Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Tommy wakes up, it’s to the sight of sun rays beaming down from his window and the sound of soft snoring.

It’s a normal thing that he’s greeted with in the morning. Most days, he wakes up to more than one person happily snoring however, today he can only hear one snoring away in the bedroom with him.

Tommy sits up and glances over at the double bed at his right.

Ranboo sleeps, sprawled all over the bed. In his arms he clutches a pillow, which Tommy assumes had once been a person before they had to get out of bed. As he gets up, Tommy snorts at the discovery that not only is the hybrid laying spread eagle and clutching a pillow- but he’s also still dressed in his work clothes.

He assumes that last night had been a long one for him and is probably dead to the world. This is quickly confirmed as Tommy accidently drops his leg prosthetic, hissing out a hushed ‘fuck’ as the metal collides with the wooden floorboards with a thump.

Ranboo however, doesn’t wake up and instead merely twitches a pointed ear before continuing to snore again.

Letting out a soft puff of breath, Tommy carefully straps the prosthetic to the nub of his knee. After flexing it a bit, checking to see if it’s sitting right, he then gets up from his bed and quietly toes over to his unconscious roommate. Carefully Tommy pulls the splayed blanket up to Ranboo shoulders before finally exiting the bedroom.

When he enters the living room, Tommy is greeted by the TV being on with his other roommate sitting on the couch.

Subtitles can be seen on the bottom of the screen, repeating words that are softly said through the screen, as the volume is left on low. Tubbo; his other roommate, sits with a laptop in his hands, most likely multitasking between working and watching what was left of the morning news.

With a yawn, Tommy heads over to the open kitchen to make some breakfast. “Mornin’ Tubbo” he slightly slurs out as he walks past the couch. The hybrid’s antenna twitches from the sound, “Afternoon Tommy” he greets back softly.

“I’m guessing Ranboo had a long night at the library again?” Tommy questions as he places his toast into the toaster. “Yeah. I had to put a pillow in his arms so that I could get out of bed.” Tubbo replies and the other snorts, “Yeah saw that” Tommy comments.

The two share a moment of silence with the only noise being the tapping of a keyboard, the low humming of the toaster and the mumbling coming from the TV. Heading over to the couch, Tommy leans against the top of it and peers down at Tubbo’s laptop.

He’s greeted with an array of letters and numbers, speeding around the screen. He watches slightly fascinated- despite watching many times before, as Tubbo types at breakneck speed. Eventually the speed causes Tommy’s eyes to start hurting a bit and decides to advert his eyes back to the TV screen ahead.

“Any protesters today?” he comments as he watches two reporters gossip about some new hero that Tommy can’t be bothered to care about. The toaster announces its ends with a small ding and he draws his eyes away from the screen and heads back to the kitchen.

“Apparently the roads are starting to clear. They came pretty late this morning.” Tubbo replies over his shoulder, “I think they’re going to start up again once lunch hour is over so you can probably take the normal route to work this time.”

“Oh, thank prime” Tommy mumbles out with a mouth full of toast, “the amount of times I had to take those damn alleyways- I swear I was going to get mugged eventually.” He says with a breath of relief.

The other hums in agreement, “From what I’ve seen online, I think it had something to do with the fact that they’re stopped people going to work. Apparently, they had a talk and decided to wait until the morning rush is over and then take a break when lunch hour comes, so you best get ready now while you still have the time.”

Tommy grunts in reply and puts his now empty plate into the sink. He then heads to the bedroom to grab his clothes before entering the bathroom, locking the door on his way in. While he showers, he elects to ignore the bumps of faded pink scars that are scattered around his arms and stomach.

Originally, most of them were the result of the foster system’s failures. Small scars created by adults who thought it was ok to hurt a child, created from rings to long sharp nails and various other items made to cause pain. Other times his scars it came from children, biological kids who wanted to take out the threat, to other foster kids who fought to survive or gain the parents love and attention.

Over the years however, it’s been hard to recognize what scars came from the foster system and what came from….. other things.

By now it’s been around three years since Tommy managed to get emancipated.

Three years since his life changed for both the better and for the worse.

Nowadays he can no longer tell which scars were from what.

When he’s done, Tommy dresses in a pair of regular, slightly faded jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt with a hoodie over it. He then exits the bathroom and heads towards the front door.

“See you later.” He says as he grabs the bag sitting in the corner next to it, “See you later boss man.” Tubbo says back with a wave.

With one last glance backward glance, Tommy leaves the apartment.

------

As told, the streets lacked any protesters, or any sights of plain white shirts embedded with black bold writing. Instead, the streets were full of people wearing a different verity of clothing from formal, to casual.

Tommy also notes that he’s not the only one who was aware of this new change. Looking around he finds many pedestrians speed walking towards their destination, occasionally glancing behind their backs as though a stampede would suddenly appear at any moment.

As a worker himself, Tommy can’t blame them for their paranoia. Most days the streets were filled with people protesting, marching over to the upper part of the city. An area where the wealthy and most heroes live in.

Unfortunately for everyone else, the protesters pretty much like to gatekeep the streets. Filling them with so many people that it’s a struggle to try and walk through the crowd, resulting in Tommy having to take the alleyways in order to get to work on time.

It was a necessary sacrifice due to the fact that one kick from his prosthetic leg could send someone sprawling to the ground. That day Tommy ended up arriving to work late after spending most of his time checking if that person was okay and apologising profusely.

As he finally reaches his destination, Tommy looks up at a familiar sign. The words ‘Clara’s’ is written on the front of the store in long cursive on a pale-yellow board, with curvy vines drawn around the boarders.

The café was built a couple of years ago by a woman named Clara;  a starborn and also Tommy’s aunt and only relative. It’s been probably now past a year by now since the day they found each other and ever since then she’s always provided Tommy and his roommates the support they never received from any other adult.

It’s because of Clara that Tommy managed to find work and meet great people.

In terms of the café itself, its located in what is known as the middle area of town. An area where most people are either living a stable life or just barely getting by financially compared to those living in the lower part of town. The street that Clara’s is located in is also what’s called a neutral zone- which is pretty much another word for a no fighting zone. A particular area where villains, vigilantes, and heroes are not allowed to fight one another as long as they were in the area.

Zones like these can be quite common in the middle part of town, where store owners would come together and forcefully stop any fighting happening in their streets. This rule was especially made to protect stores from getting destroyed in the aftermath of a fierce battle and as a result most vigilantes or even villains are seen around those parts, even going as far as to also protect them.

It's an interesting world when you live in a city that’s slowly crumbling.

Walking into the store, Tommy is promptly greeted to a homey looking café. The walls are also coloured in a pale- almost cream colour, along with other warm pastel colours. The café as a whole gives off a warm atmosphere and while he doesn’t own a coffee machine, it feels like home as Tommy smells coffee in the air.

As the door behind him closes, he stops a blur of blue poofy hair rush to the counter. Friend looks at him and immediately greets him with a cheerful wave as Tommy makes his way behind the counter to grab his apron.

Friend is well….. pretty much what their name states, a friend. They’re a sheep hybrid with and are well recognise for their long, slightly dark blue poofy hair. Considering that they work in a café, their normal waist long hair is normally seen tied up in a single bushy ponytail.

When wanting to get to know them, Friend is a very friendly and social person. They’re also very soft spoken and polite but enjoy lightly teasing people for fun. Apparently, from the rumours Tommy had heard, they decided to legally change their name both party as a joke and partly because they more preferred to be called Friend instead of their birth name.

“Busy morning?” Tommy comments as he takes in Friends hair which looks more frazzled than poofy today. “You could say that.” They reply softly with a small chuckle, flicking a curl behind their head. “Anyway, I heard some interesting news from Clara that a certain someone will become our new manager soon” Friend says with a mischievous expression.

“N-not really!” Tommy stutters nervously in a slightly high voice. He begins to back away as the other takes a step closer, their smile widening, “We’re just planning stuff right now for the future- nothing is set in stone yet!" he tries to explain. “Aww common, tell me the ‘goss” Friend tries to pry as they begin to poke him with a giant goofy grin on their face.

“Fuck off!” Tommy cries out with no real heat in his voice, trying not laugh as he slaps their hands away.

Fortunately, much to the sheep hybrid’s dismay and the others delight; a hand reaches over Tommy’s shoulder and is placed on Friend’s head. The gesture causes them to stop immediately, and they begin to pout at the owner of the hand.

Tommy turns around to find Henry looming over him, who shakes his head at Friend before pulling his hand away. With an amused smile, Henry makes a shooing motion at Friend, tilting his head towards the café door.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m leaving, I’m leaving.” Friend huffs as they take off their own apron, handing it over to Henry’s outstretched hand. “So far things have been pretty chill since this morning so you might have a quiet shift for the rest of the day.” Friend explains as they grab their bag and make their way towards the door.

“Anyway, I’ll see you guys later!” they call out as they begin to walk out the exit. “Oh! Wait-“, they then say, quickly pulling themselves back into the doorway, “Slimecicle hasn’t come by yet, so he’ll probably be here soon!” they in add before finally walking out of the door.

“Ok, thanks for the heads up!” Tommy calls back at them with a wave, before turning his attention to Henry. “Thanks for that big H.” Tommy says, as café door closes with a faint clink.

The other huffs as a reply and with an amused smile on their face, Henry ruffles Tommy’s hair. “HEY!” Tommy shouts, glaring back at him as he tries to fix his hair. Again, the other says nothing and simply waves a hand before heading back to the kitchen, leaving Tommy alone by the counter.

Despite his annoyance, he can’t stop a smile from forming on his face.

Henry is someone Tommy would considers as the big brother type. He’s a cow hybrid with a dark set of eyes and hair colour. When meeting him, most would consider the man pretty intimidating with his built form and neutral expression. Or at least that is, if it weren’t for the fact that he doesn’t talk, at, all.

The only time anyone had even heard his voice was during the rare moments when the man would be the one standing at the counter. Tommy was basically bewildered when he found out how deep Henry’s voice was. Despite that however, Henry was actually quite a kind person known for making small gestures and gifts that mean a lot and who was not afraid to use his intimidation to his advantage.

And in Tommy’s opinion, he’s glad he got be meet such nice and caring people.

------

Not long after Tommy’s shift had started, the ever mysterious and dreaded Slimecicle had soon arrived at the café.

His entry to the store was the same as always, by somehow teleporting right in front of the entrance the moment Tommy had blinked, followed by slamming the door open and proceeding to give everyone a bloody heart attack as they harshly collide with the wall. And if that wasn’t enough to freak someone out, then the creepy smile painted on the slime hybrids face would do the trick.

“Shit-“ Tommy curses, clutching his heart in a death grip as Slime begins to casually stroll up to the counter. “Dude, you need to stop doing that, you’re going to damage the door.” He tells the other as he begins to make their coffee.

Slime was a known regular here at Clara’s and often came by to do the daily coffee runs for his employers. While Tommy doesn’t know much about what job the guy works at, his current assumption is that Slime is probably a part of one of the important and protentional shady businesses here in the city, especially considering the sometimes cryptic things he tends to say at times.

“Hello, Tommy from Clara’s.” Slime merely replies, seeming to not care at all about the scolding as he slaps a handful of goo covered notes onto the counter. Fortunately however, Tommy and the others have long since gotten use to the fact that any money he gives them will always be covered in at least some sort of slime. “Dap me up.” He then says afterwards, repeating same catchphrase he always says whenever he says hello to anyone.

“Yes, hello Slime.” Tommy replies back, not even bothering to continue to continue his scolding. From experience he knows it’s a bit pointless to stop the other anyway. “Anything happen today?” he instead says, changing the subject.

“Actually, I think a bunch of heroes were trailing me today, but I managed to stealthily escape them.” Slime casually tells him and Tommy finds himself nearly dropping the steaming hot coffee cup sitting in his hand. “What?!” he exclaims out as he places a plastic lid over the cup, preventing any more liquid from spilling over.

“Yeah, I wonder if perhaps they found my stash of bones again.” the other faintly mutters to himself with a chuckle. “That would be really unfortunate.” Slime then exclaims with a laugh and Tommy has to stop his hands from shaking from how hard he trying not to laugh.

Apparently, the dude has a lot of bones in his closet or something, which Tommy thinks is probably not actually bones considering that Slime had once came in during winter and had called the snow ‘coke’ of all things. He’s pretty sure that the ‘bones’ Slime mentions is just his way of saying ‘clothes’ or something like that.

“Alright, well stay safe out there, big man.” Tommy tells the other as he places the last of the coffee cups into a cupholder and pushes it to the other side before collecting the gooped ward of notes still sitting on the counter. “Don’t worry, Tommy from Clara’s, they won’t be able to find me in the sewers.” Slime replies with a goofy grin before turning around and existing the café door, while Tommy bursts into a fit of chackles behind him.

Still laughing, Tommy looks over his left as he hears the doors open and sees Henry’s face poke into view. His brows are furrowed in confusion as he looks around the café, probably wondering where the commotion was coming from. “Everything’s good, big man. It was just the Slimecicle.” Tommy explains as he wipes a stray tear from his eye.

In response, Henry rolls his eyes at the answer and lets out a short huff before going back to the kitchen to do more baking.

With one last chuckle, Tommy goes back to manning the counter.

------

Just as Friend predicted, the majority of Tommy’s is quiet with only a few regulars coming in to order their daily drinks. It isn’t until nearly the evening when someone interesting comes in; that being the Warden.

Originally, the Warden was once a regular everyday vigilante who was a nice dude, and while he certainly still is now things have…. changed for him.

Most vigilantes start out as something. Most start out naïve, not realizing how cruel the world could be to people like them- especially when dealing heroes hunting them down. Others however, sometimes start already aware what the world is like, having experience its hardships and yet still continuing to fight for the good.

The Warden was somewhat the first option. Then as time went on he became slightly dark. He would still continue to help people, but he stopped holding back in fights.

Nowadays the Warden is known as an anti-hero. For the hero’s and those living in the upper part of the city, they call him a villain. Though in truth most vigilantes are seen as villains in the eyes of the wealthy, pushing the title in an attempt to get others to believe their lies.

Tommy zones back in when he hears someone clear their throat and glances up at the figure standing in front of him. Like a giant the Warden looms over him, yet despite the gas mask the covers the majority of his face, you could slightly see his eyes winkle as though he were smiling down at the other.

“Hey big man.” Tommy greets with a beaming smile, before beginning to prepare the man’s drink, “How’s it going?”

“Quiet” Warden says in a deep but soft sort of voice. It sort of makes you think of a soft spoken- yet can become scary if you anger them, kind of guy. “Streets have been quiet so far, though I recently managed to escape an ambush that the heroes tried to pull on me.’ he adds in.

“Huh, again? Isn’t this the, what, fifth time that they tried to do that? I mean it’s not like you were doing anything bad at the time, or else the news would be immediately on your ass again like they always do whenever you get into fights.” Tommy comments as he places a lid onto the cup.

“It’s days like these where I’m glad that I don’t hold back on them. They’re just digging a bigger hole by refusing to focus on the bigger problems.” The Warden sighs out, slightly perking up a bit when he is handed his coffee. Tommy hums in agreement as he grabs the money handed to him, “Well you have fun doing your anti stuff big man” he says with a nod of his head.

With a nod back, the other clutches his coffee and makes his exit out of the cafe. “Stay safe.” Warden says with a short wave of his hand before leaving the café.

------

When the suns evening rays begin to hit the city buildings and the sky turns red, Tommy’s shift comes to an end for the day.

Together both he and Henry begin to clean up around the shop, wiping down tables and counters. At the sound of the door opening, Tommy turns around to see Shroud walking in, his black hair appearing slightly lighter under the florescent café lights.

“Evening Shroud.” Tommy greets with a wave and earns a greeting hiss in return. “Alright, I’m going to head off now. Do you need any help?” Tommy asks Henry as he begins to untie his apron. In response to the question Henry shakes his head and gives the other a goodbye pat on the head before heading back to the kitchen.

“Ok, well you take care you two! See you tomorrow!” Tommy shouts out before grabbing his bag and making his way out the café door, starting the trek home.

------

During the walk home, Tommy notes the number of boards and papers stuck onto poles and windows left by protesters. It’s not unusual to see them when around the streets but as of recently there have been a lot more of them placed around the city, even some littering the ground as the wind blows them away.

When he finally reaches his apartment building, the paths are filled with so many papers. ‘We want justice’ one states in bold writing, stuck to a nearby streetlamp. ‘Outlaw hero’s, legalize vigilantes’ says another on the floor lying next to his foot and Tommy can’t help but laugh to how ridiculous the words sound.

Glancing up again, his eyes catch another piece of paper stuck to the wall nearby, the poster trembling in the wind from how sloppily it was plastered on. ‘Justice for-’ instantly Tommy stops reading and his smile quickly drops.

Deciding to just move on, he turns and heads into the building.

When he enters his apartment, he finds Tubbo sitting on the couch still typing away on his laptop. “Did you take any breaks?” Tommy asks with a tad bit of concern as he stares over at the bee hybrid.

“Yeah, Ranboo forced me to take a walk with him.” Tubbo answers, fingers flying away at his keyboard. “Where is boob boy anyways? Did something happen?” Tommy says looking around the room, “Yeah. While we were out, he got a call from work asking if he could another night shift. I think the guy that was supposed to do it couldn’t come or something, though he made dinner for us before he left.”

Tommy lets makes a noise of understanding as he looks into the fridge, finding two dishes wrapped in clinging wrap. Grabbing both of them, he heads to the microwave and starts to heat one of them up. When the timer starts, he then heads over to the TV and turns it on, revealing the nightly news.

