
size. Just in case.”

Ranboo nodded, energy subdued by nerves.

“And Tubbo,” Phil said. “I understand that you’re scared, but we really are going to do our
best to protect you. Ranboo will be fine with me.”

Tubbo didn’t answer.

“Is there anything else to cover right now?” Schlatt asked.

Phil tilted his head from side to side. “There is a lot to be asked, yes, but everything else can
wait. So, Schlatt you can send some people to investigate the entrances to Cicatrix’s base.
Wil, I’d like you to request the supplies for the antigen. And Tommy, you can stay here or
head back to Techno, whatever you prefer.”

Tommy looked between Ranboo and Tubbo. “I’ll stay here for a bit.”

“Alright. I’ll be back in about an hour for Ranboo. Unfortunately, Tubbo, you’re going to
have to stay here for a while.”

Tubbo didn’t say anything. He just stared.

Phil left, Schlatt and Wilbur followed. The door clicked behind them.

“Thank you for agreeing to help,” Tommy said to Ranboo. “I don’t know what we would
have done.”

Ranboo took a deep breath. “We were thinking about coming back but when we saw that we
gave you wrong information we didn’t think it was safe.”

“Well… I’m glad you’re here now I guess.”

Awkward silence lingered for so long that Tommy considered leaving them there.

“What are the heroes doing after they get the enhancers?” Tubbo asked.

Tommy looked up at him, surprised to hear him speak again.

“Then we’re gonna fight him.”

“And if you lose?”

Tommy’s chest did that thing again. The thing where it just… hurt. It was a small spike this
time. A small, sharp, lasting pain.

“I really don’t fucking know.”

They fell back into another silence.

 “Do you guys… need anything?” Tommy asked. He didn’t really want to be nice to them. It
wasn’t like he’d forgotten the fact that they were murderers. “We’re not trying to torture
you.”

Tubbo shook his head.

“No. Just one question though,” Ranboo said. “Is Clementine okay?”

Tommy sighed. “She made it out of the tower if that’s what your wondering. Yeah. She’s
here.”

“That’s good,” Ranboo whispered.

Tommy nodded. “I’m gonna go. Press the buttons by your heads on the wall if you need
anything. It’ll be Charlie or Grian that gets to you first.”

Tommy left and made sure the door was locked behind him. He started back down the hall
toward Techno and the nest.

Chapter End Notes

There are two chapters left...

And while you wait for them, consider reading some of my other stuff:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
Thanks for reading!! Drink water!! Pet a cat <3
(Also I don't care if it was unrealistic, Clementine is a major character and she will live.
I couldn't kill her. I just couldn't do it.)
 Chapter 24
Chapter Summary

the start of the finale yipeeee

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: violence, gore, discussions of previous traumas, blood, amputation. Let

me know if I missed any!

Enjoy :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Techno was finally feeling normal again. Tommy could tell because he was sparring with
Wilbur in the gym. That’s how he found them. He knew they were both anxious and needed
to get some anger out, he just hoped they didn’t hurt each other. Things were getting intense.

But it made sense. Phil had left with Ranboo four and a half hours ago to retrieve the first of
the enhancers.

Phil had actually specifically told Techno to rest up but Tommy watched Wilbur get a rare hit
on Techno’s jaw.

“Guys maybe tone it down?” Tommy suggested.

They did. Wilbur mumbled an apology for hitting Techno so hard, to which Techno laughed
and kicked Wilbur’s legs out.

The fight went on for a few more minutes. They stopped when Wiilbur got too tired and
stumbled back a few steps. Instead of tackling him and making him tap out, Techno raised his
hands and let Wilbur breathe.

“Do you two feel better now that you’ve beat each other up?” Tommy asked, crossing his
arms.

“Had to make sure Techno was well enough to fight,” Wilbur huffed. “Gotta pass the time
somehow.”

“Yeah… well I came to let you know that we should be hearing from Phil any minute now.”
Tommy was holding two Gatorades. He grabbed a red and a blue and expected the brothers to
fight over who got which one but they both seemed to have a colour picked out. Techno took
the red and Wilbur took the blue. He would have to remember their favourites for the future.

“Thanks, Tommy,” Techno said. “You check on Tubbo when they left?”

“Yeah… he told me to fuck off but I think he’s just nervous. He’ll be fine as long as Ranboo
is.”

“And what about you?” Wilbur asked between sips. “How do you feel?”

Tommy snorted. “I can barely think, Wil, my brains are scrambled.”

But, his leg felt normal, his arms were no longer withered, and he wasn’t actively seizing so
things were better than they had been for weeks. His knees were sore but Phil found him
replacement braces, he just wasn’t wearing them right now.

“Why don’t we head to the nest while we wait?” Techno suggested.

“Uh, ew? You’re both sweaty.”

“Don’t have time to shower. We might miss Phil.”

“You are not getting in the nest like that.”

Wilbur was smiling wildly. “I love that you’re getting more in tune with your instincts.”

“Die. Die. Die.” Tommy started leaving. He heard Wilbur and Techno scramble after him.
“I’m going to Tubbo.”

Tommy kept watching his phone. The ringtone was at full volume and it would vibrate if any
messages or calls came through. Techno and Wilbur jogged to catch up to him, checking their
own phones.

It was when they got to the reinforced room that Wilbur’s phone rang and a message came
through on Tommy’s phone.

Phil: Calling Wil

Wilbur answered the phone on speaker and Tommy closed the door, looking at Tubbo and
then nodding toward Wilbur’s phone.

“Dad?” Wilbur asked.

After a second, Phil answered.

“We got it. We’re driving back now. The second we’re in range Ranboo and I will teleport
back into the reinforced room. Be there please.”

“Already ahead of you,” Wilbur said. “How long will you be?”
“Now that we have the enhancer Ranboo can teleport further. We’re thinking ten or so
minutes.”

“Okay. We’re ready for you.”

Phil hung up.

Tommy felt giddy with hope. But this was also usually the point at which everything went
wrong. So, when Wilbur put his phone back in his pocket, Tommy grabbed his sleeve.

“There’s no way he can stop them, right?”

Tubbo tensed in Tommy’s peripheral.

“Not that I can think of,” Wilbur said, turning toward Tommy to hold his shoulders. “This
feels like a win.”

“Nice. Nice. I… think we all deserve a drink or two.”

Wilbur squinted but Techno snorted.

It ended up being fifteen minutes before anything else happened. And every minute that went
on after ten, Tommy’s chest hurt a little more.

Vroop.

Tommy jumped back into Wilbur as Phil and Ranboo appeared in the right corner of the
room. They were holding hands, and Ranboo had something in his free one. It was an ornate
dagger. It was impractically curved and decorated with black stones.

“Is… everything good?” Wilbur asked, not daring to move until Phil or Ranboo did.

Ranboo turned to Phil and held the dagger out. Phil took it gently, then turned back to
everyone else with a grin.

“We have our first enhancer.”

Tommy had to cover his mouth because he wasn’t sure if he’d laugh, cry, or puke.

They actually did it this time. They finally got one up on Cicatrix.

“We’ll go after the next one in about an hour after Ranboo has recovered. Teleporting so far
is taxing,” Phil said, watching Ranboo slowly walk back to his bed. “You are, of course, still
considered a villain so I’m going to restrain you again.”

Ranboo didn’t seem to care. He looked relieved more than anything.

“Any complications?” Techno asked.

“Not one,” Phil laughed. “It was… it was good. The heroes were ready for us over there. We
were in and out like ghosts.”
Phil clicked Ranboo’s cuffs into place.

“The next one is further,” Wilbur said. “But if you use the enhancer you think you can be
faster?”

“Definitely,” Phil and Ranboo said.

Then Phil asked, “How are the preparations for Tubbo’s antigen going?”

“Ah,” Wilbur perked up. “Our request was immediately approved. Potions are being sent our
way now, they’ll be delivered through the tunnels and I’ll be there to receive them in an hour.
We have everything else here.”

“And you’ll do it?” Phil asked him.

Everyone’s eyes flicked toward Tubbo.

He grew angry under their gazes. “Well I kind fucking have to, don’t I?”

Phil didn’t deny it. Instead, he brushed past Techno and opened the door. “Well, I’m going to
prepare for the next enhancer extraction. Please rest well Ranboo. And Wilbur, let Techno or
Tommy accompany you to pick up the potions.”

They followed Phil out with a few final nods to Ranboo and Tubbo.

**********

Tommy went with Wibur to pick up the potions. They did this while Ranboo and Phil were
preparing to leave for the second enhancer. This one was further away, it’d take longer. And
then, they were going straight to the third enhancer.

Ranboo had wondered about holding multiple enhancers at once. Phil said that the heroes had
never tried it before. They didn’t want to risk it. The enhancers were already addictive. It was
too much magic for one person to wield.

Phil was going to keep them updated and he assigned Wilbur and Techno with the job of
keeping Tommy distracted while everything happened without him.

They picked up two cases of potions from the tunnels, brought by someone Wilbur and
Techno knew. Wilbur used his voice to make the person tell the truth and asked if they were
compromised, followed, or working with a hero enemy.

When they deemed it safe, they let the guy go and took the potions back upstairs. At that
point, they let Tubbo out of the reinforced room and took him to a lab space in the same room
Phil had taken Tommy to see his suit.
At least one of them stayed with Tubbo while he worked at all times. Once he started, Tubbo
seemed relaxed. He looked like he was in his element, which helped Tommy let his guard
down. At one point, Sam came in to talk about the ways they could create the capsules and
store them in the heroes’ masks.

“I’m thinking each hero could have two side pockets right next to your mouths. All we need
is a spring mechanism that can push them out,” Tubbo said.

“I can do that easily,” Sam said. “But how much of the antigen do you need for the charm to
be undone?”

Tubbo sighed. “I don’t know yet. Hopefully, the capsule will be no larger than a power
suppression pill.”

Sam nodded, working already on Techno’s boar skull mask.

The heroes haven’t worn masks in ages—at least not the ones with public identities. It would
be cool to see them again. Wilbur’s mask was half of a masquerade mask, decorated to look
like siren scales and feathers. Tommy had never actually seen Phil in person with a mask on,
since he’d had a public identity for years.

If he thought hard enough, Tommy vaguely remembered him having a plague doctor’s mask.

“What if we get charmed more than twice?” Tommy asked.

Techno snorted. “Just don’t.”

And nobody offered any other ideas.

Eventually Tommy’s ass started to hurt from sitting on a bench for too long. But he was tired
and didn’t feel like standing. So he suffered and almost fell asleep.

It was a phone ring that snapped him back into awareness. He leaned away from Techno to
watch Wilbur answer the call. He didn’t say anything when he picked up because whoever
called was already speaking.

“Jesus, Phil—”

Tommy’s heart dropped. Then it soared when Wilbur chuckled and smiled.

“That’s very good news but you also just scared the shit out of me. Why are you yelling?”

A few seconds, then Wilbur’s expression fell. Just a little bit.

“But you’re not in trouble?”

Another brief pause and Wilbur smiled again.

“Okay well get off the phone! We would have understood.” Wilbur looked between Tommy
and Techno. “Love you too.”
Phil hung up first. Wilbur tucked the phone away in his pocket and then proceeded to explain
nothing.

“Well?” Techno urged. “You were supposed to put it on speaker.”

“They’re actually just in a car chase right now.”

“Oh. Well, is that all?”

Wilbur snorted. “They’re fine. Ranboo needed a minute to catch his breath and then they’re
teleporting out of there. And yes, they have the second enhancer. They’re heading for the
third now.”

Tommy sat back against the wall. “So the car chase means that Cicatrix found them.”

Wilbur frowned. “Yes, they were Cicatrix’s guys… but Phil made it sound like Cicatrix didn’t
even know Ranboo was there.”

“So Cicatrix isn’t ready for them to just… appear at the next enhancer?”

“He shouldn’t be.”

Tommy nodded, a bit subdued and still tired. And bored. And anxious. But numbly so. He
ended up lying down on the bench with his head in Techno’s lap because he couldn’t sit like
that anymore.

They all continued to watch Tubbo and Sam work until it was time to try some of the
solution.

“We’ll know if it’s right when we can picture Quackity’s real face,” Tubbo said.

Everyone stopped.

“Quackity?” Sam asked. “His name is Quackity?”

Tubbo also stopped to blink. “Yeah I mean, I guess I didn’t think it was important that I knew
his real name.”

“It’s… it’s not really important at this point I guess but it’s a shock.”

Tubbo nodded. Then he poured a tiny bit of the solution into a small glass. There was a bit
more than a drop in it, Tommy wasn’t sure how so little could undo so much. Tubbo poured a
second one for Sam.

It was dark red. Like blood.

“This shouldn’t kill us,” Tubbo said. Then he drank it.

Sam followed hesitantly.

Tommy sat up again to watch their reactions. As he did so, Techno placed a hand on his back,
between his wings. Why did they always do that?

Then Tubbo laughed. And so did Sam. With bright smiles, staring in awe down at their empty
glasses.

“You did it!” Sam shouted, putting the glass down and rushing to their notes.

“Holy shit,” Tubbo breathed, putting a hand over his forehead. “I can picture his face. And
his real voice… I didn’t even know he changed that.”

Sam was writing furiously. “This has to make you wonder whether or not there’s an antigen
for other powers—like Somnium’s sleep or Wilbur’s commands.”

Wilbur squinted.

“I mean I… I could maybe work on some more?” Tubbo offered. “Consider it my community
service?”

Something about the nonchalance of that comment rubbed Tommy the wrong way.

“Well, do you have enough for us to try?” Wilbur asked. “Who knows what he’s charmed us
all into?”

“Oh there’s plenty,” Sam said. “And we can make lots more.”

Sam started pouring small amounts into glasses. Everyone stood excitedly.

“This is great,” Tommy laughed. “It feels like we’re actually starting to win—like we’re
actually starting to beat him.”

Everyone smiled at that. Except Tubbo. Who was now standing quietly looking down at the
table he was leaning against.

“Tubbo?” Tommy prompted.

Tubbo looked up, brow twisted in confusion. “Sorry there’s just—there’s a lot that I didn’t
realize he charmed me into thinking…”

Tommy couldn’t stop himself from asking, “The Pit?”

Tubbo looked away from Tommy and back down at the table. And with a shameful shake of
his head, he whispered, “No, that was me.”

Tommy left that conversation where it soured. Instead, he turned back to the others, waiting
with their little glasses of anti-Cicatrix juice. He received his own and together they undid the
villain’s charms.

In seconds Tommy could picture Cicatrix’s face. His real face. And he tried to think back on
any recent interactions with Cicatrix to see if he’d been charmed at some point.
“Well, any revelations, anyone?” Sam prompted.

Wilbur shrugged and so did Tommy.

“Cicatrix was there for the Somnium incident,” Techno said.

Tommy was thrown roughly into waves of memories and unfamiliar feelings. He stumbled
back a few steps and ran a hand through his hair. He turned toward the wall, away from all
watching eyes.

Cicatrix was there that night.

BANG.

Tommy fell. He fell and fell and fell and did not catch himself.

Tommy’s body fell limply. Too limply. And it fell for longer than Tommy remembered. Was
the building really that high?

BANG.

That was not a gun. That was the first of many explosions. But Tommy did not remember
those explosions.

CRACK.

He remembered hitting the balcony.

Tommy woke up on the couch with Kurt hovering over him.

With Cicatrix beside him.

“You’re sure he won’t remember?” Kurt asked. “What about his wings?”

“Nobody knows about his wings. He’s too weak to fight it off anyway.” Cicatrix—Quackity
said. “If we’re going to get the enhancer we need to try again immediately.”

“Well we can’t use him again so we need a new plan.”

Tommy blinked dazedly at Kurt. They hadn’t even said anything directly to him yet, but he
knew he shouldn’t move until he was told to.
“I have a new recruit. They can teleport, I just have to train them.”

Kurt nodded. “So we need to figure out where they keep it.”

“I’ll get someone inside. Just don’t do anything stupid without my permission.”

Tommy looked at his wings. They were orange at the top and faded to black..

They were never supposed to have any black in them.

“You really think that no one will see the black and know that he’s died?” Kurt asked again.

Cicatrix hummed in consideration. “I’ll charm him into thinking the city’s overrun with
collectors or something. Don’t worry about it, just make him keep them hidden.”

Tommy’s wings weren’t supposed to be black at all.

“You’re a phoenix, Tommy. I always wondered if you would be able to come back from the
dead,” Kurt explained, turning a library book toward Tommy. “This says that you can at
least once. It’s different for every phoenix but apparently, when your wings turn completely
black, you can’t do it anymore.”

Tommy’s wings were more than half black.

He did die that night.

“Tommy—”
“Techno what do you mean,” Tommy asked, whirling back, startling the heroes. “What do
you mean? Where did you see him?”

