Chapter Text
Wilbur had to leave before Tommy did.
Thankfully, Wilbur having been there at all had made everything at least that much more bearable.
Tommy didn’t feel like he was suffocating anymore.
When he got to the SBI floor of the hero tower, it was already in upheaval. Phil was out looking, actively searching for his little girl, and Wilbur was talking to him over the comm system while going through her room.
Techno was on the couch kind of staring into space.
Apparently, he had been pacing a trail into the floor and Wilbur made him sit down and dissociate.
Tommy couldn’t say he blamed the guy.
Tommy dropped his bag onto the floor by the coffee table, moving to sit down beside Techno. “You okay, big man?” He asked, voice soft and gentle.
Techno exhaled, shaking his head. “Not really… I’m- I’m fretting pretty badly. I just want her to be safe.”
Tommy pressed his lips together sympathetically. He knew the feeling.
“I know what that’s like,” he mentioned, staring out the window across from them.
They simply sat there in silence a moment. Neither spoke, neither moved, they just sat there. Together. It was equal parts heavy and tense but still so welcome.
They knew each other’s struggle. There was no need to say any more.
Tommy didn’t know just how long they remained like that- unmoving, quiet, disheartened. It could’ve been ten minutes or two. Eventually, Techno spoke up. “So I heard you had a bad day at work?”
Tommy chuckled dryly. “Yeah. Well, I’d been having a rough day anyway. The five Karens that decided I was the bane of their existence didn’t help things out very much.”
“Who do I need to dropkick into next Tuesday,” Techno asked, leaning back a bit. His voice was void of any tone, but Tommy could see the dim humor in his expression.
“Some middle aged lady with a pink purse who decided what I needed to snap outta my funk was a good ol’ slap to the face.”
Techno curled his lip. “Ew. Customer service.”
“Tell me about it.”
They relapsed back into their silence, though Tommy scooted a little closer to Techno. And if Techno wrapped an arm around his shoulder, neither of them acknowledged it.
It was Tommy who spoke next.
“How’re you guys holding up?”
“Bold of you to assume,” Techno muttered. “I’m… hanging in there by the skin of my teeth.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really.” He was quick to answer, but he did pause after having said the words. He sighed again. “...But I guess it could do me some good.”
Tommy turned his full attention to him. “I’m all ears, big man.”
Techno blinked, his gaze sliding to the side. “Have I ever… told you where I really came from?”
“We talking like tragic backstory sort of origins?”
“Yes,” Techno deadpanned.
“I hear you. Go ahead.”
Techno chewed on his lip, eyes flicking to and fro, so clearly trying to avoid looking at Tommy. “Well… My- uh, my family wasn’t really the best. I say family, I didn’t really even have a father. He left when I was around ten or so, although he had never really been in my life anyway. Even I knew he was off partying and cheating on my mother.”
Tommy blinked. Oof. Starting off strong.
“And then, about half way through Mother’s pregnancy with Athena, he just… left.”
Tommy couldn’t say he was surprised.
“Of course, we had never been particularly well off anyway, but he was the one with the income in our house. Mother wasn’t employed. So I did what any desperate surrogate-orphan in the lower would do. I started trying to make money.”
Man, did Tommy know the feeling.
“It was really hard, being the sole money-maker in the house at the age of eleven years old, trying to afford rent, the things to take care of a baby, and food to keep on the table. What didn’t make anything easier was the fact that Mother was an addict.”
Tommy grimaced.
“I thought she was getting better, I really did. I thought she was trying her best to get better about it so she could take care of Athy. It was my own fault for being so negligent.”
Tommy gulped, a pit forming in his stomach. “Don’t tell me she-”
“Overdosed. In my arms. Using the drugs she’d bought with my hard-earned money.”
It unnerved Tommy how detached Techno sounded as he said that. Tommy wasn’t sure if Techno didn’t particularly care very much for his mother, or if he was just trying to remain passive so as not to break down, but it was a bit off-putting.
“Me and Athy were evicted about a month later, and the foster system tried to take us, to split us up. I took her and ran.”
Tommy couldn’t say he blamed the guy. He wouldn’t trust the system either.
