Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So, guys, I need some help."

"With what, mate?" Phil, Wilbur, and Techno turn to me from their seats. I scratch my head trying to think of the best way to say this.

"Well, I had this project in mind and it has a deadline and I don't think I can get all the materials necessary before next week."

"What do you need exactly?" Wilbur asks with that tone.

"Cobble, mostly. Some will need to be turned to stone but I can do that on my own later. I just need help getting it."

"How much you need?" Techno asks.

"Well, more than I can fit in my inventory. Besides, we haven't hung out in a while and I was wondering-"

"Of course, mate!" Phil instantly gets up and goes to the community enderchest. He pulls some stuff out and stashes it in his inventory. Wilbur does the same. Techno asks how many golden carrots I'll give him. 

"I can get ten by the end of next week?" I look at the ground and shuffle my feet.

"Ehh, good enough. 'Sides, Phil and Wilbur are going, who'm I gonna hang out with while you idiots are gone?" I shrug and shove him

"Jerk."

"Gremlin." Techno follows Wilbur and Phil's lead and heads to the enderchest to grab whatever he needed. I tell them the exact amount of materials I need and their faces turn to mild shock.

"Why do you need that much?"

"Well, that included the wood, which I already got. I didn't even know I wanted to do this until like a couple weeks ago. That's why I've been gone. Been getting wood."

"That's why you disappeared for six days in a row?" Wilbur asks.

"Yeahhhhh. It is."

"Huh. You sure worried Wilbur. He was constantly worrying over what he thought had happened to you. He thought that Tubbo had accidentally shoved you into a bee nest again."

"Nah. I learned after the first couple of times. Should've been more worried about Ranboo accidentally teleporting me far away. That's been happening lately. Not sure why though." I pause in thought. Why would that happen? After all, it's not like Ranboo doesn't know how to control his powers, he's had them for years, but yet it seems to be an accident. Maybe he just discovered it and that's why. Oh well, I need to get their present done before the anniversary. Not that they remember, I'm the only one who celebrates the anniversary of us meeting for the first time. All four of us. I lead them to my mine and we get to work. I mine through a couple blocks and trip into a deep cavern. Luckily, I'm an MLG pro and make the landing. "Uhm, guys? A little help?" I wouldn't have needed help had I not found a literal mob of mobs. Skeletons, zombies, and spiders crawl from every hole. I must've gotten really unlucky (or lucky, depends on how you look at it) and found a rare spot that has spawners for all these creatures. There's a lot of them and I left the water down where I had placed it, so they could get down here easier. Phil is the first one to get down here. 

"Holy crap! How-?" 

"Later! Help, please!" I say as I shove two zombies into three skeletons. They crash to the ground before stumbling back up. Spiders are literally everywhere and I hear a splash. I don't take the time to see who it is. I swing my sword at a spider and it breaks on the spider's head. That's great. "Uh oh." I get my axe out and it lasts a bit longer, going through five zombies, seven skeletons, and eight spiders before breaking. My last resort will be my pickaxe, so I pull out the stone hoe that I for some reason still have on me. I swing it and swing. I suprisingly kill a lot of mobs with it before it breaks. By the time it breaks, however, Wilbur, Techno, and Phil have fought their way through the chaos to me.

"Bruh, do you not have a sword?"

"I did. Thirty minutes ago. It broke, along with my axe and hoe."

"You survived with a hoe?" Wilbur asks.

"Don't be surprised. Tommy's resourceful."

"Tommy also doesn't like it when he's referred to in the third person." I say as I swing my pickaxe at a baby zombie that strayed too close to Phil. Though that's more Techno's pet peeve than mine, us three 'kids' don't like it when baby zombies get too close to Phil. Call it an obsession if you will, but I prefer to call it, keeping my favorite father safe. Not that I've had many fathers. Only like two, before being adopted by Phil at the age of four. We finally kill off enough mobs to get through to the spawners and destroy them. I breathe in relief as the last mob is killed and dissipates into thin air. "Thanks guys."

"No problem, mate. How'd you find this anyway?"

"I fell in here, if you couldn't tell by my excellent MLG water bucket skills." I gesture to the oddly placed water still streaming from where I left it."

"Ah." Is all Phil says. 

"Let's go back up to your mine, Toms." Wilbur and Techno start making a path up to where my mine is when I spot something shiny. Unfortunately for me, being an Avian, when I see something shiny, I have to check it out.

"Tommy?" Phil calls but I ignore him and keep going. Three sets of hands grab my arms.

"What the heck? Shiny, want." I point to the shiny spot and lunge towards it. Techno sees it and grunts. Him being a rabbit hybrid with a bit of piglin mixed in, shiny things also hold appeal to him. Phantom hybrids, like Wilbur, not so much. I'm not entirely sure about Elytrians. They're fairly similar to Avians, the biggest difference being that they can fly and Avians don't fly as far as Elytrians can. I really want it.

"Tommy, we need to get out of here if you want to get that project done." Wilbur says. Phil, Techno, and I make our way towards the shiny thing. "Hello? Come on guys, I'll make my distress call if you don't get back here." None of us turn around to look at Wil, though. We get to the shiny thing and I notice that it's gold. 

"Ooh." I say. "That is shiny." I pull out my pickaxe to mine it when I hear Will's distress call. The three of us instantly turn on Wilbur and jump on him. I stay there with him while Phil and Techno stand above us. 

"Told you I was gonna do it if you guys didn't come back."

"Good gosh, Wilbur, you scared the living crap out of us. You're such a jerk."

"And you're a gremlin child."

"I am NOT a child, you-" I start cussing him out. I hear a titter above me and stop talking instantly. I tense and Wilbur follows my gaze. He tenses too as Phil and Techno crouch down beside us.

"Wilbur, that was a cruel joke." Wilbur and I stand up. Wilbur sends frantic glances toward the ceiling and I flat out stare at it.

"Uhm guys?"

"Yea?" Techno says as he turns to me. Phil and Wilbur turn to me, too. Wilbur and I point to the ceiling.

"Uh oh. Don't wake them up. Looks like they're sitting on-" Phil starts before Wilbur interrupts him.

"Looks like they're sitting on stalactites?" Wilbur's tone indicates that he fully meant to interrupt Phil. Then all of a sudden the bats wake up for no reason at all.    {{{Definitely not because the author hit one of the crows after it bit her, no definitely not because of that.}}}      It was definitely stalactites, very loose ones in fact. With the scurry and frantic escape of the bats' movements, the rocks come tumbling down on Phil, Wilbur, Techno, and I's heads.

Chapter Text

Techno POV (literally they're all going to be shorter because I live in a prairie, the only cave I've been in is a tourist cave.)

Tommy's outstretched arm quickly folds in towards himself. We make a break for it. Rocks fall faster and with more quantity then before. "Techno!" Someone calls to me but they weren't fast enough, I black out.

-----

Phil POV

Techno disappears behind a wall of rocks. Wilbur was in front of Techno, so he's probably trapped too. I glance around, not seeing Tommy anywhere. "Tommy!" A figure lands on me and I glance up. Tommy's smaller wings are shielding me from the brunt of the falling rocks. "Tommy, mate, you're going to destroy your wings."

"I have to save my dad."

"Now's not the time to get sappy, son, we need to get out of here."

"Can't my wing is stuck."

I swear. I tug myself out from underneath Tommy. One wing hovers quakingly over my head while the other stays pinned to the ground. "I'll get it out." Another avalanche of rocks fall from above and Tommy isn't fast enough to cover my head before a rock strike my head.

-----

Wilbur POV

"Techno! Phil! Tommy!" The rocks just don't seem to stop falling. Is the whole cavern collapsing on our heads? I run back towards where I last saw my friends (family). I see Techno's limp body from underneath a big pile of rocks. "Techno!" I run up to him and cover his head. "Techno, wake up!" Unexpectedly {{{at least for Wilbur}}}, a rock hits me and I pass out.

-----

Tommy POV

"Phil!" Phil's body falls. "Phil!" My other wing stretches as far as I can make it to cover Phil. And because of the way that I have to stretch my wing over my head to even reach Phil, rocks narrowly missing more of my (father's) friend's body. "Phil, I need you! Please wake up! Don't leave me! I'm sorry!" Phil groans and I glance out from underneath my own wing. Rocks are piled everywhere but it doesn't seem like anymore are falling {{{maybe cuz the author felt bad and had them stop}}} which is good. "Phil? Please, I'm sorry. Please don't leave."

"Toms?" Phil sits up and gently moves my limp wing off him. "Your wings..." Elytrians and Avians are known for keeping their wings safe above all else, only risking their safety for flock members. "Am I in your flock?" I look away. 

"Yes." I say without hesitation and a great amount of embarrassment. "Are you okay?"

"Mate, I'm fine. Are you?"

"Not really. One wing is stuck, both legs are the same and the other wing is limp and I don't know why."

