Chapter Text
Tommy spun his dart gun in his hand as he walked down the street. He was just heading back to his ship from dropping off a bounty. There shouldn’t have been any complications.
That was, until he passed an alleyway and saw it covered in a dripping purple liquid.
That was-
Decidedly not normal.
Tommy paused, backtracking a few steps. His wings were ruffled instinctually. Something seemed… off. He wasn’t sure what it was. Something about the purple liquid was weird.
Something moving caught Tommy’s attention again.
It was-
A person?
There was a person lying at the back of the alleyway, covered in the purple liquid. They were struggling for breath and looked as though they were actively losing consciousness.
“Hello?” Tommy asked, stepping closer. It was hard to see exactly what was going on with the towering buildings on either side blocking out the two suns the planet had.
Tommy blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
It was Foxglove. Purpled. Tommy hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. He hadn’t thought anything of it before, but now he was incredibly concerned.
“Are you okay?” Tommy asked, walking closer still. He expected Purpled to pull a gun on him already, but he didn’t move.
Something must be really wrong.
It looked as though Purpled was hurt. Badly. He was covered in the purple liquid-
Was that his blood?
Tommy recoiled sharply, biting back a yelp as he stepped into a puddle of the liquid.
How had he lost this much blood? Even for- whatever hybrid Purpled was, it wasn’t as if Tommy knew- this couldn’t be normal.
Tommy hesitated for a second, before walking to Purpled’s side. His feathers were sticking up on their ends, but he kept his wings tucked close to his back. He had something more important to focus on at the moment.
He dug in his pocket for a moment, pulling out the emergency roll of bandages Ranboo forced him to carry around. It wouldn’t be enough for the extensive wounds Purpled had, but it should stop the worst of the bleeding.
Purpled had already gone unconscious, which Tommy was pretty sure was really bad for someone who was actively losing blood. It must’ve been from one of Techno’s rants.
Tommy shook his head, focusing on wrapping the worst of Purpled’s wounds. He had to cut off the sleeves of his hoodie to get to them. He hoped Purpled wouldn’t mind, but also didn’t really care enough to think it through. Purpled would probably be too thankful about being alive to notice.
Tommy wondered vaguely how the other bounty hunter had gotten into this mess. Tommy fought a lot of people and got hurt a lot, but it had never been this bad. Purpled had seemed perfectly capable when Tommy had fought him.
He wasn’t sure if that meant he should be more concerned or not.
Tommy didn’t know if it was safe to move Purpled. He didn’t know anything about whatever species Purpled was, but he shot off a text to Tubbo to see if he knew. He tried to be vague about it, since he knew Tubbo was going to ask a million questions and Tommy really just couldn’t deal with that at the moment.
Tommy’s communicator buzzed with an answer almost immediately.
“ y wold I konw? ” Tubbo responded. “ Y do u nede ot kwno?”
“lnog stoyr ,” Tommy typed. He really didn’t want to get into it. “ ny guses?”
“idk” Tommy could feel Tubbo’s annoyance at his refusal to elaborate from across the galaxy. “kinda lokos liek apokemon tho”
“a what”
“pokemon. old erath thign. ‘boo ws spuer into ti. Eevee or smth”
“thts nto heplful” Tommy glanced back at Purpled, but he still hadn’t moved. Tubbo just sent a shrugging emoji, which Tommy rolled his eyes at. What was the point of having a friend with all sorts of connections if he couldn’t find out the species of one specific very secretive person?
Tubbo really had to get good. Skill issue, honestly. Tommy could find out what hybrid Purpled was. If he had the time. But he didn’t have the time. He was busy with- helping Purpled. That.
Tommy frowned as he looked at Purpled again. He looked a little better than before, Tommy was pretty sure, but it was hard to say.
He didn’t look okay, he looked quite unwell, really, with blood and scars and sparse bandages coating his arms, but he didn’t look on the brink of death anymore.
Tommy sat down, careful to keep his wings out of the drying spots of purple blood. The sun was setting, but Tommy didn’t want to leave. Just because Purpled had threatened Tommy’s life with a gun once or twice didn’t mean he was going to leave the other for dead.