“Now in tonight’s news; there have been reports of the Warden running around the city in the afternoon. Footage was sent of the time when a group of heroes had started chasing after the claimed anti-hero-“

“Oh, was Warden attacked again?” Tubbo asks, turning down the TV volume and finally looking up from his laptop. “Apparently so. He came in later in the afternoon and said he was just wandering around before the heroes rocked up.” Tommy replied as he went to heat up the second dish, bringing the first one over to Tubbo.

“Haha, L” the other laughs, smiling at Tommy when he hands him his meal. “So, I guess everything was calm at the shop today?”

“Pretty much. It was mainly just Slimecicie and Warden coming in today, with a few regulars. Though unfortunately Friend ended up finding out that Clara was considering making me the new manager eventually.” Tommy says with a suffering sigh. He takes his own dish out of the microwave and makes a show of slumping as he walks over to the couch.

“Ha, eat shit.” Tubbo merely says and gets a tablecloth in the face in return. “Fuck you” Tommy says, looking away while the other laughs his antennas moving with his head. “I’m going back to my news.” Tommy whines as he raises the TV volume.

Together the friends eat in comfortable silence.

------

Tomorrow marks a year since the apparent death of beloved vigilante, Mellohi. After being accused of the murder of many citizens and later being proven innocent after his death, the public still demand an answer on the cause of death. The heroes, however, still remain silent to this day which has caused the number of protests to rise.

Could it be that they were at fault for Mellohi’s death, or is the vigilante still alive?

Perhaps the truth will come out one day.

Chapter Text

A low buzz is the first thing Tommy hears in the morning, the sound waking him up from the half doze he had been stuck in.

Rubbing his eyes, Tommy looks over at his phone laying on his bedside table. He watches as a notification pops up before the screen goes black again and with a sigh, reaches an arm over to retrieve it.

Bringing the device over to his face, he quickly turns it on, squinting as the brightness assaults his eyes. With a small hiss, Tommy turns it down and then taps on the message he had just received, noticing that it was from Tubbo.

Bee Boi:

Morning! Boo and I are out rn

Cause of this-

Blinking, Tommy taps on the link Tubbo had sent under the message, finding that it takes him to a news website. As the screen loads, he realizes that the other had sent him a link to a live broadcast that the news was coverage and quickly turns up the volume on his phone.

As the page finally loads, the footage shows a woman who appears to be sitting in a helicopter, judging from the high view in the background and the way her ponytail flies wildly around the air. Behind her is a vague, blurry view of what looks like an army of people that from the distance appear more as colourful blobs then anything else.

-o far from what we’ve been told, the vigilante Ender was spotted teleporting civilians around the streets that, as we can see, are currently being blocked by protesters. However, right now we do have a sighting of Nuke over here-!

As she finishes her sentence the camera moves its focus away from the woman and instead faces one of the tall buildings the helicopter is flying close to. When the lenses focus, Tommy is able to see the small figure of Tubbo standing alone on the top of the building.

Despite the slight blurry quality, he’s able to make out the vigilante’s furred bombers jacket and his brown checked pants. Sitting snuggly on his face was a gas mask which concealed his whole mouth, while his bangs hanged over his eyes completely covering them from view.

Peering closely, Tommy notices a device in vigilantes hand and realizes that it must be his phone as he watches Tubbo look up in the camera, giving it a friendly wave. Immediately Tommy snorts at the action and taps back into his messages sending a quick “nice” to his friend.

Glancing at the “lol” he gets in return, Tommy starts to crawl out of bed, keeping the news website open on his phone while he places his prosthetic on. Walking towards the living room, he goes through his contacts until he eventually finds Tubbo’s name. Then he presses the number and sets it to speaker.

While it rings, Tommy turns the tv on and sets it to the same news channel that he had been watching on his phone. He then mutes it and turns on the subtitles before he heads towards the kitchen.

“So, what’s the goss’?” Tommy asks as soon as his call is accepted.

“Well, Boo and I woke up to see that the streets were filled with protesters this morning. You probably already caught a glance on the news but trust me big man, it is huge where I’m at.” The Tubbo replies, practically shouting into his phone due to how heavily the wind was blowing into the speaker with how high up the vigilante was.

Tommy drags out a “ah” at the answer as he places a piece of toast into the toaster before turning around to face the silent TV again. “Yeah, so Ender and I thought it would be good to go down there and help transport the people trying to get to work today, especially with now near impossible it is to get through the crowd right now.” Tubbo further explains.

“But how come they’re doing this during the morning rush? I thought there was a truce or something didn’t you say?” Tommy comments, taking his now cooked bread as it pops out of the toaster and placing it onto a plate before buttering it.

“….it’s the anniversary” Tubbo replies in a quiet voice, his words causing Tommy to freeze mid motion, the buttered knife in his hand pausing just as he was about to place it onto his toast. “….it’s been a year now has it?” he asks, voice also quiet.

Neither boy says anything for a moment, with the only noise drowning out the silence being the rushing of the wind coming from the phone still on speaker.

“….Alright I better get ready for work then.” Tommy finally sighs after a beat, taking a bite out of his half-buttered toast.

“All good big man. Just text me what alleyway you’re stopping at, and I’ll get Ender to pick you up.” Tubbo tells him, going back to shouting at his phone. “Oh! And can you grab a couple of smoothies for Boo please? The teleporting is starting to wear him out a bit.”

“All good.” Tommy replies, putting his empty plate into the sink. “Cool, thanks! See you later.” Tubbo says in a rush. “See you.” Tommy says back, watching as the other ends the call.

With a sigh, Tommy makes his way towards the bathroom, getting himself ready for the day. Once dressed, he then heads towards the kitchen again, grabbing a reused plastic shopping bag stored in one of the cupboards. Next, he then grabs two long drink bottles from out the fridge, both full of freshly juiced chorus fruit- a type of fruit that are surprisingly good for Endermen and helped them replenish their energy when teleporting.

Letting out a huff, Tommy places both bottles into the bag before going around and turning off the TV. With the plastic bag sitting in one hand, he reaches his free one over to grab the handle of his own bag that had been sitting next to the apartment door.

Then with a quick glance to see if he had forgotten anything, Tommy quickly makes his exit out of the apartment.

------

The moment he walks out of his apartment building, Tommy can already hear the sound of people shouting and yelling despite how empty the area looks in front of him.

Looking over at the right, he finds that the commotion is coming from the street over as he watches a stampede of protesters marching past the one Tommy himself stands in. As he looks at the crowd, he notices each person holding a sign or poster that they wave high into the air.

Blinking, Tommy begins to stroll along the walk path before sharply turning once he reaches a nearby alleyway. Glancing back at the entrance, he then hides behind a bin, sending a text to Tubbo.

Big Man:

At the alleyway near our apartment

As the text sends, Tommy pockets his phone and leans himself against the wall as he waits for his other roommate.

Thankfully Ranboo doesn’t take long to arrive, appearing in a shower of purple sparks with a loud vwroop sound.

His regular suit and long purple coat were now wrinkled and slightly dirtied, obviously due to the numerous times the vigilante had been teleported around the area and navigating through the crowd. On his face sits a pair of dark purple tinted shades and a black and white coloured mask, both completely covering his face from view.

“Your taxi has arrived!” Ranboo says with a bow, his noise slightly cracking with how out of breath he was. “About fucking time.” Tommy grumbles, his words lacking any heat, “Doing, ok?”

“Yeah” Ranboo replies, still sounding breathless, “I just- phew- am a bit tired.”

“Well start praising me bitch, ‘cause I came prepared.” Tommy boasts, holding out the plastic bag to the other. “Oh thank ender-“ Ranboo whispers out, grabbing the bag. Quickly, they then take out one of the bottles and greedily chug’s half the bottle before finally putting it down.

“You good now? I need to head to work soon.” Tommy complains, electing to ignore the whine in his tone. “Alright then, let’s go.” Ranboo sighs, holding an arm out for the other who quickly loops his own over.

Then in a flurry of purple particles Tommy’s vision goes black, seemly stuck in an endless void. Then in a blink and he’s instead greeted by the sight of Clara’s standing before him.

“We have arrived at your stop, good citizen.” Ranboo says with a mocking bow. Grinning, Tommy removes his arm from the endermen, letting out a dramatic gasp. “Why thank you vigilante Ender.” he says back, also in a mocking tone.

“I best be off then! Take care random citizen.” Ranboo shouts, raising a hand to salute him before disappearing in another shower of sparks.

Chuckling to himself, Tommy turns back around and enters the café. As soon as it opens, he’s greeted to the smell of freshly baked food and judging by the unlocked door, guesses that Henry had come to the store early today.

Taking a breath, Tommy starts heading towards the counter, dropping his bag behind it before grabbing his apron and walking over to the back door. “You’re here early.” Tommy comments as a greeting to Henry, the latter of who was currently placing a cupcake tray into the oven.

“Was it because of the protests today?” Tommy asks as he watches the oven lip close, earning him a nod from the other. With a puff, Henry straightens back up, pointing a finger at Tommy and giving him a thumbs up with a questioning gaze. “Yeah, I got here fine. Ender’s been helping people get past the protesters, so he was able to teleport me here.” Tommy replies.

With another nod, Henry pats Tommy’s hair, ignoring the offended squawk from the other before heading further down the room. Most likely to check out the other baked goods that the man was working on.

“Fuck you! I’m going to the counter.” Tommy grumbles, though tone once again lacking any true heat as he glares over at the other. Continuing the act, he then heads towards the door and slams it behind him with a huff.

------

The morning passes by slowly.

Due to the fact that both sides of the street that Clara’s was currently standing in is blocked by protesters, there was hardly any signs of people walking out and about in the area. Eventually, to past the time Tommy had ended up turning on the TV hanging up on the wall. Despite not liking the numerous channels talking about the protests or the current date, it was at least some background noise Tommy could listen to as he wiped the counter.

This was also the reason why Tommy jumped at the sound of the café door opening, too immersed with cleaning the surface. He ends up having to bite the inside of his cheek in order to stop himself from cursing out loud.

With his best customer service smile, Tommy puts the rag away and turns to the newcomer. “Hello, welcome to Clara’s. What would you-…..like?” he starts but falters halfway through as he looks up at the person.

The customer in question looks- to put it lightly, like shit.

Despite the sunny weather, the man standing before him is dressed in an oversized hoodie and a pair of long baggy sweatpants underneath it. His hair- which was not only long and coloured pink, but also appeared to be the only thing that looked well kept- was tied up in a messy braid that draped down his back.

Honestly Tommy wouldn’t have bothered concentrating on the stranger’s outfit, if it wasn’t for how ragged the man appeared to be. Complete with a set of dark bags under his crimson eyes, tucks which slightly poked out of his bottom lip and a pair of lopsided, squared lensed glasses that were hanging off his pointed ears.

‘Must have walked through the crowd’ Tommy thinks as he takes in the sight, watching as the man stalks forward to the counter.

“One coffee please” the man says before pausing, “You know what, make it two. Black coffee, no sugar.” he then adds before taking out his wallet. Pausing, Tommy blinks at the man, hand half raised towards the cash register. “Are you looking for a death wish?” he deadpans.

“Not at the moment.” the man easily responds as he hands over a ward of notes, “and quite frankly, I think I need one right now.”

Stopping himself from saying ‘I can tell’, Tommy grabs out a cup from the stack behind him. “Can I get a name?” he asks, pulling out a sharpie and popping the lid off with his thumb. Blinking, the guy glances around the empty room, looking as though he wants to say something.

“Techno” the guy- Techno finally says after a moment.

With a nod Tommy turns away, bring the marked cup towards the coffee machine.

After that the café is plunged into somewhat silence, with the only noise being the murmurs coming from the TV and the obnoxious slurring sounds coming out of the coffee machine as it runs. If Tommy listens hard enough, he could also hear the sound of the ovens humming in the back and distant shouts of protesters in the street over.

It was almost peaceful.

“I didn’t know that they let children work full time.” Techno then decides to mutter, causing everything to stop in its tracks.

Tommy thinks he can even hear Henry stop his work in the back, probably able to feel the shift in the air and how bad the prick fucked up.

“Excuse me?” he says lowly, turning back towards Techno, the cup now left forgotten.

“I mean, you look pretty young. Shouldn’t you be at school studying?” the other continues shrugs, unaware of the danger he was now in. “I’m eighteen, asshole.” Tommy growls out, glaring at the man. “Ah, I see.” Techno says simply, “A full adolescent at this point.” he drawls, confirming that yes; he does have a death wish.

“Oh yeah? And how old are you prick? Bet you’re in your fucking forties with those glasses” Tommy snaps back, storming around the counter. “I think I prefer that then looking like a teenager.” Techno smoothly replies, a faint look of amusement appearing on his bored expression. “I’ll fucking show you teenager-“ Tommy says, grabbing a nearby cloth to wack him with.

Or well he was, until Tommy hears the sound of the backdoor opening and immediately he naps his neck over towards the door, watching Henry poke his head out.

“No.” the man says, causing Tommy to freeze, sucking in a breath. It wasn’t everyday you would hear Henry talk. Though in the rare times that it does happen it’s mostly to get people to listen to him.

“But Henry, he called me a child!” Tommy shouts- and definitely didn’t whine, as he waves his arms over in Techno’s direction. In a reply Henry shakes his head back at the other, “No” he repeats before moving his head away from the door and closing it.

As it clicks shut, Tommy stands there, completely stunned at what had happened.

“Huh.” Techno mutters to himself and Tommy has to ball up his hands to stop himself from punching the bastard in the face. “Fuck you.” he spats back, throwing the cloth at the counter with a huff as he walks around it.

As quick as he can, be brews two black coffees before slamming them on the counter. “Coffee” Tommy growls, snatching back the discarded cloth to clean the coffee machine.

“That was quick.” He hears Techno murmur behind him. Then a bit louder he asks, “So are you two the only one’s working here? Would have though the manager was here somewhere.”

“Bitch, I am the manager” Tommy answers back, a feral grin on his face. Technically he isn’t until maybe about a couple weeks, but he’s practically the second in charge when Clara isn’t in.

“I highly doubt it.” Techno retorts back, blinking down at the other with a blank look on his face. “I am” Tommy repeats with an evil laugh.

“I don’t really think- actually I don’t really care.” Techno says as he brings up one of the cups, taking a big sip out of it. After a sip, the man immediately begins to cough, causing coffee to spew everywhere.

“Well that woke me up-“ he rasps out, bringing a hand up to wipe his mouth.

The reaction causes Tommy to burst out laughing, ignoring the fact that he’ll need to wipe the floor later. “No wonder Phil sometimes drinks this stuff.” Techno continues to say as Tommy begins crumble from how hard he’s laughing.

“No but really, how does he drink the whole mug in one go?” Techno says in a hushed whisper, while tears began to stream down Tommy’s face.

It takes what feels like hours for Tommy to finally calm down, occasionally letting out a hiccupping giggle.

“That was fucking funny.” he finally says, wiping away a stray tear from his eye. From across the room Techno dumps the napkin Tommy had given him into the bin. “Well at least that’ll keep me going for a bit.” he mutters, picking up the cup he had placed on a nearby table.

“Wait what’s the time….” Techno then says, digging out his phone from his pocket and turning it on. Immediately the rising urge to laugh that Tommy has tried to stifle comes back in full force from the exasperated “Bruh” the man lets out.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to leave-“ he sighs out and begins to briskly making his way to the door.

“Have a nice day” Tommy manages to say as he tries to regain his breath again, the sentence causing Techno to pause halfway out of the door. “Umm… yeah, see you later kid- uh. See you later....?”

“Tommy”

“Tommy.” Techno says with a nod, “See you later Tommy.” he then shouts out before walking out the door, making his way past the café and out of sight. With a big sigh, Tommy slumps over the counter, feeling exhausted from all the laughter.

It’s…. nice really, no one has ever made him laugh that hard in a long while and out of everyone it just so happened to be from some random sleep deprived guy he only just met.

Brushing his bangs away from his eyes, Tommy smiles. So far today felt like a good day for him.

Or at least until he remembered the large coffee stain on the floor that he’ll need to clean.

“Fuck-“

It had almost been a good day.

------

The door let out a low creak as Tommy entered his apartment, chucking his backpack to the side which was still opened from when he rampaged around it to find the key to the door.

With a tired sigh he shuffles further into the living room and collapses onto the long couch in front of the TV.

“Long day?” Tubbo asks softly next to him, taking his eyes off the laptop sitting on his lap. Next to him on a single couch lays Ranboo curled up- or at least as much as he can with their freakishly long limps.

The endermen in question blinks lazily at the screen- most likely still tired from the morning, before he also brings his attention to Tommy.

“S’quiet.” Tommy mumbles out rubbing a hand over his face, “the protesters had basically blocked anyone from getting to the street and some idiot spat his drink on the floor.” he explains.

“Why did they spit it out?” Tubbo questions with an accusatory expression, “did you do something to it?” Ranboo adds in with a similar expression- assholes the lot of them.

“I didn’t do anything!” Tommy defends, “It’s not my fault that the fucker brought black coffee!” he cries out, waving his arms. “Don’t know why fucking Techno or whatever his fucking name was would even buy it if-“

“Wait you said his name was Techno? Long pink hair normally tied up, wearing glasses?” Ranboo asks, intrigued. “Yeah, why? You been hanging out with wrongun’s, Ranboo?” Tommy says back, squinting his eyes at the other.

