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Chapter Text

The soft sound of the dirt crunching beneath his feet was the only sound that reached the man's ears as he walked with a loaded gun in his hand and the heavy weight of an axe on his back. He cautiously moved through the trees as he went further and further away from the safety of his base with each step.

Despite all that the world threw at him, Phil thought he was doing pretty fine on his own in this apocalypse. He had found this cabin in the middle of the woods one day, and decided to fortify it into a sort of base. Hardly any of those monstrous things came into the woods. They mostly gathered in the nearby town if any showed up. The town was pretty large as towns go, and wasn't too far away on foot, so Phil could easily go to it whenever he needed to stock up on supplies.

Yeah. He was fine on his own. He managed to make these trips fine and find what he needed to stay alive. He knew one day he might need to venture further once supplies ran low, but he wasn't terribly worried.

As he ventured closer to the town he pauses and peers from behind a tree to get a look at his surroundings. He could see a few of those things lumbering about, but he sees a clear path and knows he can make it to the store he remembers seeing canned food in last time.

He carefully steps away and starts walking to his destination, careful to keep his steps quiet and avoid the view of any of the things. He walks between buildings to keep cover and tries not to wince at the few rotting corpses littered about.

Truth be told, the man hasn't seen any other living person in a long time. Some days he was convinced that one day he'd be the only one left if he wasn't already. A survivalist left in the world alone he mused. It seemed like a poor living, but it's all he knew. He still hoped though. Hoped someone would come across him and say hello. Each body he saw made him cling on less to that hope though.

When he reaches the store he looks around before he quickly makes his way into the building, slinging his sturdy bag off of his shoulder and making his way through the mostly empty aisles.

He looks wearily at the cans left stacked there. People may have went in a frenzy when there were talks of infection and monsters, but still those cans remained on the shelf. He swipes the most appealing ones, making sure to inspect the date on them before he quietly puts them in the bag. When his shoulder begins to ache from the weight he stops and turns to make his way back home. But then he hears a noise.

It's not any noise though. It's the sound of a footstep, and Phil ducks down in the aisle without a thought and holds his breath. He carefully puts a hand over the axe on his back. If it was just one of those things it wouldn't be best to pull out the gun and make so much noise. He hears more footsteps. They sound quicker and more rythmatic than the usual steps of the slow and spastic things. He feels himself freeze, his mind immediately thinking these damn things must have evolved somehow.

He stands up, prepared to quickly fight off the thing. The slight rustling noise of him standing up is quickly followed by the sound of the footsteps stopping.

He doesn't move, and judging by the lack of sound from the other, they haven't moved either.

It's a long minute of just silence. Phil's heart hammers in his chest, but he manages to keep himself calm. These things were not smart. Even if it was faster than normal, Phil can easily out think it. He hears the footsteps start again and stands ready. They get closer and Phil narrows his eyes before he gasps when the culprit comes into view.

"Shit- Not a walker.", The man says. Man. A person. A person with a knife in his hand and a similar bag to Phil's own over his shoulder.

"A..A walker?..", Phil says. His voice falters as his brain short circuits. He hasn't spoken to anyone in what must have been a year. He wonders briefly if his mind is playing a trick on his lonely self, but no, this man was very much real.

"Yeah. The monsters? Ones that eat you?", The man clarifies dryly and Phil actually laughs a bit. This smart ass was a person, and he was alive.

"I haven't seen anyone else in so long- Thought I was the only one.", Phil says.

"Well, then you must not get around much. I've come across others. They usually form groups.", The man says. He frowns. "So you're actually alone?"

"Yup- No one around here but me.", Phil says and the man nods. He puts his knife down but still grips it as he walks closer to Phil.

He was taller than Phil, and had a young look to him. Definitely younger than Phil, but not a child. Maybe in his early twenties. He had long hair tied up similarly to Phil's own but the man's hair was braided and had an odd tint to it. Almost as if he died it pink recently but the color was barely beginning to fade away. Phil almost wanted to laugh and ask how the man found the dye and time to do that in the middle of an apocalypse but he decides that might take things off on the wrong foot.

"There's people alive..", He says mostly to himself in awe.

"Yup. Have you been staying in this store?", The man says as he chucks the remaining cans on the shelf in his bag.

"Hell no-", Phil says. "I have a cabin in the woods nearby. Hardly any of those things go over there but I've been taking precautions."

"Ah.", The man says. He's barely looking at Phil now.

"Are you staying around here long?", He says and almost cringes at how that sounds. But he's finally found another person. And he doesn't want to be alone again.

"No.", The man says and Phil tries not to let his heart sink at the words. "I don't stay in one place long. And this place looks like it'll empty out soon."

"Ah.", Phil says back. The weight of the bag on his shoulder starts to make his shoulder ache more and he carries it with his hands. "Well. It's getting late. I should head back but- If you want you can come over too. There's room."

"Come over?", the man says as he raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah- Where are you going to sleep around here? It's safe where I'm at.", Phil explains.

The man stays quiet and looks him over before he shakes his head.

"I work alone. Good luck out here. Usually people don't stay on their own like this.", The man says. Phil frowns a bit but smiles. Ah. This guy was the lone wolf type. He looked like he managed well enough. He wore a large red coat and had an assortment of weapons on him. Phil idly wonders how he carries all of it without tiring. Of course this man wouldn't want to stay with some random stranger though, Phil couldn't blame him. And it looked like he could manage fine by himself.

He's about to express the same luck back to this newfound stranger before a loud sound breaks through the lulling silence outside and breaks the calm of the situation. The man immediately stands up straight, his brow furrowing as he looks towards the door. Phil frowned. That was without a doubt the sound of a gunshot. The sound was quickly followed by many more.

"What kind of idiot-", The man says underneath his breath and Phil can only agree silently to the resentment. That loud noise must have alerted every thing, walker as the man had dubbed them, around the two for miles. They needed to leave.

"We need to go.", Phil says and the man looks at him incredulously. He slings the bag over his shoulder to balance the weight of his axe in both of his hands. "Don't look at me like that lad- Every one of those things must have heard that. They'll swarm over here like bees to honey. The cabin is just a walks away."

"I should take care of whatever idiot did that-", The man says and Phil doesn't doubt he would wring the trigger happy person if he could. He shakes his head. "I'll follow you. Lead the way."

"Alright.", Phil says with a nod. He doesn't comment on how the man avoided agreeing on staying, but he was relieved he at least agreed to move away from the city. They both quickly leave the store with their weapons in hand.

Phil can already hear the offputting groans of the gathering bodies. He winces. Those gunshots must have been closer than he originally thought.

"Stand back. These guys lose it when you aim for the head. If one comes close-"

"I know how to fight y'know. Didn't end up this far on my own without swinging at dozens of these things.", Phil almost laughs as he interrupts the man's advice. He expects a look of annoyance, but it pleasantly welcomed the amused smile on the other's face.

"Alright then. Then let's get the hell out of here already.", He says and Phil only nods in agreement as he starts to walk.

Their path is quickly blocked off by the things, but Phil doesn't hesitate to swing at the nearest one. The axe meets the head and it collapses forwards and Phil wrenches his axe out and looks over and sees the man just done stabbing the other thing in its head.

"Alright. Actually surprised you can fight.", The man says as they keep walking. Phil laughs.

"I don't know why- I don't carry an axe for show. It's a little walks away, but if we manage to make it to the woods without any of those things following us we should be fine.", Phil says and the man nods and wordlessly takes out another one of the things that make it close nearby them.

"You're not so bad yourself at fighting y'know. But all the blood on you told me that just fine..", Phil says. The man snorts.

"No time to stop and wash my clothes old man. Red suits me just fine anyways.", The man says.

"I see..", Phil says with a laugh. They keep walking and taking out nearby walkers as they come nearby.

"So how big is this cabin..uh..", The man says as he trails off at a loss for a name. Phil smiles. He's glad the man stood around long enough for him to introduce himself.

"Phil.", He says. He tips his hat down a bit. A nervous habit.

"Ah. Techno. Technoblade."

"Techno? That's a strange name! But a fitting one..", Phil says with a grin. "Well, the cabin has some extra rooms in it. You can stay in one for as long as you want."

"I'll see.", Techno says with a hum and Phil smiles. He's not alone anymore for now.

Chapter Text

Phil was a strange man.

When Techno had spotted the blonde with striped white and green hat on his head, he expected him to be part of a group.

He didn't know why he had judged the man to not be able to hold his own. Maybe it was how he was shorter than Techno or had a kind nature to him, but either way Techno thought of groups and loathed having to avoid another one.

You see, the man has been through many groups and they were all trouble. They often resulted in petty struggles for power or desperation as situations grew darker. Everyone was always ready to throw another under a bus. It was annoying to have to always carry people, especially when they didn't give a damn about Techno, so Techno had just resolved to always work on his own.

It worked just fine in the end. He easily managed to keep walkers away and find different places with food and materials. He often traveled and tried to stay away from groups of walkers and people alike. Sometimes he would come across people but mostly he would be able to walk away from them.

The last group he came across was pretty persistent in trying to get Techno to join after seeing him fight. Techno declined which made the green hooded man frown, but he didn't care. He managed to slip away from that group and their annoying persistence and found himself in this small abandoned town. He had been relieved at the lack of people. Well, until he met Phil.

He was annoyed at whoever stupidly let out the gunshots, but the annoyance faded away as Phil gently tried to hold a conversation.

Surprisingly, Phil could definitely manage and fight himself. Techno usually didn't like to talk to people for so long, but he wasn't bothered when the older man spoke. Phil didn't pry about his life, and left the option open for Techno to up and leave if he wanted to.

He thought about it as the two walked through the woods. It probably wasn't a good idea to go alone in the woods with a man you just met. Especially a man who was armed and knew how to fight. Techno didn't find himself as cautious as he normally would be in such a situation though. He knew he was definitely stronger than Phil, and he didn't see any sign of the man planning to turn on him.

Actually, the man just seemed pretty lonely. He mentioned not seeing anyone else alive. The apocalypse started almost two years ago Techno thinks. He guesses anyone would be as excited as the man was if they saw someone after being alone for so long.

"Well- Here it is-", Phil said as the cabin came into view. It was larger than Techno had thought, and a small fence seemed to be built around it. He heard a jumble of soft buzzing noises and turns towards white boxes situated next to the cabin.

"Ah, bee farms. I've managed to farm some honey.", Phil explains like having a bee farm in the middle of the apocalypse isn't an insane prospect. "I have a lot of jars. You can always take some along if you like."

"Sure.", Techno says. He can't help but ask more about this. "So you made the farms yourself?"

"Always had a small one as a hobby before everything went to shit. So I thought why not?", Phil says with a shrug. He starts walking towards the door to the cabin and Techno follows. When they're inside Phil takes a matchbox out of his pocket and starts to light some candles.

"There's a generator, but I don't like to depend on it too much.", Phil explains and Techno looks around.

The place looked neat and well taken care of. There was some furniture about that didn't look in bad shape. The place seemed untouched. Untouched by the horrors that went on outside of its walls.

"I can show you one of the spare rooms if you'd like to stay. No pressure though.", Phil says and Techno is surprised by his own answer.

"Ok. A night.", He says like he's bargaining and Phil just smiles and leads him to the room.

There's a bed in the room nicely made. A dresser stands against the wall and the window on the side is covered in nailed on wood. Techno snorts at the cautionary measure. When was the last time he's slept in a bed?

"Looks cozy.", Techno says.

"Glad to hear it.", Phil says.

Techno looks at the bag of newly acquired food in his hand. Phil said he hasn't seen new people around the town in years. If that's true he must not have went far yet. He frowns when he remembers the empty shelves of the store.

"Here. Take this.", He says as he holds out the bag of newly acquired cans. Phil looks at him in confusion.

"What? No no, I got more than enough for me for a while. Keep those.", Phil says. Techno is surprised the man didn't easily accept the offer. People usually clamor for supplies.

"I insist. I'm a scavenger. I have more food in my other bag. I can easily find more.", Techno says with a shrug. Phil still doesn't take the bag. Instead he shakes his head.

"I'm going to go heat up some food. Any allergies? I'll make enough for two.", He says. Techno shakes his head and Phil nods and leaves the room.

The two share dinner together later in near silence. Just how Techno likes it.

At night, when he's sure Phil's asleep, he leaves the room and quietly explores the rest of the cabin. He had no reason to distrust Phil yet, but old habits died hard, and he quite enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.

He saw the kitchen where Phil kept all of his food supplies. Everything was neatly stacked up and clean. He almost rolled his eyes at the "Home Sweet Home" sign that was hung up over the stove.

The next room was the living room. There were things littered across the coffee table. A few pencils, an eraser, and a knife sitting amongst scattered pencil shavings. He eyes the closed book on the table. A journal? He wants to pick it up and open it to see, but he looks away and moves on.

He opens closets and sees blankets and organized supplies. Phil has the place sufficiently stocked. It should last the man a year or two at least if he's careful. The thought puts him at ease for some reason. He shuts the final closet door he opened. The rest of the rooms were bedrooms, including Phil's own.

He goes back to the bedroom he was assigned to and lays on the bed and stares at the ceiling. He thinks he should leave tomorrow morning before the other wakes up. Goodbyes are messy and pointless to Techno. The person saying goodbye usually wanted Techno to stay while he couldn't give a damn. But this was different. He didn't know how to say goodbye when he wanted to stay himself.

This cozy cabin life wasn't for him though. The blood on his clothes and the blood on his hands told a different story for his path in life. He knew if he asked Phil would let him stay, but he wasn't going to ask.

He closes his eyes and lets himself drift off into dreams of honey and a warm home.

When he wakes up he blinks and remembers where he is. He hears the soft sound of humming coming from another room and sits up. Ah. It was time to leave.

He gets off the bed, grabbing his stuff before he leaves the room. He can hear Phil in the kitchen. He could leave without acknowledging him.

He remembers Phil saying something about giving him honey. When was the last time he had something that sweet? He didn't particularly enjoy it, but for some reason he doesn't think he can leave the door without a jar.

He walks to the kitchen.

"Oh- Morning lad! Was just making some breakfast.", Phil says. Was he making fucking bread?

"Ah.", Techno says. "Of course you're baking in the middle of all this shit."

"I never did before- I found a cook book though and no ones took flour and yeast in the middle of that shit storm. So why not try?", Phil says with a laugh. Techno snorts.

"I guess so.", He says.

"You're leaving aren't you?", Phil says as he eyes the bag over Techno's shoulder. Techno pauses before he nods. He expects the man to protest, but he just nods and goes over to a cabinet and pulls out a jar of honey. He goes over and places it into Techno's hands.

"Well do you have everything you need? Bandages? I have some medicine somewhere..", The man starts to dote.

"I have all I need..", He says. Phil doesn't seem to hear or doesn't care because the man is already opening cabinets.

"Here, can never have enough water right? Take this too-", Phil says as he hands him a large water bottle. Techno resists the urge to roll his eyes at how generous the man was being, but he allowed it and took the extra provisions.

"Thank you..", Techno says.

"Of course. If you ever need a place to stay, come back around. I won't be leaving anywhere.", Phil says.

"Yeah.", Techno says. He wonders if he'd actually take on the offer if he found himself nearby this empty town. He wonders why he's even considering it.

Phil follows him to the door, asking again if he has enough supplies which makes Techno laugh under his breath and wave the obvious worry off.

"I can handle myself well as I've told you, Phil.", He says to the older man.

"Still can't help but worry lad-", Phil says with a small laugh. He looks at Techno and has almost a mournful smile.

"Good luck out there.", He says.

"You too Phil.", He says honestly. He's never had someone be so kind to him. He doesn't think Phil asked for something in return once. It's almost hard to turn away and start walking but he does so anyways. He doesn't look back until the cabin is barely in view. He can spot the green hat in the distance and sees the man wave. He waves back before he keeps walking.

Chapter Text

Wilbur hums to himself and drums his fingers softly against the straps of his backpack, trying to keep himself calm. At home he'd usually take out his guitar or keyboard when he needed to let out steam but he had none of that now.

He kicks at a stray rock on the ground. He'll need to find more food quick. That and find shelter for the night. His eyelids feel heavy. He hasn't had a good nights sleep ever since he was thrown out of the camp.

It was stupid really. The leader was a complete control freak. He hated how Wilbur suggested they have an election to choose a leader instead. He guesses democracy was dead. They only gave him a small amount of food and the clothes on his back and followed him out with guns in their hands until he was far away from the camp. Alone.

He tries not to fester in the anger he felt at the situation. He pulls his beanie down in frustration. He didn't need any of them anyways. They all just blindly followed the leader in the green hoodie and weird mask. He was better off alone where he can think freely. He didn't need any of them.

He keeps walking with a buff. His pocket is heavy with the knife he had found from a corpse lying on the ground yesterday. He hasn't had to use the weapon yet, but having it already made him feel much safer. A gun wouldn't hurt to have though.