A short flash of light shined on the ground next to Purpled. Tommy picked up what was causing it, finding that it was a communicator. It had just lit up with a message from Tubbo of all people, asking if Purpled had seen where Tommy was.
Tommy should probably let Tubbo know he was okay.
But Tommy had access to Purpled’s communicator. He had more fun things to be doing.
He pressed one of Purpled’s hands to the device to unlock it, going to the contacts. Tommy typed in his number, putting it under ‘cool and poggers big man’ because that was simply what Tommy was.
Was it slightly stupid for Tommy to give his number to another bounty hunter who probably wasn’t a very big fan of him? Sure. Was that going to stop him? Absolutely not.
Tommy blinked slowly, setting the communicator down next to Purpled. How long had it been since he last slept? He had just been getting back from a bounty, which meant he hadn’t slept on the ride to the planet. Tommy had already learned his lesson from that after a much too close call.
It had been… too long. That’s how long. Too long.
But Tommy couldn’t fall asleep. Anyone could come down the alleyway if Tommy fell asleep. It was too dangerous.
Even with that in mind, Tommy could feel himself drifting off. He shook his head, trying to stay awake, but considering he couldn’t remember the last time he slept, it wasn’t working well.
Tommy was jolted awake when the moon was high in the sky and there was a knife against his throat.
“What are you doing?” Purpled demanded.
“Making sure you don’t die,” Tommy said, glaring at the figure he almost couldn’t make out in the darkness. He should probably be more concerned that Purpled was holding a knife against his throat, but Tommy honestly couldn’t care. He wasn’t awake enough to be worried about it.
“Did you take off my mask?” Purpled snapped. Tommy’s glare lessened. Purpled’s tone was angry, sure, but it was also scared. Why would it be scared? Sure, Tommy understood keeping his identity a secret, but Tommy already knew Purpled’s name . What else could knowing what he looked like do?
Tommy’s brows furrowed. “No. Why would I do that?”
Purpled immediately relaxed, backing away as he slipped his knife back in his pocket. “What were you doing, then?”
“I told you,” Tommy said, rolling his eyes as he stood up, stretching his stiff wings. They hadn’t enjoyed being pressed against an alleyway wall for hours. He held a hand out to Purpled to help him to his feet. Purpled only looked at it for a moment, before getting up himself.
“I was making sure you didn’t die,” Tommy continued, dropping his hand. He didn't know why he even offered. “You could thank me, you know.”
“Why would you do that?” Purpled asked, squinting at him suspiciously. “I’ve threatened your life multiple times. Why would you help me?”
“Because I wasn’t going to let someone bleed out in an alleyway, bounty hunter or not,” Tommy said, meeting Purpled’s eyes..
“That’s not a good enough reason,” Purpled insisted, antenna flicking. It was annoyedly, Tommy thought. He didn’t really know what it meant. He wasn’t good at reading Purpled’s emotions. “People don’t just help someone who’s tried to kill them like that.”
“I kind of owed you,” Tommy grumbled. As much as he hated to admit it, it was technically true. “For helping me out with Jared. Even though I had it covered. Besides, you haven’t really tried to kill me. You just threatened me with a gun a couple of times. I would’ve been fine.”
“Who?” Purpled asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tommy blinked. “The guy you killed in front of me?”
Purpled seemed to be thinking for a moment, before nodding. “Right. Him.”
“How did you forget that?” Tommy asked, slightly horrified. “You killed someone.”
Purpled shrugged. “Happens every day. I don’t remember all of their names.”
Tommy was… incredibly concerned. That was not normal.
“Thanks, I guess,” Purpled said, folding his arms. He glanced down, looking at his bare arms covered in bandages.
“What happened to you?” Tommy asked before he could stop himself.
“A bounty went wrong, what do you think?” Purpled asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No, I meant your arms,” Tommy said, gesturing. “Why are they covered in scars?”
Purpled was silent for a long moment. Tommy didn’t expect him to answer at all. It had been a rude question, the more Tommy thought about it. It wasn’t any of his business where Purpled got his scars from.
“My brother,” Purpled finally said.
“Your brother did that to you!?” Tommy demanded, louder than he should’ve. What kind of brother would do that to their family?
