Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-BREAKING NEWS-

“Vigilante known as Queen of Hearts has just been confirmed dead after a tragic accident in the 37th district.” I hadn’t even really been paying attention to the news, but that name, it caught me off guard. I spit out my coffee as I heard the news reporter speaking. 28 days. That's how long it’s been since I left. 28 days and already this had happened?

“...Body has not been found but it was suspected that she could not survive being crushed in a collapsing building. Her partner King of Hearts has still not been spotted anywhere for about a month now. Will the loss of his partner finally be enough to bring him back, or is this truly the end of the King and Queen?” The reporter continued. The tv had my full attention now, I needed to know what was going on. 

“This has been a devastating night for those in the 37th district, and though these two were only vigilantes, even us all the way in the first district will surely feel the impact of their loss. Joining us now we have our number one hero with us here tonight to share a word for them, please speak Captain.” I was utterly shocked, they have never had heroes speak for lost vigilantes, even vigilantes that were generally known and respected never received this sort of recognition. 

“Hello everybody, you all might know me as Captain Puffy, but tonight is not about me. I have come tonight to talk about the vigilantes known as King of Hearts and Queen of Hearts. As a hero, the number one hero, at that, I would like to publicly acknowledge these two brave individuals. While neither of them were official heroes they embodied truly what heroes should be. Ever since they showed up in the 37th district, they have made their efforts to save as many lives as possible, and that they did. Tonight, Queen of hearts managed to get every person out of the burning building, sacrificing her life in the process. Now I am unaware of where King of Hearts has gone but, we assume he has died as well, as only one month ago I rescued him from an attack by the Villain that goes by the name of “Trixter.” It is very possible that he was in fact poisoned that night…” I tuned out the rest of it as I felt my mind spiraling. I had left her alone, and now she was dead. How could I ever call myself a hero? How could I ever accept the fact that I could have saved her? That I should have saved her. I didn’t know what to do, there wasn’t actually much I could do. If I went back now I would only hinder the process I’d made, and would she really want that? 

Chapter Text

"Tommy. Tommy! TOMMY!" Tommy woke with a start as his friend, Tubbo, shook him awake. 

"What Tubbo?" Tommy asked, irritated. 

"You have to find a job. You got laid off yesterday, remember?" Tommy did remember, he didn't want to though. The boy was at work when a fire was started from the bottom, he narrowly escaped with the help of a few coworkers. The heros arrived late to the situation after everyone was already out, they didn't save anyone or figure out who the culprit was. However Tommy already knew, well, not the exact person but there was a large increase in villains lately in his district (the 17th) it was an organization that called themselves the 'eggpire' it was worrying how fast they were growing I mean they had been causing lots of trouble lately. Tommy sighed. "Right I'm going out, let me get ready alright?" Tubbo nodded and Tommy headed to grab some clothes. 

Once Tommy was outside he started walking around town trying to find anywhere that he could work. However, his luck, as usual, was terrible. Even after walking into nearly every place with a ‘now hiring’ sign he still could not find a single place that would accept him. He found himself tired and in an alleyway as the sun was setting. Tommy sighed knowing that he wouldn't find anything tonight. "What's the matter little boy?" the boy heard suddenly and if there was one that Tommy was, it was not little. Young? Sure, but little? No. You see Tommy was tall . easily about 6'1, now, that's nothing on Ranboo, but still. He was tall. 

"Who are you calling little dickhead!?" Tommy exclaimed angrily. 

"You. Who else?" Now that made Tommy pissed off. 

"Fuck off prick I don't even know who you are." The boy scowled. 

"No I don't think I will." The man said, stepping closer to Tommy who had started backing up as the man moved forward. Eventually however, Tommy realized he wasn't able to back up any further. The boy was cornered. As panic set in, Tommy realized he wasn't going to make it out of this unharmed. The man smirked as he saw the look of fear upon the young boy's face. 

"Give me all the money you have." He said as he pulled a knife out of his holster. 

"Look man, I would but truly I have no money." Tommy said, panicked. The man scowled and raised the knife. As Tommy braced to be cut he heard the sudden sound of metal hitting the floor. He opened his eyes to see the vigilante known as 'Death' pinning the man to the ground. ‘Holy shit this is cool.’ Tommy thought to himself. Now, Tommy wasn’t the biggest fan of heroes but vigilantes? Hell yeah they are always there when you need it. However when he looked up his excitement died down as he noticed the vigilante was preparing to leave. "Hey wait!" The boy called desperately. He didn’t even realize he had until the woman turned her head. 

"Yes, is something wrong?" She asked, giving him a concerned look. 

"I- No." He murmured. " I just wanted to say thank you, and uhm, could you teach me? I mean to fight and save people! I want to help, I'm willing to do whatever it takes!" Tommy was speaking without thought at this point and the woman stared at him solemnly. 

"Are you sure you would actually want to do this? It's a lot of commitment." She asked. 

"Yes! I want to help. No matter what it costs.. Even if that means putting my life on the line!" Tommy found the words slipping from his mouth mindlessly. It was then Tommy made up his mind. He was going to be a vigilante. Death looked at him. 

"Tomorrow meet me at Lakeseer park." Tommy immediately nodded and for a moment he thought he saw happyness glimmer in the eyes of the woman, however he didn't get to analyze it before the woman flew off. 

-|-|-|-

The next day Tommy went out job searching again. He considered looking outside the district but decided against it after a moment's hesitation. After a while of looking he decided to just go to the park early, giving up on his job hunt for the time being. When Tommy got there he took a seat and started remembering the conversation he had with Tubbo and Ranboo the night before. "YOU CAN'T BE A VIGILANTE TOMMY! WHAT IF YOU GET HURT OR- or worse..." Tubbo trailed off.

"Tubbo's right you could get hurt, arrested, or.. or killed.'' The half and half boy finished quietly. 

"You guys don't have a say in this I- I want to do this. No I- I need to do this! You guys have to understand. Please." The boy begged. Tubbo and Ranboo both shared a glance. 

"We're not talking you out of this are we?" Ranboo asked. Tommy shook his head. They both sighed. 

"Promise me you'll be careful big T" Tubbo said. Tommy nodded. 

"I promise." 

He was broken from his thoughts as he heard someone approach him. He hadn’t even realized the time since it had gone by so fast. So, turning his head he saw her. Death. From what Tommy could tell she was wearing all dark clothes up to her head. She wore a mask that covered her mouth and nose, the mask had a bright red heart in the middle of it, however it had two black ovals just large enough to be noticeable in the top part of the heart. The woman also had deep black eyes and hair that matched her wings. As Tommy was staring the woman walked up to the boy who was taller than her. Still though she madeTommy nervous, he'd never admit it however. "Death." He greeted.

"Hello again." She said, realizing that he hadn't given her his name he decided now would be a good time. 

"Oh! Right, I forgot. My name is Tommy." the boy said cheerily. The woman nodded. 

"Follow me." The woman turned and slowly started walking away without looking to see if the boy was following, he was of course.

Chapter Text

Tommy was following the vigilante when she started running. The woman called behind her and shouted, "Keep up!" Though surprised, Tommy started running after her watching her movements trying to figure out when she was going to turn. He didn’t realize he had this skill until now, besides that, he managed to keep up at first because her movements were predictable, however when she started turning into dead ends and jumping over things it got harder and as if on cue she turned into an alleyway with a tall fence at the end. The boy thought she was going to use her wings to jump it but she didn't. Instead she jumped onto a dumpster and without losing momentum jumped at the wall opposite of the dumpster and bounced over the fence from there. Tommy came to a halt on the opposite side of the fence panting heavily. He thought he had never run so much in his life. The woman didn't run off however. She stepped back and waited. "Tommy." She said after a moment. He looked up.

"Yeah?" He asked, staring at the woman. 

"This is lesson 1. Jumping. I want you to jump this fence without actually touching it. It’s a great skill to have in case you ever have to escape someone, you can use your enhancement if you have one but you have to make it over. Got it?" Tommy nodded and started looking around trying to find something that could be of use to him. When he didn't find anything the woman spoke again. "You have as much time as you need, practice until you get it. I'll be watching." Tommy smiled.

"Got it." Amusement glimmered in Death's eyes before she lept away. 

-|-|-|-

{A week later}

Tommy had gotten a job, he now worked at a bakery that was owned by a nice woman named Nikki, because of his new job he was almost never home. Between training to be a vigilante and work he really only ran his check home and then went to train, it was alright though because he got free food from his job so he was able to eat breakfast and lunch. Tubbo and Ranboo had been fairly worried for him as he hasn't been getting more than a few hours of sleep each night but Tommy was committed and didn't plan on giving up. His friends knew best how stubborn he was anyway.

Tommy was once again standing at the fence. It was late at night, probably around midnight. The boy had gotten a lot stronger since his first day but still couldn't get over the fence. He was about to try to jump again when he heard walking behind him. "You've been doing the same thing for a week straight Tommy." The familiar voice of Death said. Tommy sighed, he knew she was right. "Do you remember what I did the first day I showed you this place?" She asked, looking at Tommy's blue eyes. Tommy nodded. 

"You jumped from the dumpster onto the wall then used the height you were at to jump over." 

"Right! Do you know why that worked?" the woman asked him.

"No I don't, I thought you were using an enhancement." Tommy answered honestly. 

"It worked because of the momentum I had and because of the way I placed my weight and strength, look, if you put all of your weight and strength into your legs you'll jump." She demonstrated this by jumping straight up and down. "However, if you try to do that while jumping off a wall you'll get launched head first into the other wall. Do you see what I'm saying?" Tommy nodded. 

"You're saying that if I want to make it over this fence I have to find a balance to where I put my weight and strength in order to make it over the wall." 

"Exactly! So let's see you try it, you don't have to make it on your first try but practice." Tommy smiled as he backed up to get a running start. Just like that Tommy found himself analyzing where exactly to place pressure and how much strength to use in each jump. And with that Tommy jumped onto the first wall however he didn't put enough strength into his hands and fell because of it. He stood up quickly and started walking to get another running start, hardly realizing that Death had left. He continued jumping onto the wall until he found the correct weight and strength in his arms and legs and managed to jump the fence just as dawn broke. He smiled. As tired as he was he had done it and that was all that mattered. 

Chapter Text

(Death pov-)

I watched as Tommy had finally made it over the fence. I saw the mixture of frustration and anger in his eyes change quickly to joy and excitement as he made the jump. I didn't know what exactly I was feeling, maybe pride? Happyness? Excitement? Maybe all of them. I really couldn't pinpoint it, I just knew it was good. That was enough for me.So, I shook the thoughts from my head and jumped down to greet him. “Well it's been a few days hasn’t it?” My voice was level as I spoke but I could tell he knew better than me what I was feeling.
“Yeah it has! I made the jump over the wall. What’s next?” Tommy spoke quickly and excitedly as he asked questions.
“Whoa there kid, you need rest. You’ve been coming here everyday staying late then having work in the morning. I want you to go home, rest and do small workouts like push ups, situps, jumping jacks, and such. Take a week then meet me here again at 9. Got it?” Tommy seemed mildly annoyed but didn’t argue, just nodded and left. I was glad though, he was still only a kid, looked about 15 and could probably pass for 16 but definitely no older than that. And even now I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. So instead I watched him leave then went home myself.

As I was on my way back I heard voices, I didn’t know what they were talking about but I knew they weren’t criminals and if they weren’t criminals they had to be-.” My thoughts were interrupted suddenly by two men suddenly very aware of my presence. “Ma’am what are you doing on the roof of a building at 2 in the morning?” The taller of the men asked.
“I could ask you the same thing rain .” I responded. The shorter of the two sighed.
“You must be a vigilante right? According to people around here your name is ‘Death?’”
“I guess you’ve heard of me then. No introductions needed. Right Angle ?” The man hesitated. In that brief moment I ran, I jumped down into an alleyway using my knowledge of the labyrinth to make confusing turns to slowly but surely lose the two heroes. 

(Angel pov-) 

I hesitated, The way she said my name it seemed familiar. I couldn’t pinpoint where I heard it from. However that’s not the point, I only started running after the woman after Wilbur ran after her. We ended up losing her in the allies because of the many different turns she took. “What the fuck was that Phil?” I heard Wilbur say from in front of me.
“I dunno I- I thought I recognised her voice and-”
“Phil, you think you recognise a lot of people. If it interferes with your hero work I can’t help!”
“I know! It normally doesn’t but this was different I don’t know why but it was.”
“Just- just try not to let it get in the way. Please.”
“I know! I know. I won’t. I just need to take a minute.” Wilbur nodded, before leaving to continue patrol. 

(Death pov-) 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Why the hell is he back? We had an agreement that he’d leave me to protect the people of this city! Death thought as she paced the room of her home, she continued pacing back and forth. He left me. Why does it matter? WHY does it still hurt? Why couldn’t he have just left and never looked back? Does he want to turn me in now that he’s a big hero? Maybe he just wants the fame from it? Questions were swimming through Death's head as she tried to find answers all too fast. The woman began getting tired and decided it would be best to sleep on it. She decided that she could think about this when she woke up. 

“I don’t want to do this anymore! I just want to have a family. I want you to be a part of that [REDACTED] but we can’t. Not while we’re vigilantes!”
“Well then what do you suppose we do [REDACTED 2] I can’t leave the city unprotected! There are people out there that need help!”
“[REDACTED], we need to become heroes. If we do that we can have a family and we could still protect people that need it too!”
“No! If we do that then we won’t be able to protect our people! Think about our city [REDACTED 2] it was overrun with criminals that heroes didn’t bother helping with! If we leave to become heroes we’ll never be able to come back!” [REDACTED] cried.
“I don’t want to leave you [REDACTED] but I think I have to. I promise that once I make it into the world of heroes I’ll come back. I'll protect our people again and help you become a hero with me! Then we can have the family we always wanted!”
“[REDACTED 2] please don’t leave, just stay! We can be happy here without kids! We have been for so long”
“I know but please believe me when I promise that I’ll come back.” [REDACTED] nodded silent tears falling from her eyes. [REDACTED 2] wrapped her in a tight hug before letting go and leaving silently. 

“Breaking news! Vigilante known as Queen of hearts has just been reported dead after saving a 9 year old girl from a collapsing building. Her body has not yet been found though police suspect her partner King of hearts has already got her body out of the building”

“Breaking news! Vigilantes known as queen of hearts and King of hearts have disappeared from the streets completely. We believe Queen of hearts is dead and King of hearts is retiring after the loss of his partner. As of now no other information on these two people have been released.

“Breaking news! New vigilante in the 17th district has been discovered, people on the streets seem to be calling her Death, Because of her sudden appearance there has been a new wave of hope spreading amongst the people of the 17th district.”

Chapter Text

Tommy had been enjoying his week with Tubbo and Ranboo, he had even managed to convince them to work out with him. Their workout routine was to do 30 jumping jacks for warm up, do 20 pushups, 30 sit ups, and 10 burpees. They decided to do this every night. 

(Tommy pov)

“Tubbbbbbooooooooooo why can’t me and Ranboo go steal some shit?” I whined whilst looking at Tubbo.
“Because dumbass, you're going to be a vigilante, an ILLEGAL HERO. The most you can do is follow the law when you're not doing vigilante shit.” Tubbo responded.
“I agree with Tubbo Tommy, you need to act like a hero if you're going to be a vigilante.” Ranboo agreed.
“That’s so fuckin dumb! I’m already going to do something illegal. Why can’t I just do more?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“You’re doing something illegal for a better cause, you’re going to be doing hero work Tommy, you need to at least act like a hero.”
“Yeah but it’s not like I'm getting paid for that shit.”
“Hm, speaking of being paid, you have to work in an hour to get ready.”
“Oh fuck I forgot about that-” Tubbo hummed in response as I ran out of the living room to the single bedroom we all share. I got ready as quickly as possible and ran out the door yelling my goodbyes behind me. 

I made it to work just on time and got to the register clocking in not a minute late. Looking around I notice the place is oddly empty. “Nikki?” I called into the back.
“Oh hey Tommy what’s up?” She asked, stepping out of the back. I could tell she had been baking all day because of the flower all over her apron.
“Uh, do we have a reservation today? This place is usually packed.”
“Oh! Yeah we do! An old friend of mine is coming here with his friends for his birthday.”
“Oh, alright. Do you need me to set anything up?”
“Yeah actually, can you put table cloths over all the tables?”
“Yeah of course I’ll get to that now.”
“Right, thanks Tommy.” Nikki giggled. I nodded with a smile and got to work. As I was putting table cloths on the tables I noticed how small the area actually was. I mean it made sense, it was just a ‘order and sit’ bakery, or an ‘order and leave’ bakery but I never actually realized how small it was. I mean there were only about 5 tables in total. The sudden realization surprised me but I pushed the thought aside as I continued to work. 

(Tommy pov but 3rd person)

After Tommy finished setting up the tables and stuff he asked Nikki if there was anything else that needed to be done. Nikki shook her head and told Tommy to just await the arrival of the guests. Tommy nodded and went to the register to wait. After about thirty minutes some people walked in the building. At the sound of the familiar bell ring Tommy looked up, a moment later Nikki was with him. “Hey guys welcome in!” Nikki greeted with a smile. Suddenly a tall motherfucker ran up to Nikki wrapping her in a hug.
“Nikki! It’s good to see you again!” The man exclaimed happily.
“You too Will.” Nikki said in her normal sweet voice. The two other two that came in after the tall fuck walked up to Nikki. They exchanged greetings and then Nikki turned to Tommy.
“This is Tommy, he's one of my new hires.” Nikki smiled.
“Ayup.” The boy waved.
“Tommy, this is Wilbur, Phil, and Techno.” Nikki said motioning to each person. Tommy nodded mentally noting their names. “Anyway, you three can sit somewhere I’m going to be in the back, we’ll bring your food out when it’s ready” Nikki said to the group.
“Right thanks Nikki” Phil said with a smile. Nikki nodded and headed to the back. Shortly after Tommy approached the table. “Well while you're waiting may as well get drinks right? Is there anything you guys want?” Tommy asked, catching the group a bit off guard. The tall fuck known as Wilbur was the first to respond.
“Yeah actually, can I just get a black coffee.” Tommy nodded then turned to the rest of the group.
“You guys want anything?”
“I’ll have the same as wilbur.” Techno said.
“I’ll just have water.” Phil said. Tommy nodded.
“I'll bring it out in a moment.” 

