Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy knew something was wrong.

Waking up with two rashes about where his shoulder blades were? A bit weird, especially since he was certain he hadn’t done anything to aggravate them.

Still, he pulled a shirt on and thought nothing of it. Besides, “I got rashes on my back!” was one of the weakest excuses for not coming to school.

It only got worse throughout the day. His back constantly itched, and the awkward position they were in prevented him from scratching them. Every so often there would be a large spike of pain that sent Tommy reeling.

He snuck away to check on his back during lunch. After shoving the trashcan under the door handle, because he was not about to let someone see him and freak out, he took off his shirt. Looking at his back in the mirror, he saw that the rashes had gotten larger and redder. He idly wondered if he somehow came into contact with poison ivy.

None of his friends seemed to notice the way he was acting, which was good. Of course, Tubbo noticed, but Tommy made up an excuse about his shirt being itchy. Tubbo dropped the topic after that, seeming preoccupied with his own thoughts.

It was like a blessing from the heavens when the bells finally rang. Tommy quickly said his goodbyes to Tubbo, before taking off back to his house.

At this point, the itching had become horrible and painful, and he couldn’t wear his backpack. Wearing his shirt was almost unbearable, but Tommy wasn’t about to take his shirt off in the middle of the sidewalk.

The first thing he did when he staggered into his house was fling his shirt off. He kicked off his shoes and socks but didn’t bother taking his pants off, stumbling off to the bathroom.

His parents weren’t home to question him. They had gone a week ago on a business trip and weren’t supposed to be back home for another four weeks.

Tommy shoved the door to the bathroom open, almost tripping over the side of the bathtub. He fumbled with the handle on the shower, finally getting to work. He cranked it as cold as it could go.

And that was how Tommy found himself standing in the shower, shivering, with his pants still on.

After a few more minutes of shivering, Tommy turned the water off. His fingers and toes had become a little too pale for comfort, and he could hardly feel them.

His back was still hurting the tiniest bit, although it was mostly numb with the help of the water. He pulled a towel over his shoulders, before taking it off moments later because it irritated his back.

Tommy turned to look at his back in the mirror. The only thought he had was Why does it look like there’s something under my skin? before blinding pain racked his body. He collapsed on the ground, curling into a fetal position. He was probably crying, and he had a suspicion that he screamed.

After what felt like an eternity of the worst pain he had ever felt, it finally ebbed away. Tommy was laying in a puddle of lukewarm water on the cool bathroom tiles, hands tangled in his damp hair. Something warm was draped across his back, and it felt oddly comforting.

Tommy groaned, finally forcing himself to get up. His pants were still wet, and he wanted to change. He stumbled, his center of gravity off for some odd reason. Maybe he was just tired.

Tommy turned, glancing at himself in the mirror.

He blinked.

What the hell?

Two wings protruded from his back. Vibrant red, with yellow in the middle and blue near the end. They sagged downwards, the blue flight feathers lightly brushing against the ground.

Parrot wings? Or macaw, scarlet macaw? Whatever they were called.

Tommy lurched away from the mirror, slamming himself against the wall. He felt the-the WINGS pressing against his back and the wall. He let out a weird choked noise, feeling like not enough air was getting to his lungs.

Tommy pulled at his hair, not able to tear his eyes from the things on his back reflected in the mirror. With a sudden thought, he reached over, yanking on one of the feathers. He grit his teeth, surprised tears coming to his eyes. It felt like stubbing his toe, only much worse.

After a while longer of staring, he experimentally tried moving them. He could, and after a few seconds of stretching them out as far as he dared, he let them stiffly rest in what he felt was a comfortable position. It just felt odd, yet familiar at the same time. He hated it, he hated it so much.

He turned from the mirror with a sigh through his nose. He still needed to change his pants, because they had started to dry and damp jeans were the most uncomfortable thing ever. 

Tommy was standing in his room, now in a comfortable pair of sweatpants, staring at a shirt in his hands. There was no way he could wear it, because of the- he had wings on his back oh lord- but before he could spiral back into panic someone knocked on the door.

Tommy’s grip on the shirt tightened.

His parents, not being idiots, had asked a friend if he would be willing to make sure their house wasn’t robbed, or worse, make sure Tommy hadn’t completely destroyed it. Of course Phil agreed. Phil was supposed to check up on Tommy every day, and today was no different. 

“Just a minute!” Tommy yelled, desperately rummaged through his closet. Phil couldn’t know about this. Well, Tommy supposed he could, but it was something he felt he should keep secret. He threw a blanket over his shoulders, pulling it tight. It was a bit uncomfortable with the way it pressed the wings into his back, but that didn’t matter.

Tommy opened the door, hoping the blanket was long enough to cover the wings.

“Hey mate!” Phil said with a smile.

“Hey, Phil.” Tommy shuffled his feet a bit, edging just a bit more away from the door.

Phil looked him up and down. “Did… you just get out of the shower?”

Tommy nodded.

Phil’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you shivering?”

“The hot water was out.” Tommy quickly said, instantly realizing he was being too defensive.

Phil glanced around outside, before looking back at him. “And if you were to take that blanket off-”

“No!” Tommy snapped, flinching away slightly.

Phil raised an eyebrow.

“I-I’m real cold, and I’m not wearing a shirt,” Tommy mumbled in an attempt to save himself.

Phil sighed, stepping inside. Tommy quickly backed up as Phil closed the door behind him, somehow managing not to trip on the edges of his blanket.

Phil looked him over again. “Tommy, you can take that off now.”

Tommy shook his head. Phil grumbled something under his breath, reaching to take his coat off. That made Tommy suspicious. Phil never took his coat off-

Oh.

Behind Phil, two black wings spread out. He was careful to not hit them against the wall, not fully spreading them out.

Tommy stared, shocked. Phil shook his wings out a bit, before turning to Tommy with a small smile. “See? You’re safe.”

Tommy’s thoughts were racing, but he let the blanket slowly slide from his shoulders. It crumpled to the ground, leaving Tommy feeling exposed. He desperately wished he could have figured out how to wear a shirt.

Phil whistled quietly under his breath, walking behind Tommy to get a better look at the wings. “Did this happen today?”

Yeah, probably about an hour ago.” Tommy wrapped his arms around his chest, still shivering slightly.

“Can I?” Phil asked.

“Uh, sure.” Tommy didn’t know what Phil was asking to do.

He quickly found out when he felt hands gently grab the wings, moving one into a more comfortable position. The other moved subconsciously. Tommy shivered at how unusual it felt.

“That feels weird,” Tommy lightly complained.

He heard Phil chuckle. Phil’s hands were still on one of the wings, just holding it.

Tommy squirmed, the odd sensation overriding most of his senses. “Can-Can you let go now?”

“Oh-!” Phil quickly let go. “Sorry about that. I was thinking.”

Tommy scowled a little. “Sure.”

“Come on, let’s go sit down,” Phil said, walking out into Tommy’s living room. Tommy scooped the blanket up from the floor, following Phil.

Phil sat on the couch, lounging comfortably. His black wings spread out behind him, black feathers shining in the overhead light. Tommy stood awkwardly, holding the jumbled up blanket in his arms. It took a moment for Phil to notice Tommy’s slight embarrassment, but once he did he showed Tommy how to sit down without crushing his flight feathers. 

They sat in silence. Tommy didn’t pull the blanket back on, instead clutching the soft fabric to his chest. Phil eventually started the conversation. “So, I’m sure you’re wondering why you got wings on your back.”

Tommy didn’t reply, but the expression on his face must have answered Phil.

“Well, there’s this gene that comes from an ancient civilization-” Phil started.

“Can you just tell me why?” Tommy snapped, not wanting to deal with an entire history lesson.

Phil laughed a bit. “Basically, there’s a rare gene that pops up in the family line. You got that gene.”

Tommy waited a little for Phil to talk more. When he didn’t, Tommy shifted a little. “So… that’s it?”

Phil shrugged. “Yep. It’s the basics.”

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows somewhat. “Well, what’s your deal? You got these big wings all of a sudden?”

Phil’s expression flickered and for a moment Tommy saw something akin to fear cross his face. Before Tommy could properly register the emotions in time, Phil was smiling softly, all hints of apprehension gone. “I just had experience hiding them.”

Tommy felt the wings press into his back. He shifted, uncomfortable. “This is some weird fever dream, I swear.”

“I thought that too, when I grew mine. You get used to it.” 

Do you? Tommy thought he would never get used to this.

Phil sat forward suddenly, wings neatly coming forward. “I had a feeling you had the gene. I just-” He cut himself off with a frustrated sigh.

Tommy glanced up, surprised. Phil met his eyes. “Did it hurt a lot?”

Tommy shrugged, feeling the wings lift with the motion of his shoulders. He looked away from Phil’s gaze, absentmindedly fiddling with one of… his, they were his feathers. “Uh, yeah. The cold water helped a lot, but… you know.”

Phil shook his head, seemingly silently chastening himself. Tommy wanted to reassure him that it was fine, it only felt like he was dying for a little bit, but he couldn’t find the words. He was never good with emotions.

Phil put his head in his hands. Tommy fidgeted slightly, before grabbing the remote from the nearby coffee table. The TV turned on with a small burst of static. A cheesy romance show was currently playing.

Phil looked up. Tommy smiled, a bit nervous. “Wanna watch TV?”

Phil watched the movie for a second.

Harold, you don’t have to do this! I love you!

I’m sorry, my love, but if I don’t my father will forbade me from ever leaving his sight.

Tommy rolled his eyes, but Phil smiled, seemingly having taken interest in the show. “Yeah, sure.”

Tommy had a good time watching the movie with Phil. Tommy endlessly mocked it, making Phil laugh. It was almost enough to forget about the abnormalities on his back. Almost.

The show ended grandly, with the guy running away with his lover to the ‘great wilderness,’ which was really this small country town. Tommy’s throat hurt from laughter. Phil weakly laughed, rubbing his watery eyes.

Phil stood with a stretch, black wings arching behind him. “You got an air mattress?”

Tommy tilted his head. “Huh?”

“I figured I should stay the night, unless you're comfortable being left alone?” Phil said, with a gently concerned smile.

Tommy frowned at the floor. “No, you can stay,” he mumbled.

He rummaged through the supplies closet, pulling out the deflated mattress. He fumbled with the cord to the inflator, shoving the plug into the wall socket. The mattress began its slow inflate.

Tommy’s phone started buzzing with a call. He stepped out of the living room into the hallway, to get away from the noise of the inflator. The contact showed it was Tubbo. “Hello?”

There was the sound of the microphone being rubbed against something. Tommy frowned. “Uh, hello? Tubbo?”

Tommy was about to hang up when he heard a broken voice respond. “T-Tommy?”

Tommy was concerned now. “Is-What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The only response Tommy got was heaving breaths. It sounded like Tubbo had been crying. 

Tommy was about to say something when the other spoke up. “I-Can you come over?”

Tommy glanced towards the living room. Phil had been looking at his phone while the mattress inflated, but now he met Tommy’s eyes questionaly. 

Tommy looked down at the floor. “Y-Yeah, I can come. Are you alright with Phil coming?”

Phil turned the inflator off, worry evident in his furrowed eyebrows and small frown.

Tubbo quietly responded with a yeah. Tommy walked towards the door, nervously biting his bottom lip. “Are-Is Eret there?”

“N-no, he went out with some friends. Won’t be back until tomorrow.” 

“Okay, I’ll be there soon.” Tommy heard a small noise as his friend hung up.

Phil had grabbed his coat. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Tubbo.” Tommy went to open the door, before remembering two things. One, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Two, he had brightly colored wings on his back.

Phil seemed to have thought about this already, as he draped his dark green coat over Tommy’s shoulders. Tommy fumbled to fasten the buttons, simultaneously slipping on a pair of sandals that were discarded by the door. He glanced at Phil. “What about you?”

The man had already stepped outside, wings tightly folded against his back. In the darkness, they looked nearly invisible. “I’ll be fine.”

Tommy found out that riding in a car was pretty uncomfortable with a long coat on. How Phil had managed to do it all this time, Tommy didn’t know. It was pressing down on and bending his feathers, but every time he tried to readjust, he just made it worse. It was like having your arm tied with rope to your side.

They finally pulled into Tubbo’s driveway. All the lights appeared to be off inside the house.

Tommy stepped from the car, taking immediate satisfaction with his wings no longer being pressed against. He walked up to the door, Phil following behind. “Isn’t the door locked?”

Tommy shook his head. “They have a spare I know about.” 

He dug under a few rocks in the nearby planter until he felt the key. Sliding it into the lock, the two quietly entered the house.

“Tubbo! Are you here?” Tommy yelled, breaking the silence. He heard a faint thud from the direction of Tubbo’s room. 

He confidently walked down the familiar hall, Phil being much more careful about knocking things over. The house seemed to be abandoned, all lights turned off.

A small beam of light leaked out from beneath Tubbo’s door. Tommy, having some consideration, knocked before barging in like he usually did. “Hey, it’s me. Can I come in?”

He didn’t hear a reply. “Uh, I’m coming in. Sorry if you’re indecent.”

Tommy turned the doorknob, pushing the door in. He froze, something he never expected to see in front of him.

Tubbo was sitting in the middle of his room, his legs pulled up to his chest and his head buried in his arms. He was wearing a tank top, which was a bit new, since Tubbo usually wore t-shirts and hoodies. But that wasn’t what shocked Tommy.

Awkwardly spread out behind Tubbo were two vibrant green and black wings.

Chapter Text

Tommy ran forward, Phil standing in the doorway. He crouched down in front of his best friend. "Tubbo? You alright?"

The brunette raided his head from his arms, tears streaking his face. He looked so lost and confused.

"I-I don't know-" He looked like he was about to burst into tears again. 

"Hey, it's alright." Tommy glanced behind him, meeting Phil's eyes. Phil nodded.

Tommy slid the heavy, uncomfortable cloak off his back. His wings spread out slightly, helping him keep his balance. He hadn't even noticed he was unsteady until he balanced out.

Tubbo had buried his head back into his arms. Tommy hesitantly reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but stopped. Instead, he pulled the shorter boy into a hug.

Tubbo stiffened slightly, before leaning into Tommy's arms. They stayed like that for a while. It was only when Tubbo stopped sniffling that Tommy let him go.  Tubbo kept his head hung.

Phil came forward from his place at the doorway, and like he did for Tommy, gently guided Tubbo's wing to a more comfortable spot. Tubbo jerked his head up once he was touched, looking back at Phil. His wide eyes darted over to Tommy. He could almost see the gears turning in Tubbo's head as he put two and two together. "You-both of you-"

Tommy rose to his feet. One of his wings brushed against his arm, and he swatted it on instinct. Letting out a small hiss of pain, he opted to stare at it angrily. 

Tubbo rose unsteadily to his feet. Phil reached out his arm when the short boy stumbled. 

Tubbo looked so lost and afraid. Tommy couldn't imagine leaving him alone, and clearly Phil thought the same.

After talking for a bit, Tubbo decided to come over to Tommy’s house. Eret wouldn’t mind, the boys do this all the time.

They helped him pack a few clothes. Tubbo insisted on writing a note for Eret. He left it on the kitchen table.

Since Tommy had the brightest colored wings, and he was still shirtless, he had to wear the cloak again. He grumbled about it, but still tugged it on.

There was a small hold up when they got outside. Tubbo was standing in front of the backseat door. He looked at Tommy, already in the backseat, with panic in his eyes. "I-I don't know how to sit." It was hard to tell in the darkness, but Tommy assumed his cheeks were red with embarrassment.

Normally, Tommy would make fun of Tubbo and leave it up to him to figure it out, but Tommy was new to this also. Phil had helped, why couldn’t he help too?

“You gotta pull your wings forward like this."

And like that, the car was on its way back to Tommy's house. Tubbo shifted back and forth. Tommy knew he had a question he wanted to ask.

"Well? Spit it out."

Tubbo jumped slightly. "Huh?"

"You're sitting there like you do when you wanna ask something but don't know how." Tommy sighed, trying in vain to get comfortable.

Tubbo was quiet for a bit, before blurting out, "What the hell is happening?"

Tommy wasn't the best at explaining things, but he did his best, with Phil sometimes adding something. 

"So it's just genetics screwing us over?" Tubbo asked.

Tommy saw Phil nod. 

"What would happen if someone saw us?" Tubbo leaned forward slightly.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen," Phil said, tone grim.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

"We aren't gonna fit."

Tommy and Tubbo had planned to share Tommy's bed, like they've done in the past. But, since they both had slightly large wings, there wasn't any way to fit.

"Do you have another air mattress?" Tubbo asked.

"Yeah, but Phil is sleeping."

"Oh."

They sat together on the edge of the bed in silence.

"I just realized something. We can't ride roller coasters anymore," Tubbo said with a sigh.

Tommy groaned. "For real?"

“Yeah, don’t most of them have you in a seat that’s really small? No way could we fit.”

“That really sucks.”

“Mhm.” Tubbo traced a finger across his feathers. Tommy tried not to notice the way he trembled slightly.

Tommy stood up abruptly. “I’m getting the stupid mattress.”

Surprisingly, Phil was still awake, his face illuminated by his phone. He looked up when Tommy passed through the living room, but didn’t bother saying anything.

Tommy plopped the deflated mattress in the middle of the room. Tubbo glanced up. “How are you gonna inflate it?”

Tommy stared at Tubbo. “You gotta blow it up.”

“What?”

Tommy smiled to himself as he left to go get the air pump, leaving Tubbo questioning behind him.

Phil barely seemed to notice as Tommy went by, only flicking his eyes up when Tommy stubbed his toe and started muttering profanities.

Tommy went back to his room. Tubbo was sitting on the floor, not blowing up the mattress, but staring at it intensely. Tommy snorted, startling the brown haired boy. “What, do you think staring at it will inflate it?”

Tubbo shook his head. “No, I was just thinking.”

Tommy didn’t push him. He set up the electric pump, and sat next to Tubbo. They watched the mattress slowly inflate.

“Hey Tommy? Why aren’t you, uh, wearing a shirt?”

Tommy scowled at Tubbo. “Because wearing one hurt.”

Tubbo shrugged. “I just thought I was allergic to my old shirt. Wearing a tank top didn’t rub against my back as much.” He picked at his tank top. “I just don’t know how to get it off.”

“I’m sure Phil will help.” Tommy yawned.

Finally, the mattress had enough air. He turned the pump off. He grabbed a few pillows and blankets from his bed and closet. Tubbo stood to the side. “So, do you sleep on your bed, or...?”

Tommy glanced at his bed, thinking. “Nah, I think it’s too small. Unless you want to sleep on it?”

Tubbo shook his head. “Are we sharing the mattress then?”

“I suppose.”

The most comfortable they could get was to lay on their sides, facing each other. That way, they don’t accidentally wack each other. The downside was that they were basically staring at each other, which was pretty awkward.

“Stop staring at me.”

“Where else am I supposed to look?”

“I-I don’t know!” Tommy tried flipping onto his back, but winced in pain when his wing was pushed in a bad direction.

“You alright?” Tubbo propped himself up on his elbow.

“‘M fine.” He flopped his face back down onto the pillow, Tubbo doing the same.

They stayed like that for a while. Tubbo’s blue eyes stared right back into Tommy’s. At least, until he was shoved off the bed.

Tubbo let out a bird-like squawk, flailing his arms as he slid off the bed. He popped up not too long after, angrily glaring at Tommy. “What the hell was that for?!”

Tommy tried not to laugh, he really did. But the way Tubbo looked, and the fact he was very tired, set him into a fit of laughter.

Eventually, Tubbo’s face softened, and he joined in. The two settled into fits of giggles that pattered out into quiet.

Tubbo wiped at his eyes, wondering how Tommy had managed to go this long without saying anything. He realized the blonde had finally fallen asleep. Tubbo closed his own eyes, wondering how long it would take for sleep to claim him.

Tommy woke up with a groan. The sun was blazing through a slit in his blinds, directly into his eyes. Tubbo wasn’t there, he must have gotten up already. He sat up. There was something heavy on his back- oh, right.

He frowned at the wings behind him. He noticed he never got to really look at them. Slowly, he brought one of the wings in front of him. He had to admit, they looked pretty cool. They were probably parrot wings, which was basic, but oh well.

He stood up and stretched. He padded out of his room, hearing Phil and Tubbo laughing. They must be making breakfast together. 

They were making pancakes, which smelled really good. Tommy sat down at the table, and soon Phil and Tubbo came over.

It was almost normal, the three of them joking around. It was hard to ignore the abnormalities, though, and that fact seemed to put a small damper on the mood.

Phil smiled. “How about we go practice outside?”

Tubbo took a sip from the glass of milk he had. “Won’t somebody see us?”

Phil shook his head. “It’s a Thursday, and most people are at school or work. We’ll be fine.”

“Can I put a bloody shirt on first?” Tommy said loudly. He was slightly embarrassed that he had to go so long without being fully clothed, but he would never admit that out loud.

“Do you have a tank-top like Tubbo does?” Phil asked.

Tommy thought for a moment. “Probably. Should I go grab it?”

Phil nodded, pushing himself away from the table. 

Tommy went back to his room. He opened his closet, rummaging through it. Near the bottom, he found one that would work. It was just grey, but at least he would be wearing something.

He went back to the kitchen. Tubbo and Phil were doing the dishes, but once Phil saw Tommy, he finished drying the one he had in his hand and came over.

“Alright, so slide it over your wings.”

Tommy looked at Phil in confusion, but did as he asked. His wings were pressed close to his body. It was very uncomfortable.

“Here, I’ll help.” Phil gently pulled one of his wings out through the end of the fabric near his shoulder blades until it popped free. He did the same to the other one. Just like that, Tommy was no longer bare chested.

“Okay, but how do I take it off?”

“You just do it in reverse. Tuck the wings back in, and pull it over your head.” Phil responded.

“Can you guys come help?” Tubbo called, still doing the dishes.

It took a while, mainly because Tommy and Tubbo started a water war, but after an hour or so the kitchen was clean. “Do you guys want to go outside now?” Phil, the only dry person in the house, asked.

Tommy was about to respond when the doorbell rang. He felt an inexplicable sense of dread. Phil looked back at the two boys. “Go to your room right now. Stay there until I say it’s okay to come out,” he said, voice quiet and very, very serious.

Tommy snuck down the hall as quietly as he could, Tubbo right behind him. He closed the door with a soft click. The two shared a panicked look.

Tommy pressed his ear against the door, and could faintly hear Phil talking to someone.

“ ...do you mean, people with wings?”

…

“No, I have no reason to take my cloak off.”

…

“Do you really, though?”

…

“Do you believe random people? It was dark at night, he must have imagined it.”

…

“You’re going to search my house?!”

...

There was a loud thud, and then people were yelling, and Tommy looked at Tubbo. He was scared, so scared. Phil shouted something. Oh, he was telling them to run.

He barged out of his room, running towards the back door. He had to go through the living room, and there were people wearing black uniforms, and he was very scared. Tubbo, he had stayed behind, why? He looked back, and Tubbo was cowering by the door. One of the men wearing black saw him, pressed against the wall, and he shot something, and Tubbo fell.

He ran.

He stumbled outside. He was outside, but he didn’t know how to fly. He glanced behind his shoulder, and Phil had his wings opened. They were so large, much bigger than Tommy thought they were, but even someone as strong and capable as Phil was overwhelmed. The last thing Tommy saw was Phil staggering, and falling to the side.

He jumped, tried to flap his wings. He was very unsteady, but he was flying. The glory that should have come with it was tainted, tainted in black, just like the men covered head to toe in black armor. He felt something pierce the back of his leg, he was going numb, he was falling, and it faded to black, black like the boots of the person standing in front of him.

Chapter Text

Tommy wasn’t sure when he felt himself wake up. 

How long has he laid there, on a mattress that was too thin? He didn't know. His whole body ached. 

He tried to fall back asleep, he really did. But the images of Tubbo going limp, sliding down the wall, and Phil desperately fighting played on repeat in his head.

He forced himself to wake up all the way, not for himself, but for Tubbo and Phil.

Tommy cracked his eyes open. The room was grey, desolate. It was cement, with there only being a bed, which he was laying on, a sectioned off toilet, a sink, and a small table and chair. A door made of metal bars was in the center of the wall.

Was he in a jail cell? He didn’t know about any crimes he committed recently.

He slowly sat up. His body was so sore. It was almost immediate when he realized his wings were bound. He couldn’t open them, couldn’t move them. Something was forcing them closed, pinching just hard enough to cause a small amount of pain.

He tried removing them, but he couldn't see the blinds, and he accidentally yanked on one of his feathers, which hurt so much, so he gave up.

He tried to steady his breathing.

He was wearing a white jumpsuit, much like the orange one prisoners wear. On the front, there was a small group of letters and numbers. 

M16B

It was like some sort of nightmare. Had he finally been taken to jail for all the jokes he made? The police knew he was just joking, right?

He swung his legs off the bed despite how much they protested. After a quick search of the room, he found no crack in the wall, no convenient hammer under the bed. There was nothing, except for the cold walls that kept him from being free. 

Looking through the bars in the door didn’t give him much information. He could only see a hallway wall, no matter how he craned his neck.

He paced the room. The last he remembered was trying to escape from scary people in black amour. Those idiots must have taken him here.

Oh no, if he was here, then Phil and Tubbo must be as well. His hands started running though his hair, an old habit he’s had since forever.

Someone was walking down the hall. Tommy froze.

A person wearing the stupid black amour was at his cell door. They seemed just like everyone else, but Tommy noticed a small patch saying 404 on the front of the chest plate.

“Hey! Who the hell are you?!” Tommy stormed to the bars.

The man raised his hands in the air. “Chill! I’m not going to hurt you.” He sounded like he was in his twenties. “I’ve just got to give you food, so you don’t, like, die or something.”

He pulled a small cart into view, with plates of food. 

“That barely looks edible.”

The man merely shrugged. “Can you back away from the door? So you don’t escape? That would probably not be good.”

Tommy said nothing, instead scowling at the person. The guard glanced back and forth, before leaning in. “They’ve got cameras up. They'll do worse if you don't corporate."

Tommy didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but it sounded threatening. He slowly backed up from the door. The man brought in a plate, closing the door behind him. He quickly set the plate down, removing his helmet right after.

Tommy was right, the man looked to be in his early twenties. He seemed fairly normal as well, with brown eyes and brown hair.

The person glanced behind him nervously. “I’m George. I don’t have much time. Do you have anything you want to know?”

Tommy thought for a moment, before asking the first thing that came to mind. “Have you seen somebody with green wings?”

George nodded. “I haven’t seen him yet, but I assume you mean the boy they brought in with you. Do you want me to tell him something? He’s next on my list. To go give food, I mean,” he added quickly.

Tommy felt relieved. Tubbo was okay! “Yeah, just tell him Tommy’s okay.”

George nodded again. “I’ve really got to go soon. One last thing you wanna ask?”

“Do-Have you seen a guy with black wings?”

George shook his head, backing towards the door. “I take care of the younger groups, but I’ll ask Sap if he’s seen anyone.”

And like that, George was gone. 

Tommy poked at the food. It really did look like dog food. He opted to go without eating it, just for his own health.

That left him to resume pacing back and forth, lost his own thoughts. The dull thuds of his bare feet was the only sound. 

The obvious reason he was here was because he had wings. Duh. But why was he being treated like an alien?

He never wanted this to happen.

Eventually, Tommy got tired from pacing back and forth. There was no way to tell the time, but he assumed at least two hours went by.

His body was still sore from whatever they used to sedate him. Maybe he would just lie down for a bit.

He laid on the bed, back to the door. He would just close his eyes for a bit, that's all.

A clanging noise is what woke him up. He felt a little less sore, but that wasn’t the first thought on his mind.

The door to his cell was pushed open. The guard from before was standing there. George, that was his name.

“Hey, uh, sorry to disturb you, but do you want to come to the cafeteria? They’re serving breakfast right now.”

Tommy slid off the bed. “Will other people be there?” Maybe, just maybe, he could meet up with Phil and Tubbo.

George shrugged. “Yeah, everyone usually shows up to the cafeteria.”

Tommy thought for a moment. “Alright, I’ll go.”

Tommy followed George out his cell. “I’ve got to pick up another perso- uh, winged.”

Tommy frowned. Why did George cut himself off?

The bare, grey walls seemed void of any warmth and design. It sucked. Tommy wanted out.

George stopped in front of a cell door. With a clanging noise, the door swung open. He talked for a bit with the person inside, but ultimately convinced them to come.

Tubbo gingerly stepped out of his cell. As soon as Tommy caught sight of him, he ran and tackled the shorter boy in a hug. Tubbo hugged back just as strong. Tommy ignored Tubbo’s fingers brushing against the base of his wings, instead pulling the boy in tighter.

They were content to stay like that, but George cleared his throat. “As much as I would like for you two to reunite, we should get moving.” 

Tommy pulled away, but Tubbo clung to his hand. He smiled at his best friend, giving a small squeeze back.

They would be okay.