"Can you move it?" I move it slightly and decide to fold it up against my back for the time being. "That's good. I don't see any rocks above our heads that could crush us. But that's not to say if we move the rocks on your wing and legs that we won't get crushed anyway. My communicator's broken, how's yours?"

I hold it up, turning it on. "Mine's working. I'm going to text Techno and Wilbur." I text them both. I hear two dings come from where I last saw Techno. "Well, now we know where they are. How's the head?"

"I'll be fine, mate, I have a question for you though. When I was waking up, you kept saying sorry. Why?"

"Uh, I- uh. Oh Techno texted back!" I say after hearing the ding. 

From Tommyinnit to Technoblade

      -You good?

From Technoblade to Tommyinnit

     -Wilbur's out cold and I've got a headache. Are you and Phil okay?

From Tommyinnit to Technoblade

     -Phil got hit in the head but I'm stuck. Are either of you stuck?

"How are they?"

"TECHNO! YOU GOOD?"

"YOU CHILD, WE WERE THIS CLOSE THAT ENTIRE TIME?"

"MAYBE I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE SHOUTING!"

From Technoblade to Tommyinnit

     -I'm not losing my voice because of you. Wilbur's starting to move around. Yes I am stuck. Is Phil stuck?

From Tommyinnit to Technoblade 

     -No, he's fine. Bein a right mother hen. His com is broken though

From Technoblade to Tommyinnit

     -YOU GREMLIN CHILD, GOT US ALL STUCK DOWN HERE!!

From Tommyinnit to Technoblade

     -It sounds like Techno is stuck, you should give him his communicator back and text me on your own.

From Technoblade to Tommyinnit

     -Wilbur says his com is dead. Can you reach anyone with yours?

I scroll through the contacts. Too far, too far, too far, reachable. I click on the reachable one. Scott, of course, I text Scott.

From Tommyinnit to ScottsMajor

      -Phil, Techno, and Wilbur are stuck in one of my mines and I can't get to them. Get help please.

From ScottsMajor to Tommyinnit

      -You guys okay?

From Tommyinnit to ScottsMajor

      -Techno's stuck, Phil and Wilbur probably have head trauma

From ScottsMajor to Tommyinnit

      -And you?

From Tommyinnit to ScottsMajor

     -Get them out first.

From ScottsMajor to Tommyinnit

     -That's not reassuring.

From Tommyinnit to ScottsMajor

     -Flock. Safe, must.

From ScottsMajor to Tommyinnit

    -I'm so telling them the moment we get you out. Can you last a couple days?

From Tommyinnit to ScottsMajor

    -Yeah. We can last a couple days. Don't take longer than a week though. Tech and I didn't plan that far out.

I text Techno and tell him help's on the way. He doesn't reply. "Phil?" Phil has spent the last five minutes pacing in front of the rock sitting on my wing. "You good?" He simply chirps. Uh oh, Phil's in birdbrain mode. "Uh, Phil?" Phil walks to me and crouches down by my head. He runs his hands through my hair. "Phil! Both of us can't go into birdbrain mode! TECH! HELP!"

-----

Techno POV

"TECH! HELP!" Tommy calls.

"GOT MY OWN PROBLEM TOMMY! GET PHIL OUT OF BIRD MODE!" Wilbur's phantom mode is similar to when I go into a very rare piglin mode. He is very cuddly, worries over the littlest things, and fusses if one of his members is hurt. So seeing me stuck underneath a pile of rocks, probably was not going to be fun to deal with later. See Tommy and I don't go into hybrid modes that often because we're not social people as much as Phil and Wilbur are, but once we're in them, Phil and Wilbur get so- protective, I guess. Almost to the point of obsessive. So when Wilbur and Phil go into a hybrid mode, we usually send whoever was not in hybrid mode in before making a break for it. If both Phil and Wilbur are in hybrid mode, Tommy and I will usually fight to see who has to stay with them. 50/50 rock, paper, scissors. Or we'll just run for it and whoever does not get caught doesn't have to deal with it. So yeah, saying Tommy and I don't like the hybrid stuff is an understatement.

"PHIIIIILLL! YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE BEING BIRDBRAINED!" Tommy calls. "TECHNOOO! HE'S AT IT AGAIN! IS WILBUR IN IT TOO?"

"YES!"

"TECH-" Tommy chirps. Uh oh, Phil got him. It's weird that I don't have rabbit instincts, I just have the traits, bunny ears and tail, along with the craving for carrots and golden carrots. The rest of my instincts are piglin. Gold, shiny things, that stuff. Wilbur and I usually get along great both in and out of hybrid modes but when one is in and the other is out. That's where the problems occur.

"Now, Wilbur, if you want to help me, getting me stuck in a mood is not going to help." I don't know why I try, Wilbur hardly listens to reasoning when he's not in phantom mode. "If you want to help me and Tommy and Phil, you're going to have to get the rocks off me." Wilbur seems to listen for once. Then he just phases through the rocks. Oh yeah, forgot he could do that. He grabs my hand and phases me through the rocks. Then he passes out. Yeah, knew that was coming. Wilbur doesn't get tired phasing himself but he gets like this when he's in phantom mode and tries to phase with somebody else with him. "TOMMY?" Two loud chirps come from where Tommy was last heard. Great job, Phil. Got Tommy stuck in birdbrain mode. "TOMMY, SNAP OUT OF IT!"

"HE'S IN MY HA-" Tommy makes a bird sound that I can't identify. Oh, so that's how they get Tommy in birdbrain mode. I always wondered why he didn't like anyone messing with his hair. 

"PHIL! GET TOMMY OUT OF THERE!" A loud chirp comes back to me. It sounds vaguely like the one that Phil uses when he wants someone to leave him alone. "PHIL! LISTEN! TOMMY'S IN DANGER THE LONGER HE STAYS STUCK!" A thought comes to me, Phil's birdbrain couldn't handle two hurt chicks at once. "PHIL, I'M INJURED AND SO IS WILBUR!" Phil's distressed trill rings out and I can almost hear him snap out of it. I drag myself to my knees and pull Wilbur into my arms. Wilbur (my brother) is unconscious, Tommy (runt) is injured and stuck, and (dad) Phil is panicking. This is going great.

-----

Tommy POV

Flock, flock, flock. Phil's hand running through my hair and feathers sends me into birdbrain mode. I think I managed to get Techno to convince Phil to stop, because suddenly Phil snaps out of birdbrain mode with a distress trill. I call back and he looks down at me. "Toms? Oh, did I do that?" He asks slightly amused. I look at him questioningly.

"Flock cuddle?" I chirp out.

"Later. Let's get out of here first. Then we can make a nest. See if I let you into any caves anytime soon."

I let out a whine, still stuck in birdbrain mode and it ignores the cave comment. "No, now."

"Sorry, Tommy, gonna have to wait. Give me your communicator." I hand it to him and he scrolls through some messages. 

"FLOCK HURT?" is the trill that rings out when I hear a rather loud groan that sounds like Wilbur. Phil looks down at me again. 

"It's okay, Tommy, Scott will be here in a couple days we just have to survive until then. Maybe we can get out before they get here." Phil starts hauling rocks from in front of us to make a path to FLOCK! Everytime that Phil trips or flinches sends me into a bout of chirps and whistles trying to coerce him over to me. "Tommy, stop it. I have to get to Techno and Wilbur, they're hurt."

"Let me. Get me up, I can help." I finally say after the tenth or eleventh go round of this same conversation.

"I can't lift those rocks myself. Wilbur might have to phase you out or something like that. They're pretty big. Also, your wings are in rough shape."

"So?"

"So, if you ever want them to work again, you're going to have to take it easy for a few days, son."

"What if I don't want to?"

"I will make you."

"Why?"

"You saved me, the very least I could do is help you." Oh. So he doesn't view me as flock. That's okay though, he lets me put him in my flock. The strings in my heart hurt almost as bad as the ones in my legs do. 

"Phil, I think I am going to pass out."

"What?" is the last thing I hear before passing out.

------

Phil POV

"Phil, I think I'm going to pass out."

"What?" I turn to Tommy and watch him fall limp underneath the pile of rocks. My birdbrain is not doing so well. It wants to help Tommy, Techno, and Wilbur at the same time but I can't. "Tommy?" I run over to him. "Toms, bud, wake up." A pool of blood seeps underneath him. New plan. "TECHNO, ARE YOU AND WILBUR BLEEDING OUT?"

"BLEEDING, YES. BLEEDING OUT, NO. WHY? IS TOMMY?"

"KINDA." I hear a rare curse from Techno. I rush over to Tommy. "How do I get you out?" I focus on his legs more than his wing because I can move those rocks, I can't move the one that sits on his wing. I shove the four decently sized rocks off Tommy's legs and check them. They're broken for sure but they won't need amputation, thankfully. I patch up the bleeding wounds and return to moving rocks. I work for a while, apparently being the person best off, thanks to Tommy, because I don't hear anyone else working. 