Tommy walked to the back, slightly surprising Nikki. “Hey Tommy, something wrong?” Nikki asked. Tommy shook his head.
“‘M Just getting two black coffees and a water out to our guests.”
“Oh alright, Thank you!”
“Anytime” Tommy stated. As he placed a cup under the coffee machine. 

Tommy walked out with a tray that had the group's coffee and water. “Thanks mate” Phil said as he placed the cups out in front of them. Tommy hummed in response but before he could leave he got a weird question.
“Why are you working at your age? You look really young.”
“Techno- Mate you can’t ask questions like that.” Phil said looking oddly embarrassed by what his friend had just asked.
“It’s alright really, I just have a lot of free time so I figured ‘why not be somewhat productive’ y’know?” Wilbur sent a look towards Phil that clearly said b u l l s h i t though didn’t say anything out loud. “Do you mind if I ask you guys a question?” Tommy asked.
“Shoot.” Wilbur said. Tommy nodded and continued.
“Why’d you guys reserve the entire restaurant? There’s only three of you.” All three of the people at the table looked at eachother.
“Mate, do you not know who we are?” Phil asked curiously.
“I- no? Am I supposed to?”
“No, not at all, it actually makes things better.” Tommy nodded suspiciously.
“Uh, right so I’m just gonna assume you didn’t want people bothering you while you were just hanging out?”
“Yeah that sums it up.” Techno said. Tommy nodded and then left. After about 5 minutes Nikki finished what she was making for them and brought out their food, Tommy stayed in the back cleaning up the mess of flower on the table. Tommy could hear the four of them talking from in the back. 

If Tommy was being completely honest, he was not a people person, despite being pretty social there were very few people that Tommy actually respected or cared about. Of course Tommy does care about people in general but people Tommy considered friends? Those were few and far to come, Tubbo had always been Tommy’s best friend, that would never change. Ranboo however had not always been on Tommy’s good side, it took Tommy a good month or two to actually start to like Ranboo but after about a year of living with him, he was definitely one of Tommy’s friends. Of course he’d never admit it but still they both knew Tommy had long accepted Ranboo.

“Tommy!” Wilbur called to him for like the 9th time in one minute.
“What now Karen?” Tommy snapped playfully. Wilbur dramatically threw his hands over his heart and gasped loudly.
“Did you just call me Karen?!” He exclaimed dramatically.
“Yeah I did because you keep calling me back over here for useless things like your coffee having a GRAIN of salt in it! We don’t even bring salt stuff around coffee- Also how the heck did you even taste A GRAIN OF SALT?!” Tommy exclaimed, making a point to say the last few words louder than the rest.
“I have very very accurate taste buds.” Willbur responded calmly.
“Wilbur, mate, you don’t even have taste buds.” Phil cut in huffing in amusement.
“Ha! Get called out!” Tommy yelled with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Okay fair, I can’t taste. I was just trying to see how much I could get you to run around before you snapped.”
“If I wasn’t working right now I would show you ‘snapped’” Tommy said, voice oddly calm as he turned around and stalked off to the back.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

Then I Saw The Light.

Death Pov:

I don’t know when it happened but I started to feel more energetic and ready, before everything was a blur. Wake up, go to work, have an hour of free time, patrol, sleep, and repeat. Nowadays it’s different. Wake up, go to work, get an hour of free time, show Tommy some new things, give him a task, talk, have fun, show him around the city, show him good places to hide if needed, finish patrol, sleep but not repeat. It was never repetitive anymore, the young boy Tommy always brings something new to the table, whether it be jokes or something he was proud of, never was anything the same anymore. I found myself looking forward to training with him, yes with him. He was no longer someone I needed to teach. Him and I now only trained and practiced, he had learned fast, so fast even I didn’t notice how quickly it had happened. One moment he was just a kid with alright athletic abilities but now he could dodge, fight, jump from building to building and break a fall if needed. He had come a long way in such a short time. In a way I was proud but also I realized that if he chooses to continue this path he’s gonna see things that no person (especially a child) should have to see. 

“Deeeeaaatththththth” Tommy whined “I want to start patrolling and fighting crime like you now! I’m ready! I swear!” I sighed knowing this day was coming.

“Tommy, I know you're ready, physically anyway you have been for a while. However I don’t know your ready mentally.” I stated calmly 

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?!” He exclaimed.

“Tommy, I’m going to give you one last chance to back out now, just know that if you don’t you're going to see things nobody should have to see. You're going to feel things no one should have to see. The final and worse thing that will happen is to remember that you will not be able to save everyone and you will remember every time you don’t, but you have to know when to stop. You’re going to hit your limits and knowing you, you’re gonna want to push them. Don’t. if you know you can’t help anymore you need to run. You have to be ready to feel defeated and like you didn’t do shit. You need to understand that if you continue now you will have to live with every mistake you make.” I said. I was being unrealistically truthful. The boy fell silent for a moment. 

“I’m not leaving now.” He said quietly. “After everything you’ve taught me after everything I’ve worked for. No. I’m not leaving, and you only told me the bad things right now. You said I need to understand I have to live with every mistake I’ll make but what about the victory’s I win? Every person I save? It’s not all for nothing even if it feels like it in the moment. I know no matter what happens during my time of being a vigilante that I will face hardship but it doesn’t matter because I know I will help more people then I will hurt them. And even if I don’t I will bring hope to our people. Even if that’s simply making someone smile. If you don’t help me now then I will do this on my own.” I smiled lightly under my mask.

“Alright then, if you're going to be doing this then I see no reason to keep my identity a secret anymore.” I grabbed my mask from my face and pulled it under my chin allowing the boy to see my full face. “My name is Kristen, when we’re on patrol you can only call me by my vigilante name, when we’re here or training you are more then welcome to call me Kristen.” The boy's eyes lit up and a large smile came upon his face. 

“This is fucking cool” I chuckled lightly. 

“Tomorrow we can patrol but I’m going to get you a mask and hood for you to use. Meet me here tomorrow at sunset.” Tommy nodded.

“Will do!”

Chapter Text

I was really excited so after work I immediately ran to Kristen and I’s meeting spot. I warmed up and waited till she got here. When she did get there I practically couldn’t stand still. “You seem more than ready,” she said with a small chuckle. I nodded eagerly. “Here.” She said holding a mask and a red hoodie in her hand. I grinned and took the hood and mask from her. I put the hoodie over my shirt and pulled the hood over my head. Then I put on the solid black mask. I have to say, I look fucking awesome. Kristen smiled. “You look great, now let’s go.” The woman turned to leave but I stopped her. 

“Wait. What are you going to call me?” She paused and lifted her head to think. 

“I dunno, let the people name you.” 

“But what will you be calling me in the meantime?” I asked.

“Eh I dunno I’ll make it up as we go.” She turned and jumped on to a fire escape, I followed, deciding it’s not worth wasting time. I followed her on the rooftops as it slowly got darker, I noticed some people wave, though Kristen never waved back so I didn’t either.

As it got darker we both noticed more sketchy people, we would follow some then leave after a bit and move onto the next. Finally something happened. We were following a well dressed man, well he was well dressed for the area. Anyway we were following him and when he got to an alleyway we just waited and watched. “Hey, kid.” Death whispered. “Come on, we've been here too long.” I was about to go when I got a really bad feeling and just stopped and stared at the man. “Come on T!” She whispered in an urgent tone. 

“No… There's something off about this. Like really off. I don’t know what yet but I don’t think we should leave.” I whispered back, still staring blankly. 

“I- are you sure?” She asked. I nodded. Kristen sighed. “Alright. We’ll wait.” We continued waiting and about a minute later some other guy came. He had 4 others with him. Me and Kristen shared a concerned glance. 

“Do you have what I need?” The single man asked. 

“No. We are tired of you bossing us around. There is only one of you, there's five of us if you want anything else you need to pay us for it.” The head of the other 4 said. 

“Mm? Are you sure you want to go down this path. If you do… you will die.” The singular man said. The others smirked and nodded, laughing at the other. 

“This isn’t gonna end well.” I murmured to Death. She nodded her head in agreement. Our point was quickly proven as red vines shot out of the singular man. Stabbing the largest man straight through the heart. Killing him instantly. The others ran forward yelling in outrage. I looked at Death. She nodded. And then I jumped down using the wall to break my fall. To be honest they were all in the wrong so I just attacked whoever I could get to. However in the moment I realized how different this was compared to training. This was life or death and I am not ready to die. I didn’t notice who Kristin was fighting but it didn’t matter I needed to be focused on my fight. I was just dodging, I was trying to figure out how to go about this when I remembered something Kristin had taught me. Remember if your enemy has a weapon, disarm and then attack. This man had a knife. I quickly maneuvered myself to a position where he couldn’t see me well, grabbed his arm and made him drop the knife. I threw him to the floor however I didn’t get a chance to knock him out because the red vines crept up on him and started to suffocate him I stepped back in shock then looked around and saw all of the men were in the same position I looked at Kristin and saw she was just as shocked. Finally I looked at the man controlling the vines. He wore a black and white cloak and his facial features seemed to glow white other than his eyes those were blood red. The bodies of the men that were being choked previously suddenly dropped. They were lifeless. And the man? He stared at what he did proudly as if it were the best thing he’s ever done. I don’t know why this pissed me off in the moment but it did. And suddenly there was nothing I could do to stop myself. I ran forward straight at the villain who killed five people with no remorse at all. In fact he was smiling. 

“T!” I heard Death yell behind me. I didn’t stop. The man finally saw me. “You know I would love to stay but I can’t right now!” His stupid voice was cheery as if he were happy right now. He used the vines to knock me back; however they did nothing more than that. He had gotten away, and what did Tommy do? Absolutely nothing. Death caught up to him and started to calm him down telling him that they needed to get out of there. I only listened because I needed a way out. This was that way. Once they were on the rooftops it was silent. They stopped a few petty crimes in silence. Neither of them knowing what to talk about. However, one of the crimes they were stopping Tommy made a rookie mistake and the damn guy said, “You're new to this aren’t you?” Course this only made Tommy throw insults at him and knock him out with no mercy making sure he’d be in pain when he woke up. This seemed to lighten the mood a bit and the silence was no longer uncomfortable. 

The patrol was finally over after what seemed like centuries. Tommy knew he couldn’t just leave, he knew Kristin would want to tell him something so he waited patiently, pulling down his mask and hoodie. There was an audible sigh from Kristin. “Tommy.” She started.

“Yeah Kristin?” 

“It’s not too late to back out now.” She murmured sadly, staring at me with soft eyes.

“I don’t want to back out!“ I said suddenly “I can’t! I won’t.” Kristin looked at me sadly. 

“Tommy, that wasn’t half of what I’ve seen. If you want to leave I won’t judge.” I stared at her in disbelief.

“No! God no! I won’t back out! I want to help people I don’t want to leave!” 

“Tommy.. what you saw tonight alone will give you nightmares. I don’t want you to suffer because of this.” I felt tears start to form in my eyes suddenly.

“No! I don’t want to leave! Don’t make me stop.. please.. just don’t make me quit…” I was in tears at this point. I didn’t want to give up and stop doing this. I had put so much work into it I knew I could do better and I knew I was going to catch the bitch who did that to those people. Suddenly however I felt a hand rest lightly on my shoulder. 

“Tommy, I’m not going to make you stop, I just want to be sure you know what you're doing. What I told you before, you didn’t fully know the extent of what I was talking about. Now you do. I needed to know you were still ready to do this. I’m not making you leave.” For some reason this made Tommy cry more. Kristin sighed gently and wrapped her arms around the young boy. Tommy didn’t protest like he normally would. He just stayed there and allowed himself to cry in the woman’s arms. Neither of them moved for a while. They both needed this.

Chapter Text

Kristin went home not long after her and Tommy broke away from each other. They had both just quietly held each other in a warm embrace for a minute or two, it was the first time she had seen Tommy cry, it didn’t sit right with her. The loud brash excited blond boy who just wanted to help people, crying? No. It wasn’t right and Kristin knew she didn’t want to see him like that yet, another part of her knew she’d have to see that. She didn’t like the idea of seeing someone she cared about sad or scared. She didn’t want to see it but she knew if she didn’t try and help now it would only hurt more in the future.

-|-|-|-

What time is it? I thought as I looked at my alarm clock. ‘12:20’ it read. “Fuck” I groaned inwardly as I got up to get ready for work. I put on my work clothes quickly because I was already going to be late. I didn’t have time to eat as I left the house to go work at my boring ass office job.

I made it to work not too late however it didn’t stop my boss from chewing me out. However I moved on with my life and got back to typing reports and stuff. All of it seemed pretty random and pointless but I wasn’t going to argue, the job paid well and I didn’t have to work too far outside my district.  “Kristin” I heard someone say behind me. 

“Yes?” I asked, turning around and seeing my boss and presumably someone new. 

“I need you to train this person their name is Rain, you’ll be paid for the training as well.” I nodded in acknowledgment. My boss walked away and I looked at the person. 

“So, they/them pronouns or do you prefer something else?” I asked not wanting to make them uncomfortable. They nodded.

“Yeah, I use they/them pronouns, I’m non-bianary.” 

“Alright, how about I sh-“ I was cut off suddenly.

“Alright?” They questioned. “You're fine with me being who I am?”

“As long as you're happy and don’t make others around you feel unwanted I don’t care what you identify as, be yourself, be respectful and I’ll respect you.”

“I- I don’t know what to say, no one’s ever told me that..” they trailed off.

“Don’t mention it, let’s just get to work yeah?” They nodded. “Alright then, now how about I show you how to work the system…” 

-|-|-|-

The next few weeks went by pretty fast, I still went out on patrol with Tommy which people gave him the name “Blazing Star” so I just started calling him Star on patrol. At work Rain was picking things up well, they were able to start working on some reports recently and seemed to be doing really well aside from their self doubt they were excelling in everything they did. You could say I was proud of them.

“Hey, Star” I started. “I think we should split up, you get behind I’ll get in front.” Star nodded and continued at a steady pace while I used my wings to get ahead. I didn’t pay attention to Tommy because he always had himself covered and I trusted him. However, that was my first mistake. I then dived down and stopped the robber head on. I was surprised that Tommy wasn’t behind him like I thought but I trusted that he was okay and would meet up with me. Mistake 2. I managed to zip tie the robber up and set him to the ground taking my time in alerting police of where he was. Mistake 3. I went off to find my son  Tommy using my wings to search. However I heard a blood-curtailing scream and instantly knew it belonged to Tommy. “Star!?” I cried making a sharp turn. I don’t remember much of the flight there other than it felt like years to get there. 

I finally arrived to see my little bird  Tommy crumpled on the floor crying in pain. I lunged without thinking at his attacker which immediately brought surprise to his face. He recovered quickly however and tried to use a knife to stab me. I dodged and kicked him backwards away from Tommy. However, as I was fighting I heard wings above me and footsteps on either side of me. I pushed Tommy’s attacker away and looked around. Sleepy bois inc?! Why the hell would they send them here of all people, of all heroes!? I didn’t care however I ran straight to Star’s side trying to find where he was injured. “Star.” I murmured softly. “Look at me, I need to know your alright.” All I saw was blue eyes meet mine weakly. “Hey bud, I need you to tell me where it hurts.” Tommy mumbled something softly, I didn't quite catch it. “Can you speak up for me T?” Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me one pair, whichever one was walking to them, didn't have backup. It didn’t matter though my instincts were kicking in faster that I could process. 

“Stomach…” Tommy whimpered. I nodded, placing my hands on his stomach carefully and moving my hand around applying gentle pressure trying to find where he was hurt. The footsteps didn’t stop until the man was right behind them. Once they got so close I flared my wings protectively trying to buy some sort of time for them to stop the bleeding. Just as the man was about to say something Tommy let out a cry of pain. There that’s where he’s bleeding.  

“Alright star, I need you to try and keep still. I'm going to try and stop the bleeding. Don’t close your eyes and don’t go to sleep ok?” Tommy simply whined and I took that as an understanding. As I pushed pressure onto the wound the man behind me spoke. 

“This looks bad we need to get him urgent care-“ 

“ No.” I cut him off. 

“If you don’t he could die .” 

“If I do and he doesn’t die his life is gone. ” There was silence for a moment. Before he continued.

“You're worried I can tell, your instincts to protect him are screaming at you and yet you still would rather protect his life over survival? ” 

“He doesn’t want to survive , he wants to live. ” I scowled at Angle. He sighed, almost sadly.

“Well I’m sorry but you both made your choices and now we have to take you in.” I wrapped my arms under Tommy choosing to ignore Angel’s words. 

“This is going to hurt Tommy I’m sorry” I whispered just loud enough for him to hear before kicking Angel back quickly and jumping into the sky. I heard Tommy whimper in my arms. “Shh I know baby just stay awake till we get to the house, I promise it’s going to be okay.” I could hear the flap of Angels’ wings behind me. I made a shit ton  of weird turns but wasn’t able to lose him, finally I retreated to the alleyways, I lost him there in the endless maze of random turns.

“Let’s get you home darling, I’ll make sure you're alright I promise.” 

-|-|-|-

I woke up in a place that was unfamiliar. I looked around for a moment. “Tubbo?” I tried, when I heard no response I tried again differently. “Ranboo?” Nothing. I decided I needed to get out because Tubbo and Ranboo were probably worried as fuck. As I went to stand up however excruciating pain shot through my entire body, I totally did not yelp wordlessly in pain. That’s when I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind. 

“Tommy?” A familiar voice said. 

“Kristin?” I questioned.

“Hey it’s me kiddo, are you alright?” I finally saw her as she walked around into my vision. 

“I’m not a fuckin kid.” I growled.

“Right, right, well anyway are you alright?” She reiterated.

“Aside from my entire body feeling like it’s being ripped to shreds? Yeah pretty good.” Kristin frowned sadly.

“Just relax a bit bud it hurts worse when you move.”

“What do you mean relax?! I have roommates do you know how worried they are going to be when they realize I never went back home from fucking patrol !?” 

“Hey hey hey, it’s alright, give me your address I’ll go let them know you're okay but you really can’t leave right now, it would put us both in danger but especially you.” I grumbled under my breath knowing she was right. 

“Fine, my address is xxx xxx xxx” 

Alright I’ll be back bud just stay here and stay still. I only nodded.

Chapter Text

“Is he ready?”

“Yes.”

“Take him to experiment room 7.”

“Understood sir.”

Blinding white light shone on my skin and in my eyes blinding me temporarily. I could feel hands on my shoulders pushing me, I couldn’t fight though everything hurt. What are they doing to me? I questioned silently. As we walked the rooms became familiar to me. No. No no no no no. Not the pad rooms please not again. I was harshly shoved into a room making eye contact with the ‘doctor’ there. 