The two followed George down the bare hallway, the only decorations being the cell doors and security cameras. There were so many turns, and Tommy was fairly certain they backtracked at one point. It was impossible to remember the route. He gave up on memorization, instead leaning a bit closer to Tubbo. 

George, after a few more turns, led them to a much more open room. There were tables scattered around the room, but that wasn’t what made Tommy gasp, or made Tubbo shuffle a bit closer.

It was the thirty or so people that filled the room. 

All of them had wings.

“I thought Phil said it was rare?” Tubbo whispered to Tommy.

“Dunno, maybe they were kept there the whole time.” Tommy whispered back, his eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar blonde with black wings. 

George had left, going to stand with two other guards. One of them playfully punched George in the arm. 

Almost everyone in the room had sparks of color. Tommy could list every color of the rainbow, and then some, just by gazing out. Tommy caught sight of somebody with large, black wings, talking to two other people.

“Hey, do you think that’s Phil?” Tommy gestured in the direction.

Tubbo shrugged. “We can go find out. Just don’t leave me behind.”

“Why would I ever do that?” Tommy responded, pulling Tubbo behind him as he weaved through the crowd.

“Because you have in the past.”

“That’s bullshit. I would never.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Their banter was cut off as they reached the person Tommy saw from before. He cleared his throat, and Phil turned around, away from the two guys he was talking with. Phil’s face lit up, and the two boys were crushed into a hug.

Tommy struggled against the older man's embrace. Tubbo leaned into it, but Tommy's withering finally freed him and Tubbo.

Phil smiled at them. "I'm so glad you two are safe! I was worried that something bad had happened."

"Nothing bad ever happens to TommyInnit!" Tommy yelled. Some people gave him an odd glance, but he didn't care.

“Really? Then why are you here?” Tubbo asked, tilting his head.

Tommy was about to angrily rant, as he felt like he should, when somebody let out a small cough. “Gee, as much as I would enjoy watching two children fight each other, I must ask who they are.”

The man spoke in a deep, monotone voice, showing barely any emotion. Phil side-stepped, revealing two people. The one who had spoken had pink wings, matching his fluffy, pink hair. The other was considerably tall, taller than even Tommy. He had golden-brown wings with hints of black. Both of their wings were huge. Tommy envied their size slightly, his own wings not nearly as large/ 

Tommy didn’t realize Phil was talking until he heard his name mentioned. “...him and Tommy grew their wings only yesterday. We got unlucky, somebody saw us on the first day.”

“Sorry, what? I was too busy thinking about women.” Tommy said, glancing around.

The tall man let out a howl of laughter. Was it something he said?

The pink winged man nudged the other, who was still giggling, whispering women under his breath. 

“Sorry about him. I’m Technoblade.”

Tommy waited for him to continue, but the other started instead. “Names’ Wilbur. Me and good ol’ Techno here got caught together.” Wilbur smiled. “Harder to keep it secret when your friend’s wings are hot pink, yeah?”

“Hey, I didn’t choose the pink life. The pink life chose me.” Techno said with a dead-pan expression, causing Wilbur to laugh again.

“And then he goes and dyes his hair pink, as if it needs to be more obvious!” Wilbur was almost crying with laughter. Phil was laughing too, but it was much quieter. Techno finally gave in, giving his friend a small smile.

Tommy glanced at Tubbo. He seemed to be staring at something in the crowds. “What’re you looking at?” He asked, nudging Tubbo.

“One of the guards are coming over here.” Tubbo craned his head, trying to get a better look.

“Shit, really?” Tommy scanned the crowd. “Where?”

He didn’t really need to ask the last question, as he caught sight of a path made by other winged people stepping to the side.

The guard would stop occasionally, looking over all the people cowering in fear. The hall had gone completely silent, aside from a few quiet whispers.

The guard was getting closer and closer. Tommy pulled Tubbo close, begging for the black armored person to keep walking.

Phil, Techno, and Wilbur were on the other side of the separate group. The guard’s feet tapped against the ground. Never before had Tommy felt so much fear.

They stopped, turning to look around. The helmeted head settled on the two boys. Tommy recoiled away, subconsciously moving in front of Tubbo.

“Hm. You’re a new one, aren’t you. M16B?” He pulled a clipboard from who knows where, beginning to scribble stuff down on it. 

“Alight, why don’t you come with me?” His voice was cold, covered in a false tone of security. “I’m sure you will love the orientation room.”

Tommy met Phil’s eyes with fear. He felt Tubbo trembling behind him.

There was nothing he could do as his hands were cuffed (a ‘safety procedure’) and he was led away, with people’s hushed messages behind him foretelling of his doom.

Chapter Text

The man led him though multiple corridors, much like before. Tommy saw nobody else, it was just him and the person leading him.

Soon, he noticed there was a red stripe on the wall, parallel to the ground. He hadn’t seen it when it popped up, but the guard seemed to be following it.

They came to a wide, chamber like room. There were multiple steel doors, each labeled with a strange code. Tommy was led into room W1M0L.

The room, unsurprisingly, was made entirely of cold, grey cement. There were multiple tall ledges. Tommy had to guess the tallest one was probably fifteen feet tall, and even then it didn’t quite reach all the way to the ceiling.

The left wall was a giant mirror, which Tommy assumed was one-way glass. On the right side, there was a giant glass wall, sectioning off another area. There was nothing really of note in the other room, aside from vents on the floor and ceiling.

The guard behind him jingled a set of keys. Tommy felt something tampering with his wings, but before he could jump away the guard had already stepped out of the room. The door closed with a heavy thud. 

That’s when he realized his wings were unbound. He stretched them out, finally feeling not as trapped, not as pinned down.

The door was obviously locked, but that didn’t stop him from trying to push it open. After that, he stood idly in the center of the room.

There was a crackle, a burst of static, and suddenly a voice was talking at him. It sounded very feminine, with a tone that sounded like she was used to being in control.

“Hello, M16B.”

Tommy scanned the room, looking for a speaker cleverly hidden in a corner, but there was none in sight.

“Today we will be doing a series of tests. It would be best if you cooperate.” The woman’s voice was silky, like a voice from a shampoo commercial.

“Like hell I would cooperate with you.” Tommy huffed, crossing his arms with a defiant stance.

There was a sound of a sigh, along with a rustling of papers. “Very well. I would have expected you to show some maturity, but that is no matter.”

Tommy just about shouted at the disembodied voice. Why would she expect him to actually follow the rules? He was held here against his will, of course he wouldn’t just follow along! He wasn’t a beta-male!

He faintly heard the woman yell at somebody. It sounded like she had said “Bring in the fox!” Oh. Foxes weren't that bad, right? Still, he felt instinctual dread settle into his bones. 

He heard a thud come from outside the room. He backed up nervously. He barely noticed the way his wings spread out. This put a whole new meaning on 'fight or flight.'

There was shouting, and then the door opened. Somebody was thrown into the room. The door closed with a loud boom. 

The intruder didn’t hesitate in throwing himself against the door. “Let me out!”

Tommy noticed the furry tail, puffed in anger, and the pointy ears, laid back against his hair. The fox-man was like Tommy, but instead of wings, he had… fox appendages.

The woman’s voice was back, louder than the fox-man’s angry shouts. “Hello, M21F. Yelling at the door will not do anything, I’m afraid.”

The man turned with an angry growl. His brown, almost orange eyes landed on Tommy. Tommy couldn’t help but stiffen, taking another small step back.

The woman was speaking again. “We have done extensive research on the winged, but this is one of our first tests on a hybrid with genes from a four-legged animal.”

Tommy eyed the stranger's fingernails. They looked more like claws, and they were evidently sharp, judging by the small marks left on the door.

“In the wild, foxes will hunt birds, as proven by our research. We would like to see if animal instincts are stronger in this environment, facing against a natural predator or prey, or if their human knowledge will be stronger.”

The mic cut off with a small click. A faint buzzing Tommy hadn’t even noticed was gone, leaving the room in an almost deafening silence.

The stranger made no move, standing faintly in a stance that reminded Tommy of his own. 

“Hey, uh, you aren’t gonna, uh, attack me, right?” Tommy asked, trying not to let any of his animal-like fear into his voice.

The stranger shook his head, his stance relaxing immediately. “Nah, probably not.”

“Probably?” Tommy raised an eyebrow, but shifted to be more casual. The other responding in a normal, human way really settled his nerves.

The fox-man let out a bark of a laugh. “Well, some part of me feels like I should attack, but if I’m honest, that would really not be worth it.” He pointed up to one of the ledges. “You would probably just fly away, and then I would look like a animalistic fool."

“Oh, yeah, I kind of feel like I should run as far away from you as possible.” Tommy kicked at the ground. “And, uh, I’m not too sure I can even fly.”

The fox-man laughed again, holding out his clawed hand for a shake. “Name’s Fundy.”

Tommy shook his hand with a faint smile. “I’m Tommy, and this place is shit.”

Fundy grinned. Tommy noticed how his teeth were pointed. “Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.”

Tommy’s eyes caught sight of Fundy’s tail flicking behind him. “Uh, what’s it like having ears and a tail?”

Fundy shrugged. “I don’t really notice it anymore. But at first, everything was really loud, my hearing was super sensitive. I got used to it, but it was pretty uncomfortable. My balance is a lot better, I guess. That’s the only advantage to having a tail.”

Fundy gestured at the wings attached to Tommy’s back. “You’re the first winged person I’ve talked to. Can I ask the same thing?”

Tommy shrugged, like Fundy had before. “Dunno. I’ve only had wings for, like, two days. But I can say that sleeping was weird. I had to go shirtless for the first day, ‘causes I didn’t know how to put one on.” He laughed, although it sounded hollow to his ears. “I guess it didn’t really matter, because as soon as I figured out how to wear one I get dragged here.”

Fundy sighed through his teeth. “That sucks, man. I went a while before somebody caught me.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I tried to play it off as being a furry, but they didn’t seem to believe me.”

Tommy snorted, and was about to say something when the woman’s stupid voice came back.

“Well done. This research will help push our studies forward.”

Tommy heard Fundy growl. It was very strange, hearing such a feral sound come from someone he had just been joking with earlier. Then again, he was probably capable of making bird noises, remembering how Tubbo sounded when Tommy shoved him off the air mattress. Wow, that felt like years ago, despite it being yesterday.

“We have no more need for you, M21F, as of right now. You will be escorted back to your holding room until further notice.”

The door opened, an unrecognizable person coming through. It was really hard to tell the difference between guards, since they all looked the same. The only way Tommy remembered George was because of the small patch on his chestplate, but none others seemed to share this trait.

Fundy stepped in front of Tommy, suddenly in a fighting stance again. His claws glinted off the blinding lights on the very high ceiling.

The guard pulled out a small whistle from his pocket. When he blew into it, it didn’t make any sound to Tommy's ears, but Fundy obviously heard something. Fundy collapsed to the floor in agony, hands clamped over his ears. Tommy couldn’t help but take a few steps back, shock and adrenaline coursing through his veins. 

The guard casually strolled over, forcing Fundy’s hands into a pair of cuffs. Fundy was pulled away, stumbling as he recovered from whatever the fuck that whistle did.

The woman’s voice came back, smooth as ever. “As for you, M16B, we still need to do one more test.”

It sounded like a pen was clicking. Perhaps the woman was writing down a report. “We saw how you reacted to a human with fox traits. He had some foxlike attributes, but he was still human. That raises the question: How would you react to a feral fox?”

Tommy’s breathing quickened. Something as small and incompetent as a fox would have formerly made him laugh. Sure, he may get a scratch or two, but he was smarter, stronger, and just better.

But now, the idea of a fox jumping at him was enough to send his anxiety though the roof. The fear felt instinctual, much like it had for Fundy, but even then Tommy knew Fundy probably wouldn’t attack him. A feral fox, on the other hand? Much more likely.

A guard brought in a fox, wriggling and snarling. It flipped around with speed, attempting to get away from the leash. The guard clicked something on the handle, and the leash unlatched itself. The guard quickly backed out of the room, sealing Tommy in a room with a wild fox.

The animal, now free, scanned the area. The orange eyes landed on Tommy. Never before had Tommy wanted to bolt, to get away, to fly.

The fox started stalking forward, snarling quietly. Tommy quickly backed up, until he backed into a wall. He was pinned, and the fox knew that. It started taking its time, slowly prowling from side to side.

Tommy was breathing so quickly, he had to get away, he had to do something. His eyes scanned the walls, searching for a ledge he could reach. His eyes latched onto one that was probably about nine feet tall. It was still a bit tall, and he would have to attempt flight to reach it, but it was the shortest in the room.

The fox was closer, too close, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. Tommy watched its movements, waiting until it crouched, and then-

It launched itself at Tommy, who ducked. He didn’t see the fox hit the wall, but judging by the loud yelp, the fox had just rammed it’s head into a stone wall. He would have laughed under any other circumstance, but more pressing matters were on his mind.

He bolted, running as fast as he could towards the ledge. His breathing was rapid with fear and adrenaline, his bare feet throbbing slightly as they pounding on the floor. The fox growled, it’s little feet tapping as it gave chase.

Tommy charged at the ledge. Using his momentum, he jumped at the wall, managing to make it a few steps up the wall before he slipped.

His wings spread and started keeping him in the air. He was very unsteady, almost falling back to the floor, but he heard the fox jump, heard it’s teeth snap shut just a little ways below him, and he pumped his wings harder. He only had to make it a bit farther up, and he would be safe. Despite how unnatural, how new and strange it was to have wings capable of flight, he slowly rose in the air. Grasping onto the ledge with a small gasp, he pulled himself up, into safety.

Tommy quickly pushed himself away from the edge, taking a moment to finally catch his breath. Height meant safety, as long as he could make it high enough he could be safe.

He pushed himself back against a wall, pulling his legs to his chest. The events of what just happened in the past few minutes caught up to him. Now, sitting in safety, he felt like laughing at himself. He was scared of a small animal; how stupid was that?

His heart pumping said otherwise. That fear was natural, it was what kept wild birds alive in the wild. If he was going to live with two wings on his back and the smell of a bird of prey, he would have to accept and deal with wild animals and their tendencies.

Tommy heard the fox pacing, the clawed feet making small clicks on the stone as it walked back and forth. He heard somebody enter the room, heard the click of the leash, and the fox snapping as it was dragged away to whatever level of hell it had came from.

The woman spoke again. “Oh, very good. You are such a fascinating subject. I’m sure we will make much progress with you under our care.”

Tommy stood, all of his fear gone. He glared at the mirror, knowing they would see him, and hear him. He had a few things he would like to say.

“Fuck you! You stupid bitch, what makes you think I’m some sort of play-thing!?” He flipped himself off the mirror, but was one-hundred percent confident his message had been heard and seen.

“I believe it’s time for you to leave now.” The woman’s voice seemed to tremble the tiniest bit. Good.

He dropped the nine feet down, no normal worry about falling from such a height present. His wings spreading out instinctively to let him slowly fall to the ground. The wind, even though it was small and barely noticeable, shifted though his feathers. He felt something akin to happiness. The wind ruffling his feathers felt natural.

What wasn’t as natural was the guard coming up to him, sliding a pair of cuffs on his wrists, and slowly leading him away. 

Tommy didn’t fail to notice the small fire patch on this guard's chest. Perhaps he had some relationship to George.

He left with some tingling sense of satisfaction and a deep desire to never be led down the hallway with a red stripe again.

Chapter Text

Eret re-read the messily written letter, for perhaps the hundredth time that night.

Hey Eret

Me and Tommy are gonig to spend the nite togethar

Hope you aernt woried!

Tubbo! :D

He sighed. His wig sat discarded next to the letter and his sunglasses on the table. He considered, again, going over to Tommy’s house to check on his brother, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

Eret didn’t want to seem like a worried parent. It was hard, though.

It was a series of unfortunate events that led to Eret being left alone, with a duty to care for his younger brother. As Tubbo looked into the teenage Eret’s eyes with seven-year old innocence, Eret knew he would do anything to keep his brother safe.

He hoped that Tubbo wouldn't carry the same DNA he had been cursed with.

The white cat ears and tail were very hard to hide. There were multiple times where Eret almost gave himself away.

The tail was easy enough. He just had to wear slightly baggy pants, and the tail would almost disappear, hidden in one pant leg. The ears, however… those were a challenge.

At first, Eret wore a hat anywhere he went. People assumed he just liked to wear hats, which was fine by him.

He didn’t want to wear a hat forever. That’s when he realized he could buy a wig.

It was slightly expensive, but it looked very similar to his natural hair, and it covered the ears just fine. Eret had deemed himself safe.

Tubbo had never noticed. Eret wasn’t exactly sure how, since they lived together.

Whatever the case, Eret assumed that Tubbo was out of the range of age to be a hybrid. Eret didn’t know anyone else like himself, but Tubbo was sixteen, and still hadn’t shown any signs of turning out like his brother. It was a relief, that his younger sibling wouldn’t have to live with the same cautiousness as he did.

The clock ticked on the wall, the sound sensitive to his ears. He was used to sounds being muffled.

He didn’t know how long Tubbo had been gone, or how long ago the note was written. He ran a hand through his curly hair, deciding to just go check that Tubbo was still at Tommy's house. It wasn’t that lame, he was just taking a precaution.

He pulled the wig on, tucked his tail back into his pants, and started his car. His fingers nervously thrummed on the steering wheel. 

When he pulled up to Tommy’s house, he noticed that there was a car in the driveway. That was odd, since Tommy’s parents were on a business trip. They weren’t supposed to be back for another four weeks.

Eret walked up to the door. It looked like there were lights on in the house, which helped lower his previous anxiety. He knocked on the door, then politely waited.

There was somebody talking to another inside, and then the door opened. Eret was greeted by Tommy’s mother. Eret smiled. “Hello.”

The woman smiled back, but there was something… wrong in her eyes. “Why, hello. Do you need something?”

Eret studied the woman’s eyes. What was ticking him off about them? “Uh, yes. My younger brother was staying over for the night, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”

The mother cocked her head. “Are you doing alright? I haven’t seen any boy here.”

Eret’s smile turned a bit more nervous. “Is Tommy there?”

The woman backed a bit from the door. “Sorry, but I don’t know any Tommy. I hope you have a good day.”

The door slammed shut. Eret stood, shocked. He went and sat in his car, only driving to the nearest empty parking lot. He had gone to the right house, hadn’t he?

Unless…

Eret pulled his phone out of his pocket, wondering why he didn’t do this sooner. He pressed on Tubbo’s contact, stressfully waiting for his brother to pick up the phone.

The phone rang, and rang. Eret hummed a tune, again tapping his fingers. Tubbo never let the phone ring, he always picked up.

The line beeped. This phone-call has been forwarded into an automated voice-messaging system.

He hung up. Scrolling through his contacts, he selected Tommy’s. Tommy was surprisingly reliable in picking up calls. Maybe Tubbo’s phone was on silent.

Just like it had before, the phone rang, ending in the automated voice. Eret sighed. He felt like hitting his head on the steering wheel.

What had happened to his brother?

Eret had an idea, but he hoped against everything that it wasn’t true. He pulled up Google, searching up something he never thought he would search in his life.

The websites seemed unrelated at first, which made Eret feel relieved. He scrolled down, just checking there was nothing there.

Eret’s eyes caught on a site. He silently begged it to be a false site, to be a prank. But it was real.

Hybrid Containment Facility, or HCF. Contacts are available on the second page.

Have you ever seen a person with animal traits? Have you seen somebody with bird wings on their back, or ears and a tail? Then contact us, at (###) ### - ####

We will take care of these abnormal people with a blink of the eye!

These hybrids are very dangerous! Many take on the characteristics of the animal they are a part of, which may result in them attacking harmless civilians! It is of the utmost importance that you contact us as soon as you catch sight of one. Even calling 911 or any emergency line with help keep you and your neighbors safe!

QnA:

Q: I saw my friend with wolf ears and a tail! He seemed normal, but what do I do? 

A: Your friend is not what he seems. He may act like a normal person, but as soon as he gets the chance, he will definitely strike and hurt many people. It’s very important that you call us immediately.

Q: You don’t hurt the hybrids being contained, do you?

A: We treat our animal hybrids as good as we can! They get the best food, the best medical care, and the most luxury bedding available. You can have no fear turning in others. Rest assured that they are living their best lives!

Q: What makes a person into a hybrid? Should I distance myself from hybrids? Is the hybridity contagious?

A: What makes a normal person into half of an animal is a very old DNA strip that has been past down many generations. It is not contagious, you are either born with it or you aren’t. You should distance yourself, but only because they may lash out and hurt you!

Q: What age does the hybrid part begin to show? Are they born with animal limbs?

A: The gene will pop up from the ages 11-19. They will not show any characteristics until they reach that age zone. If you have a teenage child, please keep a very close eye on them! They may try and hide their animalistic traits from you.

If you have any more questions, call (###) ### - ####

Here's to a better future without animal threats!

Eret stared at the page. He cleared the search animal people from his search history, shutting his phone off right after.

He drove himself home. He pulled off the wig before he even entered the house, but it was past midnight, there was nobody sane awake.

He tossed the wig on the table, his glasses following right after. He pulled his tail free, letting it swish behind him.

The letter was still on the table, as optimistic and happy as ever. Eret frowned.

He walked up to his younger brother’s room, creaking the door open. Nothing was really different, aside from the shirt he had worn the last day Eret saw him casually tossed to the floor. In front of the closet, it looked like Tubbo had rummaged through all of his shirts, seeing as half of them were messily piled and the other half, still in the closet, but unfolded and disorganized. 

His eyesight was quite good in the dark, but it wasn’t as good as using a light. He flicked the light switch. Nothing in the room changed, despite being bathed in light.

Something caught Eret’s eye, right before he turned to leave. He walked over and crouched down, lightly picking it up. 

It was a shimmering green feather.

Chapter Text

The guard pulled him slowly down the hall. He abruptly stopped, causing Tommy to bump into him. “Hey man, what gives?”

The guard shushed him. “We’re in a corner where the cameras can’t see us.”

He pulled his helmet off. The guard was a normal looking person, just like George. He had messy, long black hair and brown, almost black eyes. His hair seemed to fall into his face a lot, as he swiped it aside with a small sigh.

“Listen man, this place isn’t good for you.”

“No shit.” Tommy couldn’t help but in. “They just let a rabid fox on me!”

“Keep it down!” The guard peeked around the corner. “Me and my friends are working on making an escape plan.”

Tommy stayed silent, nodding his head for the other to continue. 

“Our friend Bad, he’s got wings. Me and my friends found him, but helped keep him secret. Somebody we didn’t really know found out, called this place, and then they came and took us all. We gotta work here now, since ‘we know too much.’” He put the last part in air quotes.

“Can’t you just leave?” Tommy whispered.

“Nah, man. I tried, but they…” He trailed off. “They, uh, hurt Bad instead.”

Tommy didn’t know what to say to comfort the man. Before he could, the other turned back. “I’m in charge of the older group of winged hybrids, which includes Bad and the people you were talking to at lunch. If I can’t escape without them taking it out on my friend, then I might as well set as many free as I can.”

He faintly smiled, reaching out a hand to shake. “I’m Sapnap.”

Tommy raised his cuffed hands. “Tommy. I would love to shake your hand, but I’m afraid I can’t.”

Sapnap smiled, his cheeks slightly tinting pink. “Ah, sorry. That reminds me, I’ve got to put your wing binds back on.”

Tommy grumbled, but turned so his back was facing Sapnap. “Why do only we have to wear binds?”

He felt a bind clamp his wing shut. He grit his teeth, trying to not yelp in pain. 

“Well, you didn’t have to, at first. The bird hybrids were the most docile, since birds are usually prey. The people up top shouldn’t have trusted that, though, as a bunch of them ganged up and managed to break out.”

Tommy grunted, feeling the other wing be forced close as Sapnap continued. “Most of them got tracked down, but a couple escaped. Since then, everybody with wings has got to wear binds.”

Sapnap pulled the helmet back on. “If somebody runs into us, asking why we stood there for so long, let me do the talking.”

Sapnap grabbed Tommy by his handcuffs, dragging him forward. Tommy stumbled, trying to match the older’s pace. 

The two passed multiple cells, only evident because of the metal door and small envelope hanging next to the door. Sapnap ran into another guard, the two beginning to talk.

Tommy glanced into the cell door they had stopped by. He could see somebody inside. The person stepped up to the door.

He had one vibrantly red and blue wings with hints of black. His hair was really short, making him almost bald. He waved his hand with a small smile. Tommy faintly smiled back.

The other guard let out a huff, bumping their shoulder against Tommy as they walked off. Tommy bit his tongue, almost calling them a bitch.

Sapnap tugged again. “Come along.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, but waved as best as he could to the other captive. The person waved back, right before Tommy could no longer see him.

Sapnap and Tommy passed a few more cells, finally reaching one that Tommy assumed was his own. Sapnap pulled out a walkie-talkie, saying something that Tommy didn’t hear. The guard buckled the communication device back into his belt.

Almost immediately after, a blaring alarm set off, scaring Tommy half to death. No matter what Sapnap tells you, Tommy did not screech and jump into the air. That did not happen. Nope.

The hallways were suddenly flashing red lights. Sapnap calmly opened the door to the cell, Tommy taking initiative and going inside. Sapnap pulled off the helmet for a second to clear the hair from his eyes. He sent Tommy a smile, and then shut the door, darting down the hall. Tommy tried peeking outside the cell, but like his first day here, he couldn’t see anything aside from the walls.

The alarms shut off, leaving Tommy’s ears ringing. The hallway was back to being illuminated by the bright ceiling lights.

Tommy turned from the door, shaking his head. A tentative voice came from the corner.

“Tommy?”

Tubbo was sitting on his bed. Tommy stared for a few seconds, before Tubbo pulled him from the door. He was crushed into a hug as soon as they were out of sight.

He stiffened at first, but then relaxed. He pulled Tubbo closer.

He remembered the way Sapnap spoke into his walkie-talkie, right before the alarm went off, and how Sapnap had smiled before running off. This was probably all orchestrated by him.

Tubbo pulled away, smiling up at Tommy. He smiled back.

The two sat on the floor. Tommy began to tell Tubbo about the testing.

“So at first they sent in this fox-guy, right? His name was Fundy. We didn’t hurt each other, we just talked like best friends.”

Tubbo nodded.

“But then they took him out, and brought in a real fox. Don’t laugh, but it was-” Tommy shivered. “It was horrible.”

Tubbo seemed to smother his smile. Tommy glared at him. “Sorry, sorry. Go on.”

“No, really. You weren't there, but that fox was the most terrifying thing in my life.”

Tubbo snickered. Tommy scowled. “Tubbo! You’re making fun of me!”

Tubbo shook his head. “No, no, no. I would never. The great and mighty TommyInnit, being scared of a fox? There is nothing funny about that, nothing at all.”

Tommy punched Tubbo’s arm. “Well, dickhead, you weren't there, were you?”

Tubbo couldn’t speak, he was trying to hold in his laughter. Tommy turned away, crossing his arms.

“Tommy! Aren’t you going to continue?”

“No.”

Tubbo pushed himself into Tommy’s view. Tommy turned his head, pointedly avoiding looking at him. “Why not?”

“Because you will only make fun of me, and it really hurts my feelings.” Tommy finally gave in, looking at Tubbo. He put as much artificial sadness into his pout as he could.

Tubbo’s face turned serious. “Oh, I’m sorry, man.”

Tommy’s facade broke. He cackled with laughter. Tubbo’s face quickly swapped between sadness, to confusion, to anger for a split second, before he grinned.

Tubbo tackled Tommy with a laugh. Tommy immediately stopped, letting out a cry of pain.

Tubbo immediately scrambled off of him. Tommy sat up, wincing.

“Are you alright?” Tubbo fiddled with his fingers. “You aren’t pranking me again, right?”

“Nah, I’m not,” Tommy said, sucking in a breath. He gingerly pulled his wing close. “I think a feather or two bent.”

Tubbo’s hands hovered next to Tommy’s wing. “Ah, sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

The two sat quietly in silence. If they didn’t have wings, then they would be still laughing, rolling across the floor. The former mood was gone. 

Tommy traced his finger along a red feather. He hated the way he could feel his hands on his wings. It was so unnatural. They were a part of him, a part he didn’t want.

Tubbo had pushed himself against a wall, legs pulled up to his chest. His wings were tilted forward, like they wanted to wrap around his body, but were held back by the binds. Tommy schooched over next to his friend, mimicking his pose. His wings subconsciously moved forward, but the small pain he got from them pulling against the binds made them stop.

“I-I’m sorry,” Tubbo mumbled. Tommy glanced over, Tubbo’s pale blue eyes staring into his lap.

“No, it’s alright man.” Tommy wanted to reach out and pull Tubbo closer, but didn’t. “I’m not that hurt anyways. It was like bending your finger back too far.”

“Yeah, but that still hurts.” Tubbo glanced over.

“Only for a little bit.” Tommy tried smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He sighed, gazing at his legs.

“I’m sorry for making fun of you.” Tommy couldn’t help but snap his head back. Tubbo had pulled himself up tighter. Tommy thought he saw Tubbo’s eyes watering.