He gapes as he sees some buildings come into his vision from afar. Finally. After days of walking, he's found something. He allows himself to take a sigh of relief. There should be supplies. Maybe he can find a cleared out building and fortify it and allow himself an uninterrupted sleep.

He hums a bit under his breath as he quickens his step. They'll probably be walkers, but hopefully he won't run into anyone there. The last thing he wanted right now were other groups to deal with.

When he makes it to the town he frowns at the amount of walkers and presses against the wall of a nearby building and looks around. Fuck. He'll need to avoid them as best as he can. He's killed some before, but he's not the best at fighting on his own.

He keeps walking while avoiding the main roads where most of the walkers roamed. He looks around and sees some stores. Most look ransacked and have shards of glass scattered about in front of them from the broken doors and windows. He frowns. He might not find much here. He'll most likely have to keep moving after.

He goes into one of the labeled grocery stores swiftly. The shelves are mostly barren besides some useless junk he doesn't bother to inspect. He sees uncooked rice and frowns. With a shake of his head he walks further and sees an aisle with some lone cans.

"Spaghettios..", He muses as he picks up a can. Great. Anything was better than nothing he supposes. He hears a squish beneath his boot and winces as he looks down and sees some sweet potato spilling out of an opened can on the ground. Who the fuck did that?

"Whatever..", He mumbles as be takes the cans of spaghettios on the top shelf. Actually, it seemed most on the top shelf weren't swiped compared to the lower ones. He laughs. His friends used to call him a giant, but he supposes that trait payed off now.

He quickly stuffs his bag until he can barely carry it. The potato on the ground wasn't rotted. Whoever spilled it could be somewhere nearby, and he didn't care to meet them. When he finishes stuffing the bag he quickly leaves the store and continues to weave his way through the town.

As he reaches the edge, he notices a swath of trees. A forest. It's dense, and shadowed from the leaves. He steers clear of it and keeps walking. He freezes when he hears the unmistakable sound of gunshots not too far behind him.

"Shit.", He mumbles. What kind of gun happy moron was firing off so many shots? Did they have a death wish? Wilbur wanted nothing to do with them and quickened his pace, almost going in a jog.

Great. Hopefully the next town will be better than this shit show. Between the woods and the empty stores, there was nothing good for him around here.

He shoves his hands in his pocket and grips the handle of the knife in case he needed it. He keeps going until he sees a figure far ahead walking alongside the road. He pauses. That couldn't be the one who fired the gunshots, but he could possibly be in a group with the idiot. Great.

He keeps walking. There's no other way to go, and he's sure the man wouldn't look behind and see Wilbur trailing. Roads lead to towns or cities, and he'd be damned if he's going to miss it to avoid some random.

He keeps walking, trying not to stare at the long braid that tied the stranger's hair, or the large coat that adorned his shoulders. Whoever it was, they were carrying quite a lot.

For a vicious second Wilbur imagines himself taking his knife and jumping the man. He could take all those weapons and supplies the man carried and keep it for himself. No more spaghettios and small knives. He almost recoils at the sudden thought. Has this all really made him fall so far? He never thought of himself as a man who would lose his morals so quickly.

There's a clatter, and the man pauses. A can fell out of the man's bag, and he stops and sweeps down to pick it up and put it back in its rightful place. His eyes gaze to the side and Wilbur feels when their eyes meet. Shit.

"How long are you going to follow me?", the man simply asks aloud. They're a little closer now. Wilbur snorts.

"Didn't mean to follow you chap. Just trying to follow this road. There's a trigger happy idiot in the town not too far back. One of your guys?", He asks as he carefully walks closer. His hand doesn't leave the handle of the knife. The man puts a hand on the handle of a long blade at his hip. Was that a fucking sword?

"No. I work alone.", The man says. His lips purse. "Did you see who shot the gun?"

"Nope. Didn't think to stick around and check. All the walkers should be mauling the idiot for their mistake.", Wilbur says with a shrug. The man nods.

"I'd bet.", He says. "So, you weren't silently stalking me to try and steal my stuff huh?"

"No no-", Wilbur quickly refuses with a slight laugh. The man spoke dryly and stood tall. His confidence told Wilbur that this man knew how to use the blade he held. He can't fuck with him. "As I said, I was following the road. Looking for a place to stay."

"Well, scram kid.", The man says and Wilbur raises an eyebrow.

"Kid?", Wilbur asks. The man scoffs.

"What? You must be sixteen-"

"Eighteen actually-", Wilbur interrupts.

"Same shit.", The man says with a roll of his eyes. This asshole.

"Well how old are you oh wise one?", Wilbur says with a snort.

"Twenty one.", The man says.

"Not so far off from me.", Wilbur says with a snort. The man opens his mouth to say something but stops when the sound of gunshots cut through the air once again.

"That idiot will be alerting walkers to that town.", The man says. He sounds pissed. Wilbur tilts his head.

"Well who cares. We're far enough already don't you think?"

The man opens his mouth but then closes it. He looks towards the direction of the town and shakes his head and looks away.

"Whatever. Stay a distance away.", The man says as he glares at Wilbur before he begins to walk.

"Gladly.", Wilbur huffs. This guys lone wolf schtick was getting quite old fast. Whatever. Wilbur wanted to try out this independence thing for himself for a while.

He walks on too, careful to try and keep his distance from the moody man. He hears more gunshots go off. Do they sound closer or was it just in his head? Either way the man freezes slightly at every shot.

"Scared?", He asks aloud without fully thinking.

"As if.", The man says without glancing back at Wilbur. He stops. "The shots sounded closer this time."

"Yeah- Got any hits on you?", He asks jokingly and feels awkward at the way the man stays silent. Who the fuck was this guy?

He freezes when the man turns on his feel and starts walking back, towards the direction of Wilbur.

"H-Hey now- Let's not do anything rash-", He says as he holds out a hand. He doesn't even realize he took the knife out of his pocket, but the man simply ignored him and walked past him.

"Hey…", Wilbur says in surprise. He watches as the man keeps walking back towards the town with a forceful step in his stride that showed his slight anger.

"Why are you going over there! It's probably swarming with walkers already!", Wilbur says.

"Just mind your own business. I have to take care of business.", The man says as he keeps walking.

Wilbur watches him go further and further away. Was this guy crazy? Why was he walking towards his probable death?

He looks back at the road leading away. He could just leave without anybody blocking his way. He looks back at the man. He obviously had a goal going back. A goal Wilbur didn't quite understand.

He stands there for a minute before he sighs and quickens his step as he follows the man back towards the town.

"I said go away-"

"You're going to need help yeah? I'll help you.", Wilbur says with a shrug.

"And what do you think you'll be getting in return?", the man asks.

"An interesting time I suppose."

Chapter Text

When Tommy had come across the jolly cans of spaghettios and alphabet soup he thought things were finally going to go his way.

You see, just yesterday he almost got mauled by the walkers that snuck up on him from behind while he was checking out the town. He had to use his gun then, yeah, he had no other choice. It took a few shots to get the sorry sod down and when he was over with more came following! They were just sorry idiots if you asked him. Couldn't they see Tommy had a gun?

Well, even though he was a big man and could handle his own, he decided to let the sorry lot go and found a room in a random house and blocked himself in. The stupid scratching and moaning from the bodies that slammed themselves against the door kept him from getting a wink of sleep that night. And to top it all off, all he had were sorry canned vegetables.

He had stolen the cans from the last group he was in. That was his thing you see, and it worked quite well if you asked him. He'd sneak himself into groups that let him in and while they least suspect he would take all he could and run. For some reason all the groups he has come across thought himself to be some poor helpless kid, but he was sixteen for Christ's sake! He was a big man!

The last group were odd fellows. The leader was some creep in a mask with a smiley face on it. Had an unnatural name too- Sleep? No no, it started with a D he thinks, but he can't remember. The point is that they were all creeps and Tommy booked it out faster than he usually would. He had grabbed the first cans he could get his hands on and he was really paying for it.

When morning came and the scratching and moaning died down he had let himself out of the room. There were a lot of those walkers roaming around.

Walkers. He started calling them that because of the creepy group. They called the things walkers. It was a stupid name if you asked Tommy. Before them he had just called them vamps because of their tendency to bite into humans. Maybe they ate through muscle and organs alike more than any blood like normal vampires on the telly, but it was all the same to him; nasty.

He wonders sometimes what Tubbo would think about all of this. Tubbo was his best friend before all of this ruckus happened. They would play games together and ride their bikes. He has a friendship bracelet on still that Tubbo had given him one day. It had a compass charm or something on it. He was going on a vacation for a month and told Tommy that it would point in the general direction of where he was more or less.

He had said it was stupid back then. He wasn't some clingy baby that would be devastated at the loss of his friend.

He looks at the bracelet. If Tubbo was still around, he'd still be far away, but Tommy would get to him. He was getting closer and closer each day he thinks.

And things were looking bright! When he saw the spaghettios and alphabet soup he immediately dropped the can of rubbish sweet potato he was picking from.

"Score!", He said as he reached for the cans. They should last him until he found another sorry group to steal from.

He took the cans and left the store while he fiddled with the can opener he carried with him. When he got the can of sweet O's and tomato sauce open he tipped the can so it slid into his mouth. Oh yeah, this was the life.

He supposes he should leave the town now that he got what he needed. It didn't look very cool anyways. There was a game store nearby he had peered into but none of the switches they had turned on. He spotted an Isabelle keychain though that he promptly added onto his bag.

He slurped on his O's as he walked along, and observed his surroundings. He didn't see anything else of interest so the blonde boy shrugs and starts to head in the direction of the compass.

He almost choked when he heard the sound of a nearby moaning noise behind him. It was too close.

"Bastard!-", He says as he quickly fires the gun at the walker. It takes a few tries to hit the head, but when he does it falls down. He blows at the top of his gun. There's no smoke coming from the gun like in the cinema, but he feels cooler all the same for it. His ears ring from the loud noise but he just shakes his head a few times for good measure and goes to walk again, but screams when he sees more walkers.

"What the fuck!", He exclaims at the forming crowd. Why did this shit always happen to him?

He starts running. The weight of the cans slows him down and he regrets not chucking the damn vegetable cans when he got the chance, but there was no time to pick them out now.

He could hear the low groans from the undead behind him and mumbles a constant stream of "Shit" under his breath as he struggles to run. He needed to get out of this town.

He looks back and yelps at the amount of walkers. There must be a hundred of them he thinks. He quickly takes his gun and on a whim begins shooting again as he keeps running forwards.

"Fuck fuck fuck!", He yelps as his heart hammers. He can't die like this. He hasn't even reached Tubbo yet. His hands shakes as he keeps shooting at the crowd. He keeps missing from how badly they shake, but he refuses to stop. Out of fear or perseverance he wasn't sure.

He wouldn't die like this. He can't-

He yelps and drops the gun when he collides into someone. The gun drops on the concrete and the deafening sound of it going off suddenly was quickly followed by a blinding pain hitting Tommy in his right foot.

He screams and blindly glares at the thing he ran into. It was a tall man with pink hair. This asshole. This asshole made him shoot himself!

"It's a kid!", Someone exclaims. Some asshole with a beanie over curly brown locks and a brown coat over a yellow sweater. Tommy can only curse more, angry at the tears forming in his eyes.

"We need to get the fuck out of here!-", The man continues. The other is continuing to glare at Tommy before he looks over at the approaching walkers. The man frowns before he easily picks up Tommy by the back of his shirt and tosses him over to the beanie guy who barely manages to catch him. He cries out in pain at how much his damn foot hurts. He manages to look and through the blur of tears clouding his vision he sees blood.

“What the-”, The man holding him exclaims. The other grips a long blade, a sword, and starts slashing at the nearest walkers.

“Listen. In the woods there’s a cabin. Go to it. I’ll be close behind.”, The man says quickly as he continues his work.

“Techno I’m not-”

“Go Wilbur!”, The man, Techno, snaps and Wilbur wordlessly takes a step back before he starts moving as fast as he can with Tommy in his arms.

Tommy whimpers at the searing pain.

“Lemme go..”, He manages but Wilbur shakes his head.

“Listen kid, we need to treat this. You’re bleeding.”, Wilbur says through strained breath. He was struggling to carry Tommy, but he refused to stop.

“Fine then.”, Tommy says through gritted teeth. In reality, he didn’t have any sort of supplies that could treat something this serious. He didn’t want to die from a stupid infection of the foot kind. That would ruin his whole image. Tommy doesn’t die. He can’t.

“You’re not going to die.”, Wilbur grits out. When did Tommy begin to talk aloud? He was beginning to feel woozy.

Ok. He’ll let this group take him and help him out. And when they patched him all up he’ll just steal their goods. It was a win-win situation for him in the end.
He sees trees over Wilbur’s shoulder. A stupid forest. Wilbur looks around, hesitant with his direction as if he didn’t know where to go. A look of relief sweeps over the man’s face when he looks and sees Techno approaching them. He must see Wilbur’s weak willed arms about to drop Tommy, because he reluctantly picks him up and throws him over his shoulder which causes Tommy to yelp indignantly.

“It’s not too far. Don’t touch anything when we’re there”, Techno says.

“So you had a base nearby all along?”, WIlbur says as he quickly follows the other.

“It’s not mine. I shouldn’t even be taking strangers here. The sooner we get this trigger happy kid out of this town, then the sooner I can leave.”, Techno says as if that explained everything.

Tommy tuned the talking of the two out. Jesus Christ he was in pain and there they were spouting nonsense.

“I’m gonna die!”, He manages out.

“You’re not going to die idiot.”, Techno says.

“Holy shit is that the place?”, WIlbur says.

“Yup. Again, don’t touch anything.”

“You don’t trust me! If this place is not yours then who-”, WIlbur says but his words die out.

“Techno? You’re back.”, The voice of a man says. Tommy manages to see a man in a ridiculous green bucket hat and long blonde hair that was tied neatly back. He was by some white boxes. Bees? What the fuck. Holy shit his foot hurt.

“Let me down!”, He says again.

“Who is that?”, The man says as he walks over to them. There’s a look of concern on his face. “Jesus Christ the boy’s bleeding! Techno take him inside!”

Techno only nods and quickly takes Tommy inside against his will. Wilbur looks between the man and Techno before following behind. When they’re inside the hatted man seems to go in a frenzy. He calls out for Techno to set him down and Techno does so on a nice couch. The material is plush and Tommy thinks he could easily knock on the thing if he wasn’t in agony.

“I got some disinfectant and bandages. Have you taken a look? Where did you find the boy?” The man says.

“He was in town. Have a group?”, Techno asked and Tommy spits out a quick fuck off that makes Techno reach for his sword.

“Don’t do that-”, The hatted man says sternly before he looks back at Tommy. “I’m Phil. I’ll help you out here and then we can find your family.”

“I don’t fucking have a family. I’m a big man, I don’t need anyone.”, Tommy says and grits his teeth when Phil carefully takes off his shoe.

“Oh thank god, I can fix this. I don’t have any pain medicine so just hold on for me lad, ok?”, The man says as he unscrews a cap of disinfectant. Tommy knows whats about to come but still screams in pain when the searing pain comes. The man is still talking but Tommy is too busy trying not wrench away from the foul liquid being dabbed on the wound to pay attention to the words. When the man is finally done he takes some clean bandages and expertly wraps the bullet wound.

“There you go- Hey we’re done.”, Phil says and Tommy just nods. He feels wet on his cheek. When had he started crying?

“I’ll get you some water ok? And then we can talk.”, Phil says as he gets up and leaves the room. Tommy tries to calm down his shuddering breaths as he looks at the neat bandaging. He looks and sees Wilbur and Techno awkwardly standing there. Techno looks at Tommy before he leaves the room after Phil. Wilbur coughs.

“See? Not dead.”, He says with a slight laugh that makes Tommy scowl.

“No help to you guys. Specifically that Techno guy. What kind of name is that? Stupid! And he got in my way and caused my stupid gun to go off like that!”, Tommy says. His voice is getting louder, but he doesn’t bother to try and calm down as he realizes the truth to his words. Yeah, that Techno guy indirectly shot him! It was all bullshit to him. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit-

“Here ya go.”, Phil says as he hands Tommy a bottle of water. Tommy easily takes it and is about to glug it down before he frowns at Phil.

“It’s not poisoned right?”, He asks and Phil blinks in surprise at the question before he laughs.

“Nope. I’m not a crazy murderer I promise.”, He says.

“Would make sense. Cabin in the woods..Crazy son..”, He says before he swigs the bottle.

“Crazy what?..”, Phil asks but Techno comes walking in again and Tommy’s mood immediately sours again.

“You owe me y’know.”, He says as he glares at Techno.

“Owe you what exactly?”, Techno asks dryly.

“Don’t play dumb with me! Your oaf of a self was in my way and caused my gun to fire off!”, Tommy says. Phil puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Techno told me you dropped your gun. It all sounds like an accident.”, Phil says.