“Hello 946” a low whine was sounded through my throat. I couldn’t talk. “Oh hush.” He said harshly. “You need to man up 946, if you don’t you’ll never make it through half of these.” 

Please no. I silently pleaded. I saw him move to me. I couldn't fight or run. He grabbed my wrist tightly. I wordlessly cried earning a slap to the face. I stumbled, whimpering quietly. 

“946! I just told you to man up the fuck do you think that means!? You are 8 years old, perfectly fine and definitely old enough to understand a basic command! Do you understand!?” I nodded wordlessly, bringing one hand up to the place previously slapped. “Good. Now sit. ” I did, I stumbled my way to the bed where the ‘doctor’ grabbed a needle. “Now then 946, we’re going to try something new today, you see this?” He held up the needle. I was shaking but nodded. “This has cat DNA and we’re going to be trying to give you the ability of a cat along with your… other abilities.” I wanted to cry, scream, run even but even while every inch of my body urged me to run, I was never able to even move. It was hard. I hated this.

-|-|-|-

I didn’t have the chance to wake up fully before I heard someone talking. “Is he awake?”

I’m not sure. Should we check?” 

“Yes, hurry up as well, we don't want the boss getting mad.” 

“Yes sir.” Before I could process anything, I felt a hand on my face. My eyes opened lazily, I couldn’t even open my eyes all the way without strain. “He’s awake!” The man called loudly. I winced at the noise.

“Bring him out then.” 

“Understood sir.” I felt myself being dragged out of the room harshly but I didn’t dare make a noise. I learned that lesson a while ago. 

More hands grabbed me once we got to where we needed to be. They dragged me into a much larger room, a room I had not seen before. “Put him down, we need to get set up.” I heard murmurs of agreement and then I felt myself fall to the floor with nothing to support myself. I could hear people moving around me but I just laid on the hard floor not moving or making noise. After a while the voices and movement were gone and I heard the door close. I was confused. No one ever left me in a room that wasn’t my cell alone. This would be a new experience.

-|-|-|-

I haven’t been drugged to the point I couldn’t move for a while. This was week two (I think) I’ve been re-learning how to walk. The ‘doctors’ and ‘nurses’ have been helping. I’ve finally been given regular meals and I was feeling a bit better though I should have been more careful about believing it would stay this way..

-|-|-|-

I was only feeling excruciating pain. Everywhere. Everything hurt. I couldn’t move, talk, or even scream. It was too much. 

-|-|-|-

I’ve grown new limbs, I have large fluffy cat ears and a tail. It’s abnormal and I don’t feel right . It feels wrong, so so wrong. 

-|-|-|-

I’ve been brought into a new room. They don’t seem to care too much about what I do as long as I’m not breaking anything or trying to get out. 

-|-|-|- 

I woke up to people yelling at me. They wanted me to follow them, alright I guess. I walked through the winding halls letting them lead me with no troubles. We reached a room that was covered in dried blood. The moment I walked in I could smell it. My nose wrinkled at the smell. There was a ‘doctor’ standing there. I then remembered the last time I was here or in a room similar, only this time there were knives, scalpels, medical scissors, and tweezers. An uneasy feeling spread over me. Two guards stayed by the door making sure I wouldn’t run or fight. “Sit.” The ‘doctor’ instructed. I nodded quietly walking to the bed he motioned to. “Now, last time you were here we gave you cat DNA, however we’ve noticed you’ve started having the  same instincts that a cat hybrid would and while it’s not confirmed that what we’re going to do will stop this, we’re going to try. Now you might be wondering, ‘what are these people going to do to me?’ And to that I'll tell you, we’re removing all animalistic features you’ve gained other than the ones we want you to have, in other words, you're only keeping your claws .” My face instantly switched to horror. 

“No… please..” I croaked weakly.

“Now, now [REDACTED], we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. It’s your choice really, however if you choose the easy way, I won’t get you in trouble for making noise.” I whimpered quietly as tears poked at the edge of my eyes, however I knew fighting wouldn’t be worth it so I bowed my head in defeat. I heard footsteps walk up to me. A hand landed under my chin pulling my face to meet the eyes of the ‘doctor’ in front of me. “There you go [REDACTED], I’m glad we could see eye to eye on this.” A weak sob escaped my throat.

-|-|-|-

ERROR FIXED. PLEASE FORGET YOU SAW THIS AND TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT THIS AFTER LEAVING. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY HAVE CAUSED YOU.

Chapter Text

Tubbo and Ranboo, Tommy’s roommates, were less than pleased to hear that their friend was in pretty bad condition at a vigilante’s house, but other than that they seemed alright. Tubbo had demanded I bring him back but I refused 1 for myself because my fuckin bird brain was already shit and 2 because of the condition Tommy was in I couldn’t risk him accidentally breaking stitches or something. However, I promised to give them updates every few days.

I got back to Tommy as fast as I could and not to my surprise he was standing on a chair trying to reach a plant on one of the top shelves in my living room. “Tommy!?” I exclaimed. Startled, the boy fell backwards. I ran forwards as quickly as possible and managed to break his fall well enough, I wasn’t able to catch him though. Baby bird! Tommy! Injured! Help him! I physically couldn’t stop myself from dropping onto my knees and both questioning him too fast for him to process each question, and trying to figure out if he hurt himself more or broke stitches. 

“Whoa whoa whoa Kristin I’m fine stop being a mother hen.” The boy insisted as he sat up. Immediately my instincts flared again. I stopped him from getting up.

“Are you sure? I need to make sure you didn’t break any stitches. Sit back down, it's fine.” Tommy looked really nervous for some reason.

“Kristin please , I’m fine see?” He said raising his hands and using core strength to hold himself up. I immediately stopped that. He sighed, “why are you acting like this Kristin?” 

“I’m sorry Tommy, I’m an Avian hybrid, every instinct in me tells me who I need to protect and you're one of those people. Since you're a kid as well it makes it worse.”

“‘M not a kid!” I sighed. 

“Right I know you’re not a literal child Tommy but to the instincts I have it doesn’t matter.” 

“That’s stupid.”

“I know.”

-|-|-|-

I tried to keep Tommy on bed rest but when I went out on patrol or to work he did more stupid things, so I decided it was best to let him up and keep him on some light housework. (nothing that he could hurt himself doing of course) anyway it was my day off and so I was doing some things around the house when suddenly I heard a scream from Tommy. Obviously I ran into the living room however I was not expecting what I saw. Ranboo and Tubbo standing in my living room. I quickly grabbed my mask from the table next to me and put it on. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked sounding really unimpressed and upset. They turned quickly looking at me with surprise as if they didn’t expect me to question them being in my house. 

“Why aren’t you at work?!” 

“What do you mean why am I not at work?! How would you even know 1 where I live and 2 when I work?! And how did you get in?!” 

“I’m an enderman hybrid.” Ranboo admitted as his tail swung nervously back and forth.

“Ranboo!“ Tubbo exclaimed.

“Don’t be mad at him Tubbo! I know your the mastermind of this so what the fuck?!” Tommy said suddenly.

“How are you mad at me?! She’s the one keeping you here!”

“Kri- Death wouldn’t keep me here if I absolutely insisted I didn’t want to be here! It’s not just her keeping me here, I also want to be here!” I’m choosing to ignore how my instincts are saying “aww” right now.

“What do you mean you want to be here!? You should be at home with us!” 

“Alright enough. ” I finally interrupted. “You two shouldn’t be here, I don’t know how you managed to find me but you need to leave. ” 

“Leave!? No way in hell I’m leaving after seeing how he is right now!” 

“I told you his condition was bad, however I also told you I would take care of it and give you updates.” 

“I never trusted that you were taking care of him! I mean he should be on bed rest!”

“Tubbo..”

“I agree however he started doing things while I wasn’t here so I gave him things to do so he wouldn’t end up hurting himself more.”

“So take time off work to watch him!”

“Tubbo!”

“You think I afford this place by taking time off work?”

“TUBBO!”

“What Ranboo!?”

“Let’s just go. You and I can both see he doesn’t want to leave and we can see she’s taking care of him fine.”

“But-“

“No.”

“Actually, death do you think they could stay for a while? I want to hang out with them?” Tommy butted in. I sighed.

Why can I not say no to this? I thought irritably. “Alright, they can’t stay the night though.” Tommy grinned. “Wait. You guys apparently knew when I was supposed to be on work, have you been stalking me?!” 

“So about that…”

“TUBBO!”

-|-|-|-

Well, This is all kind of a shitshow so at this point I had just taken off my mask because honestly if Tubbo had been stalking me he would have already seen my face and heard my name. 

I found that Ranboo, though shy, is a very sweet kid, Tubbo while skeptical, seemed to just want the best for Tommy which is understandable, Tommy always tells me they’ve been together since they were around 6 years old. Well Tubbo was 7 but Tommy still claims he is the oldest. I smiled at the thought, thinking about how Tommy always claimed to be a big strong man, it’s nice, I just hope he stays this way even with all this mental stuff he’s going to go through with this job. “Uh, Kristin?” I turned seeing Ranboo stare at me nervously.

“Yeah Ranboo?” 

“Why did you let Tommy be a vigilante?” I paused. I didn't really have an answer for myself. How do I answer him?

“Um, I’m not really sure myself honestly, I just, he seemed more willing than anyone I’ve met. I didn't want him to go off on his own.” Ranboo blinked.

“Do you, I dunno regret it?”
“No… No I don’t think I do, why are you asking?”

“I uh, I wanted to know if you’d let me and Tubbo help, I can teleport, it could be useful in bad situations, Tubbo can manipulate light as long as there’s a source. I think we could be helpful. I just think we need help learning our abilities better.” I stared blankly at him. 

“You know, I made Tommy train before he was even allowed near the field, are you willing to practice?” Ranboo nodded immediately.

“Tubbo is also really good with Tech stuff! He could probably make us all comms so we could talk to each other while on patrol! It would be way less dangerous!” The boy’s excitement was all I really needed.
“How does Tubbo feel about this?” 

“The only reason he found and stalked you was to prove he could be useful.” I chuckled at that.
“Alright, but you guys better be ready to put in the work.” Ranboo’s grin widened as he made a semi-loud enderman noise that I can only describe as thrilled or happy Before disappearing into a cloud of purple. I could hear excited talking happening from beyond the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Tommy was doing, well, alright when we found him. Tubbo was pretty pissed still considering Tommy wasn’t on bedrest. But, well, we both know Tommy, he wouldn't be on bedrest even if he was being watched 100% of the time. I was still a bit nervous about this whole thing but we’ve been talking about being vigilantes for a while. Well, ever science Tommy became one anyway, we were worried about all the constant bruises and cuts he had and we wanted to know if we could help. Tubbo had actually got a pretty good setup in return for a favor from a villain, at first I was mad because of the whole doing something for a villain thing but the guy actually didn’t seem that bad when I met him. Actually the only thing he wanted was for Tubbo or “Electro” and he named himself to come to him if we needed anything. Anyway today is our first training session with Kristin or, well, death I should say but I’m not really sure what we’re going to do.

-|-|-|-

“HOLY SHIT I FUCKING DID IT” Tubbo shouted as he finally cleared the wall, Tubbo had been attempting to jump the wall-fence while me and Kristin were training. 

“Do it again,” Kristin said suddenly. Tubbo’s face dropped immediately. 

“What?! Why!?” 

“You're gonna be jumping over rooftops and probably stuff like this especially when you're tired, you need to make sure you know how to do this.” Tubbo shot me an exasperated look.

“I’m going to die.” He said before attempting to jump the wall from the side he landed. Kristin stared at him with some form of amusement. I smiled at the effort, but mostly because it was funny watching him fall over and over again. However, my amusement was quickly swept off my face. “Alright you too.” 

“What-?!” 

“You have to rest inbetween teleportations so you're learning too.” *sad Ranboo noises*

-|-|-|-

Day 4 of hell.

Tubbo got the whole ‘jumping when you're tired thing’ down before me. So he got to train his powers again. I however continued to fall on my face when I was tired until I built up muscle. I managed to jump the wall-fence about 9 times in a row yesterday and that's when Kristin decided I was ready to train with her and Tubbo. I didn’t think anything would be harder than that. I was so severely wrong. I had been training with them for about an hour now and god dang it I’m ready to have a mental breakdown. Tubbo keeps flashing me in the eyes and then I teleport to the top of a roof or something. This sucks. 

-|-|-|-

Tommy’s back and oh my god. Why the hell is Tommy so good at fighting compared to us?! 

“Hahaaa! You guys can’t fucking beat me! I winnnnnnn” 

“Tommy, this is training, you can’t just try and make them figure it out,” the woman started as she helped me up. “You're supposed to point out mistakes, kindly , then help them fix it.” 

“But that’s boring! Kicking their ass is so much more fun!” Tommy stated. 

“Do you want them to get better so they can be in the field?” 

“Fineeeeeeee, you’re right.” 

“I’ve never heard him say he was wrong before.” Tubbo commented.

“Okay, I will kick his ass just one more time.” Tommy deadpanned before jumping at Tubbo. Kristin sighed exasperatedly. 

-|-|-|- 

Kristin gave us the same talk she gave Tommy about what we could see and how it could affect us. Me and Tubbo actually thought about it though, unlike Tommy rushing into things head first. Anyway Tubbo decided he’d go out if needed for a mission but would stay and talk through comms that he had made for all of them. He was pretty technical and used company property to do it. Luckily his boss is a stupid drunk that pays him to bacically work around cars but because he’s drunk he doesn’t pay attention to shit. Anyway, I am going to be back up now. It has been decided that if there’s a need for a quick exit I’ll be called in. So that’s fun, Tommy and Kristin have already started going on patrol again and Tubbo isn’t exactly happy about it, he wants to get the upgrades to the suites done before they go on patrol but Tommy’s stubborn and Kristin is an adult so Tubbo lost that argument. Also we’re all practically living at Kristins place, me and Tubbo actually started paying rent and Tommy agreed to when he got back to work so we practically all live together now. That’s been interesting to say the least.

Chapter Text

Tubbo has been relentlessly working on making a shit ton of stuff. First it was the comms which were tested a lot. Tubbo had failed a lot as well but now he was doing absolutely amazing, he had given us comms that gave us about 50 mile range initially but now, about a month later he’s made us comms that can allow us to speak to each other all the way across the city! It’s fucking pog. Not to mention as well the masks he made us were the only thing we need for the comms to work. I was also given shoes that allow me to land easier and jump higher, those took me and Tubbo a while to figure out as well. Now, I’m no tech pro but, I think the way it works is weight countered with response. So essentially if weight is applied correctly energy would charge and the release of energy would be enough to make a pretty high jump. Now the softer landing, I think that’s fucking witchcraft because that should send me into the stratosphere, as ranboo would say, but it doesn’t it just absorbs the landing and makes the fall lighter. Fucking weird. Anyway, He’s also made Ranboo gear so that his teleports aren’t as noticeable, Before when he’d teleport there would be a flurry of purple particles, now when Ranboo teleports the particles are almost all the way absorbed by the fabric, Tubbo said that was easy because since the particles are released from his body he just needed to find the right fabric to absorb it. Finally he was working on Kristin’s suit and now was the time for her to try it on, she’s currently changing into it and she said she’ll tell us before she comes out. (When Tubbo made my suit he essentially made a costume with more protection and flexibility but made it look really fucking cool.) 

“Guys I’m coming out!” Kristin called. Suddenly everyone was waiting eagerly outside her door. I could feel energy buzzing through my entire body as I waited to see what Kristin looked like in her new suit. As the doorknob twisted we all waited in anticipation. Finally we saw her. She walked out of the room with a suit that looked almost all black with the exception of the purple and pink accents on her mask, arms, legs, and wings. Wait what? Wings? I took another look at her, finding that there along the top of her wings was a layer of metal armor with dark purple and slightly lighter pink accents running along each crease. Her mask was even better though. Instead of the black mask that covered her mouth she had a black sequin mask that had small feathers poking out from the sides next to her eyes, the mask now covered her nose and eyes leaving her mouth exposed. However, Tubbo had also made her mask like a veil so that her mouth would still be semi covered. Everyone but Tubbo and her were surprised, which, fair enough, Tubbo always had a design made beforehand so he could be sure the other person would be comfortable wearing it. So, me and Ranboo stood in shock at the woman standing in front of them. “Do you guys like it?” 

“I think this is the coolest fucking thing in my life. You look so unbelievably awesome in that suit.” I Said with no hint of hesitation.
“I would have phrased it differently but yes. You look amazing.” Ranboo agreed. Kristin smiled.

“Well that's good to hear, and I was thinking, since this is my first time wearing the suit, me and you could go out on patrol tonight?” I nodded immediately. 

“I’m going to get my suit on.” Kristin smiled contently and nodded. 

Patrol was going great, key word was . I was just doing my normal patrol route, when these fuckin hero bitches showed up outta no where. Suddenly I was surrounded by the entirety of the SBI. kindly wtf. “Hello Sorin.” Everett said. At first I was confused, then I remembered we rebranded my shit after Tubbo made me a new suit. 

“Well, this is a bit awkward.” I said nervously. 

“I like the new suit mate, where’d you get it?” 

“Ehhhhh, that’s classified, I think.” The man huffed in amusement.

“You think?”
“No better way to put it, still new to the streets y'know?” I knew there was nervousness dripping from my voice but I kinda needed to pretend it wasn't there.

“Speaking of, You wouldn’t happen to know Death would you? There’s been rumors that you’re her apprentice since you’ve been working with her a lot.” 

“You know, I think this was a great chat but I think it’s time for me to go..” I said as I went to walk by them. That didn’t work as well as I had hoped, I was pushed back into the middle of the circle, in an oddly gentle sort of way, before they continued. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you Sorin” Angle said. When I didn’t respond he continued, “you’ve been doing a lot for the city, if you were a hero, however, I believe you could do more. I think you should turn yourself in, take the few years of jail time, then become a pro-hero. I'd mentor you myself if you’d let me.” I blinked in surprise for a moment.

“Are you guys hearing this shit?!” I questioned into my comms before continuing. “Three in one shampoo looking asses over here trying to tell me to go to jail, then fucking saying they’ll mentor me what the hell is this load of shit?” I could hear Tubbo on the other end laughing his ass off. 

“Mate, we’re not kidding, if you cooperate now we can still help you.” 