“No, no. It’s-” Tommy cut himself off. He started again, after taking a moment to think.

“It was really terrifying, like the fox actually wanted to attack and… uh, kill me, I think.” Tommy shrugged, looking the other way. “I was okay, but it was horrible.”

Tubbo sniffed. Tommy looked back. Tubbo was staring intently downwards There were tears leaking from his eyes. Uh oh/

Tommy was never left alone with somebody who was hurting. There was always somebody else there, usually Eret, who comforted Tubbo while Tommy awkwardly stood to the side. Tommy never got comforted, because he never let himself be vulnerable around others, even Tubbo. Dealing with his pain alone was easier than reaching out to somebody. He didn’t want to bother anyone, and his problems weren't that pressing anyways.

But now, he was the only one there to help his friend.

Tommy quietly moved closer. Tubbo didn’t notice, head laying in his crossed arms. Tommy gently reached out, settling his arm across Tubbo’s back.

He couldn’t see Tubbo react, because his friend’s wing was in the way, but after a moment Tubbo pulled away. Tommy withdrew, it was wrong of him to try and help, he should have just let Tubbo cry it out, he wasn’t fit to help-

Tubbo was back, leaning on Tommy’s side. He had only moved to reposition his wing. It was behind him now, Tommy could feel feathers that weren't his own brushing his wings. Tommy put his arm across Tubbo’s shoulders again, pulling him closer.

They sat like that for a while. Tubbo’s head was leaning on his shoulder. Tommy didn’t dare move. He hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time, despite the hard, cold ground under him.

Too soon, Tubbo pulled away again. Tommy almost pulled him back down, but instead averted his eyes. That would have been weird, and then Tubbo wouldn’t ever do it again. 

Tubbo gently tugged on his arm, breaking him out of his thoughts. He met Tubbo’s eyes. He looked content, which was good. It meant Tommy had done a good job soothing his friend. Tubbo was happy again, and now Tommy could go back and act like that didn’t happen, because surely that was a one-time thing.

He didn’t notice Tubbo gently leading him, until he was pulled down onto the bed. It was definitely too small. Tubbo’s wings must have been pressed against the wall. Tommy pushed himself away slightly. He and Tubbo had shared a bed before, but usually it wasn’t a twin sized bed.

Tubbo pulled Tommy closer. Tommy shifted, letting Tubbo have a bit more room. Despite his efforts, the two were pressed close together.

“This isn’t weird, right?” Tommy asked.

Tubbo snorted. “You just had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?”

Tommy huffed. “Well, it was a bit weird, and I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t too weird.”

Tubbo set his head under Tommy’s chin. It tickled a little, but Tommy ignored it. 

“No, Tommy. We’re friends, this is what friends do.”

Tommy looked down at his friend, pressed close to his chest. Part him felt remorseful, because if this is what friends do, why hadn’t Tubbo ever done it before? The other part, though, was just happy that Tubbo trusted him this much.

Tommy relaxed, wrapping his arms around Tubbo. He could feel Tubbo’s heartbeat, thumping faintly against his chest. Tommy gazed at the wall, the dull, cement, grey wall.

This place was hell, sure, but at least it gave him a chance to be closer to his friend. He instantly felt guilty. It didn’t matter if it made their relationship closer, Tommy would rather just be a normal friend then be in here. That applied to Tubbo, also. Tubbo didn’t deserve to be here, in this area where people let rabid animals on you for tests. Tommy was sure they could, and would, do worse. Tubbo shouldn’t have to go through that.

He felt exhaustion tug at his eyelids. He closed his eyes, snuggling a bit closer to Tubbo.

Tommy would rather take on a hundred foxes then let Tubbo get experimented on.

Chapter Text

Tommy slept deeply. He woke up to the sound of a door clanging closed.

He groaned, shifting slightly. He was a bit stiff from staying in one position all night. Somebody snuggled closer. He groggily adjusted his arms around the other, fingers lightly brushing against feathers. 

It took a few more minutes, but Tommy eventually woke up a bit more. He blinked, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. He almost took his hand and rubbed his eyes, but stopped himself.

Tubbo was pressed to his chest, soundly sleeping. Tommy let a soft smile come to his face. He was happy to relax and go back to sleep, but another clang snapped him fully awake.

He lifted his head up, not enough to disturb Tubbo, and looked towards the door. The door didn't open.

He quietly sighed, about to lay back down, but then the door swung open. He froze.

George poked his head, free of his helmet, into the room. Tommy tensed as George's brown eyes scanned the room, landing on the two boys.

Tommy immediately began attempting to free himself from Tubbo's grip. The shorter only tightened his hold with a small grunt.

"Tubbo, let me go," Tommy hissed.

 He heard a stifled laugh come from the doorway. Tommy glared at George. 

“Not funny.” Tommy felt a bit bad for Tubbo, but his dignity was at stake.

Tommy kicked off the wall somehow, freeing himself from Tubbo’s hold. He felt relief for approximately two seconds, before he realized he had pushed himself off the bed. He landed flat on his back, thankfully not crushing his wings. The floor was unforgiving, hard and cold. He sat up with a small wheeze. All the air had been knocked out of his lungs.

George was still standing in the doorway, like the idiot he was. Tommy tried to send George the most threatening glare he could muster, but it was hard to do so when you’re sitting on the ground, at a loss of breath.

Tommy pushed himself to his feet. George hadn't said anything, standing still with his arms crossed. Tommy felt the creeping fear you get when teachers tell you to ‘talk with me after class’.

Tubbo, woken up from Tommy’s flailing, sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked at Tommy quizicaly, then glanced over at George.

Tommy peeked down at his friend. Tubbo’s face was filled with the guilt and fear you get when you get caught doing something you aren’t supposed to be doing. Tommy reached out and put his hand on Tubbo’s shoulder, hoping it came across as comforting.

George silently judged for a few more seconds. Finally, his face broke into a grin. “You guys are such cute friends.”

“No we’re not!” Tommy yelled, Taboo doing the same. Tommy met Tubbo’s eyes in bewilderment.

“That was so weird!”

“I’ve never done it so in sync before!”

George coughed, catching the two boy’s attention again. “Sorry, but you guys need to go to the showers. There should still be warm water.”

Tubbo got out of the bed, the two following George out of the room. George pulled his helmet back on. He looked at them. “Follow me. Don’t try any funny business.”

Tommy had to cover his snort with clearing his throat. Why would George say that? That’s the most suspicious and stupid thing to say!

Him and Tubbo followed diligently. Even if he wanted to, where would Tommy run? This place was a maze, and he would just run into another guard and be contained again. Oh, there’s also cameras. He couldn’t get very far with constant supervision.

George turned down a hallway that had a blue stripe on the wall. Tommy watched for anything of note. The hallway was fairly short, with what was assumed to be the bathrooms on one side, and a medical bay on the other. Tommy figured that out because there was a red plus sign above the closed off doors.

George took his helmet off. “Stupid thing, I could barely breathe,” he muttered under his breath. 

George pointed at the medbay. “My friend works there. We all call him Dream. He’s the best medic we got, all the others are only good at wrapping bandages. Really smart and funny.” George glanced away. “You’ll probably meet him soon.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Tubbo nervously piped up.

Tommy glanced around for cameras, but there was none in sight. “Hey big man, why aren’t there any cameras?”

George smiled at the name. “Well, one time a coyote hybrid went a bit, uh, crazy. He ran outside, butt naked, and just generally causing a lot of chaos.” George smiled faintly at the old memory. “They got him under control, but he still did a lot of damaging stuff, mainly to your eyes. The people that run this place must not have liked the sight, since they removed the cameras from this section the next day.”

Tommy could only imagine- wait, actually, that seemed really disgusting, he would rather not think about a naked man running down the halls, screaming at the top of his lungs.

George took out what looked like a large pair of tweezers fused with a wrench. “Let me take the binds off. It’ll be hard to shower with them on.”

George did Tommy first. The feeling was slightly familiar, like before, when his binds got removed for the experimentation room. He fluffed his feathers, something he didn’t even know he could do. Tubbo giggled. “Aw, Tommy!”

Tommy glared back. “What.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Nevermind.”

Tommy watched as Tubbo got his binds removed. George slid the flat part under the binds, using the wrench part to unscrew the binds loose. He did it quickly, like he had a lot of experience. 

Tubbo shook his wings out. That must have been the first time they were free since he got here. Tommy felt a little bad, but there was nothing he could do about it.

George pointed at the bathrooms. “There are separate stalls, so you don’t have to share a shower. There should be soap and stuff. I’ll wait out here.”

Tommy entered the showers, instantly hit with a faceful of steam. George chuckled. “They don’t start the vents until lunch. Sorry about that.”

He entered the showers. The floor was wet with condensation. He had to focus on trying not to slip. Tubbo came behind him. Tommy heard a small gasp as Tubbo almost slipped. He glanced behind him, but Tubbo was already back on his feet.

Tommy slid the curtain open to the shower stall. There was a small area with a bench and towel, with another shower curtain. 

Behind the second curtain was the shower itself. Tommy gingerly slid the white jumpsuit off, taking his time sliding it off his wings. He couldn't begin to think about how hard it must be for Phil to take the jumper off, much less somebody with huge wings like Wilbur or Techno.

The shower handle didn't give any indication to what was hot or cold. With a small shrug, he cranked the handle as far as it could go to the right.

What he didn't take into consideration was that he was standing directly under the shower nozzle. The freezing cold water hit him fully, forcing whatever drowsiness he had out. He immediately flinched away, backing off with a small cry of shock.

He stumbled out of the shower, sliding the curtain shut. He stood, miserably trembling. His damp wings curled around himself in a pitiful attempt to warm himself up.

He was reminded of the first day he got wings. How similar this situation was, except for being at the warmth of his house he was trapped in a grey prison.

"Tommy? You alright?" Tubbo called from the next stall over.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine." Tommy couldn't help his teeth chattering. 

He stuck a hand into the water. It had warmed up a little, but he preferred his showers hot. He sighed, irritatedly tapping his foot as he waited.

After waiting another minute, he realized the water wasn't getting any warmer. Slightly ticked, he stepped back into the water. 

The first thing he realized was how odd it was to feel water on his wings. The feathers immediately became waterlogged, weighing the wings down. Tommy flexed the wings, trying to keep them raised. He felt a small tug, like how he would imagine a cat flexing their claws.

He craned his head back curiously. "What the fu…"

Poking out from where the wings bent into the folding position was a talon, one on each wing.

Tommy poked the tip, wincing when it pricked his finger. He tried relaxing his wings, and he felt the talon retract back into the feathers.

Huh. Guess bird hybrids weren't completely defenseless after all.

There was soap, like George had said. Tommy quickly washed off, being gentle when it came to his wings.

He shut the water off. Tubbo must not have been done, as he still heard the shower going in the stall next to him. 

Tommy scrubbed his hair with the towel, acutely aware of the water dripping from his wings.

He wasn't too sure how to dry the wings off. The water seemed to be draining off the feathers by itself, leaving the wings feeling lighter. Did he even have to pat them down?

The feathers fluffed out, letting the down feathers dry. Tommy got back inside the jumper, thankful that the gaps for his wings were fairly large. It made it a lot easier to pull it on.

He stepped out of the stall. Tubbo's shower had just shut off, the only noise being the dripping of excess water. Tommy had a bit more time before he had to go back outside and put the wing binds on. 

Tommy wandered over to the set of fogged up mirrors. He used the sleeve of his white jumpsuit to wipe off of them. 

Tommy studied himself in the mirror. It was the first time he could really look at himself since getting wings. Sure, he had seen himself when he grew his wings, but at the time he was too frantic to notice the small changes.

The first thing he noticed was his hair. The blonde had lighted a few shades to look more creamy, although it wasn't very noticeable. There was a faint red tint to his hair as well.

The next thing he noticed was his eyes. Normally they were a bright, sky blue. Now, though, there was a yellow overlay on one of them, making his left eye a bit more on the green side.

The changes weren't that obvious, and Tommy was sure people would notice unless he pointed them out. The differences didn't bother him as much as he felt they should. He already had two bird wings on his back, why should he be surprised about other physical changes?

Tommy experimentally flexed his wings again. He felt the small tug, and watched with awe as two talons slid out. 

"Sick," he mumbled, admiring them in the mirror. He relaxed his wings, and the talons disappeared under his feathers.

"What's sick?" Tubbo popped up next to him.

Tommy jumped slightly, but was too excited to complain. "Hey Tubbo, watch this!" 

Tubbo's eyes went wide as he admired the talons. "Woah! Wait, can I do that?"

"I think so. Try flexing your wings."

Tubbo let out a small gap as his own talons came out. "Oh! That's so cool!"

Tommy couldn't help but notice the small changes Tubbo had as well. His hair's main color hadn't changed, but there was now a green-ish hue. His left eye seemed darker, less pale blue and more light brown. 

"Hey! Are you guys done?" George yelled, startling Tommy out of his thoughts. 

He pulled Tubbo along, whose eyes were still bright with excitement on finding out a hidden feature. 

George was leaning on the wall next to the door, scrolling through his phone. He smiled when he saw the two teenagers. "For being in the middle of the forest, this place has fast internet speed."

"Can you call people?" Tubbo asked. George nodded, sliding the phone back into his pocket.

"You could, but the calls are monitored. I learned that when I tried calling one of my outside friends." His gaze darkened slightly. "They tracked down his location. Turns out he was a siamese cat hybrid. Only seen him twice."

Tommy shook his head. "Sorry, man."

George took the bonds out with a sigh. "It's not your fault."

Tubbo winced as the clamps were tightened back on his wings. Tommy frowned slightly, but turned around to let George bind his wings.

Tommy flinched, immediately trying to flex his wings. He quickly found out that the binds effectively prevented him from doing so, with only the tip of the talon poking out. George smiled ruefully.

“Yeah, the binds keep the talons shut. It sucks, but at least you don’t have to wear a muzzle like the foxes and wolves.”

Tommy stared at George. “Fundy-They have to wear muzzles?”

George nodded, putting the helmet on and beginning to walk back down the hall. Tommy shared a look with Tubbo, then followed George down the hall. 

To the cafeteria they go.

heres a thing for the wing claws just a reference

Chapter Text

"What is this even made out of?" Tommy poked the food with his fork.

Wilbur shrugged. "It looks gross, but it's tasteless. And I haven't died from eating it, as much as I wish I have."

"Mood," Techno said, his huge pink wings folded back majestically. The feathers were so thick they almost covered the entirety of the blinds. Almost.

Tubbo dabbed some of the mystery food with his tongue. After testing it, he tentatively took a bite. He turned, meeting Tommy's eyes. "Noh thah bahd." 

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Geez, Tubbo. Don't talk with your mouth full."

Tubbo swallowed, giving Tommy a smile. "Sorry."

Tommy scowled down at the brown mush on his plate. 

"Trust me, it's flavorless," Phil said, already finished.

Tommy was hungry, but not for this food. He was about to shove the plate away, when Tubbo met his eyes again. The brunette mouthed the word Please?

Tommy frowned, but shoved the 'food' into his mouth anyways. Tubbo's grin was worth it.

Tommy wrinkled his nose. Like Wilbur had said, it was practically tasteless. It had the consistency of a bean, like the type used in soup and chili. It wasn't the worst, he supposed.

"See? It's not that bad," Phil said with a soft smile.

Tommy glared back. "'Hut up."

"Tommy, don't talk with your mouth full," Tubbo innocently corrected.

"Well, I'll eat you, you son of a-" 

Tommy reached over to Tubbo with the intent of slapping him. Wilbur was laughing, loud and howling. Phil was trying to keep the two boys apart. Techno casually took Tommy's abandoned plate, intending to finish what was left.

Tommy squirmed against Phil's hold. It was a bit uncomfortable, with Phil pinning his wings in a weird way, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. He felt like he finally fit in with a group of people, despite barely knowing two of them. He felt involved. He felt like he was with family.

A loud bang startled the entire hall of bird hybrids into silence. Tommy sat back in his chair, all former goofiness gone.

The clack, clack of a worker's boots replaced the loud chatter. It was terrifying, a tense air replacing the lightness he had felt just seconds before. Tommy stared down at the table, refusing eye contact with anyone.

The steps were coming closer, and closer, and then they stopped. Tommy didn't even have to look up to know the person had stopped at their table.

"Hm. 1M16B. Why don't you come with me?"

Tommy heard Tubbo's breath hitch. He heard his friend slowly stand.

Tommy stood as well.

He wasn't sure what drove him to stand. Perhaps it was the idea of leaving Tubbo alone. They may do worse than let a fox on him. He felt some instinct, some compelling pull to not leave Tubbo alone.

Tubbo glanced back, a question is his fear-filled eyes. Why?

Tommy raised his head slightly. You aren't going alone.

The guard, worker, whatever, tutted as he scribbled on a clipboard. "Ah. You two must be… hm. Alright, both of you come."

Tommy slid his hand into Tubbo's, ignoring how clammy the shorter's hand was.

The walk to wherever they were going seemed long, too long. Tommy would occasionally squeeze Tubbo's hand. At least they're together, right?

Tommy realized with a small jolt that they were going down the hall with the red stripe. Tubbo must have noticed the way he tensed up, because Tommy felt him tighten his hold on Tommy's hand. 

They passed the room he was put into originally, W1M0L, and continued down the hall. The guard stopped in front of two doors, with the label M1S0N.  

The black armoured guard opened one of the doors. "In you go."

Tubbo stepped in first, Tommy not far behind. Suddenly, Tommy was yanked back, the door slamming shut. 

"Not you."

Tommy withered, trying to get out of the grip. He needed to be with Tubbo. He faintly heard yelling, it must be Tubbo.

The guard didn't react to Tommy's desperate attempts to escape. Tommy yelled, swearing loudly, but there was no reaction. The other door was opened, and Tommy was roughly dragged inside.

He was shoved into a chair, and before he could get up and do anything, he felt his arms being pinned down. This only made him struggle harder, but the bounds to his chair were strong.

He heard faint shouting, that sounded like it came from Tubbo. Tommy glanced around wildly, looking for the source of shouting. One of the walls was made of glass, and on the other side was-

Tubbo pounded against the glass, tears streaming down his face. Tommy pulled against the binds connecting him to the chair, trying to get to Tubbo.

“Welcome. It’s nice to see you again, M16B. Oh, and greetings to you, 1M16B. ”

There were people on Tommy’s side of the room. They all wore white lab coats, muttering to each other.

“I must admit, it’s quite rare for two hybrids to be the same age, gender, and animal. We had to… improvise, with your naming, at least until we can test you for your bird species.”

A tray appeared next to Tommy. He noticed it had multiple needles on it. He pulled harder, only succeeding in bruising and slightly cutting his arms. He wanted out, he wanted to go, he wanted Tubbo-

“In this test, we will see how a bird hybrid reacts to a dose of Pacheco's Disease. Not only that, but we can see how a close member of a flock reacts to another in pain.”

Tubbo was pounding on the glass, wings fully spread and talons out. When had he got his binds off?

“It’s quite rare to have two members of a flock become so close, let alone have bird hybrids feel comfortable enough to form a flock. This will be quite interesting to observe.”

Somebody rolled up the sleeve of his jumpsuit. Tommy’s breathing increased, terror filling every part of his body. His wings couldn’t do anything, they were still bound and pinned behind him.

Tubbo had stopped trying to break the wall, instead standing with his hands pressed against the glass. His tear filled eyes met Tommy’s

He kept his eyes on his best friend, up until the point he felt a small prick in his arm. Almost immediately, he started trembling uncontrollably. 

The woman’s words were becoming muffled, but he thought he heard something about “antidote at the ready.”

All the energy seemed to drain from Tommy. He couldn’t stop shaking. He gagged. Wow, he was glad he didn’t eat much today.

Every sound was muffled. Tommy could barely lift his head, but his body continued to be racked with tremors. He coughed, his body trying to vomit up food he didn’t have.

He heard people talking, but they sounded miles away. His head started to hurt, the pain pounding behind his eyes. His eyes were watering. Was he crying? He coughed again.

Tommy mumbled something about not feeling good. People started talking, all white noise to him. Maybe he could get a cough drop, his throat felt sore. His head hurt a lot. Tommy had never had a migraine before, but maybe he was having one now.

Tommy faintly registered a second needle being ejected into him. He couldn’t stop the shaking. Why was it so cold, but so hot at the same time?

He felt the tight binds being taken off his arms. Somebody picked him up, making sure to keep the wings comfortable. Tommy blinked groggily at the fire patch on the person’s chest. He knew this guy, right?

The woman was back, a muffled voice attempting to reach Tommy’s ears. He was glad he couldn't hear her, because he could remember her being rude. 

He was being taken somewhere. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. At least his body wasn’t trying to force him to vomit anymore, although he was still violently trembling.

Tommy drifted in and out of consciousness the way back to his… cell? Room? He couldn’t seem to remember. Where was he?

He was gently laid down on a bed. It was too thin. Why wasn’t he placed on a better mattress?

Somebody said something to him, but he couldn't make out what they said. Someone else, someone new, asked something to the other. After an answer, Tommy felt someone hug him close. He cracked his eyes open, catching sight of familiar green wings. He weakly tried pulling Tubbo closer.

Tommy was still shaking, but he felt safer now. He was… okay. Well, he wasn't, but Tubbo was here.

He drifted off into sleep, not noticing the tears falling down his friend’s face.

Tommy’s dreams were weird, filled with people yelling, explosions, and a… what was it again? He didn’t remember.

He dragged a hand to cover his eyes. He still felt like trash. Whatever they had injected into him was still lingering around.

Tommy couldn’t bring himself to move. Tremors still shook him. He had stopped coughing, but he still had little to no energy. His nose was annoyingly stuffy.

Tubbo had left, but Tommy didn’t know where. He could see a plate of the odd food on the table, but he didn’t feel hungry, and didn’t have the energy to get up anyways.

The door opened to the cell. Tommy weakly tried pushing himself into a sitting position. 

“Chill, man. It’s just me.” Somebody, one of the guards, stood in front of Tommy. He recognized the fire patch.

Sapnap sighed, picking up Tommy like he had before with no apparent difficulty, despite Tommy being a sixteen year-old.

“Stop it, put me down.” Tommy’s voice was scratchy. He feebly pushed against Sapnap. Sapnap snorted.

“What, do you plan to walk there? You couldn’t even sit up.”

Tommy didn’t respond, instead sighing and stopping his weak attacks.

“You’re lucky. You managed to become a part of a flock. You get, like, a big room with the other members.”

“I do?” He mumbled. 

“Yep.” Sapnap continued walking.

"Poggers," Tommy murmured.

After a few moments of silence, aside from the tapping of his boots, Sapnap spoke up again. “The disease should only linger around for another day or so.”

“That’s good.” Tommy sniffed in a vain attempt to clear his nose.

Sapnap clicked his tongue and stopped in front of a door that looked the same as every cell door. “Alright, I’m gonna have to let you stand against me. I need to get my keys.”

Tommy found that he had enough energy to stand on his own, despite heavily leaning against Sapnap. The guard didn’t say anything, wordlessly getting his key ring and unlocking the door.

The door swung open with a squeak. Sapnap had to partially drag Tommy inside. Tommy tried walking by himself, he really did. But his feet felt burdened down with twenty-pound weights, and he had to rely on Sapnap to help him inside.

Sounds were becoming muffled again. He was tired, so, so tired. 

Familiar arms gripped him in a hug.

“Phil?” He mumbled.

“Shh. It’s alright.” Tommy heard Phil said, the last clear sound before he sagged against Phil, closing his eyes with a tired sigh.

He felt himself being lifted off his feet. Phil must not be carrying him. Tommy was much taller than Phil, there was no possible way Phil could manage to lift him up. He opened his eyes for a second, seeing dark brown and gold wings. It must be Wilbur.

He was laid down on a bed, much more comfortable then his former one. 

“Tubbo?” He whispered, voice hoarse.

He saw Wilbur’s mouth move, but couldn’t make out the words. Tubbo didn’t appear.

Wilbur walked out of Tommy’s vision. Tommy closed his eyes, too tired to ask anything more.

Falling asleep took longer than he thought it would, considering how tired he was. He stayed awake for as long as he could, waiting for Tubbo to come.

Eventually, he felt somebody lay down next to him, gently wrapping arms around his shivering frame. He fell asleep, comforted in Tubbo’s arms.

Chapter Text

Tommy laid on his side, staring at the wall. His wings, unbounded, draped over the side of the bed.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, gazing forward with narrowed eyes. He knew he would have to get up soon, but for now he was content to just take a moment to think.

Tommy had come to terms with the wings on his back. It seemed like something that would come from a cheap budget film made in the 90's, but no matter how many times he pinched his arm Tommy didn't wake up from this odd dream. Some stubborn part of him still insisted that this was all fake, that he would wake up and go to school like nothing was different. 

Tommy sighed through his nose, feeling his feathers twitch. He supposed he was lucky, in some sort of twisted way. Phil was here, and so was Tubbo. As selfish of himself it was, he was secretly glad he didn't have to face this alone.

Speaking of… this. Tommy knew that George, Sapnap, and two of their friends were planning an escape plan. He guessed he was fortunate to be in this plan, but he didn't even know what the plan was. Was Tommy supposed to just wait? He wanted to do something to help, not helplessly sit in a cell for most of his time.

Tommy softly traced his finger along a crack in the wall. He didn't know how this flock dynamic worked, but he sure knew the tugs for Tubbo weren't there before. Tommy frowned slightly. He wanted to hate himself for it. But no matter how he looked at it, another part of him always whispered He's your friend, isn't he?

And then Tommy would angrily think back Yes, but I don't want to be clingy! That's his job!

Then the other part of him would just rephrase the first question, and he would snap back in anger. It was an endless cycle of Tommy fighting with himself.

As much as Tommy wanted to dislike this new instinct, he just couldn't. It was a part of him, just like the brightly colored wings behind him. It was a part he tried to hate with every part of himself, sure, but it was still there. 

Tommy pushed himself into a sitting position with a sigh. He could lay there forever, lost in his own thoughts, but he wanted to see Tubbo.

He wasn't prepared for the wave of light headed dizziness he felt as soon as he stood. Tommy stumbled slightly, hoping to not faint. That would be so embarrassing.

After a few seconds, he came back to. Tommy must still be recovering from that disease they had injected into him. He certainly didn’t feel the best, and was still very, very tired.

Tommy stood in the doorway, catching his breath. The room in front of had a fairly high ceiling. Peeking out a bit, he could see more doorways next to him, presumably leading into small bedrooms like his. Sitting at a large metal table in the middle of the room was Phil, Wilbur, Techno, and thankfully Tubbo.

He went unnoticed for a bit, but that was okay. He was about to stumble over to the table, but before he could, Tubbo raised his head. Tubbo met Tommy’s eyes, and the green-winged boy stared back. Tommy must look like trash. Tommy weakly smiled, waving his hand. “Uh, hi.” His voice was scratchy and quiet, but Tubbo must have heard him.

In a flash, Tubbo had launched himself from his chair. Before Tommy could register what was happening, Tubbo had wrapped his arms around Tommy. Vibrant black and emerald wings wrapped around him, pulling Tommy closer to Tubbo. The shorter asked so many questions, and he was speaking too fast for Tommy to make any sense of it. Instead of answering, Tommy just wrapped his arms around Tubbo.

Phil had to help pry Tubbo away. They all went back to sit down. Wilbur and Techno hadn’t moved, instead seeming to be in the middle of an intense staring contest. Tubbo scooted his chair as close to Tommy as possible, their wings brushing against one another. Tommy found it quite comforting, but he would be caught dead before he admitted it out loud. 

Tommy gestured slightly at Wilbur and Techno. Neither had moved, frozen as they maintained eye-contact for as long as possible. Tubbo smiled. “They’ve been at that for about two minutes now. Me and Phil were making bets.”

Phil cleared his throat, ignoring the other two’s silent competition. “So-”

“GOD DAMN, TECHNO!” Wilbur yelled, slamming his hands down on the table. “HOW DO YOU EVEN MANAGE TO-” He cut himself off, burying his head into his hands.

Techno smiled, leaning back in his chair. Another victory. “You just have to-”

“Have to lay awake at night, forcing your eyes open while you imagine burning an orphanage down.” Wilbur raised his head, glaring at the man with the huge, pink wings. “You say the same bullsh-”

“I’m just saying the truth as I kno-”

“Boys!” Phil raised his voice. Almost immediately, Techno and Wilbur calmed down, despite the curly haired man shooting a scowl at the other.

Phil tried again. “So, Tommy. How are you feeling?”

Tommy thought a bit before answering. Confused? Tired? Sick of everything? Actually still feeling sick? Really wanting to go home and that all this would disappear? Wanting to be close to Tubbo, even though it’s probably really weird?

“I’m alright.”

Phil frowned slightly. “Are you sure? You don’t look the best.”

“Geez, thanks.” Tommy laid back a little in his chair, smirking a little when Phil laughed.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah. I know.” Tommy had a full grin on his face. Phil sighed, shaking his head.

