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Tommy didn’t consider himself a coward. Sure he had his moments, but didn’t everyone?
Over the past few months, Tommy had been getting better. He no longer flinched away from the sound of footsteps, or constantly apologized for the slightest noise that hinted that he even existed. Of course some days were bad- those days were filled with constant anxiety and not much movement- but for the most part everything was getting better. Living with Phil and Techno wasn’t as bad as it would seem; yeah Tommy annoyed the shit out of Techno, but he’d always been a little bastard when it came to him. It was a harmless love-hate relationship. And Phil, Phil was his father. Tommy would love the man no matter what.
It was days like these that Tommy felt more confident. He’d left the house to go check on the turtle farm, and he was now sitting in the sand next to Toby. The sea turtle was much friendlier than the others, so it was easier for Tommy to sit near him. Less bite marks to explain away. The water rippled slightly, due to the buzzing from the heaters installed. Obviously the Arctic was too cold for the turtles, so Tommy had taken it on himself to make water heaters for them. He wasn’t entirely sure if Techno had noticed, but that was okay. He hadn’t done it to get his validation. Tommy, for once, hadn’t been vigilant. If Techno had been near him, Tommy knew he’d get lectured for that, but the man was inside with Phil and not around to critique his carelessness. Maybe if Tommy hadn’t gotten so comfortable, the situation he found himself in could’ve been avoided. Regardless of the what-ifs, Tommy immediately stiffened at the sound of footsteps. They were achingly familiar, light as always. Tommy whipped around to the source of the footsteps, scrambling to get into a crouched position. He could see the house from here- he’d run if he had to.
Carefully, Tommy crawled up the hill that had sheltered him from sight, wanting to make absolute sure the newcomer was who he suspected. A stupid idea? Yes, but Tommy had never been known to think things through. As the blonde peeked out from behind the crest of the hill, the very distinctive green came into sight. At first, Tommy wasn’t scared. If anything went wrong, he'd just run to the house and get the Blade to protect him through bribery or some shit. And then Tommy realized that not only had Dream positioned himself in such a way as to block Tommy’s escape, he was also staring right at him. The masked bitch had probably known he was there the whole time, and had wanted to make this encounter as dramatic as possible. It was then that Tommy’s blood froze, his heart thundered, and memories of painful words and cold nights began to come back. This is the worst fucking time to be scared, c’mon Tommy. Knowing that he’d been caught, Tommy resigned himself to the situation.
He took a deep breath, smirked with more confidence than he had, and stood. “Oi dickhead, what’cha doin’ here?” He called out, and his hands were definitely not shaking. Of course not. He saw Dream’s shoulders tense, and pushed past the instinctive wave of fear that brought him. “Oh, just passing through. I decided to stop by because there was something I needed to get.” There was no fake cheeriness in Dream’s voice, no forced politeness. The ground seemed very interesting all of the sudden, but Tommy ignored the urge to look away. He wasn’t a groveling little bitch- not anymore. “That’s nice, but you can fuck off. Nothing here is for you.” Tommy snapped, shifting his feet a little. He watched as Dream’s hand closed into a fist, knowing that unless he got Dream to leave right now, he’d get the shit beat out of him. It had always been Dream’s preferred method of shutting him up.
“Oh, you seem to misunderstand me. You’re still here, Tommy. I’m here for you.” The tone of the masked man’s voice was something predatory, deeply angry. Tommy instinctively hunched his shoulders, but continued to push as many of Dream’s buttons as he could. “Ah well, I seem to have run out of my “give a shit” juice, how unfortunate.” Tommy drawled out, watching as Dream became visibly more frustrated. “With this in mind, I’m gonna tell you to go be a dramatic shit somewhere else- also, you’re a pussy.” Tommy smirked again, this time with real satisfaction. Even if he did get beaten up to hell and back, he got the knowledge that he was able to make Dream this angry.
It was surprising, to say the least, when Dream threw himself at Tommy and drove him into the snow. Tommy hadn’t been expecting the vigor with which he’d been attacked- the wind was knocked entirely out of him. It took one hit to the face for Tommy to begin hitting back. However stunned and scared the blonde may be, he was not about to lose a goddamn fistfight. Tommy managed to hit Dream squarely in the cheek, unbalancing him enough to shove the hooded man away. The teen staggered to his feet and took off, running for the house. Rapid footsteps followed him, and the only warning of another attack that he was given was Dream shouting at him. “Get the fuck back here, Tommy!” He yelled, and Tommy was once again fucking tackled. His face hit the ground first, but thankfully there was enough snow to somewhat avoid messing up his face further. Tommy struggled, kicking Dream in the gut to get him to loosen his hold. “TECHNO!” Tommy finally screamed. Tommy never screamed- he shouted, or yelled, but never actual screams. Hopefully Techno heard him, because if he didn’t then Tommy might just be better off giving up the fight. Dream pinned down his legs with what felt like a knee, and cut off any attempts of struggling. Tommy’s heart raced, and the fear was starting to become palpable now because he was fucking stuck. “Got you now, Tommy.” Dream said harshly. “You’re coming back to Logsteadshire. I can’t believe you would just leave me like that. I looked for you, y’know. I wanted to find you. And what did you do? You left.”
Tommy huffed, struggling for air.
“Fuck you, you’re just trying to manipulate me again.” Dream stayed silent for a moment, and when he spoke again there was sadness in his voice. “I was your friend, Tommy. I never manipulated you, I just wanted to keep you safe. You mean a lot to me, y’know. I didn’t want you getting hurt.” Tommy stopped trying to struggle for a moment, Dream’s words taking root in his brain. Dream had said he was his only friend… and that he wanted to keep Tommy safe.... No. “Fuck. You.” Tommy spat, and wiggled his leg enough to free it. He kneed Dream hard in the groin, feeling intense satisfaction at the noise of pain he made. Tommy thrashed, confident that Dream was in too much pain to actively restrain him.