“An accident? It was a spectacle. Shooting your gun off like that and alerting every walker within miles that there were free brains here. Well, if you had a brain.”, Techno says as he crosses his arms and Phil winces at the words.

“Techno he’s just a-”

“I was protecting myself like I always do just fine!”, Tommy says back with a growl. “I could have shot all the stupid things off, they’re not even fast!”

“Well you were missing more than you were hitting with the bullets.”, Techno says.

“Well you must be blind, because I was hitting just fine before you came.”, Tommy says.

“Well it was very nice of Phil here to help you out huh Tommy?”, Wilbur says before Techno can shoot back a response. Phil seems to relax at the way Tommy averts his attention to Wilbur and shrugs.

“I guess so. This couch is nice.”, He says as he pats the cushion. Phil laughs.

“I think the beds are better. I can show you a room you can stay in until we figure things out..You said you were alone?”

“Yeah. I'm sixteen though. A big man.”, He says with a shrug. Phil smiles sadly at that.

“You can always stay here if you have nowhere else to go y'know..”, Phil says.

“Phil-”, Techno says and Tommy grins. Warm bed, an opportunity to gain this fool’s trust and steal away all of his stuff, AND an opportunity to get Techno all pissy all in one?

“Actually, that sounds nice.”, He says. He cant help the shit eating grin on his face as he looks over at Techno who glares at him.

Chapter Text

Techno hated kids, and Tommy was no exception. In fact, he was the prime example of why Techno despised them.

He didn't think it was Phil shooting off the gun when he turned and walked back with Wilbur in tow. No, he just wanted to stop the asshole who was alerting all the walkers to the town with the constant gunshots.

He felt like he owed Phil something. For allowing him to stay the night or for giving him the honey. He didn't like to be in debt, even though in the back of his mind he knew that Phil probably didn't expect or want anything back from him.

He still went back to the town though. Phil obviously depended on the few resources left in it to keep himself afloat. He wouldn't be able to continue that if walkers continued to swarm the town.

He was planning on kicking the culprit in the teeth for being such an idiot, but what do you know? The idiot shot himself in the foot instead.

And now there they were in Phil's living room as Phil gently tried to ask the kid questions which were met with smart aleck responses despite the redness of his eyes from crying earlier.

Techno had half a mind to dump the kid outside for the way he was treating Phil, but Phil just laughed at Tommy's responses and told him he could stay if he needed to.

"You as well.", Phil extended the invitation as he looked over at Wilbur who was standing awkwardly in the room still. He blinked at the invitation and Techno gave him a look that told him he should say no but Wilbur smiled at Phil.

"Yeah. Actually..A couple of nights to get some good sleep wouldn't hurt.", He had said and Techno almost cursed out loud.

He just brought Tommy here to keep the kid from dying, but in reality it seemed like he dumped two uninvited guests onto Phil. Of course the man didn't mind though. He simply laughed about how they were lucky there were four bedrooms in the cabin.

Wait. Four?

"Don't tell me he's staying here too-", Tommy scoffs as he glares at Techno.

Techno should say no. It would be an easy way out from this demon of a child. But he's the one who brought them here on Phil. He remembers when he observed his supplies. He had enough for one person, but three? He would need to find more.

He looks at Wilbur. He didn't seem the type to be good at fighting. And Tommy? He’s surprised he managed to last even a day out on his own. They probably would be no help in getting supplies. He feels like he just put a big burden on Phil. One that the older man didn’t seem to recognize or care about.

Fuck.

“I’ll help you collect supplies. Then I’m leaving.”, He says to Phil. Phil’s eyes brighten at the response.

“You’re always welcome to stay. But, don’t feel obligated to gather supplies.”, Phil says. This man was too good for his own good.

“No. There’s a town not too far away from here. Another one. It should have more supplies than the one here. We can get supplies from there and then I’ll be on my way.”, Techno says.

“Oh, I’ll help.”, Wilbur says quickly. Techno raises an eyebrow.

“Can you even fight?”, Techno asks. Wilbur scoffs.

“Of course I can. Well..I may not be a machine like you, but I’ve managed well enough I think.”, Wilbur says as he pats his pocket holding his knife. Techno snorts. That knife was shit.

“Let’s not worry about a supply run right now.”, Phil speaks up. “We have enough food for the four of us for a while. You all should settle in right?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea Phil. What kind of food do you have here? Not rubbish vegetables I hope.”, Tommy says. There’s still some kind of dried up spaghetti sauce near his mouth and Techno can’t stand to look at the kid.

“Of course I have vegetables- I go fishing sometimes too. I’ll make some of that too.”, Phil says with a laugh.

“Oh, like fish and chips?”, Tommy asks and Techno rolls his eyes and tunes him out, and instead walks to the room Phil showed him last time and goes inside. He sets his bag down but keeps his blade on him and one of his guns in his pocket.

He hears the three of them laugh about something in the other room and frowns.

Dinner goes well enough. Wilbur and Tommy scarf it down like they never ate anything better in their lives which just causes Phil to laugh and joke about their manners. It seemed like the three of them were already getting comfortable with each other, but Techno wasn’t fooled.

He doubts Wilbur will try anything. Techno guesses the kid will just stay for a while and go on his way again to find a group. He hasn’t made any mention of previous groups yet, but Techno has a feeling he might have gotten left behind by one. And Tommy? The way he was chatting profusely and complimenting every little thing about the dinner made him almost roll his eyes. He was making his plans painfully obvious.

The kid was going to mooch off Phil. That or maybe he was just some ploy a group sent out to try and trick people on their own and get all of their supplies. Either way, he knew Tommy wasn’t trustworthy, but of course he was the only one to see.

Phil just thanked Tommy for all of his compliments on the food, and Wilbur just messed around with the kid. It was up to Techno to take care of this.

On the first night it was just proven more evident when he heard the faint creaking of a door opening across the hall. That was Tommy’s room.

He waits until he hears the soft creaking of the floorboards go further away until he can’t hear them anymore before he gets out of bed. He steps out as silently as he can and looks around. He doesn’t hesitate before he heads quietly to the kitchen.

He peers inside and glares at the back of the blonde head as the kid opens up cabinets slowly and rummages around in them. The kid was struggling to stay balanced on his good foot, his other stuck up in the air behind him as he looked through the food stored. He doesn’t take anything, and Techno realizes quickly that he’s inspecting rather than stealing. For now.

“What are you doing.”, He says and the kid quickly whips around and hits his elbow on the counter which is followed by a swarm of curses. He almost tips over and loses his balance from the surprise, but he reaches his hand out and grips the counter and glares sourly up at Techno in the dark. The kid was pretty tall for his age, definitely passing Phil up, but Techno still stood the higher ground and stands up straighter.

“What d’you want?”, Tommy asks in a loud whisper.

“I should be the one asking that. Who are you working for?”, Techno asks.

“Working for? I work for no one, I’m a big man y’know.”, Tommy scoffs. “I’m not stealing. Just looking..”

“Yeah. Sure you are.”, Techno says sarcastically.

“Right right. So I’ll just be on my way to be then.”, Tommy says with a nod, obviously ignoring Techno’s sarcasm.

“Kid. If you steal from here after the help he’s given you, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”, Techno says simply. The honesty of his statement must shine through, because the kid looks scared for a second before he glares at him again.

“I’m not stealing from your dad, so calm yourself down.”, Tommy huffs and Techno blinks at the statement.

“My what?”, He says but before he can get a response they hear another pair of footsteps come near.

“Techno? Tommy? Is everything ok?..”, Phil asks with a sight yawn as he steps in the room.

“Yes yes, everything’s fine. Just couldn’t find the loo. Guess I have loud footsteps.”, Tommy says quickly and Techno glares at him.

“Ah. Well, it’s not over here, it’s to the right of your room. I’ll, show you.”, Phil says.

“Thanks a lot Phil. Philza. Hey now that’s a name, can I call you that?”, Tommy says and Phil just laughs and mumbles “How do you come up with this stuff?”

Phil glances over at Techno before they leave the room.

“Everything ok Techno?”, Phil asks as he looks at the pink haired man. Tommy seems to hold his breath besides Phil as he looks at Techno.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine.”, Techno says as he looks at Tommy. Tommy grins at him before he and Phil leave the room.

Jesus Christ, Techno was going to have to keep a good eye on that kid.

Chapter Text

Tommy sat outside in the grass with his legs stretched out in front of him as he watched Phil do his thing with the bees. To be honest, it all sort of grossed Tommy out. Phil only wore gloves on his hands and would often come in contact with bees as he carefully got more honey, but the man wouldn’t even flinch as he did so.

He bet Tubbo would think it was cool. He was always into bees for some reason. Fuck that kid had a lot of bee facts. He glances at the compass charm and thinks he could use a good bee fact right about now. He bet Phil would like it. It was surprisingly easy to gain the man’s trust in the week he’s been here. He didn’t plan on staying so long, but the arrangements were so nice there that he couldn’t find it in himself to keep it moving just yet.

The only thing crumby about it all was Techno, and sometimes even Wilbur. Wilbur wasn’t that bad of a chap. He would poke at Tommy sometimes just because he was a little older than him, but he was quite funny.

“So what did you do before all of this?”, Tommy had asked him one day.

“Not afraid to skirt around the big questions huh?”, Wlbur had said with a snort. Tommy shrugs. “Well, I wasn’t anything before the shit hit the fan. So in the end, I guess I lost nothing huh? Well, besides my guitar.”

“Guitar?”, Tommy questioned in slight interest.

“Yup. Had a guitar. Only thing I did well. No guitars in the apocalypse though. No musicians.”, Wilbur said with a shrug but Tommy could pick up on the bitterness in his voice.

“Well that’s just rubbish isn’t it? I do miss my keyboard too. I could play some animal crossing songs on there.”, Tommy said which caused Wilbur to let out a sudden laugh.

“Animal crossing songs? Are you serious?”, He asked.

“Yeah. Don’t tell me you were one of those people without a switch.”, Tommy scoffed.

“Couldn’t afford one yet. Not as if that all matters now.”, Wilbur said.

“Well of course it does. It’s the thing I miss the most besides..”, He said but trailed off. The charm suddenly felt heavier on his wrist.

“Ah. I see.”, Wilbur had said like he knew it all. They both stayed silent before Phil had asked for help with dinner or something which caused the other to go leave the room and help.

He wonders if he should tell Wilbur about his plans. The guy seemed nice enough, and he kept mentioning leaving out on his own soon. If you asked Tommy though the chap looked like he was getting pretty cozy here though.

He reckons Wilbur would try and talk him out of it or snitch though so he decides not to tell him. Wilbur seemed to like Phil too much to steal from him. And to be honest, Tommy liked the guy too. He would actually listen to Tommy when he spoke, and whenever he and Techno argued he would try to stop it which was pretty funny.

"Wanna come closer to watch?", Phil asks as he waves at Tommy.

"I think I'd rather not. I do want some honey though.", He says and Phil laughs.

"Well there's more than enough inside. Go ahead.", Phil says and Tommy shrugs and gets up from the grass and wipes at his pants before he makes his way inside.

He goes into the kitchen and opens the cabinet where Phil kept all the honey jars in. How he found so many jars he can't say. He can't imagine why someone would take the time to make so much of the stuff. He reckons the old man was just trying to keep himself busy at this point. Either way, he wasn't complaining. He missed sweets and junk food, so honey will have to do for now. He definitely will have to take some with when he leaves.

"What are you doing?"

Fucking hell. Tommy hated this guy. He glares at Techno as he opens the jar in his hand and sticks his whole hand in which earns a disgusted grimace from the other. Tommy grins at that and takes his hand out of the jar and licks the honey off of his hand.

"Can't a man eat around here? Who died and made you king buddy?", Tommy says with a snort.

"You're wasting food-"

"Actually, Phil said I can have some. Soo, I'm not.", Tommy says.

"He's only being polite.", Techno says as if that means something to Tommy. Tommy just shoves his fist into the jar again. Christ this stuff was good.

"Well at least someone around here has manners.", Tommy says. He tries to take his hand out of the jar and tries not to make his struggling obvious and he goes on. "I mean- All you do is glower and pretend like you're better than everyone."

"I do not.", Techno says. He shakes his head. "I need to go talk to Phil."

"Yeah yeah go do that why don't you?", Tommy says as Techno leaves. He huffs and manages to pop his hand out of the stupid jar and he eats more of it off of his hand.

Techno has been watching him like a hawk ever since he caught Tommy snooping around that one night. Tommy liked to check the inventory of the places he steals from on the first night if he could to keep in mind where everything was when he went into action. He figures when he leaves he'll just take all the spaghettios he can fit along with the honey. Does honey go bad? Maybe he can even save some for Tubbo.

Either way, he couldn't do anything yet with Techno's murderous aura. He would pick out every little thing he thought Tommy was doing wrong.

"You should be helping out around here." Or "You can't heat up spaghettios just because you don't like the food Phil put time into making." Geez, that man's complaints never ended.

Luckily Tommy had just the plan. Techno kept talking to Phil about leaving to go gather supplies. He'll book it then. He's not sure if Phil was going with Techno, but either way he's sure he can outrun the guy and Wilbur. It would be too easy.

"You a mess Tommy Innit.", Wilbur says as he enters the kitchen and sees Tommy still standing there with honey on his face.

Tommy laughs.

"Me and Techno are going off tomorrow. We should be back in less than a day.", Phil says that night as they sit around the table with the plates in front of them.

"Just the two of you? We should all go.", Wilbur says.

"I agree. I don't trust them here alone.", Techno says.

"Techno-", Phil starts but Wilbur interrupts.

"What? You're not talking about me and Tommy are you?-", He asks as he narrows his eyes. Oh boy. Here it goes.

"Yes I'm talking about you two. But him especially.", Techno says.

"Why me?", Tommy asks despite knowing the answer. He just liked to get a rise out of the man.

"Why you? You're a gremlin. You waste supplies. And the first night here you were digging through everything.", Techno says.

"You did the same on your first night here.", Phil says before Tommy can retort back. Techno looks surprised.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything. But I heard you looking around the place at night.", Phil says with a shrug.

"And you didn't say anything? What if I was robbing you?", Techno asks.

"I knew you wouldn't. Just figured you were being cautious.", Phil says. Techno still has a look of disbelief on his face and Tommy looks at them both confused.

"Why would you steal from your dad? You really that shitty of a person?", Tommy asks. It's Phil's turn to look surprised.

"Dad? Who?", Phil asks as he looks between them all.

"That's- I just met Phil a day before I ran into you two.", Techno says.

"What? Geez all this time I thought that-", Tommy says. He shakes his head. "Well anyways- Does that mean I can stay Phil?"

"Of course Tommy.", Phil says just as Techno says no. Wilbur snorts.

"He's just a kid. He doesn't have to run out and get supplies if he doesn't want to.", Phil says. "But, it would help if you picked up around here."

"Alright, I can do that Philza.", Tommy says and Phil beams at the nickname and laughs.

That night Tommy lays down in bed and stares up at the ceiling as he fiddles with the charm. He was going to miss this place. He thinks he missed Tubbo more.

He wanted to remember this place though. Maybe when all is well and he got Tubbo they can both come here. He can say sorry to Phil. He bet Phil would forgive him. Techno would probably be all pissy about it, but he'd get over it and then he can show Tubbo the bees.

He quietly gets up and leaves the room. If snooping Techno hears him, he doesn't do anything to stop him. Tommy looks around the house, his healing foot dragged behind him.

Tommy always thought he'd live in a large mansion in the future, but he supposes if that didn't work out this would be the best second option. He liked the wood walls and the odd little trinkets scattered about the place.

He hears humming coming from somewhere and perks up. It's not Wilbur. He's usually the culprit for humming; he always says he's making songs up in his head. But it wasn't Wilbur.

He follows the source of the noise to Phil's room. Tommy was surprised the man was still up. He sees the door is open a tad and his curiosity gets the better of him. He's never seen the room before. He peeks in and can't quite see since the room is dark. He does see something odd on the floor. Long black feathers. Huh.

He steps away quietly and goes back to his room.

Tommy watches as Phil runs about the house getting supplies together for his and Techno's trip. Wilbur kept offering to go with, but Techno insisted he stay and keep an eye on Tommy while Phil told him he didn't have to.

"You both know how to use a can opener, so don't be shy with food while we're gone ok?", Phil told them as he put some water and food in a bag.

"Yeah yeah. You really worry too much for your own good.", Wilbur says. Phil laughs.

"Just being careful.", He says.

Wilbur and Tommy go by the door and watch as Techno and Phil leave further from the house.

"Hope they don't get eaten.", He says.

"Tommy!", Wilbur says but Tommy only laughs.

"What? It's true.", Tommy says with a shrug. Wilbur just rolls his eyes, but there's a small smile on his face that betrays the fact he thinks it was quite funny.

