Chapter Text
Tubbo falls . . .
His head tilts back, seeing Tommy’s horrified expression, he closes his eyes, feeling himself hit the pavement, blood pooling around him and through his fingers.
The last thing he hears is Tommy’s scream, fading out with his consciousness
"Tubbo!"
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Tommy snaps out of his shock, rushing to Tubbo’s side. He drops to his knees, hesitant to even touch him. His eyes are barely open, hands pressed to his stomach in a weak attempt to stop the blood.
He turns towards Tommy, taking a hand off his stomach and reaching out to him. Tommy comes closer, letting Tubbo hold onto his face, despite the blood getting onto him.
He puts his hands on top of Tubbo’s, attempting to stop the blood flow, deep down knowing that won't be enough. Tubbo whimpers and with tears falling from his eyes, he brings his hand down on top of Tommy’s squeezing, "Tommy . . .Toms . . ." "Shh, Tubbo, it'll be ok-” “It hurts . . . m-make it stop, please.”
Tommy’s heart shatters, he pulls Tubbo onto his lap. “We’ll get you some health pots and some blood and you’ll be all good again, ok?” Tubbo curls into him, eyebrows furrowed in pain.
Tubbo takes Tommy’s hand, the other holding his stomach. "R-remember when you g-got that photographer?” Tommy laughs, “H-hey, you were the one who decided to make it goofy. That photographer must have thought we were crazy.”
Tubbo chuckles, stopping to cough up blood, “It was one of the best d-days of my life, Ranboo’s too.” He smiles but his expression then falls, “I wish I could s-see them one more time.”
“You are! I’m gonna get you Phil’s apartment and stuff health pots in you then we’ll-.” Tubbo shakes his head, “I won’t make it. I’m losing too much blood.” He looks up at Tommy, tears falling down his face, mixing with the blood.
He reaches in one of his vest pockets, wincing at the movement. Tommy watches him pull out the photo of them, “Tubbo . . .” “I wanted to keep it on me, y’know for good luck.” He watches him place it in Tommy’s front pocket, patting it.
“I don’t think I’ll need it anymore” Tommy wipes his tears along with Tubbo’s, "You’re accepting it?” Tubbo nods, his hand becoming slightly limp in Tommy’s, he panics, “I can't lose you! Tubbs . . ." He brings Tubbo's hand against his face, "What am I without you?"
Tubbo smiles sadly, "Yourself" Tommy watches in horror as Tubbo's hand falls fully limp in his. It falls to the ground, other hand draped across his stomach. His eyes fall shut, his head resting against Tommy’s body. “Tubbo?” He gently shakes Tubbo, “Hey, this isn’t funny. Come on, wake up.”
Tubbo doesn’t move, he just lays there, his hair falling in front of his eyes. Tommy chuckles, “Ranboo told you that you needed a haircut. You never listen.” Tommy hears Dream behind him but he chooses to ignore him, just cradling Tubbo into him.
He chokes on tears, finally breaking and dissolving into sobs. He screams, a scream of grief and anguish.
Blocks away, Techno turns towards a scream, Phil stopping. “What’s up?” “Heard a scream.” Phil watches Techno, practically seeing the wheels turn in his head.
He sees the moment it clicks,“Shit.” He takes off in the direction of the scream, “Wait! Techno!” He doesn’t turn around, just shouting, “Call Will!” Phil does that, watching Techno disappear, wondering what’s got him upset.
Meanwhile, Tommy is breaking down. Tubbo’s dead, Dream is behind him and he’s alone. "Well, Tommy. Now what? He's dead and you're next." Dream comes behind and kicks Tubbo’s body off of Tommy, he cries out, reaching for Tubbo.
Dream grabs Tommy’s arms, pulling him away from Tubbo. He pleads with him to let him go. Dream ignores him, just throwing him onto his back. He fights to get back up, Dream pinning him down, "I guess you should have joined me when you had the chance. Now, you're going to die."
He raises the sword above Tommy’s chest, Tommy falling silent. “What? Nothing to say, no last words?” Tommy shakes his head, Dream lunging forward grabbing his jaw, covering his mouth.