“Actually, he works at the library with me, I had to take his shift yesterday.” Ranboo replies. “Oh, so he’s the one who ruined our walk yesterday?” Tubbo says, snapping his neck towards the other. No one needed to see his eyes to feel the bee hybrids wrath.

“N-no, no, Tubbo! He couldn’t come because of family reasons; it wasn’t his fault-”

“They always say family reasons-“

“OK!” Tommy shouts over the two, with a clap of his hands, “Enough talking about Techno-bitch or whatever the fuck his name is- I’m fucking tired.” he announces before slumping against Tubbo who lets out a small “oof”.

“You’re fucking heavy” Tubbo complains, pushing the other until there is less weight leaning on him. “Deal with it bitch boy.” Tommy mutters back, relaxing and closing his eyes.

With one last huff, the trio all into silence. Listening to the murmurs coming from the TV and the light tapping from Tubbo’s laptop.

It would have been perfect, his family sitting all together on the couch.

And yet despite the calmness and tranquillity; Tommy could never seem to find himself able to ignore the emptiness that lingers in their group. Despite how much time has passed, he could never seem to forget about the hole that she had left behind after her departure.

Chapter Text

“Just stay there, I’ll come get you!” Tommy shouts out as the metal bars of the unfinished building continue to creak and groan around them. Sweat drips down his face, everything in his body screaming in pain and telling him that he’s exerted his powers too much.

He’s exhausted. Yet still he ignores it and pushes through it with what little strength he has.

From the other side where he stands, he watches as the other continues to struggle with the ropes wrapped around her chest and wrists. The delicate thin wings on her back are useless as they too are bind together by the rope. She looks up at Tommy, desperation in her eyes, “No, don’t worry about me, just go! The building is going to collapse soon.” she pleads.

Much to her dismay however Tommy shakes his head in refusal. “I’m not going to leave you, I’m not losing you too.” he says back and starts to shuffle back a bit, eyes trained at the nearest beam. He could probably make it if he jumps, then he’ll be close enough to reach her and get out of this place.

“Tommy, please.” she cries out, finally managing to unbind her hands just as Tommy prepares himself to jump, “don’t-“

Creak

Suddenly, the whole building begins to shake, more screws raining from above as they come lose. The motion sends Tommy nearly toppling off but thankfully he manages to collapse onto the metal beam he was standing on with a “oof”.

He clutches the edge of the metal with white fists, trying to stand up again as the entire structure begins to shake and rattle. He no longer cares about the fresh sting of betrayal that he had felt just and hour ago, the only thing that matters now is getting her to safety.

Quickly, he manages to get his feet under him and leaps over to the next beam. The groaning becomes louder as the beams start falling to the ground, no longer held together by anything.

“Grab my hand!” Tommy shouts desperately, reaching a hand out to the other. He watches as she raises her own, their fingers just touching-

Bang­

The beam under her feet drops with her falling along with it with a shrill scream. Swiftly Tommy tries to swipe at her hand, only to instead be met with air and it escapes his grasp. “Clem-“ he begins to cry out, only to be quickly interrupted by the feeling of his own beam moving.

Suddenly, Tommy is falling. Down, down, down with nothing to stop his dissent.

With what little energy he has left, he uses his powers once more. His hand turning a faint- almost barely visible red rather than the bright glow his power normally makes, a sign that he’s pushed them too far. He then concentrates in forming a red glow around the others body and shakily he pulls her up into his arms.

As the two blonds fall, Tommy thinks he sees a flash of gold surrounding them.

And then the building collapses on top of them.

------

-haha. Well thank you for that.

The news lady on TV says. Distantly Tommy notices from the voice that it’s the same woman who was in that helicopter a week ago that was reporting on the protests, the one he had saw live on his phone.

As he continues to wipe the counter Tommy looks up at the café TV, watching as the lady looks away from her companion and back towards the camera. It’s a swift change with how her once wide smile drops and changes to a serious one as the camera quickly zooming in on her face.

In other news, today now marks a week since the first anniversary of Mellohi’s death and the day the heroes had announced the vigilante’s death.

As she continues to talk, an image of Mellohi appears to the side of the screen. It’s a well-known image that most of the media like to use when talking about the vigilante and is a very popular photo in general.

The image shows Mellohi posing for the camera, raising a two fingered peace sign with a black fingerless gloved hand. Despite how his month is covered by a black mask with an image of a disc printed on the sides, his masked eyes are titled and crinkled in what appears to be a smile.

Zoomed out enough, the image also shows the vigilante wearing his regular clothes that the public is familiar with. Over his form is a red and white hoodie, with the red hood pulled up to the hide the locks peeking out from it. The sleeves of the hoodie are also slightly pulled up, showing the black tight long-sleeved shirt which is the same colour as the leggings showing under a pair of brown pants that go to his knees.

The photo on TV then disappears from the screen as the news lady continues talking.

To this day, the public has still yet to hear from heroes regarding the matter, as well as the possible identity of the suspect who had framed Mellohi for the collapse of an apartment building which had cost the lives of many citizens last year.

For now however, we will now show you the footage taken on the day that the heroes had announced the vigilantes death.

The screen then changes, showing a massive crowd of people all facing a podium full of heroes lined up together. It’s not until he sees a familiar feathered mask walking up towards the microphone does Tommy then switch the TV to another channel.

It’s easy to recall what they will say, having seen the clip broadcasted thousands of times after that day.

“Today it has been confirmed that the vigilante Mellohi is dead.” the hero would say, voice apathetic and hollow. “After investigating an incomplete building in Logstedshire which was reported to have mysteriously collapsed, we discovered a body of a citizen that was crushed by the wreckage. A further investigation revealed that Mellohi was also there during the collapse and while a second body has yet to be found, evidence reveal that it is unlikely that Mellohi had managed to survive the collapse.”

Afterwards the hero would then thank the audience for listening. Then he and the others would walk out of the stage and away from the cameras, every single one of them not responding to the confused and outrage cries from the public or the calls asking them to explain themselves.

It had been interesting to watch the public’s reaction to the vigilante’s death. It was even more so after it had been leaked to the public that the illegal hero had been framed. Tommy vividly remembers the explosive anger and outrage the information caused, news articles going crazy over the shocking news.

“I’m pretty sure that spot is clean by now.” a voice says from somewhere close, causing Tommy to harshly jolt in surprise, tearing his eyes away from the TV. “Fuck-“ he shouts, looking to his side to find Techno slightly leaning against the front counter, also staring up at the TV on the wall.

“What the fuck.” Tommy rasps out as he places a hand over his racing heart, watching as Techno looks back at him with an unfazed look.

“Sorry I just noticed that you’ve been cleaning that one sport for a while now.” He explains, though not sounding apologetic at all. Fucking asshole. Tommy really wishes he would stop visiting, he doesn’t want the bastard to be a new regular in the café.

With a sigh, he removes the rag off the counter and places it on one of the cupboards behind him. “I was just zoned out is all.” Tommy says trying to keep the tiredness out of his voice, raising a hand to rub above his brow with a palm.

Unfortunately for him Techno seems to notice anyway, raising a disbelieving brow at him. “You alright? You seem a bit tired today.” he asks, shifting his body to face the counter as he peers over at the other.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that my leg is being a bitch right now.” Tommy mumbles with a sigh, looking away.

Truthfully it wasn’t even a lie, after a nightmare he had unfortunately started his morning waking up to phantom pains stabbing through his leg, reminding him of his missing lower half. It ended up being so bad that he had to shout for Tubbo to come help him until the pain receded and while it’s better than before, he can nevertheless still faintly feel them.

At the simple reply, Techno gives him a confused look, leaning over the counter more to glance down at his legs. “What’s the matter with your leg, is it hurt or something?” he asks, catching Tommy slightly off guard from the genuine concern in his voice.

He doesn’t think there’s ever been a time where someone had been worried about something he’s said, no less by an adult. Pity was always the go to emotion when he had expressed something, giving him a sympathetic look but never being the one to actually do anything.

Always asking, but never helping. It’s ironic that it’s changed now after he reached eighteen.

“Ah-! No, no.” Tommy replies with a nervous smile and a laugh, trying to break the serious atmosphere. “It’s just that I lost one of them a while back.”

“….Heh??” Techno loudly exclaims, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yeah.” Tommy continues, making his way around the counter so that the other can see him in full view. Then with practiced movements, he lifts up his pants leg and takes off his prosthetic, raising it into the air with one hand with the other clutching the counter.

“What-“ Techno whisper as he squints at it, slightly taken aback from the sudden action. He blinks a few times, staring at the prostatic before relaxing again, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. “Oh, it’s a prosthetic.” he says as he peers at the leg, “Huh, I didn’t know you had one.”

“Well of course I have one.” Tommy says as he lowers his arm, “I thought you would have seen it.”

“You stand behind a counter, of course I didn’t see it.”

A pause, “….oh.”

Techno lets out a faint snort at the reply, watching as pink lightly dusts the others cheeks. “Fuck off, it’s been a long morning.” Tommy grumbles as he looks away, “the fucking disrespect-“ he mutters under his breath.

“So anyway, dear employee of Clara’s” Techno says loudly cutting of the others mutters with an amused glint in his eyes, “I wish to order for my drink now.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tommy says with another grumble. “I’ll get to you in a sec-“

Suddenly he cuts himself off as he looks down at his now single leg. Quietly he looks at the hand still holding his prosthetic and then to the other hand still clutching the counter, realization dawning on him. “What?” Techno says, his brows slightly furrowing once again.

“How the fuck am I going to get this leg back on.” Tommy whispers, realizing that the hand holding the counter is the only thing keeping him balanced.

Techno lets out a bellowing laugh.

------

Thankfully after one laughing fit later and a couple of “Sure grandpa” from Techno, Tommy manages to hop over to a nearby chair and place his prosthetic back on. When he’s done, Techno wastes no time making comments for him to hurry up and make his order, a mildly amused expression appearing on his face as the other yells back.

For today, Techno ended up ordering one of his heavily caffeinated coffees which Tommy will be adding to the list of drink that will be banned once he eventually takes over Clara’s. Most of it was full of orders anyway that either had, too much caffeine or included too many combinations that resulted in him asking the other to write down so that he got the order right.

After making the death drink that will definitely cause a heart attack one day, Techno had taken his seat at his favourite spot by the window, furiously tapping on the laptop he had brought along. Tommy had always wondered what the guy was working on considering how he would use it relentlessly.

Unfortunately for Tommy himself, he didn’t have anything to do except mindlessly scrolling through the different channels on the TV.

Similar to before, most news channels were still focusing on the anniversary, recapping all the information that everyone already knew. So pretty much every channel saying the same story over and over again, causing Tommy to groan in frustration as he catches sight of that same feathered mask once more.

With a sign, he settles for the one channel that doesn’t talk about the anniversary, finding one that was instead discussing the protests that happen regularly through the city and recalling the day in which they had first started.

“You know, I don’t really understand all these protests.” Techno mutters softly into the quiet café and Tommy pauses as he moves to place the remote under the counter. “….What do you mean big man?” he asks, looking up at the other who has shifted around to stare at the TV screen.

“I mean it’s quite annoying, wouldn’t you say? They pretty much block the roads and just cause a nuisance for everyone.”

The room is quiet as Tommy curiously glances over at Techno, who was still staring up at the TV with an unreadable expression. Henry unfortunately isn’t here today, meaning there were no ovens humming in the background, leaving only the quiet ramblings coming from the TV.

Tommy always had some suspicions about Techno. It appears he may have been right.

“You know, you should probably be careful saying stuff like that.” Tommy says quietly, “If you said that in some other café, most people would probably have a riot. Especially when it’s said by someone from the upper part of the city.”

At the last sentence he watches as Techno stills. Then he turns around in what would seem like a casual manner, if not for the purposefully blank look now displayed on Techno’s face, along with the way his shoulders stiffen just a bit as he stares over at the other.

“You’re from L’manburg.” Tommy states, a small smile on his face.

“What gave it away?.” Techno responds calmy, expression natural.

“I’d noticed that you weren’t really fond about the protests when they were mentioned on the news, something that most people from the upper parts shared the same view on. Sometimes you also order really fancy drink combinations and I’m pretty it’s impossible to purchase a laptop like that unless you were dirty rich.”

Immediately Techno slaps the laptop close, covering it with his arms as he continues to stare at the other with a calculated look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry big man. Like I mentioned before I’m not like other places, so I won’t snitch on you or anything.” Tommy tells him with a more kinder smile. “Though I’m curious as to why your down here in the middle parts?”

After a good minute of silence and slightly tense staring, Techno eventually relents a bit and glances out the café windows. “I guess just wanted to see what all this drama on the news was about.” and then in a low grumble voice, “and Ph- ah, my dad wanted me out of the house.”

A pause.

“You still fucking live with your dad?!” Tommy shouts with a loud snort, “What where you rebelling against him or something?”

“I don’t think my personal life concerns you.”

“Oh hohoho, Techno’s been naughty-“

“Stop.” Techno exclaims with a disgusted look on his face. “Don’t ever say that again.” he says as Tommy begins to break down in laughter. “And for your information no, I wasn’t fighting with him. We have a business together and he just so happened to decide to kick me out today. Because apparently, I’ve been ‘working too much’ as he puts it.” He explains with an audible huff, clearly disagreeing what the man had said.

“No, no, he’s not wrong. Considering the amount of caffeine you make me put into your fucking drinks I would be worried as well.” Tommy says, smile turning to a wide grin at the groan the other makes.

“Don’t you start too. Just him constantly nagging me is enough, I don’t need more.” Techno grumbles, lifting his arms off his laptop and opening it. He then lets out a disappointed sigh when the screen opens, the lighting reflecting against the lenses of his glasses.

Judging from the blue screen which was now illuminating his face, it appeared Techno just slammed his laptop into a software update.

“So…” Tommy starts, breaking the short silence, “You wanted to understand more about the protests?” he asks. He watches as Techno looks between him and the laptop before pushing the device away a bit, twisting his body to face the other.

“Suppose I should, if I don’t want to get swarmed.” Techno signs out, rubbing his hand against his forehead. “Though I was under the impression that the people of Pogtopia liked the heroes. Afterall, they came by a lot, so I don’t understand why there are all these protests here saying how horrible they are.” he rants out, a hint of annoyance leaking into his voice.

“You may think that, but it isn’t really true.” Tommy replies, “Just because we haven’t become as run down as Logstedshire- the lower part of the city- doesn’t mean that the middle is any better.”

Logstedshire, as many people know is the most dangerous part of the city. An area full of crime and crumbling, unfinished buildings. It’s unfortunately a place where the poor and homeless tend to go to, working for long hours in crappy shops just to earn at least a small amount of money.

It’s an ugly part of the city. One that most heroes have pretty much all abandoned and can no longer control. Only the most skilled vigilantes dare to venture there, having the experience and knowledge to know where crime could be. It’s pretty much the only area where heroes don’t take the risk in capturing them.

It’s the only area where vigilantes can fight crime without being hunted like animals.

“Even if the heroes do come over to the middle, there’s a reason why we have so many vigilantes roaming the streets.” Tommy continues as he slightly leans over the counter, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “While they do try, heroes tend to focus more on other things rather than stuff that’s important, like hunting vigilantes.”

“But why would that be a problem, vigilantes are illegal aren’t they? Heroes are obligated to arrest them.” Techno suddenly pipes, furrowing his brows.

“True, but then there was Mellohi.” Tommy says back with a small huff, a bitter smile on his face.

He doesn’t notice how Techno tenses slightly at the mention of the vigilante.

“The people liked him because he was looking out for them. While he helped save banks and stores, he also focused on what was considered the ‘less important’ stuff such as muggings. He was doing his best and the streets seemed to have gotten better because of his efforts.”

Then Tommy’s smile dropped, looking out the window with unfocused eyes. Like thinking about a distant memory. “There was also the fact that the heroes didn’t seem to mind Mellohi, considering the many witnesses talking about them collaborating together. So, it’s a bit messed up when the heroes started hunting him after the accident despite the trust that the two sides seemed to have.”

“But the heroes didn’t know that Mellohi was framed, so it wouldn’t be fair to put all the blame on them, would it?” Techno points out, causing Tommy to look back at him. “I mean, for all we know they might of just had a mutual agreement, so when it appeared that Mellohi had caused the death of many civilians the heroes didn’t have much choice but view him as a criminal.”

“….you’re probably right about that” Tommy admits with a hum, even he couldn’t dispute that fact- as much as he wanted to. “But I guess people were more upset regarding the lack of response that was given after Mellohi had been proven innocent. They were ok with announcing his death and putting the blame on him, so where are the apologies? Are they going to find the person that actually did it or ignore the fact that it even happened?”

“Since Mellohi’s death, the only thing the heroes have done is make things worse. All they do is hunt vigilantes for sport and occasionally save that one bank. Crime rates have begun to rise and many of us feel as though our voices aren’t being heard.”

“So, I guess, that’s pretty much why we have all these protests.” Tommy finishes with a sigh, glancing at Techno’s expression. He lets out a small, embarrassed chuckle at the barely visible, wide-eyed stare that the other gives him. “Sorry for the rant there.” He says, scratching his head as his cheeks slightly flush.

“It’s fine.” Techno states with a wave of his hand. “it’s interesting I guess; I just didn’t know that’s what people here had felt. Honestly it sort of makes sense now, I’m glad you told me.” He says, giving the other a small nod.

“Well, I mean it’s better to explain our view rather than getting yelled at.” Tommy says with his own laugh.

Techno also lets out a small huff of his own, opening his mouth to say something before a loud ding ring throughout the café. With furrowed brows, Techno fishes out his phone from his pocket and turning it on. He briefly looks at the screen before turning it off with a tired sigh, placing it back into his pocket.