"I'm going to go clean up around here while they're gone. I hate not doing anything around here.", Wilbur says as he steps away from the door.

"Right right. I'll just be chillin.", Tommy says casually as Wilbur is already walking away. He stands there for a minute and looks out at the direction Phil and Techno walked away before he closes the door and swallows. His palms were all sweaty and he wasn’t sure why. He never had an issue with this when he did his usual grab and go. Maybe it was because all of the groups before were full of douchebags.

He sighs. Should he leave a note? But what would he write? He doesn’t think “Thanks for everything, but I decided to steal your shit and leave.” would really do anything. He thinks Phil might finally develop some sort of trust issues after he’s done with this. God knows the older man needs it after how easily he let the three of these assholes into his life.

He catches Wilbur humming to some song as he sweeps. It isn’t anything like the song Phil hummed. Tommy walks past quietly, his bag clutched in his hand as he makes his way to the kitchen. He holds his breath as he starts taking cans and dropping them in. He takes two jars of honey last and sets them at the top. He moves, and winces as the noise the contents of the bag make as he tip toes out of the room.

He swipes some bandaids and disinfectant. They’ll be just fine without these right? He thinks so. He can still hear WIlbur humming, and he swallows as he makes his way past the room, towards the door, and out of the house.

Chapter Text

Phil walked alongside Techno, pulling his long coat closer around himself as they walked. He’s never been this far away from his cabin before. He never found a reason to before with just living by himself. He knew the world had gone to shit, but seeing more of it in ruins like the town close to the cabin made some kind of last flame of hope he had inside of him extinguish. He mourned the loss of the spark for a few somber minutes as the two walked on, but it wasn’t too long. The disappointment soon smoothed down into a sense of peace. This was life now, and he wanted to make it work for him and the people around him.

The three boys he’s found himself sharing his home with were odd, but Phil enjoyed their company in the last week. How could he not when he had spent so much time before alone? Wilbur was a funny lad, and despite his often dry humor, he would talk to both Techno and Tommy. Tommy mostly, since Techno was usually quiet despite his attempts at small talk.

Tommy was a funny guy too. It broke his heart seeing the poor kid so hurt before when Techno had brought him, but Tommy bounced back like a trooper and seemed to be warming up to Phil. Phil hoped he had it in him to take care of such a young boy who has to deal with the world they now live in.

And Techno? Well, Phil liked him too. Phil was a bit intimidated by the other’s quiet demeanor and tendency to hide his emotions well, but as the two spent more time together, he couldn’t understand why he had ever been afraid. Sure, Techno would often argue with Tommy and speak in short sentences, but Phil could see how much the young man was worrying. He was always checking their supplies, and keeping an eye on the other two boys. Phil doesn’t think he trusted them, but that was ok. He knew the three would warm up to each other eventually.

Phil gasps when he loses his footing and almost stumbles on an outstretched arm of a corpse he had failed to notice while lost in his thoughts. Techno reaches out to help him, but Phil gains his footing back just fine and laughs a bit.

“Sorry sorry. I’m focused now.”, Phil says and the other nods.

“Good. Stay that way.”, He says as he looks out at the town they have been heading towards not too far away. He looks back at the corpse. “Someone wasn’t having a good day, eh?”

Phil blinks and slowly realizes that must be the man’s way of making a joke, and he laughs more at the warmth that Techno actually told him a joke than the actual joke itself. “I guess so.”

“This place has a supermarket. Last time I went, it was still pretty well boarded up, but we’ll move slowly just in case walkers got in.”, Techno explains. He pauses. “Phil. If you see anyone, hide, ok?”

“Hide? You don’t mean if we see actual alive people right?”, Phil asked confused.

“People haven’t changed. If they see an opportunity to gain something by taking your life, they will.”, Techno says simply. “There’s a group a day away from here on foot. They’re violent.”

“Violent?...Jesus, you didn’t fight them did you?”, Phil asks.

“No. They tried to get me to join them though. Fat chance of that.”, Techno says. Phil doesn’t like the sound of this group. He wants to ask more but Techno starts walking, and Phil sighs and guesses it’s the end of that conversation and keeps up with the taller man.

They weave their way through the sidewalks, taking precaution at every turn as they go. They hear the low sounds of the groans and dragging feet from the walkers nearby, but the two quietly manage to avoid most of them.

Phil immediately notices the supermarket Techno mentioned. The windows and door were all boarded up in what must have been a last ditch effort to keep the walkers out when things went to hell.

"How are we getting in?", He whispers.

"There's an employee entrance in the back. We'll probably run into walkers on our way there since it's more of an open area.”, Techno says and Phil nods.

“Alright. Let's stay close.”, Phil whispers back.

It doesn't take long to reach the entrance in the back. They run into a few walkers scattered about in the parking lot, but Phil quickly puts his axe into one of their heads, and Techno put his blade in the other. They glanced at each other after their work and Phil smiles. Techno smiles back.

“You know, you’re the only one I trust with fighting.”, Techno says as they reach the door. “You’d think the other two would be better.”

“Why’s that?”, Phil asks jokingly. He knows he’s saying that because the other two are young, but he’s not THAT old. Techno shakes his head and opens the door.

They step inside and Phil holds onto his axe tight in his hand still as they inch closer in. Phil closes the door behind them, and they quietly make it out of the employee only room and see the rows of shelves. There was stuff obviously still on some of the shelves, but for the most part it was pretty empty. The only light was the light sifting through the few windows uncovered high up near the ceiling.

“Looks empty.”, Techno mumbles. “Why don’t you go get food and I’ll look for other supplies.”

“Alright, but if you need help just call out for me.”, Phil says and Techno nods before he walks along the aisles further away. Phil swallows and tries not to feel too unsettled by the quiet and dark place before he walks along the empty shelves until he reaches some food.

He almost laughs when he sees ramen. He didn’t manage to grab any when everything fell apart. He takes the dry noodles and places it in his bag before he keeps searching. He comes across more cans and smiles a bit at the variety. He spot spaghettios and almost groans.

For some reason Tommy seemed to like the stuff. Actually, he seemed to like anything that wasn’t a vegetable which was a little frustrating since that’s mostly all Phil had, and something the boy needed. He shakes his head and puts a variety of cans in until the bag starts to become too heavy. He just grits his teeth and manages to carry it, planning on going to meet up with Techno.

He’s about to walk over until he hears the familiar sound of a heavy door being opened, followed shortly by the sound of two voices. He freezes. His first instinct is to go see who they are, but he remembers what Techno says and stays quiet.

“Shut up, shut up!”, He hears one of the voices say loudly while the other was laughing. The other man still laughs despite the other’s annoyance.

“C’mon Gogy, don’t be like that.”, The man responds between his wheezing laughter.

“You’re being so loud! And we need to hurry up.”, A pause. “And don’t call me that!”

“Yeah..Yeah sure thing Gogy.”, The other says as his laughter dies down. “Why do we need to hurry up anyways? There’s nothing in here.”

“Yeah, but Dream has been pissy lately. The sooner we finish this the better.”, The man (..Gogy?...) says back with a huff.

“Oh come on, you’re worrying too much. Yeah he’s been an uptight ass, but he’s just stressed. Plus, you know he can never stay mad at you George.”, The other says in a suggestive tone.

“Oh shut up! We need to pack as much as we can in the van.”, George says.

Phil holds his breath. They’ll surely come over where he is to gather food. But would that really be bad? He knows Techno said something about not trusting people, and how there was a violent group nearby, but he doesn’t find himself scared. He peers through the shelves and spots two young men; one with ridiculous white rimmed goggles on, and the other with a white cloth tied over his forehead. They both had a gun at their side, but honestly who wouldn’t nowadays? Phil smiles. They couldn’t be any older than Techno himself. He was sure they were safe.

He’s about to reveal himself cautiously, but he feels a hand on his shoulder and almost yelps. He turns and sees Techno and relief sweeps over him. He opens his mouth to tell Techno these guys don’t seem bad, but Techno puts a finger over his own lips signaling the man to keep quiet, and since Phil trusts Techno he nods and doesn’t make a sound.

They inch towards the door, the small chatter of the two still heard from afar as the two men made their way deeper into the abandoned store. They make it to the door, and Techno quickly opens it despite the loud dragging noise the heavy door makes and him and Phil go through it and quickly leave without a word.

“They didn’t seem dangerous.”, Phil says when they’re further away.

“Trust me, they are. If you even talked to them, they’d convince you to join their group.”, Techno says. Phil frowns.

“That sounds like a nice thing for them to do.”, Phil says. Techno shakes his head.

“They don’t give you a choice Phil. They only care about numbers and control.”, Techno says.

“Is that the group that?..”, Phil asks and Techno nods.

“Yeah. I guess they’re branching further out with their supply runs.”, Techno says.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about..”, Phil says. “We should get back home before the others worry.”

“Why would they worry? They have a whole house to themselves. They’re probably hoping we die and don’t come back.”, Techno says dryly. Phil sighs.

“You know that’s not true. We haven’t known each other long, but I think those two look up to you sort of.”, Phil says and he laughs a bit at the disgusted look on Techno’s face.

“Well I can’t imagine why.”, Techno says. “I hardly even talk to them.”

“Well maybe you should. If we’re all staying together, you might as well get along right?”, Phil says with a laugh.

“Who says I’m staying?”, Techno asks. Phil’s heart sinks at those words. Ah. So Techno didn’t plan on sticking around after all. That’s fine. The man didn’t want to stay on his first offer anyways. He shouldn’t feel upset.

“Of course..I just meant if you decided to stay..”, Phil says with a slightly forced laugh. “You’ve been a lot of help around here. I appreciate it Techno. And I’m happy you brought Wilbur and Tommy to me. They looked like they both needed help.”
“I was just paying you back for dropping two kids on you.”, Techno says with a shrug. “I still don’t trust them..When I leave in a few days, you should keep a closer eye on them. You trust them too much y’know.”

“I don’t know what you mean. They’re good kids.”, Phil says.

“Even Tommy?”, Techno asks with a raised eyebrow. Phil can’t help but laugh a that.

“Even Tommy.”, He affirms. Techno rolls his eyes and snorts before he looks ahead.

“Wilbur.”, He says.

“Yes, yes. Wilbur too-”, Phil says with a smile.

“No. Over there. What is he doing?”, Techno says as he points in front of them. Phill looks and can see Wilbur with his beanie and faded yellow sweater in the distance. The boy was looking around, and Phil could hear him shout Tommy’s name. All the blood in him goes cold.

Chapter Text

“He stole from you.”, Techno says with barely contained rage as he paces in place. Philza is standing silently in the kitchen with him.

“And you didn’t see where he went Wilbur?”, Phil asks and Wilbur shakes his head.

“I was organizing a shelf in here, and came across some old albums..”, Wilbur explains as he rubs the back of his neck. Techno glares at him.

“I told you that you should keep an eye on him. It was the one thing you had to do.”, Techno spits out.

“Hey, it’s not Wilbur's fault that Tommy left.”, Phil says. Techno looks at the look on his face and frowns. Instead of a look of anger the man should be feeling at the situation, he just looked worried. “We should go out and search for him. I know he has supplies, but he’s just a kid.”

“Phil, he stole from you.”, Techno repeats his earlier statement. “He’s not a helpless child. He knew what he was doing.

"I know..It wasn't personal though.", Phil says.

"Not personal?!- You let him stay here and gave him food and he stabbed you in the back!", Techno says exasperated.

"Yeah he's a shit head- But he's a kid. I'll talk to him once we find him. You said that group was dangerous right? He shouldn't be alone.", Phil says. Techno clenches his fist. Why was Phil being so lenient on this kid? It's not like he was responsible for him.

"He'll fit right in with them anyways then.", Techno says.

"What group are we talking about here?", Wilbur asks.

"It's one run by a man named Dream. He's a-", Techno starts but Wilbur gapes.

"Dream? You saw him nearby?", Wilbur asks.

"No, just his lackeys. Why? How do you know him?", Techno asks.

"I..I used to be in his group. I got thrown out.", Wilbur explains bitterly as he clenches his fist. "I kept trying to form a democracy, and the green boy wasn't happy about it."

"They don't usually just throw people out. They usually torture them.", Techno says which causes Phil to freeze next to him and mumble a "Holy shit" under his breath.

"They do don't they? Guess I was too much trouble. They hardly gave me anything when they threw me out. Think they meant for me to die. Or come crawling back.", Wilbur says with a shrug. He shakes his head. "If they see Tommy they'll take him. The younger the better they think."

"Then we have to find him.", Phil says quickly.

"No, we're not. He stole and chose to run away. You gave him a chance and he blew it.", Techno says.

"And I'm choosing to give him a second chance.", Phil says simply. He looks up at Techno. "You don't have to come with, but Tommy was a good kid. He must have a reason to want to head off on his own."

"Good kid? You're babying him-", Techno says but can tell this is a losing battle. Phil was really going to risk his life to go and get this kid. If Techno hadn't dumped the kid on him in the first place this wouldn't have happened.

He realistically didn't owe Phil anything. Sure, Phil let him stay in his home, but Techno already helped him get supplies. He wanted to show Phil that other town so he had another option for getting supplies when he left. He should be gone by now, out on his own like he was before. But the voice in his head told him he couldn't.

Maybe he didn't owe Phil anything physical, but Phil was kind. The first person to be kind and selfless to Techno in a long time.

"I'll help.", Techno says and Phil looks surprised, but a smile grows on his face.

"Thank you Techno. We should go. Wilbur, are you coming?", Phil asks the other and Wilbur shrugs and pushes his brown locks out of his face.

"Sure. Why not. A road trip.", He says, but Techno can tell the kid is also worried about Tommy. He huffs. Why did they even care about the little thief?

"I'll get some supplies ready- He couldn't have gone too far but we should hurry.", Phil says as he quickly gets a few bags and puts some food in them.

"If they really did get Tommy, what's the plan?", Wilbur says.

"There is no plan after that.", Techno says like it was obvious. "We're not fighting them."

"Doubt your fighting skills? You're good with a sword y'know.", Wilbur says.

"I don't doubt mine. But it'll be a pain to back you two up. You more than Phil.", Techno says.

"Ouch. I think I can handle my own well. I could just sneak in, or run away if things go south.", Wilbur says. "Either way, I'm not bailing on Tommy."

"No one's bailing on Tommy.", Phil says. He hands them each a backpack and they take it. "There's food and water in there. He couldn’t have gone far, we can look for footsteps.”

Techno doubts they’ll be able to find the kid, and he still thinks they shouldn’t find him but he can tell Phil’s going to be stubborn on this. The three of them leave the cabin and Techno vows h’s going to teach the kid a lesson if he gets his hands on him.

Tommy feels a sinking feeling in his stomach as he moves further and further away from the cozy cabin he would have liked to call home. He knew there was no going back now. They must have noticed him and the supplies he took with him gone already. The evidence that he was a traitor and couldn’t be trusted weigh heavily in the bags he took with him.

He kicks at the dirt as he walks, not sure what to do next. He looks at the compass again and curses at the small needle in his head. Sometimes he thinks the thing might be busted, or more realistically, it never really worked at all. He could be walking and walking to a place that did not have his best friend, and he’d be none the wiser to it. It was a scary thought, but he still followed the direction the little needle pointed despite it.

He’d never give up on Tubbo. He was Tommy’s only friend in the world.

He was going to miss the weird lot back at the cabin though. Maybe he’ll even miss Techno. It was always fun getting a rise out of him. He knows they won’t miss him. He’ll just be the rotten kid who stole from people who helped him in their heads, and that felt oddly sour to Tommy.

He keeps walking and sees the light from the sun go down over the horizon and fill the sky with hues of red and orange. Great. He would either have to sleep outside or keep walking until he found someplace. He keeps walking.

As the sky turns dark, he thinks about what he’ll say to Tubbo when he sees him again. It’s something he does when he starts to feel lonely. He’s a big man, and he didn’t need anybody, but even big men who didn’t need anybody get lonely, he thinks.

He frowns when he sees his own shadow standing stark on the ground of the road before him as a light from behind grows closer and closer. He frowns and immediately turns around and sees a van driving closer. He can’t see who’s driving it through the windows because of the brightness from the lights. The car stops and Tommy sands up straighter and immediately shoves one of his hands in his pocket and clasps the cold metal of the gun in it.

“Hey kid. What are doing in the middle of the road?”, A man says as he opens the door of the van and gets out. Tommy goes cold as he recognizes the voice. Fucking hell. “Wait..Tommy?”

“Tommy? That’s the kid who stole from us right?”, Another man asks boredly as he also steps out of the car. Tommy can see the surface of his stupid clout goggles shining dimly in the light. George and Sapnap. The two fellows who were always by Dream’s side when he shortly stayed in that group.

“Yeah that’s right. And I have a gun. So fuck off.”, Tommy says before he can think. He takes out his gun and points it at George. George takes a step back.

