hi :)
the chapter title is from warsaw since i was listening to the album as I wrote the second half of this chapter
i hope you enjoy since it's a bit of a longer chapter
TRIGGER WARNINGS: suicidal thoughts, panic attack, wounds, past abuse mentions (?)
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Tommy jolted awake. He felt funny, his head felt heavy, as if someone was keeping him pinned down. He felt the world around him. It was soft and cushiony. There was a light weight on top of him and Tommy opened his eyes to the darkness in the room, not a single window in sight. It felt too familiar.
Tommy quickly sat up. His head pulsed unevenly. Dark walls, a single bed, and the only things missing were the chains. Where was he? It felt too familiar to his basement, Dream's basement. He recalled his memories. He remembered talking to Wilbur, he remembered making a latte at the Diner. Tommy paused. He put his fingertips into his thigh, digging them in the area of his wound. Pain rushed down his leg. He began to panic. Has Dream found him? How?
"Let me out!" He cried. He wasn't bound to anything, his wrists were free, but yet his mind played tricks on him. He kicked, he screamed, and he cried. A hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed the boy by the shoulder. Tommy turned in fear.
"Hey- hey- hey, you're okay." It was not Dream. Dream would never talk to him like that.
"Dream?" Tommy quivered. The hand tightened and so did Tommy's chest.
"No- No? It's me, Wilbur." The voice soothed. Tommy felt confused.
"Wilbur?" Tommy whispered. He saw the man's face in full. The darkness around him adjusted itself in Tommy's vision. The man had eyebags under his eyes which were filled with concern.
"You took a nasty spill, what- what happened?" Wilbur asked. He turned on a lamp beside Tommy. The light revealed he was in a bedroom. The walls were bare and there was a single window with blinds that stuck from the top to the bottom like glue. The room was empty, it had a door to his left that led into a sink and a toilet.
"Where am I?" Tommy asked. He sat up in the bed, curling the blanket with his fingers.
The door burst open to reveal a half-awake Phil in full plaid pajamas. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before his eyes dawned on the two of them.
"I heard screaming. Oh- you're awake." Phil walked to the side where Wilbur was standing. A chair was disposed of on the side. Tommy assumed that was where Wilbur had slept.
"You're at our house. We didn't know where to take you, so this is our guest bedroom." Wilbur explained softly. Tommy hummed in response. Wilbur looked at him cautiously before standing up and walking to the bathroom. He came back with a cup of water in one hand and a few pills in the other.
"Do you feel any pain? I disinfected the wound and bandaged it, but the pain will remain until it's healed." Phil explained, Wilbur handed him the pills. Tommy plopped them in his mouth and took a swig of water to swallow them down.
"Thank you for taking care of me," Tommy politely said. It was too quiet, Tommy didn't like it there.
"It's no problem mate. How did you get that wound? It looked pretty serious." Phil asked. Tommy's eyes darted around the room, but he stayed silent. What sort of lie could he come up with for a wound that big?
"I was mugged. Some fuckers stole my wallet and one of them had a knife. Note to self, never threaten a mugger." Tommy laughed. He didn't dare make eye contact. Instead, he stared at the ceiling just above Wilbur's head. Phil glanced at Wilbur, giving him the look that Tommy already knew by heart. The pity look.
"Toms- what really happened?" Wilbur asked softly.
"I just told you! I was mugged." He protested.
"I don't- I don't think I believe you. When you woke up, you had a panic attack. You asked if I was Dream. Who is Dream, Toms?" Wilbur persisted. Tommy clenched his jaw. Dream was nobody, he was an absolute nobody.
"Nobody. I was still dazed." Tommy replied harshly. He stared Wilbur in his eyes.
"Tommy. Is this Dream guy hurting you?" Yes! Yes, a million times, yes!
"No. I don't know what you're talking about. I was mugged."
"Where did the mugging happen?" Phil shot out. Tommy thought for a second.
"In an alleyway." Tommy replied.
"What time?" Phil pestered him and it began to make Tommy's blood boil.
"I don't fucking know, around 10?"
"Why were you outside?" Phil treated him like a dog. Tommy had to leave.
"I have a life outside of the Diner, I don't have to explain it to you." Tommy kicked the blanket off and slid his legs around. His vision blurred but it didn't stop him. He got up and began to walk to the door before Phil stepped in front of him.
"You're not healthy enough to leave on your own." Phil was starting to really piss him off.
"Get out of my way. Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious, but now that I am conscious, I can make my own decisions." Tommy pushed Phil to the side. His arms were not strong enough to move the boulder. Phil stood firmly.
"Oh, here." Wilbur picked up a device from the bedside table and handed it to Tommy. It was his phone, with the entire screen filled with message notifications from Tubbo. Most of them were asking him where he was, and if he was alive. He had over 5 missed calls, and two messages from Ranboo.
"Clingy bitch." Tommy muttered under his breath. Wilbur chuckled, then continued speaking,
"Yeah. Tubbo even tried calling me. I guess he's wondering why you aren't at school?" Wilbur questioned. Phil furrowed his brow and Tommy sat back down on the bed.
He opened Tubbo's messages and shot him a quick message explaining that he had gotten sick and was resting. He then sent Ranboo the same message.
"I didn't realize you were enrolled in the same school," Phil stated.
"I'm not. Tubbo wanted me to go." Tommy explained. He played with the case of his phone that had multiple pictures of him, Tubbo, and Ranboo slid between the case and the back of his phone.
"Oh, do you want me to enroll you? I helped Ranboo transfer schools since he was being bullied." Phil asked. They seemed past the stage of Tommy escaping but he was slowly building a plan in his head.