Techno’s face was pale. “He was the one that took your body away on the gurney.”

Tommy fell. He hit the concrete. The explosions rung out and tore his body apart. Cicatrix
took him away. Cicatrix brought him back to Kurt. Tommy regenerated. Cicatrix charmed
him into forgetting he died.

“I need to see that footage again,” Tommy demanded. “Do we have it here?”

Techno’s mouth was hanging open, frozen in confusion. “We can get it.”

“Did you see Cicatrix taking me away?”

“I caught him. Didn’t recognize him from our team. He charmed me into letting him go.”

“I need to see that footage again.”

Techno looked over his shoulder at Wilbur who came forward and put his hand on Tommy’s
shoulder.

“Okay, let’s go see it. We’ll watch that again while we wait for Phil to get back. Uh—Sam
and Tubbo will make the capsules?” Wilbur looked at Sam and Tubbo for confirmation.

They both nodded, although Tubbo hesitated.

As per usual, Tommy thought.

Tommy followed Wilbur eagerly out of the lab room and Techno trailed behind them. Tommy
was puzzled beyond belief, and he was sad, but more than anything he was furious. Not that
he wanted to, but if he tried he wouldn’t be able to unfurrow his brow or unclench his jaw.

Now more than ever he wanted to be on patrol again.

Or fighting.

Or doing something violent. Which he knew was a bad sign. And unhealthy. But he wasn’t
aiming to be the world’s mental health role model.

“What are you remembering?” Wilbur asked as they hastily walked through the halls.
Tommy clenched his jaw harder before answering. “I did die that night. And I don’t know
how much you know about phoenixes…”

Wilbur stopped in his tracks and so did Tommy, looking back at him, having expected this.

“You can do that? Come back to life?”

Tommy turned away and kept walking. He wasn’t really sure where they were even going.
They had to request the footage again but Tommy didn’t know how to do that.

“Yeah. I can. And he made me forget about it.”

“Tommy hold on.” Wilbur caught up to him. “You can’t die?”

“No there’s a limit. When my wings become fully black I can’t revive anymore.”

Wilbur looked back at Tommy’s wings. “Have you died more than once?”

“Not that I can think of. I bet I’m just unlucky. Probably only have one more life left in me.”

“You passed the door.”

Tommy turned back around to join Wilbur in entering their room. He went in and didn’t kick
his shoes off before turning to the other two and waiting for instructions.

“I’ll request the footage now, it won’t take long,” Wilbur said, walking off to his room.

Tommy wished he would run.

Instead Tommy looked at his wings. “I thought they were supposed to be like this. I liked
them—I thought they were cool!”

Techno tilted his head. “They are cool.”

“No. Now they’re just a reminder that I died. I died Techno.”

“I’m gonna be honest kid I can’t really wrap my head around that yet.”

“Me neither.”

Tommy’s wings drooped.

“I feel like I should be having more of a reaction than this,” he admitted.

“You probably should be. Maybe you’re getting desensitized to trauma in general.”

Tommy shrugged. “Yeah this isn’t as jarring as thinking I lost Clementine.”

Mrrph.
She must have heard her name because she poked her head out of the nest. She stood and
stretched, then shook her head and hopped out of the nest to pad her way over to them.

“It’s also not as bad as when The Pit got blown up.”

Tommy should try to reach out to Cassidy’s mother sometime. It might bring him peace or it
could ruin his sanity.

“So you’re just… cool with knowing you died.”

“Well no. No, I actually would have preferred to not have died.”

Clementine pawed at Tommy’s pant leg. He bent down to pick her up and cradled her in his
arms.

“I’m not really sure how… I don’t know how to, uh, cope with knowing that you were the
Somnium kid,” Techno said.

“Neither do I.”

Techno reached over to scratch behind Clementine’s ears.

“We thought your wings were black because they weren’t being taken care of,” Techno
admitted. “Didn’t know it was a phoenix thing.”

“Not many people know anything about phoenixes,” Tommy said. “Learned that from
Cicatrix and Somnium.”

Techno kicked off his shoes and headed for the nest. “We’ll have to find some resources on
phoenixes then. Gotta know how all this works.”

Tommy toed his shoes off too and carried Clementine back to the nest.

Wilbur walked back out as he was sitting down and said, “We have approval. It’s being sent
to me now so I’ll set it up on the big screen.”

There was a TV that could be tilted down for easy watching from the nest. Tommy wondered,
then, why they didn’t have a nest in the other tower. Or maybe they did and weren’t ready for
Tommy to see it yet. But this one was right in the living room.

“Why isn’t there a nest in the other tower?”

Techno snorted. “There is. It’s in Phil’s room. I’m sure once the tower’s fixed you’ll be well
acquainted with it.”

Tommy readjusted Clementine and sat back against the nest wall. Wilbur clicked on the TV,
sat next to them, and opened his laptop.

A minute or so later the screen showed the beginning of the footage Tommy had already
seen.
“Do you want to see all of it?” Wilbur asked. “Is that a good idea?”

Tommy tilted his head from side to side, “I dunno. Maybe just skip to the spot where I die.”

“That is the worst part to watch.”

“Just do it.”

“Well, fine, but I’m not looking.”

Wilbur pressed play and started fast-forwarding. Neither Techno or Wilbur watched with
Tommy, but they both sat with him. Which was nice. They were hearing the sounds though.

Tommy didn’t even flinch this time when his body hit the concrete. Win!

He stole the remote from Wilbur and fastforwarded more. Through the explosions, through
the crumbling building and pieces of fights. He skipped to the part where Phil climbed
through the rubble and shouted for help.

He skipped to the part where he was shown being taken away—wrapped up—on the gurney.
His too-short body. Missing limbs.

Tommy cringed.

There were two people in weird white suits handling his body. The footage wasn’t good
enough to perfectly show their faces. But it definitely was Cicatrix. It had to be the villain
himself.

“I fucking died.”

Mrrph.

“You heard me.”

Wilbur gently took the remote from Tommy again and was about to turn the TV off when
Tommy reached out to stop him.

“Don’t watch it again,” Wilbur said. “It’s not a good idea.”

“But it doesn’t seem real.”

“And watching yourself die over and over again won’t help, I’m almost certain.”

“Just one more time. From the beginning. Just one more.”

Wilbur took a long breath. “How about instead we look online for information on phoenix
hybrids, hm?”

Wilbur tugged his laptop over and opened it, sneakily pressing the off button on the remote.

Tommy begrudgingly relented.

 **********

Phil was back with Ranboo. Tommy knew this because Phil slammed their door open and
barged in with a wild grin on his face. Ranboo stood in the doorway.

“You were supposed to call again,” Techno said, standing up to see Phil.

“We got it,” Phil said. “Ranboo did it, he got us right in and out like it was nothing!”

They all looked over at Ranboo who was half-hiding behind the doorframe.

Wilbur got up and Tommy followed him.

“That’s awesome!” Wilbur laughed. “We should start practicing with them right away—and
get the Cicatrix antigen to all the heroes.”

“Ah, yes, we stopped by to see Tubbo and he told us all about that,” Phil said. Then he
looked at Ranboo. “You can go to him, mate. I trust you not to leave.”

That’s a mistake, Tommy thought.

Ranboo nodded and retreated into the hallway.

“We have the enhancers safely stored right now, they’ll always be watched by multiple
heroes—who have the antigen capsules already,” Phil said. “Did I miss anything? I was
surprised to find you guys in here instead of the lab.”

Tommy looked very intensely at his shoes.

“Oh… something did happen.”

“It’s honestly not that important right now,” Tommy said. “What’s next? What happens
now?”

Wilbur whacked Tommy with a wing. “It is definitely important right now.”

Tommy sighed.

**********

Phil wasn’t that surprised that Tommy had died, or that Cicatrix was there that night. He’d
been sad, angry, and he wrapped his wing around Tommy’s shoulders, but he wasn’t shocked.
And that might have been why Tommy found the conversation so easy. They ended it
quickly, knowing Tommy wanted nothing less than to dwell on it.

Instead of discussing that awful topic, Phil called another meeting with the healthy heroes

“Well, I need some time to rest before we execute the plan,” Phil said, almost regretfully.
“I’ve picked who will have the enhancers and will send out a tower-wide message explaining
my choices this afternoon. The individuals with the enhancers will train and get used to their
powers, but are ordered not to, under any circumstance, over exhaust themselves.”

That felt pretty directed.

“Tomorrow afternoon is when I’m aiming to do this thing, so if you don’t feel rested or if
your injuries are bothering you it is crucial that you let me know. We will be, basically,
telling Cicatrix that if he wants the enhancers, he’s gonna have to come and get em’.”

“So the plan is just to fight him and pray?” Tommy asked.

“He won’t give up the opportunity when he sees us out there holding the only other three
enhancers. He will attack and he doesn’t know that we’re charm-proof. He’ll come in with his
army and loyal villains not knowing that we have the military and volunteer vigilantes
ready.”

Tommy didn’t know about the vigilantes.

“He doesn’t know we have Apis and Ianuae.”

Tommy didn’t think they were going to be much help from now on, but yeah they did some
key stuff. Whatever. Only because they had to.

“He doesn’t know that we have people ready to raid the entrances to his base so he will have
nowhere to recuperate. And he doesn’t know that we had a second base to go to. He’s
expecting us to be weak but we’re only a little bit bruised.”

Tommy raised his eyebrows. “You’re pretty good at making things sound easy.”

“Do you doubt me?”

He really didn’t, but every time he thought they were safe Cicatrix had something up his
sleeve.

“Never, Philza.”

**********
Sam, Techno, and Tommy trained with the enhancers. Just to test their abilities. Sam, when
holding the enhancer—he had the dagger—had completely indestructible skin. Normally it
would still take a particularly sharp blow to break his skin, now he was bending sword tips
against his palm. His strength was also enhanced like Tommy’s would be.

Techno couldn’t practice his hemocraft to its full extent, he couldn’t hurt anyone. But it took
half a second to latch on to the blood in someone’s body and he was able to not only stop its
flow from inside but redirect it with enough force to manipulate a person’s movements. He
was playing with Phil like a puppet. Techno’s enhancer was an earring, a gold one with
emerald in it.

Tommy, he already knew what his powers were capable of when enhanced so he stuck mostly
to regular sparring and stretching. But he had a new enhancer—an ankle bracelet. It was the
weirdest thing he could imagine an enhancer would be because it was thin and stringy. How
could so much power be stored in there?

But, as expected, when he put the ankle bracelet on and called upon his powers, he was able
to activate three of them. He felt strong again.

This was dangerous.

But it would be done with soon. Now, they were all in costume. Suits ready, anti-charm
capsules installed, and enhancers packed safely away in their suits. Someone would have to
rip Tommy’s to get to his bracelet. Sam had his dagger in a tight sheath at his side. Techno’s
was the easiest to get a hold of but whoever stole it would have to poke it through their skin,
they couldn’t just hold it. Guess how that was discovered.

They were outside now, having come up through the tunnels back into the original tower;
now cleared mostly of rubble, but still unusable. They stood right on the tower’s front lawn.

Wilbur stood beside Tommy, arms crossed, wings tightly pressed to his back. They were out
of sight, waiting away from Phil who stood before a team of cameramen. Tommy was ninety
percent sure some of them were journalists—who weren’t supposed to be here right now.

The heroes were spread out around the yard, some hiding, some not.

But only Phil would be in the broadcast. And the broadcast would reach every TV, every
radio, and most phones. It would interrupt everything. And it would show up on big display
screens on city buildings—not that there were many,

Because Cicatrix was watching. Always. He had eyes everywhere and he would receive
Phil’s message.

“How do you feel?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy shuffled sideways to press their arms together. “I don’t want to see him again.”

Somnium.

“Not even to kill him?”

Tommy turned, blinking in surprise. Then he whispered, “I never used to kill.”

Wilbur shrugged. “I never used to want to.”

They both turned back to Phil, watching the cameras set up. Tommy continuously scanned
their surroundings, watching for any suspicious vehicles, any movement, the shimmer of any
hidden camera, or anything Cicatrix could be using to watch them. Anything he could be
using to sneak up on them.

Maybe he’d already been charmed into forgetting he saw the villain. But he couldn’t waste
one of his two capsules.

“If Somnium is ever going to die, it will be tonight,” Wilbur said.

“I don’t need reassurance right now,” Tommy said. He didn't mean to sound so harsh.

“Okay,” Wilbur relented.

Phil started speaking and Tommy’s senses seemed to heighten tenfold. It was the start of the
hardest thing Tommy would ever have to do in his life. It could be his last time donning the
Rubrum persona.

One way or another.

“What if he doesn’t come?” Tommy asked, despite having snapped that he didn’t need
reassurance.

“He will, Tommy. He can be unpredictable but he seems to forget that we are too.”

Tommy strained to hear Phil speak.

“You destroyed our tower thinking it would scare us into submission. You had the civilians of
this city thinking we retreated, but now they’re sitting at home, comfortably, safely watching
as we stand here stronger than ever daring you to try it again.”

“He’s so cool,” Tommy whispered.

Wilbur nodded, also straining to hear.

“Cicatrix, we’re here. We have what you want and more. We’re expecting you to do your
worst.”

Tommy didn’t exactly think that taunting the villain was the right move. He probably had
nukes or something.

“Is that all he’s gonna say?” Tommy asked.

“What else is there to say?”

Phil backed away from the camera, wings rising on alert. The camera people started packing
up, but the journalists didn’t and Tommy knew that Phil was scowling at them.

Then he heard Phil say, “You better stay out of the way.”

The journalists looked stunned and were easily convinced to move into a more hidden
position.

Phil did not join any of the other heroes in hiding though. He stayed out in the open, waiting
tensely for Cicatrix or Somnium to appear. Everything was too silent for a city.

Tommy recognized the twitch of Phil’s wing and the slight turn of his head as he listened for
something. Then Tommy saw it in the grass. Dips and dents in the green.

He lurched forward but Wilbur grabbed him.

“He knows,” Wilbur whispered. “Phil knows.”

Absconditus appeared from the air a few feet ahead of Phil. He was dressed in hues of deep
purple, a belt of daggers circling his waist. His mask was different than what it used to be,
instead of a plain black covering, it was a bejeweled eye covering with dangling chainmail to
cover the mouth.

“Where are the enhancers?” the villain asked.

He sounded the same as he always had.

“Where is Cicatrix?” Phil countered.

“Watching.”

“Is he afraid to show himself?”

“He’s busy sneaking up on your sons.”

Tommy turned around just as Wilbur grunted and fell. Tommy didn’t really know what he
was dodging but silent projectiles flew past him. He looked into the streets and past gardens,
seeing nothing.

“What?” he hissed. Then he looked down at Wilbur who pulled a dart out of his chest—it was
huge. “Shit!”

He grabbed Wilbur and pulled him to his feet. They sprinted for cover around the corner of
the tower, hearing more barely-there sounds of soaring darts. Tommy saw Phil fighting
Absconditus, the villain blinked in and out of sight.

He heard more grunting and small bursts or explosions, like fire roaring and flares crackling.

“Remember, we’re targeting Cicatrix and Sonium,” Wilbur huffed, “dodge anyone else.”
Wilbur spread his wings and rocketed up before Tommy could as what that dart could have
done to him. Tommy followed him up the side of the tower and a few floors up they spun
back around to look for the dart shooter.

The gardens around the tower had trees and ponds and hills, places to hide, but not well
enough. Cicatrix had villains hiding on roofs and balconies, he had them in broken-in
buildings too. Tommy spotted three hiding poorly, but maybe they were meant to be seen.

So he ignored them, looking for Cicatrix.

“Custos,” Wilbur said into their comms. “Have you found either of them?”

“Roof, Somnium,” Sam barked, obviously occupied.

Wilbur glanced at Tommy apologetically and climbed the sky. With a clenched jaw, Tommy
followed. The built-in wing braces made flying up easier than he knew possible. They
traveled quickly, but Wilbur struggled.

“Weakness darts,” Wilbur told everyone. “Small doses. Just don’t get hit twice.”

Tommy watched him worriedly as they flew.

“They’ll try to separate us,” Phil said, breathing hard, “stay with your partner or you risk
getting caught alone with Cicatrix.”

He was waiting to incapacitate each hero like a parasite.

Tommy and Wilbur vaulted over the tower’s roof and split to different sides as multiple
people on the roof reacted. Tommy didn’t get to see who Wilbur ran into, because he was
staring up at Somnium.

Somnium’s mask was a plain black half-circle that covered the top of his face. It curved
around the sides of his head and stayed secure under a hood.

Tommy hoped he would have changed it after all these years.

Somnium started cackling. Outrageously and dramatically laughing. His posture relaxed and
he grinned.

“I don’t think you have any idea how happy I am to see you,” the villain said. “I’m not
surprised you turned out this way at all.”