“Yeah,” Purpled said, shrugging. “What?”
“That’s… not normal,” Tommy said. That was an understatement.
“Do you have a brother?” Purpled asked.
“Yeah,” Tommy said. “And he never did anything like that. That’s not normal, Purpled.” No one Tommy knew would ever do anything like that to their own family.
Purpled flinched violently, antenna flicking as he looked around. “Don’t say my name in public! What if someone overheard you?”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, because someone’s going to be listening in on two teenagers in a bloody alleyway.”
“When one of those people is a wanted mercenary and the one one is… whatever you are, you never know,” Purpled said. Every time Tommy spoke to him, he seemed more paranoid.
Tommy couldn’t blame him for that. If he had a brother who scared his arms like that, he’d be paranoid too. It was awful. Tommy thought the blood had been making them look bad, but now that it had dried and was rubbing off, the scars were worse than it looked.
He could see why Purpled wore a hoodie all the time. Tommy wouldn’t want a painful reminder like that every time he looked at his arms either.
Tommy’s hand drifted to touch the bands of colors wrapping around the sleeve of his shirt that signified his own family.
He couldn’t imagine having a family like Purpled must’ve had.
“We’re even now, then?” Purpled asked shortly, refusing to meet Tommy’s eyes. Tommy shifted his wings.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Great,” Purpled said, pushing past Tommy. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but surprisingly stable for having been bleeding out a few hours before.
“Where are you going?” Tommy asked, trailing after him.
“Back to my ship,” Purpled said, glancing back at him.
“Shouldn’t you get medical attention or something?” Tommy asked. “I don’t know anything about your species, but losing that much blood can’t be good for anyone.” Even a bounty hunter like Purpled, who worked alone for everything, had to go to the hospital sometimes. He couldn’t deal with every wound on his own.
Purpled laughed mirthlessly, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t think-”
“Goodbye, Tommy,” Purpled said, twin tails swishing behind him as he stepped into the crowd. One of them was shorter than the other.
Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if that was Purpled’s brother’s fault as well.
He tucked his wings behind his back as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started out into the crowd himself.
There were a surprising amount of people around for how late it was, though Tommy was pretty sure Tubbo had mentioned something about the planet having a lot of nocturnal species.
Speaking of Tubbo, Tommy had a few dozen messages from him. They went from questioning why Tommy had been asking about Purpled to being concerned about his well-being to threatening. His last text had been a threat to blow up Tommy’s ship and steal his kneecaps when he next saw him.
Well, Tommy could deal with that later. He messaged Ranboo so Tubbo wouldn’t think he was dead, before turning his communicator on silent.
Tommy pushed his way through the crowds of people, mind still in the alleyway behind him. It had been… not the weirdest interaction Tommy had ever had, but certainly up there. Usually, you didn’t threaten people with knives after waking up to them helping you.
Then again, it was Purpled. As far as Tommy knew him, that was pretty normal.
Tommy stretched his wings out once he got back to his ship, relaxing. He set up the autopilot to head back to Tubbo and Ranboo’s before pulling out his communicator again.
As expected, he had a million messages from a panicked Ranboo and furious Tubbo.
Something more interesting, however, was a new contact.
‘ Who is this?’ the message read.
Tommy grinned.
‘ Teh msot pogegsets of men’ Tommy sent, because he was Tommy. How else was he supposed to answer?
:*¨༺ ★ ༻¨*:·.
If Purpled was being honest, he hadn’t really expected to wake up at all. He couldn’t avoid the little tinge of unavoidable disappointment that rested at the back of his throat as he opened his eyes blearily, blinking in the faint moonlight.
There was… a considerable amount of his blood that painted the alleyway. The entire place was coated in dark purple liquid drying on every surface his eyes darted towards.
And yet somehow, Purpled was still here. Alive.
The sound of breathing other than his own suddenly became oddly clear as Purpled tensed, not moving at all.
The breathing pattern on its own seemed slow enough that whoever it was was asleep- as stupid as it was to be asleep next to Purpled of all people.
He risked tilting his head slightly to the side to get a better look, ignoring the way his mask dug slightly into his cheek from being pressed up against the alleyway ground.