“Hey- Is that even on safety?”, George asks before he takes a gun of his own out and points it at Tommy.

“Of course not. This kid was trigger happy when we found him the first time remember?”, Sapnap says mockingly. He also pulls out a gun. “Just come with us kid. Dream’s going to like this.”

“Like I’m going with you. I’m my own man.”, Tommy scowls. He feels a lick of fear at the two guns pointed at him, but he swallows and stands his ground. They wouldn’t actually shoot him, right?

“If that was true you wouldn’t have to steal other people’s things like a baby.”, Sapnap says.

“I’m not a- I steal things fair and square! Maybe if you all weren’t just a bunch of idiots you wouldn’t get stolen from!”, Tommy says and almost smirks at the anger growing on the other’s face.

“If you don’t drop the gun and come over here, I’m going to shoot you. I don’t care if you’re a kid, nobody messes with our group.”, He says and Tommy laughs but it dies down when he sees the man’s unwavering glare. Holy shit. He’s actually serious isn’t he?

“Don’t you wanna take me back though? Throw me in one of those weird rooms where you lock people in?”, Tommy says as he recalls the eerie base while he was there. Shit, he didn’t want to go back there.

“Well you’re not of any use.”, Sapnap says. “So drop the gun and slowly walk over here.”

“I’ll just shoot you instead!”, Tommy says as he puts a bit of pressure on the trigger with his finger. Not enough to actually shoot, but he was ready.

“He wouldn’t.”, George says as he leans against the front of the card. He almost looked bored. “Dream’s going to hate that we’re late.”

“Who cares? Once he sees we captured the thief he won’t care.”, Sapnap says back. “Now I’ll give you a count to three Tommy. One, two..”

“Wait wait! Don’t!”, Tommy quickly says as he sees Sapnap put a hand over the trigger. He was actually going to do it. He has no other choice. He pulls the trigger on his own gun and clenches his eyes shut. The click of the trigger being pushed is heavy in the air, and Tommy feels confused when he doesn’t hear the firing of the gun after. He opens an eye and tries again and just hears the same clicking noise. Oh. He ran out of bullets.

“Well shit.”, Tommy says with a nervous laugh. He’s shaking a bit. Sapnap is walking fastly over to him and he takes a step back. He speaks quickly. “Was just gonna shoot at your leg or something-”

The man grabs the front of Tommy’s shirt.

“You’re in big trouble now kid.”, He says. Tommy tries to push him away, but the man points his gun at him and Tommy freezes at the sight of the gun inches away from his face. He reluctantly stops struggling.

“If you’re lucky, maybe Dream will kill you fast.”, Sapnap says.

“Oh knock it off, he wouldn’t do anything to a kid.”, George says. “He’ll probably end up locked up though.”

“We’re supposed to be intimidating him, George. He would have shot me!”, Sapnap says as he begins dragging Tommy to the van. The two bicker as they throw Tommy into the back of the van, throwing his empty gun at the side of the road and locking the doors as they start to drive away. Tommy feels his heart beating fast.

“Let me go!”, He yells. He tries jumping to the front and taking hold of the steering wheel and the car swerves on the road from the distraction but George pushes him away and Sapnap manages to straighten the car back on the road.

“What the fuck!”, George says as he struggles to hold Tommy back from doing it again.

“Just knock him out George!”, Sapnap calls out and George holds his gun, and Tommy’s eyes widen before the man hits Tommy hard on the head repeatedly with the hard metal of the gun and everything goes black.

Chapter Text

A dull pain in the back of Tommy’s head blooms into a great headache as he slowly opens his eyes. The hard surface of the concrete he was lying on made his shoulder ache slightly and didn't help with the cold temperature. He manages to sit up, his vision slowly becoming less foggy as he blinks a couple of times. He sees the row of steel bars on the other side of the room and feels his heart plummet.

Memories of the car and George and Sapnap come back to him and he can’t help the string of frustrated curses that bubble out of him as he stands up. The bars were all he needed to identify where he was. This was Dream’s little prison.

Tommy had only been in the group for a short time before, but some of the very first things he was told by others were hushed warnings of what happens to those who defy Dream and his rules. One word about torture and isolation was all Tommy needed to decide to book it earlier. It still hadn’t stopped him from stealing those supplies though.

The sound of footsteps resounding against the walls make him freeze and look through the bars. He’s met with a smile he knows all too well.

“Dream.”, Tommy says with a swallow. He clenches his fists to keep himself from shaking. He was a big man after all, and he wasn’t going to let the swell of fear he fel show. “What the hell is this- Get me out, now.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening Tommy.”, Dream says with a small exhale that shows his amusement. Tommy frowns.

“Well why not?”, Tommy asks. “Your little cronies kidnapped me, and stole all my stuff!”

“Your stuff? Tommy, you stole from us. That stuff you had in those bags may not have been ours, but I’m sure you picked it off some other people.”, Dream says as he points at Tommy. “You’re a thief, and you betrayed the group.”

“I’m not part of your little group for your information.”, Tommy says. Dream laughs and shakes his head.

“Nobody leaves the group unless I say so Tommy.”, Dream says. Tommy takes a step back despite the bars separating them both. “Look, I know you’re just a dumb kid, so I’m willing to give you a second chance.”

“Second chance my ass, you’re going to torture me and shit.”, Tommy says.

“Torture? Why would I do that to a kid?”, Dream asks. “Look, I know you’re just dumb. You’re still growing up or whatever. So, I’ll let you have this second chance. You have to earn my trust back though. You shot at my friends.”

“Because they were trying to kidnap me!”, Tommy says.

“They were just trying to take you back to the group.”, Dream argues but shakes his head. “I’ll give you some time to think Tommy, but until you prove yourself to me, you’re going to stay in this cell.”

“Fuck you! I’m not joining your group, you’re insane.”, Tommy yells.

“I’ll see you later Tommy.”, Dream simply says with a wave as he turns away. Tommy hears the sound of his footsteps fade away and he curses.

“Fuck..”, He says as he puts a hand over his chest. His heart was beating too fast for his comfort, and his palms were sweaty. Was he actually stuck here? He looks around the cell. It was made out of regular old concrete, but in the middle here was a simple wooden bench bolted against the wall. He sits down on it and puts his head in his hands.

Maybe he should have pretended to comply with Dream, but he shakes his head. He’s sure the man would have seen through it anyway. He was trapped in this damn cell for probably all of eternity. He looks at his hands and sees the compass on the bracelet.

“Just a bit longer..”, He mumbles as he looks at the little red needle underneath the layer of glass. He frowns when he notices the little thing spin around more than usual, not settling in a single direction. He stares at it and feels a sinking dread wash over him. He blinked back tears in his eyes.

The damn thing was finally broken. It was broken, and he would never see his best friend again. Everything he did was for nothing, and he would die here alone, betraying the only people who gave a damn about him in the process.

He silently cries.

“We’re going too far.”, Phil hears Techno voice out behind him. He stops and turns to see Techno looking at him with a straight face. Wilbur is just a little bit behind looking through the window of some abandoned shop they passed.

It’s been a day since Tommy left, and the three of them had taken camp during the night so they can walk more during the day. They’ve made some distance, but no sign of the child or anyone else for that matter could be found. Phil sighs.

“Maybe you’re right.”, He says. He doesn’t like the sound of it, but he knew if they went any further the chances of getting completely lost and unable to go back home would increase. He could tell Techno was restless too. He was against the idea of looking for the child from the beginning, and as much as Phil couldn’t blame him, he still wanted to try. He shakes his head. “Then..Let’s head back.”

“The kid made sure to take a lot of supplies. He should be good on his own anyways for a while.”, Techno says bitterly. He puts a hand over his eyes to shield the light from the sun. “If we head back now we can make some distance before nightfall. We’ll still need to pick up more supplies again..”

“Right right. Let’s go then. Wilbur?”, Phil said as he turned to the other. Wilbur looked over at them, his attention broken from whatever he was looking at.

“Uh..Yeah. I’m sure Tommy will find his way back if he really found himself in a pinch anyways.”, Wilbur says with a slight smile. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. He looks back at the shop window. “Mind if I pick up something from in here first?”

“What is it?”, Techno says as he walks over.

“A great guitar. Guess nobody thought to ransack a music shop in the middle of all of this, huh?”, Wilbur says with a laugh. The frown on Techno’s face doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Huh? A guitar? That will just attract attention we don’t need.”, Techno says.

“I won’t play it just anywhere. I’ll just play it at the cabin. It won’t be a problem”, Wilbur says. “Come on Phil, don’t you agree? From one artist to another.”

“What?”, Phil says in that statement.

“Well, me and Tommy saw your sketchbooks..I mean- Of course we didn’t look inside of them but we just saw them.”, Wilbur quickly explains. “Anyways, I’m sure you still even draw with all of this happening right?”

“Well, yeah but..”, Phil says as he looks at the guitar behind the glass. He knew little about making music, but even he could tell it looked nice. He looks back at Wilbur’s pleading face and Techno looking at him with crossed arms. “I think it wouldn’t be a problem..As long as you’re careful not to play too loudly..”

A smile quickly grows on Wilbur’s face and Phil can’t help but smile a bit at the sight. He looks back at Techno and expects more objections from him, but the man simply rolls his eyes and turns on his heel. “Well hurry up and get it then. If we end up dead because of it though don’t blame me..”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic.”, Wilbur says with a grin as he goes to the door of the shop. The two watch as the young musician manages to get the door open and go inside.

“He’s going to end up playing it all night.”, Techno says and Phil laughs a bit.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”, Phil says. “Don’t you have any hobbies you miss?”

“None too important. I used to play sports...and the violin.”, Techno says with a shrug. Phil blinks. He couldn’t imagine someone like Techno to play the violin. The man had always given off an aura of strength and danger. Phil smiles at the image of Techno gracefully playing the violin.

“Alright! Even found a case for it too.”, Wilbur says as he motions to the guitar case strapped on his back.

“Let’s get going then. We might pass some walkers on the way back.”, Techno says as he starts to walk in a direction.

“Do you remember the way back mate?”, Phil asks and Techno grins.

“They don’t call me the human GPS for nothing..”, Techno says.

“Who calls you that?”, Wilbur says with a barely concealed laugh which earns him a glare from the man. Phil sighs but can’t help but smile at the two’s antics. He looks at the sky and admires how clear it is despite some clouds passing by. He hopes Tommy will be ok until he finds the time to go search for him. He wraps his coat closer around himself and follows the two back home.

Chapter Text

With his legs drawn up to his chest, Tommy sits on the hard bench with his tired eyes following the erratic twitches and turns of the needle. Judging by how many times he’s given food, he’d say it’s only been two days since he’s been stuck here.

The only person he’s gotten to see was Dream and his irritating mask. The man would bring him water and meager meals through the bars of the cell. Tommy despite telling himself he’d refuse anything the green hooded man gave him didn’t waste any time scarfing the food down. What? He was hungry. He wouldn’t offer a thank you or anything of the sort to the man though.

Dream didn’t speak too much. He would hum when he saw Tommy eating and often walk away before Tommy can yell at him through mouthfuls of the shitty food he was given. Whatever. Dream was the last person Tommy wanted to talk to.

He wondered if maybe it was time to give up. His hopes of finding his best friend have been crushed by the compass, but maybe he could find Tubbo without it? It was possible Tubbo broke his own compass. Yeah, he was always clumsy like that, but a sinking feeling that ate away at him told him that was probably not the case.

His thinking was cut off by the sound of familiar approaching footsteps, and he dragged his gaze away from the needle to the man standing on the other side of the bars.

“Well? What do you want dickhead?”, Tommy asks. He means to put more venom in the words, but they come out as tired as he feels.

“Hello. I just wanted to see how you were doing Tommy.”, Dream says. Tommy narrows his eyes. He hates that he can’t tell what the man was feeling behind the soulless smile on the porcelain mask.

“You literally trapped me here..”, Tommy scoffs as he puts his chin in his hand. “My bones ache from this damn bench. And the food sucks. Not like you care anyways.”

“Tommy of course I care. You’re part of the group, and as leader I care about everyone in it.”, Dream explains. “You know, this is to help you. You wouldn’t have made it on your own.”

“Well I wasn’t alone.”, Tommy says without thinking. Dream’s head tilts to the side a bit.

“What do you mean by that?”, Dream asks and Tommy swallows.

“Nothing.”, He says quickly.

“Who were the people you were with? You weren’t too far away from what Sapap and George told me. Only about a two days walk..”, Dream says. Shit. He wasn’t going to let this topic go was he?

“It wasn’t a group. Just a couple of idiots actually. I stole from them and ran off.”, Tommy tries to say casually with a shrug. The sinking pit in his stomach at the festering guilt he felt over the whole ordeal comes back with a full force. He wasn’t going to say anything about where they were. It was the least he can do after what he did.

“Hmm. I thought I rounded up everyone close by. You know, it would be better if they were here. We have a lot of food, and there’s power in numbers with the amount of walkers around.”, Dream says. Tommy rolls his eyes. He thinks none of them would like it in this place. Especially Techno. Tommy missed even him right now.

“Well they looked like they moved around a lot, so I wouldn’t know where they were buddy-”, Tommy says as he crosses his arms. “Did you come here for a reason or not? I’m tired of seeing your face..”

Dream stays silent for a second, humming slightly before he reaches through the bars and sets a tray of food on the ground. Tommy’s eyes immediately look at it, and he has to keep himself from jumping up and grabbing it.

“I’ll check on you later Tommy.”, Dream says. Tommy waits until he walks away before he gets up and gets the tray. The man didn’t press more on the topic about the others he was with, but he has a sinking feeling it was a topic he was going to bring up again in the future.

He sighs and picks at the cold greens on the plate.

The moon shone bright against the stark black of the night sky dotted with faint stars. He supposes the returning of the bright objects in the sky due to no more light pollution was one of the benefits of the zombie apocalypse. He sighs and checks through the bag in his hands again, trying his best to not be restless.

They came back to the cabin that afternoon, Wilbur already strumming a light melody on the newly found guitar that caused Techno to be irritated. It was almost funny that the man was so alert at all times, but it made Phil sad in a way. He thinks when he was Techno’s age he was hanging out with friends and doing stupid shit. He can’t imagine not having that time in his life.

The young man’s vigilance didn’t stop at nightfall. Phil knew he was still up like most nights tending to the blade he carried around as well as taking a quick walk around outside. He hears the front door creak open faintly and knows his time to leave will be soon. He already has his carefully written note in his hand in his hand. He thinks he’ll set it on the kitchen table; somewhere where him and Wilbur will surely see it in the morning.

There’s the sound of footsteps followed shortly by a curt knock on his bedroom door. He smiles a bit, making sure to hide the bag swiftly under a cover before he goes over and opens it.

“Techno. About to head to bed mate?”, Phil asks and Techno nods. His sword is still in his hand.

“Yup. Checked outside and everything seems to be good..”, Techno says with a shrug.

“Ah, thanks for checking.”, Phil says with a smile. He’s already told him multiple times there was no need for him to do so, but Phil can tell the action comforted him so he lets him be. “You do a lot here, me and Wil really appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing.”, Techno says but the slight smile threatening to show on his face shows his pride at the statement well. “Don’t stay up too late old man.”

“Hey- I’m not old.”, Phil says but can’t help but laugh. Getting a joke out of Techno was getting less rare the more time he spent with the man. Him and Wilbur especially could go back forth, and they would have to tell Phil to stop laughing so loud because he might alert something nearby. “But I will. You too though.”

“Good.”, Techno says with a nod. “Goodnight Phil..”,

“Night mate.”, Phil says with a wave as the other turns and shuts the door behind him. Phil smiles a bit. If he’s lucky he won’t be long.

He leaves his room quietly with the note in hand and sets it folded atop on the kitchen table. He goes back to his room and puts out the flame of the candle in his room before he slowly opens the window in his room. He winces at the sound the wood makes as he lifts it open just enough, but he smiles when he feels the slight breeze from the cool night come in.

Taking off his coat, he puts the bag on carefully before he gets atop the window sill. He unfurls his wings, the tired limbs sore from behind hidden for so long. He sighs from relief before he moves his legs and leaps. The wind under his wings catches him, and through the night sky he goes.

He hopes Tommy will be alright until he finds him.

The sound of footsteps break Tommy out of his fitful sleep, and with a groan he sits up and stretches a bit to try and relieve his aching muscles. He blinks the sleepiness out of his eyes before it hits him. These footsteps weren’t heavy and sharp like the ones Dream makes with his large boots. No, these were slower, softer, and stopped every few seconds as if the person walking was approaching a cage.

He stands up.

When the footsteps reach his cell, Tommy looks with a hardened gaze that dissolves faster than paper in water. The other mirrors the surprise on his face; blue eyes widen and a mouth hangs open.

“Tommy?”, The person finally says. Tommy nearly laughs at the sound.

