Chapter Text
Everything happened so fast, Tommy barely had a chance to react to it.
One moment they'd been walking through the city, enjoying the sights and sounds of the festival. Ranboo pointed out the decorations he had helped with, the pride in his voice evident. Tommy wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the guy yet but Tubbo seemed to like him a great deal and he had decided that would be enough for the time being.
Then a sound that had the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was distant, off-kilter. But it reminded Tommy of what still lived in the back of his mind no matter how hard he tried to deny it, vile and real. He had become better at grounding himself lately and not fall back into the memory of pits dug deep with his sense of safety slipping out of his control into upturned ground. He thought he had gotten better.
(Better did not mean the faraway sound of explosions didn't still have him nailed to the spot)
Technoblade oinked softly and curled his clawed fingers around Tommy's own. The invisibility pots still had several minutes before they'd run out so Tommy couldn't see him, but he could feel the piglin shift a little closer to him in response to his 'deer caught in the headlights' reaction.
"What was that?" Tubbo was the first who managed to break the tense silence that had fallen over their little group. He pulled at his sleeves insistently, a nervous habit Tommy was starting to notice he'd picked up recently.
"It came from the community house." Ranboo was already starting to take off when he seemed to do a double-take, turned around, and stared vaguely at the spot Tommy and Techno were standing. He was off by a couple of feet though. "You should probably stay here."
"I know that!" Tommy answered testily. He really didn't need Ranboo to tell him about common sense. Tubbo maybe, but definitely not Ranboo.
"Let's go." Tubbo grabbed Ranboo's wrist and before Tommy could blink again the two were gone. He sighed, staring at the faint billow of smoke he could now see rising in the distance. It wouldn't surprise him if this was just somebody's idea of a practical joke, to grief public property when plenty of people were around to witness it. Wasn't like he hadn't done that himself before.
Unconcerned, he sat down on a nearby stone step, hearing the clicking of Techno's hooves against the cobble following him around. Invisibility potions were strange – Tommy hadn't really used them that often before. Outstretching his arm, he couldn't see anything but there was a strange tingling sensation in his fingers comparable to the feeling you get when you sit wrong and mess up your blood flow, when the skin gets all prickly.
That didn't make it any less weird that he could see the walls of a building across the street through the spot he knew his limb should be. There wasn't even the vaguest outline, he could see every dent in the brickwork, every little nook and-
Oh!
"Hey Tech, let me show you something!" Tommy sprinted across the street and pushed his hands up against the building. If he remembered right it should be somewhere around here...
He pressed against an indentation so shallow you wouldn't notice it if you hadn't been looking for it.
A small click of the locking mechanism could be heard before the wall slid inward, revealing the passageway hidden below. It was a staircase that led down, dark since there were no torches in the wall brackets. Tommy didn't think there ever were any placed there to begin with, they never got around to using many of these tunnels. But they were still here, and he knew that if he followed them it would lead him back to the ravines of Pogtopia.
"Do you remember these? You built some of them I think, but there are loads of them all beneath L'Manberg from Wilbur's time too." Techno might have shaken his head, Tommy couldn't tell. The press of Techno's shoulder against his hip was the only indication he had that his brother was standing next to him at all. "I wonder if there's anything still down there? Aside from your horrendous potato farm."
Techno's small snort of affront was almost drowned out by a sudden whistling sound carried on the wind. Tommy turned around, puzzled as to where it was coming from. He took a few steps away from the building, glancing up at the sky.
There was a dark shape outlined against the clouds, something falling down towards them at breakneck speed. Tommy didn't exactly have time to process what it was before the blast threw him back and against the wall with incredible force. For a split second his world narrowed down to nothing except the scorching heat on his skin and a thrumming pain all over his body. Then it muted into darkness.
Tommy couldn't tell how much time had passed when he woke up to hands touching him with worried care. He tried to shrug them off but their fingers only dug in more, shaking him not roughly but persistent in their effort to make him pay attention. He blinked, waiting for his vision to stop being a swirl of puke-inducing vertigo and allow Phil's face to come back into focus.
"-mmy? Can you hear me?" His ears were ringing with the echoes of the explosion, muffling the words being spoken to him. Gradually though, he regained his hearing. "What happened, are you okay?"
Tommy groaned and tried to nod, suddenly aware of the sticky wetness of blood on the side of his head. It pounded in tune with his heartbeat, but he couldn't feel any broken bones or other injuries – so he'd count that as a win. Overall, this server had left him worse for wear before.
Until he realized something was missing.