“Looks like I got to head out now, I’m needed at home.” He says, closing his laptop and placing it into his bag. He then begins to stand up, grabbing his coffee as he steps out of the seat.

“But I thought your dad exiled you.” Tommy says with a wide grin.

“I’m not even going to try and argue with you.” Techno responds with a shake of his head, the small smile appearing on his face betraying his expression as Tommy begins to laugh. “See you later, a guess. Make sure not to burn the place down while you’re alone.” He says, raising the hand that holds his coffee and pointing a finger at the other.

“Oh, fuck off.” Tommy says, “Go back to your rich family, tory.”

“Wow.” Techno deadpans, walking out the doors with a shake of his head. “I’m hurt, I don’t think I’ll come back now...”

“Then take your shitty drink requests with you!” Tommy bellows out, watching as Techno walks out of the café, both of them having some sort of smile on their faces.

------

The apartment is relatively silent for the evening, with the only noise coming from the TV, one of those money winning game shows currently airing.

It’s nearly sunset and Tommy is alone on the couch, eating some 2-minute noodles he decided to have for dinner, not finding the energy to stand and cook something. His roommates meanwhile are doing their second job of being vigilantes, something they hadn’t done for a couple of days after Tommy had forced them to take a break.

And it wasn’t because he was worried about Ranboo overworking himself or anything. Literally the last time the bastard overworked himself Tommy had to drag his lanky ass home early because he was collapsing over the place at work.

Despite these sorts of problems, he doesn’t mind that his roommates are vigilantes. His only problem is the fact that these fools wont fucking take care of themselves-

But its fine.

Everything is chill.

Breaking news

Oh, fucking dammit-

At the loud booming voice, Tommy looks back up at the screen, stopping his progress in slurping up his noodles. Shifting his cup to one hand, he drops his fork into it and reaches over to grab the remote and turns the volume up slightly.

As the screen transitions to the news reporter- a different one from this morning- Tommy lets out a loud slurp, stuffing the rest of the noodles into his mouth. Then he puts down the cup to grab his phone, checking his notifications. No messages from Tubbo yet.

It’s just come in that the vigilante’s Nuke and Ender who have been reported nearby protesters are currently in a battle with the hero Angel.

Immediately, Tommy chokes on his noodles, now regretting his choice in stuffing his face. He slams his cup onto the coffee table, letting out loud coughs and hitting his chest to help him fucking breathe.

“Fuckers” he mutters to himself, grabbing his phone again, “I said no fucking drama-“

With a growl he sends a couple of texts to Tubbo, each with a verity of colourful swear words telling the two to home back and not fight. He looks back at the TV which was currently broadcasting the fight and watches as Nuke tilts his arm towards his face, reading the messages on his electronic watch.

Tommy glares at the screen as Nuke looks over to Ender, signalling something. The two then race towards the end of the building, the heroes right up their tail. The vigilantes then jump off the roof, Nuke grabbing his partner as he makes explosions come out of the palms of his hands, giving them a safe fall. From behind, the Angel immediately takes flight, tailing the pair as they drop to the ground.

However, what happens next catches everyone off guard.

The protesters who were witnessing the battle from the ground begin to move. Even the news reporter is thoroughly surprised as large groups of people quickly group together, surrounding Nuke and Ender- shielding Nuke and Ender.

-what’s this?! It seems like the citizens are protecting Nuke and Ender-!

Tommy watches, completely stunned as people begin to crowd around the hero, their faces twisted into rage as they yell at them. The camera then zooms out slightly from the scene, catching the sight of Nuke and Ender running into a nearby alleyway.

The person behind the camera seem to notice this as well as the screen violent shifts towards their direction. The film however, is only able to catch a sight of their legs before the vigilantes vanish from view, followed by a small puff of purple sparks appearing from the corner.

Vwoop

Quickly, Tommy twists around, looking up at the slightly ragged forms of Tubbo and Ranboo. He watches as the two take off their masks, a look of bewilderment plastered on their faces as they glance at the TV, then back to him.

“What the fuck.”

Chapter Text

“So, we were just doing our normal patrol, right?” Tubbo explains as he discards his gas mask, chucking it onto the couch next to him. “Everything was normal, nothing exciting was happening and so far the most we had done tonight was help people get through the crowd- again nothing new. Then suddenly fucking Angel decides to drop down from the sky and attack us.”

“After that I got your text telling us to come home, so one minute Boo and I was booking it down the street-“

“And then in the next we were surrounded by protesters.” Ranboo chimes in as he drags Tubbo towards one of the single chairs who reluctantly follows. Once seated, he then begins nudging at the Tubbo’s arms until the other finally takes of his jacket, rolling up his long sleeves with an exaggerated groan. With both arms exposed, Ranboo gets to work and begins the task of healing any little cut or bruise that he can find, hands glowing a bright purple.

From behind the couch, Tommy pauses in his pacing that he had been doing the whole time, silently watching as his friend continues to heal. “You want me to grab you a smoothie?” he asks, the first thing he’s ever said since the duo’s return. “No, I should be fine. It’s just a few scrapes.” Ranboo mutters with a small wave, a concentrated expression plastered on his face.

“So, we all agree that this is probably bad right?” Tubbo finally pipes up, having previously been groaning and whining in the background the whole time while Ranboo had been treating him. “Of course it’s bad.” Tommy mutters as he goes back to pacing the room, “We’ve just witnessed a whole mob of people stand up to one of the most popular heroes in the city, who knows what would have happened if it turned into a full-on fight.”

“I’ll inform the others about it and give them a heads up in case something like that happens again.” Tubbo tries to reassure, pulling out the burner phone from the pocket of his pants. “Look, it’ll probably be a one-off thing since we had just so happened to be near them at that moment, so I doubt it will happen again.” he continues say as his thumbs tap away on the phone, likely going through his contacts.

“But who’s to say that others won’t follow?” Tommy retorts back, face set in an anxious expression as he bites the nail of his thumb. “Yeah sure, you were nearby a large group of protesters, but what happens if other people begin to do the same- that they start trying in involve themselves in our situation. Like this is the sort of thing that us vigilantes are supposed to be preventing- we’re supposed to be protecting them from danger, not bring them into it-“

“Hey” Ranboo suddenly shouts, cutting off Tommy’s panic fuelled rant as he places his hands on his friend’s shoulders.

“Okay first, please don’t bite your nails.” He softly scolds, grabbing Tommy’s wrists and gently tugging it back. “Now just calm down, Bee and I have it sorted, and we’ll do our best to make sure that something like this never happens again.”

“If need be, I could always try and hack into the media or something and send a broadcast to the public if that makes you feel better.” Tubbo adds in from his seated spot on the couch, discarding the phone to his side and reaching over for the laptop sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

“…..no.” Tommy finally replies with a sigh, shoulders slumped down as he lets out a deep breath, body no longer as tense. “No, it’s probably best if you guys don’t do that. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and find that you’ve been place on a top most wanted lists because you went ahead and hacked a channel station or something.”

“Oh, right. I forgot that the law exists.” Tubbo mutters to himself earning a surprised laugh from Tommy.  “Though really, don’t think about it too much boss man. We’ll sort it out with the others and if anyone tries to do anything irresponsible with this information then I’ll go personally beat the shit out of them.”

“How about you don’t.” Ranboo replies, side eyeing the other. “Yeah, I think it’s best for now that you two lay low again and avoid any attention for now.” Tommy says to the both of them as he calms down from his small laughing fit, a small grin plastered on his face.

“Awww” Tubbo groans out, his head thumping against the cushion behind him as he flops back. “Come on man! We’ve only just went out, why are you keeping us home again?!” he says with a dramatic cry.

“It’ll just be for a couple of days so that you guys can get off the heroes and the medias radar- and no Tubbo, I’m not changing my mind.” Tommy responds, giving a pointed look towards the bee hybrid as the other sends puppy dog eyes his way.

“Fine, fine.” Tubbo grumbles out after a minute of silent pleading looks and turns back to the laptop sitting on his lap, typing the password into the screen. “I won’t go out then.” He relents with a scowl, watching as the laptop slowly loads.

“Okay, so now that we have this sorted, I’m going to bed.” Ranboo tells the two, letting out a wide yawn for enthesis. “Might as well sleep as much as I can since I’m home early, ‘least then I won’t be tired when I start my evening shift tomorrow.” he continues to say as he slowly makes his way towards the bedroom door, removing and bundling up the suit jacket that they had been previously wearing.

“All good big man, have a good night.” Tommy calls back and watches as he gets a small, tired wave in return before the door closes, leaving only him and Tubbo in the living room.

“Are you going to bed too or are you staying out here with me?” Tubbo asks, sending a brief glance over to the other as he unmutes the tv, fiddling with the buttons of the remote as he adjusts the volume. “Nah, I haven’t finished my noodles yet.” Tommy replies, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to his friend.

With a sigh, he reaches over to the cup of noodles still sitting on the coffee table and grabs it with one of his hands, the other moving to grip the fork still in the cup. After twirling it into his cup for a bit, Tommy leans over and brings a forkful of noodles into his mouth with an audible ‘nom’.

Only to immediately spit the noodles back into the cup.

“Aww, my fucking noodles have gone cold.”

“Haha, L-“

“Shut the fuck up, this is your fault-“

------

The next day was another quiet shift for Tommy with the majority of his afternoon being spent cleaning up the café, thankfully with the help of Friend who had decided to stick around this time.

“I didn’t really have much to do anyway.” is their response after Tommy who, for the tenth time that afternoon, had insisted that they to go home and enjoy themself. “Besides” Friend adds in, a small smile on their face as they give a sideways glance over at him, “I’ve been told that your leg has been bothering you lately, so I thought I’ll stick around and help you out.”

“I’m fine!” Tommy groans out as the box of cleaning products he had originally been holding is suddenly swiped out of his arms. “It’s nothing but stupid phantom pains.” He says with a sigh- before suddenly pausing, brows furrowing as he looks over at the other. “Who even told you about that anyway, I never mentioned shit about my leg.”

“Well from what I was told, Tubbo had let Clara know about your leg pains and she asked us to keep an eye on you for her.” Friend replies with a growing smile as they walk past him, heading towards the storage room with the box still in their arms.

“Of course Tubbo would tell her that.” Tommy says with an annoyed growl as he walks over to the sweets and pastries sitting on display next to the counter. Grabbing a new pair of gloves, he then slides open the door and begins to inspect the different sweets sitting on the trays, checking for signs of any products that might have gone old or stale. “Again, I’m fine, they’re just making it sound bigger than it is.” He adds in, as he catches Friend striding out of the storage room from the corner of his eye, having returned the cleaning supplies back to its original spot.

“If you say so!” Friend sings back, leaning against the counter and propping one of their arms up to rest their cheek against the palm of their hand. They let out an amused huff as they receive a low grumble in response.

Suddenly just as the two seem to have quietened down, the café door opens with a jingle and Friend immediately turns their head towards its direction. “Oh, would look at that, speak of the devil!” they say and Tommy curiously peers over the display case.

“Bitch, why are you snitching to Clara about my leg pains again?” Tommy loudly exclaims as he watches Tubbo casually waltz into the building with a plastic bag in one of his hands. “Just following the doctors orders.” Tubbo says back raising his hands in defence, causing the bag to rustle as he moves . “You hardly tell anyone about them, and I would rather let her know then have you come home and hear that you’ve broken down in tears or something during work.”

“Hey! I don’t fucking cry, I’m too much of a big man to cry.”

“I literally watched you sob when Clara told you that she was considering retirement in a couple of years-”

“Fuck you- that did not happen!” Tommy shouts, pointing at Friend with a deep scowl on his face. It would have probably looked more murderous if it wasn’t for the way his face was heating up, cheeks going red in embarrassment at the reminder.

Look, it wasn’t his fault considering that everyone had been so ominous about it before they broke the news- he had been under the impression that his aunt might have been dying or something.

“Anyway, Tommy” Tubbo interrupts, catching the others attention. “Since I made the decision to walk all the way down here, I decided to buy us take out. So now we must go visit Ranboo” He says, and Tommy knows that just secretly means he wants to go to and annoy the endermen during his shift.

“Couldn’t you have done that after work? Shroud isn’t even here yet!” Tommy exclaims, heaving himself up from his crouched position on the floor. “I was bored, and I left like having take out. The streets are dead out here anyway, so I don’t see the problem” Tubbo simply replies with a casual shrug.

“Tubbo, I can’t leave now right now, I’m still on my shift.” Tommy tells him, shaking his head at the other in what could have been annoyance if it wasn’t for the amused smile growing on his face. “I mean, you can end your shift if you want, and I could take over from here.” Friend pipes up from next to him with a casual shrug of their shoulders.

“No, that’s okay! Tubbo can just suck it up and wait it out for a couple of minutes. You’ve been here for partially the whole day anyway so it’s not really fair if I leave early.” Tommy says with a shake of his head, completely ignoring the loud groans Tubbo makes in the background.

“Nah, it’s alright. Go out and have fun with your friend, I’m sure Clara will understand.” Friend insists, with a dismissive wave of their hand. “Besides” they continue, a teasing smirk growing on their lips, “You’re the favourite anyway, so I doubt Clara will even say anything about it.”

“I’m not!” Tommy loudly stutters out, cheeks once again turning red as he starts to untie the apron wrapped around his back. With a huff he heads over to the backroom and hangs his apron on one of the empty hooks on the wall. Then he grabs his bag out from one of the lockers before walking out of the room.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” he quietly asks Friend, fiddling with the sleeve of his bag with an uncertain look on his face. “It’s fine.” They reassure him as they lean back against the counter again, tilting their head to the side to give him a lopsided smile. “You go and enjoy yourself, have a good night.”

“You too.” Tommy replies with a small thankful nod before he steps around the counter, marching towards the café door. “Quit your whining, we’re going now.” he says to Tubbo, who lets out a loud cheer as Tommy walks by and grabs his sleeve, tugging him towards the café door.

“You’re lucky Friend was still there.” Tommy grumbles out as they exit the building, the door chiming goodbye behind them.

The sun, it seemed, was turning in early today as the bright blue sky was in the process of turning into a warm sunset, colouring the sky with shades of oranges and reds mixed with some pinks and purples. Along the sidewalk, streetlights start to blink into life, lighting up the darkening world.

“Well, it’s not my fault I was bored. There wasn’t really much to do online so I thought I’ll come down and see if you wanted some quick food for tonight. I’ve been craving for some take out for a while anyway.” Tubbo responds cheerfully, his free arm rising up to cup the back of his head in a laid-back posture.

“Did you even ask Ranboo what he wanted?” Tommy asks, raising an eyebrow over at his friend.

“Nah, I just picked what I thought he would like.” Tubbo replies, patting his pocket for emphasis. “He’s the breadwinner anyway, so if he doesn’t like it, he can give me money to get something else.” He adds in with a sly grin and watches as the other snorts in amusement.

“Leave the poor man alone, he’s already burdened enough with having to constantly work late at night.” Tommy says, covering his mouth with his fist as he tries to conceal a chuckle.

“Tommy Innes defending the Ranboo Beloved? I thought I’ll never seen the day!”

“Fuck you, I’m not defending him!” Tommy squawks out in mock offence, face set into a scowl. “I don’t know, that’s what someone who was a Ranboo defender would say-“ Tubbo replies before breaking off with a laugh as he’s shoved away.

“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you-“ Tommy shouts as he continues to shove the other, though making sure not to push his friend onto the road. “Keep going like this and I’ll walk back to the café again.” He then threatens but doesn’t make a move to stop or turn to walk the opposite direction.

Despite the clear empty threat, Tubbo’s laughs quickly comes to an abrupt halt. “No!” he shouts dramatically, looking at Tommy with wide eyes. “Please- I’m sorry! I won’t call you a Ranboo defender ever again.” he says with a cry, crocodile tears gather in his eyes. “Please, you have to believe me!”

“Fine.” Tommy sighs out, trying to stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards as he rolls his eyes. “I’ll still come with you, but this is the fucking last straw.” He says sternly, a smile slowly starting to form on his face.

------

As the minutes pass by and the two continue to banter, they finally reach the library which was sitting in the more well-kept streets of Pogtopia.

The place was quite popular for book lovers and was among the large list of buildings that would stay open long throughout the night, with Clara’s being one of them. The reason for this was mainly to accommodate for the hybrids who were unfortunately nocturnal and therefore aren’t able to come out during the daytime. Hence why Shroud- a spider hybrid- was the one in charge of the night shifts most of the time.

Since endermen hybrids are also nocturnal, Ranboo was pretty much in the same vote and was often placed on the later shifts, despite their preference to the daytime hours over the night.

At the sight of the building, Tubbo zooms immediately towards the doors and pushes it open with Tommy right at his feet. Once the two finally reach the front desk, Tubbo drops the bag of food onto the counter with a loud slam, showing a wide grin full of teeth. “I have arrived.” he says menacingly, wings buzzing behind him.

From where he was sorting through books behind the counter, Ranboo lets out a tired, long-drawn-out sigh and turns their head to stare back at the bee hybrid. “Hello Tubbo.” he mumbles miserably before looking over at Tommy who also walks up to the counter, “and hello Tommy.”

“We’ve come with food, boob boy.” Tommy says as his own greeting, an equally evil grin on his face as the two watch the enderman let out another drawn out sigh before turning back to the stack of books sitting in front of them.

“I’m afraid food is banned in the library, you’ll have to eat outside.” calls out a different yet familiar voice and suddenly Technoblade walks into view, for once appearing less ragged and rundown as he normally looks. “Tommy?” he says after a pause, brows slightly raised in surprise as he catches sight of the other.