He squeezes, Tommy freeing a hand up, gripping Dream’s wrist, “It’s such a shame. I was hoping you would put up more of a fight than this.” Tears still run down his face, Dream carefully wiping them away, “If you don’t put up a fight, I’ll make your death slow and painful.”
Tommy bites Dream’s hands, drawing blood. Dream pulls hand back, slapping Tommy. He pulls the sword up and brings it down on Tommy’s hand, slightly pinning it to the pavement.
Tommy grits his teeth in pain, tightly closing his eyes as the sword is pulled out of his hand. Dream gets down to his ear, “Maybe I’ll stop . . . spare you the pain,” Tommy goes to nod his head, Dream putting up a finger, “Only if you ask me too.”
Tommy’s chest rises and falls rapidly, his hesitation to answer gets him a stab to shoulder. He screams, blood pooling out of his wound, his tears mixing in with it. “So? What’s your answer, I’m waiting?”
Tommy takes a couple shaky breaths
He has nothing to lose anyway
“Just do it.” “Do what Tommy? You need to be specific.” He tries to get himself to relax, to settle into the pavement, to let himself accept this. “J-just kill me.”
Dream smirks, “As you wish.” He raises the sword above Tommy, “Any final words?” Tommy shakes his head, opting to look over at Tubbo’s body. Tubbo’s back is to him but it’s slightly comforting knowing that they’ll be together again soon.
He watches Dream bring the sword down, he takes one more breath before tensing, waiting for the pain but gets . . . nothing. He looks up, Dream is laying next to him, a boot on his back. He sits up, cradling his one shoulder. Techno is looking at him, "Come on Sparky. Though you were better than that."
"Tech?" "Will and Phil are here somewhere. I took off so Phil and Wilbur got a late start." Tommy doesn't react, just getting up and brushing himself off, wincing at his still bleeding and throbbing shoulder.
"Tommy!" Will runs up to him, taking his face in his hands, “Whose blood is that? You hurt anywhere else?” Tommy shakes his head, gesturing to his face, “It’s not my blood.”
Wilbur looks slightly confused but still concerned, "Why weren’t you fighting your way out? You could have-" He finally notices Tubbo, lying motionless on the ground.
Wilbur covers his mouth, "He . . . oh Toms." Tommy doesn't react, just pushing Will away. "You should have just let him do it.” Phil comes behind him, “We weren’t just gonna let Dream kill you, mate.”
He looks Phil in the eye, “I would have been with Tubbo again.” Techno comes up, placing a hand on his good shoulder, “Let’s get some pots in you and leave this place.”
He shakes his head, "I'm not leaving Tubbo. Just leave us here, go, escape" "What about Ranboo? Sam and Puffy? They're waiting for you." Tommy shakes his head again, "Not without Tubbo."
Tommy sits down with Tubbo's body, gently moving the hair out of his eyes. Phil moves down next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We can take him too."
Tommy hesitates before nodding and getting up with Phil. They let him carry Tubbo, Tommy steeling himself, he doesn’t want to cry in front of them. Not with what he’s about to do If he does, he might break down, plead with them to take him home.
Heal him, care for him . . . love him. He wants Wilbur’s songs, Techno rough but gentle head scratches and Phil’s late night talks.
But you can’t have that
You know that
Tommy nods at himself, ignoring Wilbur’s concerned gaze, still trying to keep himself together. He watches Techno tie up Dream, leaving him in the street. He yells curses at Tommy who ignores him.
“You’ll wish they didn’t intervene Tommy! You little brat, you’ll wish you joined me!” Tommy just numbly follows SBI.They make it up onto a rooftop just on the edge of town. Tommy gently sits Tubbo down, turning to SBI. Phil makes a move towards him but runs right into a wall that appears in front of him.
"Tommy, mate, what are you doing?" He smiles, sadly, "Protecting you. I can't lose you guys too." They all hit on the force field trying to bring it down but failing to do so. He chuckles sadly, “That's not gonna work, it’ll stay up until I bring it down or I die.”
Wilbur looks horrified, “Tommy come on man, come with us. Ranboo needs you.” Tommy shakes his head, “He was always kind of clingy,” he turns to Tubbo, “We all were in a sense I guess.”
