They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 155

Tommy POV:

Tommy wanted to collapse, to fall to the floor and sob, only he couldn't. He didn't have enough room to do that. So, instead, he watched, knowing he couldn't do anything else.

He watched and he sobbed as screams came. Screams of fury mixed in with those of pain, those of children dying trying to defend each other. They had nothing to use. Nothing to fight with, and they were versing older, stronger opponents.

They were doomed, and they knew it, but there was something there, something that stopped them from giving up. It was so heartbreakingly painful. The one thing Tommy was sure had killed Tubbo was once again on a killing spree. These kids had hope. They had it, and it was killing them. If they stopped maybe they would survive.

So many of the different Masked Ones, the audience, had left, uninterested in getting caught up in this. So, when the doors smashed open again, Tommy didn't even bother to look. Until he heard a voice wringing out a phrase he knew well. Someone was here.

"Hands up everybody now!" The voice screamed through the megaphone. Tommy looked now. Looked and saw a familiar uniform. Police. Police were here. Was this nightmare over?

The fighting didn't stop, and so the man lifted his pistol and shot into the air. Meant to be a warning shot, Tommy was sure. He kept thinking that as his vision faded into blackness and the noise around him dulled.

Warning shot... warning shot... warning shot... warning...

Conner POV:

Conner heard the gun shot, and he knew he should stay put. Knew he should let them handle it. Only, his gut told him to go in. His gut told him he was needed. The same feeling that had made him follow Techno, and led him to this place. Something had to be done.

So, he pushed the door open and ran in, following the open downstairs walkway that was clearly supposed to be hidden, but had been left wide open.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

"Help!" A voice called, and Conner ran to it, no longer following the path left by the police.

He found a girl with startling bright green eyes, severely bruised wrists, under a pile of what looked to be rubble of some kind. Conner didn't know what had caused this, but he knew she needed help.

"I'm here, what can I do?"

"Tommy, hey Tommy, please, they want to break him. They are trying to break him, don't let them, please. I was supposed to save him. I failed. I failed and now I don't know what's going to happen to him."

"It's ok! The police are here, it's ok! They'll look after him, they'll find him," Conner promised, and the girl's eyes softened, the panic lessoning somewhat.

"Oh," she sighed, sounding relieved and happy and broken all at once. Just 'oh' so sad and happy and broken. Relieved but scared. Something was wrong here. Something was broken.

"If... if I die here, can you tell him I wasn't lying? Tell him I care about him? Tell him I'm sorry?"

"I don't need to, your going to make it out of here, ok?"

"Ok," the girl sighed, but the urgency, the desperation, the survival need had started to fade.

"Hey, hey, you need to stay awake, ok? What's your name?"

"Drista," she sighed, her voice soft and tired.

"Hi Drista, I'm Conner, we're going to be ok, see? We'll get you to a hospital soon, I promise. Can you tell me your favourite colour? You need to stay awake."

"I've always said green, but I like blue more. Sky blue."

"If you promise me you'll stay awake, we can go see the sky soon, ok?"

"I'll try."

"That's good, that's good," Conner smiled, continuing to ask her questions, keeping her awake and focused on him. He wished he could do more, anything more, but for now, if it kept her alive, Conner would sit here forever asking questions.

When the second gunshot went off, and the roof collapsed down on Conner, he supposed he should've worked out the cause of the rubble pile. Supposed he should have checked it was safe. He hadn't though, had he? And now he was here, barely able to breath, and under a pile of rocks and debris. There was pain everywhere. Conner hated that. Hated that there was no real positivity in this. Hated that it reminded him of Slime's pain.

Words: 750