“Holy shit, Techno?” Tommy says back, also not expecting the others sudden appearance. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Tommy, I literally told you that Techno works here with me.” Ranboo calls out as he begins to heave some of the books into the trolley next to him with a loud thump. “In my defence, I was tired.” Tommy says back as he vaguely recalls the conversation, they had a couple weeks back.

“Okay, enough chit chat, I’m fucking hungry.” Tubbo interrupt as he begins to dig through the plastic bag, pulling out two warm boxes full of food. “Please do not dirty the front desk.” Techno tells him, sounding almost just as tired as Ranboo. “I don’t wish to explain to my boss why there’s food stains on it.”

With a hum, Tubbo heavily eyes the two boxes in his hand, clearly not listening to what the man had said. After a moment of staring, he places one of them back on the desk and holds the other in his hand. “I think this one’s mine, yours is on the desk Ranboo.” he finally says, picking up another pile of books.

“Bruh.” Techno deadpans in the background.

“Just put mine in the bag.” Ranboo says, sounding like a broken record as he once again lets out a tired sigh. Dropping the books in his arms, he then turns his head to glance back at Tubbo again, “If you really want to then, please, go have it in the team room so I don’t get into trouble.”

“….So, I’m guessing you guys are all friends or something?” Techno awkwardly asks, watching as Tubbo places the endermen’s box back into the bag, ignoring the way Tommy stares intently him.

“Yeah, we’re all friends.” Ranboo replies and the other two nod their heads in agreement. “Meet my roommates, Tubbo Underscore and Tommy Innes- who you already know.” he then adds in, gesturing to both his friends in order as he finally drops the last pile of books onto the trolley with a huff.

No one notices the way Techno seems to stiffen for a second, all of them too focused on their own thing to notice the way his breath slightly hitches.

“Alright, the books are done.” Ranboo says as he walks over to the counter and grabs the bag of food off from Tubbo who, despite Techno’s warnings, immediately begins to open his box of food and dig into it.

You would have thought he was starving with how ravenous he looked, and both Ranboo and Tommy have to bite back a laugh at the bewildered- almost concerned expression spreading on Techno’s face as he stared over at the bee hybrid.

“Napkins?” Tommy finally asks after managing to stifle his laughter, turning his head to stare at the other. “Yes Tommy, here are your napkins.” Ranboo replies, handing him a large ward of cheap white napkins.

“Pog.” Tommy says as he grabs the fabric between his hands.

Then immediately puts one into his mouth.

“Heh?!” Techno exclaims in pure shock as he watches Tommy munch on the napkin, ripping it in half with his teeth.

Ignoring the reaction, Tommy lets out a loud hum as he swallows the napkin, “Which fast food place did you go to again? These are really tasty.” he asks loudly. “The one that’s a few streets away from Clara’s. With the rainbow sheep mascot” Tubbo replies. “We’re going there again next time.” Tommy tells him before taking another chuck out of the fabric, causing both Tubbo and Ranboo let out a groan.

“Why are you eating a napkin?!” Techno asks, looking utterly lost and confused.

“Moth.” is all that Tommy replies with, mouth still full of napkin.

‘Tommy’s a half hybrid.” Tubbo clarifies. Quickly he sends a look over at the other in a silent request to explain, which Tommy returns with a casual nod. “He’s half moth, half human. Which is why he doesn’t really look like a hybrid.”

“Oh…” Techno says giving a small nod in understanding. Tommy, however, finds himself furrowing his brows a bit as he watches the man’s expression, noticing the way Techno seems to zone out.

It almost looks as though he’s just discovered something with the way his unfocused eyes widen just a fraction, face slightly paling a bit before the man seems to snap back to the present. Instead of saying anything however, Tommy just turns away and watches as Tubbo begins to batter with Ranboo, not noticing the small glance aimed his way.

Taking another bite of his food, Tommy wonders what Techno must be thinking about.

Chapter Text

His hands slightly shake as he takes them off the keyboard, shifting one of them to grip the mouse sitting next to it. With a deep breath Techno looks at the search results and clicks on the first thing that pops up.

The name ‘Thomas Innes’ appear in bold text on the top of the screen. The words seem to taunt him as he stares at the computer and it doesn’t help that the light reflects against his glasses, the name engraved into his lens.

Instinctively, Techno knows that it’s wrong to go and search up a file of someone who he considers an acquaintance (were they acquaintances?), but he needed to do this. He needed to know.

So, taking another slow breath he begins to scroll down the page.

‘Origins: half hybrid- moth/human’ Techno reads as he continues to skim the page. Quickly he scrolls past the details of Tommy’s appearance followed by his medical history which Techno practically fly’s by- not even sparing a glance in that area. All that he’s looking for is one word- a word he hopes isn’t there, that the nagging thoughts in his head and the feeling in his gut are both wrong- that it’s just a coincidence-

‘Parents: Deceased’

The moment he spots it, he immediately stops scrolling, sitting dead still. His breath hitches as he stares at that single sentence and his gut drops.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Techno quietly moves his mouse, watching the small curser on the screen as he creates a new tap on the browser he’s using. With a steady hand, he goes into the same website as before and types up a different name into the search bar. When the screen finishes loading, he then clicks on the first result that pops up, staring at the same file he’s seen so many times.

‘Clementine Innes’

‘Age: 17’

’Eye Colour: Blue’

‘Hair Colour: Blond’

‘Origins: half hybrid- moth/human’

‘Status: Deceased’

Clementine Innes, found dead in the wreckage of an unfinished building sitting near the edge of the city which had suddenly collapsed, the same one where Mellohi was last sighted before he was also presumed dead. The body had been taken in by the heroes to, at the time, identify who she was and to further help investigate what had caused the incident to happen.

While her file had provided the necessary information to give an idea on who she was along with her origins, it did not however mention any relatives, aside from the small paragraph detailing that Clemetine’s parents had died in an accident when she was young, resulting in her being taken into the foster system.

The file does not state that Clementine Innes had any siblings.

And yet as Techno glances back at Tommy’s file, it’s just too much of a coincidence.

Both Tommy and Clementine share similar appearances followed by having the same origins. If that wasn’t enough both files mention that they lost their parents at a young age where they were then sent to the system and eventually managed to get emancipated at sixteen. After that no new information was added to their files besides last year where Clementine was placed down as deceased.

And if Techno wanted to go further into it, from hours of research he’s well aware that there are no other Innes in the city that share moth/human origins. He was made sure of it after months of searching, fruitlessly searching for any living relatives that the victim might have.

Meaning that Tommy and Clementine were siblings, and no one ever knew about because it was never mentioned in their files- the same files that were created by the foster system.

This also means that no one has ever told Tommy that he had lost a sister.

“Great” Techno tiredly mutters out, pressing his forehead against the palm of his hand as he stares at the screen. “Great. That’s just great.” he harshly whispers again, fingers beginning to curl into his hair as he tears his eyes away from the screen, the realization ripping through him like a sharp blade.

How could they miss this? How could they have messed up this badly? He can’t even imagine what Tommy must have felt, to have your sibling one day disappear with no trace of where they are because no one ever told them.

With a frustrated growl, Techno buries his face into his hands, letting the new information sink in. Once again, another thing to add to the long list of his failures as a hero, just another reminder of how badly he’d messed up on that day-

It feels like it was only just yesterday when it happened. A building exploded, an apartment complex full of innocent civilians just living their lives before it was all gone, with Mellohi standing right at the scene at the crime as it had happened.

Perhaps if Techno had stopped- had taken the time to step back and think, then maybe he would have realized that this didn’t seem like something that the vigilante would ever do. That something was wrong, that it seemed too easy to assume who their culprit was.

And yet he didn’t.

Instead, he had felt betrayed, wondering why Mellohi would do this, wondering if everything they said was just a lie in the end as a way to close to the heroes. Then just as quickly as it came, the feeling of betrayal turned into a bitter rage as he came to the immediate assumption that Mellohi was the cause of all this- that Mellohi had killed all those civilians.

After that Techno remembers shouting at the vigilante, calling them a monster for doing something so villainess- feeling disgusted that he had ever trusted the other, that he had dared to even call them an ally, a friend.

Now however, he regrets it.

He regrets saying that to Mellohi, the anger and disgust he had shown as the vigilante cried silent tears, kneeling on the cold floor of his temporary cell. He regrets the way he acted when he heard that Mellohi had died, recalling how he had felt no empathy when Phil had come up to him and told him the news.

And Techno regrets the fact that he never cared about them until the media went wild, until the news stations began showing documents and video footage given to them by an anonymous individual called ‘The Ram’, revealing that Mellohi had been framed this whole time.

That if the heroes had actually taken the time to investigate the situation, they would have found that nearby security cameras had recorded a suspicious group dressed in black entering the same building that, not long after, ended up blowing up and killing many.

With a loud, barely hidden curse, Techno folds. His hands shakes as he presses his face against the desk underneath him, arms moving to wrap around his head and cover his face from the outside world.

‘I really can’t do anything right, can I?’ he silently thinks to himself as the screams and shouts ringing in his head get louder. For once, Techno doesn’t fight back as he lets the voices slowly consume him, until all he can hear are the cries of a person who he once called a friend.

------

“Techno.” Comes a voice from the other side of the room, causing his pointed ear to twitch a bit at the sudden noise.

Without saying anything, he slightly lowers his head as he keeps his eyes pinned on the sheet of paper in front of him. Shifting his hand just a bit so that it was covering the side of his face in the hopes of ignoring the man standing at his doorway. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work, it never does.

Suddenly a sigh comes from the doorway followed by the sound of footsteps as the person makes their way to the desk Techno was working on. “Techno.” The voice repeats, stressing his name as they say it again. “Come on, you’ve been in here for too long.”

Guiltily, Techno adverts his eyes to the hand that comes into his view, trying desperately to concentrate on his work as he feels a pair of eyes bore into the back of his head. He could almost imagine the way they glow in the dark, the blue piecing through him with the eyes of an all-knowing bird. “Uhh…” he tries to say, feeling sweat slowly fall down his face. “Would it be worth saying that I’m currently working on something really important right now.”

“Nope.” Phil replies simply and brings his other hand up to turn off the desk lamp next to him, ingulfing the room the darkness aside from the hallway light seeping through the office door. “That’s what you said last time mate.”

With a groan, Techno removes his head from his face and straightens from his hunch position over the desk. With an unamused expressing on his face, he watches as his friend makes his way back to the doorway and flicks on the light switch. “Bruh” Techno mutters, wincing as the light assaults his eyes, “Maybe a bit of a warning next time?”

“Well perhaps that wouldn’t have happened if someone would stop working with the lights off. It’s nearly the afternoon, mate.” Phil says, resting his hands against his hips as he sends the other an unimpressed look reminiscent of a disappointed parent. It probably would have look more intimidating if not for the puffed up pair of glossy black wings also sitting on his back

“I had the lamp.” Techno mutters, though even he could tell that it was a weak excuse. “And you wonder why your eyes have been going shit lately.” Phil immediately retorts back with another shake of his head.

With a sigh he then looks over at the other with a stern look on his face. “Come on, get up. I’m kicking you out of the office now, you’ve been in here for too long.” He says as he turns towards the open doorway and takes a step forward. “I’ll be sure to repeat that the next time you pull another all nighter doing work.” Techno quips, unable to hide the small smile slowly drawing on his lips.

“Shut!” Phil immediately responds with a pointed finger. “Don’t make me ban you from the house again. I’ll give you a few minutes to get up but if I see you working again, I’ll drag you out myself if I have to.” he threatens, a smile now also growing on his face. Then with one last shake of his head, he disappears down the hallway, leaving Techno alone once more.

Rubbing a hand against his temple, Techno lets out a small groan as he looks down at the piles of paper sprayed out in front of him, feeling very tempted to continue where he had left off. However, knowing Phil, he’ll more than likely go through with his threat and kick him out for the rest of the day.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, he pushes himself from his desk and off from his chair. Readjusting his slightly crooked glasses, he then makes his way out of the office, ignoring the way his limps ache from being placed in a hunched position for too long.

Making his way down to the kitchen, Techno is then unsurprisingly greeted with the sight of Phil standing next to the island counter drinking a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his hands. Looking down, Techno could see that other had already put his shoes on, making it apparent that whether Techno wanted to or not- they were going to go outside.

“So, I’m assuming since I can’t see that ugly hat anywhere, that your free from work today?” Techno asks as he makes his way towards the cupboards, pulling out a faded mug. Much to his amusement, Phil immediately slumps over the island with a muttered curse before reaching over to give the other a bap on the side with one of his wings.

“Shut it you.” he scolds though the smile on his lips easily betrays him. “Thanks to recent events, I’ve been asked to take a few days off until things have settled a bit.” he then responds, taking a small sip from the mug in his hand.

“I can see why.” Techno mutters to himself as he reaches over to grab the coffee pot sitting nearby and pours the rest of its contents into his own mug. Admittedly, it was a bit of a funny sight when Phil came home that day; walking through the door with a flustered look on his face and his feather in disarray, which complimented his equally messy hair.

No one had ever really done something like that to Phil before, so it wasn’t a surprise that he had been ordered to lay low for a while.

“Anyway.” Phil sighs out as he takes one last sip from his cup, “We better head off while traffic is still low. Also, you’re driving by the way.” he says as be places his empty mug into the sink and heads over to the next room to retrieve the car keys.

“And I suppose I don’t get any say in this?” Techno asks, though already knowing the answer he’ll get in return.

“Nope!” Phil calls out from the other room, causing the other to let out a huff as he stares down at still steaming cup of coffee in his hands. Mournfully, Techno quickly chugs down the last of its contents before placing his mug next to the other one in the sink.

Then, pulling on his shoes, he follows Phil to the front door.

After one car ride through the city and some debating on where they were even going, Techno finally parks the car in a part of Pogtopia that he doesn’t often visit as much, surrounded by unfamiliar stores and buildings.

As per normal, the streets were decently busy with people either rushing past one another or just casually strolling by. From the looks of it though, it seemed that the regular protesters were taking a day off considering the lack of chanting that would constantly echo over the streets.

Though, Techno did purposefully choose an area that was far away from the rally, so it was probably more likely that he just couldn’t hear them.

“So, what did you have in mind while we’re here?” Phil finally decides to ask after a couple of minutes of silent walking.

“I heard a bookstore had recently opened around here and since you dragged me out here, I thought I’ll go check it out while we’re out here to see if it’s any good.” Techno responds from next to him, feeling the cool breeze brush against his face and hair, which was tied into a long ponytail.

“Mate, you literally work at a library.” Phil states, sending the other a confused look. “Why would you want to even go this one? It’ll probably have the same books you guys stock at work.”

“Know thy enemy Phil.” Techno merely says in a blunt tone, his expression completely emotionless. Immediately, the older man lets out a surprised laugh at the reply and Techno finds himself unable to hide the smile that breaks through his façade.

“Well then.” Phil starts off by saying as his laughs eventually subside, raising a hand up to rub the corner of his eye. “I guess once we’re done at the library, perhaps we could also stop by that café you’ve been going to lately; the coffees you’ve been giving me from there were honestly pretty good. Plus, I wouldn’t mind seeing this kid you’ve been mentioned lately.” he continues, and Techno lets out a hum in agreement.

Then he does a double take.

“No” he quickly says in slight panic as he realizes the place Phil would be referring to was Clara’s. Techno couldn’t go back there, not after what he just learnt. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to face the kid without the voices in his head constantly taunting him. To even look at Tommy in the eyes without feeling guilty about it.

Unfortunately, his moment of panic seems to alert Phil, who immediately snaps his head around to face him, furrowing his brows. “Why, did something happen?” he goes to ask, concern clear on his face.

“No. It’s fine.” Techno quickly goes to say, trying to placate the other as he waves his hand in a casual manner, “It’s ok, I just don’t feel like going there at the moment.”

“Does it have something to do with that kid who works there? Did something happen between you two?” Phil presses, clearly not willing to let this go until the other gives him a proper answer.

“I uh-… I just don’t want him to see me like this at the moment.” Techno decides to say, which technically wasn’t a lie. Despite how much he tries to mask it, Techno felt weak, fragile. His head was a mess and it almost felt like he was one snap away from shutting down again. Tommy didn’t deserve to see him like this, not when his sister’s death lies sorely on him.

Not when Techno was the one at fault.

“….you sure?” Phil questions, still not sounding completely convinced. “Like it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I found you curled up in front of the computer a couple of days ago or the fact that you refused to leave the office days after?” he says in a hushed voice, as they pass by more people walking down the footpath.

“No.” Techno lies, adverting his eyes away from the man as he recalls the embarrassing moment where Phil found him curled in front of that computer, followed by the reprimanding he was given afterwards for going back to that file despite being told not to even touch it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time he had spent hours staring at that computer, almost obsessively trying to find any small thing that could be added to a case that has seemly now gone long cold.

Yet Techno knows that the investigation isn’t over and that there are more details that are lying hidden in sight. Even if the others try to tell him to move on already, he just knows there’s more to this. For if it wasn’t Mellohi who blew up that building, then who did?

“…Okay.” Phil eventually replies, finally seeming to be satisfied with the answer given, “Though you know you can come to me if anything happens, right?” he says, concern glinting in his eyes.

“Phil, I’m an adult. I can handle things on my own.” Techno tells him with a slight grumble. “Yes, I know. But that wasn’t what I meant.” Phil stresses as he takes a step closer to the other, face still entirely focused on Techno’s who begins to feel uncomfortable with the continuous eye contact. “If something happens, just tell me mate. Just because you think you can take it, doesn’t mean you always can.”