“I’ll take that as you’re fine.”

Phil turned to Wilbur, who was still angrily staring at Techno. The black winged man opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by the door clanging open.

Phil angrily slammed his fists on the table, about to go off in a long rant about speaking rights probably. 

The guard came, took Tubbo, and left. Quick as that.

Tommy pulled a chair up, sitting next to the door. Phil tried to get him to eat, but after constantly telling the older “I’m not hungry, I’m fine,” he was left alone.

Alone, to sit and wait for his friend to come back.

Tubbo had come back a while ago. Tommy tried talking to him, but the green-winged boy seemed very closed off, very angry. He had watched Tubbo walk to his room without much of a goodbye, everyone else following soon after.

Now it was just Tommy, laying on a bed by himself.

Tommy curled in on himself. His head pounded. He couldn’t help the small whimper that escaped him.

It was cold, too cold. This small room, with its stone walls that leached all warmth, the walls were too close. In this room, where he was all by himself, with nobody else, just him.

Tommy rubbed at his eyes furiously. He was a man. Men don’t cry.

Men don’t…

He sat up, leaning against the wall, pulling his wings close around himself in a small tent. Why was he crying? He was weak. He shouldn't be crying. It was probably just a misunderstanding. Tubbo surely wasn’t mad at him, right?

His wings blocked him from everything else, giving him a sense of- 

What was he thinking? He didn’t feel secure, not in the slightest.

Tommy quietly sniffed. He was in his own room, alone, but there weren't any doors, and he was sure the other people would hear him. How pathetic he was, crying over being left alone for a few hours.

He sat there, in a building designed to break you. He knew he only had to stand up, walk over one room, and he would be fine.

But he couldn’t.

Tommy made up lots of excuses. It would take too much effort, it would be too weird, Tubbo was probably already asleep, it would make him appear weak, it was stupid, it was clingy, Tubbo was probably mad at him, he was probably tired from whatever happened to him in the testing room.

No, those were all excuses.

It was really the deep worry that Tubbo might reject him. Might take one look at him and scoff. Turn his head and leave Tommy alone. 

That won’t happen. He’s been your friend for years! You know him, he wouldn’t do that.

But he did. It happened earlier. You still think he’s happy with you right now? You’re probably the last person he wants to see.

Tommy grabbed at his hair. This whole thing was so dumb. What he wouldn't give to be back at home, in his house that he knew down to the last stray paper. What he wouldn’t give to be back at school, with friends he knew didn’t hate him and wouldn’t judge him. What he wouldn’t give to get rid of this stupid feeling in his chest-

It was too much.

He angrily bit his tongue, twisting his hands in his hair. It accomplished nothing, only giving off a dull sensation of pain. He had to shut up, he had to be quiet. Nobody should see him like this, especially not Tubbo.

Tubbo probably thought he was too annoying, too clingy, too protective, too guarded, too much, too much, too much.

Tommy grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears. The thoughts didn’t leave, plaguing his mind like the disease he was still trying to shake. 

How do you think he felt, having to take care of your pathetic self while you slept? You don’t even know what he was tested about today. Don’t you care? Or maybe he doesn’t trust you enough to talk about it. How stupid you look now. You told him about being scared of a fox, you wimp. He thinks you’re weak, he thinks you’re pathetic.

There was too much, the pressure building up. He had to let it out, but no he should stay quiet he would disturb everyone and then they would all be annoyed but he had to let it out-

He sobbed.

He froze.

Too loud too loud now they know you idiot.

He took a shuddering breath. The tension drained from his shoulders, but he still shook with blocked off sobs.

He thought he got away with it. For a few tense seconds, he heard no person move, he heard only himself and his ragged breathing.

Nobody knew.

Nobody had to know.

You wish somebody heard and they would come and help and-

He shook his head slightly. He was so self-centered, wanting others to help him. He’s fine by himself.

You’re fine.

It’s fine.

He didn’t hear the person shift, sitting up in their bed. He didn’t hear their soft footsteps walking the short distance to his room. He didn’t see them quietly stand in the doorway.

“Tommy? Are you alright?”

Nononononono you were too loud you idiot-

“H-Hey? Tommy?”

He tried to close himself off more, bury himself in his wings.

This is what you wanted, isn’t it?

“Are…”

There’s the sound of water roaring in his ears. Maybe if he just waited, acted like he’s asleep, maybe he would be left alone.

What? Why would somebody sleep sitting up? You wanted somebody to hear you, didn’t you? You made noise on purpose. You want to be-

Somebody gently put their arm across his shoulders. He tensed.

Good work.

The person gently shifted, guiding his wing to a different spot. Doing so revealed his body, tucked up close. He ducks his head, hoping to any god above that they don’t notice his tears.

It’s hard not too. You literally sobbed, for hell’s sake! They already know you're weak, they’re gonna make fun of you and then leave you alone.

“Hey, um. You’re-It’s okay. I’m here.”

He hears somebody talking to him through the rushing in his ears. He shook his head softly, pulling his legs up tighter.

The person next to him is Tubbo. That’s obvious. He didn’t know Wilbur or Techno, and Phil could sleep like a rock. Maybe if Tommy made it really obvious he wanted to be left alone, Tubbo would leave.

You don’t want him to leave. You forced him to come here, you’re concerning him, you should just man up and say you’re fine.

You a re f ine.

“I… I’m fine.” His voice shakes, wobbles too much, and he knows it’s a futile attempt.

“Please, Tommy.” He stopped shaking, stopped everything. Here it comes, the ridicule he was expecting.

“You’re not okay.” He knows he’s not okay. He just wants to be left alone.

You-

“I-I don’t know what’s wrong, and I’m not asking you to tell me.”

He wants to. He wants to speak up, to vent all these feelings out because he’s bottled them up for so long-

Yeah, and he sure would like hearing all of it, wouldn’t he? Psh, please. He could care less.

“If you want, I can… uh, I can go.”

He snapped his head up, looking at Tubbo. The other boy was sitting next to him, fiddling with his thumbs.

He stood, and Tommy almost let him go. It’s what he wanted, wasn’t it? He wanted to be left alone.

Right?

Didn’t he?

“N-No.” His voice is barely a whisper, husky and thick with tears. He didn’t know how it was loud enough, but Tubbo came back.

The shorter slid next to Tommy, pulling him much closer this time.

You idiot! He was leaving! Why did you bring him back now you have to talk about it-

He sobbed again, much quieter this time. Tubbo gently pulled him onto his side, positioning himself so that Tommy was facing his chest.

He was pulled close, and he weakly cried into his friend. Tubbo said nothing else, silently holding him.

He didn’t know how late it was when he finally calmed down enough to talk. Tubbo was still awake, at least he hoped. He sat up.

If Tubbo wasn’t awake already, he sure as hell was now. The other shifted. Tommy could feel his eyes, silently observing and taking mental notes.

You disturbed him. Apologize.

“I-S-Sorry,” Tommy mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

Tubbo sat up as well. “What are you sorry about?” 

He probably didn’t mean it in a harsh way, but Tommy couldn’t help the small prick of tears he got.

Great, and now you’re crying again. Get a hold of yourself.

“Y-You were sleeping, a-and-” Tommy couldn’t finish, instead hanging his head.

“No, no. It’s okay, Tommy.” Tubbo placed a hand on his shoulder. Tommy tried not to flinch, but he still did.

“We- You should sleep. You’ll feel much better.”

He doesn’t want to talk. Just do it, and then in the morning he’ll forget.

“Tubbo? A-Are you…” Tommy’s voice shook so much, but he just had to know. “Do-Are you mad at me?”

“Tommy, man. Look at me.”

Tommy slowly raised his head. He couldn’t force himself to meet Tubbo’s eyes.

“Please?”

He trembled, raising his eyes up. Tubbo’s eyes were unreadable, especially in the darkness.

“I’m not mad. I-uh, it-I was a bit stressed from the, uh, the test. I… Did I come off as angry?”

Tommy nods, ever so slightly. He couldn’t keep eye contact anymore.

Why did he put Tubbo in this position? Now he must feel like it’s his fault. Tommy started speaking without thinking, because no, it’s not Tubbo’s fault.

“I-It’s my fault, because I took it wrong and it was cold but I didn’t want to wake you so I stayed here and-and then I don’t know, it just got colder, and there’s this voice that was telling me I’m fine, so I must be fine, right? A-And I’m sorry I woke you, and you had to come deal with-”

“Stop.”

Oh look, you’ve done it now. He’s going to get up, walk out, and then you’ll look like a fool. An idiot. So much for friendship.

He got pulled into a hug. He sagged against Tubbo. He was guided to lay back down, and all he could do was weakly pull the other closer.

“Hey, Tommy. It’s okay, alright? I’m not mad, and I don’t hate you. I’m your friend. This is normal, okay? I’ll stay here, with you. I can move my stuff in here. You’re alright. You’re okay.”

Tommy waited for the little voice to come back, to come up with another suspicion. When it didn’t, he let himself relax, hugging Tubbo closer.

He was alright.

It wasn’t cold anymore.

Chapter Text

Tommy slept lightly, constantly being woken up by the slightest shift from Tubbo. He never lasted long awake, being overtaken by exhaustion almost as soon as he would wake. It was a nice balance, not leaving him time to think when awake, and not leaving time for any dreams while he was asleep.

He woke up again to somebody quietly talking to another person outside of his room. He shifted a bit, snuggling a bit closer. He felt over-thinking thoughts begin to dot his mind, but he fell asleep soon after.

The next time he was rudely awakened by Tubbo. The other boy pulled away, gently nudging Tommy’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up.”

Tommy groaned. He didn’t want to be awake, because then he would have to talk about last night. “Stop it,” he mumbled.

Tubbo shook him again. “Come on. You can’t just lay there all day.”

Tommy reluctantly sat up, rubbing his eyes. He still didn’t feel the best, physically and mentally. He tried not to show it, giving Tubbo a small smile that he felt didn't quite reach his eyes.

Tubbo either didn't notice or chooses not to mention it, instead pulling Tommy out of the bed. The smile became a bit more genuine.

The other three people in their holding room were gone. Tubbo and Tommy aimlessly stood in the middle of the large room. 

Tubbo suddenly perked up, dragging Tommy by the hand to one of the bedrooms. Tubbo glanced behind him with a smile. “We can move my bed into your room now!”

Tommy nervously smiled back, looking at the heavy metal bed frame. “I, uh, didn’t know you were serious about that.”

Tubbo tilted his head, face curious. “Why not?”

Many thoughts raced through Tommy’s head at that point. There were many things he could say, ranging from telling the plain truth to telling an extravagant lie. He opted to do neither, silently staring at the bed they were going to move. 

He knew they would have to talk about it. You don’t just brush that sort of thing off. But for now, he could try and act like it hadn’t happened.

Tommy suddenly remembered Tubbo was waiting for a response. “Dunno. Just thought you were saying it just to say it.”

Tubbo shuffled his feet. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine.”

Tommy took another moment to try and figure out how to word please please it’s so cold alone without coming off as clingy.

“No, no. I’m really okay with it.” There, that should be good.

Tubbo grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Alright! Let’s move a bed!”

The bed moving turned out a lot harder than they expected. The mattress itself wasn’t too bad to move. Between the two of them, they were able to haul it over to Tommy’s room.

That left the metal bed frame. And it was so, so heavy.

Tommy sat on the floor with a defeated sigh. “It's impossible.”

Tubbo sat down next to him. They stared at the frame together.

“Do we even need the bed frame?” Tubbo asked. “I could just share the bed with you.”

The way he said it, so offhandedly and carelessly, like he was offering to get something from the store, sent Tommy reeling. How was it so easy for him to offer things like that? Didn’t he feel clingy, or childish? 

“Hello? Are you there?” Tubbo waved his hand in front of Tommy’s face. He blinked, startling a bit. 

“Sorry, what?” Tommy focused back on Tubbo. The other boy looked back, his face betraying a hint of concern. Uh oh.

“Let’s move the mattress back.”

Tommy silently helped. Once the mattress was back on the frame, Tubbo sat on the edge with a sigh. Tommy cautiously sat down next to him.

“Do you want to talk? About last night, I mean?” 

Tommy silently stared at his lap. Yes, he wanted to talk. He wanted to just say what’s on his mind. No, he didn’t, because he would get judged, and then he would be left alone.

“Uh…” He nervously fiddled with his hands. “It’s… I don’t know.”

He paused. Tubbo didn’t speak up, which was the go-ahead for Tommy to just talk.

“It’s really weird. Like, ever since we, uh, were put here… this is going to sound really weird, I don’t… You know how, uhm, when yesterday I think, or was it another day? I don’t remember, but when I was shot? Injected, I… with the sickness, disease, whatever you call it.”

He was rambling, trying to delay talking about the main problem, but not once did Tubbo tell him to hurry up, to just spit it out.

“It… probably started back when you were upset about hurting me, I think? When I told you about the fox? Like, ever since then…”

Tommy can’t say it. He stops, hesitates again. Tubbo was silent, just listening.

“I…”

Tommy should just get it over with.

“It’s like…”

Just admit it, all he has to do is speak, talk about this stupid instinct that he has, or maybe it’s not an instinct.

He opened his mouth.

“I have this stupid feeling like I should be really close to you and stuff and it sounds really weird but I-I don’t know I can’t stop it and last night when you just brushed me off I thought- It’s not your fault, but I thought like you hated me and it was really cold and I wanted to go get you but I didn’t want to disturb you a-and-”

He stopped, at loss of breath. 

“It’s just really weird, and I-uh, I’m not used to it, I guess,” he mumbled, much quieter.

Tubbo was silent for a few minutes, long enough for Tommy to start doubting himself again. Before he could have a repeat of last night, Tubbo spoke up.

“You mean, like you just want to be closer to the other person?”

Tommy nodded slowly, brave enough to look over at Tubbo. The brunette met his gaze. He didn’t look angry, or annoyed. In fact, he looked… happy?

“If you’re talking about what I’m talking about… then that’s so cool!” Tubbo’s face lit up. Tommy was a bit confused, but couldn’t help feeling happy as well.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been having the same things happen to me! Like, when you were bound to that chair, I was trying my hardest to break the glass. But it felt, like, instinctual?” Tubbo grinned.

“No way,” Tommy breathed. “I wasn’t just feeling weird or anything?”

“Yeah! I didn’t want to, y’know, force myself closer to you, since I know you aren’t that big on human touch and stuff.” Tubbo’s eyes were bright, shining with joy.

Tommy couldn't help himself. He grabbed Tubbo, pulling him into a tight hug with a laugh. He felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders, knowing that this wasn’t something only he was dealing with. "Well it's a great thing we're technically not humans anymore, yeah?"

He pulled away, still holding Tubbo's hand. He saw Tubbo open his mouth, about to say something like "Well, we're still technically humans," but before he could Tommy felt a searing pain on his wrist.

He pulled away with a hiss of pain, clutching his wrist to his chest. The pain faded quickly, and Tommy saw Tubbo doing the same as him.

"What the hell was that?" Tommy rubbed his wrist.

Tubbo stared at his wrist. "Uh… Tommy?"

Tommy furrowed his brow, looking at his own wrist. His eyes widened. "What the…"

Wrapping around his left wrist was a thin, green tattoo.

Tommy glanced up wildly, to see Tubbo had a red ring around his right wrist.

"Bro! What the hell?" Perhaps this should not have shocked Tommy as much as it did, considering how he had literal parrot wings on his back.

Tubbo silently reached his branded wrist out. With a bit of hesitation, Tommy softly grabbed the outstretched hand. He felt a small buzz as their hands connected. The tattoo glowed faintly for a few seconds, before returning to normal. Tommy met Tubbo's eyes. The other started back in confusion.

The door clanged open, startling Tommy. He flinched slightly, dropping Tubbo's hand.

“Hello?” Phil’s calm voice rang through the cement rooms.

Tommy poked his head out of his room, seeing only Phil standing in the doorway. The man looked slightly worse for wear. His short, blonde hair was slightly messed up, his black feathers ruffled. Still, his eyes lit up when he saw Tommy.

“Hey Tommy! Are you feeling better?” Phil went and sat at the table. 

Tommy walked over, rubbing his wrist. He could feel Tubbo following him. That was a bit odd, how he could almost sense Tubbo behind him.

He sat down. The metal chair was cold, and he shifted slightly. “Yeah, I’m doing alright. Still feel tired.”

Phil nodded, leaning back in his chair. Tommy continued tracing his finger along the green line on his wrist, hiding it under the table. He could feel how uneasy Tubbo was.

They sat in awkward silence, which was unusual for Tommy. Phil looked over the two boys, eyes picking up on the smallest of notes.

“Are you guys hiding something?” The way Phil phrased it made it sound like more of a statement, less of a question.

“No!” Tommy quickly snapped, at the same time Tubbo said “Maybe?”

Phil laughed, helping to slightly ease the tense mood. Tommy scowled at Tubbo, who shot an apologetic look back.

“Well, can you tell me what happened?”  He sounded so understanding, like a kind parental figure. Still, Tommy shifted, keeping his gaze down.

“Uh, me and Tommy don’t know what happened, but..?” Tommy saw Tubbo shift out of the corner of his eye, watch him raise his wrist.

The secret was out now, he guessed. He sighed in defeat, placing his wrist on the table next to Tubbo’s.

Phil let out a small noise of surprise. Tommy glanced up. The man was staring at the rings on their wrists with a look of happy shock. “Hey, that’s pretty cool mate!”

“What?” Tommy frowned slightly. “I don’t know what’s happening, big man.”

Phil smiled. “Okay, this is gonna be a lot of information, but you guys should know.

Basically, this thing that’s happened between you two is called “bonding.” It’s a thing hybrids can do, but it’s very rare. Lots of hybrids have severe trust issues, so bonds are very uncommon. When two hybrids bond, they become basically inseparable, to the point where they are constantly driven to be close to each other.

If a bond is strong enough, it can weakly transmit emotions. If one person in the bond is happy, the other may feel happy as well. Also, most bonds form between friends. Sure, sometimes two lovers may form a bond, but it’s more common to form between friends, for some reason. Yeah, most of the time friends who bond become very close, to the point they become, like, siblings.”

Phil stopped, taking a deep breath. Tommy shared a look with Tubbo. “So does that mean I’m clingy?”

Tubbo laughed. “If you want, I can be the clingy one.”

Tommy huffed. “Yeah, sure. If you want.”

The two glanced at each other, bursting into snickers. Phil cleared his throat, catching their attention. “This is really cool and all, but it’s also… not the best.”

Tommy tilted his head. “What do you mean, big man?”

Phil leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands with a sigh. “The people here are gonna test you guys with your bond. Like, they’ll do horrible stuff. I… I really hope we can escape before they find out, but it’s only a matter of time, really.”

Suddenly, Phil looked much older. Tommy wondered if this was his first time here, or if he had been here prior. His fingers started drumming on the table anxiously. Tubbo placed his hand on top of his, Tommy feeling the faint buzz again. The brown-haired boy shot him a reassuring smile.

The door clanged open, making Tommy jump. Techno angrily stormed in, sitting in the chair heavily. The pink-haired man’s eyes noticed the green band on Tommy’s wrist, and the red one on Tubbo’s. Techno hummed. “So you guys bonded?”

Tommy nodded.

“Good luck.”

Tommy couldn’t help but shiver from the ominous tone. Phil swatting Techno with a firm “Hey!” helped reassure him a bit, but he still felt the weight of Techno’s message.

Not too long after, Wilbur gracefully strided into the room, dappled wings really folded behind him. He slid into a chair, casual and relaxed. His eyes traced over Tommy and Tubbo's hands, making the silent connection, but he made no comment. 

They started talking and laughing. Wilbur had gotten a deck of Uno cards from Sapnap. The game was very competitive, Techno always managing to win. Wilbur seemed to constantly drawing from the unforgiving deck, Phil wheezing every time he pulled, quote: “ANOTHER FUCKING YELLOW!!!”

Tommy wasn’t too bad himself, but he was too busy laughing to take it seriously. He watched as Wilbur got hit with a +4 from Tubbo. The man immediately exploded and flung about twenty cards everywhere in rage. Tommy didn’t know if he had ever laughed that hard in his life.

He had nothing to worry about, well okay, maybe Wilbur throwing chairs was something to worry about. He ducked under the table, pulling Tubbo with him as Techno grabbed his chair. He heard a metal clang, and Wilbur loudly swear, with Phil laughing so hard. 

Yes, Tommy knew that this moment wouldn’t last forever. But he made up his mind then and there.

This was his family. And he was gonna stay with them forever. 

Chapter Text

Tommy sat on the edge of the bed, Tubbo sleeping soundly. He wished he could as well, but sleep evaded him.

He traced the green mark wrapping around his wrist. It was a habit he was quickly developing. The skin felt no different, and if he closed his eyes it would feel as if he was just rubbing his wrist.

A soft set of footsteps made Tommy turn his head to the doorway. Wilbur, of all people, peeked into the room. He motioned for Tommy to come with him. Tommy gave Tubbo’s sleeping form one more look, before getting up and following the man out.

Wilbur sat at the table. Tommy slid into the seat across him.

“Y’know, you two aren’t the only people with a bond,” Wilbur spoke up, after a few seconds of semi-comfortable silence.

Tommy tilted his head. “What, did you bond with someone?”

Wilbur nodded. “Around my ankle.” 

The man, with surprising agility, propped his foot against the edge of the table. Lifting up the hem of his white jumpsuit, he revealed what Tommy thought was a light colored ring. Hard to see in the darkness, but there was definitely a mark there. He squinted slightly. Was it pink?

Wilbur let his leg fall back with a sigh, not giving Tommy any more time to decipher the color. Wilbur leaned back in the chair, spreading his impressive brown and dappled tan and gold wings. “Her name is Niki. She’s a cat hybrid, a lioness one to be exact.”

He stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. “She’s still here, I know that. Like, I can feel that she’s still here. But man, I really miss her.”

Tommy sat in silence. He could tell this was a sensitive topic, and interrupting to make a crude joke was probably not the best idea. 

“I really try, you know. We share dreams, and that’s probably the only reason I haven’t broken out again.”

“Again?” Tommy couldn’t help but question.

Wilbur nodded, folding up his wings and leaning a bit closer. “The first few days I was separated from her, I broke out too many times to count. I could never get far enough to find the cat area. Didn’t help that this place is mapped out in the most horrendous, maze like way possible.”

Tommy nodded. This place was really confusing to navigate.

Wilbur sighed. “The people up top either never knew we bonded, or were too heartless to care.”

Tommy shifted, keeping his gaze down. He heard Wilbur sigh again, and his chair being pushed back.

Wilbur put a hand on his shoulder. Tommy looked up, meeting soft, dark brown eyes.

“What I’m trying to say is that this bond you have is really great. But at the same time, it’s gonna hurt you a lot, at least until we get out.”

Tommy watched the man walk to his room. He sat at the table for a bit longer, before trudging back to his own room. The talk must have tried him out, because he fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.

Tommy walked as close to Tubbo as he could. The person leading them had their back turned, so Tommy slipped his hand into Tubbo’s.

When the “escort” first arrived, they were only going to take Tommy. Of course, both Tommy and Tubbo had protested, and maybe the person saw the twin marks on their wrists, because they let them come together.

Their wings were bound again. Tommy shifted his wings, trying to get them comfortable, but it was impossible. Occasionally, the person in front of them would mutter into a walkie talkie, which did little to soothe Tommy’s anxiety. 

Tommy realized where they were going, and tightened his hold on Tubbo's hand. That stupid red stripe was on the wall. They were going to the testing rooms.

The guard stopped in front of a room. Tommy read the code above, furrowing his brow. W1M0l. It was oddly familiar, but he couldn't remember exactly why.

The guard opened the door, and suddenly Tommy knew why. It was the same room he was put into at the beginning. It was the one with the stupid ledges built into the wall, in fact he could see the very one he scaled.

Tommy walked into the room, Tubbo close behind. The guard didn’t close the door, instead muttering into his walkie-talkie again. Out of nowhere, four more guards show up. In a flash, one of them held Tommy back, while the other four grabbed Tubbo. His first instinct is to yell.

So he does. He yelled out multiple swears and he kicked, to no avail. The other people had almost finished dragging Tubbo out of the room. Desperate, Tommy rammed the back of his head into the guard behind him. He gets a muffled curse, the hold loosening temporarily. Tommy pushed harder, trying to squirm out, but the guard regained their hold quickly, and Tubbo was gone.

The guard shoved him away from the door. Tommy stumbled, wings flinging open. The binds must have been removed in the struggle, then. He recovered quickly, dashing for the door, but it closed in his face. He heard commotion from the side of the room separated by a glass wall, and he saw Tubbo get thrusted inside. 

Tommy ran up to the glass, pressing his hands against it. Tubbo does the same. He sees Tubbo’s mouth move, but can only hear muffled sounds.

“What?” He yelled back. Tubbo met his eyes, despair scribbled across his face.

“Oh, greetings, M16SM, and M16ES. We were able to take your blood test yesterday, as one of you may remember. The other, we took a blood sample while testing the disease.”

The woman hummed, or maybe it was just the microphone buzzing. Tommy kept one of his hands on the wall, turning to face the one-way mirror.

“This is fantastic. We predicted that you two were already close, and perhaps one seeing the other in pain would have created a bond. Wonderful, really.”

Tommy clenched his fist, glancing back at Tubbo. One of Tubbo's hands was hesitantly raised off the glass. 

“We always hope that bonds form. It makes it just so much more interesting, and testing on… younger, newer subjects with a recent bond will yield new results, at least we can hope.” 

Tubbo’s head was tilted, like he was listening intently to something.

“We can only test that black coated fox and that other bird hybrid so many times.”

Tommy saw Tubbo flinch, and in an instant Tommy had all his attention on him. Tubbo was staring at the ground, taking a few steps backwards timidly. 

Water was pooling around Tubbo’s feat. At first Tommy didn’t realize what he was startled about, but then he saw the water rising, and the vents on the walls and ceiling pouring more water out.

“I’ll be excited to see how this plays out.” The microphone cut out with a small buzz, but Tommy didn’t notice. The water had reached Tubbo’s shins, and was steadily rising higher.

Tubbo was shaking, and Tommy could feel it was from fear. He banged on the glass, because he had to do something. It was useless, the glass was too thick. But he can’t just sit there, and Tubbo is drowning you have to do something-

Tommy backed up a little, bracing himself. The water had reached Tubbo’s waist, wetting his flight feathers, and the water only seemed to be flooding faster.

Tommy grit his teeth, ramming his shoulder against the wall. He thought he felt a small break in the glass.

The water was up to Tubbo’s chest. It didn’t help how short Tubbo was. He hit the wall again.

Tommy rubbed his shoulder. He could already feel a bruise starting to form, but that didn’t matter. The water was obviously filling up faster. Tubbo had to tilt his head back and stand on his toes to keep his head above the water.

Tommy could only watch as the water closed over Tubbo's head, and he could feel the fear Tubbo felt, and he-

Tommy backed up, farther than he had before. Tubbo was desperately trying to swim up, but his wings were weighing him down.

For a second, Tommy was the one inside the water. He struggled, clawing his way up. He felt water filling his lungs, and-

Tommy was back in his own body, wow that was weird. It didn’t matter though. Tubbo was still struggling to swim up, but his efforts seemed much more slow, and it didn’t even matter because there was no more air at the top-

Tommy ran forward, throwing his entire weight into the wall, hitting the glass with his shoulder. He heard two cracks, and was immediately overcome with pain. He staggered back with a loud cry, tears of pain forming in his eyes. His shoulder, oh fuck his shoulder was in so much pain-

Tommy looked back up at Tubbo. The green-winged boy looked like he was drained of all energy, floated limply in the water. No, he was not about to let Tubbo drown, especially when he could do something about it.

Tommy registered the crack in the glass wall. Water leaked out weakly.

Tommy shuffled backwards. Good thing he had two shoulders.

He threw himself against the wall again, and the glass broke under his momentum and weight. Tommy felt glass shards rip his clothes, jagged edges tearing at his skin, but it didn’t matter.

Tommy forced himself though the hole, biting his tongue when he felt one of his wings catch and tear on the glass.

For a second, he was floating, and he saw red blood swirl around in the water. It looked like abstract art. He was very aware of how the water filtered through his feathers, weighing them down in a matter of seconds. Tommy remembered Tubbo, how could he forget? Tubbo was floating, like Tommy was, except his eyes were shut and his mouth was open. No, no, nonononono-

Water poured out, draining quickly though the wide hole he had made. Tommy couldn’t move one of his arms, and the other was busted as hell, but he weakly held Tubbo above the water until it was mostly drained out. He kneeled down, keeping Tubbo as close as he could. Tubbo’s eyes were closed, but Tommy could feel him breathing. He probably had to perform CPR, but there was no way he could. 

Tommy swayed, falling to the side. He screamed in pain as he landed on his broken shoulder. Immediately, he shifted, keeping an arm on Tubbo but laying on his stomach now. He was facing the very glass wall he broke. He saw his own red, green and blue feathers on the glass edge, and oh, was that all his blood? That must not be very healthy.