“First of all, fuck you I don’t want to go to jail, second of all, fuck you, and third of all, I already have a better mentor than any of you will ever know.” And with that I jumped, using Tubbos jump boots I jumped over Rains head easily, I grinned at their shock before landing on a nearby roof. As I tried to run away I found that having three people on a team one which could fly and the others which had a fire and water power was not easy to run from, fuck. I was going to have to fight. I turned suddenly drawing my claws as I jumped as high as Tubbo’s boots would let me, luckily I was able to reach the winged warrior and make an attack, it barely grazed him but it did some damage nonetheless. As I was falling I remembered something someone had told me, a cat always lands on his feet. Always. I was truly not expecting to jump this high so I was really hoping that that memory was correct. It wasn’t. However, I still managed to shift my body mid air to break my fall and roll out of the fall. It wasn’t as graceful as I wish it was but you know, I didn’t break any bones so +1 point to me. Fuck the heroes. Speaking of, I realized that I needed to go right at that moment but alas, nothing ever works for me. Water hit me in the head suddenly. I was obviously surprised, especially when hit stayed in a perfect fucking bubble that I couldn’t get out of like what the fuck, a mans gotta breathe. As black dots started to crowd my vision I got an idea, I closed my eyes and let myself crumple to the floor hearing the voices of the others around me. After a moment the water flushed away from my head and I felt a hand touch my throat, probably checking for a pulse. Once I gathered enough strength I moved as quickly as possible and hit whoever I could in the leg with the extendable staff tubbo made for me. I stood up still a little wobbly but I stood up nonetheless. “Do my comms still work big man?” I questioned to Tubbo as I jumped off the roof of the building onto a fire escape. 

“I can hear you bossman, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear Electro.” I could hear shouting behind me and I knew I didn’t have much time. “Send in Death please, I’m in a sticky situation.” 

“On it bossman, send her your location, what's the matter?” 

“Got Angle, Everett, and Rain on my ass, the last fucker tried to drown me. What’s the fastest way out of here?” 

“Make a left onto the streets at the next turn.” I nodded though he couldn’t see it and did as I was told, that got Rain off my ass but I still had Everett and Angle after me. Thank god it was the slums and almost no one was out because if it wasn’t collateral damage would suck ass. As I was running a started feeling a crushing wave of calm override my adrenaline, fuck. 

“Electro I’m gonna need help here Angle is using his enhancement it’s getting harder to keep running.”
“Fuck okay, Death is on her way, I’m going to get ready to get over there with Melian.” 

“Got it bossman.” I suddenly stopped running. I needed to focus, Angles enhancement is more of a strong suggestion, it's less a command. I could override it. I took a second as the man landed close, too close. I took a step back. “That was a dirty move you old fuck.” I growled. As I heard footsteps behind me I used my jump boots, I knew the sign, it always got just a bit warmer before, whoosh. I jumped, not allowing any of the bright orange touch even a little bit of me. I did a backflip for effect and then pushed the last of the calm away from my mind. Before I had time to process Everett moved towards me. I managed to block the attack and counter using my claws but that barely did anything, in the meantime Angle joined the fight and knocked me back before I could get another hit in. Before anything else could happen between us a sudden vwoop sounded and then all was dark, for a moment all you could see was the bright purple glow of Melian’s eyes along with the few particles that escaped the enderman-hybrid’s suit. I didn’t take time to dwell however because I needed to use the brief distraction to my advantage. I ran forward in the darkness knowing that Angle was still there, I hit his body with the side of mine and caused him to stumble. The light was now back and Melian and Electro were now battling it out with Everett whilst I stood in a fighting stance in front of Angle. As he was still recovering I moved forward, I really just needed this guy off his feet. Then we could all get away. I went to attack again but he dodged, instead swinging an uppercut which I narrowly avoided. We continued trading hits for a minute when finally Death appeared. However, she appeared with a rather pissed off looking Rain following her. I barely caught a glimpse of them when I was hit square in the face, alright fucker, game on. I swung back, harder than before. He huffed in surprise, that was when I was hit with a wave of water. Beginning to stumble back I was caught by Melian teleporting behind me. 

“Gotcha Sorin.” 

“Thanks Melian.”

“Yep, also Electro needs some help.” He teleported away after that, going to fight Angle so I could help Electro. As I ran to help him, Everett summoned a ring of fire that circled him for a moment, and in that moment Electro took the light from it. This was the only opening I’d have, I moved forward as fast as I physically could but before I could get a hit in a striking wave of heat hit me, the fire was still there just completely invisible. That is fucking stupid. Just as I stumbled backward Electro threw the light at him, it did surprise him and this time I did take my shot, in his surprise the flames disappeared and I used my claws attacking his legs. He stumbled forward surprised at the sudden gashes in his legs. That was when Electro took the light around Everett and motioned for me to push him down, I did. He fell to the floor with a thump and that was when I looked back to see that Rain and Angle were moving to help Everett already. That was when I held my hands into the sky and when I felt myself being lifted off the ground, only just being able to make out the faint sight of Electro and Melian disappearing.

Chapter Text

Speaking to Sorin for the first time did not go as well as I would have hoped, I didn’t expect the kid to have a whole ass team, besides I thought Death worked alone. So many things were changing in the slums and this is only the start. We were sure that when we talked to the kid we could actually get him help, it was our hope since the last time we saw him he was bleeding out with a vigilante who we were unsure could take care of him. Now we find they have a team ready for seemingly anything, not to mention the fact that they took down Techno, Techno he’s the strongest on our team. That means these vigilantes could be dangerous if not dealt with carefully but, I have more important things first, like making sure that techno actually stays on bedrest. The vigilante, Sorin, had cut one of his legs with what we assume was his enhancement and that’s how they beat him. Now he’s on bedrest because he could reopen the wound by walking. Now don’t get me wrong that wound could have been much worse, hell, it should have been much worse. This told me that the vigilantes didn’t intend for any long term damage to happen to the man which was good, means we don’t have to worry about them hurting anyone yet. “Techno.” I said walking into the room finally. 

“Hey Phil what’s up?” 

“How are you feeling?” 

“You know, I’d feel a lot better if I could walk around.” 

“Sorry mate, doctor's orders, you gotta stay down.”
“Phil those vigilantes are still out there, what if they hurt someone?”

“Techno, mate, you and I both know that’s not going to happen.” Techno grumbled but made no more words of protest. I sighed. “Get some rest Tech, it’s not going to be as long as you think.” He huffed but didn’t argue and laid down on his bed. I quietly stood and left. 

-|-|-|-

“Are all of you okay?” the woman asked worriedly looking over all of them.

“Yeah we're all fine, just some bruising and minor scratches Kris it’s alright.” 

“No, no this is not alright, what was I thinking you guys are just kids I don’t know why I even thought about putting you out there!” 

“Kristin it’s not that bad, besides, we’re happier here and also you have us here almost every night meaning you almost always know we’re safe!” That only seemed to make the avian more stressed as a half chirp half groan fell from her mouth. 

“Just, go, go get some rest, Tommy you have a shift at 9, Tubbo you’re off tomorrow and Ranboo you have work at 4pm, please, just try and sleep.” We all nodded and headed to our respectful places in the flat. 

-|-|-|-

It was around midnight and I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to but something told me I wouldn’t be able, so I quietly left the room I was in and the moment I stepped out I heard muffled crying from Kristins room. I immediately walked to her door, without thinking I knocked. I could hear a quiet gasp, it honestly hurt. “Kris, can I come in?” There was a moment of hesitation and for a second I considered just leaving, however after a moment there was a quiet, ‘come in’ that sounded from behind the door. As I walked in I could see the woman's large glassy eyes stare at me, “Hey Kris.” I hummed as I walked to the edge of her bed before sitting down.

“Hey Toms.” She murmured. 

“Look, if you want me to stop I will, I- I just.” My voice faltered for a moment.

“I don’t,” She started, “I just want you to be safe and I know that’s unfair.” I paused, I didn’t know what to say. “Look, I don’t mean this in a condescending way but you are just a kid. You're a kid with a job who lived alone for most of his life only to be thrown into this. It’s not fair.” I didn’t know what to do so instead I settled for just leaning on the woman's shoulder. She looked down at me quietly before wrapping a wing around me. This was the first time she’d ever done that, it was nice kind of. “Tommy?”

“Yeah Kris?” 

“I know it hasn’t been long and it’s probably kinda weird but, I see all of you kids as my own, I care about all of you. I love all of you, you guys are like my kids.” I really didn’t know what to say, no one ever really wanted me as a kid, I didn’t understand the feeling of being wanted, but, I knew that it was good and that I wanted it, sure maybe it’s selfish, I didn’t care. I just turned and curled further into Kristins side allowing her to get a better grip on me, we fell asleep like that, cuddled together, a mother and son, a fire in the ocean, something unstoppable. Something unpredictable, something Tommy would never admit. 

-|-|-|-

I’m having quite a shit day today, Firstly, why the fuck do the karens all have to show up on my shift it’s bullshit. Second, the fact that I keep burning my god-damned hand on the god-damned coffee pot, and finally! Reason three that one shit head that just so happened to be all ‘buddy buddy’ with my boss just decided to show up today which is fucking annoying because hes annoying and stupid and a bitch. 

“Tommy! You know I’ve been thinking, how about you get me another coffee?” He said with a grin. 

“Wilbur, I am not giving you another four shot espresso. I’m pretty sure that is a crime.” 

“Ugh, you sound like Nikki.” 

“Nikki is a very intelligent woman. I have no problem with sounding like her.” The man face-palmed but sighed in defeat. 

“Alright, well let's change conversation then.” 

“How about we have no conversation.” 

“Nah I like pissing you off lil’ gremlin boy.” I rolled my eyes and turned to leave. “Wait!” the brunette called.

“What now Wil-bur?” 

“How did you get that bruise on your cheek?” I paused. 

“It’s none of your damn business… bitch.” Before I could leave however he continued.

“Tommy it looks like you were punched, are you alright? How is your home life?” Okay, it’s one thing to ask about a bruise someone has but their home life? Oh hell no. Especially since Kristin would never fucking dare.

“Not that it’s any of your god-fucking-damn-business, but I have a great home life with a great family. So kindly fuck off.” I walked away before he could say anything more. I knew for a fact that he was staring however.

Chapter Text

Red, red, red. Everything is red, red vine, red eyes, red hair, red sky, red blood, red egg, red, red, red. 

Around him everything seemed off, everything seemed different. They wanted it. The egg demanded it. He would do anything for the egg because the egg is all that matters, the egg is all there is. To my right, a woman who once grew beautiful red roses now gave up her red to prove her place with them, she now grew white roses, roses that twinkled in the light, like snow glistening in the morning sun. Next to her another man, one who once had sparkling light blue eyes, freckles, and veins, now bathed in the red glory of the egg. And on my left, A man who gave his arm in a battle against the warden in favor of the egg. And to his side, a cat hybrid who gave up his sight so his eyes could only see the red of the egg, and me, a man who chose the egg when no one else would, I chose the path and was rewarded with the gift of vines, beautiful vines that now grow beneath my cloak, vines that show who I belong to, always. 

-|-|-|-

“You can’t be fucking serious.” I deadpanned looking at the brunette.

“I am now take the god-damned money Tommy!” Wilbur demanded.

“I will not, that is far too much as a tip!”

“It’s my apology for assuming last week! Come on please?”

“No.” 

“Tommyyyyyy.” The brunette whined. 

“It is not happening.” I stated seriously.

“Fine but can I at least do something to make it up to you?”

“Yeah, you can fuck off.” 

“Tommmyyyyyyy.” 

“Ugh, fine Wilbur, if you want to make it up to me then you can buy me a soft blanket.” Wilbur paused.
“What?”

“Soft blankets are too expensive for my liking and so I refuse to buy them.” Wilbur started laughing.

“Alright gremlin I’ll get you a soft blanket.” Before I could make a snarky response he turned and left. 

“Fuckin prick.” I muttered before turning to help the next customer. 

-|-|-|-

Closing shift, oh how I fucking hate you. I was getting ready to close up when I felt like I was being watched, great. I continued doing the shit I needed and still as I walked out I could feel eyes on me. I reached for my phone and called Kristin. 

Ring…. Ring…. Ring…. The person you are trying to contact is currently unavailable please leave a message at the tone. Beeeeeep. sigh.

“Hey Kristin I just finished closing up and- holy shit I gotta go.” I immediately turned away from where I was previously standing. I heard a voice that sounded somewhat glitched behind me, 

“Come on Tommy~ We only want to make you better~ Come on Theseus .” I gasped at the name. Only two people in this world that are currently alive know that name. I found myself frozen in place as I suddenly couldn’t see anything but flashing images of what looked like a giant red egg, and also images of people with red eyes taking over. “ Theseus~ come on darling it’s alright to give in~ the egg will take care of you. ” I screamed as I suddenly felt like my entire body was ripping apart, I could feel the vines wrapped around me and wondered if that was the source of the pain. Somewhere in my mind I knew it wasn't. Before I could even process the imagery I was allowed a moment to breathe and immediately started to pull away. I felt a hand grab my arm and started fighting against it. I didn’t know if it was the villain or what but I needed to get away. 

“Hey! Mate! Hey it’s okay, chill out. We’re here to help!” well fuck. I let myself relax, mostly because I didn’t have enough energy to fight. I stumbled into the man's arms not having nearly enough energy to hold myself up. “Fuck okay, I’m gonna get you some help alright? We’re gonna get you to a hospital.” No. No, I could not go to a hospital. 

“No.” I whimpered weakly. 

“No? Mate you’re almost passed out, where else would I take you?” 

“Home… Please. I can’t afford hospitals…” Fuck, I hated how weak I sounded but… if it works.

“Mate I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“Please?” It sounded more of a plea than anything.

“Fine, where do you live?” He sighed reluctantly.

“XXX xxxxx XXXX lane.” The man nodded before taking off into the air leaving rain to fight alone. That wouldn’t be a problem though, I’m sure there is backup on the way.

Angle eventually got to their apartment. He knocked on the door keeping the knocked out kid close to him so as not to drop him. When the door opened he was surprised to see a teen who couldn’t be much older than the boy he was holding. The boy was about to say something when he noticed Tommy. “Tommy!? What the fuck happened?!” The barely conscious boy went to say something but found it was mostly just slurred words. “Fuck. Okay, uh can you bring him inside?” I nodded and walked in bringing the boy to the couch where I was asked to put him. Before I could say anything the boy sped off to what appeared to be the kitchen. He came back with an icepack moments later and put it on his head. “What happened?” The boy breathed softly.

“He was out at dark when a villain attacked him, I wanted to take him to the hospital but he refused.” 

“God-damn it Tommy.” He muttered quietly. That was when the door busted open. I turned my head quickly ready to fight whoever was there. Except I didn't need to. 

“Tubbo?! Did Tommy call you?! I just got a voicemail and-” She cut herself off as she moved into the room frantically. Upon seeing Tommy’s state she gasped. A gasp I had become so familiar with over the years. A gasp I missed hearing. “What happened?!” I explained again and the woman stood shocked for a moment staring at me. I couldn’t tell if she recognized me or if she was shocked about what happened to Tommy. “God..” She muttered looking at Tubbo. “Are you okay? You hurt or anything?” 

“No, I wasn’t there Kristin.” She sighed.
“Alright, good uh, do you know if he’ll be alright?” I nodded

“He should be, he seemed more exhausted than anything. I don't think he had too many injuries. Nothing major for sure.” 

“That's-that's good.” She managed shakely. Kristin walked up to the couch Tommy was on and gently pressed a hand to his forehead. “No fever.” a small smile crawled on her face. “You’re going to be okay Tommy.” It was a gentle hum. I wished for so long she would come and do just that for Techno and Wilbur, but she has her own flock now doesn’t she? That’s my fault. I only realized my eyes were watering when I heard a voice ask if I was alright. I nodded and said that I was just glad he was okay. Tubbo, the one who asked, nodded.

“Alright, well big man, thank you for bringing him home, it was nice meeting you.” 

“Uh, yeah no problem mate, you as well.” And with that, I stood up and left.

Chapter Text

When I burst through the door to find Tommy passed out on the couch I didn’t even pay much attention to Phil, or I guess ‘Angel’ is what I should call him. The first thing I took notice of was Tubbo. I was trying to ask him if he knew where Tommy was, then I saw him. Passed out on the couch with bruises all over him. I asked Angel what had happened, I couldn’t care that he was there, I needed to know what was wrong with Tommy that was more important. When he told me what happened the first thing I wanted to do was go out and catch whoever did that to Tommy but, there was no way I could do that with Angel here not to mention the state that Tommy was in. So instead I settled for ignoring Phil’s presence and checking to make sure Tommy didn’t have a fever. I was trying to make sure he would be comfortable on the couch when I heard the door shut. “Tubbo?” I questioned softly looking up to where he stood. 

“Yeah Kristin?” I was about to respond when I noticed Phil wasn’t there. 

“Oh never mind I thought Ranboo just got home sorry.”

“It’s all good, how is he?” 

“He’s fine, I just want him to be comfortable.” Tubbo nodded and moved to help me make sure the couch was set up correctly.

-|-|-|-

I needed to get away. I need to run. “ Tommy, I know you can hear me. The egg needs you. ” No. I need to get the hell out of here. 

“Fuck off!” I yelled back. Suddenly a knife flew by my head. 

“Language, or the next one goes through your head Tommy.” Fuck, shit, damn. I took off into an alleyway as I heard the voice behind me grow louder. I only managed to stop myself from running into a wall because I looked up moments before but now there's a problem, where the fuck do I go? That what when I heard footsteps, fuck.
“Who are you?!” I yelled angrily. 

“You may call me Badboyhalo.” He said with a cheery look.

“What do you want from me?” 

“I need you to join the Egg Tommy.” 

“I don’t want to join your Egg-cult thing.” I muttered.

“Don’t worry Tommy, you will.” He said with a smile that I could only see evil in. I knew I needed to wake the fuck up. Maybe Angel can help me. I started hitting myself, hard. I could hear the man yell and move towards me but just before he could reach me I got a good hit on my head. In a blink of an eye that reality broke and I was back in my apartment. I sat up trying to catch my breath.
“Tommy?” The voice was soft, I instantly recognized it.
“Hey Ranboo.” I yawned.

“Are you alright? Should I get Kristin?” 

“No, I’m alright though, I don’t think I’ll be getting much more sleep tonight.” Ranboo sighed. 

“Alright, well if you need anything all of us are home, I’m going back to bef. You should try and sleep as well.” I nodded tiredly and watched as the boy left the room with a glass of water.