A single rock moves and I think another cave-in is about to happen but rocks fall away to reveal Techno and Wilbur laying together against a wall. "Oh thank the Lord, you guys are okay."

"Not okay, we've definitely been better."

"Can either of you walk?"

"Wilbur can, but he's still a little-"

"Dad?" Wilbur says. He gets up and walks over to me. "You look funny, why do you have rocks in your hair? Where's Tommy?"

"A little loopy?"

"I don't have loops, do I?

"I think little is an understatement, mate."

"Where's Tommy?"

"Stuck under some rocks. His wings are in rough shape."

"What? How?"

"He covered me with one, the other was pinned underneath a rock. He passed out a couple hours ago, we should get back to him."

"No, I can't walk very well. Wilbur get over here and help me." Wilbur goes wobbily over to Techno and helps him. "We need to go save Tommy."

"Tommy's in danger?" Wilbur's mind seems to suddenly clear. A bit too fast if you ask me.

"Were you purposefully being loopy?"

"Maybe I wasn't feeling that loopy but I was a bit loopy. Tommy's more important though."

"Mate, let's get there first. Did you guys eat and drink?"

"Yeah, we're good Phil. Did you? Did Tommy?"

"I did.  But Tommy hasn't been conscious enough to eat or drink yet. Thanks for getting me out of bird mode, Tech."

"No problem. Wilbur was in phantom mode, and Tommy was so embarrassed that you were trying to get him into bird mode. I know he hates being in bird mode."

"I know. Eh, hard to restrain myself. His bird mode is addicting, what can I say? What's even more fun is when we get both you and Tommy. You guys don't let go."

"Wilbur, have you plotted to get Tommy and I into modes?"

-----

Techno POV

"Phil helps. We found Tommy's thing, we just need to find yours...." Wilbur says thoughtfully. "But that's for a later time." We get to Tommy's side and I thought Phil was making an overstatement of how bad Tommy was. No, no, it was almost an understatement. Tommy's wing that wasn't pinned to the ground was missing feathers and probably was hurting. The wing that is pinned is covered in small rocks and pebbles. Tommy's legs and purple and blue and look like they were once broken. "Were his legs broke?"

"They are broke mate. I just set them and immobilized it. Not well, but it'll last until we can get home where I keep my medical supplies. Let me see your leg, Techno." Phil grabs my leg and I hold in a gasp. I do hiss however, much to Phil and Wilbur's displeasure. "Broken. Wilbur hand me-" I tune them out, I already know what they plan on doing. I brace myself for the pain and good thing I did. A very long and loud hiss escapes my throat. "Sorry, mate, but we had to do it. There all done. Wilbur help me move this rock off Tommy." Wilbur and Phil move the ginormous rock off of (my brother) Tommy. A groan emits from Tommy's throat. "Tommy, you up?"

"No."

"Mate, answering the question is answering the question."

"Tommy, are you alright?" Wilbur asks, instantly fussing over Tommy. Out of all of us, I think Tommy and I are the worse off. "What was all this mining for anyway?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise for you guys. But I know I'm going to be laid up for at least three weeks. I'll miss it."

"Miss the anniversary?" I ask.

"Yeah. I was going to build a recreation of the spot where all four of us first met but now it's not going to happen."

"That's sweet, Tommy, but didn't we first meet in a cage?"

"Yeah, I was going to build a tower that looked like a giant version of one of the cages. Each floor was going to have something you guys liked. Like a floor filled with music and art for Wilbur, a library and training area for Techno, a kitchen and empty notebooks for Phil, and a floor where we could all hang out together."

"Why weren't you going to build a floor for yourself?" Phil asks. I think I know the answer already though.

"I was going to. It was going to be-"

"The floor where all of us hung out together." I answer.

"Yeah, how'd you-"

"You mentioned before we left that you wanted to spend more time with us, and just now you mentioned there were floors for everyone, wasn't hard to figure it out from there."

"Huh. I was going to surprise you guys but oh well, life happens." Tommy visibly deflates and I can almost feel his exact pain. Almost being the key word, I don't really have wings.

"I had something planned too. I just haven't had time to finish it though. You can help me, it's a sitting down job and you and I are going to be sitting for a while."

"Really? Okay!" Tommy goes to get up but Phil stops him.

"Mate, you're legs are broken, you can't walk, much less crawl."

"Right. I want to sit by Techno."

"Of course, after all, I promised a flock cuddle."

"No, you're doin the thing."

"What thing?" Tommy and I look at each other. We sigh in unison. 

-----

Tommy POV

"Here we go." We mutter.

Phil cuddles up next to me and Wilbur next to Techno. "Tommy, are you hungry? You haven't eaten since- when was the last time you ate?"

"I had a slice of bread yesterday."

"Before we left yesterday or the day before that."

"That made no sense."

"Are you hungry?" Phil repeats. "Too bad, I'm making you eat." He shoves a potato into my hands. "Eat."

"Okay, dad."

"No problem, son. Eat." I eat the potato and curl into Techno's side, much to Philza's displeasure. Then he chirps, I glance worriedly at Techno. Oh no, not this. 

"You're doin the thing again."

"What thing?"

"No! NO!" I say. Wilbur's hand reaches around Techno to my hair. He combs through it and my birdbrain starts fighting me. "Technooo, make them stop."

"Well, they're doing the same thing to me, I can't really stop them unless you stop them." The last few words of his sentence turn into grunts and squeaks as his piglin and rabbit sides fight for dominance. Chirps and trills bubble from my throat.

"Got 'em." Phil and Wilbur high-five and I glare at them while pulling all of them close with my wings. Phil's wing tightens behind me and soon we're wrapped in feathers and limbs.

"Tommy, you're wings are bony, they're poking me." Wilbur gets a series of chirps and titters in response. 

"Gold, runt, mine." Techno pulls me into his side. He taught me piglin while we were growing up and taught me enough rabbit to ensure that I knew what he was talking about while in hybrid mode. Unfortunately, Phil and Wilbur couldn't understand either so I usually have to translate but in bird mode, translation is impossible. 

"What'd he say?"

"Flock safe, cuddle." I reply to Techno. I fall asleep, content.

Chapter Text

Phil POV

Tommy and Techno talk to each other in Techno's piglin-rabbit language. Well, Techno talks to Tommy in it and Tommy replies in chirps, whistles, and trills. Honestly, if the two would just let themselves slip more often they wouldn't be so out of it. Wilbur and I definitely would notice when the two would sacrifice someone to the one in hybrid mode. Unbeknownst to them, this was when we would plan. I pull out Tommy's com and Wil grabs Techno's and we record everything. "So much blackmail.... I'm going to live like a king!" Wilbur proclaims. Tommy looks at him and chirps softly.

"Flock lonely?"

Techno replies to Tommy, not realizing Tommy had meant Wilbur, "Runt lonely?" Tommy snuggles closer to Techno and Wilbur and I chuckle. "What?"

"Nothing, mate, don't worry about it. Wilbur if you don't stop soon, Techno's not going to let you cuddle with him nor Tommy." Wilbur's outraged gasp is overly dramatic. Truly, I don't think Wilbur would mind but he does like to get what he calls 'Tommy time' whenever Tommy is in hybrid mode. As long as his flock is cuddling him, Tommy's content, he doesn't really care who it is. Wilbur tries to drag Tommy out of Techno's grip but Techno just grunts at him. Then he drags Wilbur into his arms too. "Boys, don't fight over Tommy." I say after I hear a few soft blows landing on flesh. They both calm down but Techno doesn't release Tommy. Or Wilbur, much to Wilbur's pleasure. I chuckle again at the sight. So adorable. "Aww, that's sweet." I lay my head on Tommy's shoulder and fall asleep, only to be awoken later.

"Flock? Flock?! Flock!" Tommy's worried chirps wake Wilbur, Techno, and I up almost instantly. 

"Toms, wake up."

"It's just a dream, Tommy."

"Tommy, mate." The three of us say at the same time. 

"No! Don't hurt them! MINE! FLOCK! MY FLOCK!" Tommy's wings tighten even more around us, pushing us closer together.

"Tommy, it's just a dream." Nothing we do seems to wake him. Then I remember the thing that wakes everyone up. A distress call. All hybrids have one and can recognize one, especially if it's in their family. I let out my distress call. Nothing. If it does anything, it seems to make Tommy's dream worse. "What if we all do one at the same time? Would that wake him up?"

"I don't know, we need to try." Wilbur states.

"Let's try." Techno says. We all three let out a distress call and Tommy bolts upright. His pupils are dilated as he tries to stand. "Tommy, sit down, your legs are broken. You can't stand up."