He was gasping, hyperventilating from the pain. Tears fell down his cheeks, but he was in too much pain to care. He dimly saw red blood pooling on the ground, and he heard the woman yelling about how no, he wasn’t supposed to do that, but he couldn’t care. He was living in his own world of pain.

Tommy felt Tubbo being taken away, and somebody lifted him up, grabbing his broken shoulder.

He screamed again, and couldn’t help passing out from all the pain.

Beep, beep.

Tommy groaned.

Beep, beep.

He tried raising his arm to cover his eyes, but immediately winced in pain. Why did everything hurt so much? 

Beep, beep.

Tommy cracked his eyes open. Annoyingly bright ceiling lights stared back down at him. 

He slowly felt his body, and oh why did it have to hurt that much?

Tommy felt bandages on one of his wings. One of his upper arms was wrapped. The other was put into a sling. Tommy could feel slightly stronger throbs of pain emitting from that area. Bandages wrapped around his midsection. Did he cut himself somehow?

And then he remembered. 

Tommy’s head snapped around, not helping the pounding at all. Tubbo, where was Tubbo?

Tommy tried pushing himself out of his hospital- hospital bed? Was he in a hospital? 

Okay, he could think about being in a hospital later. Right now he had to find Tubbo.

He accidentally shifted his broken shoulder, and couldn't help but yelp in pain.

Almost immediately, he hears somebody approaching. He freezes, one leg off the bed, frozen like a child caught breaking the rules.

The person who turns the corner isn’t exactly who Tommy was expecting. He looks like a young adult, maybe in his twenties. He’s dressed in an all white outfit, a red vest being the only major splash of color. A doctor’s mask covers the lower part of his face, but it was obvious his face was covered in freckles. His eyes were a vibrant green, like the green of Tubbo’s wings.

“Hey, hey! Relax.” The man came a bit closer. Tommy could now see a small patch, neatly sown onto the vest. It was some sort of... blob thing with a derpy smile.

Tommy didn't even realize the way his breathing speed increased. He gulped for air. “W-Where is-”

“Oh, oh! Hold on, don’t get out of the bed. He’s right here.” The doctor pulled a curtain aside, revealing Tubbo laying on a bed similar to Tommy’s.

He gasped slightly. Tubbo didn’t look hurt, and his chest was steadily rising and falling. Tommy whimpered, trying to move again, he had to be closer-

“Hey! What did I just- okay, just- stop moving! Hold on for just a second!” The doctor went over to Tubbo, slowly pushing the bed closer. Tommy didn’t even realize the bed had wheels.

Tommy slowly reached out his unbroken arm. Despite being gentle, he still winced once he got to a certain point. The doctor moved Tubbo’s arm, and Tommy grasped the outstretched arm. He immediately relaxed, and he swore he felt Tubbo grasp his hand back.

“I swear, you stupid hybrids and your stupid bonds…” The doctor muttered, sitting in a chair Tommy hadn’t noticed was there.

Tommy scowled, mood abruptly shifting now that he knew Tubbo was okay. “Hey! I broke my fucking shoulder for this stupid idiot!”

The doctor sighed. “Oh, you’re just like Bad and Skeppy.”

“Excuse me? Did you just insult me?” Tommy snapped.

The doctor wheezed, surprised. “No-No! I have two friends, their names are Skeppy and BadBoyHalo, but everyone calls him Bad. They’ve bonded too.”

Tommy quieted for a second, thinking. “Hey, is your name Dream, perchance?”

“It is!” Dream said. “You must have met either George or Sapnap.” 

“Both of them. George mentioned you the other day.”

“He did? I’m not that surprised.” Dream pulled down the doctor’s mask, revealing the lower part of his face. 

Like Tommy predicted, Dream’s lower face was sprinkled with freckles. His mouth was turned up slightly, as if he smiled a lot. What was a bit more surprising was the small scars scattering across his face.

Dream sighed, running a hand through his dirty-blonde hair. “You’re pretty busted up, you know. Nobody’s ever broken the glass before, not even Skeppy.”

Tommy tried shrugging, but hissed in pain instead. “M’ fine. It was, uh, I don’t know. I saw Tubbo just… floating there, and I had to do something, you know? I couldn’t just sit there and let him drown.”

Dream nodded. “Has George or Sapnap told you about the plan?”

Tommy snorted. “They did, but I don’t know anything about, like, how it’s executed and stuff.”

Dream rubbed a hand over his face. “Alright, so. There’s the night shift, when all the lights turn off, usually around night. We have a friend, his name is Karl. His shift on the cameras lines up with a long period of the lights being out. We can’t say the time, ‘cause somebody might overhear, and then this whole thing would fall apart. Only know that somebody will come to your cell when it’s time. You live in the flock cell, right?”

Tommy nodded. “Is that all?”

Dream thought for a moment. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“Alright. Goodnight.”

Like that, Tommy passed out for the second time.

Chapter Text

Tommy was floating. There was nothing to determine up or down, left or right. It was only dark. 

It was comforting, in the same way the night was comforting. There was no pain, no emotions, no self-doubting thoughts intruding into his head. Tommy didn’t have to worry about anything, he could just… stay there.

He blinked, or maybe he opened his eyes, and realized it wasn’t just dark anymore. It was murky, silt shifting through the water. Water?

He could feel his body again. His wings were a weight floating behind him, his clothes slightly heavy. He wasn’t in the jumpsuit anymore, just a normal grey tank-top and jeans, like what he was wearing back home before coming here.

Tommy saw strands of kelp and seaweed waving in the faint currents. Dark sand, or silt, or maybe ash, was being stirred by the currents, tiny particles drifting around. Something about this felt wrong, like he was trespassing in the darkest patches of ocean.

He watched an air bubble float up and away. He needed air to live, didn’t he? Wasn’t he supposed to not be able to survive this long without air? 

Suddenly, he felt like he was suffocating, water filling his nose. It was as if his body just remembered he needed air to survive.

Tommy jerked into motion, swimming upwards. Despite feeling himself going up, the surface looked no closer, if there even was a surface. 

He choked, desperately clawing upwards. His wings seemed to become heavier on his back, weighing him down more. Underwater vines wrapped around his ankles, pulling him down.

Tommy’s vision was starting to go black around the edges. His lungs and throat burned, he needed air. His body deceived him, and started to convince him that yes, he could breathe water! He inhaled, which was a stupid mistake. 

Cloudy water filled his lungs, crushing any air left. The black was closer, slowly ebbing his vision out.

Tommy could only helplessly drift down into the dark, pulled by kelp that twisted around his legs. 

He took one last breath, sucking in water and only paining him more-

Tommy gasped, shocking awake. For a few seconds he was terrified, thinking he was still drowning in dark waters.

He took huge gulps of air, heart beating hard and fast. He glanced around wildly.

He calmed down slightly once he realized he was still in the hospital. His shoulder was still broken, although he felt a bit more stronger. He wasn’t wearing the jumpsuit, instead wearing a white shirt and white shorts.

Tommy was alone. He couldn’t hear anyone walking around. His senses were in overdrive, still recovering from his nightmare. He shakily pulled his legs over the bed, hesitantly standing up.

He immediately sat back down, mainly because he got very lightheaded as soon as he stood. Maybe try standing again in a bit.

His other arm, the one that wasn’t broken, felt okay. It was still stiff, hard to move from all the scratches he got from the glass.

The wing that was on the same side as the scratched arm was hurt as well. Tommy didn’t know how badly, but he could move it relatively well. There were a few small scratches on his leg, scabbed over already. Most of the cut-related injuries were on the same side as the arm he hit the glass with. Wow, he would make a great detective. 

Tommy glanced around, before hesitantly lifting his shirt. Bandages were wrapped around his lower stomach. If any of his other injuries proved anything, he probably had a gash on his side.

That only left his other shoulder, which was broken. Tommy didn’t know how he managed to throw himself into a wall so hard he broke a bone. The only answer he could think of was how desperate he was.

Alright, one side of his body was torn and wrapped in bandages. The other side had a broken bone. This was just great, really.

Tommy tried standing again. After a few seconds of light-headedness, he came back to. He could successfully stand, as long as he took it very slow. Hooray.

Tommy let instinct guide him, only focusing on staying upright. He was really glad he hadn’t cut his leg, because then walking would be a nightmare. Both arms were already busted, he didn’t need to worry about his legs as well.

Tommy put his hand against the wall, catching his breath. Where was he even going? He didn’t know, and he was probably supposed to stay in the bed for Dream to come. But he couldn’t, he was restless and fidgety, set on edge.

Tommy continued forward, turning a corner. He was met with a set of those flappy doors you see at the back of stores, the kind that say “Employees Only.” You know, the kind you want to immediately run though.

He hesitated going through. If he listened hard enough, he could faintly hear two people talking. He bit his lip, glancing back at the bed. He could just go wait.

Waiting was for pussies. He pushed his way through the doors.

Tommy was in a room that looked like a waiting room. Chairs with cushions that probably did little to nothing to make it comfortable were lined against both sides of the wall. A coffee table was in the middle, absent of the usual magazines that would be scattered across a table like that.

In two of the chairs, he could see Dream and Tubbo talking. The doctor didn’t have his mask on, instead listening intently to Tubbo as he talked. Tommy almost sagged against the wall with relief. Tubbo was okay.

Dream looked up for a second, his green eyes widening on seeing Tommy standing there.

“Tommy! You're-Geez, you’re not supposed to be walking! I swear, do you have a death wish?” Dream stood, probably about to usher him back to bed. Tommy only smirked at Dream in return. A witty remark was on his tongue when Tubbo saw him.

“Tommy!” Tubbo rushed over, grabbing Tommy into a fierce hug. He couldn’t help but whimper in pain. Tubbo pulled away almost immediately, apologies spilling out like water from a faucet- wait, no, bad analogy.

He smiled a bit, despite his broken arm starting to hurt again. The painkillers must be wearing off. “H-Hey, Tubbo.” 

Tubbo scrunched his nose, looking him up and down. Tommy couldn’t help but feel like he was a christmas present being judged by a picky child.

“Why?”

“Hm?” Tommy was a little taken by surprise.

“Why? Why did you…” Tubbo gestured at Tommy.

Tommy shifted, looking away. “I-I dunno. I-uh… sorry.”

“No, no. That’s not- I didn’t mean it like that.” Tubbo grabbed Tommy’s hand, the one without the broken shoulder. “I was just… I’m not mad, okay? I’m just a little confused.”

Tommy swayed slightly. “I-”

“Okay, stop.” Dream gently pushed Tubbo aside, and Tommy was analyzed again but from a different set of eyes. “I would like it a lot better if you stayed in the bed, but you two are having a moment. I-Just please sit down, you look like you’re about to fall over.”

Tommy sat down in one of the chairs. He was right, the weak cushions did little to hide the fact he was sitting on a slab of wood. Tubbo pulled up one of the many others, sitting directly across from Tommy. 

Dream started heading to another room, sectioned off by a normal door, not a flappy door. Unexciting. “I’ll be in the office. Scream if anything happens.”

The door closed softly, not with a loud slam like expected. Tommy’s gaze flicked back to Tubbo.

The two sat in awkward silence for a few moments. 

Tommy finally spoke up. “I swear, if you just ask me why again, I’ll kill you.”

Tubbo cracked a small smile. “Uh… okay-Alright. It’s just, like… look at yourself.”

Tommy didn’t have to. He knew what Tubbo saw.

“I didn’t take that long to recover, and now I’m basically back to normal. But, man, you…”

Tommy hung his head slightly. “I wasn’t about to let you drown.”

“I’m sure they would have drained the water. They wouldn’t have just let me die, surely.”

“W-Well, I didn’t know that!” Tommy snapped. “I-You were just floating there, and you-I don’t know, I felt like-thought-I thought you weren't breathing, and I-”

Tommy’s throat closed up. He couldn't speak anymore, because he didn’t have any more reasoning aside from I thought you were dying.  

He felt agitated, like he had when he woke up from that nightmare. He wasn’t about to cry, no. Instead, he put that energy into fidgeting. His fingers tapped on the arm rest, he bit his tongue, his leg bounced, and he would have ran a hand through his hair if his arms weren't completely destroyed. 

“I… I thought you were about to die,” he whispered.

Tubbo softly grabbed Tommy’s hand, the one that was tapping. He stilled.

“Look, Tommy. It’s alright. I wish you weren’t this badly hurt because of me, but I’m glad, really. It-Okay, I’ll admit, it was terrifying.” Tubbo shivered, looking away. “I’m not sure I’ll… if I’ll ever be able to, y’know, swim again.”

Tommy tilted his head slightly. He could understand why Tubbo would now fear water. Would something happen to Tommy, scar him so badly he couldn’t enjoy it again?

“Hey man, I’m gonna be alright. Sure, maybe I’m busted and stuff, and yeah, I somehow managed to break my shoulder. But it’s okay. I’ll heal, get better and stuff. Hey, maybe these will scar, and then I’ll look real cool, yeah?” He smiled.

Tubbo smiled too. “Yeah, you’re gonna be fine.”

Tubbo ran his thumb over Tommy’s hand. He tried to ignore the way it made him shiver slightly, how small bursts of energy seemed to spark from the contact. Bonds were weird.

“I just wonder about, like, what we would do if we weren’t discovered. How would we be living? Would we keep it a secret from our parents?”

“I dunno. Surely we would be, like, homeschooled and stuff, probably from Phil.”

Tubbo sighed through his nose, thinking about a different timeline where they were never caught. Tommy watched him for a moment, before speaking up again.

"Y'know, I, uh, actually had a nightmare, before coming out here.”

“Really? Do you wanna talk about it?” Tubbo’s gaze became a bit more worried.

Tommy shifted slightly. “Yeah, yeah, sure. It was, uh, it was pretty weird. I was in, like, the ocean, but it was really dark and there was a bunch of seaweed. At first, I didn’t have to breathe or anything, but then it’s like I remembered I had to? And as soon as I tried swimming up I was dragged downwards.” Tommy hesitated slightly, looking back up at Tubbo. “Do you think it was because of our bond and you were projecting somehow? ‘Cause, like, I could feel that you were scared, and I don’t know if it happened to you, but when you were in the water...”

Tommy trailed off, not knowing how to explain what happened. “Like, I switched bodies with you or something? Like for a moment I was the one in the water?”

Tubbo thought for a moment, before his eyes widened. “Oh! Yeah, like for a few seconds I was outside and getting ready to hit the wall!”

“How odd.”

They trailed off into silence. Tommy properly looked at Tubbo for the first time since… a while, really.

Tubbo’s hair had gotten a bit longer. If Tommy squinted hard enough, he could see a faint green hue. Like before, his left eye was faintly more brownish, although it seemed to be bordering on a more orange color. It was the little changes, like how his eyes seemed more empty, how he seemed more tense, how he looked like he could never properly relax again.

One of the doors on the other side clanged open, making both of them jump. Dream ran out from his office, pulling his doctor’s mask up as he ran.

Tommy only heard soft talking, but Dream looked slightly agitated. He was waving his hands in the air like he was arguing. Tommy shared a glance with Tubbo.

Eventually Dream sighed, closing the door. He turned, pulling his mask off and letting it dangle from his ear. He looked over the two of them, worried eyes poorly hidden.

“Hey Tubbo. Can I talk to you for a second?”

Tubbo stood, fidgeting with his hands nervously. “Y-Yeah, sure.”

Tommy tried standing as well. Dream shook his head, lightly pushing Tommy back down. “Hold on. It’s just for a moment.”

Tommy seethed silently as Dream murmured to Tubbo. The winged boy nodded slightly. Why did Tubbo get to know, but not Tommy? This was just so unfair.

Dream ducked his head slightly, putting a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder. Like that, Tubbo walked back to the chair.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. Tubbo just shook his head slightly. Did Tubbo not want to talk to him? Had Tommy done something wrong?

Dream handed him a small pill. Tommy looked up at Dream. “I can’t take it without water.”

Dream sighed slightly. “Alright, wait here.” He vanished into his office.

Tubbo kept avoiding Tommy’s eyes. Was this punishment for breaking the glass? Tommy set his jaw, staring at the little pill in his hand. He hated this feeling. Right now he wanted Tubbo to smile, say it’s alright. He wanted Tubbo to reassure him that Dream was just talking about nothing important, that the two of them were okay.

Dream came back with a small paper cup filled with water. Tommy doesn’t ask anything, wordlessly downing the pill. His vision started going blurry around the edges. Oh, it must have been a sleeping pill.

Tommy looked at Tubbo, the brunette finally meeting his eyes. His thoughts become more muddled, and he had a hard time staying awake.

“M’ sorry,” he slurs.

He thought he heard Tubbo say that nothing was wrong, he hadn’t done anything bad, but he was too tired to make it out. He stopped struggling, letting the exhaustion take him away.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke with a start. It didn’t take him long to realize he was in the testing room again. Goddamn, why was he always in here?

He was propped up against a wall. He stood shakily, keeping his hand against the wall. He could see the jagged hole in the glass where he had broken though. It looked painful. No wonder his body was such a wreck. How he even managed to break though was a wonder.

Nobody else was in the room. Tubbo was nowhere to be found, which made worry twist inside him. The last thing he remembered was being drugged. Had Tubbo abandoned him?

His broken shoulder was still in a sling. Whenever he shifted it caused dull spikes of pain to shoot from that area. His other arm was a bit better, but he still didn’t want to put too much pressure on it. He just hurt. Everywhere.

The microphone turned on with a small burst of static. The woman’s smooth voice started speaking. Didn’t they have anyone else who could talk? He was getting tired of hearing a voice that sounded like it belonged in a radio advertisement for a moving company.

“Hello, M16SM. I can see that you are still heavily injured.” 

The woman paused, as if waiting for him to make a witty retort. He didn’t, too focused on staying upright. He put his back to the wall, keeping the bandaged part of his wing out of the way.

“Alright. We only have a small test for you today, since you aren’t in the best of conditions. You may remember our fox friend, M21F. We have a small activity planned for him, as well as another fox hybrid. You don’t need to do anything, we just want to see how he reacts.”

The microphone cut out. Tommy stared at the ground, willing himself not to fall down. 

The door opened, a familiar red fox being shoved inside. Fundy scowled at the door, before tuning and seeing Tommy. Tommy couldn’t help but freeze up.

Those brownish-orangish eyes scanned him over. He was prey, injured and easy to pick off.

The fox hybrid glanced from him to the hole in the glass. All of his blood had been cleaned off, all the shards and feathers swept up. Still, Tommy could see the gears turning in Fundy’s head, until it clicked. 

Fundy slowly made his way over, hands raised and face concerned. He stopped in front of Tommy, looking over him. Despite Tommy being taller, Fundy seemed to tower over him.

“Hey man, you’re alright. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Fundy reached out a hand, avoiding the bandaged part. 

Tommy shook, about to fall. Fundy gently guided him into a sitting position against the wall. The fox leaned back, looking over him again. “What happened to you?”

Tommy grinned slightly, despite the dull pain. “I broke through that glass. Simple.”

Fundy shook his head with a sigh. “Was your bond in there or something?”

Tommy nodded slightly. “How’d you know?”

“You got a mark on your wrist, and I know another fox with a bond. I’ve been tested with him a few times.” Fundy changed his sitting position to be more comfortable. "I've seen how they react when the others in pain."

Tommy hummed slightly. The door opened again, startling Tommy. He jumped, hissing a curse under his breath as he moved his broken shoulder. 

A man walked in, somebody Tommy’s never seen before. He was fairly tan, with fashionably scruffy black hair and dark eyes. Black fox ears, similar in color to his hair, protruded from the top of his head, a fluffy black tail swishing behind him. He had black band wrapping across his wrist, just like Tommy. 

Fundy waved. “Hey Skeppy.”

The black fox, whose name was Skeppy apparently, walked over, plopping down next to Fundy as if they were familiar friends. “Hey Fundy.”

His eyes scanned Tommy. Tommy was getting tired of people looking him over, but couldn’t help the small tingle of fear he got. The black fox looked shifty, eyes dancing with mischief. He didn’t know Skeppy, and while he knew Fundy was chill he wasn’t too sure about the other.

Skeppy narrowed his eyes slightly. “I don’t know you, but I assume you were the person to break that glass, right? Most likely your bond was being drowned.”

Tommy only nodded, not trusting himself to speak. His voice would waver, and then he would look weak and oh! there goes his first impression. 

Skeppy's slight concern disappeared as he grinned. “Nice! I’ve never managed to break through before, but now I’m not too sure I want to. I mean, like look at what it did to you!”

Tommy tried for a smile. "Yeah."

Skeppy tutted under his breath, looking around. "So they just want us to sit here?"

Fundy shrugged. "I think it's 'cause Tommy's an injured bird and we're foxes. And, like, nobody here takes into consideration that we're still human."

Skeppy laughed. Tommy was too tired to really pick up on the conversation, but at least he wasn't about to be attacked. He relaxed.

The microphone turned back on, Skeppy's ear twitching. "This was very, very interesting to observe. Thank you for your cooperation, M20BF. M21F, we have made a changement to your holding room after seeing how the two of you acted."

Skeppy stood up with a stretch. "Nice meeting you, bird boy." 

The black fox casually sauntered to the guard waiting for him, hands clasped behind his back. Tommy would have snapped back with a retort, if only he wasn't so tired and in pain.

Fundy helped him stand, pulling Tommy's less injured arm over his shoulders. It hurt, and Tommy had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out. He didn't remember much while going back to the cell, focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Fundy helped a lot, holding him up and keeping him from collapsing. 

Tommy perked up a bit more when Fundy and him stumbled into the large room. The guard hadn’t said anything, and left after closing the door.

Huh. Fundy lived here now, Tommy supposed.

He looked at the people currently in the room. They were all there, supposedly caught in the middle of another UNO game.

Tommy smiled faintly. “Hey guys.”

The next few moments were a blur. The main parts he remembered was first being dumped into a chair. He remembered Phil muttering about how Tubbo had explained what happened, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. Wilbur only gave him a small smile that reminded Tommy of the conversation they had a few nights ago and a wish to get better. Techno gruffly gave him a compliment, something about being tough or whatever. Tubbo sat next to him, a small smile and a promise they would talk about what happened later. Oh joy, Tommy sure was looking forward to that.

The UNO game was reset, Tommy opting to just watch. Fundy was almost immediately accepted. He got angry about pulling cards just like Wilbur did, and it only took one joke about Wilbur being Fundy’s dad for that joke to be solidified. 

Dream dropped by at some point, giving Tommy a plastic water bottle and a small container of painkillers. After a bunch of convincing, Dream hung around for one game of UNO. The game eventually spiraled into Dream fighting against Techno, everybody else mainy watching and only playing number cards. After a long battle, Techno reigned victorious. Dream left after that.

Tommy wasn’t paying too much attention. He was tired, and he ached, and he really just wanted to go lay down. At some point, they get delivered food, the brown mush kind.

When was the last time Tommy had eaten? The way he couldn’t remember probably wasn’t good, but he still pushed the plate away. He didn’t feel hungry, just tired. Tubbo raised an eyebrow, but nobody else noticed.

It was when Tommy jolted back awake after falling into a doze that Tubbo politely excused the two of them from the table, half-carrying Tommy to their bedroom.

Tommy laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Tubbo sat on the edge of the bed. He idly traced his fingers along Tommy’s wing, and Tommy would be caught dead before he admitted how inexplicably happy it made him.

Tommy sat up slightly, using his scratched arm to hold him up. He had taken two of the painkillers earlier, but that didn't stop his arm from protesting slightly. “So. What was all that about?”

Tubbo’s fingers stopped for a moment. “Uh, it was really nothing. Dream just told me that in order to move you over to the testing room, you would have to be knocked out.”

Tommy waited a moment. “That’s it?”

Tubbo nodded slightly, going back to straightening Tommy’s feathers. “Yep.”

Tommy laid back down with a small sigh. “And he couldn’t have, just like, told me?”

“Well, he said you would be upset about, uh, being separated, considering you broke down a glass wall. I thought it was for the best.”

Tommy let out a small hum to let Tubbo know he heard him. He was thinking again. Tubbo’s touch thread though his feathers, organizing them for the first time since… ever. Tubbo was probably sitting in a comfortable silence, but the quiet felt very tense to Tommy.

So did Tubbo actually not feel the need to be as close? Was he alright with being separated? Was Tommy really just too clingy? This sucked so much. He wanted to feel fine, he wanted to not doubt himself, he just wanted to be normal.

That was it, he realized. He was just wanting to be normal, because he wasn’t. Not in the slightest. He had these bird wings on his back and he had strange emotions and he was just not normal. He couldn’t go to school, he couldn’t casually walk to his friend’s house, because he wasn't normal anymore.

Tubbo stopped, only because he had finished straightening out the underside of Tommy’s wing. He sat there, a bit awkwardly judging from his fidgeting hands.

“You don’t have to stay here. You can go hang out with all of them.”

Tubbo looked back at Tommy. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Tubbo got up quickly, as he was waiting for the go-ahead to leave, and Tommy could immediately hear laughter ring out.

This sucked. This sucked so badly, because Tommy was too weak and tired to go have fun with everyone.

He was such a toddler. 

This was horrible, it sucked and he just wanted to be fixed and healed already. But no, he had to be heroic and throw himself into a wall until it broke. Tubbo was fine anyways, despite being the one that was in danger. He was out there, happily playing a card game with everyone, while Tommy had to lay in bed because he was too “act now, think later.”

Tubbo never came back to the room, even after the laughter died down and the lights were turned off. Tommy was awake for as long as he could muster, but the other never returned, which only made his bad mood worse.

 Tubbo was probably asleep out in the living room (when had he started referring to the room with the table as the living room?), with everyone else after a nice, long night of developing friendships. Meanwhile, Tommy was all alone-

Alright, he got it. He was alone, because he was too heroic. His scratched arm itchy slightly, and he wished he could rip the bandages off to reveal his arm, magically healed. He wished he could pull the sling off and move around with his shoulder throbbing in pain. He wished he could spread both with wings without one of them being wrapped up tightly. He wished he could laugh without his side wound protesting.

He was such a complainer. He should just be glad Tubbo was alright. Even if he himself wasn’t.

Tommy’s thinking didn’t last much longer, as fatigue finally overtook him and dragged him into the dark depth of slumber.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks were very uneventful for Tommy.

He wasn’t tested at all, instead being left to heal. That meant he had nothing to do aside from sit there, bored and tired.

Dream would come by and check up on him every two days or so. The doctor usually didn’t stay long, just doing a small check on his shoulder.

The first week, Tommy got the bandages removed from his wing and arm. The wing looked fine, only protesting slightly when he extended it. He could see no visible sign of injury. His arm, though, was a different story.

There were two large cuts, with some smaller ones scattered around. They were all scabbed over, but Tommy finally realized just how badly he had hurt his arm. Dream said the two larger ones were probably going to scar, so at least he had that to look forward to.

The side wound only got a change in wrappings. Dream didn’t let him see it, but judging by the small intake the doctor did it was probably bad.

The second week, the bandages came off his side. He could see a long wound, stitched up neatly. Dream warned him about ripping his stitches out, saying some vague threat if he did. Tommy would not be ripping his stitches out.

Nothing happened in the third week, but in the fourth week Dream removed the sling from his shoulder. The broken bone had stopped aching significantly, and Dream deemed him good enough to go sling-free. Dream also said that it would take another two or three weeks for it to heal completely. He shouldn’t really exert it or anything stupid.

During these weeks, Tommy spent a lot of time alone or with Phil. Fundy was usually gone, since he was a fox and was tested a lot. Wilbur and Techno always went off somewhere together, and for Tubbo? Tommy didn’t really know, but he usually left with Dream. 

Tubbo was usually gone for two or three days, and when he came back he would gush about how he’s learning medical stuff with Dream. Tubbo offered to take Tommy with him, but Tommy declined. His excuse was lame, I don’t want to learn about medical stuff Tubbo, it sounds hard and stupid. Really, though, Tommy would have loved to go with Tubbo, but he should give Tubbo some needed space, shouldn’t he?

Some time after getting the bandages off his wings, Tommy was left alone in the room with Phil. 

The older man caught his eye from his place on the wall, beckoning Tommy over.

"Sit." Phil pointed in front of him.

Tommy sat down, back to Phil. Phil gently coaxed his wing to spread, just like he had done when Tommy first got them. Phil started sorting through his feathers, picking out the dead ones and fixing up all the bent ones. Tommy relaxed, letting the gentle fingers shift through his wings. It reminded him of when Tubbo did it, but Phil’s hands were more knowing, while Tubbo was just fiddling.

“Hey Phil?” The man hummed to let Tommy know he heard him. “Have you been here before?”

Phil paused for a moment, resuming after thinking. “Yes, I have.”

He took a breath, about to get into another story as he does. Tommy didn’t mind. It was better than the silence anyways.