-|-|-|- 

As expected I didn’t get much sleep after that, I kept thinking about everything, I mean Badboyhalo? What. That makes no sense, well, not just the name but where the hell did he come from? The most dangerous villains don’t just appear in one moment. He had to have been doing stuff for a while. A while… that's when it hit me, the guy that killed three people without hesitation, the vines. That was the same guy. Shit he looked so much different now. I hadn’t even thought about the vines in any case. Goddamn it. I stood up walking to the kitchen and grabbed a pen and paper. 

-|-|-|-

Running across rooftops was a completely different feeling to that of running on flat ground, sometimes it felt like things were spinning and at other times it felt like you could fly, everytime it got like that I forced myself to stop. I couldn’t allow myself to fuck this up, not now, not with how delecate this situation is. 

-|-|-|-

“Hello gremlin.” Wilbur greeted walking through the door. 

“The hell do you want?” 

“Aw you haven’t memorized my order yet?”

“No and I never will, I only remember for people I like. You aren’t one of them, anyway here’s your coffee Phil.” As I looked at Phil there seemed to be something wrong. “What’s the matter, big man did I get the order wrong?”

“Uh, no I…” He shook his head before continuing, “No, sorry it’s been a slow morning.” The man gave me the worst fake smile I’ve ever seen and I just nodded slowly.
“Alright, uh, yeah. Anyway, what was your order shit-head?” Wilbur promptly flipped me off which I returned easily before taking his order. It wasn’t long before I set it at the pickup window and called Wilburs name only I didn’t call his name and just yelled “Order for bitch boy.” And did that till he answered. I went on with my day after that but While they were still in the restaurant I could see Phil talking to him in a hushed manner, he seemed really concerned and the other followed suit not long after. That was about the only thing that was interesting throughout work that day. That was until I got a terrible goddamn migraine. It felt like my head was splitting in two. I took my break and just sat in the back because jesus christ it felt like my head was exploding. 

Lets just say I was back there for like twenty minutes after my break and Nikki got worried because I was never late. When she saw the state I was in she told me to go home and get some rest. I tried to protest but she wasn’t having it. On my way out she gave me some snacks to take home and there was virtually nothing I could have done about it. Great. 

-|-|-|-

Waking up in the morning and finding Tommy gone was terrifying for multiple reasons but I didn’t want to worry the other boys so I started looking around. Normally Tommy doesn’t leave the house without leaving a note or something so I started looking around first checking the couch for obvious reasons. When I found nothing there I started to look in the kitchen. It took me a minute but I did find a note. 

Hey guys, I have work today so I went there, I will be back when my shift is over, if you need anything, message me. Also we all need to talk before patrol tonight it’s urgent.

-Big T

Well that's definitely him, he wasn’t supposed to go to work today, well, I didn’t exactly get a chance to tell him that I guess. On second thought, what does he need to talk to us about urgently? That seems a bit strange for him. Oh well, I’ll let him explain.

Chapter Text

Tommy has been distant, in a good-ish way. Ever since Ranboo showed up it's like he doesn’t want to bother us and despite his insistence that he hates Ranboo I’ve caught them acting very much like brothers. Me and Tommy are like brothers, and despite his prickly outside and proud deminor Tommy is, well, Tommy. He’s the same boy who helped hundreds of kids get out of a terrible place. Hell, he helped me get out of a terrible place. Now, he's different. I mean, we never get to spend time together alone anymore because everytime we try to, Kristin or Ranboo come in to hang out, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It's just sometimes I just want to spend time with my best friend. Like old times, Times where I might have been able to talk about just a bunch of random shitty people I’d run into on a daily or maybe rant about my dumb boss and just make fun of all the random shit. Sometimes we’d even talk about that place and think of how war we’ve come. Now we can't even have a moment alone without others joining in. But I can’t even be mad because seeing Tommy so happy with Ranboo and Kristin (and me) it makes me think that I’m going to fuck it all up. I mean, this is the happiest I’ve seen Tommy in years and maybe, just maybe it could last. I don’t want to ruin it and I won’t but maybe I could just do something like take a day off when Tommy’s off so me and him could go do something together like old times. I might do that. Maybe we can bring back some old times.

Chapter Text

Getting home early was both a blessing and a curse, on one hand I get a goddamned break. On the other hand Tubbo was constantly hovering making sure I was okay, which was great but right now I just want to calm down and hang out. “Hold up bossman I’m gonna get a cool rag to put on your head, it will help.”
“Tubbo, I know you are trying to help but please just sit down. I'm fine, I just need a bit.”

“Oh, alright bossman. Sorry.”
“It’s fine Tubbo I know you’re just trying to help.” Tubbo smiled quietly and then we fell into a semi-awkward silence. Tubbo finally sighed. 

“Do you ever miss it?”

“What?”

“How it used to be, when it was just me and you in our small apartment, do you ever just want to go back?” I hesitated, thinking about it.

“I mean, yeah, but I don’t think I’d change any of this, we have a family now. I mean we have more family now, obviously we were always brothers.” Tubbo gave a sad smile.

“I miss how it used to be just us sometimes, I love it here but sometimes I just want my best friend back you know?” I looked at him quietly.

“Yeah I know… I do too sometimes, it feels almost crowded at times when all of us are here on the couch.” Tubbo nodded in agreement. 

“We should plan some days off together, just me and you. Like old times.” I smiled quietly the pain that was shooting through my head in pulses now gone. 

“Yeah, like old times. Maybe we can go down to the old bowling alley and bug the workers again!” Tubbo grinned.

“Or we could go to the park and chase the geese till they get annoyed and start chasing us!” 

“Maybe we could go out to get ice cream and then one of us could smash the other's ice cream in our face.” 

“Oh god the last time you did that to me the ice cream went in my nose!” I laughed loudly.

“Yeah you had vanilla boogers for weeks!”

“Don’t even talk about that.” He deadpanned.

“Whatever you got me back the very next day, remember?” 

“Yeah I showed up to your work with ice cream and threw it at you, your boss was less than happy.” 

“Yeah he was a bitch anyway.” We both laughed for a while until it faded to a comfortable silence. Tubbo leaned on my shoulder quietly. I totally did not wrap my arm around him because I am the poggest man ever. It wasn't long after that I fell asleep Tubbo followed soon after.

-|-|-|-

Arriving home from work I saw the most adorable sight ever. It was Tommy and Tubbo curled up next to each other on the couch both asleep. I decided not to disturb them and instead get ready for patrol.

As I was setting up Ranboo teleported home right in the center of the living room. By now I got used to that and just waved. He smiled and waved back before heading off to get some stuff out for the computer part of patrol. (God knows I could set that up.) Anyway I eventually found myself shaking the two boys awake. “Tommy, Tubbo, we’re getting ready for patrol. Do you guys want to help out?” Tommy looked up at me and nodded sluggishly. 

“Yeah but I need to talk to all of you about some important stuff before we go out tonight.” 

“I know, I read your note. Go get ready then we’ll talk okay?” Tommy nodded. 

“Is Ranboo setting up all the tech stuff?” Tubbo finally spoke. 

“Yeah he looks confused though so I’d go help before he breaks something.” I joked. Tubbo groaned exasperatedly and got up to go help. I waited quietly doing what I could to help when needed. 

Not long after everything was set up Tommy was ready to tell us about everything he had thought about and, well, it was a lot. We all agreed that we would conduct careful investigations and document all the people who are involved with the red vines. Tommy also mentioned that we should look out for people with red eyes just because the first time we saw ‘Bad’ his eyes were white and now they are red so he just had a hunch. We all agreed then me and Tommy left.

-|-|-|-

Patrol was quiet that night, both Tommy and Kristin ended up only having to solve minor crimes such as catching vandalists and stopping muggings, there was no sight of any heroes or villains and once it was about one AM they called it a night. Now back at the flat they were all watching a movie, they always watched a movie after patrol because Tommy insisted on it. While all of them had fallen asleep Tommy continued to watch the movie having very little hope at actually going to sleep. Well all hope was shattered when he heard a knock at the door. ‘Who the fuck shows up at two in the morning goddamn.’ Tommy thought, wondering if he should even answer the door. He decided he would and slowly made his way out of the pile of people on the couch. As he made his way over to the door he silently hoped it would be a pizza driver showing up at the wrong house with a pizza he could take. However when he opened the door he watched as the Angel turned away from the door, probably assuming he wouldn’t answer and getting ready to leave, he had Rain and Captain with him for some reason and at first Tommy was extremely worried their identities had been found out but he kept his composure as Rain took notice of the door opening. 

“Hey kid, are you Tommy?” Angel turned to see if I had actually just answered the door, seeming surprised I did. 

“Yeah, what the hell are three heroes doing at my flat at two in the goddamned morning?” Rain huffed.
“For your information we were coming to check on you to make sure you were okay.” 

“I’m alive, is that what you wanted to hear? Next time come at a normal time please.”

“Alright, that’s fair enough but we had some concerns to talk to you about mate, we kinda need you to come to the tower with us.” 

“Bitch what-” before Tommy could finish he heard footsteps.

“Tommy? Who’s at the door at this time?” As Kristin walked up she noticed the heroes.

“Hi miss, we need Tommy to come with us back to the hero tower we need to ask him questions about last night.” Rain said before Kristin could speak up. Kristin’s feathers ruffled uncomfortably as she stared at them with distrust.
“Why can’t you just ask him here why does he have to go with you?” Tommy looked at Kristin in surprise, he’d never heard that amount of distrust and annoyance in her voice. 

“Ma’am it is easier to talk to him in private and also we don’t want to wake your other two boys” Captain responded gesturing to the two boys in the back.

“Listen to me Captain, you are not taking Tommy anywhere tonight. Do you hear me?” Jesus, it sounded like a threat now. Everyone could see how uncomfortable Kristin was with the situation because of the way her wings were fluffed up defensively.
“Miss, if you will let us take him in tonight we can bring him back before you get home from work, he’s not a prisoner and he is not in trouble. All we’re asking is to take him to make sure we can understand more about the threat at hand. You will help lots of people if you let us take him back to the tower.” Angel’s voice was calm, almost soothing as he spoke to Kristin. Somehow it made Kristin a little off edge. Must be an avian thing. 

“Okay wait why are you even asking her if I can leave? I am eighteen. I can make my own choices.” Kristin glared at Tommy for his sudden outburst using her wing to push him away with a huff. Tommy stepped back after a moment as the heroes watched in amusement. “Alright, alright! I get it. I get it!” Tommy exclaimed in a hushed tone. As Kristin turned back to the heroes they spoke again.
“Okay, ma’am how about we compromise, we take Tommy for questioning and in return he’ll come back before you get home from work and we’ll make sure any injuries he has is taken care of free of cost.” This was Angel’s offer and it actually made Kristin think about it. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Kristin agreed. But of course she had Tommy pack a bag with clothes while she insisted on making Tommy’s lunch for Tomorrow. When they arrived back at the door she looked at Phil, “If he is not back when I get home tomorrow I will get him myself. Even if that means dragging him out of a questioning room. Got it?” Phil nodded calmly despite the threat. The woman then waved Tommy off calmly. 

-|-|-|-

I got in the car with the three heroes quietly, I didn’t know why Kristin had gone all mama bird bullshit but whatever maybe I could ask Angel, actually that's a good idea. “Urm, Angel, can I ask you a question? I figure you are probably the best person to ask this.” The man chuckled quietly and nodded.

“Sure mate go ahead.”
“Why was Kristin acting all I dunno over protective..?” Angel stared at me for a moment.

“You don’t know?” 

“Am I supposed to?” I tilted my head slightly in confusion.

“You know the whole concept of like a Flock right?” I nodded. Kristin had explained that a while ago. 

“Does She ever refer to you as her flock?”

“Yeah she tells me, Ranboo, and Tubbo all the time.” 

“Okay so it’s basically because I’m another avian, the hybrid part of her brain would automatically think I want to claim you as my flock.” 

“So she gets jealous?” I deadpanned. Literally everyone busted out laughing. I stared blankly at them. “Why the hell are you laughing? I am genuinely asking.” 

“No, no I know mate. It’s the way you said it though.” Angel managed through laughs. I stared at him. 

“Are you going to answer?” Angel nodded. 

“Yes, yeah that's, that’s pretty much it mate it's essentially the hybrid part of her getting jealous.” 

“Is that why you didn’t want to just take me when I told you I was eighteen? Because you can sympathize?” The man scoffed lightly. 

“While I can sympathize, no that’s not why. I simply wanted everyone to be happy with the outcome, and also do you really think you could have left if she didn’t want you too?” 

“Alright, fair enough.” 

“Yeah.” The car fell into a comfortable silence as everyone started doing their own things. I myself just stared out the window for a while. Finally Rain sighed.
“Kid, you know you can go to sleep. We have a couple hours left in the drive so you don’t have to stay up.”

“First of all, I'm not a kid, bitch. Secondly, I usually can’t sleep, why do you think I was awake at two AM anyway?” Everyone kind of just paused for a minute. 

“You can’t sleep? Why? Do you have insomnia?”
“I don’t know what the fuck I have I just know I can’t sleep.” 

“Okay, Okay, chill. Is there any specific reason like you have trouble falling asleep orrrr? Anything else?” 

“I’m only telling you this to get you to shut up. I have night terrors so I force myself to stay awake so my flatmates don’t have to wake up for that bullshit. Can you leave me alone now?” 

“I-”

“I’d drop it Rain, he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“But he-”
“Rain.” Both of the heroes said in unison. I went back to my silence deciding to tune them out.

-|-|-|-

Going to the hero tower was extremely nerve-racking for so, so many reasons. None of which I could tell the heroes anyway but whatever. As we were walking inside I could see a lot of people in the lobby. As I looked closer I found that they were all heroes. Well shit. I suddenly stopped, hesitating and stalling to walk any further. I just stared. The three heroes all looked at me in confusion. “What’s wrong mate?” I didn’t answer, just looked past him. He looked at where I was looking and noticed I had my eyes on the heroes. “Oh, are you nervous?” I opened my mouth to speak but closed it again because what the hell of course I was nervous. The man smiled softly, waving the other two off. They just walked away perfectly content with leaving me and Angel alone together. They joined the group of heroes and began chatting amongst them. I didn’t get to think long as I noticed Angel approach me. I looked at him quietly waiting. “C’mon mate, nothing to be worried about.” He offered a reassuring smile but it didn’t work as well as I think he wished. 

“Why are they all just crowded there? I mean don’t they have better things to do?” he sighed quietly, sounding almost defeated. 

“Listen I don’t want to tell you this because it is somewhat horrifying, it would be best if you just trust me.” I stepped away from him.
“I don’t trust you. I want to know what the fuck is going on. Right fucking now .” Angel sighed.
“Alright listen, the people that attacked you have been attacking others. You are the only person that hasn’t been killed or brainwashed from it. Everyone is excited and wants to talk to you.” I paused. Why the hell-? 

“What? I don’t know why I fucking lived but its not like you guys can just paparazzi around me!” I could see the understanding in Angel’s eyes, it was soft. 

“I know, I’m sorry about that. This is just a questioning though, you will be with just me in a room, you just have to get by for now okay?” He noticed my reluctance and spoke again. “Look, if you want I can make you feel more calm about the situation, that way it won’t be as stressful?” I stared at him in disbelief for a moment. 

“No I don’t want you to fuck with my emotions just get me away from them as quick as possible.” The man nodded quietly and we both started to walk through the crowd. Angel told everyone as we walked that I didn’t want to be crowded and that he wanted to get me home as quickly as possible so I could ‘rest.’ The heroes seemed to respond okay to this and backed off a bit. I was eternally grateful. 

We walked into the room a moment later there was a table and two chairs both seated across from one another. Angel told me to take a seat and I did. “Listen man, I don’t know what this is but it feels more like an interrogation.” The man huffed lightly, seeming somewhat amused. 

“Sorry mate, it is an interrogation room but you aren’t actually being interrogated, it's just going to be me asking some simple questions about that night.” He offered a reassuring smile which did not, in fact, reassure me. He must have noticed because he sighed softly. I waited for a response only to get a question. “Well, are you ready to start?” I nodded. “Alright, what were you doing before the attack happened?” 

“I was working a closing shift at Nikki’s Bakery and when my shift ended I started closing up like normal. Then I walked out and started heading home.”

“Was anything different about this closing shift? Like did anyone come in minutes before closing or did anyone seem to be in the bakery all day while you were working?” 

“Not anything like that, no, but I did feel like I was being watched as I closed up. Mainly while I was locking the door right after I got outside, but also when I was near a window I kept getting that weird feeling.” 

“Okay, when you first felt the feeling why didn’t you call someone to pick you up?” 

“Mainly because I just thought it was one of those weird homeless people that would try and get free stuff that didn’t sell.” The man nodded quietly. 

“When you were attacked what exactly happened?” 

“Well, usually when I have to do a closing shift Kristin asks that I call her when I’m on my way home so I pulled out my phone and called, she didn’t answer which was strange so I started to leave a voicemail when I heard a weird voice I hung up right after that and then I was attacked.”

“You said you heard a weird voice, what did it sound like? What made it weird?” 

“I don’t know if it was in my head or what but it sounded glitched like a voice changer messing up but it wasn’t messing up because there wasn’t a voice that sounded like it could be normal.” Angel sat there for a moment thinking.
“Do you have any enhancements?” 

“No, why?” 

“All of the people that were previously attacked had an enhancement, are you a hybrid of any sort?” 

“No.” 

“You said in the car that you get night terrors, when did those start and what were they about?” 

“Why is this relevant?”

“Might be something to look into with the other victims, if the villain is giving people night terrors he might be trying to make them weak of mind and that could be how he’s brainwashing some.” 

“I mean, I’ve had nightmares all my life pretty much, but, recently they became night terrors probably a week before the attack they started feeling more real. Sometimes I would wake up and think I was still in the nightmare.” The man looked at me sympathetically but continued talking.
“What were your night terrors about?” 

“Basically really bad memories and personal things.” I knew for a fact that I would not be elaborating, especially not to a hero. 

“What do you mean bad memories like past traumas or memories of a family member passing sort of thing.” 

“I’d rather not say.” He sighed quietly and to my surprise he nodded.
“Alright well there will be one more person coming in to speak to you. In the meantime do you need anything?” I thought for a moment before nodding. 

“Do you guys have any painkillers and water, I have a headache.” Angel nodded and said he’d be right back. 

Chapter Text

Something was off about Tommy, when we saw him at work earlier I was confused, as was Wilbur when I explained. Wilbur had asked me to bring him in to talk and while I’m not really sure I agreed I’m glad I did now, I wouldn’t have been able to see the focus in his eyes or the way he thought about something before he said it like he was treading on ice. The boy was definitely hiding something but what it was, I have no clue. 