It was-
Tommy.
The avian was slumped against the wall, seemingly unharmed and asleep as his chest rose and fell with every breath he took.
Purpled’s breath hitched at the sight. He immediately got to his feet, pulling out the short knife that was tucked into his belt- he couldn’t deny the brief relief he had when Purpled realized that Tommy hadn’t taken anything of his off his person other than the distinct lack of sleeves on his hoodie that let the cool air tickle his skin- and took a tentative step towards Tommy.
Purpled held his breath as he got closer to the blond, muffling his footsteps to almost silent. He was at a clear disadvantage in every way possible here. If Tommy decided he wanted to kill Purpled, despite the no-kill rule he’d seemed to set for himself, he would probably win.
It scared Purpled more than he showed, the fear hidden in his clenched jaw and too-tight grip on the knife.
Before he could second-guess himself further, Purpled pushed the knife to Tommy’s throat, his gaze hardening as Tommy startled awake and almost pushed himself into the edge of the blade.
“What are you doing?” Purpled asked coldly, watching as Tommy’s eyes flickered across the alleyway, finally settling on Purpled’s own.
“Making sure you don’t die,” Tommy shot back, a glare settling into his features.
“Did you take off my mask?” Purpled asked. He could hear the lilt of fear in his voice- he couldn’t keep it out no matter how hard he tried.
What if Tommy had looked under his mask? Would he have recognized the same face as Punz? His brother never bothered to cover his face up and they looked like a spitting replica of each other.
Maybe his entire world would collapse around Purpled and he’d find himself back where he started in the very place he’d tried so hard to forget.
Tommy blinked a bit absently. “No,” He said simply, shrugging a little bit. “Why would I do that?”
There was nothing but utter sincerity in Tommy’s voice- it almost startled Purpled how pure his intentions sounded. Refreshing in a bitter way that Purpled would never quite be able to achieve.
He pulled the knife away from the blond, slumping his shoulders slightly as the sudden exhaustion hit him.
“What were you doing, then?” Purpled pushed, covering up his grimace at the movement as he sat down next to him.
“I told you,” Tommy rolled his eyes as he stood up, holding a hand out to Purpled. “I was making sure you didn’t die. You could thank me, you know.”
Purpled looked at the offered hand for a second.
He pushed himself to his feet himself.
“Why would you do that?” Purpled looked down at the ground, squinting in confusion and too much suspicion to be healthy. “I’ve threatened your life multiple times. Why would you help me?”
None of it made sense. Purpled should be dead- his mistakes had caught up to him, and yet… he wasn't. Because of what? Tommy’s generosity?
“Because I wasn’t going to let someone bleed out in an alleyway, bounty hunter or not,” Tommy said simply, like it explained everything.
“That’s not a good enough reason,” Purpled insisted, his antennae flicking as he resisted the urge to pull on them. Tommy made no sense- he didn’t act like a bounty hunter at all. “People don’t just help someone who’s tried to kill them like that.”
Tommy shrugged, his eyes drifting to the side. “I kind of owed you,” he muttered. “For helping me out with Jared.”
Who…. Jared?
“Even though I had it covered. Besides, you haven’t really tried to kill me.” Tommy justified, waving his hand out gesturing to himself. “You just threatened me with a gun a couple of times. I would’ve been fine.”
“Who?” Purpled blinked absently. He… didn’t quite remember a Jared. They all blurred together at some point, and keeping track of names was hard.
Tommy looked vaguely incredulous at Purpled’s question. “The guy you killed in front of me?” He sounded dumbfounded. Purpled shrugged half-heartedly, trying to ignore the face seared into the back of his mind.
There were hundreds of them, each feature lingering there like an old memento to the people whose lives were stolen just so Purpled could live .
“Right.” Purpled nodded, fighting the shivers that ran down his spine as his tail curled around his leg tightly. “Him.”
“How do you forget that?” Tommy asked and Purpled could see the way he took a little step back, horrified. “You killed someone.”
Purpled shrugged nonchalantly, his gaze drifting slightly to the blood-stained walls.