"Flock hurt. Save flock. Flock-" he stops and looks at us. His pupils gain back their bright blue color and he glares at us. "What the heck, man? You scared the everliving crap out of me! What was that for?"

"We couldn't wake you up."

"Why did you want me awake?"

"You were having a bad nightmare."

"Oh, yeah."

"Want to talk about it?" Tommy hesitates. He sits there for a bit and thinks.

"After we eat something."

"Fine with me. You got to let me out though."

"Fine." Tommy's wings relax and I'm sure they're both hurting badly. With one being pinned under a rock and the other cramping and missing feathers, I'm sure it doesn't feel great. I pull out some food and we eat. I go to grab my canteen but Tommy and Techno pull theirs out first. We pass them around and drink our fill. 

"Toms, can you tell us about the nightmare?" Wilbur asks softly.

"Yeah. It's bad though, so you might want to hold on tight." We tighten our grips on him. "I didn't mean it like that!" 

-----

Tommy POV

They chuckle and I wriggle a bit. They loosen their grips, albeit not a whole lot. "So, basically, remember when we first met? Well, that wasn't the first time we all met. That was just the first time we were all together." Their eyes widen and they nod slowly. "I had been in there a lot longer than any of you. I still remember when you guys first came. It was Techno, then Wilbur, then Phil, I met you all in that order. In fact, I carried your unconscious bodies to your rooms. I worked so you guys could eat. You three were the only people who were nice to me at all. I mean Wilbur was a jerk, but I know it's lighthearted most of the time."

"What do you mean most?" Wilbur asks.

"Shh. Anyways, when they threw us into that cage, I knew what was going to happen. We were being displayed, if you can believe it. Phil and I's wings, Techno's unique heritage, and Wilbur's rarity were all special to them. Sometimes they would knock you guys unconscious, they probably did the same to you guys too, and take me away. One time though, they were going to- they were going to take you guys. I didn't like that. They must've thought they knocked me out or thought they could take me if I tried anything but they underestimated me. I attacked them. I probably fought off a good deal of them before- before-" I stop tears starting to leak past my shuttered eyes.

"Before what?" Wilbur asks. Techno stays silent beside me, he knows what I mean. He can explain it way better than I could. I nudge him.

"Before I woke up. They were hurting Tommy and I saw red. I didn't kill anybody but I did severely injure several. They had me restrained and Tommy then Phil woke up." Phil's silence is not unusual in these kinds of scenarios, so when he speaks up it startles me.

"After I woke up, I basically decimated them. Like Techno said, nobody got killed, at least not directly by me, but I made them wish they hadn't ever touched us. I grabbed you three and flew out of there. I couldn't get Techno and Tommy's restraints off there so when I got to a place where I could, you had woke up by then and the rest is history." Wilbur stares in shock at the ground.

"So that's why when Tommy said he fought off a bunch of mobs with a stone hoe, you weren't surprised."

"Yeah, kinda. The only real shock I had was that it was a stone hoe, not a wooden one."

"You overestimated how prepared he was?"

"If you say it like that..." I shiver.

"It's cold down here."

"Now that you mention it, it is, isn't it?" Techno states. Phil lays a hand on my head and Wilbur on Techno's.

"I think you've both got a mild fever. Or hypothermia, honestly, I'm not so sure myself. Wilbur, how you feeling?"

"My head hurts a bit, otherwise I'm fine, I think."

"So if I were to say to check our temperatures yourself, you would be able to safely judge?"

"Uh yeah? Why? Do you have a fever?"

"Maybe." I look at Phil, he does look a little pale. I cough. "You good, mate?"

"Just fine." Wilbur feels our foreheads. 

"You all do seem to-" Wilbur stops and looks at Phil's foot. "Phil, you're bleeding!"

"So I am. You should probably fix that. Looks infected."

"You think?" 

"Phiill, I'm cold." I complain. Techno just pulls me closer into his side. Phil manages to wrap an arm around me and pulls himself close.

"I think Wilbur's got a problem, mate, we should leave him be."

"Okay, dad." Techno and I mutter. Wilbur looks frantically between the three of us.

"Please tell me you're only sick and you don't have infections."

"Can't tell you that, don't know ourselves." I say.

-----

Wilbur POV

Phil's jagged wound runs up his leg and looks about three inches long. Probably needs stitches. Tommy and Techno just look tired, thankfully. "Phil, aren't you the one who checked Tech and Tommy's wounds?"

"Yeah."

"Are they good?"

"Don't know, mate, just give me a couple minutes..." Phil lays his head on Tommy's shoulder and both sets of wings hang more limply on top of us.

"This is exactly what I wanted. Thank you oh so much you three. First, we go mining, then Tommy falls in a hole crawling with mobs, next the entire cavern falls on our heads and we somehow manage to survive, and finally, you three are all out of it." I go to stand up but Tommy's wings pull me back down.

"Don't go. I'm sorry."

"Toms, I really don't know what to do. Phil, give me Tommy's coms." Phil passes it with little qualms. I look at the time of last received message. One day ago. "Okay, we just need to last another day, think we can manage that?" All three shrug. "Wow, soo helpful, guys."

"No problem, Wil." Phil says.

"I- I don't even know what to do with you guys. Can't you just slip into a hybrid mode or something?"

"Tech and I are too awesome to go into-" Phil's hand goes through Tommy's hair, and Tommy shuts up.

"Yeah, sure about that mate?" Phil laughs. "Your turn, Techno."

"I think I'm good." Techno makes a move away from Tommy and the boy whines.

"Don't leave. Flock stay? Want flock." Techno freezes before pulling Tommy closer to him. I roll my eyes.

"You guys are so sappy. Phil, let me see the wound." I grab Phil's leg and inspect it. It doesn't look infected, just really dirty. I grab my canteen to pour it over Phil's wound but Techno grabs my hand and gives me his. I roll my eyes again. "Sappy." Techno grunts and goes back to talking to Tommy and Phil. I pour the water over Phil's wound and he hisses. Techno and Tommy immediately freeze. I ignore it and wrap the wound in an extra cloth I thought to bring. "Now- oomph!" Tommy grabs me and pulls me to him. Phil and Tommy's wings are still covering us. I hear small rocks hitting their wings. "I can just phase through your wings, you know that right?" They ignore me and I see Tommy wince as a rock strikes a sensitive spot. "Is the cave collapsing again?" I instantly phase out of the circle, much to everyone else's displeasure and see that cave is not falling down on us again. "What-?" A figure stands in front of me, then another and another.

"We didn't want to wait any longer. Are you guys okay?" Scott says as he walks toward me.

"Tommy and Techno got broken legs, out of the four of us, Tommy's the worst off and I'm the best off. Phil's got a nasty cut and both Phil and Tommy's wings are pretty beaten up."

"I thought Elytrians and Avians..." Tubbo starts.

"Yeah, they only risk their wings for flock."

"Tommy's never risked his wings for me, his life, yes, but never his wings." Tubbo looks to Ranboo. 

"Weird, whatever. Got a way to get all of us out of here? I think all three of them are in a mode." The others all wince. They're used to Phil's bird modes, but few have ever seen Techno or Tommy's before. And those who have probably still have scars. Those two are very protective when they're in a mode and if you don't appear non-threatening, they will attack.

"Yeah. You might have to sit with them though because we brought a big wagon." I wince, remembering the last time I was in a wagon.

"Got something else?"

"No. Why?"

"Later, let's get them out first." I approach the feathered enclosure, "Guys, help's arrived, can you come out?" Phil's wings move away to reveal Tommy's wings underneath. Tommy's wings don't move. "Tommy, you gotta let us help you. If not anyone else, let me help you." Tommy's wings fold up painfully slow and I hear the gasps around the room as others see the state of the three. "Phil, can you walk?"

"Yeah, mate, let's get out of here."

Chapter Text

Tommy POV

Wilbur may have convinced me to move my wings, but he will not convince me to release Techno or Phil. Phil has already moved away from me, so Techno is my only option. I hiss at anyone besides Phil or Wilbur who comes near. "Toms, come on, Phil and I can't carry you and Techno." Wilbur pleads. "Let Tubbo and Ranboo carry you guys." I look hesitatingly at Tubbo and Ranboo and nod slightly. They approach slowly and lift Techno and I. Well, mainly Techno, since I'm practically sitting in the man's lap.

"Okay, let's go." After walking a small ways, I see a dark tunnel. I release a distress call and Phil and Wilbur turn instantly as Techno pulls me tighter against him. 

"What's wrong, mate?"

"Tommy?" Wilbur and Phil say at the same time.

"Dark, scared, bad, dark, bad!" I exclaim. 