I came back with some painkillers and water and the boy seemed genuinely thankful so I guess his head hurt pretty bad. I was gonna leave but something told me not to, so instead I took a seat in front of him again. He looked at me questionably. I sighed. “I don’t want to leave you in here alone, I… don’t exactly know why I just don’t feel right about it.” For a moment he didn’t speak and just continued staring. 

“Okay. I mean if you’re just going to sit here then I guess sitting in awkward silence isn't the way to do it.” I nodded. 

“Okay, tell me about yourself then.” 

“Well, I work at Nikki’s cafe, I’m eighteen, and I live with my three roommates Ranboo, Tubbo, and Kristin. And you?” 

“I’ve been a hero for 10 years, I live with my two sons Rain and Everett, and I am 32 years old.” 

“Damn you’re ancient.” 

“I am not that old!” 

“Okay sure, you forgot to add the other zeros to your age buddy.” 

“I am not in my triple digits!”
“You’re right, you’re in your quadruple digits!” 

“For fucks sake.” Tommy was laughing his ass off as I just watched helplessly. I mean there wasn’t much I could do really. As his laughing dyed down his face slowly fell and I stared at the boy in front of me going from the brightest person I’d ever met to someone who could only be described as dull. As I watched the sight I realized how tired the boy always looked tired, or how his smile never seemed to be exactly right, or maybe even how despite the shine in his eyes you could still see the dull emptiness beneath. It was something I had never noticed and part of me wished I never did. I could feel a pit forming in my stomach as I realized just how broken this boy looked. I knew this wasn’t Kristins fault immediately, there is no way she could ever purposefully hurt a child. I mean even if she wanted to, her instincts could never let her hurt a child. Especially not someone considered flock. It doesn’t make sense, I would have to ask later. Finally, I broke the silence, “So, is Kristin your mom?” He paused and looked back at me with a bit of embarrassment. 

“Uh, well I mean I guess she’s like a mother figure to me and my two other roommates but biologically no, and she also didn’t adopt us so I guess not technically.” I could feel my eyes soften on him.
“I’m sure she sees you all as her kids.” 

“Why do you talk about her like you know her?”
“I don’t know her but I know avians, and I know how easy it is for avians to get attached to younger people in a parentle way.” It was a lie, sure, but it might help him feel at least a bit more comfortable. 

“Oh.” After that we just sat in silence until there was a knock at the door indicating that Puffy was here.
“Alright, Captains here so I’m going to go now. Once she’s done talking to you we’ll get you medically checked then send you home.” The boy nodded and quietly watched as I left. 

I walked back to the sbi housing unit, technical name, we live here so it’s just home but they like to call it something stupid. Bigger heroes like us or Captain or AweSamDude, people who have their legal names out there, have to live at the tower for safety reasons. But, it wasn’t all bad because families can live there with the hero/heroes. To me, it meant that my children would be in a safer place so I was never upset about the arrangement. Anyway, as I walked in I noticed Techno quietly reading on the couch, “Techno. Why are you up? I thought you were on bedrest?”
“I was. The doc just told me I can move around a bit so long as I take it easy, so I walked in here, got food, and sat down to read.” 

“Oh, well alright then, did he tell you when you could go back out on patrol?” 

“In about two weeks.”  I nodded. “Anyway, Wilbur told me about the gremlin, everything okay?” 

“He’s definitely hiding something but I’m not sure what, it ‘s also weird because he says he’s eighteen but he clearly isn’t.” Techno nodded. 

“That is strange.” I nodded again and went to sit next to him.
“Want me to do your hair? I can braid it.” I offered. Techno huffed in amusement and nodded. “Alright, turn around while I get the stuff.” He nodded and started moving so I could actually get to his hair. I got a hairbrush, detangler (Not that I need it just in case,) and some hair ties. I then got to work as we shared quiet conversations. As we sat Wilbur walked through the door, upon seeing us he decided to join.
“So, what’d Tommy say?” 

“Basically what we’d thought he’d say just with a bit more detail. Though, I do think we got something from this.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Well he said he has had nightmares but that they got worse and turned into actual terrors about two weeks before the attack. He said that his dreams essentially got more real.”
“And you think that had something to do with it? How?” Techno snorted in amusement. “Fuck off pig.” He rolled his eyes. 

“Boys.”
“Fine. Explain.”
“If the person attacking these people are trying to brainwash others they would need someone weak minded. Tommy said his terrors were past traumas that he’s experienced, what's more terrifying than reliving terrible experiences you’ve already been through?”
“So you think the person doing this is trying to break people so he can control them.” 

“Yes.” 

“Wouldn’t that person have to be extremely powerful to keep control of all these people?” 

“That’s what we’re worried about Wilbur.” Techno intervened. After that we all fell into a semi-uncomfortable silence. When I finished Techno’s hair we all left quietly to our rooms worried about what this could mean.

Chapter Text

-|-|-|-

When Captain had talked to me it was mainly just a rundown of what happened afterwards, “have your night terrors come back?” “Has anyone been watching you?” Have you been sick at all?” Etc, etc. To be honest it was more of a checkup anyway. Well, Kind of, the real checkup came afterwards when they fucking scanned me. They. scanned. my. fucking. Body. What the fuck type of technology-? Whatever. They figured out what I already knew, which was that I had a few cuts and bruises from the attack. They kinda just cleaned and wrapped the cuts then left the bruises because there's not much you can do about that. That was the easy part now I had a four hour drive back to my apartment which would result in us being back at around 12pm which is when Kristin gets off on saturdays so time would be cutting close. But alas it is what it is, it wouldn’t be my grave so I didn’t care. 

The drive home was pretty much just as terrible as the drive to the tower, awkward silence, that one rain bitch, and terrible music. These people have no taste. I of course couldn’t do anything about it so I opted to ignore it however, Rain could. Not. shut. The. fuck. Up. He was constantly talking about shit I did not care about like “if you ever need help you can call us.” Or “if you think of anything please contact the tower.” It was getting really annoying if I’m being honest, so I did the only reasonable thing and replied with, “Dude shut up I know how to call for help it's not like I suddenly forgot heroes exist.” I also rolled my eyes to truly show that I was fed up. Luckily though he seemed to get the hint and decided to stay quiet. Welp now the ride was infinitely more uncomfortable but you know whatever. 

As I was thinking about what to do when I got home, we pulled up. I could tell the moment that we pulled up Kristin wasn’t home because if she was she’d be waiting outside. I chucked to myself softly on the thought of Kristin standing outside our flat, arms crossed glaring. It would also be a hilarious sight to watch her chew out the heroes for being late but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Instead Angel opted to walk me to my flat. On our way up I heard a familiar voice. I turned to see the tall enderman hybrid known as Ranboo walking up the stairs behind us. He had said my name which initially caught my attention. Obviously the enderman hybrid was tall but you wouldn’t be able to tell he was a hybrid unless you saw him transform. “Yo what up boob boy, BB, Tall Fuckwad, Ranboob!” I said all this whilst simultaneously shooting finger guns at him. He sighed and face palmed.
“Why are you like this?” He grumbled, “and how do you have so much energy?”
“Just gotta get good boob boy.” 

“Please stop calling me that.”
“Nope you get to deal with it.” I gave him a chance to catch up as Angel finally decided to greet him. 

‘Hi mate, you must be Ranboo.”

“Yep that’s me, your Angel right.”
“Mhm, How was your day?” 

“It was fine, I mean work but you know that's life.” The man chuckled softly, voice changer in full effect.
“Yeah I get that.” Ranboo gave an awkward smile and we all continued in silence. 

As we got to the flat's door Angel spoke once more, “Hey do you think it’s alright if I stay a bit I’d like to speak to Kristin.” I nodded silently and Ranboo gave an awkward thumbs up. Ranboo unlocked the door and all three of us walked in. As we did, Ranboo asked if Angel wanted anything and the man just politely declined and so me and Ranboo sat on the couch chatting whilst the man patiently waited for Kristin to get home. He was sitting on the barstools at the counter on his phone messaging someone. Probably the heroes downstairs. 

Well finally Kristin showed up. When she got in the house her feathers were slightly ruffled and she was looking around as if something was going to kill her. When she saw me however her demeanor changed immediately. She relaxed and made an effort to calm down a bit more. By now though Angel had taken notice of her presence and made her aware of his own place in the apartment. “Hi miss, can I speak to you outside for a moment?” Kristin stared at him for a moment, an indecisive look brewing in her eyes. 

“For what reason?” She asked, her eyes now bubbling with a mixture of hostility and confusion.

“Nothing too important. I just thought you’d like to know what came of the health check amongst a few other things I think could be beneficial to bring up.” Kristin eyed him skeptically but ultimately nodded in agreement. With that, they stepped outside.

Chapter Text

-|-|-|-

“What do you want, Angel?”
“Woah take it easy Kristin, you know why I wanted to talk to you.”
“I don’t know what you're talking about Angel.” 

“Kristin. I’m not stupid. I know exactly why you’re acting the way you are.”
“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are but you are not going to tell me why and/or how I am acting.” 

“Okay okay, I get it but do you at least know who I am or do I just sound like a dumbass?”
“I know who you are. Either way you sound like a dumbass though.” 

“I. Okay. Well, what are you thinking? I thought you died.” 

“Of course you did, I wouldn’t have wanted you to think anything else. I didn’t want you to leave and I didn’t want you to come back for someone that’d just ruin everything you’ve ever wanted. But it doesn’t matter now! You have everything you want! So what I don’t understand is why you're coming back to me. There is no reason other than business that you should be here.”
“Kristin I grieved for nearly two years for you! I don’t have everything I want because I’ve always wanted you to be a part of it! I’ve never wanted anything more than for you to be with me. I’ve only ever wanted to have a family with you.”

“You left that behind when you left me. You knew what I wanted and I let you go so you could have what you wanted. Not only that but you swore you’d come back you didn’t even when you were starting to become a famous hero you didn’t come back. You didn’t help us. And worst of all you never even tried to find me until you just so happened to stumble upon me and my flock.” 

“I wanted to look for you I did I swear but I couldn’t the hero agency-”
“That is exactly what I warned you about! I told you what was going to happen if you left! I told you you’d never get to come back didn’t I?!” Phil fell silent as he stared at me sadly. I could tell he still loved me but I was far too mad to care right now.

“Kristin. Just please come home. I don’t know how much longer I can live without you knowing you’re here alive and well.” 

“I am home Philza.” And so, I turned away and walked inside to see my boys wrestling on the couch. I smiled internally as I got ready to break up another fight. 

-|-|-|-

I went on patrol that night to blow off steam. I left without warning, just a simple ‘I’m going on patrol. You all stay here.’ I had made it quick because I was mad, of course not at them but I was still mad. At the moment I didn’t have my communicator on. I turned it off so I could just be alone with my thoughts. Luckily for me though, nothing happened that needed me to call for any sort of backup. The night was mostly peaceful, almost too peaceful. However for the time being at least I didn’t question it. It was nice to be alone at times.

-|-|-|-

When I got back to our apartment all three of them were waiting on the couch with blankets and snacks. Admittedly, they were probably worried because I didn’t respond to my communicator, but I wasn’t expecting this. “What’s all this?” I asked, taking off my beautifully crafted mask. 

“Well you kind of ran out on us after you talked to Angel and you weren’t responding so we wanted to make you a bit more comfortable I guess?” Ranboo smiled awkwardly. He had this habit of placing his hand on the back of his neck whilst swinging his tail back and forth when he was nervous. And though truthfully, having them all with me would have been more than enough even without the snacks and whatnot but I am glad they do these things it makes life a lot more bearable. Especially after today, however, they wouldn’t know what had happened between me and Angel, it wasn’t their problem to deal with, and I wouldn’t make theirs either.

-|-|-|-

“Order for Philza!” I called. I was feeling more enthusiastic after getting away from the hero tower, they hadn’t suspected a thing.

“Uh, mate? You there?” The blond man asked suddenly, catching my attention. 

“Oh right! Sorry ‘bout that big man, was just thinking about some shit.” 

“Oh really? What would be so important to make a big man like you check out so badly?” The man asked, eyes gleaming with amusement. I scoffed. 

“I’ll answer that if you tell me why you haven’t been here for the past week and a half.”

“Are you saying you missed me?” The blond man teased.

“The fuck? No. But I don’t like having to deal with your bitch of a son.” the man chuckled in amusement and shook his head. 

“So am I better than Wilbur? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Anyone is better than Wilbur.” I deadpanned. Phil laughed.
“Alright, alright.” He said, still chuckling to himself as he pulled out the money for the drink.
“Does that mean that you’ll start coming more often? Preferably leaving your son at home..” I mumbled the last part but I could tell he heard it.
“I’ll start coming again, I can't promise to keep Will away though, maybe Tech will come see you soon though. He’d help you bully him.” 

“Oh god yes. I haven’t seen that bloke in a while! What actually happened to him by the way?”

Ah, he got injured at his job. Hurt his leg doc said he couldn’t be out of bed for about a month. He just got permission to start doing short walks about a week ago.”
“Damn really? I can’t imagine much could take a brute like him down.” Phil huffed in amusement and nodded. 

“I know it was surprising. Well anyway, I have to go now Tommy. See you around.”
“See you!” I called after. 

Chapter Text

Things were going a lot better recently. The city as a whole had been mostly quiet and it seemed like things were calming down and falling into a nice little routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, work, home, patrol, sleep, and repeat. It was a nice change of pace and besides a few squabbles here and there while on patrol there wasn’t really any danger. We were all thankful for that. Especially after what had been going on the past few weeks. 

“ Tommy! ” I looked up quickly, breaking my thoughts “Jesus bossman I thought I lost you there.” I scoffed. 

“Tubbo, nothing could possibly take me down. I'm much too poggers for that.” As I finished my sentence I felt a hand tangle in my hair, ruffling it carefully.
“Is that so? Our last sparring session didn’t make you feel that way.” Kristin added.

“Now see that's not fair, someone as amazing as you could never lose, it's simply implausible.” 

“Implausible? Tommy, that's a big word for you! Good job!” 

“Shut the fuck up boob boy.” 

“And he’s back.” 

Okay so things weren’t just going ‘pretty good.’ It seemed that things were going really fucking great. And so that's the attitude I had going into work.

-|-|-|-

“ Tommyyyy the tea is too sweet for meeee. Could you just pleeeeaaaase remake it?” 

“Hm, now, cry about it maybe. Also since when do you have taste buds?” Techno snorted, it had been a bit since he had been in but as he had recovered from his work injury he hasn’t stopped coming in. Today though Phil was with them too.

“No cursing or smart remark? What’s got you in such a good mood?” Tecno questioned. 

“Yeah wait, why haven’t you been swearing at me today? It’s getting a little suspicious. Wait, did you spit in my tea?!” 

“Wilbur as much as I would love to spit in your tea, that is where Nikki draws the line so I won’t be doing that thank you. And as for your question big man, I have had a wonderful week and nothing, not even this prick can take me out of this high.” Wilbur eyed me suspiciously before turning to say something to Techno. 

“That’s wonderful mate, I’m glad you’re doing well.” 

“Thank you philza you are always too kind.” I said before turning away to go take more orders. It was a busy afternoon after all.

Nothing good could ever last though because as I was working on a cup of tea someone walked up to the register. I did my usual call as ‘one moment sir I’ll be right there.’ He nodded but I could tell there was something off about the man immediately, I knew most people would look at him and say ‘drug addict’ but I got the sense something bad was gonna happen here. I quietly grabbed a metal ladle from under the counter and walked to the register. Almost immediately he pulled a gun out of his pocket and started yelling . “Everybody on the ground now! Put your purses and wallets on the table then sit down and be quiet! And you, give me all the money in the register, now.” I was painfully aware of how many people were in the building. It was a sunday of course there were a lot of people. I opened the register hoping it would put him less on guard. He soon turned away from me realizing my compliance, he left a bag on the counter presumably for me to put the money in and turned his back to me. Just like that it was game on. I grabbed the bag and quickly and silently made my way to him. I could vaguely see Will, Techno, and Phil trying to get me to stop silently but to no avail. This is Nikki’s fucking store and I was left in charge. No one messes with Nikki. Fucking period. As soon as I was close enough I pulled the bag over his head and pushed his hand upward, not allowing him to shoot anything but the ceiling. I used the metal ladle to knock him unconscious with the bag over his head. Immediately after people started cheering, there were people I’d never fucking met hugging me. Then there were the logical people who phoned the authorities. Then there was Phil, Techno, and Wilbur. As soon as the crowd had backed up I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned my head. It was Phil. He looked fucking pissed. 

“Are you fucking crazy!? You could have gotten yourself or everyone else in here killed! What the fuck were you thinking.” Boom there it was. The thing that ruined my week. Getting scolded for saving everyone's life by the people who did nothing. 

“What was I thinking?! You might not fucking know because your some rich city folk but people down here don’t give a fuck about anyone but themselves! Had I not fucking done something once he got what he wanted he was gonna shoot everyone in here!”

“Why the hell would he do that? If he had what he wanted he would have left after!” Wilbur argued. 

“No he fucking wouldn’t have! Everyone here saw his face, that is how he would have been caught! And even if he didn't, do you really think anyone in here could afford to be robbed other than you rich assholes!? Every person here has to work hundreds of hours to make ends meet in some shitty run down flat and this is probably the only nice thing they were able to have all month! You wouldn’t fucking understand that because you’ve probably never struggled a day in for perfect fucking life! And besides I didn’t see you doing anything to make sure nobody got shot so maybe if you want to criticize me on how I do things you should try them yourself first!” 

“Tommy how the fuck would you know how we live?! You don’t even know the things we go through let alone the things we’ve done to help people so don't you ever assume that I don’t know what struggle is! I worked my way out of these districts on my own! I sacrificed everything to get where I am now so I don’t want to hear about it because I’ve lived it!” 

“That’s fucking awesome for you congradulations your so successful you probably didn’t realize that ‘sacrificing it all’ probably destroyed everyone around you because I know damn well you had people that you left behind so you could live a life of luxury! I’m sorry but me and these people would rather choose the people we love and care for than some stupid job that pays highly! Go fuck yourself Phil, and you too Wilbur! You both are fucking pathetic!” I didn’t give them a chance to respond. I stormed away walking into the back room where they weren’t allowed to follow.