Tommy clenched his jaw and charged. Somnium’s smile dropped as if he wasn’t expecting
Tommy to act so boldly.

Tommy called on his strength, speed, and stamina. The feeling was familiar, rejuvenating. He
suddenly felt in his element again.

With fiery fists Tommy swiped at Somnium. Speedy, strong, nothing like he used to be.
Somnium stumbled two steps back before lunging back. Tommy cringed as a metal bracer
knocked his arm away.

Somnium had the discs. And those punches fucking hurt.

“I will say, your wings look much better.”

Tommy didn’t answer, ducking under a lazy arm and driving his shoulder into Somnium’s
gut. He shot fire at the villain’s throat, hoping to shut him up.

“Stop playing around!” Cicatrix barked.

Cicatrix.

Tommy kicked off Somnium’s chest and rolled away to shoot a stream of fire in the direction
of that voice. Cicatrix leaped away and joined another villain—Solis—in fighting Wilbur.

Wilbur was beating Solis up. But Solis had ear coverings on.

Tommy glanced back at Somnium in time to catch his kicking foot. The steel outer shell sent
Tommy’s bones rattling. He dropped Somnium’s foot and parried a few hits.

“Sle—”

Tommy yelped and blasted fire straight into Somnium’s mouth. The man whirled away,
coughing, pawing at his face.

“Mandatum?” Tommy asked into his comms. He couldn’t watch Wilbur right now. “You
good?”

Tommy caught Somnium’s metal bracer, held it tight, and burned. Somnium pulled Tommy
forward and swung with his other arm. Tommy’s head snapped sideways and he fell but he
rolled back to his feet and jumped out of the way of a pin. Somnium’s knuckles were bloody
from punching his spiked mask.

“Slee—”

“I’m good,” Wilbur answered. “We have Cicatrix and Somnium on the roof.”

“Sam, Techno, do you copy?” Phil asked.

Tommy punched Somnium’s jaw, trying to knock his mask off so he could blind the man with
fire. It didn’t budge.

Did he really want to see that face again anyway?

“Copy,” Techno said.

“Copy,” Sam said.

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief and was winded by being knocked onto his back. Somnium
dived on top of him, knees thudding against the hard stone. Tommy pushed back, strength
powering his tired muscles.

“You have one, don’t you?” Somnium asked. “Where is it?”

Tommy’s fire started to char the fabric of Somnium’s sleeves but he couldn’t quite grab flesh.

“Thomas, where is your enhancer?”

Tommy wished his mouth wasn’t covered so he could spit. He shoved with all of his strength
and dislodged his hands from Somnium’s grip. Tommy bucked his hips and pushed a foot
into Somnium’s chest, sending him flying sideways.

Tommy jumped after him, wings propelling him forward.

A hand wrapped around Tommy’s throat and threw him back into the ground. His vision
whited out and he let go of his stamina to activate his pain suppression. He blinked away
tears and and struggled against the new hands trying to snatch his own.

Absconditus pulled his hands up, lifting his chest with them, and slammed him back into the
roof. He tried to do it again but Tommy threw all of his weight and desperate strength into
rolling over the villain.

He tried to grab Absconditus’ throat with his fiery hands. But Somnium pulled him away.
Tommy’s wings flared, setting themselves on fire. Somnium grunted and dropped him.

“Got held up,” Techno grunted through communications. “Sam use an antigen.”

Tommy looked frantically around the roof for Cicatrix. But he was gone again. Then he
looked for Wilbur and saw him dancing around another villain.

Tommy’s chest squeezed, recognizing the villain with the face of a black skeleton.

“Mandatum that’s the wither!” Tommy urged.

Arms wrapped around Tommy’s throat. He’d become distracted. He stepped into the hold and
hooked his foot behind Somnium’s leg. He threw himself backward and kicked up
Somnium’s leg, sending them both to the floor.

Tommy jammed his elbow back into Somnium’s gut and tossed himself back to his feet to
meet Absconditus’ hits.

Wasn’t Phil fighting him earlier?

“Would you just hurry up and put him to sleep?” Absconditus hissed, trying to restrain
Tommy again.

Tommy slapped his flaming wing at the villain and did the same at Somnium, blocking them
with his shield of feathers.

“Sle—”
Tommy pierced the air with an inhuman shriek. It was high and long like a hawk’s.

Somnium flinched back and pulled out a sword. Tommy was grateful that it wasn’t a gun, but
why don’t villains ever just use guns? That’s what Tubbo always did.

Tommy had his batons again though. Wow, he hadn’t used these in ages.

Tommy knocked Somnium’s sword away and used his wings to ward Absconditus off from
behind. It didn’t work well.

Absconditus, despite Tommy’s wings being on fire, grabbed handfuls of the feathers and
yanked Tommy backward. Somnium’s sword sliced thinly over Tommy’s chest, blocked by
his sturdy vest.

“Guys I need some he—” Tommy was cut off when Techno landed on top of Somnium from
the sky. “Yeah, that.”

Tommy wrenched his wings out of Absconditus’ hold, cringing at the feeling of loose
feathers, and he slammed a baton into the villain's throat. Absconditus blinked out of sight.
Tommy cursed under his breath and braced himself.

“Vulpes use a capsule,” Fluctus ordered.

Tommy’s skin crawled.

Absconditus slammed into Tommy’s back and Tommy caught himself in a roll back to his
feet. He turned and Abconditus was gone again. Tommy felt a weird pressure on the side of
his back. He put a palm over it and it came away bloody.

“You prick,” he mumbled.

Tommy enhanced his hearing and dropped his strength for the moment. He could hear
Absconditus’ footsteps and breathing. He pretended he couldn’t and didn’t follow them with
his gaze.

He heard a slight intake of breath and dodged away from another stab. But he didn’t have
time to listen for the next one that came.

The familiar ripping of skin had Tommy’s heart dropping. He couldn’t feel the pain, but that
didn’t mean the effects wouldn’t weaken him.

“Phil—Phil take a capsule—no Phil Tommy’s fine—no look he is fine just take a capsule—”

Tommy tried to find Techno in the midst of the fights and noticed now that Phil was up here
too. But he was on his knees, looking down at the ground with shaking hands.

“Phil!”

Phil reached hesitantly up to take the antigen, waited a moment—Techno shoved a charging
villain away from him—and shook his head. Phil blinked, looked up at Tommy, back down at
the ground, and yelped.

“Sorry,” Phil choked. “Sorry.”

Tommy was knocked back onto the ground again and four hands—two per arm—trapped
him.

Somnium was back. Absconditus was visible.

And Tommy was scared again.

“Slee—”

Tommy pierced the air with another phoenix shriek, making Somnium cringe, but it seemed
to daze Absconditus. Tommy pulled his arm away from the villain, heart racing, and rammed
himself into Somnium.

“SLEE—”

Tommy screeched again.

By then, Phil had launched into action. He ripped Somnium off of Tommy and wedged
himself between them.

Tommy heard a yell of terror behind him, but soon Techno was at their side. He must have
thrown someone off the building.

“Where is Cicatrix?” Phil demanded.

“Who has the enhancers?” Somnium shot back.

“Cicatrix is with me,” Niki said. “Thinks I’m charmed.”

Tommy was shaking. Techno stood right at his back, hand touching, watching their rear while
they faced Somnium and Absconditus.

Where did Wilbur go?

Tommy saw nobody else on the roof.

Techno’s hand shot out. Absconditus dropped with a scream.

Somnium barked, “Sleep!”

Phil fell silently.

Tommy tried to catch him and Somnium tried to catch Absconditus. Techno jumped over
Tommy, refusing to allow Somnium any extra second.

Techno raised a hand and clenched his fist. Tommy started shaking Phil harshly.
“He knows!” Niki yelled. “I can’t move—he’s coming up.”

Tommy shook Phil harder. Then he chirped—squawked.

wake. wake. please. wake.

Phil’s eyes fluttered.

please. please. wake.

“Gladius,” Tommy heard Cicatrix hiss. “Why are you trying to kill Tommy?”

“Shut up,” Techno spat.

Somnium writhed on the ground, gasping, curling.

“That’s him!” Cicatrix said. “That’s Tommy, don’t you see it?”

Tommy stood. “I’m here!”

A hand slapped over Tommy’s mouth. He was dragged backward, squirming, away from
Techno. Absconditus was still next to Somnium—

Black. The hand was black and skeletal. And it was on his face, thank Prime for masks. But
Tommy felt weakness in his exposed wings.

Tommy shrieked again through the muffling of the bone palm.

Tommy lit his whole body on fire. He shrieked again and launched the wither off of himself.
Tommy looked back at the villain, and with blind rage activated his strength—dropping his
speed.

Tommy stomped down on the wither’s head.

He heard a sick crack and turned himself away.

In time to see Techno take Somnium’s sword directly into his stomach.

Weak and bloodied, Techno struggled to fight off Somnium, Absconditus, and Cicatrix as
they pinned him. Somnium reached for the earring.

Tommy threw himself into the air. He dived straight into the middle of them, knocking two of
them over, and guarding Techno.

He turned to Cicatrix to shove him away, but it was not Cicatrix who stood there.

It was Wilbur, holding a sword against his own throat.

Tommy froze, as did everyone else nearby.

“What are you doing?” Tommy asked, hand stretching forward.

Wilbur dug the blade into the skin of his neck. “I’m charmed—I can’t stop until you give me
your enhancer.”

Tommy blinked. “Why didn’t you… why didn’t you take a—”

Tommy’s legs were pulled out from under him.

“Rubrum, you’re charmed,” Wilbur said. “You’re charmed.”

Tommy did not need to be told again. He crunched down on a capsule and gratefully felt the
effects of the antigen wash over him. Now, Wilbur was no longer there.

Cicatrix was in his place, bleeding from his eyes and nose.

Techno, weekly held up on his knees, was keeping Cicatrix in place with his powers.

But Tommy had someone holding his ankle—

“Found it,” Somnium said, grin growing.

He took the bracelet. From Tommy’s ripped suit. Somnium must have slashed his leg.

Tommy lunged for him but Somnium kicked him away and scrambled back to clip the ankle
bracelet around himself.

Tommy’s powers faded. The pain started to roll in and he quickly focused all of his magic on
stopping it.

“Somnium has my enhancer,” Tommy said. “I’m sorry.”

Wilbur, out of nowhere, bodyslammed Somnium and sent him flying over the side of the
building.

Tommy ran to the edge to watch him fall, then cursed as he was caught by a winged villain.

Wilbur’s hands landed on Tommy’s shoulders and turned him around. “The wither did this?”

Tommy looked back at his own wings and bit his tongue. His right wing was rapidly losing
feathers, turning black, and drooping.

“No time,” Tommy said.

He started forward, heart soaring as Techno managed to force Cicatrix to the ground. Blood
burst from the villain’s ears and he fell completely limp.

Techno turned, eyes glowing red through his mask. Now on his feet, he raised another hand
toward Absconditus.

The villain stopped in his tracks—his tracks toward Phil. Still down.

Tommy ran for Phil, Wilbur hot on his heels.

Tommy shrieked, knelt, and slapped Phil’s face.

WAKE.

Phil’s eyes shot open and his wing curled like lightning around Tommy.

“Somnium free—”

Wilbur choked on his words and Tommy whirled around to face him. Solis was back. Hands
squeezing Wilbur’s throat, burning with the power of a heating sun.

Tommy charged and swung his baton, knocking Solis back a step. Wilbur escaped, but
Tommy saw the damage to his throat.

Tommy felt his body weakening more and more.

He tackled Solis to the ground. He pulled the villain’s shoulders up and cracked their head
back against the concrete. He did it again. Then again with burning fists.

“Ignis has my enhancer,” Sam rasped. “He’s targetting our medical team.”

“Gladius, go help,” Phil ordered. “Fluctus, are you alright?”

“I was trapped, Vulpes got me out.”

“Put out those fires.”

“Copy.”

“Somnium’s back!” Techno called.

Somnium landed back on the roof, intercepted by Wilbur, and followed by a new villain.
They had dark blue wings. Tommy catapulted himself toward them.

“Custos?” Niki asked.

Tommy tuned it out to block a machete with his baton. This villain dual-wielded them.
Tommy stumbled through the fight and his exhaustion began to overpower his desperation.

Somnium’s scream of terror and rage made Tommy flinch backward.

“Got Absconditus and Cicatrix down,” Techno said, panting.

He was monstrous with an enhancer.

“Custos is down—” Niki said, voice tight. “Need help.”

“I’m coming now,” Techno said.

The flat edge of a machete slapped Tommy in the cheek. He ducked under a slice and threw
fire as he stood back up. The villain grunted and wiped soot off their mask. Tommy shoved
them backwards. Then again, propulsed by his wings.

They fell back over the edge of the building, giving Tommy a few seconds to back Wilbur up.

Tommy dived for Somnium’s ankle.

“Som—” Wilbur coughed and choked. “Fre—”

“Wilbur’s voice is gone,” Tommy said quickly.

“Slee—”

Tommy ripped Somnium’s foot off the ground. His fingers curled under the bracelet.

A machete slammed down on his knuckles, nailing his hand into the ground. Tommy
screamed. Not in pain, but in fear of pain to come.

Wilbur fell back, avoiding the swipe of the villain's other machete. Somnium slipped away.

“Mandatum get to medical, we need your voice,” Phil said.

Phil grabbed the machete villain and yanked them away from Wilbur.

Frustrated, Wilbur clenched his fists and dived off the roof, leaving Phil and Tommy alone
with Somnium and the new guy.

Phil, number one hero, and Tommy, barely-there vigilante.

Tommy glanced at Cicatrix to make sure he was still unconscious. He was lying in a puddle
of his own blood.

Phil was occupied with the machete guy. Which left Somnium, angrily getting to his feet.
Tommy started toward him, ready to shriek and block out his sleep command.

A weight threw Tommy over the edge of the building. He tried to catch himself with his
wings and ended up careening sideways, one wing weaker than the other. He slammed into
the side of the tower and rolled through the air.

“Tommy what’s wrong?” Techno asked. “Are you passed out? I’m coming—”

Tommy tried to catch himself again, gaining speed, and had to manually lift and hold his
right wing.

“Withered wing,” Wilbur rasped.

“I’m coming.”

Tommy had to kick himself away from the tower wall again and narrowly missed pancaking
himself against a balcony.
Techno came in from the side, catching Tommy in the air and gliding back down to the
ground with him.

“Watched you fall,” he said. “Phil’s alone up there?”

Tommy nodded.

Phil didn’t have Tommy’s phoenix shrieks to block Somnium out.

Techno immediately left Tommy on the ground and shot back up to the roof. Halfway up,
Phil dived off the roof. The machete villain followed him, saw Techno coming, and veered
off.

“Couldn’t avoid Somnium’s power,” Phil explained, gliding down. “Had to fall back.”

“We’re working on Mandatum’s voice,” Charlie said. “Medical team took big hits.”

“Anyone have eyes on Ignis?”

“Leify street,” Niki said. “It’s just Vulpes and I now.”

“I’ll come back,” Techno said.

Phil and Techno landed together and looked up, waiting to see if anyone else was coming
down.

“No,” Phil said. “I need you and Tommy fighting Somnium this time. Wilbur will join you
when his voice is better.”

“Okay,” Techno said.

“Woah—mate, wait,” Phil took Techno’s shoulder and hovered a hand over the stab wound in
his gut.

“It’s okay, I can’t bleed out.”

Phil’s expression soured. Bleeding out was not the only danger of a stab wound in the gut.
“Alright. Let Somnium come to you, Tommy can’t fly and I want you two together.”

Phil looked over Tommy, wincing at the cuts and withering.

“I’m okay,” Tommy said, trying not to wheeze.

Phil nodded and took off to help with Ignis. “Somnium has an enhancer, we imagine he can
mass-command people to sleep. Block his words out, always. And get that bracelet back.”

Tommy clenched his jaw.

Techno grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the tower and into a short alley. They
watched for Somnium’s descent.
“How you doin’?” Techno asked.

Tommy looked at Techno and let himself fall back against the wall with a breath.

“I hear you, kid,” Techno huffed. “You need to sit out for a bit?”

Tommy shook his head. “If I stop now I won’t be able to get back up again.”

Techno shook his head, red eyes flashing. “Unfortunately, I can’t even tell you that you’re
wrong for that.”

“Somnium’s at medical,” Charlie said. “He’s trying to stop us from healing Mandatum.”

“On our way,” Techno said, taking off.

Tommy followed on foot, nearly activating his speed before remembering how much pain he
had coming his way.

He lifted his hand and grimaced at fingers hanging limply.

Oh—oh wow that was bleeding a lot. Like, a lot. Bile rose in Tommy’s throat but he choked
it back down. He could ignore it for a while.

They found medical in a new location, off Leify Lane and now residing away from the fires
on the gravel of a bank parking lot.