“…Alright.” Techno finally relents after a moment of awkward silence. Then with a fake cough he points a finger over to a store that he had noticed appearing in the distance. “Oh, would you look at that, we’re here now.” He says as they quickly reach the newly built library and with an amused eye roll from Phil, the pair open the door and walk in.

From the inside the store seems to be just an ordinary as any other bookstore. Not far from the door was a small checkout area where one of the staff greeted them from as they entered, with the space around the counter mostly decorated and covered by books on display along with small shelves full of nicely decorated bookmarks.

Glancing around, the whole area was stacked with large bookshelf’s packed full of different books along with signs hung next to them stating what genres the shelfs are labelled under. In the back of the store was also a wooden staircase which probably led to more books considering the lack of a ‘Staff Only’ sign stated anywhere near it.

“Well, I guess I’ll go have a look around while we’re here.” Phil states as he moves past Techno. “If you need me, I’ll be over here.” he then adds, waving a hand over in a random direction before parting ways with the other.

“Sure.” Techno grunts in response as he watches the older man disappear completely into the maze of shelfs and books. With a huff, he turns back to looks at a nearby section of the library, catching sight of posters hanging on the walls and the thick books lining the shelfs, as well as other nick knacks the library seemed to be selling.

“Got nothing better to do then to see what’s here, I guess.” He mumbles to himself as he walks over to it, eyes trailing over every detail that catches his attention.

Eventually, after a bit of browsing, he finds a small turning rack covered full of stickers with each one containing an array of animals, fantasy creatures and to even monsters, all drawn in a childish design. “Huh.” Techno mutters as he pulls out the sheet from the rack, admiring the different stickers that were on it. Suddenly, an idea appears in his head, and he glances up to face the rack again, looking at the pricing displayed on it.

“Kids like stickers, don’t they?” Techno says to himself with an amused smile, and he twirls the rack around a bit, seeing all the different designs and characters they all had. Finally, he settles on a sheet full of stickers containing random animals such as bees, cats and even an image of a pig scattered around it.

“I wonder if Tommy would like this…?” he muses to himself as he looks back and forth between the sticker sheet and back at the price that’s labelled. Perhaps if he brought this, he could give it to the boy as an apology of sorts for not visiting. It’s not much, something that could only just barely be considered a ‘gift’, but it’s probably the least Techno could do for Tommy.

Even if it seemed really lame. Actually no-this is lame, why is he even doing this?

“Hey.” Techno hears a voice suddenly say from behind him and quickly turning around he finds Phil standing near him. Surprisingly there were a few books sitting in his hands, appearing to be in much better condition than the ones Techno sees back at work. “I’ve found a couple of books that seemed interesting. You found something yet?” he then asks, eyeing the stickers still clutched in the others hand.

“Uh…” Techno says, hesitating a bit as he stares down at the item and half debating if he should go ahead and by them or not, before coming to a decision and giving Phil a quick nod.

“Sure.” he finally says with a grunt and together the two head towards the front counter.

Chapter Text

For the fourth time in his afternoon shift, Tommy finds himself standing once again in front of the sink next to a tray full of clean cutlery, rubbing a sponge across a soapy yet glistening white mug.

For the most part, it was a relatively quiet afternoon. The streets were so far bare of any people and the few that did come in was mainly their regulars- as well as Slimecicle. The Warden on the other hand unfortunately hadn’t come over today, likely due to the recent battle he had with a group of heroes which- although he ended up winning in the end- ultimately left the anti-hero severely injured because of it.

So, as a way to occupy himself and pass the time, Tommy had done his normally daily task of cleaning the dishes and cutlery, taking the time to make sure that every bit of silverware was clean and bare of any dirt.

It was a task that he would normally end up doing either once or twice during his shift, so this wasn’t anything odd…. if again, this wasn’t his fourth time washing the dishes. It also didn’t help that Henry was now starting to constantly give him concerned looks every now and then each time the man found him standing over at the sink.

He’d even offered to say behind until Friend came over for their shift. Though thankfully he didn’t push too much when Tommy had waved his offer off, stating that he was fine and just needed to keep himself busy for the moment.

Honestly, he blames Techno for all of this. Afterall, it’s nearly been two weeks since Tommy ever heard word from the guy after their exchange back at the library. And as though things weren’t bad enough apparently, he’d also taken roughly a week or two off from work as far as Ranboo had told him.

“He’s probably just sick or something.” Tubbo had tried to reassure him after the fifth day of Tommy asking Ranboo if Techno came to work that day, “Afterall, it’s not like this is the first time he’d taken time off work. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

Well maybe Techno should have told him that himself before fucking off to who- knows- where.

Like seriously, Tommy went out of his way to pre make one of Techno’s shitty complicated drinks for him, only for the asshole to never rock up. In the end, Tommy actually had to drink the whole thing because the bastard never showed up like he usually would. Or the next day, or the one after that.

And before you ask, no he was definitely not worried about the guy or anything. In fact, the moment Tommy lays his eyes on the man, he’s going to sock the bastard for the amount of stress he put him through.

Well, that is if Techno even shows up in the first place.

Placing the well cleaned mug onto the drying rack, Tommy plunges his hand back into the water and pulls out the plug with what was probably an unnecessary amount of force. Ignoring the drops of water that had splashed onto his apron, he then grabs the nearest towel and begins to dry off his hands.

Aside from the humming of the fans coming from the kitchen and the low ticking coming from the clock on the wall, the place remained silent and still, mirroring the deserted street outside the store.

‘It’s too fucking quiet in here’ Tommy mentally grumbles to himself as he throws the handtowel towards the drying rack before heading towards the front counter and pulling out the tv remote that was hiding underneath it. Pressing a thumb against the power button, he watches as the monitor turns on and is quickly greeted to the sounds and music of what looked to be some sort of game show, he was vaguely familiar with.

The noise at least, put Tommy a bit at ease now that something else was filling the void and not his own head. With peace at last, he continued on with his chores, this time grabbing the spray bottle and wipes hiding nearby and going through the motions of wiping down each table and chair they had in the store.

Then just as he’s about to move on to doing his next daily task of cleaning the register counter, the bell rings, singling the arrival of a customer.

“Hello, welcome to Clara’s. What would you like to-“ Tommy greets before quickly pausing as he stares over at the familiar face walking through the doors.

“Techno.” he says in surprise as the man enters the café, the small brown paper bag in his hand slightly crackling with each step taken. Looking over the other, Tommy could see that Techno wasn’t wearing his red baggy hoodie and was instead wearing clothes that were more appropriate to the warm weather they were having today. His hair for once was also tied up in a much nicer braid, though with a few stray hairs poking out due to the soft wind blowing outside.

“Hullo.” Techno greets back with a wave and a nod as he makes his way towards the counter.

“Holy shit, I thought you fucking died or something.” Tommy exclaims as he quickly walks around the counter to meet the other. “No, I’m very much still alive.” Techno replies, though despite the blank tone there was a slightly noticeable smile on his face. “Where have you been, did something happen?” Tommy asks, his eyes still searching the man.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but it almost looked like there was something else glinting in the man’s eyes. Something heavy that he swears wasn’t there before the last time they met at the library.

“What, were you worried about me or something?” Techno teases and forgetting his worry, Tommy immediately wacks him in the arm with a muttered “fuck off.”

“Honestly though I’m fine. I was just dealing with some personal issues; everything is fine now.” the man finally explains with a causal wave of his arm, not at all reacting to the fact that his arm got hit. “Anyway, I’ve come baring gifts.” Techno then states, raising the paper bag that Tommy had not so subtly been eyeing off the moment he noticed it.

Grabbing the offered bag, he curiously opens it and peers inside, finding a lone muffin sitting in it. Judging by the steam still wafting off it as well as the present smell of a fruit and sweetened bread, it wasn’t hard to guess that it had been freshly made before purchase.

“On my way down, I passed by a store and thought I’ll get you one.” Techno says as he watches the other scrunch the bag up again to keep the warmth in before promptly turning his gaze back to the man. “…What? Is something the matter?” Techno asks, noticing the rather blank look clearly displayed on Tommy’s face.

“….You do know that I work in a café, right?” Tommy replies, gesturing a hand to the paper bag. A smile begins to grow on his face as he watches Techno’s face flick from realization, to awkwardness, before it’s quickly stifled.

“Well then.” he says, now eyeing the paper bag and Tommy watches as the corners of his mouth subtly lift. “I guess I’ll eat it then.”

With a surprised laugh, Tommy moves the bag out of the way as Techno attempts to snatch it from his hands. “Fuck off it’s mine now.” he retorts back with a grin as the other tries to grab it again and taking a step back, he quickly stuffs the paper bag into the pocket of his hoodie behind his apron. “Get your own muffin.”

“Fine. You win for now.” Techno huffs, shaking his head back at the boy though a smile still sits clearly on his face. Moving back behind the counter to store the treat away, Tommy distantly notes the way the other watches him as he moves, before seeming to remember something else as his eyes suddenly light up.

“Oh, that’s right. There’s also this.” Techno says as he pulls some sort of thin piece of paper from out of his pocket and holds it out to Tommy. “I found it in a nearby bookstore that had recently opened. It’s not much but I thought you might like it.” he explains as Tommy reaches over to grab the item. Turning it over in his hand, he realizes that the paper is a sticker sheet covered full of different animals.

While he probably should be offended by this- that this was probably Techno’s way of calling him a child despite the fact that Tommy was not one thank you very much- he couldn’t help but appreciate the gift.

Dragging a finger through it, his eyes flick between the small bumblebee, to the black shiny cat in the corner and then to the brown fluffy moth sticker sitting on the sheet. Without meaning to his face softens for just a moment, as he stares down at the moth sticker, admiring the different tones of browns on the wings. The familiarity of them as he looks at the patterns decorating them.

Then he remembers he isn’t alone.

Clearing his throat, Tommy looks back up at Techno with a smile. “Sick.” he says loudly, hoping the other didn’t notice what just happened. Though judging by the weird expression on the man’s face- he definitely saw it. Well fuck.

“Hey, want to help me stick these to my leg?” Tommy quickly asks as he once more leaves the counter to walk over to a nearby table and immediately begins the task of rolling up his pants leg to reveal his prosthetic.

“Heh?” Techno exclaims back, looking very confused.

------

“You know, I swear this place used to be a café and not a sticker shop.” Friend exclaims the moment they enter the café, causing Tommy to freeze in place just as he was about to put a star onto his leg. Despite their comment however, a smile was sitting clearly on their face as their eyes flick between Tommy and Techno.

“I would like to say that I was forced into this.” Techno responds as he places the nearly empty sticker sheet onto the table, which technically admittedly he wasn’t wrong about. After some convincing and bickering Tommy had managed to get him to help put stickers onto the prosthetic, which thanks to their work was now decorated with a large arrange of different animal stickers.

Instead of fighting back however, Tommy lets out a grumble as he sticks the star onto this prosthetic before finally placing it back onto his leg with practiced movements. “Yeah, Tommy has a habit of doing that to people.” Friend replies with a sympathetic nod, causing the boy to glare over at them.

“I don’t” he immediately defends, letting out an annoyed huff at the way they clearly ignore him. “Lies and slander. I’m going to go and grab my stuff now.” Tommy then loudly exclaims as he gets off from his seat, untying the apron wrapped around him.

“Aww, don’t be like that” Friend says with a playful pout, following the other as they go to grab their own apron. “You haven’t introduced your friend to me yet.” Turning around with an apron in hand, they then give Techno, who was still sitting at the table, a friendly wave and a smile. “I’m Friend by the way.”

“Techno.” the man replies with a polite nod, sending a wave back in return.

“I’ve heard from Henry out in the kitchen that you were one of our newest regulars. I’m happy to hear that Tommy is making friends, he normally scares them off a lot of the time.” Friend says, earning them a harsher glare from the person in question.

“Fuck off” Tommy shouts, giving them an- admittedly soft- wack on the arm as he walks pass them. “I’m a very lovely person thank you very much and I will not tolerate this slander!”

“I’ll be sure to write an apology letter to give you on your next shift.” Friend tells him with a sad look on their face, before immediately breaking down in a fit of giggles as Tommy gives them the bird.

“I better head off myself.” Techno mutters from the side as he pushes himself out from his seat.

“Well, I hope to see you again next time. Have a good day you two!” Friend says back with a beaming smile and waves the pair as they make their way towards the café door. Glancing over his shoulder Techno gives a small wave of his own while Tommy once again sends the finger back at them as he makes his escape to the exit.

Shutting the door behind them, he tries not to smile at the muffled laughter that erupts from behind as he leaves.

Stepping out into the calm street, Tommy turns his head from one direction to the other, find the area still quiet aside from the few people that were walking around. Letting out a hum, he pulls his phone from his pocket and checks his messages before going to his notes where his shopping list was.

“Sooo” he says, drawing out his words he glances over at Techno, who hadn’t made a move to leave yet. “Where are you heading to now, big man?”

“Nowhere really.” Techno mutters in response as he gazes back at him.

Does-….. does he look a bit constipated or was that just his eyes playing tricks on him?

‘Maybe he still feels guilty?’ Tommy thinks to himself, practically feeling the awkward atmosphere radiating around the man. ‘I mean it did sound like he felt bad for not visiting.’

“…Did you want to tag along then?” he loudly suggests, waving his phone screen at the other, showing off his list. “It’s nothing really special, I’m just doing some grocery shopping is all since we’re low on some things.” he explains as he gets out of his notes and turns the screen off. Then thinking for a moment, Tommy quickly adds, “You don’t have to though, if you don’t want to.”

“…Sure. Yeah, I got nothing else to do.” Techno replies with a shrug. “Lead the way.” he then says, waving his hand to the side to gesture down the relatively tranquil street.

Pocketing his phone, Tommy quickly takes the lead and together the two of when walk down the footpath in a comfortable silence.

Eventually, after passing by a few streets and taking a couple of detours around the more crowded areas, the pair finally stop and a small grocery store. Looking through the large glass showing the inside, Tommy could see a few people wandering around with trolleys or baskets in their hands.

Cool, the place wasn’t too crowded then. He would prefer that then accidently trodding on someone’s foot with his prosthetic again.

Pulling his phone out again, Tommy strolls up to the entrance with Techno following from behind. Grabbing a nearby basket stacked by the glass doors, he then gets to work navigating the area and finding the items he and his roommates needed.

“Alrighty, chorus fruit, chorus fruit…” he chants under his breath as he makes his way towards the fruit and veg aisle. Flicking his eyes back and forth, he tries to find where the fruit might be until Techno suddenly points his finger behind the boy. “They’re over there.” he says and turning around, Tommy finally finds them.

“I swear they keep changing the layout of this place.” he jokes as he looks back up and the other with a smile and with a shake of his head, Tommy makes his way towards the pile of chorus fruit sitting next to the apples.

Picking up a plastic bag, he goes to grab at one of the fruits before pausing as he spots the price stuck against the basket in bold letters. “Shit.” he hisses, retracting his hand. “They raised the price again.” he then mutters, pressing his lips into a thin line as he stares down at the price.

“Too expensive for you?” Techno questions from his side and in response Tommy lets out a heavy sigh. “We just paid our rent recently, so I don’t have much to spend. I could probably grab one or two for now, but I won’t be able to get more until next payday, which sucks cause Ranboo needs some.”

“Oh right, Ranboo. They’re an Enderman, aren’t they?” the man says as Tommy tears his eyes away from the price and hesitantly grabs two decent sized looking chorus fruit. “Yeah, this stuff helps them a lot, so it’s good to grab some.” he replies as he scrutinizes the pair before popping them into the plastic bag.

“Well, I’ll just have to deal with it for now. I might have to see if there are any other places that sell them a bit cheaper.” Tommy sighs, pulling up his phone and adding a new note reminding him to ask Tubbo about it later. Knowing him, he might end up recommending a new place to go instead.

With a grumble, he ties up the plastic with the two chorus fruit in it and places them into his basket before moving on to the next stand. From the corner of his eye, he notices Techno staring down at the stand, his fringe falling down enough that Tommy couldn’t see his expression from afar. After a moment, the man grabs a bag of his own and picks up a few fruits before tying them up and joining the others side again. Wordlessly he then drops the bag into the basket and remains silent as he heads towards the next aisle.

‘Probably wants to try some himself’ Tommy muses to himself as he follows the other.

Traversing around the store, the pair quickly get into a routine of sorts with Tommy finding and checking off the items he needed on his list. Meanwhile Techno on the other hand continued to occasionally collect stuff for himself, eventually having to get his own basket when the one they were sharing became too heavy to carry.

As they reached the back of the store where the freezers were stored, Tommy watches as Techno pulls out a packet of frozen pork chops from the fridge and closely examines it. “Isn’t that cannibalism or something?” he couldn’t help but comment as he stared down at the frosty packet of meat.

“What do you mean?” Techno asks as he closes the door, causing the icy air surrounding him to fade and disappear. “You’re a Piglin, aren’t you?” Tommy replies, glancing up at the other.

“…I don’t recall ever telling you my origin.” The man says back, raising an eyebrow back at him.

Unfazed, Tommy merely shrugs. “Well, you know mine.” he points out, “Plus, it’s sort of hard not to assume with the tusks and pointed ears.” he then adds, gesturing his hand out to the other for enthesis.