-|-|-|-

Getting home was worse than actually being at work. I still wasn't able to get a replacement phone from the last one that was destroyed from the attack. This meant I wasn’t able to let Kristin, Tubbo, or Ranboo know I was gonna be late. So of course I had to fucking explain everything from start to finish for the 60th time today and I was getting fed up. Obviously I was pissed so Kristin told me to go calm down in her room and said that I needed some space to cool off. Which was true, and it was working. I stared silently thinking about meaningless things until I heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” I called. Everyone walked in and sat around me. 

“We decided we’re going to take a free day. All of us are taking tomorrow off and having a day out, just the four of us.”

“Do we have the money to do that?” she huffed in amusement. 

“Yes Tommy, I wouldn’t offer if we didn’t okay hun?” I sighed. A day off could be good.

“Alright.”

“Hell yeah bossman! Now we’re all sleeping in the living room. Come on, we're watching Up!”
“Fuck yeah Up!” I yelled as me and Tubbo raced to the front room. There would be no patrol tonight.

Chapter Text

I don’t remember much from last night, just that Kristin, Tubbo, and Ranboo were surrounding me on the couch whilst we watched Up and ate snacks. I had fallen asleep quickly after that, maybe too quickly but after everything that had happened that day I was too tired to fight sleep, and too comfortable to care. Though waking up I heard Kristins voice she was talking softly probably to not wake us up. I heard her on the phone with someone that sounded familiar. “Kristin?” I groaned as I sat up slowly. 

“Oh actually Nikki, Tom’s right here if you want to talk to him.” She said, giving me a smile. I heard a voice on the other line say something that was really muffled in my early morning haze. “Tommy, Nikki wants to see how you’re doing, I told her you weren’t coming in today already.” Oh. That Nikki.

“Alright Kristin, let me see the phone.” I yawned. The woman handed me the phone which I put up to my ear. 

“Ello?” I said in a more enthusiastic voice.

“Hey Tommy, how are you feeling? I heard what happened, you're not injured right?”

“Not at all bosslady, I’m feeling much better today though.”
“That’s good Tom, listen if you need more time let me know what you just went through was probably pretty traumatizing.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle Nikki, but thank you.”
“Of course Tom, if you need anything let me know and please get some rest.”

“Oh yeah I’m going right the fuck back to sleep after this but before I do I do actually need to ask a favor of you.” I noticed Kristin raise a brow at this but I paid no mind.

“Sure Tom what's up?”

“I’m only going to take today off but I was wondering if at least for a bit you could have someone scheduled at the same time as me so I don’t have to see Wilbur, Phil, or Techno for a bit, I’m kind of pissed at them.”

“I mean, I can definitely do that but can I ask why you're mad at them?” 

“After I stopped the guy robbing us they berated me for doing something about the guy and I didn’t think they had any right to say shit to me when they did nothing.” I admitted slowly.

“I see, yeah that won’t be a problem. I’ll get fundy to work with you for about two weeks. That should be enough time right?” 

“Yes! That’s perfect, thank you so much Nikki you're the greatest.” 

“It’s the least I can do, go get some rest I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

“Yep see you then, bye Nikki.”
“Bye Tom.” I handed the phone back to Kristin and then promptly went right back to sleep. 

-|-|-|-

“Wake up!” I heard as I was promptly smacked in the face with a pillow. 

“Tubbo, what the actual fuck?” I grumbled as I moved to protect myself from his merciless attacks. 

“Get up bossman Kristins making breakfast with Ran.” Now that he thought about it there was a nice smell in the air, smelled like bacon mostly.

“Fine I’m up now stop fucking hitting me.” 

“Ugh, couldn’t you have laid down just a bit longer? I was starting to enjoy this.” 

“Fuck off.” I muttered as I stood up. “I’m going to get dressed.” 

-|-|-|-

“So what do you guys have planned today?” I asked before taking a bite of my waffle. 

“You’ll see.” Kristin hummed as she ate some of her eggs. 

“What. You’re not even going to tell me what we’re doing?” 

“Not at all.”

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s a surprise”
“Yeah learn some patience big T” Ranboo snickered as Tubbo finished his sentence. 

“The fuck you laughing at boob boy?” 

“You obviously.”
“How dare you-” I started, however, I was cut off.

“Boys calm down, we’re trying to have a nice breakfast.” 

“Oh come on Kristin this entertainment is better than TV” Tubbo jabbed. Admittedly Kristin did laugh at this. Ranboo went beet red as Tubbo smirked in victory.

“So can I go back to insulting Ranboo?” 

“Please don’t.”
“No Tommy you can’t.” 

“Damn, missed opportunity.” Tubbo mourned. Though soon enough they were all chatting and having a good time again.

-|-|-|-

“Oh my god, can you please just tell me where we are going?”
“Not a chance big man.” We’d been walking for about an hour slowly heading towards the upper-middle districts. 

“Besides Tom we’re almost there, if I told you now it would defeat the purpose of keeping it a secret this long!” Kristin cheered.

“Was there ever a purpose to that?” I muttered. Soon after I was swatted lightly on the back of my head.
“Yes Tommy, there was.”
“Fine. But can we at least walk faster?” Kristin laughed. Though, she did nod and we all picked up the pace. As we continued on I saw an amusement park in the distance, for a moment I convinced myself it wasn’t true and we were just passing but, once we got up to the entry lines I couldn’t deny it.

“You- you're not…”

“Yep! Welcome to your first amusement park Tommy!” Tubbo announced happily. I could feel my eyes well with tears. After all the shit this month I could finally do something I have always dreamt of doing. Riding a roller coaster.

“Awh Tom it’s alright” Kristin cooed.

“How did you… when did this…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. 

“We started planning this at the beginning of the month after you were attacked at the bakery.” Ranboo started.

“Yeah! We told Kristin about the idea and started putting money aside for it. We weren’t really sure when to do it but after yesterday we thought today would be best.” Tubbo finished with the biggest smile on his face. 

“I thought it was a great idea especially after hearing how much you’ve always wanted to go to an amusement park so I also started putting money aside.” Kristin added.

“I- You guys are seriously the best. Even you boob boy.” 

“I’ll take it!” Ranboo exclaimed happily. 

-|-|-|-

After getting up to the concession stands we decided it would be cheapest to buy the all day exclusive passes, this was basically a one-day pass to the entire park, all the rides so we didn’t have to pay individually, and two meals for free for each pass. It was a pretty good deal and we ended up getting two free because of the deal that was going on. 

As we walked into the park I looked around at everything that was there. There were so many rides as well as there were so many shops and restaurants. Everything was so cool there. “So where to first bossman?” I smiled.

“Let's find the biggest ride here and go on it.” Kristin chuckled.

“You don’t want to start slow?”
“Never.”
“Alright if you're sure.” 

-|-|-|-

We were now in line for the “Deadly Drop” which was the tallest roller coaster in the park and I was fucking ready for it. Everything was fine still, we were happily waiting in line when we finally got to the front. “I’m so fucking excited holy shit.” I was bouncing from one foot to the other as I waited for the final train to get off so I could get on. I looked at Ranboo and had a huge grin on my face. Ranboo mirrored my expression. I turned my head to Kristin instead as Ranboo started to talk to Tubbo.

“You seem excited.” She commented.

“I am, I really fucking am.” She smiled at me softly.

“I’m glad, I think you needed this.”
“Kristin, genuinely, thank you, this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I can’t thank you, Tubbo, or Ranboo enough for this.” Kristin reached her hand to my hair with the same soft expression she had before.

“You don’t have to thank any of us Tom, we love you so we’d do this for you even if you didn’t have a shit week.” I couldn’t think of what to say so I just smiled instead. She clearly understood and just went back to doing her own thing. 

-|-|-|-

Now everything was calming down, it had been a fucking awesome day and I have never been more happy in my life. We went to get the photos after the roller coaster and ended up paying $10 for a page of four which we decided to cut and all keep one when we get home. Besides that we went on every ride at least once. And by the third time on the “Deadly Drop” everyone was ready to go get food and chill out for a while. And after a bit of that I decided that we had to go on the ferris wheel at night. It was fun the first time, me and Tubbo rode in the same cart while Kristin and Ranboo rode in their own cart. However, now the sun was setting and I was insistent. Though they didn’t put up much of a fight, they were pretty happy to just do it. “So who you gonna ride with this time bossman?”

“Hm, I think I’m gonna ride with Kristin.” 

“Sure thing Tom, Ranboo you alright with that?” 

“Yeah! I think he’d shake the cart if I was in it anyway so probably for the best.” 

“Damn right I would boob boy.” 

“My point exactly.” Kristin laughed and nodded as she got into the cart, I followed closely behind. The cart was then sent off and we fell silent as we looked at the glowing amusement park. 

“It’s beautiful.” I murmured. 

“It is.” Kristin agreed. 

“I can’t wait to get to the top, it’s gonna look so much cooler from there.” Kristin smiled and nodded.

“So what do you think?” 

“What?” 

“About today I mean, did you have fun?” 

“This was the best day of my life Kristin. I loved it.” 

“Good I'm so glad I could be a part of it.”

“You aren’t just a part of it though!”
“What do you mean?”

“You’re part of so much of my happiness, I don’t think I’d be happy at all if you hadn’t found me in that alley that day.”

“Don’t thank me for that Tom, I was just doing my duty as a vigilante.” 

“No. You do way more than that, you did way more than that. You gave me a reason to live and you gave me hope for what I could do with my life, more than that, you gave me a family.” Kristins eyes were tearing up. I could see it. 

“Tommy. ”

“I’m not kidding Kristin, you did something that I never thought could happen. You gave me purpose, you gave me a home, you gave me two amazing brothers… you gave me a mum. You gave me my world.” I could see tears stream down Kristins face as she was overwhelmed with emotion. Before I knew it I was being held in her arms as she cried into my hair. I also cried. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say.

“Tommy, you, Tubbo, and Ranboo are the best things that have ever happened to me. I could not be happier where I am and between you guys you gave me a family to love and care for which is something I never knew I wanted.” 

“I love you mum.”

“I love you more Tommy.”

Chapter Text

{“I love you mum.”}

{“I love you more Tommy.”}

-|-|-|-

We fell silent after that until we got to the very top of the ferris wheel. “So is this what it feels like to fly?” I questioned, glancing over to Kristin. She chuckled softly.

“The view, yes, the actuality of it, no.”
“What do you mean by that?”

“Well when I’m flying I can feel the wind blowing in my face a lot stronger, I’m also focused on the way the wind is blowing because typically flying against the wind isn’t great.” 

“Oh so it's a lot of thinking ‘innit?”

“Yes. There's a lot more that goes into it.” I smiled at her.

“Well that's cool though.” We sat in silence for a while as the ferris wheel went around and around. Finally I spoke. “Do you think we could maybe keep this between us Kristin? Y’know mum ‘n son or something” She smiled brightly. 

“Mum and son.” She agreed. I leaned my head on her shoulder as she wrapped a wing around me. The ride didn’t go on much longer after that, only when we got off it seemed things were much quieter, almost as if the entire world knew they needed a moment. It was peaceful. 

-|-|-|-

Waking up was hard. I really wanted to pretend like I was still on the ferris wheel sitting with Kristin, I had slept in her room that night being that I could only be comfortable around her at that time. Though, to anyone else I denied it. But alas, I eventually had to go to work. 

As I approached the building I was surprised to see Nikki there. Giving her a confused look she welcomed me inside.”I thought I was supposed to be opening today Nikki?” I questioned half-heartedly. 

“Ah, you were but Fundy got sick so I’ll be working with you for the next few days.” she smiled.

“Oh awesome I get to work with the coolest woman I know.” (Not to be confused with the most loving woman I know, Kristin of course.) 

“Awh, Tommy you're so sweet.”

“Thank you Nikki I’m just being my amazing self.” she chuckled at that. 

“Tom, what do you want me to tell them if they ask to speak to you?” 

“You got a warrant?” I deadpanned. 

“You know I can’t tell them that Tom. What do you really want me to say?” She laughed.

“Tell them that at this moment I am uncomfortable with talking to them for the sake of both parties. Please.”

“Of course Tommy, I will.” 

“Thank you Nikki.” She smiled as a response. 

Soon customers started walking in and, as I was scheduled quite a bit earlier than normal, there weren’t any problems other than the fact that there were a few Karens. But that's relatively normal for customer service. Especially in the morning. 

-|-|-|-

After 8 hours of work, Nikki and I were about to clock out when I remembered the money that was spent the day prior. I knew Kristin wasn’t gonna be happy but I decided to ask anyway.

“Nikki! Before you clock out can I ask you about something?”

“Of course Tom what’s up?” 

“Do you by chance have any overtime that I could take this week?”

“Oh, actually, Eret also called out tonight so if you want to work with Hannah for the mid-shift you are more than welcome to, but, are you sure you should take overtime so soon after everything?” 

“Yes. I really need the hours right now.” 

“Alright, I’ll text Kristin and let her know for you.”
“Alright sounds good, thank you!” I knew Kristin was gonna be less than amused when I got home but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I was gonna make up for the money they spent on me.

-|-|-|-

“So Nikki told me that if Phil, Techno, or Wilbur came in that I was to tell them you're not comfortable, that's correct right?” 

“Yes please, I cannot stand to be around them right now. I would absolutely die trying to be customer friendly to them and I think I might yell.”

“Who can’t you stand right now Tommy?” I heard a familiar voice question. I turned my head to see all three of them walking together towards the counter.

“Welp, you know what to do Hannah.” I shot her a thankful stare before quickly walking off to make some orders. 

As I was finishing a drink order I felt a hand tap my shoulder. “Tommy, they’re refusing service from me your gonna have to help them.”

“Right tell them I’ll be right there but I have to do one thing. Also this is order 435, can you bring it up?”

“Yeah I got it, no problem, and thank you.” I nodded and walked into the back before calling Nikki. I was going to see what she wanted me to do. 

Ring

Ring

Ring

“Hello?”

“Hey Nikki, I have a problem.” 

“Oh, sorry to hear that, what's going on?”

“Will, Techno, and Phil are refusing service from anyone but me. I don’t know what to do.”

“If you're comfortable I am perfectly fine with you being cold but you can’t be outright rude, if you’re not comfortable have Hannah get the sign that says ‘employees reserve the right to refuse service’ and tell them that you are refusing service so they will be served by her or not at all. If you do talk to them you can always do that too if it escalates too much.”

“Okay Nikki, thank you so much for being understanding, you really are the best boss.”

“It’s the least I could do considering you did stop my store from being robbed.” I laughed softly.

“Alright then Nikki, I’ll let you know if anything happens.”

“Sounds good Tom. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I walked back out to the front and grabbed the sign to be ready. I set it to the side as I walked to the front counter. Putting on my best customer service voice I looked directly at Wilbur.

“Hello sir, what can I get for you?” He stared at me with a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face. Phil looked embarrassed like he didn’t really want to be there and as usual I couldn’t read the look on Techno’s face. 

“What are you doing Tommy, you know our orders already.” Wilbur deadpanned. 

“Sorry sir, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about.” I said, pointing a look at him. 

“Don’t be like that Tom.” 

“First of all, it is Tom-me. Tom-ME,” I started pointing at my name tag as I listed the syllables. “Secondly, I am a server here. I do not know what you want at this very moment so I am required to ask what you want. Now, if you want something, order. Because you are holding up the line.”
“Tommy if this is about two days ago-”
“If you don’t tell me what you want to drink then I’m going to have to ask you to leave sir.”
"What the- You can’t do that!”
“I’ve got permission from Nikki to refuse service from you, I just called her. So we can act like adults or we can do this the hard way sir.” Wilbur glared at him for a moment trying to see if I’d back down. I didn’t.

“Tommy this is not acting like an adult-” I didn’t give him time to continue I just put the sign in front of where I was standing and switched with Hannah letting her know to just ignore him unless he tried something.

-|-|-|-

After a while Wilbur stormed out, Phil had gone with him, but, Techno stayed. I hadn’t noticed him sitting quietly at a table until after the lunch rush had gone down. I knew he wasn’t served yet and I did know his order, just a plain black coffee. I wasn’t gonna do it but I technically had to take a 30 minute break because of labor laws so I clocked out after I made the coffee and went to him. The only reason I did this is because I realized he hadn’t done anything wrong in the situation. He hadn’t stood up for me but he definitely didn’t yell at me. So, I set the coffee down. He looked up at me as soon as I did. 

“Thanks, how much did it cost?” 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me today.” 

“No. how much?”
“I’m not taking your money.” He just stared at me for a moment. Eventually he caved.
“Fine. But you need to sit down and talk to me.” 

“Fine by me. But, you have to answer my questions too.” 

“Alright, how about this, every question I ask you you get one question in return.” 

“Fine but I want to save some questions.” 

“Only if I have the same privilege.”

“Works for me big guy.” 

“Okay, I’ll start. I can guess why you're mad, but can you explain to me your side?” 

“I had just stopped a store from being robbed and people from dying, I didn’t think I deserved to be yelled at for that.” 

“Fair enough, how did you know what to do?”

“I don’t really know, but I had this weird feeling that if I didn’t act someone was going to get hurt.” 

“I see. Do you want to be a hero Tommy?” 

Pause

“I mean, I can’t be a hero.”
“That’s not what I asked. Do you, or did you at some point want to be a hero?” 

“Don't most kids?” he stared at me, waiting to see if I’d give a real answer, I caved. “Ok. I did want to be a hero years ago, I just know it’s impossible for me to be a hero.” 

“Why do you say that?” 

“Because I don’t have an enhancement and I’m not a hybrid.” 

“Sounds like a dumb reason to me.” Huh? 

“Why do you say that?”

“People without enhancements can be heroes, Tommy. It just makes everything a lot harder, however, if you’re still interested I could get you a job at the hero’s tower, you wouldn’t be training to be a hero, nor would you be one but you could work first hand with some heroes and figure out if that’s really what you want.”

“You would do that for me? How would you do that for me?” 

“I know some people there, you would make substantially more there than you would here and maybe you could find yourself a mentor there to help you become a hero if you decide to.” 

“I don’t know how I would get to the tower though and would I have to do an interview, did you talk to Nikki about this? I need to talk to Kristin, Tubbo, and Ranboo too-” I was cut off of my rambling.

“Yes I asked Nikki, she said to do what makes you happy, no you wouldn’t have to do an interview, and I would drive you personally to and from work.” 

“I still need to talk to my family about this, and also wouldn’t that interfere with your work?” 

“Nah, I work at the tower too, I get off earlier than you would starting out anyway and all non-hero employees get in at around the same time anyway.” 

“Oh, alright, can you hold that thought for a couple of days?”