Somnium and Wilbur were fighting. Wilbur had stolen Somnium’s sword—and he was good
with it.

Techno landed first, just out of Somnium’s sight, and he raised a hand.

Tommy sprinted to intercept Ignis—who was flinging fire at Techno. Tommy took the full
force of the blast and blocked most of it from Techno. Tommy didn’t bother shooting any fire
back at him. Instead, Tommy focused on keeping Ignis’ fire away from Techno.

Techno had to get Somnium.

He had to.

Ignis’ fire engulfed Tommy again, this time much bigger, faster, hotter. Tommy was taken to
the ground by it. His head rang. His eyes watered behind his goggles. The scent of smoke
was sickening, thick in his abused lungs.

Tommy struggled to move. He lifted his head a centimeter off the ground and it fell back
down. He rolled his head to the side and saw Techno.

Also lying down.

Unconscious.
Tommy craned his head to see beyond Techno, back behind him. Phil was unconscious. Niki
was unconscious in the distance.

Somnium must have gotten them.

Tommy pretended to be asleep. The roar of fire had blocked the villains’ words.

“Is that it?” Ignis asked, breathing hard.

Somnium walked by Tommy. And knowing Kurt well, Tommy braced for impact, pain
suppression in focus.

A kick came to his ribs and Tommy did not react.

“Fucking finally,” Somnium growled. The villain's fingers felt for Tommy’s pulse, right on
his neck. “Finish him off. I’ll get that earring… and my sword.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Ignis’ heavy steps approached. Somnium’s receded. A shadow fell over Tommy’s closed
eyes. He waited for another movement, a quick breath.

And he dodged.

He rolled away and slammed his baton into Ignis’ kneecap with a crunch. The villain fell
with a cry and Tommy hit him again in the temple. Then again with his other baton.

Ignis fell back and Tommy threw himself on top of the villain. He hit and hit and hit until
Ignis stopped moving. Then he took back Sam’s enhancer, the dagger in Ignis’ hand.

Tommy hopped to his feet. Batons bloody. Breaths shallow. Wings heavy.

With his pain suppression, he paired stamina and strength.

Somnium was standing there, watching him with crossed arms. “That wasn’t a good idea,
Thomas.”

Tommy didn’t answer.

He didn’t know what to do. It was him and Somnium. Somnium’s enhanced powers were
impossible to avoid forever. Especially with the discs and the bracelet. Prime.

“I’m just wondering,” the villain started, “after you sold me out… where did you go? Did
you immediately imitate your hero role models?”

Tommy answered this time, only to stall.

“I found an apartment. Decided I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did. Started
stopping crime… hoped to prevent another situation like you.”

Somnium nodded. It wasn’t mocking.

“Did you ever regret it?”

Tommy blanched. “Is that a joke?”

Somnium shrugged. “You were homeless. Obviously malnourished. Poor. Lonely. Injured
constantly. Life with me must have been luxury in comparison.”

Tommy shook his head, jaw tight. “I was the worst person I’ll ever be when I was living with
you.”

Somnium scoffed. “Look at you now. The Pit was only the start of what you’ll do.”

“No. If that’s what heroism in this city means, I won’t do it.”

“You want to kill me though, don’t you?”

Tommy’s knees were weak.

“You barely count as a person.”

Somnium pursed his lips, nodding slowly like he was considering Tommy’s words. Weighing
them.

Then he turned his back. And maybe Tommy should have taken that chance. Instead, he let
Somnium pick up his sword.

“I really thought I had you,” Somnium said, turning back to Tommy. “I really thought you
were entirely devoted to me. In fact, when I was told that someone sold me out, I suspected
Cicatrix first.”

Tommy tried to straighten his stance.

“I’m sure you know the truth about that night by now, don’t you?”

“Oh, I know,” Tommy spat. “I know what you did to me.”

Somnium grinned. “I was pretty proud of that execution.”

“Tommy, I’m—,” a choke, “here.”

“‘Execution’,” Tommy huffed. “Well, I suppose you’re looking for something more
permanent this time?”

Somnium hummed. “You’re wings are pretty black. Maybe it will be your last life. If not…
that’s just more fun for later, right?”

Tommy took a deep breath. “Gonna hide behind your powers?”

“No more than you are.”

Tommy charged.
 Somnium opened his mouth to speak and ran forward.

Before they met, Wilbur appeared in the sky behind Somnium.

Tommy threw the dagger at him and dived sideways toward Techno.

He ripped the earring out of Techno’s ear.

Somnium threw his sword.

Wilbur was knocked out of the sky.

Somnium caught the dagger.

Tommy watched frozen as the villain turned to Wilbur.

It didn’t take any words, he just looked at Wilbur and the hero collapsed.

Somnium turned to Tommy.

“Thomas,” Somnium lilted, “sleep.”

Chapter End Notes

Uh oh...

I hope that chapter was exciting and if you like my writing consider checking out some
other fics such as:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
And for updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.
I'll also be doing whumptober (again) this year so watch out for 31 new hurt/comfort
oneshots coming in October! Thanks for reading :)
 Chapter 25
Chapter Summary

Special and Important thank you to my beta readers for the feedback they gave on this
chapter (and the next one!), you were all super helpful. I lacked the energy to do a deep
dive and edit the fic as much as I should have, but I hope it's still a good read!

Awesome Beta Readers:

Myth
Bluey
Gray
Gala

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: a lot of violence, gore, blood, injury, non-consensual drugging,

kidnapping, heavy derealization.

If you struggle with dissociation/derealization or other related disorders and delusions

please read with caution.

SPOILER WARNINGS BELOW!! Scroll far and fast to avoid seeing them!!
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SPOILER WARNINGS: suicide (non-permanent, and the character knew it would be
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See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy woke with tears in his eyes. He wasn’t sure if they were from stress, or all of the
smoke and heat he’d been blasted with.

Hands touched his cheeks.

“Hey,” someone whispered.

Tommy closed his eyes with a wince. He didn’t want to wake up yet. He didn’t want to face
this. He didn’t want to know where they were.

“No, no, I know you’re tired but I need to see you.”

“Phil?” Tommy asked, prying one eye open.

Thumbs stroked over his cheeks. Blankets that were up to his armpits were pulled down to
his hips.

“He’s still too hot,” Techno said. “Ice please.”

I don’t feel hot.

Tommy fully opened his eyes. Phil frowned down at him, and so did Techno—who received
a few icepacks from someone. They were wrapped in cloth, and Techno placed them on the
sides of Tommy’s neck.

They didn’t feel cold.

“Hi,” Phil whispered. “Thank prime you’re awake.”

One of Phil’s hands lifted away to rest on Tommy’s chest instead of his face.

“What do you remember?” Techno asked, putting more ice against Tommy’s ribs.

Tommy shrugged. “Everything.”

“Really?”
“I tried to throw the dagger to Wilbur thinking it would be easier for him to command
Somnium—and the bastard caught it.”

Phil nodded solemnly. “Then he made you sleep. But he did it with three enhancers.”

“... Right. So what does that mean?”

Phil smiled sadly. “When everyone else went down it just took some healing and a lot of
shaking and slapping. You were asleep for a week and a half before we could wake you. And
it took a new antigen from Tubbo to do it.”

“Oh. One for Somnium’s powers?”

“Mhm. Only worked in combination with intense healing. It is not powerful enough to undo
his powers if he wields three enhancers.”

Techno felt Tommy’s forehead. “Let’s set up a cool bath.”

I’m not hot.

Tommy scowled. “Is that really necessary?”

“... maybe not.”

Tommy didn’t smirk like he might have before.

He asked, “Where are we? How did we get here? Like, how did we escape the villains?”

“Oh—Oh Tommy we need to tend to your wing as soon as possible,” Phil said. “We’ve been
doing our best while you were out but we’ll have an easier time if you’re awake.”

Tommy blinked and shook his head. The confusion lingered. “Can you maybe update me a
little first?”

Tommy glanced over at the bedside table where a digital clock sat. It read 2:00 PM. Tommy
wondered if they’d eaten lunch. Or breakfast.

Phil lifted Tommy’s tender left wing. “While we look at this, yes.”

Tommy looked over at his wing. It looked fine, really.

“How do you feel?” Techno asked. “Well enough to move to the nest?”

The nest? Tommy looked around and finally recognized this room as a hospital room from
the backup hero base. How did they end up here? Where were the villains? It had been more
than a week.

“I guess so…”

Pleased, Techno leaned over to ruffle his hair. Then he walked to the edge of the room to
retrieve a wheelchair.
“Oh I don’t think I need one of those, Tech.”

“Your body is weak. You need as much rest as possible.”

Techno placed the chair next to Tommy’s bed and reached forward to help him up. Tommy
took his arms and allowed himself to be pulled forward. He swung his legs over the edge of
the bed. He was back in that light blue hospital outfit.

Techno helped him into the wheelchair and Wilbur draped a blanket over him.

“I’m really confused,” Tommy mumbled.

“After you were put to sleep,” Techno began wheeling Tommy out of the room, “Somnium
gathered the enhancers, stole away Cicatrix and Absconditus, and retreated.”

“He didn’t make sure we were all dead?”

“No. He didn’t need to. As soon as he figures out where we are, he’ll broadcast a sleep
command to us. Or Cicatrix will charm us all. Ninety percent of the city is either caught in an
endless sleep or charmed already.”

They rolled into a hallway and Tommy curled the blanket tightly around himself. They
passed a few windows. Tommy stared longingly out into the black sky. It was stuffy in here.

“We think,” Phil started, “that Somnium was going to do the broadcast immediately but since
Cicatrix and Absconditus were near-death he took the time to recuperate instead.”

“...Okay. So, what’s next then?”

In between Tommy’s question and the uneasy silence, they came to the SBI floor. Phil opened
the door and held it for Techno and Tommy.

“Guys? What’s our next plan? We—we lost all of the enhancers but there’s still something we
can do, right?”

The door closed behind Tommy and he was taken to the edge of the nest. He stood, at first,
without anyone’s help and felt fine. Still, Phil reached out to steady him.

“I’m good, Phil. Just answer me.”

“Come into the nest, we’ll explain.”

Tommy stepped into the nest, Phil keeping steady contact. Together they sat down.

Phil tried to tug Tommy into lying with him but Tommy stayed seated. He lifted his wings
high and then tightened them against his back.

Why did he feel so defensive?

“Let me see your withered wing, mate.”

“Phil… my wing is fine. I don’t feel it. It looks fine.”

He wasn’t lying.

“You don’t feel it because your nerves are probably fucked. Let me see.”

Begrudgingly, Tommy extended his left, withered, wing. If felt light, normal. “It’s literally
fine.”

Just to make sure, Tommy checked his right wing. That one was good too.

Phil took the wing in his hands and stroked over the tips of the biggest feathers. Tommy let
him check the wing over, poking, gently pulling to test the feather's health, and stretching the
limbs.

“See? It’s fine. Probably just withered some feathers and they all fell out.”

Tommy’s wings didn’t look patchy though. They were full and orange. Vaguely, he thought
he remembered his wing looking much much worse.

“Turn around, let me see the shoulder,” Phil said.

Techno hopped down into the nest. Tommy turned around and Techno sat in front of him.
Phil swiped his palm over the feathers attached to Tommy’s back.

“How is everyone?” Tommy asked.

Techno shrugged. “Been better. Custos probably has the worst of it, poor guy got crushed,
charmed into collapsing a building on himself.”

“Does he have explosion powers or something?”

“He’s a creeper hybrid.”

“Oh…”

“And Niki got burnt all over. But she’s good at taking care of herself. Fundy’s face got
withered.”

Tommy cringed.

Phil’s arms wrapped around Tommy’s middle and pulled him back. Then, Phil’s wings curled
around him, cradling him. Stiffly, he leaned back into Phil’s chest.

“Your wing is fine.”

“I know. Uh, what about Wilbur? Where’s he?”

Phil took a deep breath and laid his head against Tommy’s. “Wilbur was taken. He is under
Cicatrix’s control.”
Tommy didn’t recognize this feeling. He was frozen, and that was normal. But he had an
empty head and a racing heart. It wasn’t like any other flavour of fear he’d tasted.

“Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth,” Phil prompted. “I know it’s scary,
but Wilbur’s going to be fine.”

Why is he so calm?

“How do you know that?”

“He’s too valuable. Cicatrix has always wanted Wilbur’s loyalty, he’s no doubt trying to win
Wilbur over for real.”

Tommy leaned limply back into Phil. “Prime. Oh, prime—so, so what’s next?”

Techno frowned. “Can’t you take a minute to relax?”

What?

Techno reached for his favourite purple blanket, the one Tommy liked to be wrapped up in.
Techno hooked it around his own shoulders, as if now was the time to get comfy.

“No,” Tommy scoffed. “We just arrogantly lost all of the enhancers. All of them. And Wilbur.
So what the hell are we doing to fix this?”

calm, Phil crooned.

It had no effect on Tommy at all.

“What’s our plan? Do we not have one yet?!”

calm, Phil crooned. relax.

“Don’t you fucking bird at me.”

“Tommy,” Phil warned. “I just don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“I promise you that I won’t be able to relax until I know what’s happening next.”

Phil readjusted his arms around Tommy.

“Alright… well, we’ve decided to lay low for the next foreseeable future,” Phil said. “We’re
not fighting back. Maybe someday, but right now we’re too weak. It’s too late.”

Tommy shoved Phil’s wings away and started trying to wrestle out of his grip. “What? Are
you—are you fucking serious—let go!”

“Please, Tommy, relax. Relax.”

“Let go!”
Phil did. Tommy scrambled away and nobody followed him. They, at least, looked
apologetic.

“I’m sorry mate, we’re just not equipped to keep trying.”

Tommy covered his mouth with a hand, then curled it into a fist. “You can’t be serious.”

Phil sighed. “We’re packing things up and then we’re all scattering. Maybe we’ll regroup
someday, but The Hero Organization of L’Manberg has been officially defeated and
disbanded.”

Tommy stood abruptly and clawed his way out of the nest. He heard the others get up to
come after him.

“Do not follow me,” he hissed.

“Tommy, we can’t let you leave like this,” Techno reasoned.

“Like what? Mad at you?”

“Injured. Overwhelmed. Stressed.”

What injuries? He didn’t feel a thing.

Tommy scoffed and sped up to get to the door. Techno snatched his wrist—gently. He tugged
Tommy’s arm back but Tommy twisted out of his grip.

“Are we even going after Wilbur?”

“We can’t,” Techno said. “We will, but we need a safe opportunity.”

Tommy backed himself into the door. “You’re joking. You’re fucking joking.”

Nobody had any other words.

Tommy raced out the door.

**********

He had really believed they could do it.

Is it really impossible to succeed without sacrifice?

In a world where they won, would Tommy not be there to see it?

A late realization Tommy had was that he wasn’t made to achieve his dream.
Dream. If by dream, we meant happiness.

**********

Tommy didn’t try to leave the base. He knew it wouldn’t have been smart. As much as he
wanted to be away, alone, and unbothered, he wouldn’t risk being found. And he wouldn’t
risk leading the villains back.

He knew where Tubbo and Ranboo were. He didn’t visit them. He did wonder about the
Somnium antigen. Tubbo made that one up pretty quickly.

Clementine was around. Tommy spent a lot of time with her. She had a comb now, so he
spent an hour brushing through her black and white fur.

Embarrassingly, he cried a lot.

Well, maybe it wasn’t embarrassing this time. But he cried a lot. And he had to shut himself
up every time someone walked by the room he was in. Which was actually just a supply
closet that he barricaded with a chair.

There was a mirror in here that he looked at a lot. He looked at himself for minutes upon
minutes, rubbing his hands together roughly. At least he wasn’t bloody or bruised.

He didn’t really feel restless. Or tired. Or much of anything.

Of course he was terrified for Wilbur, but he was having an impossible time wrapping his
head around everything else. Everything. The state of his body—which he figured would hurt
a lot more, the state of his mind—he was so numb—Somnium’s motives.

Tommy planned on staying in this closet until…

Well until something happened that forced him to leave. Which was inevitable. Because it
was never up to Tommy whether he could keep resting or not.

Someone knocked on the closet door.

“Tommy? Are you in there?” Techno asked. “We’ve been looking for you… had to use the
tracker in your wristband. We should have some lunch before we go.”

Tommy glared down at his watch and wristband. Lunch? At 10:00 AM?

“We’re heading out right after. We packed your things and we have a good carrier for
Clementine.”

Tommy rubbed a hand down his face and peeled himself off the ground.
“She won’t let any of us put her in it, so we need you to help her know she’s safe.”

Lightheaded, Tommy stumbled into the wall. He righted himself and groggily pulled the chair
away from the door. Then he opened it and Techno was just… there.

“Hey,” Techno greeted softly.