“Tubbo!”, He says with a laugh. Tubbo’s face breaks into a smile at that, his laughter mixing in with his own. He nearly trips on his untied laces as he runs over to the bars.

“What the hell! Tubbo it's actually you!”, Tommy says with a laugh and Tubbo nods eagerly.

“It’s me, it’s me! I was scared that you- Oh Tommy it’s so good to see you!”, Tubbo says. Tommy thinks he must be in a dream. After so long of searching, it turns out this is how he found his best friend; being kidnapped and tossed in a cage.

“Wait! Tubbo, why are you here? Did they get you too?”, Tommy’s tone suddenly grows serious.

“What? No- Me and my dad were going pretty far, and we ran into these guys recently! The leader is a little odd, but there’s a lot of nice people.”, Tubbo says. He frowns. “Why are you in here Tommy? What did you do now?”

“What did I- What did I do?! Tubbo, the people here are psychopaths! They got me and put me in here.”, Tommy says as he puts his hands in the air in exasperation.

“Huh. Well that’s not really fair. Did you steal from them?”, Tubbo asks.

“I can’t believe you! I say they kidnapped me and you accuse me of stealing!”, Tommy says but huffs. “Yeah yeah, I did, but these guys are wrongins Tubbo. We need to get out of here.”

“I don’t know, they are pretty nice to me though. Mr. Dream said I just needed to start bringing meals to the prisoner here. I thought it’d be someone scary!”, Tubbo says and Tommy nearly groans.

“Well I will be scary if you don’t help me outta here Tubbo!”, Tommy says and Tubbo laughs a bit.

“They um..They didn’t hurt you right?”,Tubbo says cautiously after his laughter dies down. Tommy sighs and almost rolls his eyes at his friend’s worry.

“No Tubbo..No they didn’t hurt me too much. Just a bump on the head when they got me. Dream is too much of a pussy to fight me one on one..”, Tommy says with a shrug and Tubbo smiles slightly.

“Well..Maybe I can talk to him! You’re just a kid right?..They can’t really do anything. Just say you won’t do anything wrong again.”, Tubbo says.

“Would they actually listen to you?..”, Tommy asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Well- Mr. Dream did say I was doing really good with my tasks, so maybe?”, Tubbo says with a shrug. “I’ll try- And well if he doesn’t maybe we can do an escape plan?”

“Yeah- Yeah that sounds good- How about we just do the escape plan anyways?”, Tommy says and Tubbo shakes his head.

“I mean- I don’t want to get in trouble if I absolutely don’t have to. My dad likes it here too- They have alcohol.”, Tubbo says.

“Well fine, you can try your way first.”, Tommy says with a sigh. He can’t help the smile on his face. God, he’s smiling so much that it’s starting to hurt. “You know, I thought you were in trouble Tubbo..I’ve spent a long time following this damn thing.”

Tubbo stares at the compass as Tommy raises his hand to show the dangling bracelet. His eyes water a bit as he holds his own hand up. The matching bracelet sits on his best friend’s wrist as well.

“I’ve seen it move a bit..but it was going crazy recently. I was going to ask if maybe I could take a walk around. It usually means it’s close by where it’s pointing to.”, Tubbo says and Tommy nearly laughs.

“So that’s why it did that. That’s so stupid-”, Tommy says as he runs a hand through his hair.

“Have you been alone this whole time Tommy? I feel like I haven’t seen you in years. You have to tell me everything.” Tubbo says as he sits down on the ground outside of the bars. Tommy grins and does the same on his side.

“Alright- I’ve been on a lot of adventures since- I’ve been doing a lot of epic shit.”, Tommy says.

Even sitting there on the cold concrete cell, Tommy felt better than he has ever since this whole shit show started. Tubbo laughs as he excitedly tells what he’s been up to and his heart soars. His best friend was back. He didn’t have to search anymore.

In the midst of their shared glee they don’t notice a set of eyes watching them from afar behind a mask. Their laughter and excited words reach the onlooker’s ears.

Chapter Text

Sunny days were less and less to come by ever since the whole apocalypse things started. He was sitting with his dad by the beach, lazily drawing shapes of figures that only made sense to his own eyes when the whole thing happened. He had eyed his wrist and the weight of the dangling compass made him think about how much better it would all be if his best friend were there.

That same sentiment didn’t leave Tubbo the months to follow.

It had only been him and his dad for a while. They would hide in empty buildings and carry as much food and supplies as they could find. His father used to be a businessman, a big CEO, but after the flesh eating figures came about he always seemed wrought with stress.

Every night when the two would stop somewhere he’d look at the little compass and wonder if his best friend was doing the same. He couldn’t imagine a life without his friend. They had been through thick and thin together.

The compass was the only constant in his life as him. His dad was changing. He would drink old liquor they had come across alone at night when he thought Tubbo was fast asleep. He would talk about how they needed to look after themselves and themselves alone now.

He thought things would become more stable now they had joined this group of people. They had come across them while gathering supplies. They seemed nice enough. They had a lot of rules, and there was an unspoken uneasiness that blanketed everyone whenever the leader was brought up, but he didn’t think too much about it. He just did his chores he was assigned and mostly kept to himself.

One day he had been called by Dream himself to come talk to him. One of his friends, Karl, had come to get him.

“Am I in trouble?”, Tubbo had asked as he ran through a list of things he could have gotten in trouble for through his head. The man had laughed.

“No silly, I think he just wanted to tell you something.”, Karl said and with that the two of them left to Dream’s room.

His room wasn’t too large, but Tubbo couldn’t help but look around. He expected an abundance of items from the man who was the leader of such a large camp of people, but only some weapons hung on the walls. The masked man was sitting in front of a desk with papers and maps spread about.

“Ah, Tubbo was it?”, The man asked and Tubbo could hear the smile in his voice. His shoulders had relaxed as he nodded. The man motioned for him to walk closer and Tubbo did so slowly.

“So, I know you’re new here right?”, Dream asked and Tubbo nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks for letting us stay here by the way.”, Tubbo said with a smile.

“The more the merrier. I have a task I need you to take care of for me though.”, Dream started to explain. “We have someone around your age in our group. He stole from us and ran off, but we managed to bring him back..”

“Oh..”, Tubbo had said not quite sure where he was going.

“You see, I just want the best for him. He’s a kid you know? I value everyone in the group. But of course he won’t see reason with me. But you- You’re around his age. He might listen to you better.”, Dream said and Tubbo tried not to frown.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m a very good persuader..”, Tubbo said carefully.

“You could try right? If it doesn’t work, or if he threatens you then we can stop. But he can’t hurt you anyways as long as you stay away from the bars. Just bring him his food and maybe say hi-”, Dream explained.

“Well alright..I guess I could try.”, Tubbo had reluctantly agreed.

“Good.”, Dream had said.

Tubbo expected some hardened and feral boy when he approached the bars cautiously. He almost laughed at how it was anything but. It was just Tommy, his best friend in the world. Somehow fate had brought them together again. He was so wrapped up in his joy for his found friend that he didn’t dwell too much on the fact that he was encaged, or that Dream saw him as a threat. In the back of his mind he was sure the man would listen to him when he asked for his friend to be let out.

They had talked for hours. He listened to Tommy’s stories of expertly killing droves of zombies and had laughed along despite the obvious absurdity of the tales. Tommy hadn’t even stopped talking about his adventures when he suddenly stopped and demanded Tubbo to tell him of his own.

“I honestly haven’t done anything cool. Mostly just hide or help my dad find supplies. This place is pretty cool though. I can sleep easier here.”, Tubbo said with a shrug.

“No no no, this place is not “cool” Tubbo”, Tommy said as he put up quotation marks with his fingers. “We need to get out of here stat. I..I think I know a place we might be able to go too.”

“I’ll talk to Dream Tommy. I’m sure this is all uh..a misunderstanding? Just tell him you won’t do it again and it’ll be ok!”, Tubbo said with a nod.

“Yeah right. I’ll do it again and then again just to rub it in his plastic smile face.”, Tommy said with a roll of his eyes. Tubbo almost groaned.

“I’ll go tell him now in fact- You’ll be out of here and then we can catch up properly. You’ll see!”, Tubbo said.

“Fine. We’ll do it your way then.”, Tommy said with a sigh. “Tubbo.”

“Yeah Tommy?”

“I’m glad you’re alive buddy.”

“Thanks! I’m glad you’re alive too.”

“Dream? He’s not in his office right now.”, Karl told Tubbo when he had asked the man. Tubbo sighed.

“Oh- Well if you catch him can you tell him I want to talk to him?”, Tubbo asked.

“Sure thing.”, Karl had said with a thumbs up and with a defeated sigh he was about to leave until he caught sight of George.

He didn’t know George too well. He only recognized the man because of the iconic white glasses that always sat on his face and the way the man always seemed to be near Sapnap and Dream. He thought the man would know where Dream was.

He was about to go back into the room and ask but stopped when he heard the man start to speak.

“I think Dream’s finally losing it.”, The man had said.

“Huh? Why? Is he not sleeping again?”, Karl asked.

“Well there’s that. But now he’s going on about something he said he saw in the sky.”, George said.

“Huh? Don’t tell me it was a plane!”, Karl said.

“No- Even weirder. He said he saw someone flying.”, George said. “Hybrids are still a thing yes, but there’s nothing about winged people anymore.”

“Maybe it was a very big bird.”, Karl said and George sighed.

“Whatever it was, hopefully he comes off of it soon.”, George said. “Have you seen Sapnap?..I need to switch with him on patrol so I can sleep..”

Tubbo blinked at the conversation but shook his head and walked away. He’d just ask Dream another time.

“What do you mean he’s gone?”, Techno said.

“Just read the note for yourself.”, Wilbur said as he handed a letter to Techno. Techo took it quickly into his hands before his eyes scanned over the words.

“Techno, Wil-

I know we searched a long ways for Tommy, but I know I can find him. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry, and please help yourselves to anything there.

-Phil”

“I don’t get it- Is he looking in a different direction?”, Wilbur asked as Techno finished the letter. It took everything in the man to not crumple the paper in his hands from frustration.

“Why would he leave alone?”, Techno asked.

“You were over the whole finding Tommy thing. Probably just didn’t want to bother us anymore.”, Wilbur said. “I was fine with searching though..Do you think he got far?”, Wilbur asked.

“No…”, Techno said. He shakes his head.

He hasn’t known the man for long, but Phil had been the first person he had a conversation with ever since the mess. Usually niceties towards him were due to the other person wanting something out of him be it protection, his supplies, or his weapons. Phil never asked anything of him though. He thinks the only thing he asked was for him to always take what he needed or wanted. He had put off leaving the cabin so much that he was already thinking of more supplies trips for them to get what they needed.

“If he’s not back tonight, I’m leaving.”, Techno said.

“Leaving?..You’re not even going to say goodbye?”, Wilbur asked.

“No. I’ll be leaving to go find him.”, Techno said and Wilbur smiled.

“Oh. Well good then. I’ll go with. I’m sure he’s fine though..He’s lived this long by himself before you came right?”, Wilbur said and Techno nodded.

Techno thinks he better be right.

The next day the first thing on Tubbo’s mind was the conversation he needed to have with Dream. Nervousness crept into his mind, but he shook it off. It was sort of odd that Dream would put someone like Tommy in a cell, but he supposed Tommy had his moments. It would all be fine anyways when he just explained to Dream that Tommy wasn’t a bad guy. Maybe they could get the same chores and do them together after. He smiled.

He hopped out of bed and got to his routine, saying hi to his dad before he started to knock his usual assigned duties off his list. He kept an eye out for Dream as he went along his way, hoping to talk to him. He knew Tommy must be restless not having someone to talk to for so long. It was after he was done with helping with the dishes that he saw the familiar man in the green hood.

“Mr. Dream-”, Tubbo said as he ran over. George was in the middle of talking to the man and Tubbo almost felt bad for interrupting but it was too late anyways. Dream didn’t seem to take offense, or at least didn’t say anything but George’s mouth went into a straight line.

“Oh, Tubbo. Karl said you wanted to talk. I’ve been meaning to talk to you too.”, Dream said.

“Really? Is it about Tommy-”, Tubbo asked. “Because I think there’s some sort of misunderstanding. I knew Tommy before well- everything. He’s a good person!”

“I know he’s a good person.”, Dream said as he shook his hand. “The thing is, he’s just not ready to leave the cell yet. I’m surprised you two know each other..”

“What do you mean not ready?..”, Tubbo tries not to let his hope fall.

“He doesn’t trust the group..If I let him go he could run away again and get hurt. I’m just trying to help him..”, Dream put a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder. “You get it right? I mean, you helped a lot though. I’m sure you can get him to see that we just want to help him.”

“Well yeah..”, Tubbo said confused. “But- I don’t think he needs to stay locked up like that-”

“I know it seems cruel but..Just talk to him a little longer? He won’t be in there for much longer if things keep going well.”, Dream said. Tubbo frowned a bit, but quickly forced a smile.

“Alright but I really think we should-”, Tubbo started but stopped when someone came running over to them, holding something outwards in his hand.

“Dream- I think you were right.”, Sapnap says with a bewildered expression on his face.

He was holding a black feather in his hands. It was quite large, and Tubbo couldn’t help but wonder what type of bird could have that feather. The conversation between George and Karl creeps up in the back of his mind and he blinks. A flying man? With wings? That didn’t make any sense. Sure he’s heard and seen people with odd features, he has horns of his own growing from his head just like his dad’s, but wings?

“That could be from anything.”, George said as he crossed his arms. Dream’s head turns towards Tubbo.

“Why don’t you go serve Tommy his meal Tubbo?”, He said.

“Oh- Right.”, Tubbo said. He wanted to stay and hear more, but he finds his feet moving before he can even think.

When he reaches Tommy’s cell with the tray of food in his hands his head is so filled with questions of the feather that he forgot about the bad news.

“Tubbo! Jesus finally you’re back! So what’s the news big man?”, Tommy said as he hopped up. He looked tired. Tubbo blinked.

“Uh..He said not yet..”, Tubbo said as he recalled the actual reason he talked to the man. Tommy scowls and with that the mood soured.

“I knew it. He’s a bastard and I’ll rot away in here. You need to find the keys Tubbo.”

“But you’ll get in trouble! And me too- I like it here you know.”, Tubbo said.

“So you’ll let me rot in here just because you like it here?”, Tommy said mockingly. “We can just run away from this shithole. Why does this guy think he’s in charge anyways? The world is fucking dying, we should do whatever we feel like-”

“But we’d die alone.”, Tubbo said.

“Tubbo didn’t you hear me before? I could kill any of those things. And we got each other right?”, Tommy said.

“I guess...but I don’t think that really increases our survival skills.”, Tubbo said uncertainly. Anxiety started to fill him at the thought of leaving. He had his dad, and the world out there hadn’t gotten any better. It was better here.

“I..I know a place where we can stay. I stayed with this man for a while. He was too nice..I stole from him, but he seems like the guy who will just forgive me anyways.” Tommy started to say. He grips the bars and looks away. “He took in two other guys too- I’m sure he’d let both of us stay. It was safe, and it even had a bee farm. A fucking bee farm Tubbo.”

“A bee farm?”, Tubbo said with a slight laugh. He hadn’t even thought much about bees in a while. The thought of seeing a bee farm was nice. Whoever this man was obviously helped Tommy a lot if he’s revering him so. “So you just stole from him?..”

“I wanted to stay but-”, Tommy said but shakes his head. “Anyways- We have options. We could even start our own place if that doesn’t work out. So what do you say?”

“I think we should wait a few days Tommy- He said he’d let you out soon.”, Tubbo said.

“Are you kidding me? You trust that guy?”, Tommy asked.

“Not particularly but...If there’s a clear chance of us staying then let’s take it y'know? If he doesn’t then- I’ll find a way to steal the keys.”, Tubbo said and despite not being happy with the decision, Tommy sighed.

“Fine fine. Since you love this place so much for some reason. It all just seems creepy to me.”, Tommy grumbled.

“Creepy? Nah- I don’t think so.”, Tubbo said with a smile. A couple of days. He’s sure Tommy will be let out. Everything was going to be ok.

Chapter Text

Tommy groaned and slowly opened his eyes when the sound of loud footsteps pulled him out of his fitful sleep. He lifts his head from the uncomfortable bench, and even through his sleep addled mind he recognized the footsteps weren’t the slight hop of Tubbo’s. No- He knew before the man stood in front of the bars that this was a certain green bastard he could do without.

“Dream.”, He all but spits out as he glares at the man. “What do you want?”

“I just came to check on you. Sorry I haven’t come in a while.”, Dream says. “It’s been busy."

"Whatever..I have nothing to say to you anyways-", Tommy says as he looks away before immediately looking back and pointing at the man. "Why am I here anyways? Just let me go alright? I won't steal from you assholes again-"

"I'm just worried Tommy. Why is that so hard to believe?", Dream asks with a sigh.