“Sure, I’ll come back next week, until then I’ll keep Will out of your hair.”
“Oh thank god dude.” He huffed in amusement. 

“You should get back to work now, it’s been 25 minutes.”
“Oh shit! Thank you Techno!” I called as I rushed into the back.

Chapter Text

“Tommy, why would you even consider this a good idea?” Kristin asked.

“Wellllll it does offer double the pay and has better health benefits” 

“Tommy no. We are vigilantes and that in itself is dangerous enough without you possibly being found out by heroes in your day-to-day life.”
“Okay, I get the concern but-”

“No. If you do this Tommy you are not just putting yourself in danger of being found out, you are putting all of us in danger of being found out.” 

“ But- ” 

“Enough Tommy! I said no. That’s final! If you choose to go through with this job offer I cannot let you stay here for Tubbo, Ranboo, and my own safety. I’m sorry Tommy but no I refuse to allow you to put yourself and us in a dangerous position.” I frowned deeply. I knew she was right but still it’s so hard living poorly and not knowing if you're eating one night or not. 

“So you’ll let me take the job if I move out?” 

“Don’t even consider it Tommy. Please I am not ready to see you put into a position like this.” I could hear the hurt in her voice, it did not make me feel good about considering this.

“Fine, I won’t take the offer.” Immediately I could see Kristin was relieved. 

“Thank you Tommy, and I really am sorry.” She murmured, pulling me into a hug. I sighed softly in her arms, this was going to be a long week.

-|-|-|-

True to his word, Techno kept Wilbur away all week. It was refreshing to be perfectly honest, but good things never seem to last because all three of them returned the following week like clockwork. However, fortunately, it seemed only Techno was approaching the counter. “Good Morning big man, ‘ow do?” 

“Same as usual, plain black please, as well as whatever those guys used to get.” He said, motioning behind him where Wilbur and Phil were sitting. 

“Sure thing, that all?”
“Yep, when you’re done take your break and come talk with us if you can.”

“Uh sure, I will, let me let Fundy know.” He nodded and I went to let Fundy know what was going on.

-|-|-|-

Setting the cups down in front of everyone I too took a seat. I didn’t say anything, I was going to let them start the conversation. “So, did you consider my offer?” Techno asked, sipping on his coffee.
“I did. I’m not taking you up on it though, sorry.”
“Can I ask why?”
“Kristin wants me to be closer to home in case something happens and we all agreed that being driven by someone who is mostly a stranger wouldn’t be a good idea.” you were, admittedly, only speaking to Techno and ignoring the other two at the table.

“If something happened you’d be at the safest place in the world no?” Phil questioned.

“Doesn’t matter, Kristin’s paranoid and I don’t blame her, too much shit has happened recently, she wants to get to me quickly if something happens.”

“I see.” I turned my head back to Techno.

“I really did consider your offer and I am thankful for it, but I just don’t think it’d work out sorry.”
“Eh, don’t apologize I figured you’d say no. You’d be too stubborn to accept anyway.” I scoffed. 

“Trust me pal, you have not seen me stubborn.” 

“Yeah, that I believe.” he hummed, going back to sipping his coffee. I sat there in  an awkward silence for a couple of seconds before standing up and turning to walk away. 

“Tommy, wait!” I heard Phils familiar voice call out. I turned back to see him standing slightly.

“Hm?” 

“Come sit down again, please we want to say something to you.” I just nodded and sat down again.

“I am very sorry for how I acted last week, that wasn’t fair to you I shouldn’t have yelled.” I nodded 

“Okay, thanks for your apology, I don’t know if I  can forgive you right now but I think we’ll be okay in the future. I should also apologize to you, you didn’t deserve to be called pathetic.” Phil nodded.

“I understand, thank you.” I just smiled awkwardly before speaking again.

“Can I go now?” I looked at Wilbur directly after I said that and when no one said anything I walked away. I didn’t think much of it, if he didn’t care enough to apologize then I wasn’t going to care enough to forgive him. 

-|-|-|-

“Wilbur what the actual fuck was that?” 

“What are you on about now Techno?” 

“I don’t want to hear that shit Wilbur. You knew damn well that we needed to gain his favor again and get him to the hero tower for his protection and our monitoring and you just blew it because your pride is too much for you to handle.” 

“Hey don’t you dare come at me and insult me! What he did was illegal and could be classified as vigilantism. We should have arrested him there and then.” 

“You know that following every letter of the law is not what’s always right. Why don’t you try and think for yourself for a change and pick a better hobby than bullying a teenage boy for acting out of fear to save others. Hell, We’re the heroes. We should have intervened not put an innocent kid in that position! He was right, we were pathetic in that situation.”

“Boys enough. ” Phil intervened. “Techno’s right we should have been the ones to put a stop to that incident-”

“We weren’t on the clock-”
“ I don’t care Will. What if he had died ? Would you use the same excuse? No. You wouldn’t because his death could have been on us.”
“So you’re saying Techno is completely right?”
“In the context of the situation, yes. However, you should not have insulted your brother and I expect you’ll apologize.” He continued giving me a pointed look. I sighed, 

“Look, I'm not sorry for what I said. Everything I said was true and not meant to be taken as an insult but I could see how it came off that way so I’m sorry for that. But, you do need to start thinking for yourself and realize the law is made for the majority. The small number of people that break the law for the better of their families or the better of those around them have a right to be accounted for and not punished the same as the others.” 

“Now you know that's not a proper apology, Technoblade.” 

“Tell you what, I’ll apologize to him when he apologizes to Tommy.”

Chapter Text

“Patrolling has been rough tonight in the west.” I comment into my coms.

“Yeah, same thing over here.” I heard Kristin's voice echo.

“Do either of you guys need assistance?” Tubbo’s voice questioned.

“I’m all good here Electro.” I respond. 

“Yeah same here, it’s mostly petty crime.” Kristin adds.

“Alright, let me know I’ll join with Melian.” 

“Will do big E, thanks.”

“Anytime bossman.” I continued on my patrol keeping to the shadows as much as possible when I saw something I would probably regret seeing. Around the corner there was Everett fighting a large group of people. The first thing I noticed was that they all had red eyes. I stared quietly as I watched Everett begin to become overwhelmed.
“Guys… I’m going to do something stupid. Send Death to my location. I won't be able to respond.” I whisper before jumping into the fight carelessly. As I join the fight I get behind Everett. I fought next to him and he didn't seem to mind too much for now despite our previous encounter. I take down a few of the ‘gang’ members with my claws carefully dodging Everetts flames. It was clear he wasn’t trying to hit me but it was just happening from the nature of his enhancement. Soon enough with my help they start to back off. Me and Everett hadn’t spoken a word to each other yet. I managed to grab one of the men and tackle him to the ground. “Who are you?” I hissed as my voice changer distorted my voice. I could see beady red eyes staring back at me. These eyes seemed dead, it was like the person had nothing left in them, they looked utterly broken, it shocked me for a moment. I Could feel Everett standing near me.

“Crimson will rise.” The person muttered blankly. Their voice was devoid of any emotion.

“‘Crimson,’ who’s that?” Everett spoke calmly. The man stayed quiet staring straight through me as though I wasn’t there. 

“Who is-” I was cut off as suddenly red vines burst through his stomach. I was pulled off in an instant by Everett. He threw me aside as the vines burst through the man's abdomen in a horrifying depiction. Worse then, the vines seemed to soak up the blood, it seemed like it was feeding off of the man's flesh from the inside out. I had their blood on my face, it was still warm, it was horrifying. My eyes widened as I stared at the scene in front of me.

“Sorin! Are you alright?” Kristin had arrived. I had only recognized her distorted voice slightly. She kneeled next to me putting her hand on my shoulder. “What happened?” She asked, noticing the scene in front of us.

“Not a clue, I was jumped by these guys and then he joined the fight, we managed to catch one but when we tried to interrogate ‘em the vines just ripped through his stomach.” Everett said, sounding outwardly calm. Kristin watched as the body was devoured by the vines, the only thing being left of the victim being the blood red eyes. She helped me to my feet. 

“This can’t be good.” She muttered. I was still in shock. Everett shook his head.

"Definitely not, do you know anything about this? I mean, this is your ‘territory’ so-to-speak.” Everett asked. 

“The eyes…” I murmured shakily.

“What about the eyes Sorin?” Everett asked.

“Attacks… there's been… lots of what we thought was gang violence but… The eyes- they- they’re always red.” I stuttered. Everett nodded. 

“We’ve noticed lots of gang violence recently as well… nobody paid any mind to eye color but… I’ll look into the reports and see if there's any mention of red eyes.” He said simply.
“Everett, why are you helping us?” Kristin asked firmly.

“I believe you are inherently good. I do not think you have any ill intent towards this city, in my eyes that makes you better than most of the heroes at the tower.” He said simply.

“Then why did you attack us before?” 

“That is a fair question, I can’t give you an answer other than it was an ignorant decision.” 

“Then why the sudden change of heart?”
“I have been thinking about a lot since our fight and since a few things happened in my personal life. One of the biggest things being you, Sorin.” He said pointedly. I glanced up in surprise.

“What are you talking about? Why me?”

“You could have cut my feet clean off with those claws of yours, yet you didn’t. You weren’t being violent for no reason, you were just trying to separate yourself from the conflict. It’s respectable. Sorin, you have my respect.” He said as he gazed into my eyes. I met his back, though, unlike him, I was not able to put on a brave face, the truth is, I am scared. Yet as I met his confident gaze I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in myself. 

“Thank you Everett.” I said my voice was shaky even through the voice changer. He nodded, stepping forward towards me.

“Don’t be discouraged by this, I can tell you are young, so  let me give you a lesson that was hard for even me to learn.” He took a breath. “You can’t save everyone, no matter what we want in life there are always times where you cannot possibly hope to save everyone, the only advice I can give you is learn how to cope, find those that can comfort you during times of self doubt and put all of your good energy into holding onto them, when you are out here put all of that negative energy, the energy you get from being mad at the world, and use it to protect anyone you can.” I stared at him, he was right, I knew he was but it was still so hard to understand.
“If I can’t save everyone then what is even the point of me being out here…?” I whispered, he sighed.

“That is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself kid, but… a point in the right direction, what drives you to fight for this city? Once you answer that you’ll understand why you are here.” He wiped the blood off of my cheek. “Now, you two get out of here, I need to call an investigation squad, you won’t want to be caught here. I’m sure I can trust you to take care of him.” He said with a nod to Kristin as he took a step back.

“Of course, thank you Everett.” She said before carefully leading me away. She lead me home, I didn’t say a thing the entire way there.

Chapter Text

Deaths pov:

As much as I wanted to tell the kid to go home and stay safe I couldn't. I don't know why though, maybe it was the look in his eyes. Or maybe it was the way he spoke without thinking, the way he found himself wanting to help so much that he couldn't stop himself from saying what he truly felt. Whatever it was, I myself was surprised to find that I accepted his offer. I did give him a day to think about it though, or maybe that was a day for me to think about if I really wanted to take on an apprentice. It was something that I had turned down for many people honestly. I thought that after the last partner I had I wouldn't ever want to have another but that kid, he was different. I don't know what made him different, he just.. was. Somehow some way he was different from everyone else. The next day when I saw him I didn't really know how I felt, I think I was relieved to see that he was still determined to do this. I watched him for a bit as I noticed he was thinking about something. I didn't dwindle on it for long though because we only had so long before sunrise. I walked to him. He seemed surprised at first and then stood quickly. He greeted me by my vigilante name. 'Death' Why did I choose that name? Did I choose that name? Was it something the people gave me? I couldn't remember, it had been so long. I greeted the boy anyway. Realization seemed to come across his face as he told me his name. 'Tommy' in a way I wished he hadn't told me, it showed he was comfortable and I didn't want him to get attached to me in case something happens. However I said nothing and nodded. Then, before I could catch myself I told him to follow me. In all honesty I had no clue what I was doing, my last partner trained with me. We worked together we- no. he's gone I need to stop . I felt myself wanting to run, so I decided it would be a good warm up anyway and yelled over my shoulder for the boy to keep up. I then continued running, letting myself listen to his footsteps behind me. I continued running, finding more challenging places to turn though despite this he kept up. Soon enough I found myself facing a tall fence around 10 feet tall, it was one of those metal fences that you could climb only this one had wire at the top. I used my surroundings to jump the fence then stopped turning to face the winded boy as he finally came to a stop. I realized that he'd probably need to learn to jump correctly anyway so he could get out of tight spots if needed. So I gave him a task to follow. He seemed ready for it and didn't complain. I smiled in my mask as I heard the excitement in his voice. That's when I left, well sorta. I came back every hour to see his progress. 

After he left for the night I just sat there, the boy's determination was something I had only ever seen in one other person. I shook the thought from my head as the memories of my previous partner returned to my mind. We had been childhood friends, he was 3 years older than me and always joked about it. Eventually however when crime got worse in our area me and him both decided to become vigilantes it didn't take us long to become pretty well known but he was always worried about getting caught. he tried to convince me so many times to become actual legal heros but I always told him that if we did that we wouldn't be able to patrol here. No hero had patrolled here in a long time and the whole reason we had become vigilantes was so we could protect our people. our symbol was what we called the 'hardcore hearts' I used to have three of them across my chest while he had them on his shoulders. However me and him got into a massive argument. He told me that he was going to become a legal hero and then come back and help but that he was going to do it with or without me. I was at the time outraged that he would just leave me but at the time, no. Even now I was right when I said that even if he became a legal hero he'd never come back to this district, he'd leave and forget about all of us. I was right. I never saw him again after that, well, not face to face anyway. Though I miss him I never held what he did against him, he did what he thought best even if I didn't agree with it. I was glad that he made it where he wanted to be. Last I heard he had a family, two sons actually.

Tommy’s pov:

After death sent me home I was annoyed to say the least. I mean come on . I’m a big man! I can handle not getting a few hours of sleep, or seeing his friends, or eating… No! I am doing perfectly fine. Right? I shook the thoughts from my head as I neared my apartment. 

I entered the house to see Tubbo cooking and Ranboo being, well Ranboo. “Welcome back big man!” Tubbo cheered as I Stepped into the apartment completely.
“Ayup big man, and Ranboo .” I responded, sticking my tongue out at the tall bastard.
“Seriously, what did I ever do to you?” Ranboo asked, confused.
“I dunno, I just like picking on people that are taller than me or people that are older than me and you fit both.” He shrugged.
“What about Tubbo? He's older than both of us!” Ranboo exclaimed.
“OI! Don’t bring me into this! I did nothing!” Tubbo called
“Neither did I!”

Chapter Text

I washed my face a million times. I couldn’t get the feeling of the warm blood off my face no matter how much I scrubbed. I couldn’t get the image of the man's lifeless eyes out of my head and I definitely wasn’t sleeping. I was pacing now. I only had one question on my mind, “why?” Sure it was a pretty open ended question but I couldn’t stop asking it. My mind had a million different answers, “you were too slow. You’re doing this to save others like you. The city is your home. It was his own fault.” None of them satisfied me though. None of them made me agree. None of them were right. 

Ever since that day everything seemed more dull. I wasn’t as interested in anything anymore. I was constantly tired and it just felt uncanny, wrong. “Tommy…?” I snapped my head up.

“Yeah boo…?” I asked quietly.

“Breakfast is done.. Kristin made your favorite.” He offered gently.

“Oh… I see… well I’m coming.” I responded blankly. Ranboo left the room with a soft ‘see you soon’ and shut the door on the way out. I stood up. It felt like I’d never stood in my life. I found myself stumbling slightly as I grabbed my clothes. I had to hold onto the wall as I got dressed. I couldn’t bear to see myself so I made sure to close my eyes when I could. I finally finished getting dressed.

I walked into the kitchen slowly, methodically. I was going through the motions. Clack, clack, clack, clack. It was the sound I heard with every step I took on the cold ceramic tiled floors. That sound drowned out everything else. Clack, clack, clack, clack.It was the sound of my footsteps as I walked away from him, from them.

“Tommy?” The sound of Kristins soothing voice broke me from my thoughts. “You alright?” She had asked as I stared into her loving black eyes. I didn’t move for a moment as I blinked away any lingering thoughts in my mind.

“Yes…” I answered slowly. I felt like I was choosing every sound I made as the word left my mouth. Kristin nodded patiently.

“Okay Tom well. I made Waffles and eggs. Do you want some?” She smiled warmly, giving me time to answer. 

“No. I’m not hungry” I thought. “Do I even deserve food? He won’t get to eat anything ever again… how could I? Yet… I’ve eaten at least one thing everyday. Am I a bad person? The thoughts wouldn’t leave my brain this time as I shook my head trying in some way to force the thoughts away. Yet every time I did they only clung closer. Tears started forming in my eyes.
“Why won’t it stop…?” I whispered. “Please… Make it stop…” Kristin moved to my side immediately. She pulled me close into a hug. 

“Tom… It's okay. It is not your fault what happened to him. You did nothing wrong honey.” Kristin murmured as she gently hugged me close to her. 

“Why did he die? Why did he have to die? Who- who did this to him?!” I sobbed into her arms. If Tubbo and Ranboo hadn’t noticed yet they definitely did now. Both of them also came to my side like Kristin had and hugged me close. For a moment there was silence, all I could hear was my shaky voice and my weak sobs. 

“You don’t deserve good things!” I opened my eyes, staring at the man in front of me, it was a face I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. and yet, despite that fact, I couldn’t move, I could still feel my tears running down my cheeks. “You hurt him! you hurt what’s precious to us! How dare you!” And suddenly I felt the hand connect with my cheek. I felt some sort of warbled, strangled cry escape my throat as I fell back into a wall, my wing slamming against it hard, wings? Right… wings.

“Tommy!” Tubbo’s voice snapped me out of it in an instant, I gasped, like I hadn’t breathed in months. “Snap out of it mate please.” Tommy’s eyes reached his friend's kinder gaze, and he finally realized, finally remembered what this was about, the face of his one and only friend in the whole world stared back at him. the one who knew the horrors first hand, and bore the same similar scars as he did.

“Tub…bo.” I hiccuped, feeling weak in my own skin. “I- I forgot what this was about all- all along.” Tubbo’s eyes softened.

“It’s alright boss man, you back yet?”

“I’m trying.”

“Then we’ll make it together. Just like we always have.” I nodded.

“Alright…” 

“But you need to stop shutting us out. We can't help if you don’t let us.” I nodded. He was right, Tommy couldn’t face this alone, he needed to accept that he should lean on others, and for Tubbo? He damn sure would try.