Chapter Text
He was running.
Adrenaline pumping through his veins. Heat warmed up on his face as he willed his legs to push forward as fast as they could. He could hear a faint yelling coming from behind him. Not close enough to be a concern. Yet.
Tommy dared to take a quick glance behind him, to see just how close the man was getting to him. It was closer than he’d expected him to be. Why was this guy so fast? Perhaps he should be a little concerned.
He needed that asshole to get off his trail before he ends up passing out from over exercising, or something like that. Was that even the right word to use? Eh, he was too preoccupied with, oh you know, getting the hell away from the man currently following after him, to think about using stupid words correctly.
Sure, maybe he had snatched a few coins off of him, but the man had deserved it! It isn’t Tommy’s fault that someone was stupid enough to leave money laying out in the open like he had. Actually, the man should’ve thanked him for giving him one of his very awesome and very infamous Tommy-life-lessons: Never let money outta your sight!
He slipped into a familiar-ish alleyway in a quick motion. That should at least give him a few, much needed, extra seconds. It did not, in fact, give him a few seconds more. He turned a few more corners. Going down every turn he could, to get the man confused.
Tommy didn’t recognize the way anymore, but that was a problem for his future self. He wasn’t even sure the man was still following him.
He just kept running and running and running.
Then.
A few feet away, a loud sound came from above. He didn’t get a clear look at what fell to the ground as the force of the wind caused him to stumble over his own feet and crash down onto the ground.
In a desperate attempt to not fall face-first into the asphalt, Tommy moved his arms forward. Hands and knees met the ground first. Small stones dug into his palms. Silently, he shifted to sit on his ass instead of his knees. Then slid himself backwards to lean his back up against the brick wall. He bent his knees, pulling them up to his chest. He used his dirty jeans to dust off the tiny stones that were digging into his palms.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Tommy turned his head to locate what the hell had fallen from the sky. His eyes landed on huge black wings.
He recognized them instantly. Those sharp-feathered wings could only belong to one person. Azrael. Angel of death. One of the members of the Syndicate.
His eyes widened. Just his fucking luck. If Azrael notices his presence, then Tommy would be completely, utterly screwed.
The villain didn’t seem to have noticed him yet, and he would like it to stay that way. The man was talking quietly to what Tommy guessed was some kind of walkie-talkie piece thingy. He couldn’t catch much of what Azrael was saying.
He turned his head back, pressing it backwards against the bricks. Closing his eyes, he tried focusing on his breathing: Inhale. Hold it. 1 2 3 4. Let it out. Repeat. He kept messing up the instructions, missing a step every time he repeated the steps.
Being too preoccupied with trying to fix his breathing, he didn’t catch the loud thumping coming closer towards him. All the way till the light behind his closed eyelids turned to darkness. Confused, he reopened his eyes. Not his brightest idea. In front of him stood no other than The Blade. Sword in his hand and everything.
Crimson eyes shined through the pig mask, staring right into his soul. Tommy stiffened. The weapon was raised just enough to make him uneasy. Perhaps if the villain before him hadn’t been so close, Tommy would have remembered to not return the eye contact. It was too late now.
Tommy blinked. He kind of got the memo when the tip of the sword moved upwards. He shifted, pressing his palm against the wall to use it to steady himself as he pulled himself up to stand on his legs. He straightened his back to uphold his appearance. Not that it would make much of a difference, but still.
They stood in silence. When Tommy realized this wouldn’t get him anywhere, he took off to run down to the nearest opening. Never mind the fact he had already tired himself plenty for the day and was in no way a match for the huge trunk of a man standing before him. It took approximately ten seconds for The Blade to grab his shirt from behind, and yank him back with ease.
”What are you doing here.” His tone was cold. Demanding an answer. He was terrifying up close like this. Then again, he WAS a villain. Being “terrifying” was kind of his whole brand, he supposed. Tommy made a point to not stare into his eyes again.
“I’m…walking? Didn’t know you owned the alleyway.” He ended up saying. Probably wasn’t the best choice of words, but in the end it didn’t really matter when Azrael suddenly stood behind the other villain. Tommy hadn’t even noticed him walking over to them.
Tommy watched him place his hand on the other villain’s shoulder, making The Blade back up instantly. Azrael moved his attention to him. He didn’t say anything. He stared at the scrawny boy for a moment or two, before signing. He batted his wing to the side, silently telling him to leave.
He nodded his head in reply, quick to understand. He turned and walk away. Increasing his pace moments later. Just in case the villain changed his mind. Behind him, he could hear the two starting to argue. He wasn’t stupid enough to stay and listen.
Even though he got to leave, Tommy still couldn’t wave off the feeling of being watched.
—
He fumbled with his apartment key. It took a good few tries till he finally got it jammed into the keyhole and turned it, unlocking the door. With a sigh, he opened the door and walked in. It wasn’t much warmer inside, to Tommy’s dismay.
He didn’t have the energy to actually think through what had happened. That was tomorrow’s Tommy’s issue to deal with. His favourite version of himself!
He went straight to his room, head first into the pillow. He pulled the sheets all the way up to his chin. The early November weather didn’t give him much hope for what winter would bring.
The tip of his nose was red from the lack of warmth in his apartment. He attempted to blow air up towards his nose, to warm it up a little. It didn’t work. He made a mental note to get the heaters fixed soon.