Blinking in surprise, Techno lets out a small chuckle as he places the packet of meat still sitting in his hand into his basket. “Fair enough.” he says, the corners of his mouth tilting up just enough to reveal a smile. “Yeah I’m a Piglin. Though honestly I don’t really care for that sort of stuff, I just rarely eat them. These aren’t for me anyway, I’m getting them for someone else.”

“Oh cool.” Tommy says, looking quite surprised as well upon hearing the other chuckle. “Uh- sorry about assuming, before. It probably was an asshole thing for me to do.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid.” Techno easily replies, waving his hand at him. “I’m not fussed in talking about what hybrid I am, I was mainly just surprised that you had noticed. Though it wasn’t like I was trying to hide it anyway.” he says, rubbing a finger over one of his tusks.

“Anyway, is there anything else you need to grab?” he then says, quickly changing the topic as he nods his head down at Tommy’s basket.

Pulling out his phone once more, Tommy quickly scans his notes. “No, I think that’s it for now.” he mutters, checking the list over in case he’d missed something. When he doesn’t find anything, he turns off his phone and pockets it again. “Yep, got everything I need. What about you big man?”

“Might just grab a few more things myself.” Techno says- or more so mutters- as he gazes down at his basket. “All good, I’ll go check out and meet you outside if you want.” Tommy suggests, pointing a finger over to the checkout area sitting nearby.

“Won’t be too long then.” Techno replies back and giving the other a nod, the pair quickly separated.

With little fuss, Tommy scans all his items and places them into a plastic bag as he fishes his wallet from out of his pocket. Looking up at the total cost of all his groceries, he lets out a small relieved sigh, finding the price barely low enough for him to be able to pay it without completely spending what little money was left in his card.

Though admittedly, he’s still a bit bitter about those chorus fruit. If it wasn’t for the fact that  Ranboo desperately needed them, he probably could have saved up a bit more.

Paying for the bag, Tommy pockets his wallet again and briskly makes his way out of the store with his bag sitting heavily in his hand. Feeling the cool wind blow against his face, he decides to stand next to the doors, leaning his back against the wall as he waits for Techno to come out as well.

Humming out a tune to himself he uses his free hand to pull out his phone and quickly taps into his messages and finds Tubbo’s name in his contacts. Still using one hand, he awkwardly begins to type onto the screen with his thumb.

Big Man:

The price of course fruit has j8st come up

He waits for a few moments as he watches a green circle appear next to Tubbo’s icon. Then the icon moves down, indicating that the other had saw the message and not too long later the ‘Tubbo is typing…’ message suddenly pops up at the bottom of the screen.

Bee Boi:

Course fruit?

Oh

You mean chorus fruit

Big Man:

Ye

Sorry typing with on hand

Were gonna have to find a new store

They just upped the price of them here

Bee Boi:

Again????

Alright I’ll have a look tomorrow then

Ranboo asked when are you going to be home

Big Man:

Soon

‘I’m just waiting for a friend’ Tommy begins to text next before he suddenly hears something that causes him to freeze in place.

There was a scream, high shrill and coming from somewhere close by. Snapping his up Tommy quickly pockets his phone and with wide eyes he scans his surroundings, trying to find the source.

Then he sees them.

Across the road was an old woman standing next to an alleyway, trembling in fear as a hooded figure looms over her. The figure had their hand out gesturing to what Tommy could only assume to be the woman’s purse by the way she was clutching it so closely to her chest.

And in their other hand, nearly covered if not for the way it catches in the light, was a knife peeking from their sleeve.

Feeling his breathing pick up, Tommy looks around at the nearly deserted street finding that the few passersby that were there either didn’t notice the situation that was happening- or were just completely ignoring it. The woman screams again as the mugger takes a step closer, clearly becoming more agitated by the second at her clear refusal to hand them the bag.

Why…why isn’t anyone doing anything? Why are all these people walking by ignoring this?! No one reacts. No one cares as the muggers voice begins to raise, sounding threatening and dangerous.

Why aren’t they-

The woman lets out a loud cry as the figure suddenly grabs her by the arm, causing her to buckle as they raise her arm into the air.

And for Tommy, that was the last straw.

Dropping the plastic bag in his hand, abandoning everything, Tommy quickly races across the street to get to the woman with a speed he didn’t know he still had. Reaching the pair, he ignores the way the figure startles at his unexpected appearance and instinctively pulls himself into a stance, raising his leg up until-

WHAM

As his prosthetic foot hits, the figure in the side, they let out a loud noise of pain as metal collides into them. Moving into a better stance, Tommy watches as the person almost topples into the ground, hissing as they rub their side before snapping their head up to look at him in rage. “You fucking brat” they spit out, fury burning in their eyes as they glare up at him behind their hood.

“Only fucking pussies steal purses.” Tommy immediately barked back with a hard glare of his own as he moves his feet a bit in a familiar motion.

Unfortunately, the comment only seems to make the figure more angry as they suddenly rise up from the ground, knife glinting in the light as they uncover it. Then, as though this wasn’t bad enough, Tommy watches as their skin suddenly morphs and hardens, looking more rough then smooth.

Oh great, they have rock powers. Lovely.

With a loud cry, they charge at Tommy, knife raised and poised to strike. Quickly, Tommy darts to the side as they swipe at him, feeling the wind brush against his cheek as the blade misses his face. Clenching his teeth, Tommy continues to dodge as the mugger waves their knife at him, determined to hit him.

It doesn’t take long for their movements to become slow and sluggish as they quickly begin to tire from the constant action. Avoiding getting into the knife range, Tommy waits for an open, waits for the right time to hit back again.

Another strike, another dodge. Come on just one little opening…. there!

Avoiding another blow, he rushes towards the figure and kicks them in the side.

CRUNCH

Immediately, his ears are met with the horrible sound of crunching metal as his prosthetic collides against them. ‘Shit’ he mentally curses as a hand quickly grabs his leg and unable to do anything, Tommy topples to the hard dirty ground, his head hitting the wall behind him.

“Ya think a pity piece of metal was going to hurt me?” the mugger mocks as they follow him to the ground. Letting out a pained breath, Tommy forces his eyes to open and panickily grabs hold of the persons wrists as they aim their knife at him, using whatever strength he had to stop the blade from hitting him.

“I’ll fucking make you regret it, ya hear me? You want to be a hero so badly, then you can die like one too.” the mugger snarls, trying to use their free hand to pin Tommy down who in turn desperately tries to kick his feet at them, only for it to do nothing as he hits nothing by rocky skin.

Pushing with all his might, Tommy watches as the person slowly and painfully starts to overpower him, his arms shaking as pain begins to travel down his hands.

‘Fuck’ he thinks to himself, feeling sweat fall down his face. ‘Shit- fuck- come on’ he starts to chant, as he tries to bring forth the familiar feeling of his powers again.

It’s been so long since the last time he had used them, too long in fact. The last time he did, he had pretty much pushed himself to the point where he couldn’t even use them without feeling immediate pain or exhaustion.

Though back then, he was no longer interested in using them anyway.

Now however, he regrets it as the knife gets closer to his face. He wished he followed Clara’s advice- fuck, he wished he had listened whenever Tubbo or Ranboo suggested that he try and use them again instead of just ignoring their words. Because right now, he needs them more than ever.

‘Please, come back’ he practically begs. Trying, wishing, willing for his powers to come back again, to help him once more. He needs them, he needs their help, he doesn’t care if he exposes himself- exposes who he was, he needs-

Just as the knife nicks his cheek, a soft red glow appears on his hands where they clutch the mugger’s wrist. It’s faint, it’s so faint, but maybe it’s enough, maybe he can finally-

WACK

With a loud sound, the mugger suddenly topples to the floor boneless, knife falling away as they slam into the ground, unconscious.

Breathing heavily, Tommy looks up to find Techno looming over them with his hand raised in the air, the other hand holding two plastic bags full of groceries. Lowing his arm, the man looks from the mugger, to the slightly bloodied knife lying next to them and then finally to Tommy who was still laying sprawled on the ground, huffing.

“Are you okay?” he immediately asks, looking extremely concerned as he kneels on the floor next to the other. “I noticed that your groceries were lying on the floor and came outside to see you fighting off someone.”

“Yeah.” Tommy heaves back, glancing down at the body before turning his face back at Techno. “Fucker was strong. Probably would have stabbed me by now, the fucking bastard.” Then, after taking a moment to process things. “Holy fuck, how did you manage to knock him out?”

“I uhhh-” Techno started, awkwardly diverting his eyes away from the other before looking back again. “Would you believe me if I said that I work out regularly…?”

“….Bullshit.”

“No really, it’s quite fun actually.”

“Of course your fucking rich and strong, prick.” Tommy grunts out as he starts pulling himself upright, kicking the man- softly- in the leg which earns him a loud “Heh?” in return. Shaking his head with a sigh Techno looks down at him again, face back to looking concerned. “Are you injured?” he asks, “Looks like he nicked you a bit.” He then states, pointing a finger at the others cheek for emphasis.

Following where the man was pointing, Tommy brushes a hand against his cheek and finds a small amount of blood smeared on his fingertips as he pulls away. “It’s fine.” he quickly shrugs, not at all worried about the small cut. “I’ve had worse, this is pretty much nothing.”

And, yeah. It was true, really. A small nick was nothing compared to what he had gone through- what he used to go through on the daily. Especially when compared to being nearly crushed to death by rubble. Yeah, that wasn’t a hard one to pick.

Unfortunately for him however, the comment didn’t seem to help the situation and instead only causes Techno’s frown to deepen even more. Ah shit.

“Anyway-“ he starts, tearing his eyes away from the almost devastating expression poorly hidden on Techno’s face. “I think I might have damaged my leg a bit.” he mutters as he eyes the prosthetic in question, hidden behind his jeans.

Bracing himself for the worse, he begins to push himself onto his feet using the wall as a clutch. Much to his luck however, as Tommy carefully places both feet onto the floor, he nearly buckles as his prosthetic creaks and shifts from under him. Quickly leaning his weight back against the wall, Tommy lifts his foot up so as to not damage it even more.

Prime knows Tubbo will kill him even more then he already will if he ends up completely breaking it.

Muttering a curse, Tommy carefully slides himself back onto the filthy alleyway floor, turning his gaze back up to Techno with a look of reassignment. “I can’t walk.” He states grimly to the other. Thankfully, Techno doesn’t seem to look at him with pity as he returns a grim look back, something Tommy fucking hated when it came to having a metal pole for a leg.

People would always look at him with pity back when he had first started wearing his prosthetic. Always giving him pity and sad looks whenever he stumbled. He’s better with it nowadays, but back then Tommy could barely look down at his leg without feeling the urge to chuck it across the room. Though then again, Tubbo would have had his head if he did that so throwing it wouldn’t have done anything either way.

“Could you check on that lady for me?” Tommy asks as he tries to wave off those unpleasant memories from a year ago. “That guy was trying to take her purse before. I don’t think she’s hurt but I want to know if she’s alright.”

“Yeah sure.” Techno replies, giving him a nod. Pushing himself from his crotched position, he gently sets the two plastic bags onto the ground next to Tommy feet. “I’ll be back in a moment then.” he says, giving him a thumbs up and with a strained smile Tommy sends one back as the man walks away.

As he’s left alone, an annoyed groan suddenly escapes him and Tommy finds himself sliding slightly down the wall, sending a glare over at his now damaged leg. Letting out a huff, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and eyes the long list of messages from his friends.

Tubbo’s messages unsurprisingly consisted of him starting off as confused, then to being worried, before quickly switching to death threats if Tommy didn’t reply to his texts. Ranboo’s on the other hand was just downright concerned and fearful, asking him why he wasn’t replying to them and if something had happened.

Groaning once more, Tommy quickly sends a text back to the pair, stating something had happened but he’s fine now and will explain more when he got home. Thankfully, the short message seems to do the trick as no more texts come through.

Turning his phone off, he hears the sound of footsteps coming closer to him and glances up to find Techno walking back to him again. “Alright, so I just checked in with the lady and she is doing fine. She’s got a few people with her now and one of them has already called the police.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Tommy says, feeling more relieved now. At least she wasn’t hurt at all, he was worried that the mugger had already cut her before he’d rushed in. Letting out a breath, he rightens himself back against the wall and after a beat asks, “Could we head off now? I don’t feel like being interviewed by police.”

He’s already had enough bad experiences with cops to last a lifetime. Honestly now that the adrenaline as died down more, all Tommy wants to do is just go home.

“You… don’t want to get any sort of compensation or anything?” Techno asks, appearing slightly caught off at the question. “Nah, it’s not really worth it.” Tommy shrugs back, “Too much work and honestly I think she needs it more anyway.” he adds, pointing his thumb to the side where he could fainty hear the old woman talking along with other voices.

“…alright.” Techno replies, glancing between him and the lady standing on the footpath. “Then let’s get you up.”

Bending over, the man raises his hands towards Tommy with his palms facing out. Taking them, Tommy allows himself to be pulled to his feet, making sure to lift his damaged one into the air. Moving closer, Techno grabs the two plastic bags of from the floor then directs the other to lean against the wall for support before turning his back on him and slightly crouching down. “Climb on.” he says, moving his arms so that they were behind his back.

“Really?” Tommy exclaims, winkling his noise in disgust.

“Well, it’s either that or I carry you in my arms.” Techno deadpans back, turning his head back and raising an unimpressed brow at the other. “Fine.” Tommy groans out, rolling his eyes and hoping with one foot he makes his way over and allows the man to carry him onto his back.

“You good back there?” Techno grunts as he pulls himself up once more, arm securely wrapped around the boy’s legs, the plastic bags in his hands rattling from the movement. “Yeah, yeah.” Tommy mutters back, ignoring the way his cheeks slightly darken in embarrassment. “Let’s just get going already, I’ll tell you where to go.”

Thankfully, Techno doesn’t make a deal to point out his embarrassment and without another word, makes his way out of the alleyway.

Chapter Text

Compared to the chaos that had happened more than a few minutes ago, the walk back to Tommy’s apartment was quite unremarkable.

Aside from a few comments here and there, with most of it just being him directing Techno towards the right street, Tommy remained quiet for most of the trip. Ignoring the embarrassing fact that he was getting a piggy back ride, like some little kid, he couldn’t help but think about what had just happened.

Selfishly, a horrible part of himself wished he hadn’t jumped in, had just looked away like everyone else did and gone on with his day. Now thanks to his stunt he’s got Techno worried about him and his roommates are probably going to freak out the moment they see him. He can already imagine the alarmed and horrified looks, could already picture Tubbo’s- admittedly well hidden- eyebags darken as he stares down at Tommy’s ruined leg.

Honestly though, the thing he’s worried the most about was their reactions to the possible concussion he probably has right now, if the painful pounding in his head was anything to go by. Likely a caused from the fact that he had hit the back of his head against a brick wall while trying to fight off the mugger.

A mugger who had easily pinned him down and had a knife to his neck. A knife which they were clearly going to kill him with had Techno not been there in time to stop them.

…….

Why did he even do it? Acting like he was some type of hero. He’s not, Tommy can never be a hero. No, instead he was just some stupid kid in a poorly made mask.

And yet… when he saw that woman, hearing her scream for help Tommy couldn’t…..

He didn’t want to stand there and…

Not again-

“Alright, we’re at the street.” Techno says in front of him, his voice promptly startling Tommy from his thoughts. Unaware of his inner turmoil, Techno twists his head to the side so that he can better face the other. “Where to next?” he then asks, raising a brow.

“…Just over there, that’s where I live.” Tommy simply responds, pointing a finger towards a familiar building in the distance. Giving him a nod, Techno turns his gaze away and begins to make his way towards the apartment building.

As they continue down the road, Tommy notices that the amount of papers littering the street seemed to have increased a concerning amount compared to the last time he took note of them. Posters were plastered all along the walls, some even traveling down to the alleyways. The majority of the poles sitting on the footpath had at least a couple different ones plastered all around it. Even the floor, was now covered with them, moving around the street with each gust of wind that blew by.

“I like the décor you guys got around here.” Techno comments after a bit, seeming to have also noticed the alarming amount of papers plastered across the street. “Thanks. You’ll probably be seeing more of it soon.” Tommy mutters back with a sigh, watching as a stray piece of paper suddenly wraps around Techno’s leg, before being carried away by the wind again.

“Is it normally like this?” Techno asks as they pass by another building, the windows almost completely covered in half torn posters- as though the owner had tried to remove them but gave up half way. “No, not really.” Tommy replies, gazing around the relatively quiet street. “Usually when the protestors go through here, they usually put a few papers up as they go. This, however, is new.”

‘They’re probably getting desperate at this point.’ he silently muses to himself, feeling a ball of worry beginning to form in his stomach, recalling back to the time where a group of them had blocked the Crow from catching up to Tubbo and Ranboo as they escaped. How determined and furious they were as they formed a wall around the hero.

‘It’s only going to get worse from now, won’t it?’ Tommy thinks, feeling his fingers slightly dig into his wrist as the thought dawns on him.

Letting out a harsh breath, Tommy shakes his head a bit as he tries to brush the thought away. He’ll have time to think about it and freak out when he finally gets to his apartment.

Drawing his eyes back to the front, he then notices that Techno wasn’t moving anymore. Instead, the man was currently staring at one of the posters on the walls at their side, seeming to be lost in thought judging by his vacant stare.

Glancing over at whatever the other was currently looking at, Tommy is promptly met with a picture of himself plastered on the wall.

Though it wasn’t really him per say. It was Mellohi.

As expected, whoever made the poster had decided to use that exact same image Tommy had seen them use too many times before. That same stupid photo where he stands there smiling and raising a two fingered peace sign at the camera.