"Because I'm in a literal cell!", Tommy says as he motions to the bars in front of them. Dream shakes his head.

"It's just somewhere to make sure you stay safe.", Dream says. "I want to let you out of here as much as you. Tubbo right? He asked me to let you go too..He cares a lot about you. I'm sure it would mean a lot to him if you behaved so I can let you out of here."

"I am behaved bitch- There's not much I can do in here anyways.", Tommy says.

"Hm. Your words though. You're still not for the group.", Dream says.

"Well of course I'm not- I'm not just gonna pretend to be to make you happy.", Tommy glares. Dream tilts his head to the side in consideration.

"Haven't you ever been in a group Tommy?", The question makes Tommy frown.

"Well yeah..Just to steal from them though. I'm a big man, I don't like this whole group shit.", Tommy said. And it was true. His only goal before was to find his best friend, but now that he knew where he was…

"Really? You didn't care about a single one?", Dream asks and subconsciously his mind flickers to the cabin with Phil urging him to eat, and Wilbur's annoying but catchy humming, and Techno's glare.

"No.", He says. "Not one."

"Ah. Well this will be a good change for you then won't it? Those other groups gave up on you. They let you go off on your own right? Well- I won't Tommy. You'll thank me.", Dream says and Tommy frowns.

"I don't think I will.", He says. Dream just lets out a small laugh. Tommy squints his eyes and wishes he could rip the stupid mask off the man's face. "I'll be back soon Tommy, but just think about what I said ok?"

Tommy glares at the man through the bars as he watches him disappear from view and hears his footsteps fade away. He sits on the hard bench and stares at his hands. Tubbo would come soon sure enough. And Tommy will tell him they need to book it.

He waits for what feels like hours until he's resigned to lay on the hard bench that makes his back ache and he shuts his eyes. He waits for a blanket of sleep to go over his racing thoughts and pull him into slumber.

"He said not to give you anything to pass along today..", The boy says a bit nervously and Tubbo's eyebrows furrow at the words.

"Really? But why?", Tubbo presses. The boy, Ranboo he had come to learn, shrugs.

"Beats me, didn't really think to ask..", He says as he looks down at his hand and tugs at his sleeve.

"Uh oh..I hope Tommy didn't do anything.", Tubbo says with a sigh. He knows his friend well, and he knew the trouble he was capable of causing even with nothing but his words and self.

"Sorry about that..Maybe tomorrow it will change?", Ranboo offers and Tubbo can only nod.

"Yeah..Yeah hopefully-", He says in thought.

He mulls over the passed message for the rest of the day as he goes through his other duties. His dad is off talking to some people, he's getting along well with a lot of people there, so he decides to head off into a secluded spot on the camp when his work is done.

The sun was setting, and there was a spot behind one of the sheds that was secluded enough that the grass and flowers lay untreated. He would be careful not to step on them as he sat in the same patch of grass he usually sat, looking up at the hues in the sky. It was too late for the bees to be about him, but he thinks about what Tommy said about the man with the bee farm.

His friend really had no one for a while huh? He had his dad, but Tommy sounded like he was alone in the midst of the chaos besides the group he briefly spoke of. He sighed and felt the breeze pick up as the sun set, the wind shifting through his hair. He shuts his eyes. He'll just make sure to be there for Tommy then. He was sure this whole mess would be behind him and everyone would see Tommy's not a bad guy at all.

He almost drifts off as the light begins to hide behind the horizon, but a soft gliding noise from above that he almost doesn't catch makes him open his eyes. He curiously looks at the sky and only catches a glimpse of a shadow, and he cranes his head and looks and follows it as it moves across the sky. It stops upon one of the sheds, and Tubbo stands up.

What did he just see?

He thinks about going to tell someone, but he decides against it in case the figure moves again. He walks slowly, scarcely breathing in an effort to be soundless, as if he was certain the creature would lash out at him at sight. He could scarcely see the figure in the dark, but as he approached he could make out the outline of great wings and the brim of a hat.

The winged man. The black feather. He was real and haunting, and the glint of his eyes as he turned his head and looked straight at Tubbo almost made him yelp.

"Shh.", The man says as he puts a finger over his lips. As if he could tell Tubbo was seconds away from letting a scream hes holding back out. He whispers in an accent and despite his fear Tubbo can't help but calm down a bit at the gentle tone. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Can I ask you a question?.."

"Uhh… ", Tubbo says uncertainly. He walks a bit closer and watches as the man folds his wings down against his back as if it were a habit. He could catch the sight of golden hair just below the man's shoulders and when he caught the stripes on the man's hat he almost laughed. "Sure."

"I'm looking for someone.", The man whispers. "I'm not too sure if he's here but..Just to clear my suspicions. He's a kid, he has blonde hair. Taller than you I'd say.."

"I don't know any kids here like that..", Tubbo says with a tilt of his head. "I can go ask someone though. I'm sure someone who keeps track of the people would know."

"No-", The man says quickly, his voice raising a bit which causes him to look around. Once he catches no one else in sight he sighs from relief before continuing. "None of that just..Are you sure you haven't seen anyone like that?..If he's here he must have come not too long ago. Might be in trouble."

"Huh..That sounds a lot like..", Tubbo says in thought before his eyes go wide. "Surely you don't mean Tommy?"

"Tommy- So he is here? Jesus christ-", The man mumbles. The worry in his voice is thick, but he nods determinedly. "Listen..Um- What's your name again?"

"Tubbo-"

"Tubbo. I'm Phil- But I need to find Tommy- This place- I've heard bad things about it...They'll hurt him. So can you tell me where he is mate?", The man asks and Tubbo frowns.

"Hurt him?..I don't think- Well they have locked him up-", Tubbo says and Phil curses under his breath.

"Where do they have him?", Phil asks and Tubbo with a little effort climbs onto the roof of the shed next to the man. He points to a grey building on the other side of the camp, making sure to duck as he whispers.

"That one over there. Uh- Used to be an old police station I think?..A small one..", Tubbo says. "He's near the back- But you need the keeps to open the cell."

"Keys. Alright. Where can I find those?"

"Well they have a man named Sam to hold those..He's pretty scary- He stays by the entrance mostly"

"Alright..", The man says. He looks in thought before he nods. "Thank you, for helping. This kid could really be in trouble."

"Well he seemed fine the last time I saw him.", Tubbo says but can't help but feel worried at the man's tone.

"You visited him?", Phil asks incredulously.

"Yup- Gave him his food-", Tubbo says. "I would give you the keys but Sam always let's me in."

"Shit. Well- Can't be helped..", Phil says. He stands up. "You're not going to snitch right?.."

"Nope! How do you know Tommy though?", Tubbo asks.

"He's a friend.", The man says. "I should go quickly, thanks again mate."

He watches the man hop down from the shed roof and quickly hide in the shadows. He blinks, losing sight of where the man went. He processes what happened. He just got left out of a cool rescue mission.

Phil pulls the brim of his hat slightly down as he presses against a wall. The camp was larger than he predicted, but thanks to the information he got he knew where Tommy was. The thought that Tommy seemed alright according to the kid only eased his worry a little. He remembers the ominous words Techno and Wilbur told him about the man who ruled over this group.

Tommy would be alright though. He decided he wasn't leaving without the both of them away from this place.

He steps out of the shadows when he makes certain no one will see. There's guards about. He saw them when he quickly swooped down. It may be night, but he would have to worry about being caught by them.

He runs across a large gap, stopping at another shadow of a structure. He stills at the sound of laughter from afar.

"Boxed like a fish!", He distantly hears a voice howl between gasping laughter. He peers over the corner and squints. Ah. The three guards were laughing together. Slackers. With a renewed confidence he continued on.

When he caught sight of the prison, true to Tubbo's word, a man stood tall at the entrance. He held a gun in his hands like it was an old friend, and his gaze roamed around the area as he carefully placed. Ah. He was gonna be tricky.

With the knowledge the rest of the guards wouldn't be able to catch him he sighs before he takes off once more, cringing at the noise his wings make flapping at take off before the smoothed in a glide. He holds his knife in his hand. He had no intent to kill, but if he had to he wouldn't hesitate.

He swoops behind, the man barely looking back and pointing his just as Phil punches his head with as much force as he could muster aided by the speed of his flight. The blow has the man on the ground, Phil landing next to him. Phil observes the man, catching his eyes closed but clearly breathing. He tries not to smile too triumphantly as he leans down and searches the man's pockets. The slight jingle reaching his ears and the feel of metal finally makes a grin spread across his face. Jackpot.

He gets up quickly, knowing the faster he does this the faster him and Tommy will be out of harm's way. It's not a surprise the entrance key is different from the rest on the ring, and once hes inside the building he frowns at the chill air but keeps walking.

"Tommy? Tommy are you there?", He asks asks.

"What the- Phil?!", He hears a voice call out and Phil quickly runs over to the source.

"Tommy!-", He says as he finds the cell. He sees the boy clutching at the bars, the sight making a pit form in his stomach at how wrong it was. He shakes his head. "We'll get you out of here mate- Ok? We'll have to be quick-"

"Are those wings?!-", Tommy says with a laugh in his awe and surprise.

"I'll explain later- We gotta go-", Phil says as he quickly goes through trying the keys on the ring. Once one fits he quickly opens the cell door, not caring about the loud metal screech it makes. He's almost knocked back with Tommy reaches out and hugs Phil.

"I can't believe you're here- Why did you- After I-", Tommy scrambles with his words. Phil hugs him back, supposing a brief pause would be ok.

"I was worried...I wasn't going to force you to come back but. Just wanted to be sure you were ok..", Phil says. "You don't have to come back but- at least let me take you somewhere far from this place ok?"

"You want me to come back?..I stole from you-", Tommy says. Phil sighs.

"You did- And I'm upset..but that's fine. Wilbur misses you too. And I'm sure Techno will be happy to see you even if he doesn't admit it-"

"He's going to kill me.."

"Definitely-", Phil says in agreement. "Now come on- We need to hurry."

"But how will we?.."

"These aren't just for show-", Phil says as he spreads his wings for show and Tommy observes them with a laugh.

The two go back to the entrance, Phil looking out and seeing the man still on the ground where he left him. He almost feels bad for the lad, but not enough to dwell on it. He looks at Tommy.

"I'm going to have to carry you.", He whispers.

"No offense Phil, but can you? I mean you're shorter than me…", Tommy says in what barely passes as a whisper. Phil's eyebrow twitches at the statement and he picks up the man, his wings spreading as he quickly takes off. He almost laughs at the way Tommy has to hold back a scream and clings to Phil as he gains height.

Just as the worry in his chest starts to ebb away as they begin to gain distance, Tommy yells something Phil can't decipher, because suddenly there's a loud bang followed closely by a blinding pain in his left wing. He falters, the pain staggering, but through his wavering vision and pain, he forces his wings to work to balance himself again.

"Phil!- Are you ok?", Tommy says barely hiding his panic. He knew he had to land safely so they didn't fall to their deaths, but he knew they had to get as far as they could. He grit his teeth and kept flying, his path not as smooth as before as he forced his wing to keep working despite the searing pain.

"Phil?"

He waits until the edges of his vision start to go black before he starts to swoop down. The landing isn't as graceful as he would like, as he almost drops Tommy who quickly stands as Phil drops to the ground.

"Shit- He got your wing didn't he?- What do I do?-", Tommy rambles as he kneels next to him.

"'S fine…", Phil grits out. "Go hide."

"No fucking way!- I'm not leaving you like this!- Can you get up?", Tommy urges. Phil grits his teeth. A person's wings were the most sensitive part of them. He knew the wound must have been small but it felt like it was on fire.

"Phil please man- Oh god- Your back- What do I do?", He hears Tommy say. It sounded like he was underwater. He tries to keep his eyes open, some subconscious part of him telling him if he just stays awake it'll all subdue.

Tommy's talking more, but the words are too fuzzy to understand. He closes his eyes and lets everything go to black.

Chapter Text

Tommy decided he quite hated the smell of blood.

It hung in the air and smelled metallic and foul, and it was just another alarm bell telling him that the man before him was bleeding out.

Only the dim light the moon could spare filled his vision. He had managed to flip Phil over to get a better look at his back, but the blood soaking the man's clothes made his heart sink. The bullet had gone through one of his wings and into his side.

"Shit shit shit!", He says as he puts both of his hands over the wound. He saw that in movies and the telly before. His hands are shaking and the blood on his hands makes him want to gag.

Phil was going to die if they stayed here. Phil was going to die and it would be all because of him.

He wonders if he can carry him. He tries but the man's wings put an extra weight on him that Tommy can't lift him an inch off the ground. He couldn't just drag Phil either. He doubts that would do the man any good like this.

"Phil come on man..I'm sorry-", Words tumble out. His heart raced as he pressed down with his hands. The feel of the blood on his skin makes him want to recoil but he bites his lip and blinks back tears that cloud his vision. He couldn't cry now. He was a big man, and Phil needed him.

He didn't know where they were. The man had flew them a distance away from everything despite the injury. He wonders if there was anyone who would be able to help, anyone-

He turns sharply when he hears footsteps. His eyes widen when he hears a familiar groan followed by the image of a zombie approaching close. Its leg dragged behind it as it caught sight of Tommy and Phil.

"Fuck!-", He said in shock. He looked at the bleeding man, his hands shaky and guilt ridden as he took them off of the wound and scrambled to find the knife at Phil's side. He stands up and points the weapon at the monster.

Usually he'd say some one liner when he fought these things, but his brain couldn't come up with anything. The blood pumping through him could be heard in his ears and he thinks he lets out a guttural yell as he runs towards the zombie and slices the blade into its head. How close the teeth come to his skin makes him recoil, but the thing drops to the ground.

He catches his breath and turns back to the body, practically tripping as he goes next to the man again. He almost laughs in relief when he sees he's still breathing. Even under the moonlight he can tell the man's skin was getting paler.

He holds down on the wound once more and yells for help. It's all he can do.

"We're getting too close to the camp.", Wilbur says as he looks around, the uneasiness showing clearly on his face. "Phil wouldn't go near the camp after what we told him."

"He would.", Techno says and almost pinches the bridge of his nose. "He would if he thought the kid might be there."

"So what do you think we should do?", Wilbur voices.

"We keep going.", Techno says. "It would take half a days travel to reach the camp from here. There is a risk of running into his men on a supply trip..But we can take care of them."

"Take care of them?- Jesus christ you don't mean..?", Wilbur trails off. Techno almost grins at his uncertainty.

"I do.", He says. "It's dark. We can stop if you're tired or keep going."

"You're a strange guy..Alright- Let's walk a little more.", Wilbur says with a lopsided smile and Techno hums in response.

He holds out his sword when he hears a distant sound. It sounded like talking; not the incoherent groaning from any zombies. It was loud and hurried. He frowns.

"The hell?..", Wilbur mumbles.

Techno narrows his eyes and steps carefully, hearing Wilbur follow behind.

"Stay quiet. Maybe we can surprise this guy.", Techno says quietly. He doesn't bother to look back to see if Wilbur nodded or not. He keeps walking, the voice growing in volume. That voice..

"Please if anyone hears for gods sake help me!"

"Tommy!", Wilbur says before he can even think of a next line of action. The man rushes past Techno and towards the source of the voice and Techno follows shortly after.

"Tommy are you-", Wilbur starts off but the question dies in his throat and Techno understands why as soon as he eyes catch sight of it.

Tommy was hunched over, a knife at his side coated in blood as red as the blood on his hands. He was crying, looking desperately at Wilbur and Techno as he refused to move his hands.

"You have to help him!- Please don't just bloody stand there he's going to die!"

Techno realizes he isn't breathing and takes a slow breath before he moves into action. He kneels down next Phil laying on his side. He sees wings. Wings?- He decides to wait until later to even think about that before he swats Tommy's hands away and looks.

A bullet wound. It didn't look too deep and the damaged part of the wing that lay next to it told him why. He digs into his bag and fishes out bandages. He ignores the way Tommy watches closely while wiping away tears as he applies bandages to tightly wrap around the man. He ignores the way he almost wants to kill the kid for somehow causing this.

"Tommy what happened? Are you hurt too?"

"No- Is Phil going to die?"

"No.", Techno says without thinking. When he's done he quickly picks up the man, trying to be careful not aggravate the wounds as best as he can. He's deathly still and limp in his arms but he presses on.

"Let's go-". The demand is harsh out of his lips but he doesn't bother to try and cover it up. Someone shot Phil. Someone had to pay.

"Hold on a moment- Tommy what the hell happened?", Wilbur asks as he takes Tommy's hand and the two try their best to keep up with Techno.

"He- Christ Wilbur I'm an idiot- This is my fault-", Tommy rambles. Techno's eye twitches endlessly but he stays silent as he briskly keeps up his pace. "They locked me up and shit- And I saw Tubbo but- Phil came out of nowhere and broke me out! But then- Then-"

"Alright Tommy- It's ok-", Wilbur interrupts the rambling and places a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll make sure Phil is ok."