“Happens every day. I don’t remember all their names.” Not their names. But their faces would forever remain a reminder of everything that Purpled didn’t really regret.
Tommy looked… scared. (It was more like concern, but Purpled would never admit it to himself. He’d rather believe that Tommy was terrified of him , rather than what he did.)
“Thanks, I guess,” Purpled cut off his thoughts, folding his arms as he looked back down at them, seeing the ripped edges of the sleeves near his shoulders. He’d have to get a new hoodie.
“What- happened to you?” Tommy asked, the words almost blurted out as Purpled pulled his gaze back to him. He knew that Tommy was talking about the reason there was so much blood everywhere- what happened to the bounty, not to him- but something that perked its head up at the question of concern, naive and warm and everything that Purpled shouldn’t be.
Purpled shoved it down, blank expression unchanging.
“A bounty went wrong, what did you think?” He answered a bit scathingly, raising an eyebrow. It was stupid of him to think that Tommy was asking about anything else, he really thought too highly of-
“No, I meant your arms.”
Purpled’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop as he tried to hide his surprise, his pupils narrowing ever so slightly.
“Why are they covered in scars?”
Purpled fell silent. His tail stopped moving, the idle swishing freezing in place as he stared at Tommy for a long moment.
He didn’t have to answer. He could just ignore the question. He could walk away. He could stab Tommy, he could do anything but answer truthfully right now.
But there was something startlingly human- caring- about the way that Tommy asked.
He’d asked like he’d cared.
Purpled hesitated for a second longer.
“My brother.”
“Your brother did that to you!?” Tommy exclaimed loudly. Purpled tried to hide the wince from the volume, his tail flicking slightly.
“Yeah.” He shrugged, staring at Tommy’s awestruck expression. “What?”
Tommy looked Purpled up and down incredulously, nearly like he couldn’t believe that Purpled was there at that moment.
“That’s… not normal.” He said finally, like he’d been struggling with the words. Purpled rolled his eyes, looking back at Tommy from where his gaze had drifted to the floor. He really had to find a way to clean up that blood off his shoes.
“Do you have a brother?” Purpled asked almost hypothetically- he didn’t really care, not in any way that mattered but analytically. Cold. Calculating.
“Yeah,” Tommy admitted easily, like it was a simple fact. “And he never did anything like that. That’s not normal, Purpled.”
Purpled flinched violently at the sound of his name, whirling around to make sure no one heard. He had already checked earlier, but someone might’ve managed to appear in the last few minutes while his guard was down.
His antenna flicked irritatedly, his tail lashing.
“Don’t say that in public.” He hissed quietly. “What if someone overheard you?”
Tommy rolled his eyes and Purpled resisted the urge to point a knife at the kid. He had no sense of self-preservation.
“Oh yeah, 'cause someone’s going to be listening in on two teenagers in a bloody alleyway.”
“When one of those people is a wanted mercenary and the one is… whatever you are, you never know,” Purpled replied. He watches as Tommy’s face dropped slightly, pity radiating off of him.
He bit his tongue, resisting the urge to insult him as he rubbed his arm subconsciously, trying to flake off some of the dried blood.
“We’re even now, then?” He asked shortly after an awkward moment. Tommy shifted his wings slightly like he’d been startled out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Purpled brightened sarcastically, plastering a fake smile on his face he knew Tommy couldn’t see beneath his mask.
“Great,” He said a bit brightly, pushing passed Tommy. Their shoulders brushed for a second and Purpled nearly hesitated at the way his vision swam.
He probably shouldn’t be moving this much with the amount of blood he had lost, but he’d survive.
He’d been through worse.
“Where are you going?” Tommy asked trailing behind Purpled.
Purpled sighed audibly, tugging slightly on his antenna.
“Back to my ship.” He glanced back at Tommy, looking him up and down. His blood still stained some of Tommy’s clothes.
Wasn’t Purpled’s problem now.
“Shouldn’t you get medical attention or something? I don’t know anything about your species-”
Purpled blocked out the rest of his words, laughing with no real joy behind it. He shook his head.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t think-”
Goodbye, Tommy.” Purpled said with an air of finality as he stepped into the busy crowd past the alleyway.
Tommy didn’t follow.