Tommy turns back, putting a hand onto the wall, " I know you're not bad people even if you're doing a bad thing." He chuckles sadly, "I'll admit. I'm a little scared."
He smiles at Wilbur and sighs, "But I'll be ok." He puts his hand over Techno's, "At least that green bastard goes down with the rest of us." He goes over to Phil, "Take care of Ranboo for me, ok? They'll need someone." Phil nods, "I will. But you should be there with them."
Tommy shakes his head, "Someone has to be here with Tubbo. He hates being alone." A rumbling throws them off balance, Tommy still standing strong, "Tommy please, we don't have much time. Come with us, leave L’manburg. It's only caused you pain. Now it's going to kill you."
Tommy shakes his head once again, "You'll be safe in here until the explosions are done. Take care of Ranboo. Sam and Puffy too, they'll beat themselves up about this."
Despite his bold stance, Techno can see him shaking. “Theseus, come on, please. Don’t do this.” “Tell Ranboo I’m sorry. Sam and Puffy too.” Phil nods, “Tell Sam that he was like a father to me and that I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell him myself.”
He looks at Techno, “I guess you never got to read to me, huh?” “I still can, just let the barrier down, let us take you home.” Tommy sighs
Home
“I can’t Tech. Someone has to protect the city. If things were different, what would you have read?” “Greek Mythology, my-” “You’re favorite, I know. Let me guess, the Legend of Theseus.” Techno nods, Tommy chuckles.
“I kind of fibbed to you Blade. I’ve heard of Theseus and I fit it pretty well.” He gestures to burning L’manburg, “I’m gonna be killed by the very city I’ve saved time and time again.” Techno drops his head, shaking it. Wilbur places a hand on his neck, bringing his head to rest on his shoulder.
He turns to Phil next, “This is gonna be hard, so bear with me here.” “Mate, we don’t have to do this here. Let us take care of you.” Tommy almost breaks at that, tears escaping from his eyes despite his will to keep them in.
“There is nothing I want more than to let you do that.” “Then let us out” He almost does, regretting his decision. He moves his hand away, Phil looking hopeful.
He ‘almost’ regretted his decision
“I never got to preen your wings, did I?” ignoring Phil’s saddened expression, “I was waiting for when you’d ask, or when I’d persist, but I guess that won’t happen now, huh?”
Feeling the heat of the final explosions on his skin, a burning piece of ash coming down and landing on his hand. He hisses, waving his hand, Phil reaching a hand out but draws it back.
He hears them plead with him as he sits down with Tubbo, picking him up and cradling him into his chest. He brushes hair out of Tubbo's face, tucking hair behind his ear, bringing his hand down and stroking his cheek.
He reaches in his pocket, pulling out a photo. He smiles at it, tucking it in his hands as he tucks Tubbo into his body. He’s still protecting him, not caring about what happens to him. The building shifts, Tommy not losing his grip on Tubbo as he slides.
He just simply puts a hand down, balancing himself. Wilbur screams, "No, Tommy!" Tommy looks up at them, tears falling down his face. Phil and Wilbur are crying, Techno not far behind them. He’s hiding it surprisingly well, “It’s ok to cry Big Man. We’ll understand.”
“It’s not fair, Tom. You should be here with us, with Ranboo and Tubbo, not killing yourself for a city who doesn’t care.” He shrugs, “At least I’ll be at peace, just think about that. Not how I died, just how I’m finally at peace.”
Techno finally breaks, finally letting the tears that have been building up fall. He lets Phil and Wilbur comfort him as he breaks down. Phil looks up horrified, but he isn’t looking at Tommy, he’s looking behind him.
Tommy looks, buildings are crumbling, fire is spreading wild and is getting close to them. He looks back at SBI, sending them a look with as much comfort as he can muster.
As the roof crumbles below him, Tommy feels an odd amount of calm spread through his body as he faces the people he proudly calls family for the last time. “Will you and Tubbo be ok?” Techno asks, eyes full of tears.
With the explosions going off around him he nods. . .
"Tubbo and I will be okay."