Tommy brushed past him to head back to their room, rubbing his eyes and blinking to get
used to the light. The closet had a dim little lightbulb.

Techno followed him but didn’t keep talking. He didn’t touch Tommy, didn’t steer him
anywhere. When they came to the SBI living quarters, he let Tommy walk in first. He gave
no instructions and Tommy instinctually went toward Clementine.

He picked her up and held her closely, petting her head, then her little cheeks. He listened to
her purr.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “Gotta put you in here for a little bit. I won’t let you stay in there for
long.”

She went without a fight, having full trust in Tommy. It was a pleasant surprise—how much
trust she had in him after everything.

He closed the carrier and scratched under her chin through the metal bars.

“We’re going to walk through tunnel three,” Phil started, standing back with Techno. “There
will be a car there waiting for us. Then we’ll make for the border into Drywaters.”

Tommy was suddenly hit with the nauseating realization that he was leaving Logsted. He was
leaving the parts of the city he raised himself in. He was leaving his domain as Rubrum.

Rubrum was leaving the city.

“I—I don’t want to go. I’m not coming,” he decided.

Obviously, that was not something Phil and Techno had expected.

“You can’t stay here,” Phil reasoned. “If you’re found by Cicatrix and Somnium…”

“I’m staying here. I’ll make a new persona or something. I’m not just leaving this place
defenseless.”

Phil stepped forward, eyes wide. “There’s nothing you can do now. And not from here. Not
alone.”

“Well I’m gonna fucking try. And if you’re too tired—or too scared—fine. I’ll do it myself.
I’ve always done it myself.”

Phil reached out but Tommy slapped the hand away. Phil froze.
Techno came forward to put a hand on Phil’s shoulder and pull him back a step. “Tommy,
we’re not just letting him win. He’s already done it. We’re done. He beat us.”

Tommy ground his teeth together, clenching his jaw hard.

“I’m not going with you. And you can’t make me.”

“We can’t just let you get yourself caught. Or killed.”

“I evaded you for years and I’ll do it again. I escaped from The Pit. Hell—I’ve escaped the
tower multiple times. I think you’re forgetting who I was before Wilbur found me half-dead
in my own apartment.”

He wasn’t winning them over. But would they really force him? Would they kidnap him?
Whisk him away from his home. Sure, he wasn’t an adult yet, but he was more than capable
of making his own decisions.

“You don’t have to keep fighting, Tommy. It’s okay to stop. It’s not selfish to save yourself if
there’s nothing else to do,” Phil said.

“Are you going to knock me out and drag me away?”

“No. No, Tommy, I won’t do that to you—I know you’ve been forced into a lot of things.
And I’m sorry for being a part of that. I can’t… I can’t make you follow me.”

Phil, Tommy realized, was too tired to keep doing this.

Dealing with Tommy. He was done trying.

“Then goodbye, I guess,” Tommy said. “I’ll… miss you.”

Phil opened his arms and Tommy fell into them. Soft wings folded around him, hands spread
over his back. Phil’s cheek rested against his head.

Oddly enough, Tommy couldn’t hear a heartbeat, no matter how close he pressed his ear.
Maybe it was the rushing in his head.

“I’m sorry,” Phil whispered.

“It’s okay—” Tommy felt a prick in his neck. “Phil?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Phil did you…”

He did.

“Carry his bags, Techno?”

“Sorry kid,” Techno whispered, ruffling his hair. “Can’t let you put yourself in danger like
that.”
“... Phil,” Tommy urged.

His knees gave out.

Phil wouldn’t do this.

“I know. I know, I know. I’m sorry.”

Tommy pressed his face into Phil’s chest, eye stinging.

What happened to Phil? He would never do this.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Phil whispered.

**********

Tommy was finally able to recreate Tubbo’s antigen. He remembered what was in it, and
roughly how it was put together. The only thing he hadn’t known was the ratio of ingredients.
But he guessed it. After two months of trial and error, he did it.

If only he could update Phil and Techno. When he woke up that day after the Somnium fight
he was sure that it was over. Everyone was telling him that there was nothing they could do.
Hell, Phil and Techno seemed ready to drag him through the tunnels if that meant he’d go
with them.

But now he was alone. But he was making progress, and that meant something. But he didn’t
have the people he loved, he didn’t have all the help that he needed. It was somewhat of a
nightmare.

Well, he wasn’t completely alone.

“You look like a mad scientist,” Wilbur chuckled.

Tommy turned back to him, a wild grin on his face. “That’s because I did it! We can start
saving people!”

Wilbur was here sometimes. He still had to stick around Cicatrix and Somnium a lot to keep
his cover. So they only saw each other on occasion. But it was nice, at least, to know that he
was out there. In the same city.

Wilbur excitedly pulled Tommy into his side, looking down at the jugs of antigen. He picked
up the glass Tommy used to test it and poured himself some of it. He’d been through a lot of
charms during his time with Cicatrix, who knows what this would unlock?

Tommy watched eagerly for Wilbur to drink it and took the glass from him when he was
done.
“Well?”

Wilbur blindly fumbled for Tommy’s shoulder.

“Oh… he made you do a lot, didn’t he?” Tommy asked, grabbing Wilbur’s other hand. He
dragged him to sit on their couch. “Wil?”

Wilbur nodded. “Man, I—oh man.”

“It’s okay though, he’s not gonna get you again.”

“Yeah. Yeah… Cicatrix is uh, he’s not as bad as Somnium was, that’s for sure.”

“Really?”

Wilbur shrugged. “Somnium was malicious. I never saw Cicatrix hurt anyone without reason.
He never charmed me into killing, at least.”

“Do you want to talk about it more?”

“No, no, I want to celebrate. I want to talk about how we’re getting this antigen into
everybody’s system.”

“... and you’re sure you don’t want to go live with Phil and Techno? I don’t want you to do
this because you feel like you owe me—or the city.”

Wilbur pursed his lips. “I mean, I do owe you and the city, but I want to stay anyway.”

Tommy leaned into him, not really knowing what else to say. “Well, I was thinking we could
use the water supply. But it would take a lot of this antigen to get the whole city. And then,
we have to find a way to stop Cicatrix from just broadcasting his charms to everyone again.”

Wilbur hummed. “Well, he doesn’t know that we’re back together. I could reinfiltrate with
some of that antigen so he thinks I’m still under his control. I’ll get him when he least
expects it—then I’ll get Somnium.”

“Risky.”

“No, I think it’ll work. They’re so far into their egos that they don’t see a world where we
come back.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I’m pretty powerful when Cicatrix doesn’t have me on a leash.”

Tommy laughed. “Okay, Mandatum. Let’s take our city back.”

**********
“Tommy freeze.”

Tommy had to stop. But he hissed, rattling up his throat, feathers stiffening, wings twitching.

“You’ve taken this too far,” Wilbur said. “You’re starting to act just like them.”

“Can you blame me?” Tommy seethed. “I’ll run this city better than anyone else could. I
know better than anyone how hard it was to survive here. I’ll change things.”

“You’re putting yourself in charge and nobody can challenge you, Tommy. You’re doing
exactly what Cicatrix and Somnium did. You are becoming a villain.”

“What are you gonna do about it?”

Wilbur had tears in his eyes. “You know what I’m going to do.”

“Kill me?”

“No! God—prime—no. I’ll put you in Pandora if I have to, Tommy. This is not what you
want to do.”

“I’ll get out. I always get out.”

“Not with Techno as the new warden you won’t.”

“Sounds like a good challenge.”

“Tommy,” Wilbur urged. “You’re not healthy, you’re not—you’re sick, and stressed, and
scared. I could help you, but you need to work with me.”

If Tommy could move he’d be shaking with laughter. “I’m done listening to people tell me
that I’m not alright. I’m done letting people tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Wilbur sighed, letting his tears fall.

“Tommy, sleep.”

**********

“You’re alive?”

“How do you think I knew so much about phoenixes, Tommy?”

“... But I never saw your wings.”

“You thought you never saw my wings.”

“But I undid Cicatrix’s charms!”

“We’ll always have a way to get back to you.”

This can’t be real.

“Somnium—”

“Kurt, not Somnium. I want to start again. I want to be a part of this empire you’ve created.”

“After everything you’ve done to me? You’re joking.”

“I never realized just how capable you were. I never gave you a chance to prove yourself. But
I see you now, Tommy. I want to be a part of this.”

“And what do you have to offer?”

Somnium smirked. “I know where Cicatrix hid the enhancers.”

Tommy hummed.

“Deal.”

**********

He didn’t realize just how much he missed Kurt until they were together again.

Is it wrong, that Tommy wished he never turned Kurt in?

Stuck alone for so long—with heroes for so long—made him soft.

In this new era, Tommy was not Rubrum, he was known again as Somnium’s sidekick.

Sleep came easy because nothing from before was important anymore.

**********

“Let go! He’ll kill you—he’ll fucking come for you and slaughter all of you,” Tommy spat.
“And I’ll help him.”

“Hush, Tommy,” Wilbur said. “Yelling won’t help you now.”

Wilbur swiped his hand over Tommy’s hair, then rested it on his cheek.

Tommy leaned away from it as much as possible. He couldn’t believe that he used to let these
bastards anywhere near him, let alone hug him.

“Get his wings,” Wilbur said.

Phil and Techno were holding Tommy against a stone wall. He didn’t know where they were.
He didn’t remember getting here. Phil and Techno were now holding down his wings. He lit
them on fire, but they were wearing heatproof gloves.

“What are you going to do?” Tommy demanded, pulling as hard as he could, enhanced
strength and all.

He wished Kurt would let him keep an enhancer.

When did he start listening to Kurt again?

“We’re going to make you remember,” Wilbur said simply. “Then we’re going to take you
home.”

“Cicatrix is dead, idiot. I’m not charmed.”

Wilbur raised an eyebrow skeptically. “We’ll see.”

Tommy struggled harder, seeing that familiar light pink antigen. Wilbur raised the jar to
Tommy’s face.

“Tommy, drink.”

And Tommy did. He still writhed, grunting, trying to burn. But the antigen went down. And
nothing changed.

Tommy started to laugh. He watched the colour drain from Wilbur’s face, he watched the
man look frantically between Tommy, Phil, and Techno.

And Tommy kept laughing.

“Stop laughing,” Wilbur commanded, sounding breathless. “Alright, plan B.”

“Yeah try and take me home, I’ll just do what I always do. I’ll escape. Or—maybe I’ll just
kill you all myself.”

“Someone hold his head.”

Techno wrestled Tommy’s head back, exposing his neck. Wilbur pulled out a needle. Tommy
had been here a few times. Like when they first kidnapped him and took him away from the
second base—

Wait that didn’t… they never did that.

He stayed at the second base and became a vigilante again. He saved Wilbur and they
infiltrated Cicatrix’s headquarters.

Phil opened his arms and Tommy fell into them. Soft wings folded around him, hands spread
over his back. Phil’s cheek rested against his head.

“I’m sorry,” Phil whispered.

“It’s okay—” Tommy felt a prick in his neck. “Phil?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Phil did you…”

“Wait… wait I—”

“Carry his bags, Techno?”

“Sorry kid,” Techno whispered, ruffling his hair. “Can’t let you put yourself in danger like
that.”

“... Phil,” Tommy urged.

His knees gave out.

“I know. I know I know. I’m sorry.”

Tommy pressed his face into Phil’s chest, eye stinging.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Phil whispered.

But he remembered them leaving. When they were gone he went back to his apartment. He
started working on the antigen. He couldn’t contact them because it wasn’t safe. And he was
alone.

“Wait,” Tommy croaked.

Wilbur paused, eyebrow lifting.

“How did we get here?”

Wilbur blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Everything’s—it’s all patchy. How did we get here? Where are we?”

Wilbur looked between both of Tommy’s eyes, then over at Phil and Techno.

**********

“How you feelin’ today?” Techno asked, sitting next to Tommy on the bed.

“Weird.”

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“I think I had a bad dream.”

“About what?”

Tommy huffed. “Doesn’t matter. Can you fuck off?”

Techno deadpanned. “We talked about this.”

“Talking doesn’t change the fact that you non-consensually drugged and kidnapped me.”

Techno went silent, searching Tommy’s face, then squinting. “What?”

Tommy straightened, turning fully toward Techno. “When we had to leave the base under the
stadium, and Phil, you know, tackled me and sedated me.”

“The second base? How do you know about the second base?”

Tommy’s chest tightened. “Because we were there two months ago… when you kidnapped
me after the villains won.”

Techno felt Tommy’s forehead and frowned.

“I’m not sick, Techno. We lost—we had to go to the stadium and then we lost again so we
had to come here.”

“Tommy,” Techno said, carefully, “We’re in the tower. We’re in your room.”

Tommy didn’t recognize this room. He stood to look outside the door. He looked out into the
living space of the SBI floor. He was in what used to be Phil’s office.

“What the hell?”

“Are you feeling okay?” Techno asked again. “I mean really feeling okay?”

“What’s the date?”

“September third… you know, the day of your trial results?”

Tommy jutted his chin down, “My what?”

“To determine whether or not you’re considered a villain… and whether or not you go to
Pandora—Tommy we’ve talked about this a lot recently.”

“I thought that had already been decided! I thought I was innocent!”

“Did you hit your head at some point? We should go see Charlie—and call Phil.”

“I must still be dreaming,” Tommy realized, pinching his skin.

It didn’t hurt.

“You’re not dreaming, Tommy. I’m calling Phil, go sit down.”

**********

Wilbur was crying into Tommy’s hair, rubbing a hand up and down his back. Tommy didn’t
know how to comfort him. There was nothing to do other than cry. Because Tommy was
going to Pandora, and there was nothing that any of them could do about it.

But he wasn’t that worried. Something was wrong, and when something felt wrong Tommy
always had a chance to fix it.

“I promise I’m going to do everything I can. I’m going to try my hardest to convince them
you’re good,” Wilbur said through gasps.

Tommy barely had the strength to hug him back.

“This doesn’t feel real,” Tommy whispered.

Wilbur hugged tighter. “Prime, you’re not in the mental state for this—they should know
that.”

“Wilbur this doesn’t feel real at all.”

“I’ll visit you every day. Every single day. I’ll move closer so I can always get there. And I’ll
visit you every day.”

“Wilbur, Wil, what’s the date today?”

“You’re gonna be okay.”

“Wilbur, can you even hear me?”

 **********

He didn’t like this prison cell.

Is that useless to say?

Still, Tommy thought it over and over again.

Dreaming relentlessly of a better time—which would never exist in proximity to Tommy.

**********

“Shoot yourself,” Wilbur told the prison guard. Then he turned to the frozen one, “Unlock this
cell.”

Tommy watched the guard walk over and enter a number into the keypad. Tommy’s cell door
swung open, and he stared in horror at Wilbur.

“Shoot yourself,” he said to the guard at the door.

Tommy flinched at the gunshot. Wilbur strode forward and wrapped Tommy in a hug. He
whispered, “Hold tight.”

Tommy didn’t hold on, he just let himself be wrapped in arms and wings. He heard a familiar
pop and voice.

“Ready?” Ranboo asked.

“Get us out of here,” Wilbur said.

They popped away again. They landed in a soft mess of blankets and pillows. A nest, Tommy
realized. Wilbur fell backward with Tommy still in his arms.

“I’ve got you. It’s all okay, I’m never letting them put you back in there.”

“Wilbur,” Tommy choked, “what did you just do?”

“I broke you out of Pandora… and we have to move again because Phil and Techno found
this place. So let’s get you some food and pack up.”

Wilbur let Tommy sit up and then stood himself. He handed Ranboo a note.

“If you’re lying to me…” Ranboo started.

“I’m not. You did your part, there’s mine. That is Tubbo’s real location. Get lost.”

Tommy cringed at the venom in Wilbur’s voice. Ranboo nodded though, glanced at Tommy,
and teleported away.

“Did you kidnap Tubbo?”

“It was the only way to get Ranboo’s help.”

“Wilbur,” Tommy urged. “You’re a villain.”

“Yeah, well… at least we’re villains together. Now let’s get a move on.”

**********

“You’re not in a dream, Tommy!”

“I am Phil! I was just in Pandora and now I’m standing here and you’re telling me that it’s
time to go fight fucking Cicatrix—I’ve already done that!”

“Mate… mate if you don’t want to fight you can just say that. You don’t need to lie,” Phil
said with a disappointed frown.

“I would never lie to get out of something this crucial.”

“You’re not in a dream. You’re not crazy Tommy, I’m not going to take you out of this fight
unless you say that that’s what you want. We don’t have time for stupid lies like this.”

Tommy’s eyes snapped down, he bit his cheek.

“I’m not chickening out.”

“Then let’s go.”

**********

Somnium had Tommy pinned. On the roof of the tower. And Tommy wasn’t fighting back—
on purpose.

