Chapter Text
Tommy doesn't understand.
It's been days already and the SBI hadn't kicked him out yet. Probably because they're waiting until they reached the federation.
Well, yeah. Tommy can explain away that part. But what he can't explain is how gosh darn caring and doting they are. Not a single day went by where Tommy is not at least checked on or looked over for injuries. Almost like they're treating Tommy like fragile glass. But he's not fragile, he's a freaking nebula phoenix for fuck's sake! Yet he couldn't find it in himself to stop them. After all, this could be his last chance at getting the love he used to have with them.
Now it's just a stupid song and dance and a waiting game. Where Tommy will have to go back to the life he had before the SBI recused him.
. . .
Then again, Tommy should've seen this coming. He shouldn't be surprised that he came to see the SBI crew as flock and now he's going to have to deal with the consequences of it. For the past hour all Tommy could let out were pained chirps and longing croons. The depths of his mind crying out for his flock to comfort him, but he knew that would be impossible. He hasn't lost all his sense of logic.
He knew it's wishful thinking to expect them to come to his aid after lying to their faces. They could even see this as a golden opportunity to study the lows and despair state of a nebula phoenix. Tommy wouldn't be surprised if they did. Besides, that's what everyone does anyway. It doesn't matter that his mind is screaming at him, telling him that the SBI crew are different. But how can Tommy trust his own mind, when it's the same one that forces Tommy to miss the scientists who experimented on him.
Tommy still doesn't understand that part of himself to this day. Why does he miss people who hurt him?
The confusion sent him into more distress and he desperately calls out to his flock. The series of chirps stopped when Tommy covered his mouth to keep the chirps from escaping. He could already be in deep mess, interrupting and bothering the SBI crew's work because Tommy is being a whiny chick. But Tommy's not a chick anymore. He lost that label when the scientists strapped him onto the cold operating table. Clipboards and injections ready to be used.
Tommy thought the memories will never go away. With how frequent they are, Tommy is not even sure what is real and what is not. But he doesn't care anymore, he just wants this stupid pain to end.
He wants to stop missing people who hurt him. He wants to stop clinging onto the faux love that the SBI crew is showing him. He just wants a family to be there for him.
But it never came. Nobody came, with so much black sorrow filling Tommy heart, he slipped into slumber. Waiting and chirping for his flock to come. . .
Guess he really is hopeless.
Wilbur doesn't know how much more of this he can take. It hurts that Tommy seemed scared of them but it also hurts that Tommy is avoiding them like the plague. It feels like they're back to square one all over again. Reminding Wilbur of the first time Tommy aboard the SBI ship. It was just a simple salvage mission on an abandoned ship. All three of them went their desperate ways and navigated the ship. And judging from the amount of rooms and machinery in the ship. Wilbur can also assume that this is some sort of testing facility where anyone can conduct experiments.
Whatever the experiments are Wilbur has no clue and admittedly he was curious to know what they were conducting. Curiosity turns into disgust however, when Wilbur reached a certain room that contained holding cells. All of which were empty except for one cell. That was the day Wilbur discovered Tommy, asleep, weak but alive nonetheless.
Wilbur still struggles to think of what horrors Tommy faced in that ship, and he's not sure if he ever will.
That's why he knows that Tommy's avoidance and fear mean something deeper, he just didn't know what.
The same could be said about Technoblade.
The piglin practically started sparring own his own. Him against a sand bag, trying to not think about the missing the child he's suppose to help get stronger, but if Tommy feels compelled to not approach any of them for help, to approach them and tell them this secret that's been eating him alive for the past cycles. Then Techno considers it a failing in his part. He just wants to know what's going inside Tommy's little head, that way he knows what he could do to help. And if it's a nebula phoenix thing then Techno will become a nerd in that field if it meant he gets to hear Tommy annoying him.
Something that Phil also wanted to do as well. Phil dug up his own childhood research on the nebula phoenix. After the reveal everything clicked in place. Tommy's unusual understanding of avians and elytrians, his natural skill at preening with so much comfort and efficiency. Of course Tommy is skilled and a natural in those things because he himself is a type of avian. A rare creature that others didn't even think existed. Given what they know now. Phil can understand why those scientists in that abandoned ship kept Tommy. It's not because he's human, but because they wanted their sick twisted curiosity about the phoenix to be fulfilled. Even if it meant hurting one in the process.
That's why Phil is glad that they abandoned the research archive of those bastard scientists. Bet, some of the information in their research are not even about helping the nebula phoenix.
Phil searched and searched through his documents but all he could come to was to try and help Tommy like how he would a fellow elytrian. It may not be exact but it could close enough. Phil can let out reassuring croons and chirps to ease Tommy down. Because tense and paranoid Tommy is a heartbreaking sight.
. . .
It happened when Phil was reading through Wilbur's own research about the nebula phoenix while walking down the hallways of their quarters, but again. None of it talks about how to comfort a distressed one. That's how little information everyone had on the mythical creature. Then Phil heard it.