His muscles locked up as if on instinct, renewed vigor to move away from Phil's hold. The invisibility potion had worn off while he was out of it and he swung his head around wildly, knowing Techno's would have as well. But the piglin child was nowhere to be seen.
Phil tried to talk to him again. "Hey, calm down mate, you're alright-"
Tommy clamped onto his father's wrist. "Techno?" He coughed a little, the dust and ash in his lungs dislodged by him trying to speak. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes but he ignored them.
Phil's petrified expression told him everything. "Where is he, Tommy?"
"I... I don't know."
At these words Phil's hold slackened, allowing Tommy to slip away and stand on trembling legs, dizziness hitting him like a wave. He held out his arms a little to regain his balance, still hurting. But that didn't matter when Techno could be in a much worse position. His gaze fell on the passageway he had been messing around with only moments before, the sides of the wall caved-in but otherwise still standing.
A flickering light nearly indiscernible in the distance caught his eye.
Tommy was sprinting towards it before he properly had made the decision to start running. Phil cried out after him but it fell on deaf ears as Tommy ducked into the tunnel, plunged into near-darkness. His footsteps echoed in the dreadful emptiness of these catacombs, reminiscent of something dead and buried. There was no doubt in his mind he'd find Technoblade down here too – and whoever was trying to take him away.
(Tommy knew who, he just didn't want to think about it yet)
Hitting a junction between tunnels gave him no choice but to slow down, unable to tell which direction the others had gone without the glow of a torch to tell him. Tommy skidded to a halt and exhaled raggedly, waiting. His head hurt almost too much to focus. He heard a half-smothered curse, the squealing of a furious piglin. Tommy turned left and took off running again.
Maybe if it was any other child Dream had tried to kidnap, he would have gotten away with it too. He would have been long gone before Tommy could catch up with him.
Unfortunately for Dream, Technoblade was not any other child.
By the time Tommy made it to them, it was clear to see Dream was losing his patience with the small piglin's struggling. His hand was bleeding, recognizable tusk marks the evidence of Techno having fought literal tooth and nail against the stranger who was not-too-kindly trying to drag him along. Dream was holding him by the elbow now, grip uncomfortably firm even as Techno tried to squirm away from him. His hooves stomped against the ground angrily, trying to dig in or find some purchase.
Tommy had never been more pissed that he hadn't brought his crossbow.
"Let him go." He sounded calmer than he had any right being, given the circumstances. It swirled inside him, a dark mess. He suddenly remembered all the times Dream came to visit him, all alone in exile. When Tommy thought he was happy to see the masked man even pay attention to him.
Sick was the only word he could use to describe how he felt about that time in hindsight.
Dream didn't even turn his head to face him. "Or what, Tommy? What are you going to do about it?"
His sword came into his hand easily, second-nature. It had been the last one he had crafted in Tnret before running away. Before deciding to find refuge with the only people who still cared for him - unlike Dream (no matter how long it took for him to recognize that).
"You let him go or I'll kill you."
Dream laughed, loud and casual. It resounded against the caverns in terrible waves. "How many lives did you have left? One? Are you sure that's a fight you're wanting to pick?"
Tommy bit his lip, the taste of blood on his tongue. "It's a fight I'm going to win, bitch boy."
Not intending to wait for Dream to move first, Tommy sprung into action. Dream scoffed, clearly annoyed at his interference. He let go of Technoblade in favor of pulling out his own weapon and Tommy was glad his brother was clever enough to scramble away from his assault and not be caught in the crossfire. If only Tommy could be quick enough, could be strong enough.
He could sever Dream's head from his neck before the other finished arming himself.
Instead, steel met steel, and Tommy felt himself skid along the ground and be pushed back easily. He only managed to escape the counter aimed at his chest by muscle memory and some distant instinct of lessons from long ago: 'always bring up your weapon to block when your attack falters' and 'inhale on the offensive, exhale on the defensive, otherwise you'll be knocked off your feet'.
He was pretty sure Technoblade taught him those stratagems.
But the victory was short-lived. Dream's next strike caught him low, and when Tommy went to guard it the strenuous force of the attack threw the blade from his hands instead. Seconds later would have seen him gutted if it weren't for Techno barreling into Dream's legs to knock him down. The masked man stumbled, cursing and delivering a kick to the young piglin that sent him onto the ground with a squeal.
Tommy was pretty sure he saw red.
There was no coordination to his movements, no thought-out strategy to get Dream to back down when he rolled over the ground to pick up his sword and attack again. He was angry and tired and remembering a lot of days he'd rather forget, loneliness become solid. Tommy was furious and he couldn't even tell at who or what.