“And so we were homeless for like a year. Stealing and doing odd jobs to survive. I was constantly skipping meals to keep her fed.”
Skipping meals, a year of homelessness- honestly, Tommy felt as if this was hitting a little too close to home.
“After I finally managed to save enough to have consistent meals, I managed to find this, like, abandoned shed that we stayed in for a bit. I picked up vigilantism to try and make the lower a safer place for my sister to grow up. I didn’t want our life to be miserable forever.”
Tommy could relate.
“And then Phil found me. He reached out, he extended the offer to become a hero. Honestly, the idea of being a hero wasn’t all that appealing to me, especially at first but… but the pay was good and it provided us with a home. Athy, four years old at the time, would have the opportunity to live a good life. That was more than I could’ve ever dreamed, even as a fifteen year old.”
Tommy blinked. Huh.
“But, as soon as Phil found out how old I was, found out what kind of life I was living- his offer to adopt us was almost instantaneous. I agreed, again for Athy, and with that, Phil brought me and her to live with him and Wil, who was already training to become a hero himself. We debuted around the same time.”
It was an odd thing to think about.
Actually not really. But Tommy could see why Techno was so attached to Athy even above the level of them just being siblings. He had pretty much given everything up for her, had dedicated every waking decision to making her happy, had been so close to her and responsible for her for so long. Now, it was like his entire world was burning because she was his entire world.
In a way, it was kind of poetic. In a sad and introspective way, that is.
Tommy didn’t quite know how to comfort him. He personally had never been so close to someone that he was willing to sacrifice himself for them.
Well, that wasn’t quite true. Especially back at the lab.
“I knew someone a bit like that,” Tommy spoke up, leaning his head on Techno’s shoulder. “Well, more like I was in your position. It wasn’t quite the same but, I know the feeling. The feeling of loving someone so much you would put your life or well being on the line to make sure they live happily. I’ve done that. And I’ve felt that confusion and sadness of ‘what now’ after he’d gone.”
Techno tensed, his voice slow and comprehending. “Oh? What exactly-”
“I’m not going to go into too much detail,” Tommy disclaimed, managing a half shrug from his slumped-over position. “I was in a bad situation along with a friend that I considered like a brother for years. It was just me and him for the longest time, faced with mistreatment way too young.”
“Foster system?”
“Something like that.”
Techno grunted.
“Either way, we made an escape plan. We wanted to get out. We couldn’t take it anymore. We staged the escape, but in the crossfire, we were being held up. I took the fall and got myself into more trouble and more danger in order for him to leave while the people around us were distracted. He got out. I didn’t.”
Tommy could feel when Techno’s breath hitched. Techno’s hold on his sleeve tightened.
“I was stuck there for a whole other year, and my treatment only got worse after that night. I did manage to escape myself later and was forced to a life of scrounging and homelessness before I got a few jobs and such, but I guess, in a way, I know how it feels. I know what it’s like to be so close to someone that their safety comes before yours. I know how hard it is to move on after they’re gone. But you know what?”
Techno hummed.
“I found him again. I have his number now. We’re both safe, and living independent lives away from the past we came from, and we’re okay. Even despite our pasts.”
Tommy was sure Techno knew where this was going.
“After we were separated, even after all of that sacrifice, I found my brother in every way that matters. He may not be truly my brother, but he is mine. And I’m not ever letting him go again. What I’m saying is, it happened for us, and it will happen for you and Athy. I have no doubt that we’ll find her, that she’ll be okay. It may take a bit, you may have to wait, you may have to worry, but you’ll see her again. I didn’t have anyone helping me reunite with him, but you do. You have people who are actively helping, who know and care. It’ll be okay. Just not yet.”
Tommy didn’t know when Techno started crying. He couldn’t say he was surprised. The man clearly needed it.
Tommy didn’t pull away when Techno buried his face in Tommy’s hair. Quite the opposite. He pulled the man closer, wrapping his arms around his torso in an embrace that Techno probably needed now. An embrace he had definitely needed earlier.
Things weren’t easy. Things probably wouldn’t be for a while.
But Tommy trusted things would work out. Tommy trusted that those kids would be found.
They just had to wait.