“I was about twelve when I grew my wings. My parents freaked out, called this place believing it was like an animal shelter. Of course it isn’t, but you know. People panic when under stress. I’m sure they wouldn’t have sent me here if they know how horrible it was.”

Phil spoke with a faint bitterness, like he blamed his parents for everything.

“I got out by myself. I knocked a guard out, stole their clothes, and just walked out. They didn’t notice, not for a few days at least. By then I was long gone."

Phil started on the other wing, being more gentle since it was the hurt one. “I stayed on the move, finally settling down in your area. I learned how to properly hide my wings, I learned how to work part-time jobs. I thought I had legitimately got away forever.”

“And then I happened,” Tommy jumped in. “If we hadn’t-”

“Tommy. It’s not your fault.” Phil touched his shoulder, gently turning Tommy around to face him. “I would much rather be here with you, then be free and know I could have helped.”

Tommy nodded, gaze downwards. “It’s just… stressful, I guess,” he mumbled.

Phil didn’t pressure him into talking, simply pulling him into a hug. It was slightly awkward because of their position on the floor, but Tommy leaned into it heavily.

That was maybe the only eventful that happened during Tommy’s recovery. Tubbo was gone most of the time, so Tommy was usually left feeling alone.

Currently, Tommy was playing UNO (what a surprise, but there wasn’t much else he could do) with Wilbur and Techno. The two older men made fun of him, Wilbur much more than Techno. It didn’t feel legitimate though, and it usually resulted in Tommy and Wilbur laughing, so Tommy didn’t take it personally.

During this, Tommy had a chance to properly look at the two. Wilbur laughed a lot, but there was this silent sadness in his eyes. When the light hit his eyes right, Tommy could see one of them seemed more on the golden side. His brown hair fell in his eyes a lot, and he seemed to have a habit of scruffing up said hair.

Techno didn’t convey much, his face an expressionless wall. The little things Tommy noticed was how his hair was starting to grow out of the dye, brown roots poking out from the fluffy pink. His eyes were a dark brown, very close to black, but Tommy could see hints of red in one of them. He was well muscled, and how he kept his huge, fluffy wings in order was beyond Tommy.

Some guard came to their door. “M21RS, could you please come with me?”

Oh, it was some annoying female again. Tommy rolled his eyes as Techno stood up. Now it was just him and Wilbur.

Wilbur watched them go, waiting for them to fully leave before gathering all the cards and tucking them back into the box. Tommy raised an eyebrow. “So are we done playing, then?”

Wilbur sighed, sliding the cards towards the other end of the table. “Yeah, yeah. I wanted to ask you about something.”

Tommy tilted his head as Wilbur faced back at him. “What do you need to know? How to talk to women? Because trust me, I-”

“No, it’s a lot more serious actually.” Wilbur gazed at him intently.

Tommy stopped, closing his mouth with a small snap.

Wilbur’s eyes were knowing, picking up on the small details.

“Why have you… Why are you pushing yourself away?”

Tommy tensed, not meeting Wilbur’s eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“‘Course you do. You're distancing yourself from Tubbo. My question is why? You’re making yourself miserable.”

Tommy faltered, thinking carefully about what he should say next. “I… I dunno.”

“Tommy, I’m not gonna judge you.” Wilbur’s voice was softer, gentler than the usual loudness. It made Tommy feel like a child.

“I don’t want to come across as clingy, all right?” Tommy snapped, because he wasn’t a child, and didn’t need to be talked to like one. “I worry him enough already, and he deserves time alone.”

Wilbur was quiet, thinking about how to proceed. “I bet you used to not feel like this, huh?”

Tommy didn't know how to respond. He shrugged, intently studying his nails.

They sat in silence for a few uncomfortable moments, before Wilbur pushed himself out of his chair. Tommy stood as well, uneasy.

Wilbur came and stood in front of him, then held his arms out, much to the shock of Tommy. Tommy thought for a moment, eyeing Wilbur, before giving in and falling into his arms.

Surprisingly strong arms gripped him, slightly aggravating the wounds he still had. He kept his mouth shut, leaning a bit more into the taller man.

Wilbur’s fingers brushed against the base of his wings, making Tommy shudder slightly.

“You’re alright.” He felt Wilbur’s chest buzz as he spoke. “I’m really glad I met you, even if it was through… a horrible way. We’ll get out, I promise.”

Tommy didn’t cry, no. He simply laid his head against Wilbur, an odd feeling of being comforted settling in his chest.

The door opened with a loud clang, as if somebody flung it open. Tommy jumped, the two quickly separating. Tommy mouthed the word “thanks” at Wilbur, but if the taller saw it Tommy would have no idea.

One of the guards rushed in. Their face was hidden by the black helmet, but Tommy could tell they were panicky. 

“Y-Yeah, you’ll do,” They said, quickly and quietly. In an instant, Tommy felt cold metal clamp around his wrists, uncomfortably tight. 

The guard didn’t bother binding his wings, just pulling him out in a hurry. 

“W-Wait, what’s-” The door shut, drowning out the rest of what Wilbur said.

Tommy tried struggling slightly while he was dragged down the hall, but being forced to run behind somebody with cuffs in front of you didn’t yield the best chances to escape.

The guard quickly talked into a walkie-talkie. Tommy picked up the words don’t approach and hold him there. What was going on?

He was pulled down another hallway. They passed the hall with the red stripe, but the person in front continued onward. Tommy caught sight of somebody on the ground, but was going too fast to determine why.

They turned another corner, going somewhere Tommy thought he’d never been before. They were at the end of the hall. He saw a large group of the black-outfitted guards, some tending to others kneeling on the ground. He was pulled to the front of the crowd, and with a jolt realized that the guards were holding guns.

“I brought... one of his… flock members.” The guard panted out. Another one pulled them away, a taller, buffer one taking their place. 

Tommy was shouldered to the very front, in front of everyone. His breath caught in his throat at the sight he saw. 

Techno was standing, wings fully spread and his talons out. The claws were red, the liquid dripping down onto his pink feathers. Behind him, a person laid on the ground, a pool of dark red spreading slowly. Blood, oh god it was blood, was splattered on Techno’s usually white jumpsuit. Tommy felt like he was going to throw up.

“Stand down, or else the kid gets it.” He felt something being pressed to the side of his neck. He froze, stiffening.

Techno looked over the people, focusing mainly on the person next to Tommy. The hall was silent, aside from somebody's broken sobs of pain.

“That’s a tazer. Won’t do anything,” Techno said, voice still as monotone as moments earlier, when they were playing a card game.

“Sure, but this thing has been used before. New model, not used by police. Very lethal, if you wanna test it.” The two nubs of metal on the tazer were dug a bit more into Tommy's neck.

Tommy tried settling his breathing, in and out, nice and steady. He tried not to think about how Techno was bloodied, none of the blood his own, and how a tazer that could kill him was pressed to his neck. Was he a hostage in this situation? Was he just bait, a bargaining chip?

Techno frowned slightly at the lethality of the tazer. The guard made a small gesture, and every person around them backed away, leaving Tommy and the guard with a considerable amount of space.

“I’ll ask again. Do you want this kid to die from electrocution?”

Tommy shifted slightly, thinking about the best way to wiggle out of this firm grip and escape. As if he sensed this, the person tightened his hold significantly, pulling on his still healing shoulder. “Don’t try anything,” he hissed.

Techno was silent, as if he was thinking over the possibilities. The man slowly closed his wings, talons sliding into the feathers.

“Good.” The guard took the tazer away for a moment, motioning something to another guard. Before Tommy could try and escape, the tazer was jammed back into the side of his neck. Tommy winced slightly, but other than that he stayed still.

A guard slowly came forward, holding a pair of wing binds in shaky hands. Tommy almost felt bad for the guy.

Several things happened in the next second, none of them good.

Techno unfroze, punching the poor guard in the face. The pink-winged man turned, eyes frantically staring at Tommy.

It took Tommy two seconds to realize Techno was silently telling him to escape. Two seconds was enough time for the guard to react.

Two seconds too long, as the guard pulled the trigger on the tazer.

Tommy screamed, electricity arcing through his body. This hurt worse, worse than scratching his arm horribly, so much worse than breaking his shoulder. Spikes of pain shot through his body, seeming to target his brain. The guard kept it pressed to his skin despite Tommy jerking, only making the excruciating pain last longer.

His wings flung out, strong enough to loosen the hold. Still, the pain continued. He sobbed horribly, withering. He couldn’t even remember what was happening, it was just him and white, blinding pain.

He hardly noticed when Techno punched the guy in the face, finally ending the stream of electricity. He didn’t notice that gunshots echoed through the cement halls, people’s yelling and shouts ringing almost as loud. His ears were ringing, he couldn’t move.

Chaos was unfolding around him, but Tommy didn’t notice. Too many people were shouting, screaming, crying. He knew he should move, unless he wanted to be hurt more than he already was, but his body wasn’t responding.

He heard somebody shout his name, and he was picked up. He managed to open his eyes, just enough to see dark blonde hair and green eyes, before everything went black.

“I dunno man, am I doing something wrong?” He glanced up at the other quizzically. 

The man shrugged. “I don’t know, Tubbo. Have you tried talking to him?”

Tubbo sighed, staring at the mock leg he was practicing wrapping bandages on. “I want to, but I don’t… I’m not sure, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. You don’t know him, but he really doesn’t like to talk about feelings. He thinks it makes him weak.”

Dream placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump slightly. “You probably aren’t at fault here. Maybe it’s something you two just have to talk about.”

Tubbo sighed, fiddling with the wrapping. “Well, what if he just doesn’t like me? I tried inviting him to come with me here, but he said no.”

The bird hybrid tightened the bandage on the mock leg, tighter than it should be in his frustration. Dream gently undid the bandage, pulling Tubbo’s eyes up to his own.

“I can swear to you that if he hates anything, it’s for sure not you. Maybe next time you see him, say that you would like it if you were there with him.”

Tubbo nodded slightly, rolling the bandage back into a neat roll before stopping suddenly.

He heard something.

His head snapped up, looking for the sound he swore he heard. Dream looked at him oddly. “What’s the matter?”

“I heard something,” Tubbo mumbled. 

He strained his ears, hearing the noise again. It was somebody’s scream. Wait, was that Tommy-

He gasped, pain that wasn’t his own suddenly being sensed. Something was wrong, Tommy was in pain. For a brief second, he felt like electricity being shot through him, but he knew it was nothing compared to what Tommy was feeling.

Dream’s walkie-talkie, discarded on the table, cracked to life. The sound was mainly static, but there were people screaming, and Dream hurriedly picked it up, heading towards the door.

Tubbo stumbled up, intending to follow Dream, because surely Dream was going to all the screaming, and since he still felt pain coming from Tommy-

“No, Tubbo. Stay here.”

Tubbo stopped, blinking. “What? Why?”

Dream glanced back, mask pulled up to hide a good part of his face. “It-It’s bad. I’ll be back with Tommy.”

The door shut with a quiet thud, leaving Tubbo with a faint tingle in his skin and screams ringing in his ears.

Chapter Text

Tommy felt fine, really.

He woke up with a small start, but no pain shot through him. He raised a hand to rub his eyes with a small groan. Was it just him, or were his hands really shaky?

“Tommy? Are you awake?” A soft voice spoke.

Tommy smiled slightly, letting his arm fall across his eyes. “No.”

“Oh, alright.” There was a pause, Tommy trying to hold back laughter.

“Hold on, wait a minute! How-”

Whatever was going to be said was cut off as Tommy burst into loud laughter. He sat up, seeing the person he just trolled to be Tubbo. This only made him laugh harder, and after a few moments Tubbo joined in.

“You are so gullible and stupid!” Tommy only laughed harder, Tubbo stopping and giving him a pouty face.

It took them a while to calm down. Tubbo scrubbed tears from laughter from his eyes. “How are you feeling?”

Tommy sombered slightly. “M’ alright, I guess. My neck hurts.”

“Yeah, you got burned there, from the… uh, yeah.”

They went quiet for a minute.

“Tubbo, why are my hands trembling?”

Tubbo perked up from where he was standing at the wall. “What do you mean?” he asked, walking over to Tommy.

“Look.” Tommy held out his hand to Tubbo, the hand shaking uncontrollably. 

Tubbo gently took his hand, but it didn’t stop trembling. Tubbo shrugged. “It’s probably a side effect of being tazed for so long.”

“Aw, Tubbo! I don’t want shaky hands!” Tommy groaned.

“Well then, just stop them from trembling,” Tubbo suggested.

Tommy scowled, staring at his hands intensely. They, in fact, did not stop shaking.

“I can’t!” He wailed. “I’m gonna have shaky hands forever!”

“Yeah, probably,” Tubbo shrugged.

Tommy stopped his lament, shooting Tubbo The Look. “You suck.”

“Can you actually not control the shaking?” Tubbo took his hand again.

Tommy huffed. “I can’t. I guess I’m just gonna have to live with stupid shaky hands. How will the women love me if my hands are all trembly?”

Tubbo laughed, pulling Tommy out of the bed. “Now that you’re better-”

“I have to go back to the cell?” Tommy frowned slightly. 

“Well, you can if you want to.” Tubbo dropped Tommy’s hand, running his hand through his brown hair.

Tommy bit his tongue, angrily swearing at himself in his mind. He didn’t mind going back to the cell, aside from not being ready to see Techno again, but staying here seemed much more appetizing. And then Tommy had just gone and threw away that chance.

“I mean, I would like it a lot if you stayed here. With me and Dream, I mean,” Tubbo said softly, catching Tommy’s attention.

Tommy pretended to think for a moment, before smiling and elbowing Tubbo. “You’re really clingy, you know?”

“Of course, Tommy.” 

Tommy couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he watched Tubbo sort medications. Dream had put some cooling cream on the burn on his neck before assessing his trembling hands. The doctor had shrugged, saying it was a probable permanent side effect of being shocked for so long. 

Tommy had tried sorting meds, like Tubbo had, but even with Tubbo’s instructions his hands shook too much to help. Now, he was heavily leaning on Tubbo’s side, watching medications drop into labeled bottles. 

Dream took the now supposedly sorted bottles, shaking them out to judge how well Tubbo had done.

“Pretty good. Only thing you messed up on was these two again.” Dream showed Tubbo two bottles and two pills that looked almost identical.

Tubbo sighed. “It doesn’t help that their labels are so similar.”

Dream messed up Tubbo’s hair. “It’s fine. Not like you’re gonna be in a life or death situation and have to sort medication.”

Tommy watched Dream walk out of the room before pulling away from Tubbo’s side.

“You really want me to stay here?” Tommy asked, fidgeting with his quivering hands.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?” Tubbo incredulously said back.

Tommy shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe you wanted time alone.”

Tubbo snorted. “I don’t like being alone, Tommy. Even if I did need some space, I would tell you first. I like it a lot more when you’re with me.”

“Oh. Alright.” Tommy sat for a moment, before mumbling “Thank you.”

Tubbo met his eyes, and Tommy could see just how genuine Tubbo was. “I’m only saying how I feel, man.”

Tommy was quiet for a few moments, before loudly breaking the silence. “This feels really weird, like the set up to a romance film-”

“Tommy! What the hell, no!” Tubbo started laughing, and the serenity was broken as Tommy barked out laughs.

Tommy flopped against Tubbo again, the shorter somehow staying upright. Dream came back into the room. Tommy didn’t see the look Dream shot at Tubbo, or the delighted smile Tubbo sent back.

Tommy was absolutely unhelpful as Tubbo practiced wrapping bandages around a fake arm. Dream sighed with mock disappointment, assessing the wrap. “Tubbo, how are you managing to do worse every time?”

Tubbo snorted. “It doesn’t help having somebody leaning their entire weight into you. Or that somebody keep poking you, keep unwrapping the bandages, or-”

“It’s funny!” Tommy snapped. Dream wheezed.

“Alright, it’s fine. Here Tubbo, let me show you a new method.”

Tommy watched Tubbo carefully lace the bandage around the prop arm. “Why are you learning all this medical stuff anyways, Tubbo?”

Tubbo glanced over for a second, before going back to threading the material. “Dream told me he needed a student. Most of the human guards are horrible with this stuff, so now I’m learning.”

“I don’t like that term anymore. Humans. We’re still humans.” Tommy mused.

“Well, we technically aren’t anymore. Humans don’t usually have bird wings, or fox ears.” Tubbo swore quietly under his breath as he did a wrap wrong.

“Yeah, I get that. But us calling other people humans makes us sound like aliens or something.” Tommy shifted slightly, taking a little weight off of Tubbo to see him bandaging better.

“Mhm.” Tubbo tightened the bandage, finished.

Dream glanced at a clock on the wall, pushing himself out of the chair. “You guys gotta go back now.”

Tommy pushed himself completely off of Tubbo. He stood and stretched, being careful not to hit Tubbo with his wings.

“Should I expect two of you here from now on?” Dream asked, opening the door and leading them outside.

“Yep.” Tubbo answered for him, taking his hand and pulling him along. 

Tommy couldn’t keep the happy smile from his face.

The halls seemed deserted, overhead lights flickering slightly. Tommy shivered, stepping a bit closer to Tubbo.

Dream took them to their cell, looking around carefully before whispering something.

“Tonight's the night.”

Dream unlocked the door, ushering them inside with no other explanation. The two awkwardly stood in the entryway, having accidentally walked in on a fight.

“Techno! Why would you do that, you idiot!” Wilbur yelled angrily.

Techno shrugged. “I saw an opportunity.”

“You stupid- We already have a plan! What made you think it was a good idea to attack everyone!?” 

Wilbur was loud, angrier than Tommy had ever seen. The anger rolled off him in waves, his fists tightened and wings held up in a way that conveyed his upsetness. Tommy subconsciously moved to stand a bit in front of Tubbo, because if Wilbur lashed out at them next Tommy would not let Tubbo get yelled at by that pure anger.

Wilbur finally saw the two boys standing at the doorway. The older man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’ll talk more later.”

There was tension between the two hybrids, making the air thick. Tommy carefully avoided looking at Techno, letting Tubbo pull him into their shared room. He wasn’t sure he could look at Techno without seeing him covered in blood.

Tubbo sat on the bed, Tommy flopping back with a sigh. His multicolored wings spread out, Tubbo beginning to absentmindedly fiddle with one of them again.

“Do you wanna talk about what happened?” Tubbo asked, soft and concerned.

Tommy stared at the small cracks in the cement ceiling, thinking about how to phrase it. “Uh, you want the full story?”

Tubbo sat crossed legged on the bed, pulling Tommy’s wing into his lap. “Yeah, sure.”

“Alright. Well, I was…” Tommy didn’t want to bring up the talk with Wilbur.

“I was playing UNO with Wilbur and Techno, like normal. Techno got taken somewhere, and then a little while later this fucker comes running in all panicky and stuff. They cuffed me and took me to this big group of guards.”

Tommy stopped for a moment, catching his breath before continuing.

“They, uh, pushed me to the front. Techno… man, he was all bloody and shit. None of it was his own blood. Uh… yeah, this big, strong man grabbed me and put… a tazer to my neck. He said he would taze me if Techno didn’t stand down.”

Tommy pushed his hair back, feeling his hand shake against his scalp. “Techno… punched the guy with wing binds in the face. I think he was telling me to run, but before I could…”

Tommy made a bizzt sound. “Don’t remember much after that.”

Tubbo was quiet for a few seconds, waiting to see if Tommy was done. When Tommy didn’t say anything else, Tubbo leaned back against the wall. “Well, at least you’re pretty alright now. Like, you don’t look like you were put through a blender.”

Tommy gasped, sitting up. “Tubbo! Look at this!” 

He excitedly pulled up the long sleeve of the white jumpsuit, revealing the two crisscrossed scars he now had. Tubbo gasped lightly, touching the raised skin. “That’s so cool!”

“I know! There’s another one on my side. And I only had to break through a glass wall to get them,” Tommy said proudly, keeping eye-contact with Tubbo before both of them broke into giggles.

They spent a while like that, just chatting about random topics and making each other laugh. Not once did they bring up Tubbo’s new fear of water, or the fact Tommy may freeze up if he hears the crackle of a tazer. For a few hours, they were just two best friends talking about who knows what.

The lights clicked off, and the two of them didn’t spend much time talking. Tubbo pulled Tommy down, throwing his wing over Tommy.

Tommy couldn’t recall a time in his life where he had felt this warm.

Tubbo was long asleep, and Tommy was about to fall asleep when somebody quietly stepped into their room. Tommy slowly propped himself up on his elbow, being careful not to wake up Tubbo.

Phil was standing in the doorway, eyes hard and determined. 

“Now’s the time. Come on.”

He slipped back outside, leaving Tommy with a sense of cautious excitement. He shook Tubbo awake with a bit of guilt. Tubbo blinked awake groggily. “Tommy? What…”

Tommy put a finger to his lips. “I think we’re leaving,” he whispered.

Tubbo immediately snapped awake, nervous excitement shining in his eyes. The two silently crept from their rooms, seeing Wilbur, Techno and Phil standing at the door though the dark. 

Sapnap was standing by the opened door, quietly murmuring to Phil. Tommy got close enough to hear the end of the conversation. “George has got Fundy, Bad, Skeppy, and that lion.”

“Her name is Nihachu.” Wilbur harshly whispered. Sapnap shrugged.

“Alright, come on. And stay quiet.” Sapnap gestured at the group, and they quietly followed the guard through the halls.

Tommy took Tubbo’s hand, the shorter shooting a comforting smile at Tommy. They just had to stay quiet, and freedom would be theirs.

The halls were dark and cold, every noise making Tommy jump. He had probably never felt this tense in his life.

Sapnap led them through dark hallways, occasionally having them duck behind a corner when another guard walked by. Tommy’s heart beat loud in his chest. Tubbo would occasionally squeeze his hand, helping to ground him.

Sapnap turned one more corner, pushed open a door, and ushered them all outside.

Outside.

Tommy took a deep breath of the cold, night air. A breeze pulled on his feathers. Green grass was under his feet, a lush forest ahead of them.

He turned to Tubbo, the biggest smile on his face. Tubbo was looking around in wonder, yelping when Tommy pulled him into a tight hug.

“We’re free, Tubbo.”

Tommy felt like laughing. Who knew how good it would feel to be free?

He looked over everyone else in their little group. Wilbur was tightly hugging a short girl with round ears and a long, tan tail. That must be Nihachu, or Niki, or whatever she was called. Fundy was there too, talking to who Tommy recognized as Skeppy. The black fox was holding hands with a man with shiny black wings. He was a bit on the pale side, with short hair and glasses. That was probably Badboyhalo.

Dream, Sapnap, and George were all quietly talking to each other. Both guards had discarded their helmets, and Dream had taken off his bright red vest, hiding it under a bush. A man with siamese cat ears and tail was standing with them. Tommy didn't know who that was.

Phil, Techno, and Wilbur were talking, Wilbur harshly lecturing Techno as Phil tried to get him to calm down. Niki was right next to Wilbur, holding his hand and murmuring things to him.

“Alright, come on guys. We gotta go,” Dream said, pointing towards the forest. “If we get split up and chased, just run. Try to have a partner with you.”

The large group moved quietly, Tommy breathless with excitement. They were so close, all they had to do was make it into the trees and they would be free.

But just like everything before, that fantasy spiraled away as a blinding light was suddenly shone on them.

Tommy shielded his eyes with his free hand, stomach dropping with fear as he realized what it was.

It was a huge light, the ones they use in prisons to spot any escapees.

And said escapees had just been caught in the act.

“RUN!” Somebody yelled, maybe Skeppy, and the whole group scattered.

“Don’t fly! Stick low to the ground!” Phil yelled out, right before black armored soldiers poured out the doors.

Tommy swore, pulling Tubbo as the two began to run. His ears made out the cackling of a tazer, and he froze.

“Tommy! Come on man, we gotta go!” Tubbo pulled on his hand, but all Tommy could remember was the tendrils of electrocuting pain shooting through him.

Tubbo screeched, breaking Tommy from his trance. His friend was pinned on the ground, a black nightmare hastily tightening a wing bind on.

Tommy tackled the guard, pushing off the ground. He hauled Tubbo up, and they ran.

They entered the forest, the ground soft and muddy from recent rain. Tommy pulled Tubbo along. “We gotta find George, or Sapnap. Get that bind off.”

He heard Tubbo breathlessly agree. 

All they had to do was hide. Tommy heard dogs barking, alright maybe they don’t hide.

He jumped over a fallen tree, pulling Tubbo behind him. They stopped for a second, crouching next to each other in the shadow of the log.

“You alright?” Tommy asked, trying to catch his breath.

Tubbo nodded, but gestured at his wing.

Tommy muttered a swear, trying to get the bind off. He stopped when Tubbo sucked in a pained breath.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Tubbo quietly reassured him.

The forest suddenly seemed much more darker, the faint shadows from the moon longer. Tommy huddled closer to Tubbo, both freezing when they heard somebody in boots run past.

“Lemme see your wings. They’re too brightly colored.” Tubbo took a handful of mud. Tommy wrinkled his nose, but let Tubbo smear cold mud on his wings. Soon, there were only a few hints of vibrant red, green, or blue.

“This is gross. My wings feel all heavy.” Tommy complained under his breath.

“At least you don’t have a bind on one of them,” Tubbo quietly muttered back. 

Tommy nodded. “True.”

They went silent, listening for anymore people running past. Tommy cautiously raised his head up, pulling Tubbo up as well.

“What should we do?” he whispered.

Tubbo scanned the dark trees. “Try and meet up with the others, I suppose.”

They began quietly padding through the forest, ducking whenever somebody walked past. They saw no sign of their escaped companions.

A dog barked, too close for comfort. Tommy froze, Tubbo just as silent behind him.

“Up the tree.” Tommy pointed at the closest tree.

“That never works in movies!” Tubbo whispered back.

“Well then, what do we do?”

The dog started barking excitedly. Tommy gave Tubbo one panicked look, and they both ran.

The dog gave chase, loud barking calling everyone to their location. Tommy skidded to a halt, a cliff face in front of them. They were pinned.

“We gotta jump.” Tommy spread his dirt-covered wings.

“I can’t fly, Tommy! My wing’s bound!” Tubbo’s breathing quickened with fear.

“Trust me.” Tommy pulled Tubbo behind him, jumping off the cliff.

He could hear the excited baying of the dog, he could hear a tazer-

Stop! Focus on flying!

He beat his wings, gritting his teeth against the pain he got from carrying so much weight. Tubbo held on to his chest.

They just had to make it to the ground, then they could run again. Tommy angled his wings, trying to give them a slow descent.

A gunshot sounded, and Tommy cried out from surprise, wings tilting instinctively. He was thrown off balance, and the two of them tumbled from the sky.

Thankfully, they weren't too high. Tommy got to his knees with a wheeze, all the air knocked from his lungs. He looked up, frantically searching for Tubbo. 

Tubbo was laying on the ground, not moving. Tommy half ran, half stumbled over, falling to his legs next to Tubbo. He was still breathing, but his eyes were unfocused and confused.

Tommy gently shook Tubbo. “Hey, hey, are you okay? Tubbo?”

Tubbo blinked. “W-What? Arg, my head-”

Tommy pulled Tubbo to his feet, Tubbo stumbling. “T-Tommy? What’s…”

Tommy snapped his fingers in front of Tubbo’s face. “Tubbo? You alright?”

Tubbo swayed, looking lost and confused. It took him a few seconds to answer Tommy’s question. “I… hit my head? My head hurts.”

Tommy grabbed his shoulders, keeping Tubbo from falling. Tubbo fell heavily against him. He looked around, Tubbo dazedly leaning against him. He didn’t know what was wrong, but it was nothing good.

“My ears… ringing… my head hurts, Tommy.” Tubbo mumbled into his shoulder.

“I-I know your head hurts. We gotta move.” Tommy took Tubbo’s arm, slinging it over his shoulder.

They stumbled through the forest, Tubbo having to rely heavily on Tommy. Tommy didn’t know what happened. Tubbo would probably know, but he wasn't focused right now.

“Tommy… you should leave me behind.” Tubbo’s voice was slurred, but he spoke with certainty. 

“What? No! Tubbo, I’m not leaving you.” Tommy pulled them into the shadow of a large tree, setting Tubbo on the ground.

“I’m… slowing down you. You need to get away.” Tubbo looked up, eyes shining with tears.

Tommy didn’t bother correcting Tubbo’s grammar, instead grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Listen, Tubbo. I don't care if we go back there together, because we'll be together. You aren't- I'm not leaving you."

"No, Tommy. I… I can't focus. Can't walk. Slowing you down." Tubbo was crying now, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Listen! I'm not leaving you! Get that through your head! Alright?" Tommy stood again, taking the majority of Tubbo's weight. 

They stumbled through the forest together, Tubbo silently crying. Tommy's heart ached, but there was nothing he could do to help Tubbo. 

Tubbo tripped, heavily pulling on Tommy. Tommy couldn't help but sit Tubbo on the ground again. 

Tubbo's eyes were unfocused and confused. Tommy nervously chewed on his bottom lip, trying to think on what to do to help. 

"Tubbo, what's your favorite animal?" Tubbo looked up, focusing a little bit.