It was a loud thud, and it came from Tommy's room. Phil closed Wilbur's little log and walked towards Tommy's front door. It was so loud that Wilbur and Techno emerged from their rooms to investigate. That's how the three found themselves in front of Tommy's door. Knocking on it three times before Wilbur spoke up.
"Toms? Are you okay in there?"
No answer, and this time. They can't afford to leave him alone now. Not when Tommy is constantly avoiding help he needs for a long while now.
"Tommy? We're heading inside alright?" Techno warns while Phil gets to work on opening the door. The metal doors slides open, and they stepped inside, at least they tried to. The breath was knocked out of them when they saw what's in front of him. Every furniture, every object, every treasured item that Tommy held dear, are no longer where they stood.
Instead they hover in the air with a red aura around them. Spinning around one person and one person only. Tommy, who was curled up on his bed buried in blankets and if Phil paid attention, he's letting out pained chirps. Calling for his family, calling for flock.
"What in the name of Prime is going on?!" Wilbur stammers out as he stepped further into the room, Techno also stepped further but only as a silent observer. He just couldn't find the words to describe what he's seeing or what he's feeling. Phil on the other hand, is barely holding onto himself. Tommy just kept on crying and crying and the louder it got the more Wilbur and Techno understood the depths of the situation in their hands.
Phil didn't think anymore before he can feel his own logic drift away. All he cared about is hiding away his fledgling away from the troubles he faced, tuck him in and stop those pained cries for his flock.
And that's exactly what Phil did.
"Phil?!"
Phil registered Wilbur and Techno's call before he felt his instincts take over for good. First thing Phil did was remove the blankets that covered Tommy, he fought the way his heart broke from how wilted Tommy looked and instead pulled his fledgling in his arms. Then he let out a series of chirps. All saying the same thing.
Safe-Flock-Love
Three little chirps, and all three were not a lie. For a while, all Tommy felt was darkness, he saw darkness and he feels the sense of nothingness. Until he heard the chirps that is. Only then did Tommy registered the feeling of something warm. Akin to that of a mother's arms, and that thought alone had him opening his eyes. Only to be consumed by green, the same green that Phil always wore.
It was Phil who was letting out those chirps, a response to Tommy calling to flock. Calling to family.
And Phil responded, Tommy was not rejected. He wasn't faced with just the echoes of his own calls. And Tommy didn't know what else to do but break. He couldn't remember the last time he was crying out of relief instead of pain, but that didn't matter, not when his flock is there. And to prove to himself that this is real, Tommy returned the hug that Phil gave him. As if things couldn't get any better already, Tommy can feel two other presence in the room.
And said presence joined in the hug, engulfing Tommy in warmth that blankets couldn't ever match. Feeling such confidence from being surrounded by flock, Tommy finally did something he couldn't do ever since he was taken away from his home.
He chirps out Safe?-Flock?-Caretaker?-Love?
And immediately, his caretaker answers back.
Safe-Safe-Love
Tommy chirps again, until he's a chirping mess of happiness and content, and to Phil, Techno and Wilbur. That is more than enough.
They didn't knew how long they stayed in that cuddle pile, but as they did every floating object slowly descended down. Once they were now in the safety of the floor, the red aura faded away. Another hint that it was Tommy's doing all along. To Wilbur it's fascinating, but at the same time, it's also heartbreaking, knowing that the phenomenon happened when Tommy is at his most sorrow. They'll help Tommy more when he's back from his instincts, for now though, Tommy needs this. Needs his family to be there to offer support and love.
Even if it means sleeping together in a cuddle pile.
Techno was the first to wake up, surrounded by his sounder. Who were all still asleep but not for long, Techno was in the middle of checking the security for his comm when he heard shuffling. He'd assume it was Wilbur again trying to kick Techno off the bed again. But when he felt no kick he had to turn to see who it was, and to his surprise. It was Tommy, wide awake and looking terrified.
"Tommy?" The call of his name from Techno is enough to make he boy flinch away, making Techno try and calm the situation before it gets worse.
"Hey, hey it's okay. You're okay." Techno's little mantra worked, because Tommy actually started taking deep breaths to calm down.
"It's okay, Tommy. Is it okay if I. . . Hug you?"
The pause Techno took made Tommy visibly uneasy, but he still nodded and reached out for that hug. Techno is not one for physical affections, only indulging in them when he's deep in his instincts, but Tommy clearly needs the comfort and who is he to deny someone of their necessity? Techno still took extra care in making sure he doesn't engulf Tommy in darkness. He made sure the hug is loose enough for Tommy to let go anytime he wants, but that doesn't seem to be possible with the way Tommy is holding onto him with an iron grip.
Not long after, Wilbur and Phil woke up from their nap as well. With Wilbur frowning when the first thing he saw was Techno and Tommy hugging.