"Techno, cover his eyes." Phil says. Techno obeys and covers my eyes. I don't absolutely freak out but I am not content either. I feel the stone walls brush my wings. I flare them up. "Tommy, it's ok, we're not going anywhere." Phil and Wilbur start talking to me about the most random of things and I forget where I am. I add to their conversation in a chirp or whistle. They'll laugh and I'll hear a couple unfamiliar laughs before Phil and Wil begin another absurd conversation. When Techno finally uncovers my eyes, I see the sun. I glance around and calm when I see familiar surroundings.

"Wilbur, will you guys be alright if we-" Jack asks Wilbur about something really long and specific so I tune him out. I tune in when I hear Phil's anxious tone and feel Techno tense. "there's not a cage." I instantly look at Jack and he's standing by a wagon. I screech and lunge to get away. Everyone turns to me. No, no, I can't go back! "Set them down quick!" Tubbo and Ranboo carefully place Techno and I on the ground and I feel Sneeg tug on my armsleeve. I move carefully so as not to hit the man on accident. I grab Sneeg and place him behind me. 

"Techno, I can't go back! No! You guys promised that I wouldn't have to go back! No! No, no, no no no no. I can't go back, I can't! They threatened to take my wings!" 

"Tommy, they're not here to get you. It's okay!" Wilbur says as he and Phil kneel next to Techno and I. I struggle and fight them before I apparently piss off Techno. 

"Tommy, stop." I freeze before looking fearfully into the man's eyes. "Good. Now, I'm going to cover your eyes with this cloth." He does as he says and I freak out again. "No, stop. They can't get you while you're in my arms, okay? I won't let them get you. They're not here. That wagon is going to take us home, okay? Are you calmed down?" I nod. "Good. Phil and Wilbur will be close by and I'll be right here, okay?" I nod and let them pick me up. The cloth over my eyes is strangely calming. "Birds, cover their eyes for a minute and they become docile as a kitten."

"They do not!" Phil says. I must've been placed in the wagon because a sudden movement and then we're moving.

"Wilbur cover Phil's eyes with a cloth."

"Now, I am not an experiment for you to-" Phil cuts off suddenly as presumably, Wilbur places a cloth on his eyes.

"See?"

"Mhm." Is the last thing I hear as I drift off.

-----

Techno POV

Really it's Phil's fault for saying that. The man is extremely docile and probably will not be so when we remove the cloth later. I look at Wilbur with an amused look. "Come on then, old man, we're all tired." Wilbur guides Phil over to me and we fall asleep almost identically to the way we would when we first met all those years ago...

-Time skip-

When I wake up, Tubbo is sitting across from us. "Hullo." He jumps. 

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Sore. How far are we from home?"

"Not far. Tommy's house is the closest of you four's but we don't know how we're going to get you all up there. Unless you'd rather..."

"Nope! Tommy's house is just fine!" I say bluntly. Tubbo gives me a look. "Anyways, how'd you guys get here so fast? I thought Scott said-"

"Scott is horrible at speed-planning things. He totally overestimated. Never ask him how long it takes to do something. He'll give you the wrong-"

"Tubbo, you have no say in this, you did the same thing just last week!" Scott calls from the front of the wagon.

"What's pulling the wagon?" I ask.

"Horses, what else would we use?"

"Could've used a shulk hybrid."

"This again? It was an honest mistake okay? Anyone would've made the same mistake."

"A bee hybrid living like a shulk hybrid? I wonder how no one noticed before I did."

"Shut up." Tubbo, Scott, and I talk for a while before Tommy and Wilbur wake up. Tommy never did sleep well at low altitudes. He's scared Phil a couple times during one of their flying lessons. Tommy sometimes would just fall asleep while gliding and try to crash into something, leaving Phil, Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo, or I -depends on who's there with Tommy and Phil- to catch him.

"Tech? Why's it dark?"

"You've got a cloth over your eyes, kid."

"Not a kid." He protests sleepily. "Why do I have a cloth on my face?"

"Helps keep you calmer."

"It does? Where's Phil and Wilbur?"

"Right here, Toms. Phil's still asleep."

"Not for long though." I mutter as Phil starts to wake.

"Wil? Tech? What did you two s---ts do to me?" Phil reaches up to pull the cloth down and I grab his hand. I'd rather not deal with the after-effects of this just yet.

"You said that nothing would happen if we covered your eyes and well, you were wrong. Both you and Tommy are as docile as kittens right now."

"I am not!" Both complain. Wilbur and I exchange glances. Both reach to pull the cloths down. 

"You guys need to keep them on because we don't know how you'll react when they're off. Just leave them on, we're almost to Tommy's house?" I look to Tubbo who nods. "Yeah."

"We should do this more often, Techno, look, I can pet Tommy's hair." Tommy half-heartedly shoves Wilbur's hand away.

"Phiill, I don't want to wear a blindfold."

"Neither do I, but what can we do?"

"Take them off anyway?"

"Could, but what if we attack Techno and Wilbur?" Tommy tenses. Clearly, no one thought of that because Tubbo looks concerned.

"Maybe we should wait until Jack and Ranboo catch up before taking off the blindfolds." Tubbo mentions.

"Yeah. Maybe this wasn't the best idea..."

-Another Time Skip-

We arrive at Tommy's little house. It appears as though there's only one bedroom. "You guys don't mind sharing a room, do you?" Ranboo asks.

"No, we'll be fine. Can we take the blindfolds off now?" Tommy complains.

"Tubbo, Ranboo, be ready to grab Tommy, Jack and I will handle Phil, if need be." Scott says. "Wilbur, Techno, pull off their blindfolds on three. One, two-" I pull off Tommy's blindfold simultaneous as Wilbur pulls Phil's off. Everyone's tense ready for whatever the two winged hybrids would do. Unexpectedly, they just glance at us before falling asleep. 

"What?" Nearly everyone voices.

"Birds, what can I say?" I joke. Everyone laughs until Phil and Tommy wake up, demanding to know what was so funny.

"Do you even remember what happened?" Wilbur asks between laughs.

"Something happened?" Tommy asks, looking at Phil.

"Last I remember, Techno blindfolded you and made some comment about birds."

"Yeah, I said, 'Birds, cover their eyes and their as docile as kittens.' You thought I was wrong so Wilbur and I proved we were right."

"Oh. Well, if the covering the eyes thing worked on Tommy and I, would the smoke thing work on Tubbo?" Tommy asks, clearly wanting to start mischief. Ranboo and Jack turn to Tubbo, who darts away. Ranboo and Jack follow. 

"Can you guys manage it from here?" Scott asks, "I probably should watch them and make sure nothing too crazy is going to happen."

"Yeah, go on." I tell Scott. Scott leaves after the other three and I turn to Wilbur. "How are we going to get inside?"

-----

Wilbur POV

"Yeah. Techno lean on Phil, I'll carry Tommy." We make it inside and Tommy directs us to his room. Which wasn't hard to find. "This is small. There's literally like three rooms."

"I don't need much space to eat, pee, and sleep by myself, do I?" I lay Tommy down on the floor and Techno sits next to Tommy. Phil starts to make a nest and I go to grab some food. I look in Tommy's small fridge and see- 

"Nothing?" I walk back to Tommy's room, Techno and Phil are confused, but not Tommy who looks away guiltily. "Where's all the food, Tommy?"

"I- uh, don't eat much?"

"What?!" The other three of us shout.

"I have a small garden out back, and there's some carrots in there for Techno. You and Phil can eat the chickens, I guess. Just don't eat all of them please. I need some eggs." Phil and I go out to see the very small garden of potatoes, wheat, and sugar kane. There's a much larger carrot farm, even though most of the carrots aren't grown yet. There's a chest near the entrance of the carrot farm and I look inside. There's several gold nuggets and a crafting table is inside the door, according to Phil.

"He keeps the carrots out here for Techno. He doesn't even have gold tools. How lonely do you think he's been up here?" Phil asks. "He shouldn't live out here by himself. Why is he?"

"I don't know Phil. We'll have to ask him about it later. Grab some carrots and I'll get some wheat. Then I'll cook up some chicken for us. Sound good?"

"Sure, mate. Why do you think that Tommy moved out here?"

"I don't know, Phil. I really don't know."

-----

Tommy POV

After Wilbur and Phil left, Techno and I started playing rock, paper, scissors. The loser had to get Phil and Wilbur stuck in hybrid mode. I'm not sure why we chose that as the punishment but we did. It was neck and neck and I had just won when Wilbur and Phil walked in. I gave Techno a look and scooted away. "Traitor."

"Nope. You can deal with them."

"I'll convince them to feed you chicken."

"Oh, the horror. Actually, did you know that chickens are cannibals?"

"What?"

"Yeah, they-" Phil and Wilbur walk in with their food. I scooch farther away from Technoblade as he eats his food.