"Bees. I like bees," Tubbo responded after a couple of seconds.

"Can you tell me about bees, Tubbo?"

Tubbo nodded a little. "Bees don't have lungs. They…" He trailed off, eyes not focusing on him anymore.

"What do they do? Tubbo?" Tommy frowned, a bit worried.

"Tommy… behind you."

Tommy whirled around, standing protectively in front of Tubbo. It was a soldier, gun raised. Tommy froze.

More people came from the trees, pouring out and surrounding the two bird hybrids. Tommy looked around wildly. They were surrounded.

A helicopter, why did they have a helicopter? The helicopter let out steady thumps, shining a light down on the two of them.

Tubbo groaned, raising an arm to block the light. Tommy protectively spread his wings, widening his stance in front of Tubbo.

"We got two of them. One of them has a concussion." Tommy heard somebody say into a microphone.

Alright, so everyone else managed to get away. Tommy sighed through his nose, folding his wings and standing down. He raised both hands in the air, head hung.

As the helicopter kept thumping in the sky, as soldiers roughly mutter into microphones, Tommy let a faint smile cross his face.

It had been worth a shot.

Chapter Text

Tommy nervously paced the cell back and forth. It was small, like the original cell he was put in all those weeks ago.

In fact, he was doing the exact same actions he had done first coming here. Except Past Tommy was just confused, and Current Tommy was stressed, tired, sore, and worried.

The soldiers, guards, whatever they were called, had handcuffed him and tightly put binds on his wings. At the time, he thought it was a bit overkill. They had scooped up Tubbo, not being too gentle, and had no problem separating the two. Tommy wanted to scream and shout to be taken with Tubbo, but he bit his tongue and let himself get led away. No point in making this already horrible situation worse.

Tommy stopped for a moment, standing in the middle of the small cement room. He whirled around and slammed his fist into the wall, hardly wincing from the pain. He hated the way his hand shook, even without the pain. They were so close! So indescribably close! Who knew if they would get a chance to escape again?

Tommy wanted to punch the walls, to tear down the heavy, metal door and storm the halls. He wanted to attack the guards, hit them so hard they fell. He wanted to get Tubbo and just walk away, to be able to smile and laugh and not be held in this cement building.

Tommy heavily sat on the edge of the thin mattress. He grabbed the sheets in tight fists, twisting them up as if it would calm him down. Violent thoughts plagued his mind, because they had been so close-

Tommy breathed in, out. The tension slowly drained from his shoulders, his tight hold on the sheets loosening until it was just cheap, rumpled cloth. Tubbo wouldn’t want him lashing out like this.

Oh, Tubbo. Tommy knew it was, in a way, his fault that they had been cornered. If he had better control in the air, they wouldn’t have fallen, and then Tubbo wouldn’t have had what was it? A concussion? Yeah, he wouldn’t have been hurt and they could have ran and hid, waiting to meet up with the rest.

Tommy schooched a bit more onto the bed, leaning against the wall. He stared aimlessly at the ceiling. He felt slightly hungry.

It was the realization that he was close to eating actual food that broke him.

Not the crushing frustration and disappointment. Not being tossed into a cell. Not getting his wings binded, not being flown in a helicopter back to this prison, not hearing Tubbo mumble a warning before being caught. No, none of those events truly clicked that he had almost escaped. It had all felt like some wild dream, some feverish haze that he would wake from.

It was the thought that he could have eaten something normal, like an apple, or banana, or nuts, or pizza, or pasta, or-

Tommy grit his teeth, running a hand tensely though his hair. He tried to stop the frustrated, hot burning tears from springing to his eyes.

Tommy dragged his hand down over his face, harshly scrubbing away tears. He paused, feeling his hand shake.

Why had any of this happened?

He pulled his legs up to his chest, crossing his arms and leaning his head against said arms. He stayed that way until the exhaustion from running through a forest with low energy caught up to him.

That was how he slept, curled up against the wall. Alone, cold, and more desperate than ever.

Eight days.

It took eight days for Tubbo to be dropped off in Tommy's cell.

Tommy was alone for eight days.

Eight long, lonely days.

Food and water would be delivered whenever he was sleeping. There was nobody to talk to, it was just Tommy. All alone.

It was a shock that he didn't cry at all. Not once. He would lay there, feeling blank one minute and crushing despair the next, but he never cried.

Tommy spent all his time curled up on the bed, only getting up to eat before lying down again. He had nobody to talk to, and he knew this wasn’t healthy and he knew he probably looked horrible but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

When Tubbo had been dropped off in his cell, it was during one of the rare times Tommy was awake. At first, Tommy had thought he was just dreaming, watching Tubbo enter the cell, the door clanking loudly behind him. There was no visible sign of injury on the other teen.

Tubbo stood in the doorway, quietly… waiting? Observing? Tommy lifted his shoulders slightly, leaning his head back against the wall and gazing towards the ceiling. No point in hugging Tubbo, because as soon as he did, he would wake up, alone as always. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“Tommy?”

Tommy blinked.

Tubbo never spoke in his dreams.

“Tubbo? Are you…” Tommy’s voice was hoarse, scratchy from non-usage.

Tubbo didn’t run forward, didn’t break into a giant smile. He curtly pulled the metal chair (Tommy had never used it), sitting down in front of Tommy.

“I want to ask you a few things. First, why did-”

“Are you gonna start with this ‘why didn’t you leave me behind’ stuff again?” Tommy snapped. “Because if so-”

“You should have!” Tubbo cut him off, standing with agitation.

Tommy stood as well, frustration making him bristle. “You’re still stuck on that? Listen to yourself! Of course I wasn’t going to leave you-”

“You could have gotten away! You should have just pushed me under a bush or something!” Tubbo’s eyes were filled with anger.

Tommy seethed, biting back multiple retorts that would only make the situation worse. He took a breath, realizing how cliche this argument was. The best way would be to diffuse it, before they both got too agitated to use common sense.

"Look, I couldn't have left you even if I tried." Tommy said quieter, pointing at the green strip on his wrist. "Also, it was neither of our faults we got into that situation. Us fighting will make it worse."

Tubbo stared at him, before smiling, just a bit. "Huh. I never thought you… I don't know, you've never diffused something before."

Tommy shrugged, sitting back on the bed. "Too tired to fight. Also that was about as cliche as it gets."

Tubbo huffed a laugh, sitting next to Tommy. "So… we're good?"

Tommy moved closer, leaning against Tubbo. "Yeah. Just don't say stupid stuff like that again."

They sat in silence for a while. It was comfortable, being close to another person after being alone for eight days.

Tubbo pulled him close, draping his arm across Tommy’s shoulders before breaking the silence. “I mean, I know you could have gotten away if I didn’t get pinned down at the beginning.”

Tommy huffed. “And the only reason you got a wing bind on was because I heard a tazer and froze up.”

“So it’s your fault? Is that what you’re saying?” There was no aggression behind Tubbo’s words, only faint curiosity.

Tommy thought for a moment. “Nah. It’s neither of our faults. We’ve just experienced bad things, and the only one to blame for that is the stupid people who put us here.”

Tubbo nodded. Tommy yawned, leaning a bit more against his best friend. He didn’t protest when Tubbo moved the both of them into a more comfortable position, just happy to be with somebody again.

The next few days were quite uneventful.

Tommy started to get a more regular sleep schedule, and of course having Tubbo there made it all the more better. But they were never taken to get tested on, and they never saw somebody deliver food and water.

The tension was killing him, but no matter how much he complained about it nothing happened.

Finally, maybe about a week or two later, Tommy and Tubbo saw a guard. The two had been sitting on the floor, idly talking about nothing important. The door opened with a squeak, alerting the two hybrids to the person standing in the doorway.

The guard seemed to be well-mussled, large and imposing. They gestured at the two, motioning to follow. Tommy gave Tubbo a small glance, before standing and following. 

Tubbo walked close enough for their feathers to bush against each other. Since their wings were bound, he was walking very close. Tommy didn’t mind. In fact, having Tubbo walk closely to him helped calm just a bit of his anxiety.

It didn’t take him long to realize they were going to the testing rooms. The blood-red stripe ran along the wall, and they were obviously following it. Tommy stiffened, gently grabbing Tubbo’s hand for reassurance. 

Room LD1S0N was the room they were put into. It was near the back, past multiple imposing rooms on either side of the hallway walls. The guard opened, stiffly motioning them to go inside.

The room was much smaller, about half the size of a bedroom. Two chairs were in the room, facing towards a mirror. Tommy had enough sense to know it was a one-way mirror.

Tommy sat in one of the chairs, Tubbo taking the other one. They didn’t feel comfortable to move the chairs closer, so they sat separated.

Someone opened up a door that was part of the one-way glass. He looked semi-young, wearing a white lab coat with too many pens shoved in the front pocket. He quickly strapped a few odd things onto Tommy, two across his chest and one on his head. The same was applied to Tubbo, before the scientist quickly shuffled back into the room. Wires snaked under the door, preventing it from closing all the way.

“These are things connected to a lie detector. If you lie, try to believe it with all your body. Don’t let your heart pound. Believe the lie like the truth,” Tubbo quickly hissed to Tommy, once the man had left.

Tommy glanced at Tubbo. “How do you know?”

Tubbo shrugged, feigning nonchalance as he leaned back in the chair. It was all an act. Tommy could see by the way his wings were being held. “I watched a MythBusters episode on it. Just do what I said, okay?”

Tommy nodded, looking around the room. In the back corners, he could see two small speakers. Nothing else was apparent.

He drummed his fingers on the armrest of the chair, hearing faint talking through the crack in the door.

There was a burst of static from the speakers, making Tommy flinch. His hands slammed over his ears, but he quickly lowered them once he realized nothing bad was happening.

“Ah, there we go. Hello, M16SM, and M16ET. We have you here today for a small series of questions regarding the little… stunt you pulled about a month ago,” the woman said smoothly, her words like running water. Running water that was cold to the point of hypothermia, and probably containing multiple diseases.

Tommy gazed around the room, uninterested. Had it really been a month? Guess time flies when you’re trapped in a prison.

“We don’t have much to ask. All we need is for you to answer as truthfully as possible. Something unfortunate may happen if you attempt a lie.”

Tommy wouldn’t lie about his anxiety spiking at that. He shot a glance at Tubbo, but the other seemed to be focused on a crack in the left wall.

“We will start off easy. What are your names?”

“I’m Tommy.” There was no lie there.

“My name is Toby, but everyone I know calls me Tubbo. I like it more,” Tubbo said.

There were a few more easy questions, like their age, whether or not they were homeschooled, their favorite TV shows, and their height. Tommy almost lied about his height, claiming for a long time to be 6’3. Still, he knew he had to be honest, so he muttered the truth. 

The first related question was casually brought up, and it heavily caught Tommy off guard.

“ M16SM, What was your reaction to M21RS, and the attack he did?”

Tommy took a moment or two to respond. He didn’t know who M21Something-Something-Whatever was, but he figured it was Technoblade. “U-Uh, I don’t know. I was really scared of him, I guess.”

There was a few seconds of silence, before the woman let out a small “hmmm.” Tommy didn’t know if that was good or not.

After a few more seconds of silence, the woman spoke up again. “M16ET, when did you and M16SM first bond?”

Tubbo took a moment to respond. “I think it was about two months ago. I’m not good at keeping time.”

That wasn’t a lie. Tubbo was horrible with date management and the sort. The woman and her goons must have thought so too, as the pause didn’t last as long as the first.

“ M16SM, why didn’t you leave M16ET behind?”

Tommy felt a flair of familiar annoyance at the question. He almost snapped “Because I’m not a heartless idiot!” but realized it probably wouldn’t help him in this situation.

He shrugged, one of the detector things on his chest raising to brush against the base of his wings. He ignored the odd feeling, instead focusing on his phrasing. “I figured it would be better to be together, rather than have to survive without him.”

It was a lie, and a cheesy one at that. Well, it was a half-lie. Tommy knew he would never just walk away from Tubbo, even if they were separated. Breaking through a wall of glass and breaking his shoulder was only proof that he would fight to be close.

The woman tutted something, before speaking up. “Last question. How many of our workers were traitors, M16ET ?”

“Three.” Tubbo didn’t even hesitate, expression blank as can be. Tommy tried not to think about the fourth, and maybe more. Someone, his name was like Kar-

He shut off the train of thought. No doubt they were looking at his… lie detector thing, as well as Tubbo’s.

There was a tense moment of silence, before the woman said something away from the mic. The nervous man from before came out, quickly unstrapping them. The buff guard opened the door, obviously wanting Tommy and Tubbo to follow them.

“Thank you for your corroboration today. I look forward to talking to you again soon.”

Tommy was tense the whole walk back, his fingers crossed. Had they just doged the biggest bullet back there?

Chapter Text

Tommy couldn’t shake the small fear he still had about the lie detector.

It had been a full day, and he couldn't get rid of the small nagging in the back of his head. What if they found out somehow that him or Tubbo lied? The woman had already threatened them with a “punishment,” and there’s no telling how bad it could be.

Tubbo seemed to pick up on his uneasiness. He quietly reassured that if they were to find a lie, they would have seen it the second he said it. Something with a graph spiking. Tommy appreciated the kind gesture, but that didn’t stop the irrational thought of What if?

When two guards came to their cell, he wouldn’t lie about his anxiety kickstarting into overdrive. He was rigid the whole walk, and the second guard behind him didn’t help. Tubbo held his hand in a tight grip, and that was perhaps the only thing grounding him.

Tommy relaxed slightly when he realized they were just going to the cafeteria. The guards must have gotten tired of feeding them at night. 

Their escorts stopped at the opening of the wide doors, standing with three others. He overheard one mutter to the other about keeping a watchful eye on him and Tubbo. He almost snorted at that. What, did they expect him to get out somehow? It was a cement cube, and they were blocking the only entrance.

Tommy glanced behind him, before whispering to Tubbo, “Isn’t five people at the door a bit overkill?”

Tubbo let out a surprised laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I guess it is.”

“What made the difference between four and five?” Tommy asked, as the two walked towards an empty table.

“Five is infinitely more powerful than four,” Tubbo responded, in that tone that made him sound smarter than he was.

Tommy snorted, about to make a joke back, before something caught his eye. A large group of winged hybrids had gathered around a certain spot near the corner in the wall. Tommy narrowed his eyes, trying to see what they were doing.

Suddenly, the whole group backed up in a haste, some ducking under tables. Tommy glanced at Tubbo, who had also noticed.

“Hey, what do you think they’re doing?” Tommy asked, taking a few steps forward to examine closer.

Tubbo never got the chance to respond.

A large blast shook the ground, flinging Tommy backwards. His back hit an edge of a metal table painfully, spikes of pain shooting up his spine. He took a breath to scream, but ended up inhaling dust, resulting in him painfully coughing.

People were screaming, and alarms were blaring. Tommy had been flung quite a distance from the- oh. That’s what they had been doing.

They had a bomb.

A gaping hole in the cement wall revealed the outside. It was dark, rain pouring down as thunder shook the skies. He thought he saw the original group run off.

Part of the back wall had been blown open as well, revealing a bunch of startled looking cat and… sheep hybrids? Through the dust, he saw a ram hybrid with twisting horns around his fluffy ears standing on a table, pointing towards the hole as he shouted.

Tommy pushed himself from the table, trying to ignore the pain in his back. He desperately looked around for a flash of green and black wings. His ears were ringing, and he was disoriented, but he had to make sure Tubbo was okay.

There was a large crack, and he flinched as a large section of cement broke from the ceiling, crashing to the ground. 

A smaller force shook the ground again, making Tommy, who was already having trouble standing, stumble and fall to the ground. He rubbed the back of his head with a groan. How had they got their hands on not one, but two bombs?

A flash of lightning blinded him momentarily. He was trying to blink away the spots in his eyes when he heard another crack. Tommy only saw part of the ceiling crumble before the single thing he felt was blinding pain. He managed to scream this time, loud and full of pain.

Tommy took shuddering breaths as he sobbed in pain. He tried pulling away, but only moved slightly before he screamed again. He tried taking a deep breath, shutting his eyes tightly as another piece of the ceiling fell with a crash.

Rain was pouring in from the hole in the roof, making him shiver as cold water dripped down his back. Somebody landed next to him, after jumping over something. Tommy opened his eyes, seeing the ram hybrid that had stood on the table. The man looked worried. “Hey kid, what’s wrong?”

Tommy wanted to snap that he wasn’t a kid, he was a man, but the rubble crushing him shifted, making him scream again.

The man was closer this time, hands hovering uncertainty. “Oh. Oh, that’s not good.”

He came back into view, crouching in front of Tommy. “Your wing is crushed. I don’t think I can move the block by myself.”

Tommy hissed a curse. That was why it hurt that bad. His entire wing was being crushed by a stupid rock. Tommy took another breath, tears leaking from his eyes. “Where…” he pointed at his wrist.

The ram man squinted his eyes, before growling a curse. “Can you feel where they are?”

Tommy shrugged helplessly from his awkward position on the ground. He failed to think about the way shrugging lifted his wings slightly, and fresh tears arrived as he accidentally tried moving his trapped wing.

The ram hybrid looked up. Tommy realized they were in somewhat of a box, the chucks from the ceiling creating a messy barrier with an opening in the middle. He supposed he should feel lucky that he wasn’t fully crushed, but he was too focused on the way his wing felt like it was being ripped apart.

The man hopped up with surprising agility, standing on top of the pile. He heard someone shout, and the man landed back down.

“Okay, there's three other bird people that are coming to help.” 

Tommy nodded slightly. The dust had mostly settled now, except for the small shakes as another part of the wall fell. A burst of thunder shook the sky again, a flash of lightning following soon after. The rain seemed to fall harder, ice-cold drops rained down from above. Tommy whimpered, pain overriding his pride. He tried shielding away from the rain, but stopped before he could hurt himself again.

“How much room is down there?” someone called. Tommy squinted, making out three silhouettes standing on top.

“Enough! Come on, we need to get this kid out and run!”

The three people Goat Man had promised were coming dropped down. There was hardly enough room for all five of them. Tommy remembered joking about the number five only minutes before. That memory already seemed years away.

“What happened?” One of them asked in an unfamiliar voice. 

“He got trapped under the ceiling. His wing’s been being crushed for… I don’t even know how long,” Goat Man responded.

A flash of lighting briefly illuminated them all, allowing Tommy a second to see his rescuers. One had light blonde hair, lighter than Tommy’s. He held a tool in his hand, probably a wing unbinder. His cascading purple wings shimmering slightly in the burst of light, revealing grey flight feathers.

The other had short, brown hair. His wings were red and blue, with a few little black specks. He was slightly familiar. Tommy narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about where he had seen those wings before.

It was a long time ago, when Sapnap first led him to be with Tubbo. Sapnap had been stopped by another guard, and Tommy had watched this boy wave to him.

He didn’t see the last person, but they sure as hell saw him. They fell to their knees in front of him, pushing waterlogged hair from his face. “Tommy?”

Tommy felt more tears leak from his eyes like a broken faucet. He knew that voice. “Tubbo-Tubbo it hurts.”

Goat Man got Tubbo’s attention, talking about how they would have to lift together. Tommy was told that he would have to pull himself out once he could. He nodded, which he hoped Goat Man saw in the darkness.

“On the count of three. One, two-”

The large block was slowly lifted. Tommy braced his arms and legs. He reached out, grabbing a part of the floor sticking up, and pulled himself free with a cry of pain.

The block of cement was lowered. Lightning illuminated Tommy’s former trap, and he could see blood smearing the ground, even as it was washed away by the rain.

Goat Man crouched in front of him. “Hey, any of you guys got a flashlight? Wanna see how bad it is.”

“I’ll go get one.” The blue and red winged boy flapped once as he jumped, propelling himself over the tall mounds of cement and rock.

Tubbo moved him into a sitting position, being careful with the bloody mess of Tommy’s wing. His other wing was unbounded by the purple winged boy. He couldn’t take much pleasure in the metal wires constricting him being gone. The other one couldn't be removed, practically buried into his wing as it was crushed.

Tubbo sat next to him. Tommy weakly leaned forward, leaning against Tubbo as silent tears fell. Tubbo was wet and cold, but he still offered relief from some of the pain. 

Goat Man sat on a stray piece of rubble. “So now that the large problem is mostly solved, we should introduce ourselves.” He pointed to himself. “I’m Schlatt. I helped build one of those explosives.”

“I’m Purpled,” the other winged hybrid said. “That other guy’s Jack.”

Tommy tensed as pain wrapped around his whole body, hugging Tubbo a bit harder. It was all just shrill agony, and he whimpered slightly.

“I’m Tubbo and this is Tommy.” Tubbo talked like nothing was wrong, which Tommy appreciated. Still, he could hear the faint wavering in Tubbo’s voice.

“We escaped a while ago with a bunch of other people, but we ended up getting caught.” Tubbo chose his words carefully, trying not to respark the argument between him and Tommy. It was a nice thing to do, but even if he did start blaming himself Tommy wouldn’t be up to fight.

“That was you?!” Purpled asked, voice excited.

Tommy felt light headed, tuning out the rest of the conversation as he focused on breathing steadily. He closed his eyes, wanting to hide from the violent stinging as rain hit the bloody wreck.

He started paying attention when the other winged person (Jack, his name is Jack) came back.

“There was nobody around. All the sentries must have chased everyone who ran.”

The flashlight turned on with a click. “I also found a medpack, but I don’t know how much it’ll help.” Jack tossed the pack to Schlatt.

The light from the flashlight was surprisingly bright, illuminating the raindrops falling. Schlatt crouched forward, Jack helping to shine the light on his wing.

“O-Oh my-” Purpled gasped, looking away as he covered his eyes.

Tommy couldn’t see how Jack reacted, but he knew Jack was probably horrified. Tommy couldn’t blame him.

Schlatt assessed the mess of blood and feathers. “Kid, this… this is bad. The whole wing is wrecked. I think a few of your bones are broken. There’s a lot of gashes.”

Schlatt opened the medkit, taking care to not get all the supplies inside wet. In the light of the flashlight, Tommy could see his dark, wet hair, plastered to his face. He had odd facial hair, but Tommy didn't want to question it. He looked really stressed, which was to be expected.

“Thankfully, the rain’s been washing away all the blood. I’m no doctor, but I think I can patch you up a bit.”

“I know a bit about doctoring.” Tubbo offered. If Tommy was fully there, he would have snapped about how ‘doctoring’ wasn’t a word.

Schlatt glanced behind him at Jack. “You said there were no guards anywhere?”

Jack must have nodded, because Schlatt turned back with a small sigh. “Alright. We should move somewhere dry.”

“There was a fairly large area I found. It’s pretty hidden, and it’s dry,” Jack offered, voice slightly optimistic.

“Okay, okay. Here kid, take these. It’ll make moving you easier.” Schlatt held out some pills.

Tommy took them with his shaky hands. He swallowed them without much trouble, feeling the drowsiness set in quickly.

Tubbo was mumbling reassurances to him as he fell asleep, the pain bothering him finally fading away.

Chapter Text

Tommy would wake in bursts, only to be met with blinding pain that knocked him out again. The first time he woke up, the rain was still beating on his helpless body, people talking quickly and quietly as they looked for the shelter. Someone, or maybe two people, were carrying him. He was only there for a second before his injured wing brushed a rock, and like that he was out.

The second time he woke up was apparently the complete worst time. Someone was gently holding him still, Schlatt counting down before Tommy jerked and screamed, passing out right after.

The third time he woke up, the pain had dulled significantly, though he still felt like multiple spikes were being driven into his wing. He was laid on his stomach, some sort of cloth trying to comfort the stone hard ground beneath him. His cheek was pressed against the cold floor. He could see Schlatt sitting at the entrance of their… hideout? The man was watching the rain fall down in drizzles, and before Tommy knew it he fell asleep again.

Tommy finally woke up for real. He opened his eyes, seeing out the entrance like before. The outside was grey, rain lightly falling down. A cold wind blew, but the way the hunks of cement were arranged outside must have prevented the gust from entering their little cave.

He sat up with a groan, trying to keep his wing still. It was wrapped up tight in bandages, with some red, yellow, or blue feathers sticking out. He could see the crushed, bloody wires of the wing bind tossed to the side. An empty needle lay discarded next to it, probably used to numb the pain since Tommy wasn’t screaming in agony right now.

Schlatt was sleeping heavily, gently snoring as he laid sprawled across the ground. Tommy noticed he had goat hooves instead of normal feet. No wonder he was so good at jumping. His hands and jumpsuit were stained red. Tommy looked away.

Tubbo and Jack were laying closer to him, near the back. They seemed to have passed out a while ago. Jack was curled up against the back wall in a ball, wings acting as a blanket. Tubbo was sitting up against the wall, not too far from Jack. His wings were wrapped around himself to try and conserve warmth, with only tufts of brown hair sticking up from the inside of the feathers.

The only person awake was Purpled. The boy was sitting near the entrance of the cave- it was technically a cave, wasn’t it? He sat close enough to see somewhat outside, but not enough to feel the rain or the wind.

He seemed to notice Tommy waking up, looking over with tired, slightly interested eyes. “Hey. Uh, you doing good?”

Tommy winced slightly. “I’m fine, I guess.”

Purpled nodded. “Good.”

They faded into an uncomfortable silence. Tommy didn’t know what to talk about to the other person awake. Purpled had already seen him at the worst Tommy’s ever been, and they hadn’t even properly introduced themselves to each other.

“How long have you been here?” Tommy decided to ask, hoping it wasn’t a sensitive question.

Purpled thought for a moment. “Uh, I guess about a year and a half.”

“A year?!” Tommy asked, incredulous. “You mean I was only here for like a month, and… man, are you okay?”

Purpled shrugged a little, picking at an invisible speck on his jumper. “I don’t know. I was pretty cooperative, and I never bonded with anyone.” He glanced at Tommy, then over at Tubbo, before flicking his eyes back outside. “They never had a reason to do harmful tests on me. I mostly did agility courses, which were actually kind of fun. It made me a pretty good flier, I guess.”

Tommy let out a hum, watching a trail of water snake through the entrance. “I broke through a glass wall and broke my shoulder. Got a cool scar too.”

Purpled huffed, breath misting in front of him. “No way.”

Tommy rolled up the sleeve of his jumper, trying to ignore how bloody the once-white jumpsuit was. Purpled squinted his eyes at the scar. “Dang, man. Those walls are thick. How’d you get through?”

Tommy looked over at Tubbo, rolling down the sleeve. “He was drowning.”

“Oh.”

They lapsed into silence again, before Purpled spoke up again. “What’s it like? Having a bond?”

“Annoying.” Tommy smiled a little. “He is so clingy and won't leave me alone."

Purpled gave him a doubtful glance. “...Yeah, okay.”

Tommy sucked in a breath, a sudden pain flaring up. Purpled looked over with concern, but didn’t bring it up to Tommy’s appreciation. He clenched his teeth, hands tightening into fists. His body went rigid, trembling over so slightly as the pain seemed to mount. A strangled noise clawed up his throat, a scream that only came out as a horrible mix between whimper and sob.

After a few seconds that felt like days, the pain slowly subdued. Tommy resisted the temptation to sag against the wall since that would surely hurt him somehow.

“The painkillers must be wearing off,” Purpled remarked from the entrance.

“Shut up,” Tommy hissed, feeling exhausted despite sleeping for who knows how long.

A small groan came from the far wall in the back. Tubbo poked his head out from his probably very warm wings, shivering a little at the chilliness of the cave. “Tommy?”

Tommy tried for a smile. “Uh, hey.”

Purpled sighed, getting to his feet. “I’ll be… back. Gonna look for supplies.”

He vanished into the cold rain. Tubbo watched him leave, before getting up and moving to Tommy. He snuggled into the side with the uninjured wing. He was really warm, and Tommy wrapped his wing around him on instinct. It didn’t fully cover Tubbo, but it offered some warmth.

“So..? How are you doing?” Tubbo asked after a few seconds of comfortable silence.

Tommy barked a laugh, quickly stifling it when Schlatt shifted in his sleep with a grumble. “I am doing absolutely fine. Why do you ask?”

Tubbo huffed, and Tommy imagined him rolling his eyes. “I woke up because you were in pain. Don’t pull this on me.”

“What?! Right now I feel fine!” Tommy protested, despite the throbbing pain that seemed to drum through his skull.

“Tommy.”

Tommy frowned a little, shifting just a slight bit. He sucked a pained breath when his wing screamed in agony.

“There it is again.” Tubbo sighed. “We don’t have any more… numbing… juice.”

“Numbing juice?” Tommy laughed again. Schlatt grumbled again, shifting onto his back as he snored.

“Well, I don’t know what it’s called,” Tubbo whispered, giving Schlatt a sympathetic glance.

“You literally look about two weeks worth of classes with Dream to learn medical stuff, and you call… wait what is it called?” Tommy whispered back.

“It had a very forgettable name.” Tubbo waved his hand dismissively. “On the topic of Dream.”