"Awe, I wanted the hug first!" That earned a small smack to Wilbur from Phil. But it also earned a small laughter from Tommy. So it wasn't all that bad.
"How are you feeling mate? Feeling better?" Phil asked, Tommy just gave a little nod but it was enough to satisfy everyone in the room. No, that's not accurate. Tommy cannot be satisfied until he asked the very thing that's bugging him these past few days.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" It came out as a whisper, so when everyone hummed for Tommy to repeat what he said, he did. Even if all he wanted to do right now was be swallowed in darkness.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
Tommy hated the confusion that etched in their faces, because he can no longer tell if they're being genuine or just acting.
"Why wouldn't we be nice? Is something wrong Sunshine?" There's Wilbur again with his concerned voice and little nicknames for Tommy.
So Tommy just decided to rip the band aid off and let the scab bask in the surface "Because I'm a nebula phoenix. And nebula phoenix are only good for experimenting."
Tommy can't understand the anger in Techno's face, or the horror in Phil's and Wilbur's but for some reason, he's not scared of it for once. Probably because it's not directed towards him.
"No Tommy. Nebula Phoenix's aren't just for someone to fullfil their disgusting curiosity." Wilbur took Tommy's hand in his "Nebula Phoenix's are good for creating stars, their good for making us laugh with their silly jokes, their good for helping us learn to appreciate something so fragile yet beautiful. Nebula Phoenix's. . . Are good for their expression of love and willingness to protect those they care about."
. . . Tommy never really thought about it that way, he just assumed that nobody cares about what other things Nebula Phoenixes do. Especially them going feral mode. If all the answers that Tommy gave were unsatisfactory to those scientists, then they must be good for nothing. But why is it so easy to believe in Wilbur's words than listen to those scientists? Why is it so easy. . . To just be a phoenix with no experimentation.
Tommy didn't know that he was crying until Phil cupped his cheeks and wiped the tears away with his thumb.
"Oh Tommy, did you think that we would stop being nice just because you're a nebula phoenix?"
Admittedly yes, and Tommy nods his head and nothing hurts more than to see the painful and distraught faces of his flock the crew.
"I'm sorry, that was wrong of me." Tommy mutters but seems like the crew his not having it.
"No, you don't need to apologize kiddo. We understand why you would think so." Techno says as he let out one of comforting growls he would do everytime Tommy would win against him in a spar. A chuff, that's what it's called right?
"Tommy, I need you to listen to me." Phil spoke up, and Tommy made sure to show that he's focused. But that made Phil smile a little and make Tommy's shoulders and knuckles less tense.
"Whatever lies those scientists in that ship made you believe. Know that it's not true, Wilbur is right. Nebula Phoenix's are more than just species to experiment on. If those scientists wanted to know more about your kind then they should've done it in a way that doesn't involve hurting you."
Tommy nods, making sure to let Phil's word sink in. The captain continues his words.
"And another thing, don't suppress your instincts. Please, we don't like seeing you hurt and suppressing your instincts is the most painful experience ever."
Understatement, but Tommy can see why Phil said what he said. Tommy then muttered a little "Okay."
Before letting out a happy chirp, Tommy had been holding back for so long there's no way he's going to deny an open invitation to communicate in his kind's oldest language. Bonus points when Phil smiled and pulled Tommy into a comforting hug.
"Alright alright. Now it's my turn old man." Wilbur nudge Phil to the side when he pulled away from the hug, giving Wilbur a chance to give Tommy a hug and reaching full circle. It's also this moment that Tommy felt a little silly for doubting his flock, no matter how much they say it's okay. Tommy still feels bad for likening them to those bastard scientists that took him away from his home and freedom. But that doesn't matter now, because he has a feeling that his flock will do everything they can to prove those scientists wrong.
How does he know that? Because that's what family is all about.
"Say, Tommy. If you don't mind me asking, can you make things levitate in the air?"
At this, Tommy perked up and gently pulled away from Wilbur to show his beaming smile "You mean levitation casting? Yeah! I can do that!"
Tommy then started forming gesture with his hands, until they glowed red and a children's book floated in the air. And his crew watched in awe as Tommy did so until he let the object slowly float down the floor. It felt so freeing to finally use magic again after so much time trying to conceal his cherished gift from those scientists. But there are no scientists here, and Tommy vows to never see one again unless they were good scientists. Right now, the only people are the SBI crew. The only ones who deserve to know about the Nebula Phoenix's power.
"Sorry, I couldn't make it last long. My mana isn't really strong today." Tommy looked over and faces that were in wonderment a second ago are now filled with confusion and curiosity. Especially Wilbur.
"Ma—na?" Wilbur sounded out, like the word is foreign to him.
Oh, right. Aliens are not really familiar with magic and mana artifice. But that's okay! For Tommy's is there to teach them the ways of the Nebula Phoenix. As a thank you for offering Tommy the one thing he wanted most in the world.
A family.