“TECHNOBLADE YOU FUCKER, GET OUT HERE!” He screamed again, scrambling back from a bent over Dream. The door finally opened, and Techno stepped out into the snow with Phil. “What do you need now, Tommy-” Techno stopped speaking suddenly. Tommy noticed the blood splattering the snow, and wondered for a second who’s it was. In the next few seconds, Techno had a sword to Dream’s throat and Phil was knelt by Tommy, normally calm eyes looking panicked. “Toms, are you okay? Why didn’t you go inside, you know you can't take on Dream!” Phil touched his face for a moment, and his fingers came away red. “He hit you pretty hard, Toms.” The man whispered, and for a moment there was something other than worry in Phil’s eyes. Anger was an unfamiliar emotion to see on Phil. Tommy was silent for once, watching Dream. It seemed he’d recovered from the quite unprofessional kick, as he was now standing just out of reach from Techno’s sword. Phil helped Tommy stand, and Tommy was feeling hurt in places he wasn’t even aware had gotten hit. Being tackled and repeatedly hit does that to a person, he supposed. “Why are you here, Dream?” Phil asked, voice a thousand times colder than it had been when speaking to Tommy. “I came to get Tommy. He ran away, and I’m bringing him home.” Tommy was numb now. The pain didn’t even bother him anymore- Dream’s words were stuck in his head, freezing his limbs and making breathing a chore-
“I wanted to find you.”
“Bullshit. That hellhole was never a home. You don’t get the right to take him back.” Phil spat the words out venomously, a protective arm coming to wrap around Tommy. The blonde cursed himself for the flinch he couldn’t suppress. Techno stayed silent, disgust in his eyes as he kept his sword pointed at Dream with an unwavering hand. “It could’ve been a home,” Dream said casually. Much too casually. Tommy eyed him nervously, knowing what that tone meant. “Dream, watch your words.” Techno growled. Dream tilted his head in a smug way. “It could’ve been a home, if only Tommy had cooperated.”
The world seemed to freeze around the usually loud teen. Was Dream blaming him? “I- I did cooperate!” Tommy protested shakily, ignoring how Techno’s grip on his sword tightened. “Oh, c’mon now. You ran away, Toms. I’d hardly call that cooperation. You’ve made things very hard for me today,” Dream sighed. Guilt started to bubble up in Tommy’s chest. Dream had come out all this way for him, and Tommy had provoked him. What kind of friend did that? He probably deserved the rough treatment.
“You don’t get to call him Toms. He’s not your friend. Now get out of here before I make you regret ever talking to Tommy.” Phil’s voice was sharp. Tommy couldn’t bear to look at him or Techno anymore- they were upset because of him. This was his fault. “Tommy’s not worth your time anyways- I was the only one willing to visit him. You’re only keeping him around because of what he can do for you- the second he messes up, you’ll throw him out. I won’t throw you out, Tommy.” Tommy looked up at Phil, seeing the moment his patience snapped. His eyes flared with an unknown emotion, one that Tommy was too distracted to figure out.
…
Phil was livid. It was audacious enough for Dream to come to this house unannounced, but it was more insulting that he’d laid a hand on his son and proceeded to lie and insult him. It was unacceptable, and so when Phil finally had enough, he didn’t try to go easy. He wasn’t friends with the Blood God for nothing.
Phil sped towards Dream, sword in hand, and immediately went on the offensive. He knew Dream was subpar at defense, and was more than happy to use that against him. Phil pressed Dream with his sword, and continued the pressure even when Dream used his own sword to block the blow. If Dream were smart he’d back up- but no. Maybe it would’ve made this more gratifying, to have a real challenge, but Phil supposed kicking Dream’s ass quickly worked too. Phil slid his blade down to the hilt of the masked man’s sword, and in one fluid movement, was able to disarm him. Dream attempted to swing at Phil, but the man kicked him hard in the chest. The lightweight man went flying into the snowdrift behind him. Phil took a moment to retrieve the discarded sword, then advanced closer to Dream.
He knew Dream had all three of his lives- even if he didn’t, Phil still wouldn’t feel guilty killing him. The bastard deserved it for what he’d done. Phil watched as Dream struggled to get up, holding his arm. He placed a restraining foot on Dream’s chest. The masked man looked up at him, and Phil could feel the panic radiating off of him. Phil grinned, and for a moment he was back in his youth, back when he took satisfaction from slaughter. In this case, Phil didn’t mind feeling the fear. Dream deserved it. “I wonder how many lives you have,” Phil mused. Then he fixed a glare on Dream. “If this isn’t your last one, fine. But I promise you, Clay, that I will be the one that kills you permanently. You will see my face as you die, and I can tell you that it won’t happen quickly.” Phil pressed the tip of the sword to Dream’s neck. “I wasn’t named the Angel of Death for nothing.”
With that, Phil decapitated Dream, watching as the message popped up on his Comm.
Dream was slain by Ph1lza.
Phil watched the body carefully, and sighed as it disappeared. The fucker had more lives. Phil turned back to Techno and Tommy, noticing that Tommy was wrapped up in Techno’s cape. It had become a shock blanket of sorts, for when the normal methods of calming Tommy down didn’t work. Tommy’s grip on the cape was white-knuckled. Phil went to kneel by Tommy, wincing when he saw the dried blood on the teen’s face. Again the anger surfaced, rolling and fiery. Phil wanted to hurt Dream like he’d hurt Tommy- but now wasn’t the time for that. Phil picked Tommy up, and started to go inside. Phil knew this was far from over, but one thing was for sure: Tommy would never be alone again.
And Dream would pay for what he did to Phil’s son.