“Tommy,” Phil pleaded, “why aren’t you doing anything—take a capsule. Tommy? Take a
capsule now.”

Tommy would do no such thing.

“What are you doing?” Somnium asked. “Why aren’t you trying?”

“Can you hurry up and stab me?”

Somnium laughed, surprised and short. “Oh man, you really didn’t do well without me, did
you?”

“The longer you wait the more likely someone is to come save me.”

“Tommy! You’re charmed—please!”

If this wasn’t a dream… uh, sorry Phil?

Somnium was knocked away and Tommy saw Phil’s black feathers fly by. Then, Techno
appeared over him, picking him off the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Techno asked, standing with Tommy in his arms. “What’s wrong with
you?”

Tommy tried to wiggle out of his grip. “I’m fine.”

“No,” Techno warned. “That answer is not good enough.”

Techno leaped off the roof and flew away with Tommy.

“The one fucking time I don’t want you bastards to save me, and you do.”

“... Tommy.”

Tommy tried to roll out of Techno’s hands and failed.

“I have to get him out of here,” Techno said into the comms. “I don’t know what they did to
him.”

**********

This is not what Tommy wanted.

Yes, his theory was that he could scare himself awake by ‘dying’. He did not, however, want
to give dream-Wilbur a heart attack. Because despite it not being the real Wilbur, it was hard
to watch him like this.

“PHIL!” Wilbur screamed.

Tommy flinched. Wilbur cupped his face and smoothed his hair back. Tommy heard Phil run
in, gasp, and then hit the panic button on the wall.
 “He just drowned himself in morphine.” Wilbur was shaking. “Oh, Tommy I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tommy said. He hated this. “It’s okay I promise.”

Wilbur shook his head, his tears fell on Tommy’s shirt. “We won, Tommy. We won, why did
you do this?”

“We won?”

“Yes, Toms, we won.”

Toms. Wilbur hadn’t called him that in a while.

They won in this dream, and Tommy was dying. He really couldn’t ever be there to see it.
Even in his dreams, Tommy didn’t get to rest.

Wilbur pulled Tommy up and tugged him close until they were sitting the same way they did
when Wilbur preened his wings the first time.

“We won, and you did so well,” Wilbur whispered. “I’m so proud of you.”

They won. Tommy did well. And he was dying.

“Keep your eyes open Tommy, don’t leave us,” Phil said.

“We love you so much. So so much.”

Tommy gripped the back of Wilbur’s shirt so tight that it hurt his fists.

Chapter End Notes

We're getting close now! The next chapter is already written and edited so it should be
up in 3-4 days.
If you're enjoying this fic and my writing, consider checking out some of my other fics:
SBI D&D AU
Lifeguard AU
SBI Whumptober Series 2022
Avian Spies + Hanahaki
Villain Tommy + SBI Rehabilitation
PLUS!!! I'm doing WHUMPTOBER again this year, so watch out for 31 (THIRTY-
ONE) new hurt/comfort oneshots coming to you in october :D

And here's my twitter for updates on fics and sneak peeks.

 Chapter 26
Chapter Summary

And again, thank you to my awesome Beta Readers:

Myth
Bluey
Gray
Gala

Chapter Notes

WARNINGS: LOTS of derealization/dissociation please be safe, violence, panic, and

injury. Please let me know if I missed any!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tommy met eyes with worried, wide, brown ones.

Wilbur’s face was very close to his own. He must have been watching closely, waiting for the
slightest twitch or gasp.

He didn’t speak right away, and instead, Wilbur raised his hands to thumb away the tears on
Tommy’s cheeks. And even when Tommy’s cheeks were dry, the motion didn’t stop.

Feeling brave enough, Tommy asked, “Wilbur?”

Wilbur froze, thumbs resting gently on Tommy’s face. Then Wilbur readjusted his hands and
scooted his chair closer.

“Tommy?” he whispered. “Are you awake?”

“...Yes?”

Tears sprung instantly to Wilbur’s eyes and Tommy had to close his own. He couldn’t handle
seeing Wilbur cry anymore. Enough was enough.

“Oh no, no please keep your eyes open. I can’t stand seeing you asleep anymore.”

Tommy opened his eyes. Just for Wilbur. “Am I really awake?”

“Yes,” Wilbur laughed wetly. “You’re really awake.”

“Really really?” Tommy asked, trying to sit up.

Pain rolled through him in heavy, fast, unbearable waves. He groaned and clenched his eyes
shut. His breaths stuttered and he couldn’t get them under control until he powered through
the pain.

“—sy, easy. You have been a piece of work for Charlie and Grian, you know that?”

Tommy hummed, worried that any more movement would send him into round two.

“What do you need right now? Anything, I’ll get it for you. Well—Phil and Techno will get it
when I tell them you’re awake.”

Tommy stuttered through another breath before he answered. “Clementine?”

Wilbur smiled so wide that it hurt Tommy’s heart. Then, Wilbur took one of Tommy’s hands,
lifted it, and moved it to his stomach. His hand brushed fur, and Tommy realized there was a
weight on his stomach. A Clementine-sized weight.

Mrrph.

She perked up the second Tommy touched her. She stepped off of him to pad her way up to
his face. She rammed her nose into his cheek, licked his eyebrow, and then headbutted him
and flopped against his shoulder.

Wilbur swiped back Tommy’s hair again. “What else do you need Tommy? What can I do for
you?”

Tommy hummed again. “Just you. I just need you n’ Techno n’ Phil.”

Wilbur picked up his phone from the bedside table and called Phil. “He’s awake. I’m calling
Charlie next. See you soon.” He hung up before Phil could get any words out.

“Why not hit the button?” Tommy asked after Wilbur hung up.

“Sometimes your condition would get worse,” Wilbur latched on to Tommy’s free hand while
he dialed Charlie’s number, “so we only use the panic button when that happens because we
don’t want to scare each other.”

Tommy mumbled an answer and couldn’t help his eyes closing again. Wilbur squeezed his
hand and spoke into the phone.

“He’s awake. Seems fine other than pain.” A pause. “I remember how to do the painkillers if
you want me to.”

Tommy kept tiredly petting Clementine. She purred against his face. It was soothing,
familiar, and so real. And she was actually orange again. Huh.

“I know he’s awake because he’s having a full conversation with me. Well, as full as he can,
being so exhausted.”
Tommy’s body really hurt. It was nothing like in his dreams. He didn’t feel much of anything
in his dreams. It was like his injuries had disappeared.

“Tommy say hi.” Wilbur shoved the phone into his face.

“Hi Charlie.”

He heard a gasp on the other side before Wilbur pulled the phone away.

“If you’re not quick Phil and Techno are gonna get here and try to convince me to move him
to the nest—it’ll work.”

Wilbur hung up.

“Why shouldn’t we go to the nest?” Tommy mumbled.

Wilbur put his phone down, and with a new free hand he started playing with Tommy’s hair.

“Don’t want to risk moving you. We’ve never dealt with a power’s effect like this before—I
mean he had two enhancers when he put everyone to sleep but he only spoke the command at
you. We were scared you’ll fall back into it.”

Tommy’s breath stopped. Clementine meowed directly into his ear.

“Prime, Wil, don’t let me go back to sleep.” Tommy leaned his face into Clementine. “I don’t
know if I’ll be able to get out of it again.”

“Did you do something? You, what? Knew you were in a dream and woke yourself up?”

Tommy nodded. He didn’t have the strength for more detail.

“Wil I threw the dagger to you—then what happened?”

Wilbur smiled. “Oh, it was such a good throw, Tommy. I caught it, he made you sleep, and I
didn’t even have to speak to command him. With it, I just had to direct my thoughts at him.”

“You caught it?”

“I caught it.”

“Really?”

“I promise.”

Stray little tears spilled past Tommy’s temples into the pillow behind him. Wilbur wiped
them away again.

“What did you think happened?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy closed his eyes to squeeze out more tears. “Somnium knocked you out of the air with
his sword and caught the dagger. He had three enhancers—discs, bracelet, dagger. Made you
sleep n’ then me.”

Wilbur held Tommy’s face with gentle urgency. “I caught the dagger, Tommy. I caught it, and
while he was making you sleep I made him freeze. What you saw was just a dream.”

“But it was so seamless,” Tommy whispered.

“It wasn’t real.”

“I thought I killed us all. I thought I killed the city.”

“You saved the city. Throwing that enhancer to me saved the city.”

“You really caught it?”

Wilbur lifted his right hand. It was wrapped in bandages. “Went right through my palm.”
Then Wilbur touched the hand Tommy was petting Clementine with. “We’re twinning.”

Tommy remembered his hand being impaled by a machete. Now he felt the bandages. And
the pain. He winced. But he felt something else—or rather a lack thereof.

He lifted his hand high enough to see, Wilbur’s was hovering next to it, ready to latch on
again.

Tommy was missing two fingers. The middle and ring finger.

“It’s alright,” Wilbur soothed, “you’re okay.”

“Can Charlie fix them?”

Wilbur frowned. “He doesn’t think so.”

Tommy fought back more tears. Though, better his fingers than his life. “But the middle
finger is the best one,” he whined.

Wilbur laughed. His voice was wet again.

Someone opened the door. Techno walked in, hair up in a messy bun, followed by Phil—dark
bruises under his eyes. Techno was wearing a sling for a broken collarbone and had bruises
littering his arms. Both of Phil’s wings were wrapped and he had a brace on his knee. A white
bandage poked out from under his shirt.

The sight gave Tommy the mind to look Wilbur over.

He was missing chunks of his wings. His throat was unsurprisingly bruised—but not as bad
as it had been the last time. He had a bandage on his temple. And since he was wearing a tank
top, Tommy could see the wrapping over his shoulder and around his upper chest.

He didn’t have time to ask if they were okay because Techno and Phil were in the process of
grabbing his face and hands like Wilbur had.
“Oh, mate,” Phil whispered, holding his face just like Wilbur had. “The nest has been so
empty without you.”

“He hasn’t been able to touch it,” Techno said quietly. “Could barely look at the nest without
chirping about his missing fledgling.”

Techno was rubbing circles into Tommy’s wrist, the bandaged one.

“Well, Techno spoiled Clementine and cuddled with her every minute she wasn’t in here with
you,” Wilbur told Tommy.

“Wilbur literally climbed into your hospital bed yesterday.”

“Techno made you a welcome-back basket.”

“Wilbur—”

“Boys,” Phil chuckled. “He just woke up and you’re already arguing over him.”

“We’re not arguing over him,” Wilbur said. “We’re teasing each other.”

Tommy had closed his eyes again at this point, intending to let them bicker and play with his
hair and hands. But, as he learned ages ago, all pleasant things have their time limit.

Charlie walked in, and it was time to check him over, re-dress wounds, and talk about his
next steps in ‘healing’ or whatever.

Charlie unwrapped his wing first and gestured for Phil to take care of it. Tommy realized a bit
late that Phil was about to preen the wing and wash it with regeneration. He was watching
Charlie unwrap his hand when Phil started.

nice, Tommy trilled.

“Feel good?” Phil asked.

niceeeeee.

Charlie was cleaning Tommy’s hand stitches. Which hurt like hell by the way. And Tommy
had to use his other hand to pet Clementine. Which left Techno and Wilbur nothing to hold
but his other wing, and his face.

“You guys’re really clingy,” he murmured.

love, Wilbur crooned.

safe, Techno crooned.

fledgling, Phil crooned.

“Stop it,” Tommy grumbled, “or I’ll… I’ll…”

“You’ll what,” Wilbur challenged.

Tommy chirped. Then, “I’ll cry.”

**********

“You have to sleep, Tommy,” Techno begged.

Tommy shook his head. “I can’t. I won’t.”

“What did you see? What happened in your dreams?”

Tommy crossed his arms, disrupting Clementine, and he turned his head away from Techno.
He didn’t mean to stress them all out. But he just couldn’t sleep.

“Kid, please. You haven’t slept in three days.”

“I slept for almost two weeks!”

“You were in a magic-induced coma, I wouldn’t call that sleep. I especially wouldn’t call it
rest.” Techno ran his hand through Tommy’s hair.

Had Techno ever done that before? Had he ever done anything like it?

“I’m sorry,” Tommy whispered. “I can’t.”

“Not even if I lie with you?”

Tommy shook his head.

“Even if I had you all wrapped up in my wings where nothing could get you?”

Tommy shook his head.

“With the lights on and Clementine in your arms?”

“No.”

Techno kept playing with his hair. Thinking, watching the wall next to Tommy’s head. He
looked tired, Tommy realized. He hoped Techno would go to sleep, even if Tommy didn’t.

“You’re not gonna go back into a coma this time, Tommy, you’re fully awake now—when we
said we were worried about it, that was because you would just open your eyes sometimes.
You would open them and just stare, and not react at all.”

Tommy was done with nightmares. He shook his head again. “I’m not going to sleep.”
“You’ll have to eventually.”

Tommy chose to ignore that fact. “Not tonight.”

Techno sighed. “Why don’t you tell me what happened in your dreams then? Obviously, it
wasn’t pretty.”

“Why do you wanna know so bad?”

“Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. You’ve been scared before but this is… I
mean this is something else. You’re not eating or sleeping. You won’t talk about it—hell you
barely talk about anything. It’s like you wanna puke every time you look at your wings.”

Tommy bit his cheek.

When he looked at the phoenix part of himself he was reminded that Kurt was a phoenix in
his dreams. He just had to wonder if that was based on any truth. And if it was, did Kurt
manipulate him with instincts and make him forget? Did he use phoenix weaknesses without
Tommy noticing?

“Please just tell me about your coma so I know how to prove you’re out of it.”

Tommy groaned. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“Just give me anything. A sentence. A few words. A vague feeling—anything.”

“Well,” Tommy swallowed, “first, I thought we lost. Thought Somnium caught the dagger
instead of Wilbur.”

Techno nodded. “Okay, Wilbur told me that much.”

“Yeah. I woke up with you n’ Phil hovering over me. You told me it took a while to wake me
up and Wilbur was kidnapped.”

Techno hummed an acknowledgment.

“Then you guys said we were giving up and going into hiding and I wanted to stay but you
guys drugged me and took me with you.”

“And I’m sure that scared you a lot. We betrayed your trust.”

Tommy hummed. “Yeah, but the dream kinda just—changed course? I ended up staying
behind and saving Wilbur but I just…”

“What happened after that?”

“I would never do it. Not—I don’t really want it I just—in the dream it was different.”
Tommy didn’t want to say it.
“It’s okay kid, people do things in dreams that they would never do in real life. It’s not
always reflective of who you are.”

Tommy took a deep breath. “It was just a collage of all my worst fears. I took over the city
and basically became Cicatrix—and then Kurt came back and I was just under his control
again and I had to fight you and I found out Kurt was actually a phoenix like me—”

calm, safe, Techno crooned.

“Hey, we know for a fact that Somnium was human. Okay? We know. He’s out of
commissions and we know.”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. “The dream shifted again and we were back
to just after The Pit and I was labelled as a villain and sent to Pandora.”

safe, relax, safe.

“Then Wilbur became a villain because of me and broke me out and you guys were hunting
us down and Wilbur kidnapped Tubbo and blackmailed Ranboo and we had to go on the run
and the dream shifted again and we were back at the start of the fight with Cicatrix and Phil
was disappointed in me because he thought I was lying to him to get out of the fight—”

Techno put a hand on Tommy’s chest. “Breathe. Phil is so proud of you. He is so so proud of
you, I promise. And so am I. Just breathe.”

“By then I knew Kurt had gotten me and I knew I was dreaming so I had to scare myself
awake by dying but you guys saved me and then you took me away and I realized I just took
the two of us—with enhancers out of the fight and what if it was real?”

“Breathe, Tommy.”

“And then it shifted again and we had won that battle—like actually defeated the villains but
I was still trying to wake up so I didn’t even get to pretend and enjoy it—I was already in the
process of overdosing on morphine and Wilbur cried over my body.”

Tommy ended with a sob.

“It just never stopped.”

“It’s done now,” Techno said.

“But what if it’s not? What if it just shifts again any second?”

“Did you notice anything wrong in your dreams? Details that didn’t make sense? Impossible
things that happened?”

Tommy nodded. “Sometimes Clem was the wrong colour. Or the hospital gown I had to wear.
My injuries were never visible—I couldn’t feel them. Or the wrong wing was withered.”
“Those are all things you can look for when you’re not sure if this is real. Give yourself a
small, emphasis on small, pinch. Count your fingers. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Or
push your hand against the wall. Solid surfaces can feel pretty grounding.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm. I’ve had my fair share of dissociative episodes. Sometimes those things aren’t enough
to pull me back down but if I catch it early enough it helps.”

Tommy rolled onto his side, facing Techno. Clementine readjusted herself against his back.

“I’m still not sleeping tonight.”

“Alright. I’ll stay with you.”