Tommy nodded, waiting for Tubbo to continue. The other seemed to be thinking about how to phrase his words correctly.

“Okay. We were talking last night, before Schlatt fell asleep. We patched you up as best we could, but we certainly aren’t experts. The best thing to do is to try and find where Dream and everyone else went.”

Tommy was quiet for a few beats, deep in thought. “So all we gotta do is find the big fellow? How hard can that be?”

Tubbo shifted his position on his ground, Tommy moving to compensate. He let out a quiet yelp of pain when he moved his wing.

“You can hardly even move without being in pain. How could you walk through a forest, constantly moving the wing, and sometimes brushing against twigs or something?”

Tommy scowled at a red stain on the ground. “I’ll be fine.”

Tubbo tensed against Tommy’s side. “You won’t, though.”

Tommy looked from the spot on the ground. Anymore looking and he felt like he would puke. He stared out into the miserable weather. “Where do you think that purple guy went?”

Tubbo surely noticed the change in subject, but didn’t press it. “I dunno. I hope we didn’t make him uncomfortable.”

Tommy leaned his head against Tubbo’s, trying to ignore the string of pain that wound itself up his wing and settled in his shoulder and back. “We probably did,” he bluntly said.

Tubbo stiffed his laughter, trying not to wake the other two people sleeping.

As if on cue, Purpled appeared in the entrance. He was soaking wet, water pooling around his feet. He held a small cardboard box under his arm, the cardboard barely holding together.

“Couldn’t find any more medical stuff, but I got some food.” Purpled plopped the box on the ground, items inside making a thud.

Schlatt woke with a grunt. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with his bloodstained hands. His bleary eyes landed on Tommy. “Hey kid. How you doin’?”

Tommy sighed. “I’m alright.”

Schlatt nodded, reaching for the box. He pulled out an apple, the first real food Tommy’s seen in… weeks? Months?

He reached out a hand, intending to get something, but stopped when he saw how bloodied it was. He withdrew, pulling the messy hand to his chest.

“Here.” Schlatt had taken two apples and a banana, sliding the box over.

Tommy peeked into the box, his mouth watering at the fruit. It was just some apples and slightly bruised bananas, but to Tommy it looked like a five-star meal.

He grabbed an apple, biting into it hungrily. It tasted so good, so much better than he ever remembered it being. He temporarily forgot how bad of a situation he was in, savoring the sweet taste.

Purpled woke up Jack, the two falling into a comfortable conversation. Schlatt talked to Tommy about the state of his wing, Tubbo having to explain how bad it was after Tommy insisted he was fine.

Schlatt rubbed his head. “We couldn’t find any more numbing shots or medical packs in general, and we searched a lot. I can’t think of any way we can get you to this Dream guy without you being in pain the entire time.”

“We can just leave him here, right?” Tubbo asked hopefully. “Come back later, once we find Dream?”

Schlatt was already shaking his head before Tubbo finished speaking. “Can’t. We’re safe for now, but people are surely going to start looking through the rubble for any hybrids hiding like us.”

Tommy pulled away, shoving himself to his feet. Pain ricocheted through his bones, making his head spin and stars dance in his eyes. He bit his tongue, trying not to throw up from the pain.

Once he regained composure, he realized he could stand fairly well, aside from leaning against the wall with all of his weight. “See? I’m fine.”

Everyone else in the cave stood almost in sync. It was a bit funny, but the very concerned look Tubbo was giving him damped the mood.

Tommy reached out an arm, Tubbo understanding and ducking under to help support his weight. “Tommy, this isn’t a good idea. You should probably rest.”

Tommy shook his head. “We need to move. I can’t just sit there and wait to be found.”

“The kid’s right.” Schlatt brushed his hands off, the red stains stubbornly sticking.

He walked out into the rain, Purpled and Jack following. Walking in unison, Tommy and Tubbo exited the small shelter. The rain was cold, and the wind blowing didn’t help. Tommy was shivering in seconds, but at least the cold helped numb the pain.

Schlatt clapped, rubbing his hands with more success this time. “Alright! Who’s ready to go trample through a forest with a very badly injured teenager on the search of a doctor?!”

Chapter Text

He was fine.

Tommy winced.

If he kept telling himself he was fine, maybe it would be true.

The group had tediously picked their way out from the rubble. They hadn’t found any more hybrids. It was just the five of them, climbing over wet rocks. It made everything feel very apocalyptic.

They had stopped to rest for a moment before continuing into the forest. Tommy took that time to brush wet hair from his eyes, looking over the large part of the collapsed building. The bombs had done more damage than Tommy thought. A jagged line of rubble ran across the wall, revealing multiple cafeterias and an area that was probably once a gym. The facility was largely undamaged, but it was obvious a good majority of the hybrids being kept there had escaped.

They were currently walking through the forest. Multiple times Tommy felt tears of pain prick his eyes as he did something his wing didn’t agree with, but he was fine. 

Tubbo glanced over, Tommy feeling concerned eyes burning into the side of his head. He stubbornly stared ahead, being careful not to trip or even step wrong. If he didn’t meet Tubbo’s eyes, then Tubbo couldn’t see how much pain Tommy was in.

Schlatt stopped for a moment in a slightly open area. Jack and Purpled landed on the ground with two thuds. They had opted to fly above the forest, despite the cold and the rain. 

Tommy shifted a little, trying not to lean too heavily on Tubbo. Schlatt turned around, sitting on a damp rock with a tired sigh. “This isn’t doing us any good.”

Tubbo forced Tommy to sit on a log dripping with water. The green-winged teen assessed Tommy’s bandages. In some spots, dark red blood had seeped through.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, trying to shake the water from his wings.

Schlatt gestured at the stormy forest around them. “We could walk forever and never find this Dream guy.”

Tubbo sat down next to Tommy after fussing over his bandages. The brunette swiped his hair from his eyes, with little success as it limply fell back into place. “Well, what else can we do?”

Schlatt shrugged, staring at something off in the trees. “Dunno. Didn’t ever really think I would get this far.”

They lapsed into an uneasy silence. Tommy tried to ignore how much worse the pain had been getting as the numbing slowly wore off, but it was becoming harder to do. He probably couldn’t make it much farther until he collapsed from exhaustion and injury. That thought made him tighten his fists.

Something in the trees cracked. Tommy wasn’t that worried, since branches sometimes fell from the weight of the rain, but Schlatt shot up. The ram hybrid stood very still, staring off into the trees. 

Tubbo helped Tommy up, stiff and on edge. Purpled and Jack looked ready to either fly or stand their ground. It was probably the first option, all things considered.

A noise came from the woods again. Schlatt shifted, looking like he was preparing to jump on somebody. Tommy could only stand there, apprehension thrumming through his body.

Suddenly, Schlatt inexplicitly relaxed. He waved down Purpled and Jack, who must have decided to stick around. “It’s fine, just another hybrid.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes at the trees, spotting a person with two white pointy ears and a tail. The figure slowly came closer, somehow stepping without making a sound.

They stepped out into the clearing, and Tommy stopped breathing.

It was Eret. Tubbo’s older brother. And he had white cat ears and a tail.

A light blue and amber set of mismatched eyes stared at the group of people. His clothes were casual, despite the mud tainting the bottom of his jeans and his shoes and the single tear in his arm of his jacket.

“E-Eret?” Tubbo asked, voice shaking.

Eret’s startled eyes flickered to Tubbo and Tommy. The man broke into the largest smile Tommy had ever seen.

“Tubbo?”

Tommy stepped aside, taking to leaning against a tree for support. Tubbo was frozen for a moment, before running forward and launching himself into Eret’s arms. Tommy felt some of the joy radiating from Tubbo, and he couldn’t help but smile a little.

Tubbo was gushing to Eret, talking about everything that happened. From Tommy’s first test with the fox to drowning to tazers and bandages and UNO and broken glass and lie detectors and the failed escape attempt.

Him talking made Tommy realize just how much he had been through, mostly physical. He kept his gaze down, trying to listen but suddenly his wing started burning with pain and it hurts it hurts so badly why won’t it stop-

Tubbo was there in a flash, holding him up. Tommy hadn’t even realized he had been falling until arms held him up.

“Tommy? Wait, what’s going on?” Eret asked, worried but confused.

Schlatt started talking to Eret, presumably telling the white cat hybrid what he knew. Tubbo gently guided Tommy to sit on the ground.

“Tommy, are you… that’s a stupid question,” Tubbo murmured to himself, uncertainty hovering over him like a cloud. 

Tommy shook his head, tears beginning to trace paths down his face. Tubbo hugged him, being careful not to hurt him, but Tommy still whimpered in pain. Every slight movement made excruciating pain ricochet through his body.

He squeezed his eyes shut, tears mixing with the rain. Tommy wanted to go to sleep again, anything to escape the agony pounding through his veins.

He heard Eret’s voice, deep and velvety. Tubbo pulled away, whispering to him, “We-I have to pull you up.”

Tommy shook his head slightly. Moving would only make it worse, and it was bad enough as it was. He would have curled away if he could move without biting his tongue to keep himself from screaming.

“Eret knows where Dream is, please Tommy. You can sleep once we get there.”

Tommy reached out his arms in submission. Tubbo pulled him to his feet, Tommy letting out a strangled cry. He couldn’t get his feet to work and sagged against Tubbo as he cried harder.

Somebody with strong arms gently scooped him up. Tommy screamed in pain as his wing was accidentally tugged on. His vision went black.

When he could see again, he realized he was being carried through the forest. He felt the vibrations of a deep voice in the chest he was held against. Eret was carrying him?

Each jostle of Eret’s steps made new tears come to Tommy’s eyes. The man was obviously making an effort to be as steady as possible, but it did little to keep the pain at bay. 

He focused on listing to what Eret was saying in a weak attempt to distract himself. 

“...this website. I did some more research and found where this place was. Right as I got here there were these big explosions, and a bunch of hybrids and people in all black ran into the forest. I went back to Dream and… you know, everyone else for the night. Came back out here to try looking for you guys, and I guess I got lucky.” Eret’s voice was soothing, and the vibration in Eret’s chest as he talked made it all the better. 

As Tommy became a bit more aware, he realized he was being carried bridal style. He would have been embarrassed, but he couldn’t even walk, and that was embarrassing enough. 

The conversation seemed to have come to a stop. Tommy turned his face slightly, burrowing into Eret’s sweatshirt. It smelled like Tubbo.

The rain continued falling, gently making sure the group was always wet. Eret shifted Tommy in his arms, unknowingly causing a spike of pain through his body. Tommy grit his teeth, going tense as the pain ran its course. Eret must have noticed because he mumbled a small apology. Tommy could only let out a small hum to let the man know he heard him.

“What even happened to him?” Eret asked.

Tommy listened, but he couldn’t hear the reply. He only felt Eret do an intake.

“That’s… no wonder he’s…” Eret trailed off, probably not able to format how shocked and sympathetic he was.

Tommy didn’t like the pity in Eret’s tone. He tried to say “I’m fine,” but his voice didn’t work.

They traveled in silence, Tommy silently struggling with not shivering. He was cold, drenched to the bone despite how mild the rain was, but if he shivered he would move, and then it would hurt really badly again.

Eret’s steady up and down as he walked slowed to a stop. Tommy couldn’t find the energy to open his eyes to see why they had stopped.

People were talking, all sounding like rushing water. Eret was silent before he started walking again. He stepped into what Tommy thought was a house since the rain stopped hitting him and it was nice and warm.

“Hey, Tommy. I don’t know if you’re awake or if you can hear me, but I’m gonna put you down on now, okay?” Eret spoke up, softly talking to the boy in his arms.

Tommy could only whine to let Eret know he heard him. Tommy’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment, but that thought quickly escaped him as Eret, true to his word, moved him. Tommy let out a choked sob from the movement, before blacking out for the second time that day.

Tommy’s head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

That’s the first thing he, albeit slowly, figured out when he woke up. 

The second was that he wasn’t in agonizing pain anymore. Sure, he could still feel dull, throbbing pain that matched in time with his heartbeat, but it was still a huge upgrade.

He gradually felt his body waking up, feeling the sheets under him as he laid on his stomach. Tommy wasn’t wearing the jumpsuit anymore and was only wearing pants. One of his wings was folded against his back, acting like a blanket. The other was numb aside from the faint pain. He could only feel the scratchy bandages on his back.

Tommy groaned slightly, squinting his eyes open. There was a dimmed overhead light, not blazing bright as he had expected. He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing in the peace and silence.

Finally, he pushed himself into a sitting position. His body protested slightly. He was wearing grey sweatpants, much too casual to replace the white jump-suit he had worn for the past couple of months. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he could see the thick scar on his side. He crossed his arms over his bare chest with a small frown.

Tommy looked over the room. It was mainly wood, reminding him of a log cabin. There was a wooden dresser on the other side of the room, along with a small desk. A thick carpet was laid on the floor. 

A chair had been pulled up next to the bed Tommy was laid on. Tubbo was sleeping despite how uncomfortable it must be. He was dressed much more casually as well, wearing a dark green button-up shirt and jeans. His wings were awkwardly splayed out, yet they looked clean and shiny.

Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair. He debated on waking up Tubbo, but before he could muster up the courage to shake him awake the door opened.

“Hello, Tommy.”

Tommy glanced at the door. Wilbur was standing there, wearing a red beanie and yellow sweater. The man gently closed the door behind him, before coming to sit on the bed next to Tommy.

“So. How’re you feeling?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy shrugged, picking at his pants. “I dunno. Okay, I guess.”

Wilbur hummed, looking around the room. “Dream stayed up for hours making sure you were okay. You’re lucky Eret found you, actually.”

“Why is that?” Tommy asked.

“Your wing was bandaged, but it was infected.” Wilbur looked at Tommy, meeting his eyes. “Dream managed to clean out the wounds, but it’s not pretty.”

“Do…” Tommy bit his bottom lip. “Do you think I’ll be able to fly?”

Wilbur looked uncertain at this but tried to cover it by smiling. “Of course. It’ll take a while for the wing to heal, but I don’t see why it would prevent you from flying.”

Tommy nodded, staring at his shaking hands crossed in his lap. “Is… is that it?”

“Is what it?” Wilbur asked curiously.

“So we’re just out? Like, we… just got away?” Tommy waved his hand around the room, trying to put words he couldn’t format into the gesture.

Wilbur shrugged, his wings lifting slightly. Despite this, his eyes gleamed, and a confident smile was present on his face. “Yep. Tommy, we’re free.”

Chapter Text

A soft wind blew through the trees, gently rustling vibrant leaves. Sunlight shone down through the branches, creating an intricate pattern on the wooden floor. A few stray feathers danced along the floor before settling once the breeze had cooled.

Tommy’s shoes softly squeaked against the worn-down wood as he made his way over to the bench. The open house was unusually silent, every resident absent to prepare for the summer festival. Tommy had already prepared everything for himself. He was just planning on looking around with Tubbo, and that only required he wore clothes and shoes. Seeing he had some time to kill, Tommy decided to sit on the bench and just… remember, for once.

He plopped down on the bench after brushing away a few stray leaves. The small gap between the seat and backrest let him comfortably sit without worry of sitting on his wings. 

The bench was nice, probably one of Tommy’s favorite features of the house. It had been built with a clear view through a gap in the trees, allowing the person sitting to see the sunset. It was a thing he and Tubbo did whenever the memories got bad.

Tommy smiled slightly, laying an arm across the back of the bench. He avoided whacking his wing, which he had done multiple times on accident. 

His wing healing was a slow process, one that Tommy was unfortunately familiar with. He never properly asked to hear the extent for the damage on his wing. He didn’t really want to know, to be honest.

Tommy frowned slightly. Even though his wing had slowly gotten better, there were times where Tommy had felt it was getting worse. Prime example: getting his bandages changed.

Every Friday, Dream had dragged him into the proclaimed "medical room," which was really just the bathroom in the small house. Tommy would sit backwards on a chair, hugging the back rest. He had to extend his wing as far as he could, which was bad just by itself. Then, Dream would quickly cut the ruined bandages off, wrapping new ones right after. Tommy had this towel he would scream and cry into, instead of actually screaming and disturbing everyone. 

Needless to say, Tommy didn't have the best time recovering. 

But like before, when he had broken his shoulder, and when he had ripped up the side of his body with glass, he got better. 

And now look at him! Tommy was getting better at flying every day, which was a huge relief. He honestly doubted at first that he could fly again, but maybe fate decided it was finished punishing him. Either way, he never took a second in the air for granted. 

Somebody softly walked up behind him, purposefully hitting the squeaky planks of wood. Tommy twisted behind him, already knowing who it was.

Eret smiled, leaning over on the back of the bench. “I didn’t scare you this time, did I?”

Tommy scoffed, turning back to the view of the pale blue sky. “You can never scare me. I’m too big of a man.”

Eret laughed, one of his white ears flicking. “Anyways, have you seen Connor? He’s supposed to have the tent fabric for my stall.”

Tommy thought for a moment, before shrugging. He gave Eret a slightly apologetic glance. “I haven’t seen him around, no.”

Eret sighed, pushing himself off the back of the bench. “That’s alright. Thank you!”

Eret silently ran off, leaving Tommy back to his thoughts. 

Connor was a cool guy, to say the least. 

The coyote hybrid had randomly shown up with Schlatt one day, after Schlatt had said he was ‘going for a walk.’ The first thing Tommy had thought when seeing Connor was about that story George told him and Tubbo, about the naked coyote running through the halls. But Connor seemed too self-conscious to even think about doing something like that.

Connor was a really good friend to Schlatt. Apparently they had been tested together a lot. Connor’s hands shook, just like Tommy’s, and that made Connor be a few places higher on the coolness scale.

Eret was pretty cool, too. Tommy didn’t know how he managed to hide his cat ears and tail all this time, but he supposed there was nothing to worry about now.

Eret, after doing research on the Hybrid Containment Facility, eventually found the general area the facility was located in. He had stumbled around in the woods for a day, coming across the little house that Wilbur and Dream were in. It was the same house that Tommy and the other escapees had stayed in for about two months.

After introductions, Wilbur had pointed Eret in the rough direction the facility was in. Eret was planning on scouting it out, but felt deterred when he heard all the explosions. He spent the night at the house before trekking back into the damp wilderness. He supposedly heard Schlatt talking with his sensitive cat ears, and the rest was history.

Tommy settled further into the wooden bench in thought. He was really glad Eret remembered Tubbo. Tommy wasn’t that fortunate, though. He frowned, kicking at the wood with his shoe.

His parents, Tommy’s parents, didn’t remember him.

He had gone to their house with Phil, making sure to hide his wings under a jacket. It was early spring, showers of rain encouraging new flowers to bloom and grass to grow. 

Tommy knocked on the door, apprehensive yet excited. He didn’t know what he was going to say, but he never got the chance to puzzle that out. His mom opened it with an odd glint in her eye. Tommy was only able to get a few words in before his mother reassured him that no, she didn’t have a son, please leave her alone.

Tommy knew it was something to do with the foundation. They must have memory wiped his parents somehow. But there was nothing he could do, and he and Phil left the house in silence.

Tommy didn’t really talk that much for the next few weeks after that. It took coaxing from Phil and Wilbur, and just a little from Techno, to finally get him to open up again. Even though his parents don’t remember him, they people he had met in the foundation did, and they were happy to let him be a part of their family.

Tommy’s silent, sad thoughts got interrupted once again. This time, a short, tan guy with yellow wings crashed into him after jumping over the back of the bench. Tommy shouted, immediately shoving at Quackity. “What the hell are you doing, man?!”

Quackity got off him with a wheeze of laughter, too contagious for Tommy not to join in. “Sorry, sorry man, my bad!”

Once Quackity calmed down just a little, he eagerly jumped off the bench. Tommy wondered if anyone had accidentally given him coffee as Quackity gave Tommy a wild grin. “Heyy, man! Have you seen Bad, Badboyhalo, oh he’s such a bad boy-”

Tommy shook his head with a small laugh. “No no, I haven’t, Big Q.”

Quackity seemed to somber for a moment. Tommy tried fixing his hair back into its usual, less messy state. “What do you want with Bad?”

Quackity thought for a moment, before abruptly squealing “I’m popping off!” and jumping off the platform the bench was on.

Quackity was perhaps one of the least graceful fliers, somehow being even worse than Tommy. Yet he managed to avoid every branch, landing on the forest floor without injury. He gave Tommy, who had crouched at the edge of the ledge, a thumbs up and a flashing smile. His beanie was knocked a bit askew, his wings messed up and feathers out of place. In other words, he looked exactly like Quackity always did. The hybrid darted off into the forest while screaming Bad’s name. Tommy felt a small pang of sympathy for Bad.

Tommy sat back on the bench, still trying to fix his hair. Quackity had cheered him up significantly. 

Quackity was the other hybrid Schlatt found, although this time it was accidental. Schlatt had been gathering wood for the fireplace in the little safe house when he caught sight of Quackity. He was injured, his leg cut open and bleeding everywhere, if Tommy remembered right. Schlatt dragged him back to the house, Dream fixing him up. Quackity stuck around after that, honestly relieving a bunch of boredom and stress in the house.

Quackity was a duck hybrid with bright yellow wings. When questioned, the guy shrugged, saying his feathers never changed colors like a normal duck. He also had a bond like Tommy did. It was with this guy named Karl, just some normal non-hybrid who had a part in the first escape attempt. He saw them hanging around George a lot, constantly mocking each other and laughing loudly. Tommy didn’t know where Karl had come from, but he showed up one day and didn’t leave.

Tommy heard Wilbur before he saw him. The man was whistling a song Tommy didn’t know the lyrics to, approaching the bench Tommy was sitting on. He sat down, not fully settling in like Tommy did.

Tommy glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “You need something?”

Wilbur gave him an amused look. “Can’t I just hang out with my favorite little brother?”

Tommy rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and pointedly not looking at Wilbur. “I don’t like you.”

Wilbur snorted. “Okay.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Wilbur sighed, standing up. Tommy looked up at him with curious eyes. Wilbur gave him a soft smile that made something warm bubble up in his chest. He wasn’t even that mad when Wilbur messed up his hair.

Tommy swatted away Wilbur’s arm with mock anger. “I just fixed that!”

Wilbur laughed. “You call that fixed? It looks-”

A distant scream that sounded like it came from Quackity cut Wilbur off. Wilbur pushed a hand through his curly chocolate hair. “I better go stop Bad from killing Quackity.”

Tommy raised a hand in goodbye. Wilbur, for some reason, gave him a high-five.

“What- I didn’t-” Tommy spluttered.

Wilbur started laughing really hard, doubling over. His dappled wings spread out slightly, and seeing an opportunity, Tommy gently hit one of them. Wilbur gave him a playfully annoyed look, straightening back up. “See you later nerd.”

Wilbur extended his wings fully, jumping with a powerful blast of air. He angled his wings, precisely diving downwards. “Show off!” Tommy yelled after him.

Tommy didn’t even bother with his hair this time. He laid back on the bench, crossing one leg over the other. Another warm breeze blew through the forest, lifting his hair slightly and ruffling his feathers.

Dream and Wilbur had been the only two at the safe house, and they had apparently constructed a plan in an attempt to get Tommy and Tubbo out. Tommy hadn’t really paid attention when they were explaining it, but Dream was going to act like he ‘found’ Wilbur, and since nobody in the facility ever saw Dream’s face, they would eagerly take Wilbur in. Wilbur admitted they hadn’t really thought much father past that. But that plan didn’t matter, since they had all gotten out. 

Tommy and Wilbur had gotten a lot closer since Tommy had gotten out. He was a really close comfort while Tommy healed, giving him tips on how to keep his wing still and adjusting things to make him more comfortable. Wilbur eventually became an older brother figure, and living with him only made this bond closer.

A set of orangey-red ears popped up in front of the ledge, immediately catching Tommy’s attention. There was a huff, and then a clawed hand gripped the wood, pulling up to reveal Fundy’s tired face.

Fundy gave Tommy a smile. “Hey man. Have you seen Schlatt?”

Tommy looked Fundy up and down. “Did… did you climb all the way up here?”

Fundy rolled his eyes with a huff. “That- Have you seen Schlatt?”

Tommy shook his head. “No, I haven’t. Did you actually climb all the way up here?”

Fundy looked down at the forest floor with a slightly fearful expression. “I… it was Dream. Dream dared me.”

Tommy knit his eyebrows. “Do… do you want me to help you up?”

Fundy considered for a moment. “Uh, yeah, can you just-”

Tommy helped pull up the fox hybrid. Fundy collapsed on the platform with a shaky exhale. “That-That was a horrible idea. I’m so tired.”

Tommy peered down again, giving Fundy an incredulous look. “You really climbed all the way up here to ask if I’ve seen Schlatt, just because Dream told you to?”

“It was a dare!” Fundy cried. "A-And, well, it didn't seem that hard, not until I looked down."

Tommy shook his head, still confused. "You could have just used the stairs? Or the pulley system? Or that part of the tree that's literally dedicated to climb up?"

"W-Well!" Fundy stuttered, trying to come up with a good defense. "Uh, not all of us are bird people who can easily fly into their tree houses!"

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Not all of us are stupid enough to accept dares."

Fundy got to his feet, brushing off his pants and straightening his black hat. His brown, borderline orange eyes scanned the open pavilion behind the bench. "I doubt Schlatt is up here, damnit."

The fox hybrid turned back to Tommy, giving him a mock salute. "See ya!"

Fundy ran off into the house, russet tail bouncing behind him. Tommy watched him leave in confusion, before slowly sitting back down. He half expected someone to pop up and ask him if he's seen anyone. When no one did, he let himself relax, going back to cloud gazing.

Schlatt was a very interesting character. At some point, the ran hybrid had donned a fancy suit. Where he had gotten it from was a myth to Tommy. The man went outside two different mornings, and came back with two more hybrids. Just another mystery for Tommy to endlessly puzzle about.

Sapnap leisurely strolled up, plopping down next to Tommy with his hands shoved in his pockets. Tommy wished he could say he was surprised another person came to talk to him.

Tommy waited a few moments for Sapnap to speak up, before deciding to do so himself. "Are you looking for someone?"

Sapnap jumped a little, glancing over with dark blue, basically black eyes. Instead of cutting his overgrown hair, he has simply tied it out of his face with a white bandana. "Hm? Nah, I'm not looking for anyone."

Tommy waited for him to continue, not too surprised when he didn't. "Well, uh, what're you doing then?"

Sapnap draped an arm on the back of the bench. "Dream was yelling at George, and then Fundy, for some reason. Bad was screaming at Quackity and they looked like they were about to go ham on each other. Wilbur was trying to separate them by also yelling. Skeppy was cheering them on with Antfrost. It just got too loud, you know?"

Tommy nodded. "Ah. That's why."

Sapnap gave him a smirk. "And I wanted to hang out with my best friend Tommy.”

Tommy looked away with a small chuckle. “Well, I wouldn't call us friends, exactly. More like… friendly acquaintances.”

Sapnap gasped in fake hurt, pressing his free hand to his chest. “You hurt me.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Okay, Sapnap.”

They faded into a comfortable silence. Tommy was acutely aware of the presence beside him, but Sapnap looked tired, so Tommy let him be.

Tommy couldn’t really think with someone sitting next to him. He unknowingly spaced out, only snapping back to attention when Sapnap stood. He stretched, giving Tommy a small smile. “Thanks. I better go make sure Dream kills George.”

“What about Quackity and Bad?” Tommy asked.

Sapnap shrugged, started to walk away. “They’ll be fine. See you later, wing boy.”

Tommy didn’t bother replying, turning back to the sky with a small sigh through his nose.

It would be a good day for flying. It was warm, like summers usually were, but not boiling hot. The only problem may be the small breeze, but aside from that it was nearly perfect. 

Tommy was in no way a good flier, despite loving to fly. He didn’t know what it was, exactly. Maybe it was because one of his wings got sliced with glass and the other got crushed under a rock. Whatever it was, it made Tommy very unsteady in the air.

Having wings was pretty cool. At first Tommy hated it, because it wasn’t normal and it was just… strange, or something like that. Now, though, after a half of a year living with them, he honestly couldn’t imagine life without them. 

Living away from society was really, really weird. Like, there was a whole civilization of hybrids, with a few trusted humans, but Tommy couldn’t walk down the street to get McDonalds, unless he hid his wings. He couldn’t just stroll over to the nearest gas station and grab a bag of chips. Although, maybe having wings and living with close friends and what he would consider family was better than McDonalds.

Someone landed behind him, duel thuds as both feet hit the ground. Tommy glanced behind him, feeling a small burst of happiness when he realized it was Tubbo. 

His best friend smiled. “Hey Tommy. Ready to go?”

Tommy glanced one last time at the sky. Life was different, life was hard, yet here he was. Maybe he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy what he had now.

Tommy stood from the bench, stretching his arms and wings. He smiled broadly at Tubbo. “Yep. I’m ready.”

Stuff wasn’t going to magically get better. Just because they left a horrible place didn’t mean the memories and problems magically disappeared. 

But Tommy was living with family, people who he would sacrifice himself for.

And maybe, just maybe, things would get better.