"No. It's alright. I haven't gone to school properly in a few years." Tommy admitted. He just needed Phil to move out of the door frame, and Tommy could make his great escape.
"Why?" Wilbur asked. He glanced at Phil and Tommy could tell the secret conversation their eyes were having.
"I started homeschool when I was younger. I never went back to in-person schooling. Technically, I've already graduated." The last thing Dream had taught him was how to talk to authorities. Dream had printed out a certificate on the Internet and filled in Tommy's personal information. He told the lie that he was an early graduate, so people would stop asking questions.
"Can you even graduate from homeschooling?" Wilbur asked. Tommy didn't know.
"Of course, dickhead." Tommy snapped. Wilbur put his hands up in defense.
Phil moves out the door frame. He began to open the drawer on the bedside table next to Wilbur. Before Phil can turn around, Tommy stands up and bolts for the door. He shook the door open and fled down the stairs in front of him. He heard yelling from Phil and Wilbur. Tommy navigated through the house. His leg burned, his head felt dizzy, but he pushed forwards.
He finally found the front door. A few coats hung on a rack, and four pairs of shoes sat on a rug in front of the door. Tommy recognized his own beat-up sneakers, he grabbed them by the laces and bolted out the door. He gave a quick glance back, to see three figures standing in the doorway. Wilbur, Phil, and Techno, who must've heard the commotion in the house, and investigated the protests. Tommy turned away and ran.
...
A few hours had passed. Tommy had originally gone back to the diner to grab his vigilante wear, but abruptly left when he heard the front door open to Techno's voice, who seemed to be on the phone with the family. Tommy didn't dare go back to the Diner, at least for a little while. He turned off his phone from any messages or calls. He stood on top of a building, in full vigilante wear.
A voice in the back of his mind called to him.
Jump. No. Tommy was very young.
No one will miss you. Tommy held in a sob.
You can never die. You will watch all of them die. Tommy cried. He cried because he knew it was true. He had never asked for immortality.
"Hey! Oh- oh." A voice called from behind him. Tommy's hair stood on the back of his neck. He turned around to face Bee and Boo. His mask was wet with tears and his goggles were foggy.
"Are you okay?" Boo asked. Tommy held up one finger and turned around, indicating to give him a few seconds to compose himself. He adjusted his goggles, letting the condensation out and his vision cleared. He took a deep breath and turned around, facing the two vigilantes.
"I'm fine." Tommy breathed out.
"Can you- Can you step away from the edge?" Bee whispered. Tommy took a glance back at the glowing city below him. He sighed. It's never my time to die.
Bee ran up and wrapped his arms around Tommy, pulling the golden-locked boy away from the fall.
"I'm sorry." Tommy's voice broke. The tears threatened to fall again.
"You're our friend. Is everything okay?" Bee turned to face him. Tommy sighed. Boo walked over and grabbed Tommy's arm, as well as Bee's.
"Do you mind if I teleport us somewhere where we aren't in the sight of the multiple helicopters flying around?" Boo asked. Tommy laughed, and nodded his head. The world disappeared around him and reopened next to a familiar area.
It was the bench that Tommy had slept on at one point. He thought it was his own special place, but he guessed it could be their special place.
"This is more in the public eye than the rooftop was, Boo." Bee laughed, but the three of them squished in on the small bench.
"Yeah, but it's like two in the morning, no one is out here." Boo joked, Tommy felt an uneasy feeling resting in his stomach. You will watch them all die.
A sob broke out in his throat. Boo and Bee turned to him. He felt smaller. He felt shameful. Tommy shook his head, trying to stop the waterworks show. Bee wrapped his arms around Tommy, pulling the boy in a hug. Boo patted his back. They sat like that for a few minutes before Tommy caved in. He broke his own rules.
"I can't die." Tommy whispered. The truth fell from his lips, turning Bee and Boo's eyebrows to curl and shake their heads in confusion.
"What do you mean Red?" Boo asked.
"My power. I cannot die. I'm- I'm immortal." He spilled out the dirty little truth.
"What? That's real- that's a real thing?" Bee asked nervously. Tommy nodded and then, he started from the beginning. He left out names, but he told the story of his parents, of Dream, of his new start.
"I was stuck in an endless cycle of waking up and experimenting with new ways of dying. So, I left." Tommy finished. He could feel Bee tense with his arms around him. They were both left speechless.
"Red, that's-" Boo went silent, "That's so messed up, I'm so sorry."
"Um, could I ask you something?" Tommy mumbled in Bee's arms.
"Of course." Boo's voice was soft. Tommy felt vulnerable, and maybe he shouldn't have told the city's villains his top secret secret, but what was done was done.
"Could you not tell Hypnos, Zephyrus, or Protesilaus what I just told you?" He didn't need anyone bigger than the three of them, knowing what Tommy could do.
"We would never. Thank you for telling us, Red. I'm sorry you had to use that." Boo rubbed his hand on Tommy's back and Tommy smiled weakly. He put his head on Boo's shoulder.
They stayed like that for a while. But nothing ever lasts forever; a civilian pointed them out and the three of them split off in their own ways. Tommy went back to the now empty Diner. He took off his vigilante gear, and stuffed it into the bottom of his garbage bag and promptly passed out.
...
TommyInnit's Guide To: A Never Ending Life:
1. Wake up in pain
2. Escape worried adults
3. Vent your problems to your villain friends
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please let me know if i missed any trigger warnings, or if there are any you think I should add :0
i hope you enjoyed !!