Honestly Tommy wished he could burn that photo right now just so he wouldn’t have to see the damn thing anymore.

Tearing his gaze away from the image, he turns his attention back to Techno. “Hey, big man.” Tommy says loudly, patting a hand against the others shoulder.

Immediately, the man jolts a bit, eyes darting around as though he wasn’t sure where he was before his eyes eventually met Tommy’s. “My apartments that way. We can sight see another time when my leg isn’t fucking broken.” he then says, completely ignoring the others startled reaction as he nods a head towards the building in question.

“Right.” Techno grunts back with a nod and, taking a long breath, he quickly walks towards the buildings entrance, strolling in as the sliding doors open for them. Thankfully, after a bit of walking and one awkward elevator ride later, they finally reach the front door to Tommy’s apartment.

As expected, a pair of muffled voices talk from behind the door as the two of them get closer to the door, clearly sounding concerned as they talked to one another. Listening in to the muffled conversation, Tommy can’t help but wince a bit as he listens to their panicked tones coming from the over side.

Knowing how his friends are like, one of them is probably in the middle of convincing the other to not race out into the streets with there in their vigilante suit right then and there.

As the muffled talking continues, Techno shifts his hold on Tommy, causing the other to slightly tighten his own hold as the man raised a hand up to the door and raps against it with his knuckles. Instantly, the voices turn silent at the first knock and after a moment a set of footsteps could be heard coming up to the door. Then with the twist of the knob, Ranboo’s uncertain face peers out from behind.

“Can I help you-?” he goes to ask before their expression changes to recognition as he realizes that the person on the other side was none other than Techno. Then, upon surveying the scene in front of them, they immediately startle as they turn their gaze towards Tommy, taking in his rather shit and frazzled form.

“Wha- what happened?!” Ranboo exclaims as they open the door wider for the pair, giving Tubbo who was standing behind it a good look at the pair. “Shit, are you guys alright?!” the bee hybrid also exclaims as they race over to join the group, helping Techno out as he carefully drops Tommy onto the ground.

“Oh yeah, nah I’m all good.” Techno says casually with a wave of his hand as he straightens again. “Unfortunately though, looks like the kid over there might of damaged his leg.” he then adds, pointing a thumb over at Tommy’s direction.

“I’m not a kid!” Tommy immediately calls back as he’s guided over to the couch before collapsing onto it. “It’s not my fault the bitch had fucking rock powers or some shit.” he retorts, stretching out his broken prosthetic so that Tubbo could better see the damage done to it.

“Wait- hold on, did you guys get mugged by someone?” Ranboo asks as he moves to close the door behind them. “No, some pussy was trying to mug a lady with a knife near an alleyway. So, I went over there, and fucking kicked him. Unfortunately, he had some fucking hardening powers or some shit like that and broke my leg after I tried to hit him again. Bitch would’ve nearly took me out had Tech not come over and knocked him out in time.” Tommy replies, gritting his teeth a bit as he carefully pulls his prosthetic off the stub of his leg, hearing it creak and groan from the movement.

“Prime Tommy.” Tubbo sighs out, his hands gripped around the leg as to keep it from bending or getting further damaged.

“And are you guys hurt or anything?” Ranboo asks, glancing worriedly over at Techno who had now moved towards the open kitchen where the counter was, standing awkwardly away from everyone else. “I’m fine, he didn’t hit me.” Techno replies, rising his hands up plaintively at the other. “It’s the kid you should be worried about.”

“Call me kid one more time and I’ll fucking punt you-”

“You can punt him later.” Tubbo swiftly interrupts as he lifts the prosthetic into his arms, getting a better hold of it. “Boo could you go grab the med kit for me please?” he asks as he makes his way over towards the kitchen table with Techno silently following from behind, appearing to be interested in what the other was doing.

As he listens to the muttered rambles coming from his roommate as he begins to move the joints of the leg, likely checking what parts were still salvageable, Tommy lets out a soft sigh and leans his head against the back of the couch. Not long after, he hears the sound of a door opening and closing and cracks open an eye to find Ranboo coming out of the bathroom with a medkit in hand.

Mutely, he watches as they set the kit down onto the nearby coffee table before their gaze land on his, giving their best ‘I am definitely a qualified doctor’ look as they study the others face. Suddenly, their eyes widen a bit as they glance to the side a bit and Tommy assumes they’ve now noticed the small cut on his cheek where he’d been nicked by the knife.

Automatically, as they usually do whenever one of their roommates get hurt, Ranboo raises their hand up towards the still stinging cut, his fingers glowing a familiar purple.

In a brief moment of panic, Tommy lurches forward and grabs a hold of the endermans wrist in order to stop the other from using their healing. At their confused and slightly startled expression, he sends a look over at Techno who was currently having a conversation with Tubbo over in the kitchen. Turning back again, Tommy then shakes his head a bit and quietly mouths out a ‘not now’.

Realizing what the other was trying to say, Ranboo drops his hand down with a huff and instead moves to open the medkit. Pulling out a familiar bottle of disinfectant and a packet of wipes, they once more glance up at Tommy, raising a brow at him. “Where does it hurt?” they say, looking expectingly up at him as they shake the disinfectant a bit.

Knowing very well that the disinfectant was going to hurt like a bitch, Tommy lets out a groan as he reluctantly pulls his hands out in front of him, palms raised upwards to show the scraps littering them. “Just my cheek and hands.” Tommy mutters back with a roll of his eyes.

Normally he would have also mentioned the throbbing headache still pounding against the back of his head by now, but considering their reactions so far, he didn’t want to cause his roommates to panic more than they already were.

Seeming satisfied with his answer, Ranboo immediately gets to work in treating the cuts by carefully applying disinfectant to each palm. As expected, Tommy immediately feels the cuts on his hands begin to sting and has to bite the inside of his cheek as to not hiss from the pain.

Eventually, after a few long painful minutes, Ranboo finally finishes cleaning his hands and quickly moves on to Tommy’s cheek. Thankfully with the worst of it over, Tommy feels himself beginning to untense and shifts his head to the side to give the other a better few as they carefully dap some disinfectant onto the small cut.

Then, as he patiently waits for Ranboo to clean up the last bit of blood still sticking onto his cheek, Tommy hears a pair of footsteps coming from the kitchen and from the corner of his eye watches as two figures appear into his vision.

“Good news.” Tubbo loudly announces with a clap of his hands as he walks up to the pair with Techno still lingering behind. “You haven’t completely fucked your leg up, so I can still fix it. You’ll probably just have to use your old crutches for a little while.”

“How long will that take?” Tommy asks, sending a glare at Ranboo as he watches them place a bright pink bandaid onto his cheek. Unsurprisingly, they merely send a smug look in return,  glancing between him and the bandaid with an evil gleam in their eyes. Bastard.

“Probably a day or two. Depends on what materials we have now and how many all-nighters I’m allowed to have.” Tubbo responds back, his face slightly scrunched up as he tries not to laugh at the deep scowl on Tommy’s face. “How about we talk more about that tonight and work things out from there.” Ranboo sighs out as he puts everything back into the medkit and locks it back up.

“Well, I guess if you guys are all okay then, I should probably head back home now.” Techno sudden pipes up from the back, causing the trio to glance over at him.

“Oh, yeah- it’s probably getting a bit late, isn’t it.” Ranboo says as they pull themselves up from the floor, leaving the medkit still sitting on coffee table as they walk towards the man. “Thank you for helping Tommy and carrying him back home. We really appreciate it.” They tell him.

“Yeah, thanks for bringing this dumbass home.” Tubbo chirps in cheerfully, pointing a thumb back at Tommy and ignoring the offending sound the other makes.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Techno says back with a casual wave of his hand. Titling his head Ranboo’s shoulder so that Tommy could see him from the couch, he then says, “I’ll see you later or something?”

“Yeah.” Tommy replies with a hesitant nod, slightly taken aback by the question. “Or something. I’ll- um- talk to you later big man.”

Looking satisfied with the response, Techno sends a simple nod back before turning towards the front door. With one last thanks from Ranboo, he opens the door and quickly makes his exit, closing it behind him with a small click.

Then, like a switch, the tense silence that had been slowly building up before suddenly kicks in full force.

Turning away from the pair, Tommy keeps his eyes pinned to his lap, trying his best not to look up and see his roommate’s reactions. Even when they tried to hide it while they were talking to Techno, he could clearly see that the pair were trying their hardest not freak out in front of the man. Especially with the say Tubbo’s antennas would twitch every few seconds or the way Ranboo had focused solely on treating Tommy and ignore everything else around him.

Tommy really, really didn’t want to have this conversation now.

He didn’t want to talk about the fact that he had risked himself to save someone. That he could have caused some unwanted attention from what he had done today. About what even drove him to do it in the first place.

And yet as he could feel a two pairs of eyes staring intently at the back of his head; Tommy thinks that he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

“Sooo…” Tubbo awkwardly draws out after a long pause, voice almost echoing around the room with now quiet everything was. “We’re stopping muggers now, are we?”

Distantly, Tommy knows that it was meant to a lighthearted comment, something to break the tension currently brewing in the air. There was no anger in his tone, no disappointment- heck you could even say that he sounded impress even.

And yet, it just seemed to be the breaking point for Tommy.

“I don’t want to fucking talk about it.” he hisses out, his hands now buried into his hair, the bottoms of his palms pressing against his temple. The action unfortunately only seems to worsen his pounding headache and in a moment of frustration, he angrily chucks a nearby pillow across the room before lowering his head once more. As his headache flares, Tommy pressed his fingers against the back of his head, as though it would relieve the pain in some way.

He’s so fucking angry. Why the fuck would he do that?! He couldn’t even use his own fucking powers- what a joke. He would’ve been dead had Techno not been there, fucking dead. How did he even do this back then?! How was he able to do this everyday and not even think about the fact that he could have died had he made one wrong move.

Prime… no wonder she was so furious about it back then.

“Hey- hey- hey!” Ranboo exclaims and Tommy doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that they’ve got their hands up in a plaintive manner, trying to defuse the situation before it gets any worse. “Let’s just calm down now.” they say calmly and- prime fucking dammit, now he feels like an asshole.

“Yeah, like we aren’t mad or anything boss man.” Tubbo adds in from behind and suddenly Tommy feels a pair of hands firmly wrap around his wrists.

Opening his eyes, he finds Ranboo standing in front of him, trying to gently tug his hands away from his head with a concerned, worried expression on their face. “We just want to know what’s happened.” he says, lightly squeezing their hands together and Tommy finds himself grimacing as he feels a sudden and familiar warmth wash over him.

Starting from his heads, he feels Ranboo’s powers beginning to heal the cuts littering his hands, closing each small wound. Then travelling up his arms, he feels the warmth wash over his head like a wave, taking his pounding headache away with it.

“I wish you’d stop using your powers to heal every little thing man.” Tommy comments as they eventually let go of his hands, the purple glow around their hands fading away as he drops his arms down to their sides.

“Says the one hiding a head injury and a possible concussion” Ranboo amusedly retort back, raising a brow back at the other.

“A fucking what?!” Tubbo cries out from across the room and immediately Tommy winces.

------

After one long ‘talk’ about how Tommy shouldn’t keep serious injuries from your roommates, both Tubbo and Ranboo had finally taken a seat on one of the couches in the living room. Unsurprisingly, they both have questions, Tommy knows they do. It isn’t every day where he’s the one having fights with people, normally that would be their job instead.

And by their, he’s mainly referring to Tubbo.

“Right, so just tell us what happened.” Ranboo is the first to speak, voice still calm despite the worried look still gleaming in his eyes. “You said some guy was trying to mug a lady right?” Tubbo chimes in from the couch next to him, appearing quite casual if not for the fact that his antenna was still twitching every minute or so, betraying his unbothered demeanour.

“Yeah.” Tommy replies with a nod, silently trying to resist the urge to start biting at his nails. “Yeah, I saved a woman from being mugged.” he admits, turning his gaze away from the pair to stare down at the floor beneath them.

For a moment there’s a pause and Tommy knows that the duo is just waiting for him to elaborate further, allowing him to gather his thoughts for a moment. Taking in a breath, he presses back against the lounge behind him, feeling the cushion press against his form.

“She…” he begins to say, trying to explain what he had been thinking- the emotions running through his head.

Only for the words to get stuck in his throat.

“They were going to-“ he tries again to explain, yet it only seems to make it worse as he feels his throat tighten followed by the familiar sting of tears trying to form from the corners of his eyes. Seeming to notice his struggle, Ranboo reaches over and grabs one of his hands into their own, squeezing it just enough that felt grounding to him.

“No one was helping.” Tommy manages to say after a beat of silence.

“She was… she was just screaming and no one-“ cutting himself off, he lets out a frustrated exhale and glances between Tubbo and Ranboo- hoping, begging¸ that the pair would understand what he was trying to say. “No one was helping her and I- I didn’t know what else to do!”

“So, I ended up stepping in and kicked the bastard in the side. Fucker didn’t expect it at first but when I tried to kick him again, it turned out he had some kind of hardening power that turns his skin into rock which is how my leg ended up getting smashed.”

“Eventually he managed to pin me to the ground and so I tried to fight back- I- I tried to use my powers. But I couldn’t!”

“You weren’t able to use your powers?” Tubbo echoes, his brows raising a bit.

“No, I fucking couldn’t!” Tommy cries out, racking a hand over his face as he feels another burst of frustration bubble up.

“Okay, Tommy.” Ranboo quickly interrupts, squeezing his hand in order to get the other’s attention. “I’m about to say something which you might not want to hear.”

“I could probably guess what that is.” Tommy replies back in a much quieter tone, scowling at the other. Letting out a loud, exaggerated sigh, he decides to get it over with and asks,  “It’s because I haven’t used them for over a year, isn’t it?”

“I mean what did you expect?” Tubbo says before swiftly ducking to the side as a pillow is thrown his way.

“I know.” Tommy exclaims, shaking his hand out of Ranboo’s to press his face into them.

“I know. I know I should have listened to you but just-“ once more he gazes up at the pair, looking back at their concerned expressions. “I don’t know what to do. I couldn’t even care less about using them again, even now I don’t. It’s just-…. fucking hell!

“Just seeing that happened- hearing that woman’s scream I couldn’t just do nothing! Not again!”

And just like that a flash of understanding shines through both Tubbo and Ranboo’s expressions.

“Oh Tommy.” Ranboo mutters and Tommy really wishes he wasn’t down a leg right now so that he could walk out the room right then and there. Prime this was fucking embarrassing.

“Look I… I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” he tells the pair, wishing to end the conversation where it was. Hoping that they all can move on without ever having to speak of this again. “I’m still a bit tired right now and need to figure out how I’m going to manage being at work for the next few days. Let’s focus on fixing my leg for now and go from there.”

“…Alright.” Tubbo agrees after another brief pause, nodding his head back at the other. Normally, Tommy would have felt relieved by it had he not immediately noticed the bright gleam in the bee hybrids eyes, as well as the evil, smug smirk that was slowly growing on his face. “I’ll fix your leg.” he says with a casual shrug, though if that expression was anything to go by that wasn’t all he had to say.

There was ‘but’ in there somewhere, Tommy just knows it.

“But on one condition.” And there it was, he fucking called it.

“Sure.” Tommy sighs back, already dreading what his friend was going to say next. “What is it.” he then asks, gesturing for the other to continue.

“You’ll start practising using your powers again. At least then, if this happens, you’ll have a better chance of fighting back or escaping if need be.” Tubbo answers, his smile widening a bit as his words are quickly accompanied by a loud groan.

Realistically, Tommy knows that he’s got a point really, he’s been putting this off for about a year by now. But even then, the thought of using them again does nothing but fill him with pure dread. His powers were the one thing he could never cut off from his past, the one thing that will continue to linger, waiting to be used.

In his head, it felt like if he started using his powers, it’ll just be a like he was taking ten steps back. That all that progress and time- that the promise he made to himself about never going back to that life he had- will all be for nothing if he agreed to this.

He didn’t even have a strength to burn that stupid old, rugged bag still sitting in the back of his closet, so who’s to say he wouldn’t fall back into old habits again?

And yet, even with everything in him telling him not to do it, Tommy couldn’t help but think back on what happened today. About the knife poised at his throat, the hands restlessly pinning him down to the ground, and that feeling of helplessness as he couldn’t even fight back against them.

As much as he hated the idea of it, Tommy isn’t willing to go through that a second time. He never wants to feel as helpless as he did back then.

So, with a reluctant sigh, he finally nods. “Alright.” he eventually agrees, hoping that he won’t end up regretting this at a later date. “I’ll start training and using my powers again.”

“Sounds like a deal!” Tubbo says enthusiastically, literally flying out of his seat as he makes his way back into the kitchen. “We can start tomorrow then. For now though I’ll go ahead and make a list on the materials I’ll need to fix your leg.”

“And if we run into any problems, we can contact Clara for help, I’m sure she’ll know a few things.” Ranboo adds in from the side as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, tapping away at the screen with their thumb. “For now, we’ll take it slow and then go from there. Sound good?”

“…Sure.” Tommy sighs out, reaching a hand over towards the remote sitting on the coffee table in the middle, before turning it on.

Listening to the drone of voices coming from the screen, he slumps back against the couch, letting out a low breath as his feels his energy and the adrenaline from today drain away.

……

“Can you get some chips while your there?” Tommy then loudly asks, after a moment of silence, turning his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Cause, you know- you took my fucking leg.”

“Fuck you.” Tubbo calls back in response and not too long after, Tommy lets out a squawk as he feels a packet of chips collide with the back of his head with a loud bang.