"Tommy, why are you-" Phil starts to ask as I scoot even farther away and eat the bread, but Techno makes a grunting noise that has both Phil and Wilbur turning to him. "What'd you say, mate?" Techno does a mixture of a piglin squeal and a rabbit squeak that sounds like a distress call from both worlds. I cover my mouth as Wilbur and Phil instantly start fussing over him. I wave at him when he turns to glare at me. Soon, they've gotten Techno in a mode. Time for me to go. I slowly make my way out the door to my fireplace. I laugh softly when I hear them talking in there. As much as I love to hang out with them, I hate hanging out with them when they're in modes.

I sit by the fireplace, unknowing of the plotting they are doing in my bedroom. I hear the door open and I turn to see Phil walk towards me. He has an evil grin on his face. Uh oh. "Now, Phil. We can talk about this, see Techno-" Phil picks me up and carries me back to my room. "Techno, you tattled."

"Did not."

"Did too. Tattle-tell."

"Am not." He huffs angrily. "Your fault. You left."

"Yeah, so I didn't have to deal with this."

"Chick leave?" Phil chirps. I groan.

"No, you're doin the thing again."

"What thing?" Wilbur walks towards Phil and I. Phil is still standing, holding me like a little kid.

"Phil, put me down!"

"No, chick stay."

"I'll stay in the room." Apparently, that's not good enough for Phil because he places me in his nest. "Phiill, you know I don't like it when you're like this."

"Too bad." Techno huffs. "Runt left. Runt can live."

"No! Runt cannot live like this! Mans needs his space sometimes!" I slap away the hands that reach for my hair. "Guyss, I don't want toooo."

"Too bad." Wilbur echoes.

"Safe, chick. Chick flock?"

"That made little sense, Philza Minecraft. Even if it made complete sense, I still don't think I'd want to."

"Chick hug." Phil leans in to hug me and crushes me with his strength.

"Phil, you're doin it again." I gasp out. Phil loosens his grip but does not let go. I can practically hear (my brothers) the other two get jealous. Why would they get jealous over me? They hardly ever want to hang out anymore. "Why is it now that you guys want to hang out? What happened between a week ago and today? You guys are always busy or hanging out with someone else. What's changed?"

"Runt lonely?"

"Chick scared?"

"Baby alone?" 

Three different people, three different languages, the same message being portrayed. "No! Leave me alone! I don't know what you want from me!" I will not cry. Big men do not cry. Then I realize what Wilbur said. "I am not a baby!" They all chuckle. "You guys are all adults! Why aren't you acting like- hey!" Techno rips me from Phil's arms and crushes me. I smack him and he releases me into Wilbur's arms. "Guyss, stop it! I'm not a toy you can pass around!" Phil and Wilbur laugh. Techno gives me a wink. Oh. "Techno, is that a cut on your head?" Techno glares at me again. Clearly, he had almost gotten out of his mode and was not happy to have attention centered on him once more. While Wilbur and Phil are distracted once more, I make a slow and sneaky break for it.

"Tommy's leaving again!" I hear Techno call when I finally get to the front door. Uh oh. I drag my self outside and flutter my wings. They lift me up onto the roof and I cover my mouth when Phil and Wilbur come outside looking for me. 

I can see them getting more and more worried as time goes on. I may not be able to fly for miles and miles like Phil can, but I can fly far enough to get on top of most things. By the time that Phil finds me on the roof, the stars have come out and I get distracted by their beauty. "Tommy! Wil! He's up here!" He turns to me. "How'd you get up here?" I giggle and flutter my wings. I fly carefully down to the ground, much to Phil's horror and my humor. I get distracted by Phil's face and land a little too hard on my back. 

"Ow." 

"Tommy!" Wilbur and Phil are not going to like this. I'm in trouble.

Chapter Text

Phil POV

"Tommy!" I call as he lands on his back. This little gremlin child...

I swiftly kneel next to Tommy and he sits up. "Okay, so this isn't what it seems-"

"It seems like you flew off the roof then misjudged how far the ground was and landed on your back so that you wouldn't land on your legs." Techno says from the door.

"Techno! You are most definitely not supposed to be out here."

"I wanted to see what the ruckus is about. Even with you and Wilbur pouring health and regen potions down Tommy and I's throats we won't be healed until next week at the earliest."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Wilbur asks.

"I wasn't going to sit in bed and listen to you guys search for Tommy when I could come sit in the doorway and watch as you looked everywhere but where he was."

"How'd you know he was on the roof?"

"Heard him plop up there."

"And you didn't tell us?"

"You weren't exactly there to tell me and someone took my communicator. As well as Tommy's, so if he had gotten into trouble, he wouldn't be able to call for help."

Wilbur and I are silent. The cut on my leg burns with the stretching of my skin. "Okay, time to go back to the nest before I open up the wound again. Wilbur, help Techno." I pick up Tommy, much to his chagrin, and carry him inside. "Why is it that you and Techno always fight over who has to be with Wil or I? Do you love us that much?"

Tommy looks away and I laugh. He glares up at me. "You ba----d. Evil. New Philza Minecraft arc! Evilza? I think that may become a reality! Oh how my heart trembles at the thought!"

"You think I'm evil now? Wait until I get you and Techno in the nest. I might put a shirt over you two like I used to do to Techno and Wilbur."

"Could you actually not do that?"

"I wasn't planning on it, mate. I know why that always scared you. I wasn't always unconscious when they took you, just paralyzed. Nothing I could do to save you or Wil or Tech. Haunts my nightmares to this day."

"I didn't know you were awake. Did they do it to you too?"

"Nothing like what they did to you mate. They just restrained me and paraded me around. Once they tried to sell me to a zoo but I said I would refuse to eat without you three there with me. They didn't like that and backed out of the offer. Force-feeding can only go so far, mate."

"You- you could've had a better life but you chose to stay with us?"

"Well, mate, to be truthfully honest, Wilbur, Techno, and I were a package deal. Those evil people wouldn't let go of you. I don't really want to talk about it anymore. Why don't you tell me why you kept apologizing when I first woke up after the avalanche."

"I-I- erm. We better get inside before Wil and Techno get worried." He's avoiding it. Why? I will drag the truth out of this gremlin even if it means I have to threaten him with a week in birdbrain mode. Which never ends up well because Tommy gets clingier the longer he's in birdbrain mode. Once he was in it for two weeks and he had to have two of us within three feet of him at all times or he would refuse to do any kind of self-care. Techno is better about not being clingy but Tommy is naturally clingy and it's doubled when he's in birdbrain mode.

"Tommy, you can't keep avoiding it forever. One day, I'll get the truth out of you even if I have to get you in birdbrain mode for a week or more." Tommy's face tells me I probably won't have to do that.

"Fine. Find a time where I don't have to talk about it in front of the other two and I'll tell you about it."

-----

Tommy POV

"Good. Now, let's go inside. I'll find a way to get some time to ourselves." Phil carries me inside and lays me in the nest with Techno. The man looks down at me as I'm placed down in the relatively small nest thanks to the lack of blankets that I own. "Jack and Scott are coming by tomorrow with more blankets and pillows from our houses. Wil and I are going to go get more food. Please don't do anything while we're gone." Phil and Wilbur head outside.

"So Technoblade, what were you up to while I was gone?"

Techno tells me how he, Wilbur, and Phil went on an adventure with Tubbo and Ranboo and I try not to let my disappointment show. They don't like to take me anywhere because well, everyone knows that I tend to freak out if I see a scientist instead of playing it cool. See I met hundreds of scientists and I can easily identify when someone is one. Well, one that'll hurt me. So when they're going on an undercover mission or they're exploring, I never am allowed to go unless I complain and threaten to run away. Not that I would. Without the support of my friends, I don't think I would last by myself out there for long. Yeah, I could live by myself just fine but I need my friends and family. I realize that I just called them my family in my thoughts without my birdbrain saying flock. A breakthrough! Not that anyone needs to know about the breakthrough at least. "So yeah. What'd you do?"

"I already told you, thanks for asking anyway."

"I don't think you did."

"I did. I told you I went out to get wood for my project remember?"

"No, you did that a couple weeks ago. We went on the adventure last week. What'd you do last week?"

"Oh. Well, I asked Niki where you guys were, she told me and I decided I would start working on the plans for the project while you guys were gone. She said she didn't know when you'd be back and I thought maybe I should build it away from here so you wouldn't see but you got back sooner than anyone expected and scared the crap out of me. That's what I did."

"That sounds boring."

"Eh. Not like I had anything better to do. Needed done."

"You're more the procrastination type of guy."

"So?"

"So, you doing something that could've waited doesn't sound like something you'd do."

"I can prove it! Here-" I pull out the plans for the build and I notice Techno's eyes widen slightly.

"Wow, impressive, kid."

"I am NOT a kid!"

"Sure, Tommy, suuure."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean."

"I- what?"

"Exactly."

"I'm confused now."

"I can see that."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me what you guys actually did while you were out."