“You don’t have to do that. You should sleep. Prime knows you all need it as much as I do.”

Techno hummed. “That’s debatable. But no, I’ll stay awake with you in case you need me.”

“I could just wake you up.”

“Yeah but would you?”

Tommy chuckled. “Probably not.”

“I’m glad you’re self-aware. Now scooch over.”

“I’m not sleeping,” Tommy said, scooching over.

“You don’t have to sleep,” Techno answered, lying down.

“You’re discretely trying to get me to sleep.”

“I’m not even touching you anymore.”

“Yeah but you’re gonna, like, put your wing over me or start playing with my hair again.”

“And that’s gonna make you fall asleep?” Techno asked with a smirk, adjusting the blankets
over them.

Tommy sniffed. “No.”

“Oh good then I’ll keep doing it.”

And he did. But to Tommy’s credit, he did not fall asleep that night. A few times he lingered
between awake and asleep, face pressed into Tehcno’s chest, trying his hardest not to let his
eyelids fall for too long.

**********
“If you move another inch I’ll have you zip-tied to that bed,” Phil warned.

Tommy cringed, and slowly retracted his foot from where it was mid-step out of the bed. He
sat back against the pillows and glared.

“I know you’re antsy but this is the most crucial time to rest. There’s nothing in front of you
now. No missions, no fights, no problems. You can get your energy back.” Phil closed the
door behind him and rolled a spinny chair around to sit backward on it. He rested his arms on
its head. “You can’t convince me that you feel well enough to get up yet.”

Tommy crossed his arms. Phil was right. He still felt like shit. Everything hurt. He didn’t like
to look at his hand or patchy right wing. Breathing too hard hurt. There was always at least
one spot in his skull that had to pulse with pain.

“It’s like I’m on bedrest every other week, Phil.”

“Oh, mate, I know. I’ve been there for all of them. You’re worse than Techno, and that is
something mighty impressive.”

Tommy relaxed a bit. “Does Techno really get hurt that much?”

“Mhm. Remember when he antagonized your kidnappers into shooting him five times? Just
to draw out their bullets?”

“Ah. Makes sense. He’s just… like that?”

“He is just like that.” Phil’s hand mindlessly strayed toward Tommy’s withered wing. “You
aren’t as reckless as him though. You’re just quite unlucky I’d say.”

“You don’t think I’m reckless?”

“Oh, well I wouldn’t go that far. Just maybe not as reckless as Techno.” Phil touched the new
fluffy feathers replacing the fallen withered ones. “Techno thinks he’s useless if he’s not
sacrificing something. You seem to think you’re useless if you’re not perfect.”

Tommy scoffed. “Don’t psychoanalyze me.”

“You make mistakes and react like you’re the only one in the world who’s ever done such a
thing. And when you fix it, it still doesn’t feel good enough because you never should have
fucked up in the first place.”

Tommy dramatically nodded his head. “Oh, thank you, great Philza. I now understand myself
and will be forever changed for the better.”

“Listen here, you little shit, I’m trying to make you reflect on how you feel right now.”

“I’m reflecting! Like a mirror! A freshly shined, unbroken, perfectly flat and unbendy mirror.
So reflective.”
Phil smiled. “I’m glad you’re making jokes again. We never like seeing you go so quiet.”

“Phil I’m trying really hard to keep this humourous and light-hearted but you keep bringing it
back around to angst and trauma.”

Phil laughed. “Okay. Sorry, sorry. Just don’t leave your bed yet. I’ll talk to Charlie about
moving you to the nest but he wants to keep your monitors attached, and he wants easy
access to an IV.”

“I think secretly you guys are worried I’m gonna run away and be Rubrum again.”

“No… should we be worried about that?”

Oh. Well, Tommy was joking again but he actually didn’t know. He wasn’t sure what was
coming next. He really didn’t want to abide by the heroes’ limitations and schedules. He
didn’t want to act in interviews.

He didn’t want to betray the trust of the people in Logsted who hate the heroes that ignore
them.

“Tommy, I know you have your doubts about becoming a hero… but vigilantism is
completely and utterly off the table for you now.”

“I did a lot of good.”

“You did. You really did. But, and I’m sorry to say this, you also did a lot of damage. That
kind of thing can be avoided as a hero with a team and extra resources.”

The Pit. Allowing kidnappings. Injuring heroes to escape being captured. Putting Cicatrix in
the right position to move on with his plans and free Somnium.

“That wasn’t an invitation for you to fall into that little guilt pit,” Phil said, poking Tommy’s
temple. “Maybe you’ll be the hero that fixes this all, hm?”

Tommy breathed a long sigh. “I was really hoping someone else would do that.”

Phil’s smile turned sympathetic. “I know. You’re so tired, aren’t you? There’s no more weight
on your shoulders, Tommy. You’ve done so much, you don’t owe anyone anything more.”

“Everyone’s gonna hate me when they see that Rubrum has become a hero. They’ll know
about The Pit, and anyone from Logstead will shoot me on sight.”

“They don’t have to know about The Pit.”

“I am not covering shit up. That is exactly one of the shady things you shitbags do and I’m
not gonna be a part of it.”

Phil looked taken aback. And Tommy realized he just called Phil and his sons shitbags. Oops.
Phil smirked. “Okay, mate. The public will know what you want them to know. And
remember… you don’t have to be a hero. There’s a little room left for childhood
experiences.”

“I must be eighteen by now.”

Phil laughed. “Seventeen, maybe. We never did look for your birthday with those DNA tests.
That can be my mission for today.”

“Okay, Phil.”

“I’ll be back in a little bit, so, do you want me to get you anything?”

“A monster energy drink.”

Phil gave a warning look. “How about a coke?”

Tommy sighed. “I guess that’s fine.”

Phil left him with a hair ruffle and Tommy reoccupied himself on his phone. He did a lot of
reading. Articles, blogs, and Twitter. People were talking nonstop about the big battle over
the tower and the fires. Everyone from the area who’d been evacuated was grateful to be
going back.

Some were pissed at the damages left behind.

“im a villain girl but that was not hot”, one said.

To which another answered, “but it literally was”.

Followed by, “my dead cat found it pretty hot”

And that’s when Tommy took a break from Twitter to cuddle Clementine. She looked better
than ever. Clean, well-fed, starry-eyed. She was everything.

Inevitably though, Tommy was drawn back into the clutches of the internet. He ended up
reading people’s thoughts and theories.

“do you think rubrum is a real hero now?”

“i hope not, he’s probably spying from the inside”

“no rubrum is a good man he should be a hero”

And he went on reading like that for a while. When Phil came back, Clementine was lying
across Tommy’s neck, effectively cutting off ninety percent of his air supply.

“What’re you doing?” Phil asked, poking Clementine. “You just got him back, don’t kill him
now.”
Tommy removed the cat from his neck and placed her on his chest. He discarded his phone
on the side table and looked up expectantly at Phil.

“Your birthday is September 17th.”

Tommy snorted. “Oh, I was so wrong then.”

“What was your guess?”

“April or August. And something with a nine in it.”

Phil handed Tommy a can of coke. To open it, Tommy had to use the hand with missing
fingers. He cringed when he was unable to use his middle finger to help lift the tab.

“I’m gonna have to relearn writing with this hand,” he groaned.

“At least it wasn’t your thumb. Everybody forgets to appreciate their thumbs.”

Tommy gave Phil a confused look. “What?”

“Nobody realizes just how much they use their thumbs! Be grateful for thumbs, always.”

“No no Phil I think I use my middle finger more if you know what I’m saying.”

Phil rolled his eyes and sipped his own can of coke. He reached over to pet Clementine, who
rolled onto her back and demanded belly rubs.

“Your birthday isn’t that far away,” Phil said.

Tommy shrugged. “S’ a month or two isn’t it?”

“Yeah, month and a half. You should start thinking about how you want to celebrate.”

“I’ve never really enjoyed birthdays.”

“When have you had a birthday with someone other than Somnium?”

Tommy pursed his lips. “Fair point.”

“Just think about it. Doesn’t have to be anything big.” Clementine nibbled on Phil’s knuckles.
“Oh, and Charlie said that if you were alright with it we can move you to the nest.”

“Prime, please. I’m so sick of medical rooms.”

“I’m sick of seeing you in them, mate. Hopefully, in a month or so, we’ll be back to the other
tower and we can give you a real bedroom.”

“That’ll be nice.”

“I can see you getting sleepy.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Nuh-uh. I’m wide awake.”

“You need to sleep. It’s been five days. I don’t know how you’re doing it.”

“No.”

Phil shrugged. “The second your head hits the nest you’ll be out anyway.”

“Not true.”

“We’ll see when Charlie gets here.”

When he did they rolled Tommy’s bed into the SBI living space but Tommy was, thankfully,
allowed to walk himself into the nest. Phil had to help him walk but they made it. And
Tommy sank down into the cushions.

He lay on his stomach, cheek pressed into the softness, body decompressing. Phil pulled a
duvet over him. It was heavy and light pink. Techno’s favourite. Wilbur had a yellow one.
Phil had a green one. They promised to get Tommy one. He asked for blue. His favourite
colour was actually blue, red just suited him better.

“Comfy?” Phil asked.

“Mhm.”

“Sleepy?”

“No.”

Phil huffed and turned to Charlie, who stood respectfully outside of the nest. “Thanks, mate,
he was going stir crazy.”

“No problem. Get some rest, Tommy.”

“No,” he mumbled, too quiet for Charlie to hear.

Phil sat next to Tommy, leaning back against the nest wall. “You’re going to fall asleep
Tommy, it’s okay to just let it happen.”

“No.”

With a snort, Phil put a hand on the blanket over Tommy’s back. Right between his wings.
The weak spot. Tommy melted and closed his eyes with a soft breath. Then Phil’s hand
moved in little circles and Tommy simply wasn’t a god.

nice, he trilled.
sleep, Phil crooned.

goodnight.

goodnight.

Tommy only woke up one time during his slumber, and that was when the brothers joined the
nest. Techno loved that Tommy was wrapped up in his blanket. Wilbur insisted that they
should also wrap Tommy up in his yellow one, which Phil said would give him a heatstroke.

So, in the midst of his bird-brain shenanigans, Tommy reached out to Wilbur in an attempt to
make him feel included. Wilbur, of course, pulled Tommy right into his arms.

And that just put him back to sleep for the next fourteen hours.

**********

“So, have you made a decision?” Techno asked from the doorway.

Wilbur was standing right behind him. They’d been waiting to hear whether Tommy was
going to continue heroism or not. And he had in fact made a decision.

Tommy stood from his bed—his own, normal, actual bedroom-in-the-tower bed—and
gestured to the living room.

“Get Phil.”

Wilbur went to get Phil while Tommy and Techno stood patiently waiting for them. When
they came out, Tommy sat down.

“I made a decision,” he said.

He was nervous, but he knew that they’d support him either way.

“And?” Phil asked.

“I think I do want to be a hero after all.”

They all blinked, a bit surprised.

“You do?” Wilbur asked.

“... is that a problem?”

“No! No, we’re just surprised but that’s great! You’re going to be great.”

Tommy smiled widely.

“You’ll have to wait until you’re eighteen to start the training. And twenty to take your
assessment,” Phil reminded.

“No fucking way you’re still applying that rule to me.”

“Sorry mate, you’re not old enough.”

Tommy’s jaw dropped, flabbergasted. “You prick.”

“Sixteen-year-olds do not get to risk their lives.”

“Okay I’m almost seventeen and you literally gave me an enhancer to help me fight the most
powerful villains in the world.”

“That was… a special circumstance. But now you have the next two years to relax, take up
some hobbies, and work on your life skills!”

“Phil,” Tommy whined, “I’m gonna get rusty.”

“And that’ll be a good sign that you had a chance to live a normal life—and hey, you can
help with Ranboo and Tubbo’s rehabilitation processes too.”

They had each been taken under the wing of other heroes. Schlatt and Niki are their main
mentors, but Phil is still there to help. They had been pardoned by the heroes because of their
contributions to the final fight—Tubbo’s antigen and Ranboo’s teleportation.

Tommy didn’t forgive them. In fact, he still thought they were awful people. But
rehabilitation was better than relapse.

“Are you going to rebrand?” Wilbur asked. “Or is Rubrum living to see another day?”

Tommy glanced at Phil. “Am I even allowed to still be Rubrum?”

“Well, the supervisors won’t like it, but if you just do it they can’t stop you,” Phil said with a
shrug.

“Phil said once that you guys had some name suggestions?”

“Yeah but Techno’s are stupid,” Wilbur said.

“Theseus is a good name,” Techno argued.

“It’s not Latin!”

“Neither was your favourite!”

“No no that was my second favourite, my first choice would be Cinis, Latin for ash.”

“Hmmm, the English one is better.”

Tommy glanced at Phil amusedly, raised an eyebrow, and blocked out the bickering. “Did
you have names?”

Phil shrugged. “Figured I’d leave that to you, but the boys really want to be the ones to give
you a name for some reason.”

“Weirdos,” Tommy teased.

“What do you think Tommy?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy snorted. “I stopped listening. What did you say?”

“I was thinking a cool name might be,” he paused for dramatic effect, “Ellipsis.”

Tommy wrinkled his nose. “What does that mean?”

“Well, ellipsis is the punctuation mark that’s like three dots, and usually, people use it to
leave things out—or to represent that what came before isn’t important.”

Tommy nodded in understanding. “So it would be like the vigilante that I was before isn’t
who I am anymore?”

“More like the mistakes you made don’t matter, the things you went through don’t have to
define you or hold you back. And anyone who saw you as a villain should get over it.”

It was a good name. It was clever and meaningful. It meant even more that Wilbur thought of
it. But it left a bad taste on his tongue.

Rubrum was his story. The things he went through are how he got to where he is and it was
important. His mistakes are something he would prefer to forget but they were still a part of
his story. They got him here. He didn’t want to leave them out of his history.

But he didn’t know how to explain that to Wilbur.

“Maybe.”

Wilbur hummed. “You don’t really want a new name, do you?”

He shrugged. “I’m attached to Rubrum.”

“I think it would be good for you to keep that identity,” Techno said. “Gives some people
hope that you’ll make change because you know how it is in Logsted.”

“Yeah,” Tommy said. “And I want other vigilantes to know that I’m still on their side—I
won’t arrest them and I hope you know that.”

Phil nodded. “I didn’t hear you say that.”

“Me neither,” Techno said.

“Hear what?” Wilbur grinned.

Tommy laughed. “And I want the heroes to know that I’m not some puppet—I’m not
listening to your bullshit orders unless they make sense.”

Phil pinched the bridge of his nose, “I can already feel the gray hairs growing in.”

“I can already see em’,” Techno mumbled.

That earned him a swat on the arm.

“But, Tommy,” Wilbur started, smile falling. “You can be suspended. You are on thin ice.
You’re not a vigilante anymore, as much as we know you’ll try to be.”

Tommy crossed his arms and sat back. “Let them suspend me, then I will be a vigilante
again.”

“No,” Phil warned. “If you go back to that it’ll have to be us that catch you again. We won’t
be able to protect you from a label as a villain a second time.”

“Vigilantes and villains are different.”

“I know they are, mate. I know. But that’s not how our superiors see it—and that’s something
we're hoping to change. But until then, you have to be smart about the rules you break and
the messages you send.”

Tommy sighed. “Yeah. Figures.”

“So… no new name then?” Techno asked. “Cause Theseus is still on the table.”

Tommy snorted, “No new name. Rubrum has officially infiltrated the heroes.”

**********

“I’m a reporter from Logsted!” one voice in the crowd shouted.

Tommy locked onto her voice and knew instantly that she was the one he wanted to take
questions from.

“You in the back—from Logsted,” Tommy shouted. “Make room for her.”

The sea of cameras, microphones, and excited viewers parted for an older teenager. She
smiled up at him, gleefully readying her microphone. Another girl behind her held up a
camera.

“We’re from Logsted,” the girl said again, “we’re wondering if you’ll still be patrolling our
area.”
“Yes,” Tommy said immediately. Phil grabbed his elbow but Tommy ignored it. “Yes, I am
loyal to Logsted. I’ll be there.”

Phil pulled Tommy away from the mic. “You know you can’t promise that.”

“I can.”

“You don’t choose where and when you patrol. There’s a schedule.”

“I’ll find time.”

Tommy pulled away from Corvus, in full hero gear, to turn back to the Logsted girls. They
glanced up at him from a notebook.

“Is it really true that you were involved in The Pit incident outside the city?” the reporter
asked.

“It is,” Tommy said shamefully. “I trusted some people I shouldn’t have and didn’t ask
enough questions. I’m glad that place is gone but I’m not proud of how we did it.”

“You worked with Cicatrix?”

“I did.”

The crowd erupted into more questions and outrage. Tommy clenched his teeth. Phil’s hand
landed on his back between his wings.