He only knew the person across from him was the one who deserved to catch the brunt of it.
And the worst thing of all was that Dream was still smiling.
"You're still too sloppy," he said – voice light and teasing and then his axe was buried in Tommy's shoulder. The pain was sharp, forcing him to his knees. His fingers scratched at the wooden handle uselessly, trying to pry it out. "I've told you once, Tommy, I've told you a thousand times. It's stuff like this that gets you in trouble."
Dream pulled the axe back, blood gushing out of the wound and seeping into his shirt. Tommy cried out in pain.
"And now it will cost you your last life."
His eyes must have squeezed closed automatically waiting on a blow that never came. Maybe in that split second Tommy believed it wouldn't even be that bad to die if only it happened quickly.
(It was probably better than what Wilbur got)
But when he finally mustered the courage to open them again - to see if he was actually dead or not – he was met with a curtain of black feathers filling up his entire vision. They twitched, moving when Phil drew his sword back from where it had pierced Dream's stomach.
Dream pulled back, the wound non-fatal but enough to have him stumbling. Tommy was sure Phil would end him right then and there, but that wasn't the case. His father's tone still carried an uncharacteristic coldness when he spoke.
"Leave now and never come near my family again."
Tommy didn't question why Phil didn't kill Dream, though he didn't need to wonder why Dream took the advice of making himself scarce. He was a bit too focussed on the burning pain in his shoulder to care, pressing against the cut to stop the bleeding and feeling his hand get slick with it.
"Tommy," Phil said his name softly, a weary sigh. Tommy hadn't noticed he was crying, not until his father wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Are you alright?"
His chest shook. "Yeah... I mean, fuck no but... yeah. Is Techno-"
Answering his question before he could even finish it, the piglin basically forced its way into his lap. Techno's snout buried into his uninjured shoulder, fur rubbing against the side of Tommy's neck. And despite it all, he smiled and returned the embrace.
"I think he's fine," Phil said. "And I also think we should leave."
Tommy didn't have to think very long before he knew what he wanted.
"I think that's a really good idea."
"I'm going to kick your ass once I get out there."
Unimpressed by his threat, Techno scampered out the door. He wasn't wearing his cloak and for a second Tommy debated taking it out with him, but it was probably warm enough to leave it. He squinted into the bright sunlight once he stepped outside, reflecting off the pond in front of their cabin.
Tommy didn't know if it was technically possible for one server to be sunnier than any other, but it definitely felt like it since getting here.
Max started jumping around his feet when Tommy made his way over to the small patch of trodden-down grass at the side of the house. Techno was swinging the wooden practice sword Tommy had given him around with vigor, excited as usual. He could see Ghostbur near the pasture, feeding grass to Friend and Carl while the animals wandered around their enclosure.
It was warm, peaceful.
Or relatively peaceful, until Techno started to get in the swing of their sparring session. Tommy found himself pinned to the ground within minutes, the tiny piglin straddling him as he had done a hundred times before.
"I win," Technoblade said proudly.
"You always win." Tommy definitely wasn't annoyed at being consistently bested by a toddler. No sir.
"I'll be off now," Phil said from beside them, adjusting his hat. Tommy had been too caught up in the play fighting to notice his coming outside. "I'll be back before dinner, but since I know Tubbo and Ranboo are coming over later, please don't get in too much trouble."
Tommy scoffed, playfully pushing Techno off him and onto the ground. "You say that as if we're terrible."
"You are absolutely terrible. And when those other two are here, you're twice as terrible, like you're amplifying each other's terribleness really."
"You're just saying that because you're old and old people don't know how to have fun, Phil. You're boring," Tommy complained.
His father was checking the bag tied around his waist, making sure he had everything he needed for cross-server travel. "My idea of fun does include a lot less bodily harm than yours."
"Like I said, boring."
"Just make sure the cabin hasn't burned down by the time I'm back," Phil said in parting, turning around to head towards where their portal was.
Tommy allowed Techno to pull him upright, pushing the practice sword back into his hands. "Where are you going?"
"Back to the old server. Sam told me I could come by to talk to their favorite prisoner. Something about a book."
"A book?"
Phil smiled. "Just a little something me and Eret are working on. Don't worry about it, mate."
Tommy nodded, knowing better than to press. And he trusted Phil to know what he was doing.
For the moment this could be enough, he had decided. The cabin, the pond, the fresh scar on Tommy's shoulder and Techno's small hands poking at his face because he didn't like to see his brother frown.
Strange how something could feel so familiar yet so foreign at the same time.
But no matter which was closer to the truth, to Tommy it felt like a new beginning.