"Tommy, you know-"

"I know you're lying or at least understating the things that happened. I never get to know what happens outside the boundaries. I haven't been outside the border since that first time I went with you guys, you know that? I have never gotten to go on an adventure ever! You ever think of me while you're gone!" Techno looks away. "Exactly-"

"Yes. I have. I've wanted to bring you. I thought that you never wanted to go, so I never asked."

"I- If you hang out with me more often, I can get you golden carrots!" I exclaim. "I can pay you for your time! We can go on adventures within the borders!"

"Tommy-"

"I have the stuff to make twenty golden carrots in a chest by my carrot farm!"

"I- I thought you were working on your plans that entire time?"

"I was. I couldn't sleep at night and I couldn't focus on my handwriting so I would mine. On me, I have enough gold to make five golden carrots if I could get a hold of some carrots! So what do you say?"

"Tommy, you don't have to-"

"We're back!" Wilbur announces as he walks in. My mind shifts from getting Techno to hang out with me to Wilbur and Phil bringing food. With someone else in the house, I feel more of an appetite.

"Wilbur! Phil! You're back! Good, I'm starving over here. I can feel my bones."

"So can I." Techno mutters.

"What was that?" I turn to him, not quite hearing what he said.

"I said, so can I." I look aghast as Wil and Phil come into the room.

"You can what?"

"Feel Tommy's bones through his shirt."

"It's that bad? Why didn't you tell us mate? I know that sometimes it's hard to feel hungry without people around. I get the same way sometimes."

"It's not sometimes, it's all the time." I whisper under my breath. I reach for the food and try to ignore the worried glances sent my way. "Looks good! Thanks for helping out! We should move to one of your guys' houses. They're probably bigger and more comfortable than mine."

"No, it's fine. We'll stay here. Besides, with you and Techno unable to run. We can coerce you into snuggling." Wilbur has the look. I nudge Techno and he nudges back. We're in deep trouble once again. How are we going to get out of this one?

-----

Techno POV

See, when Wilbur gets into one of these moods, I usually hide from everyone, never knowing who's a spy for Wilbur and who is not. Tommy is usually a safe bet, but I struggle to tell when he's not birdbrained and when he is. When he is birdbrained, Wilbur sends him after me to get me to come out. I don't even let Phil in anymore because Wilbur has somehow convinced him that when Tommy and/or I are out of it, it's more fun and chaotic. Which is not untrue, it's just not fun. Now, the problem that I have now is that I can't really hide from Wilbur or run. With both of us having broken limbs, I can't convince Tommy to help me even if I wanted to. He can't help and Phil won't help us. He'll help Wilbur. The traitor, betrayed!

"Okay, we have you trapped here. You can't run this time, Technoblade."

"Watch me." I stand on my one leg and leap at Wilbur, he screeches. 

"Techno! Wilbur! Stop it!" Phil shouts at us. He grabs Wilbur and drags me off him. 

"Party pooper." I say.

"Knock it off. In the nest, both of you." Wilbur helps me back to the nest and Tommy sits there with a smirk on his face.

"Little gremlin." Wilbur and I say.

"I am not little!"

"Right. And I'm not Wilbur." I say. Wilbur laughs and Phil chuckles. Tommy turns red, presumably and predictably, in anger.

"Maybe you aren't. Maybe you're doing the thing again where you and Wilbur try and confuse Phil. You've done it before..."

"What? How could they? They don't even look..." Phil stops and looks between Wilbur and I. I laugh and take the fake wings off. Wilbur bursts out laughing. "When? How?" Tommy, Wilbur, and I burst out laughing. I sit carefully down next to Wilbur and take his fake bandages off. 

"We're extremely good at it. You have no clue how many times we've done this to you, old man. You fall for it every time." Wilbur laughs as he lets his wings out from beneath my cloak. I take the cloak back and we laugh at Phil's confusion.

"That's it you're all three grounded until your legs are healed."

"What?!" We shout. "Dadddd." 

"Nope, you brought this on yourselves."

"Can we at least have a snack?" Tommy pleads with his puppy eyes. Phil sighs.

"You better be here when I get back." He leaves and we nod. Wilbur gently pushes Tommy out the window and he starts flapping. Then Wilbur helps me out and we make a beeline for the trees. Tommy grabs me from Wilbur and flies to the top where we have our old treehouse. Wilbur scrambles up after us. Two men and a sixteen, almost seventeen year old child in a treehouse made by an eight-year old and two twelve-year olds.

"I can't believe this old thing is still here. Is that why you built your house here?" Wilbur asks.

"Kind of. I wanted to be close to one of my last memories of my childhood. Well, the good part of my childhood." I nod in understanding. Wilbur suddenly pales.

"Wait, is that why you two don't like your hybrid modes?" I pause.

"Well, not exactly... I guess we just got so used to it that we- uh-" I look to Tommy.

"We got so used to shoving down instincts that it became a habit?" I nod.

"That's it."

"So when Phil or I make you guys go into hybrid modes, does- does it bring back memories?"

"No, we- I just get uncomfortable." Tommy says.

"Same."

"How long do you think it'll take Phil to find us?" Tommy says when Wilbur's sudden silence prolongs.

"Two seconds." Phil says as he flies onto the platform. Tommy and Wilbur shriek.

"Ha ha, Philllll." I say. "How are you?" I say as Tommy and I slowly make our way towards the edge of the platform.

"Wilbur..." Phil says as he approaches my twin. I wave goodbye from behind Phil's back as Tommy picks me up and flies away.

"We've got like two minutes."

"We can make it to Wil's house, or maybe the top of the Pub. If you want to risk it, it'd be a minute to Phil's old house."

"Let's try that." Tommy flies to Phil's old house and slowly flutters his way to an open bedroom. He falls on the bed just as his wings lock up.

"Are your wings okay?"

"Yeah. They'll be fine. Won't this be the first place Phil checks though?"

"He'll check the forest floor first, then probably my house, some other people's houses, his own house, the Pub, then probably here."

"Okay, how long?"

"Ten, fifteen minutes?"

"That's long enough that I can massage most of the knots loose."

"I can help. Where would we go after that?"

"Dunno, uhh, my old house."

"You have an old house?"

"It's more like my office now but it works as a good hiding place. I even built a hiding place in it as a safety measure. It's a five-minute flight and it's not far from Phil's house."

"Really? Well, it sounds like a good place to hide from Phil's mother-henning."

"Right? I even have a small carrot farm down there, if you're interested in that..." Tommy and I work the knots out of his wings and we're flying out just as the back door crashes open. 

"Go!" I say as Tommy flies towards the ground. I hear more crashing coming from Phil's old house. He's definitely in motherhen mode. Ha ha, sucker. He flies into his office. It's small and looks like it's been trashed. "Phil."

"Yup. Let's get in the hidey-hole before Phil gets here." Tommy presses a button and sits himself on the desk, he reaches underneath and pulls out a set of crutches. "Just in case?"

"I don't believe you but whatever. Hand them here and hop on my back." A door opens as we get situated. I carry Tommy and myself into the small room. Tommy presses another button and the door closes. "Stone door, nice."

"Easily hidden. I just hope Phil doesn't decide to start mining. I have a couple extra coms in here. We can text Phil and tell him that we're hiding from him on purpose." He throws me one and I text him. I get an angry text back.

From Philza to Technoblade

     -Where the h-ll are you and Tommy?

From Technoblade to Philza

     -Hiding.

From Philza to Technoblade

     -You said that, but WHERE are you

From Technoblade to Philza

     -What'd you do to Wil?

From Philza to Technoblade

     -How'd you guys even get out

From Technoblade to Philza

     -You didn't answer my question

     -You answer it and I'll answer yours

From Philza to Technoblade

     -He's VERY grounded

     -You'll wish I did to you what I did to him

From Technoblade to Philza

     -Tommy and I will hide until we're healed and then we'll come out

From Tommyinnit to Technoblade

     -I stole Tom's com, Phil's gone nuts, you hiding?

From Technoblade to (Wilbur Soot) Tommyinnit

    -Yup. What'd he do?

From (Wilbur Soot) Tommyinnit to Technoblade

    -He found duct tape.

From Technoblade to (Wilbur Soot) Tommyinnit

    -oof, imagine. Welp, have fun, gonna go

From (Wilbur Soot) Tommyinnit to Technoblade

    -Noooo don't leave meeeee

    -He's back, ooo he's maddd, you better be hidden very well

I don't bother with a response. "Phil found duct tape."

"Ouch. That bad?" Tommy responds. "I texted everyone and told them not to help Phil. They all sent me 'lol' s or 'got you'. I think we're safe."

"Phil told me that when he finds us, it's gonna be worse than Wil."

"Oohh yeahh, let's not get found."

"Phil's a nut."

"That he is. Carrot?"

"Gladly."

-Time skip- 

Tommy POV

We've lasted about one week, so far. Techno can sorta walk around and I've made more healing and regen potions. "We're gonna beat Wilbur's record at this rate."