“But you helped defeat him in the tower battle two months ago, right?”

Tommy breathed. “I did. I watched Gladius take Cicatrix down while I was fighting
Somnium.”

“And is it true that the heroes asked you to wield one of the enhancers for this battle?”

“Yes. Corvus asked me to use an enhancer, and it helped me fight off Somnium.”

“So are you a hero because you want to be? Or because you have to be? And when will you
start?”

Phil tensed behind Tommy. His hand fell away from Tommy’s back but he stayed silent,
allowing Tommy to decide what he wanted the people to know.

“I want to be a hero so I can change things. If I thought I wouldn’t do any good here, I’d be
running from Corvus again.”

“What kind of changes will you make?”

“Hero freedom. Heroes are stopped from taking the measures they need to all the time—I’m
not saying we should get away with being destructive but I knew my limits well when I ran
into those burning buildings months ago. The heroes waited for orders when I was already at
the top looking for survivors.”

“You don’t think heroes should wait for a good analysis and subsequent orders?”

Tommy cringed. Prime, this was hard to do.

“I think the superiors we have are lazy, and the longer they waited… the fewer people they
had to save.”

“Rubrum,” Phil hissed.

“What?” Tommy snapped back. “They’re the same people who wouldn’t look into The Pit
until the public noticed me doing it.”

“The heroes weren’t looking for The Pit?” The reporter asked. “You found it, we know that,
but were the heroes doing anything about the kids and teens going missing?”

“No,” Tommy said watching Phil’s face. “No, they weren’t doing anything. I mean, they
looked into it a little. But I was the one that found it. I was the one saving kids from vans. I
was the one who got trapped in there and had to fight my way out to get the location back to
my team.”

“Of villains,” Phil reminded.

“I wouldn’t have worked with villains if I thought I could trust you more.”

Phil clenched his teeth. He nodded, understanding, but still tense. They were being watched,
and Tommy wasn’t press-trained yet.

“You were trapped in The Pit? Did they make you fight?”

“Yes.”

“How did you escape?”

Goosebumps crawled up Tommy’s arms under his suit. “That’s a story for another time I
think.”

“Let’s have some more questions about Rubrum as a hero,” Corvus said, briefly silencing the
crowd. “We’re not here to relive bad memories.”

“Are you two close?” a new reporter asked. “What about with Gladius and Mandatum?”

Tommy breathed a relieved sigh. This was much easier to talk about.

“We’re close. They’ve helped me through a lot and kept me out of Pandora. I’m not trying to
paint a bad picture of them—they’re the reason I can be doing this right now.”

“Is it true that you have the wings of a mythical creature like the rest of SBI?” another asked.
Tommy hesitated. After years of instinctually hiding them, was he ready to be known as a
phoenix?

“You don’t have to show them, mate,” Phil whispered.

Tommy shrugged. “They’ll see them eventually.”

He unfurled his wings, letting them rise into the air. He didn’t set them on fire, for fear of not
being able to turn it back off.

The very tops of his wings were still orange. A nice reminder that he was alive.

Cameras flashed and the crowd of journalists and reporters roared in delight and excitement.

“Do you believe that it’s fate, that all four of you with mythical wings have come together?”

Tommy laughed lightly, “Seems too unlikely not to be.”

“Are you a flock?” someone asked.

Tommy blinked and choked on a nervous laugh. “No.”

The answer was yes but nobody needed to know that he was Phil’s fucking chick now.

“Mate,” Phil teased.

Tommy shook his head quickly and hoped someone would change the subject.

“Mandatum said in an interview that he can’t stand to see you hurt anymore—is he usually
the one to help you out?”

Tommy could feel his face getting hot. Thank Prime for masks.

“No. No fuck—freaking way. I have never needed that bas—man’s help ever.”

Phil was doing something behind Tommy’s back, he could tell. He turned to Phil—currently
maskless—who just smiled at him fondly.

“Corvus?” the same reporter prompted.

“Oh they’re sweet together. Mandatum dotes on Rubrum like he’s the boy’s father.”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Tommy whispered. “I was being like—rebellious and cool
earlier and you’re ruining this for me.”

Phil holds his palms up placatingly.

“Can we maybe have some questions about—literally anything else?”

One reporter shoved his way to the front. “What’s your story? How did you become Rubrum
—and how did you win these heroes over?”
Tommy blinked. “That’s uh… that’s a rough story.”

“We have ten minutes left,” Phil said. “You can choose to reveal this now, or you can wait.”

Tommy turned away from the mic and cameras to whisper, “What would you do?”

“Will waiting keep you anxious? Do you want everyone to know what you’ve been through?”

“I don’t know… is it a bad idea?”

“You might inspire someone. You’ll feel vulnerable. But it’s an amazing story of resilience.”

Tommy turned away from Phil quickly to avoid the proud look and having to come up with a
humble answer to that.

“Who are you, Rubrum?” the reporter asked again.

Tommy took a deep breath.

“I was the kid Somnium held hostage on the parliament building. I lived, I sold him out, now
I’m here.”

The crowd exploded again, making Tommy take a nervous step back into Phil.

“That’s all you needed to say,” Phil whispered. “If you want to be done, you can be done and
I’ll get you out of here.”

“How did you live?”

“Where were you hiding all that time?”

“How did he have you in the first place?

“Are you a teenager then?”

“If you’re under the age of twenty, do you have to wait to be a hero?”

Tommy turned away from the crowd and grabbed a fistful of Phil’s shirt. “I’m done. That was
a mistake.”

“It’s okay,” Phil said, wrapping a wing around him. “Let’s go.”

They started walking away, Phil’s wing covering most of Tommy, most importantly his face.

“Should I explain more?” Tommy worried.

“You don’t owe anyone that explanation. You revealed a lot today. Let them speculate… this
is the story of a century for those Logsted girls.”

“WAIT!” a young voice screamed. “Rubrum wait! It’s me!”

Salty tears filled Tommy’s eyes. He blinked them out and turned back to the ground, eyes
scanning wildly.

They were running, pushing through the crowd. And no one was letting them through.

“Move!” Tommy ordered. He pushed away from Phil and jogged toward the crowd. “Fucking
move!”

He jumped off the stage into the crowd of people, only some of which were making room for
them. Phil called after Tommy worriedly.

Was this real?

Tommy knelt in time to catch Cassidy in his arms.

They wrapped their arms around his neck and buried their face into his shoulder. He closed
his wings around them, hiding them form the flashing cameras and rowdy journalists. His
tears fell onto their shirt.

Tommy blew out a long, dizzying breath. Cameras clicked and people chattered but he only
heard Cassidy’s little cries.

“Move back,” Phil ordered. “Further, get back.”

“Prime,” Tommy whispered. “How are you alive?”

Cassidy’s arms tightened around his neck and Tommy was overrun with the need to get them
away from everyone.

“Is your mum here?”

Cassidy shook their head.

Tommy readjusted his hold on them and lifted them into the air. Phil used his wings like a
shield around them, and Tommy kept Cassidy’s face tucked away to keep their identity
private. Phil snapped at a few journalists and pushed a couple of cameras out of the way.
They rushed past the stage and security stopped the crowd from following.

Someone opened the car door for Tommy and he activated his strength so he could maneuver
himself and Cassidy inside more easily. The door closed beside them and Phil got in to sit in
the seat across from them.

Phil ordered the car to drive immediately.

“Cassidy,” Tommy whispered. “Before anything else, we need to tell your mom where you
are.”

Cassidy mumbled their mother’s phone number and Phil didn’t hesitate to call. There was a
high chance that she’d just seen her child on the news, taken by heroes.
While Phil talked, Tommy asked, “What happened to you?”

“The night you escaped we escaped too,” they whispered. “You distracted them all so I got as
many people as I could and we ran.”

Tommy’s heart warmed with pride. “You did that? You lead everyone out?”

Another fat tear slipped down Cassidy’s cheek. “Not everyone.”

Tommy crooned despite knowing Cassidy wasn’t an avian. “You did such a good job. You’re
so brave.”

Prime, Tommy was going to start hyperventilating, but that wouldn’t do anyone any favours.

“They had some of us doing chores outside and we saw you run away,” they said.

Tommy’s heart plummeted. They were right there. Were those last shouts of his name real?

“Did you call for me?” he asked, fearing the answer.

Cassidy shook their head. “The person watching us went after you so I told everyone to run.”

Tommy tightened his wings around them. “Wow… wow, Cassidy you were like a superhero.”

Tommy had been so important to The Pit that they ignored their other fighters just to catch
him. At that moment, he was grateful that they tried so hard to keep him locked up. It made
them all the more desperate to catch him when he left.

“Did you have to walk all the way back home that night?” he asked.

Cassidy shook their head again, thank Prime. “One of the kids knew where we could find a
gas station thing so we asked for the phone and called the police.”

“Oh, look at you go, all smart n’ shi—stuff. I ran the whole way back, like a dummy.”

Cassidy giggled half-heartedly.

Tommy looked up at Phil who was just putting down the phone. “How did we not know
about this?”

Phil frowned. “Honestly, mate, we probably did. It’s just that we were so occupied with
Somnium and Cicatrix that it must have been passed on to our interns to write the reports
for.”

Tommy pressed a palm into his forehead. “I could have known this whole time—I could have
come said sorry.”

“I knew you were busy,” Cassidy said. “We all knew you were busy.”

Cassidy pulled away, looked out the window, and then sat in her own seat. “Are we going to
my mom?”
“Yes,” Phil said. “You didn’t tell her you were leaving.”

Cassidy guiltily looked at the floor. “She wouldn’t have let me.”

This time, and this time only, Tommy was glad they didn’t tell anyone they were leaving.
Who knows when he would have gotten a chance to say sorry?

“You were so brave,” Tommy said again. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, but The Pit is
gone and I’ll never let something like that happen here again.”

Cassidy nodded contently. “I just really wanted you to know we were okay. Chayanne wanted
to come but he couldn’t.”

“Chayanne?”

Cassidy nodded. “He was Acidum.”

“Oh,” Tommy said, trying not to choke. “He’s okay?”

“Mhm. He has a new family now and I think he likes them a lot.”

“That’s really good. You should stay friends with him, help him out,” Tommy said, hoping
they’d find comfort in each other. Seeing as how they were caught in the same trauma.

“Oh I will,” they said.

They took Cassidy to their house. Their mom was waiting on the front porch and when the
car pulled up she speed-walked down the steps.

“Christ,” she cursed as Phil opened the door, “Cassidy!”

Cassidy hesitantly walked toward their mum, looking down. Cassidy’s mother hugged them
tight and looked up at Phil and Tommy, standing there with fond looks.

“Thank you so much,” she said to them. “I knew this was bound to happen.”

“It’s not a problem,” Phil said.

Tommy found it hard to look Cassidy’s mother in the eye.

“Head inside Cass,” their mother said. Then she looked up at Tommy. “You. Thank you, they
told me everything. Thank you.”

She came forward to hug Tommy and he didn’t feel like it was right to deny it.

“I’m sorry,” he started.

“No,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “You did your best and my kid is okay. Thank you.”

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and rebuilt his expression before they ended the hug. She
smiled at him, then at Phil.
She squeezed Tommy’s upper arm before leaving with a final note, “I know you’re going to
do some great things, Rubrum.”

Tommy was left somewhat stunned. Phil wrapped an arm around his shoulders and turned
him back to the car. Tommy sank back into his seat and Phil sat across from him again. The
drive was quiet for a few minutes while Phil decided what he could possibly say to make
things better, and while Tommy rethought every time he pushed away the breakdown he
wanted to have because of the lives he ended in The Pit.

Phil came up empty-handed, nothing wise to share. What was there to say? Obviously,
Tommy was overwhelmed, happy to know some of them were okay, but too stunned to
process it all.

He would have appreciated more time with Cassidy. He wished he had a better apology ready
for them. He wished that their mother yelled instead of hugged him.

“I don’t want to wait two years to start this shit,” Tommy said with a sigh. “They’re all
expecting me to start changing shit now.”

“You don’t owe them anything.”

Tommy hummed, long and high, “Well…”

“You don’t. You’ve done plenty. You’re more than allowed to take a break.”

“I’m just eager to start feeling like I’m doing some good.”

Phil hummed. “It is a long way away. You’re already well trained.”

“... so?”

“So I’ll request an exception for you.”

“Really?”

“Only if you promise that it’s what you really want. You don’t have to start this—you can go
to school or get a job or a hobby or find a club—”

“Phil this is everything to me. I… I think for a while I wanted to stop this all but now I have a
really good opportunity to do the thing I became Rubrum for. I’m making it, I can’t stop
now.”

“You can. If that’s what you need.”

“No. No, this feels good. This feels like a good start.”

Phil nodded. “Alright. But you’re still in recovery for the next two months. And you won’t be
a fully-fledged hero yet—you can start the training early and maybe accompany us every
once and a while on patrol.”
“Works for me.”

“You also need your wings preened tonight—but let me get some footage of it for Twitter,”
Phil joked.

“Bastard.”

**********

“So how was that? First official hero fight,” Techno asked.

“That was so fucking cool,” Tommy breathed.

“Mhm. Now sit down, you’re bleeding a lot.”

“Nuh-uh. I feel alive.”

“Not for long you won’t. Sit, child.”

Techno and Tommy lowered themselves to the ground. Techno put each of his hands on a
gash on Tommy’s arm and neck. They’d been called in—officially—as an official duo—
legally—to fight some villain with whips and telekinesis.

They worked so well and so quickly and it was so cool and they basically read each other’s
minds and Tommy got to quip officially and legally as a hero—

“You have so much adrenaline in you that you can’t even feel this,” Techno marveled. “Are
you sure your pain enhancement isn’t active?”

“Nope, still just my speed.” Tommy found himself speaking through wide smiles. “Hey, are
you hurt?”

Techno snorted. “With the way you threw yourself into that guy? He barely knew I was
there.”

Techno stopped the bleeding but still frowned at the angry slashes. “This is gonna start
hurting soon so turn on your enhancement.”

Tommy did. He looked down at his ripped suit.

“You’d think these suits would be strong enough to endure attacks from leather, but hey, who
am I to judge.”

“Those whips were going like fifty miles an hour, Tommy. They cracked one of your ribs.
And you’re lucky it was the side of your neck and not the front—or prime forbid the back.”

“Oh.”
“Yeah. But since you can’t feel it, and there are cameras on us, I’m gonna let you walk away
from this one.”

Tommy looked for the cameras and saw at least three recording. Two were just cell phones.

“This is embarrassing.”

“This… will be fun on Twitter.”

“Techno they go crazy when you guys do this shit.”

“You mean take care of you?”

“Yes! They just like… explode and cry and shit themselves.”

Techno snorted again and held out a hand to help Tommy up. He leaned himself back into the
wall to catch his breath, Techno’s hand hovered nearby.

“For future reference, if you throw yourself at a villain like that around Phil you’ll get
lectured. Hard.”

Tommy shrugged. “I was excited.”

“I know. But maybe let your teammates take some hits too.”

“Nah, you’ll just have to beat me there next time.”

“You sound like me. This is what I used to get lectured for.”

“Phil told me.”

“So you’re just doin’ the thing you know he hates?”

“Yup.”

“You must be my little brother,” Techno huffed, ruffling Tommy’s hair. “Let’s get going.”

“You bastard. You just gave them footage of that.”

“Of what? This?” Techno ruffled his hair again and faced the nearest camera. He waved at it.
“You don’t want this footage out there?”

Tommy yanked on Techno’s wing, making the man choke down a squawk.

“Die.”

He flapped his wings to take off, feeling his rib creak and move. Techno stopped him,
pinning him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t fly. We’ll get a car. We’re just gonna get out of sight.”
 “Fine.”

Once in the car, when everything was calm and the city passed them by, Tommy felt good.
Really good. He was hurt, and that sucked. But he had fun doing something he hoped he
would love. And he did now. He loved it.

He could do this.

And he had a family to do it with.

Tommy wasn’t just losing over and over anymore.

He wasn’t dreaming, he wasn’t wishing. He wasn’t even fighting or struggling. He was just
living and thriving and it was so good.

“You look happy,” Techno said.

“I am so happy, Techno.”

Chapter End Notes

Woweee. It's done. All 26 chapters. I hope you liked the story, it was a lot of fun to write
and I was eager to finish it. I know there was a lot of confusion within these last few
chapters so feel free to ask for clarification, but please note that I DO NOT take
criticism on my work, especially not from strangers on the internet. (And even more
especially if you don't have your own works posted on here lmao).

Also, you can all thank Bluey for inspiring me to include Cassidy and Acidum's return,
because originally I was going to reveal it earlier and then I didn't find a good spot so I
left it out... but now they're back and well!

For updates, sneak peeks, and more come find me on twitter.

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!