"How far away are we?", Tommy asks as he wipes at his eyes.

"A days away..", Wilbur says.

"I'm not stopping until we're back. You and the kid can do what you want.", Techno snaps. He knew the man would need new bandages soon. New bandages and antibiotics. As much as he tries, he's sure his large strides that slightly move Phil with each step aren't helping. Every bone in him, every voice in his head, was loud.

He knew that it would be very lucky if Phil didn't get an infection, and even luckier if the man survived. He hoped Phil was as stubborn as death as he was, and judging from the way he's seen the man fight since he stayed with him he convinced himself he must be right.

"We can't just walk all-", Wilbur starts but his voice wavers. "Ok. Ok let's just keep going then."

The three of them walk through the night with a silence that Techno appreciates. He knew Phil needed medical attention quickly, but after that he'd tempt the plans of revenge that were already forming with each step he took.

Nobody messed with the people he cared about. There would be blood.

He was underwater he thinks. Dark and deep waters that kept pulling him more and more under the more he even attempted to move. But he couldn't. So he just let himself float and drift off, sometimes catching out of reach sounds that faded out before he could try to cling to them.

He wasn't sure where he was or how he even got there but he was content. Content until suddenly there was a prickling pain that oozed and burned. He attempted to reach out, put a hand over the area but still he couldn't move.

There was someone saying his name, multiple voices, and that combined with the growing pain made him groan and peel his eyes open.

His vision blurs, but after blinking a few times it refocuses. He sees a familiar ceiling he's woken up to many times before. There were covers over him and he was tempted to just curl up and fall back into a slumber to escape the pain that came from his wing and side. He closes his eyes but suddenly opens them when it comes back to him.

They were gliding through the sky. He found the boy, and then pain. He was shot out of the sky.

"Tommy!-", He says as he sits up too quickly. He yelps at the sudden pain and suddenly there's a hand on his shoulder.

"Phil- Phil it's ok!", A voice says. "Tommy's alright, he's in his room sleeping."

It was Wilbur. He looked tired but there was an awed smile on his face that slowly grew. His guitar was in his hands but its put down quickly. Phil blinks and lets the words wash over him. Tommy was fine. The boy was safe. Everyone was safe.

"Shit-", Phil says with a slight laugh. "Good.."

"Very good..Tommy told us what happened. You saved him Phil.", Wilbur says. "Hold on- We should get you some water and food now that you're up. Don't fall back asleep ok?"

"What...How long was I?..", Phil questions.

"Three days."

"Three? Holy shit..", Phil mumbles as he runs a hand through his hair. It was out of its usual hairstyle and slightly tangled. He winces slightly at the pain that shoots up his wing at the slight movement.

"Yeah- You really gave us a scare..", Wilbur says. He stands up from the chair he's sitting in. They must have dragged it in from the kitchen. "No matter- I'll be right back ok?"

"Hold on-", The man says but the younger is already out the room and he sighs and allows himself to lay back down.

He wasn't sure how he got back home. He just has a very faint memory of closing his eyes and falling asleep. Tommy couldn't have brought them both back himself. He shakes his head.

"I'm back-", Wilbur announces as he walks over with a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. Antibiotics. He hands them both to Phil and Phil offers a thanks before he swallows the pills. He downs the water faster than he expected, the dry taste in his mouth still not quite going away.

"How are you feeling?..", Wilbur asks.

"I'm just fine.", Phil says and despite the pain he doesn't lie. They were all back and that's all that mattered to him.

"We have some pain meds too..Not sure how well they'll work with that injury but we could try..", Wilbur says as he sits back in the chair.

"How did I get back?..", Phil asks.

"Believe it or not me and Techno found you guys. We went out searching after finding your letter-", Wilbur says. "Don't think I forgot about that. I'd say something but- I'm sure Techno will give you more than enough for it. He's pissed."

"He is?", Phil says and can't help but snort at the statement. Wilbur cracks a smile of his own.

"Yeah-", Wilbur says but is cut off by the door opening.

"Hey mate..", Phil says with a slight wave as Techno steps in. He looks surprised, as if wasn't expecting him to be awake, and the surprise morphs into a clear relief before it all drops all together.

"You're awake.", Techno says sourly. Phil doesn't need to look at his side to know Wilbur was holding back his laughter.

"Appears so. Thanks..for helping me. Both of you-", Phil says earnestly and Techno shakes his head.

"You can't just thank me after that stunt. Why would you go out that far alone- Alone and into a camp we warned you about?", Techno says steelily. Phil wants to roll his eyes but knows it will only set off the kid more. He has to hold back a smile. He was worried.

"If there was a chance Tommy was there I had to take it. And I was right.", Phil says with a shrug. He has to bite his lip to hold back a wince at the movement and Techno must notice because the tension drops. He sighs defeated.

"You were right and you were stupid. Next time you decide to pull a stunt like that, bring me along for the fun.", Techno says as he walks over.

"Will do mate.", Phil says with a slight smile. He's suddenly aware that his wings are very much out and he freezes.

"You're a bird hybrid.", Techno says simply. Phil warily nods.

"Yup. Surprise?", He says with an uneasy laugh.

"Why'd you hide it?..", Wilbur says. "I can understand others- There hasn't been a person with wings in years and all that-"

"I trust you two." The statement makes Wilbur and Techno straighten. There was no room for argument in it. "I trust you..It's just an old habit mate. I've had to hide them all my life.."

"All this time- You hid them..", Wilbur says. "Well, now you don't have to hide them anymore."

"Yeah. I guess so.", Phil says. His heart almost swells at the statement. The usual apprehension he felt when there was even a slight risk at his wings being seen is not there. To completely trust everyone in a room to be able to show your true self was a powerful thing. His feathers fluffed up a bit.

"We weren't too sure how to help with them..Is there something we can do?", Techno asks.

"It should heal on its own.", Phil says. He doesn't mention it'll hurt like a bitch though.

"Good.", Techno says. "I'll make dinner."

Phil watches as the man leaves the room and smiles a bit. Wilbur laughs.

"Finally he'll be out of a sour mood. Him and Tommy have been arguing endlessly since you've been out.", Wilbur says. He picks up his guitar and begins to strum on it. "Philza Minecraft you are condemned to bed rest until you're better. Wanna hear a tune?"

"Sure.", He says.

He listens to the song that emanates from the young man's finger tips and closes his eyes.

Chapter Text

Phil looks around, blinking to clear the sleep from his eyes. The dim blue lights shining from the cracks in the curtains told him it must be around dawn. An early rise.

It's only been a few days since he woke up back home, and true to their word, the boys tried their best to make sure the man stayed in bed. They took turns bringing him meals or asking him if he needed anything.

It took some getting used to having this much help. He was accustomed to his lonely life he had made for himself before. He always had kept himself busy to distract himself

Nobody should be up this early in the morning, the bleary thought came to him and with a decision and plan made he kicked his legs off the side of the bed. Pain flares up in his wing and side, but it’s nowhere as near as bad as it had been. He gets up and could hardly hear his footsteps as he left the room.

He wasn't sure what he should do first. He was so used to always having an organized list of things to do around the cabin, but he could barely recall the tasks he had asked the boys to do while he was in bed. He walks to the kitchen and looks at the food they had stored. Techno and Wil had grabbed some more on a run out the other day, so he didn’t have to worry about that. He picks up a can of beans and thinks it would make a good breakfast.

He’s halfway there unscrewing the lid of the can with one of the can openers when he hears heavy footsteps behind him.

“Morning Techno.”, Phil says with a smile as he glances back at Techno. He doesn’t miss the way the man crosses his arms over his chest and clenches his jaw.

“You shouldn’t be up.”, Techno states. Phil laughs a bit.

“I can’t stay in bed forever mate. I’m heating up breakfast.”, Phil says as he lights the gas stove with a match. Techno pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Never thought I’d find an even worse patient than me.”, Techno says. “I’m no expert on wings...But if it still hurts then you should be resting.”

“The wing’s fine.”, Phil says even though he’s not too sure of that himself. The bird hybrid has scarcely moved the limb, let alone try to fly on it. He shakes his head. “I’ll get back to working around here. Anything that needs to get done you think I should do first?”

“No one besides you knows how to deal with bee farms.” Techno says after a defeated sigh. “One ounce of pain and you’re going back to bed old man.”

“Hey- I’m not that old.”, Phil rolls his eyes but can’t help but smile a bit. He notices the braid that Techno usually had his long hair tied in was coming undone at the end, stray strands sticking out at odd places. He smiles a bit and was sure his blonde locks were worse for wear all the same, but still..

“Want me to help you with your hair?”, Phil asks and the man stands up straighter at the offer. He looks at his own hair and back at Phil before he shrugs.

“Sure.”, He says slowly. Phil smiles and leaves his room, fishing a brush and a few hair ties out of a drawer next to his bed. He meets the man in the living room, sitting down next to him on the couch silently as he starts to undo the messy braid. When he’s done, he takes the brush and runs it through the long strands of pink.

“Just tell me if i’m hurting you.”, He voices his worry and Techno hums.

They’re silent as he undoes the small tangles in the hair tousled from sleep. He considers the silence between them. It’s not uncomfortable, and he has grown to appreciate the way they both could say little to each other yet enjoy each other’s company. He wonders what he would have done if he hadn’t met techno, if Techno hadn’t brought home Wilbur and Tommy. He starts to carefully braid the hair in his hands and smiles a bit.

“What did you do before all of this?”, Techno asks and Phil pauses for a second in his ministrations before he sighs.

“I wasn’t doing much mate. Just a retail worker.” Phil says. “Would just do my shifts and go home and play video games. I’m sure you have more to tell.”

“Was an English major.”, Techno says.

“Really? Well- I guess I can see that now.”, Phil says as he recalls the way Techno always carefully speaks. Techno just nods and continues.

“Did some fencing. Played the violin for a while. Played some games too-”, He continues. Phil grins.

“Holy shit. That’s a lot-”, Phil says.

“Hm. Not really.”, Techno says with a shrug. Phil finishes the final pattern of the braid and ties the end carefully. He smiles at his work.

“There- All set.”, Phil says with a smile. He doesn’t know how the young man managed all the hair by himself. Some days Phil could barely handle his own.

“Thanks da- Phil.”, Techno says with a slight cough at the end. Phil wonders for a second if he heard the slip up right before someone comes running in.

“Who left bloody beans on the stove?”, Tommy half yells as he locks eyes with Techno. He sees Phil and his face glows. “Oh Phil! Are you feeling ok?”

“Yeah mate- I’ll get them off the stove.”, Phil says as he quickly leaves for the kitchen. He fails to notice the tension between the two as he leaves.

“Toms.”, Wilbur said as he idly strummed at his guitar. He wasn’t playing any sort of tune, at least not one Tommy could decipher, but the odd sounds and notes were comforting all the same. They had finished eating and Wilbur and Tommy took to sitting outside in the dry grass. Phil could be seen in the distance by the bees, his hat blocking the slight sunlight out of his face. Soon it would get cold. Tommy frowned and wondered what would happen to the bees then.

“Yeah Wilbur?”, He says as he picks at the grass.

“Why’d you leave?”. Ah there it was. He was surprised the question hadn’t been asked already. Between the panic with Phil and the long shouting with Techno as Wilbur tried and failed to keep the madness at bay, the question had been forgotten. He swallows and looks down at the compass. Maybe he no longer needed it, but at the same time he needed it there all the same.

“It was stupid. It was really stupid, but- I don’t regret it.”, Tommy says after some thought. Wilbur frowns a bit but Tommy shakes his head. “I do regret doing it the way I did I think. I shouldn’t have stolen, or left without a word but- I needed to find Tubbo.”

“Tubbo”, Wilbur asks with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s my best friend. Before all of this we had each other’s backs. He was there. At that camp.”, Tommy explained. “He said he liked it there. Him and his dad- I think that’s rubbish though. They’re crazy there.”

“They are.”, Wilbur says as he stops playing. He sighs. “Tommy. I was there once in that camp. For a long time actually..Since it was created basically.”

“You what?-”

“Yeah..I got thrown out, but honestly I should have left earlier anyways.”, Wilbur says as he shakes his head. "They're crazy there. They just care about numbers and power-"

"Yeah- That Dream guy was crazy.", Tommy says. He sighs "Tubbo is still there though. He said he didn't want to leave but.."

"I'm sure things will change Tommy. Just- Don't leave us all like that again ok? You almost gave us all a heart attack.", Wilbur says and Tommy snorts.

"Even Techno?"

"Yeah. He's just hard to crack but you're working your way into his heart.", Wilbur says with a grin.

"Gross.", Tommy says with a face and Wilbur laughs.

"If you decide to pull any big stunts like that again just tell one of us. We always have your back Tommy.", Wilbur says and Tommy blinks at the words. Memories of wandering alone, of being in that cell start to fade, as though they weren't as recent as they were. He nods.

"Yeah. Yeah I know. Thanks Wilbur.", Tommy says and Wilbur nods and continues to strum on the instrument. They both look when they see Phil walk over, new jars of honey in his hand.

"How about some tea?", He asks.

"Sounds good. Would be better with biscuits..", He says and Phil laughs a bit but Tommy catches the slight wince the movement caused the older man. Wilbur must notice too because he gets up from the grass, wiping at his pants quickly before putting a hand on Phil's shoulder.

"Think it's time for bed for you actually-", Wilbur says and Tommy gets up too, hand on Phil's other shoulder. The man rolls his eyes and Tommy smiles.

"Yeah- You shouldn't be up with your wing and shit still hurt anyways.", Tommy joins in. He looks at the limb and winces at the bandages coming loose from it. It was difficult to even get the things to stay on it. When there was so much blood in the feathers, Techno had tried his best to wrap the bandages around it. He's relieved the man is up and walking around, that he's able to and is getting better. He never wanted to see anyone he cared about like Phil was on that night again.

"Jesus- I'm not dying you know.", Phil says. "You two might be even worse than Techno."

"We'll make the tea and you get to lying down.", Wilbur says with a smile as he takes the honey from the man's hands. Phil sighs in defeat.

"Fine- Just so you guys will calm down.", He says. Wilbur motion's for Tommy to go with him, and Tommy does, staying close to the man's side in case he needs the support.

"Phil..Seriously man- Are you feeling ok?..", Tommy asks in a quiet mumble as the two walk to the man's room. Phil looks surprised at the concern and smiles at Tommy kindly.

"I am. Just a bit sore but- It's fine. Don't stay up worrying ok mate?", Phil says and Tommy sighs.

"It was my fault you got into that mess..Sorry-", Tommy says as he looks down and Phil shakes his head.

"Tommy-", He quickly interjects. "That shit was not your fault. It was their fault. They shouldn't have kept you like that. I don't regret what I did.", Phil says and the seriousness in the usual gentle blue eyes catch Tommy off guard. "So it wasn't your fault. Ok?"

"Ok.", Tommy says with a nod and the older man nods back, a smile forming again. Tommy watches as the man climbs into his bed, folding his wings carefully as he laid down. The feathered limbs were still a shock to Tommy, but he thinks they fit the man perfectly. He's seen hybrids before, Tubbo was one himself, but he's never seen a bird one let alone one with wings. He sometimes wants to reach out and touch them, but he always stops himself. Phil was a person, a badass one at that, not some fucking petting zoo.

Tommy sits in the chair next to the bed. He's been sitting in it a lot lately since the man was on bedrest.

"You must have had a cool job before this.", Tommy says out loud.

"Why's that?", Phil says with a slight laugh.

"Well you have wings- You can fly wherever you want-", Tommy says and Phil's smile strains.

"I wouldn't say that. Mostly hid them.", Phil says and Tommy frowns.

"Why's that?", Tommy asks.

"It's a..thing. It doesn't matter anymore I guess.", Phil said as if that made any sense. Tommy frowned, but the man quickly changed the subject.

"You must have been in school before all of this.", Phil says.

"Yeah- That shit was boring though. And the teachers were assholes- I did like to play games though, too bad I don't have my switch anymore..", Tommy starts to talk and the way that Phil listens and nods along makes him glow.

Wilbur puts the kettle of water over the stove, staring at the metal object as he leaned against the counter. He sees Techno walk in out of the corner of his eyes, the man stopping in front of him.

"Techno.", He says and the man nods.

"Phil is getting better..He'll be fine on his own for a while. Just in case that kid leaves again.", Techno says and Wilbur sighs and rolls his eyes.

"Tommy WON'T leave, but yeah Phil is getting better.", Wilbur says. A smile plays on his lips. "So you're really wanting to go through with this?"

Techno nods.

"Tomorrow night we'll leave. Dream isn't going to get off scot free for this one.", Techno says. He's grinning, a threatening gleam in his eyes that makes Wilbur's hesitation at the proposition ease.

"I agree."

They were going to make Dream pay. The kettle screams.