"Yup. So, are you going to tell me about the-"

"Nope."

"How many spam calls today?"

"So far it's about ten."

"He must still be deep in his motherhenning then."

"Wilbur said that Phil is feeding him by hand."

"Loser."

"I'm terrified of Phil."

"You should be."

"Do you think he'll get the-"

"We should've thought of that before we left."

"Uh yeah."

"Probably not?"

"That's not helpful."

"We're healing just fine, at this rate, we'll be fully healed in three days."

"Great! Here's your daily dosage."

"Take some of your own too."

"I need to make more."

"I'll tell Phil where you are."

"I'll make more then!" I get right to work on more healing and regen.

-Time skip-

Third person POV

Good news. They made it another week and fully healed themselves. Bad news, Techno went out to grab something from his house and Phil found him. Phil also got more duct tape out.

Chapter Text

Tommy POV

Techno still hasn't come back yet. Did Phil get him?

From Big Man Tommyinnit to Technoblade

    -Did Phil get you?

From (Wilbur Soot) Tommyinnit to Big Man Tommyinnit

    -Phil got Techno. He's got TWO rolls of duct tape.

From Big Man Tommyinnit to Phil

    -How much trouble am I in?

Phil doesn't respond. No one does for a while. Then all of a sudden, I get two messages.

From Technoblade and Wilbur Soot (previously Tommyinnit)

    -Wherever you are, RUN.

From Big Man Tommyinnit to Technoblade and Wilbur Soot

    -Thanks, big bros! Best bros ever!

From Wilbur Soot and Technoblade's new group chat to Tommyinnit

    -Techno snitched. Phil's got his pick.

From Big Man Tommyinnit to Brother's Group

    -Whyyyyy????

I don't look at the response and take my stuff and run. I open the back door of my hidey-hole and run into the forest. I go through the waterfall and-

"S--t!" I whisper when I see a cage. The door slams shut when I try to run out of it. 

From Big Man Tommyinnit to Philza 

    -Help, please, I'm sorry, but help I'm at XXXX-XXX

I hear wing flaps and Phil's bird call. I respond, "Danger! Help! Danger, danger, scared!" Phil rushes into the cave and see me in the cage. I reach for him and he grabs my hand. 

"Safe. Chick safe soon. Save chick soon!" Phil hurriedly picks the lock on the cage and lets me out. I rush out and into his arms. A bullet whizzes by my head. "Danger!" Phil calls and we fly out of the cave. We echo the danger call across the small village of friends and they nod and go into hiding. Most rush to Scott's house on the hill, some go to Niki's place to hide. Phil directs me to his house and I see Techno and Wilbur duct-taped. 

"Danger, hide flock! Hide!" I say as I begin to drag Wilbur and Techno. Phil picks up Techno and I grab Wilbur. I follow Phil as he leads me to a small door. He opens it and I follow him.

"Guys? What's happening?" Wilbur's questions lead my brain in a downward spiral. Suddenly, I'm back in that place. I accidentally throw Wilbur to the ground in my panic. Thankfully, Phil led us to a bigger room so my panicking is clawing the stone walls.

"Danger! Danger! Flock where? Flock gone! Flock flock flock!" I frantically grasp the bars of the cage. I fly as far as I can around the cage, ramming into the sides of it until one of the guards grabs me. "Flock where! Where flock? Flock! Flock gone? Flock left? Flock left me." I say as I let the guard drag me. Except he's not dragging me, he's whispering to me. Shushing me, my brain starts to fall asleep and I cry myself to sleep, wondering why my flock left me.

Phil POV

After Wilbur's innocent question, Tommy went beserk. He practically threw Wil to the floor and started shaking invisible bars. Then he started flying and ramming himself into the walls of my cave. I fly up and carefully stop him from hurting himself. His mood only went down from there. He started asking where we were then... then he started asking if we left him. I hush him and comfort him as silent tears slip down my face. He really thought we would leave him? Soon, Tommy falls asleep and I carry him over by Wilbur and Techno. I can't do anything to Tommy if I wanted to. Techno and Wilbur haven't seen as much as Tommy has. Tommy's trauma has stopped me from giving him the same discipline I have to the twins. There are some disciplines that I don't give to Techno that I do sometimes give to Wilbur. I cut Techno and Wilbur loose and they reach for Tommy.

"What happened?"

"He- he was in a cage when I found him. He texted me his coordinates saying he was in danger and- I swear my heart stopped right then. He turns seventeen in three weeks and I about let him get back into those cruel people's hands. They shot at us and we took off to warn the others. Did you hear what he was saying?" They shake their heads. "He- he thought we left him. He thought- he thought we left him. His flock! I, I don't know. Am I- am I too protective? Am I possessive?"

"Nah, Phil, you aren't. Your bird side, however..." I laugh softly.

"Birds and duct tape aren't good combinations. Especially ones who have overprotective and possessive tendencies." Wilbur jokes. I ruffle his hair and herd the twins, carrying their baby brother, to my nest. It's definitely one of my biggest nests. "Is this where my favorite sweater went?"

"And nearly half of my cloaks?"

"Is that one of Tommy's blankets? No wonder the kid didn't have enough blankets!"

"In my defense, he said I could take one whenever I needed and if I needed a different one just lay the one I took on the table and take a different one. At the time, I thought he meant about my nesting things, but now I wonder if he thought I wanted him to wash my blankets for me."

"He's like that." Tommy shifts and tears slip out of his closed eyes.

"Flock gone? Flock leave? Flock leave? No go! Sorry, sorry, sorry..." He continues apologizing and I realize that this has something to do with the cave thing.

"Flock not gone. Flock here. No sorry." I comfort and Techno and Wilbur echo my sentiments. Tommy slowly wakes up and his eyes are both dazed and dilated.

"Flock danger! Save flock! Flock hurt!" 

"Flock not hurt. Flock not danger. Flock no save." I whisper to him. The poor boy is so scared and terrified of something that's not real. "Tommy, come on bud, snap out of it." Techno perks up.

"Tommy, snap out of it! He'll hear you!" Techno snaps in front of Tommy's face and by one ear. Tommy seems to focus on the snapping and soon he's snapped out of it. He groans.

"Did that really happen? Why do I feel like a wall fell on me?"

"Well, yes that really happened," I explain to Tommy, "you got a nasty flashback or hallucination or something and started to fly into the walls of the cave. One more thing. Why'd you say, 'he'll hear you.'?"

"It- well, it was a thing I used to get Tommy and I used to get the other out of hybrid modes back, back then. Now we don't use it anymore because hybrid modes aren't- well we won't be-" Techno stops and looks at Tommy.

"We won't be punished anymore." Tommy whispers. He launches himself into my arms. "Don't leave, please."

"I won't leave, even if I have to drag you to my house and make you sleep in my nest with me."

"Really?" Tears form in the boy's eyes and I nod. 

"I'll even drag your brothers up here at night if I need to. We won't leave you Tommy."

"All my other flocks left me! It's only a matter of time!" Tommy starts to sob in my arms. I look at the twins and they start to rub his back.

"We won't leave, Toms." Wil says.

"And if they did try to leave, I'd make them come back. We were there for each other in the hardest of times, Tommy. I'll be here for you. After all, we're the Bedrock Bros! Why would I leave you?" Tommy sniffles and turns to look at Techno. An evil grin covers his tear-smothered face.

"Yeah, and we both beat Wilbur's record, and I technically beat yours too! So I'm in first place." Bewilderment must've shown on my face because the three erupt into laughter.

"For what?" I say.

"Whoever stayed away from you for the longest. Wilbur's held first place for about three years. He stayed away from you for a week. Tommy and I made it a week and a day, then you found me. Tommy made it a week and a half. Therefore, he has the first place." Techno states. I sputter and the three erupt into laughter.

Tommy POV

After we finish laughing at Phil, I check my com. One unread text from Scott. "We're good to go, guys. Scott took care of the invaders."

"Wait, invaders?" Techno and Wilbur ask. "Yeah no. You two are staying in here."

"What, why?" Phil and I complain.

"Because-" Wil starts

"You two are grounded."

"What?" Phil and I could be twins for how often we say the same thing simulatneously.

"You two are grounded and are going to stay here for at least three days. Techno and I can bring you food and other things."

"That's just not fair!" I complain. "I thought birds weren't supposed to be in dark rooms for days at a time."

"Oh no." Phil puts his face in his hands, efficiently knocking me off his lap. I fall to the nest and Wilbur sits on me.

"No, it's just not recommended for all bird families. Techno and I aren't half-bird."

"Is this like the blindfold thing?"

"Yup. And we're going to have fun getting blackmail on you two."

"It'll be black alright, just nothing mail-worthy!" I call to their retreating backs. Phil and I exchange looks in the dimly-lit room. "Well, here we go again."