Chapter Text
Dream and Technoblade stood in front of everyone who was fighting for L’Manburg, one adorned with wither skulls and the other with vast amounts of TNT, this would be a battle that would hold possibly the most bloodshed anyone there had ever seen.
The smiley face mask tilted, as Dream cocked his head to the side, if anyone could see it, they'd have described his expression as bored when he spoke, “Now before we all do this, as fun as it would be, I have an offer.”
He let his statement hang in the air, as a small chatter erupted through the enemy lines, whispers echoing back and forth, questioning the intentions and worth of the possible bargain.
Tubbo was the one who took initiative and stepped forward, “Alright, what is it?”
“I will leave L’Manburg completely alone, for the rest of its existence in exchange for one thing.”
It was Fundy who spoke up next, “And what would that be?”
“Tommy.”
The boy in question stilled, and took a small, stuttering breath, “What? Dream you already have my disks, there's really not anything else I can give you.”
Dream sighed in exasperation and gave a light shake of his head, “Oh but there is, Tommy. There's one thing I want you to do.” The boy paled, looking dead into the eyes of Dream’s mask as he spoke, “I want you to return to exile. And I want everyone else to stay out of it.”
The chatter overtook everyone there once again, a small discussion amongst themselves trying to come to a decision.
“And that would reverse everything he did? You'd leave us alone?” It was Niki, who asked this time, soft voice ringing clear through the air.
Dream nodded, “I will back off from today, and won't leave a single blade of grass out of place, you have my word.”
And the discussion picked back up, Tommy looked around at everyone as they murmured to each other, clearly nods of agreement coming from every direction he'd looked.
“Guys? Come on, you can't be serious, you have no idea what he did to me.” Tommy hated how his voice shook, how small it sounded. “He- he fuckin…” God, why was it so hard to get the words out, why was he so choked up?
He heard Dream huff behind him and turned back around, “No, go ahead Tommy. Tell them what I apparently did.” His tone was light, almost mocking.
“Y- you…” Dammit, why couldn't he just talk?!
“I what? Tried to help you? Tried to be your friend? Tommy, you betrayed my trust, ran away, and teamed up with Techno. And then, you waltz right back in here, take hostages, and you blow up the community house.” Dream shook his head in a clear show of disappointment, “Tommy, after everything you've done, I don't want to see your face in any of these lands again. And I don't think any of you should either.” He pointedly turned to the crowd as he spoke that last sentence.
Tommy looked around at everyone, watched as their expressions hardened when his eyes landed on them, “Guys?” Why did his voice sound so small? “Guys please, I can't…” but as he looked around, their expressions were clear, he could tell what they wanted- what they needed him to do, but god did it hurt.
And he thought, about all the nights he'd lay awake, that silent fear, creeping into his mind, a small whisper that was far too loud over the crashing waves on that beach, “Oh… I get it now,” he let out a dry chuckle, but here was no feeling behind it, “I was right then, wasn't I? You really all hate me that much. ”
“Tommy…” He couldn't pick out who's voice it was over the loud ringing in his ears.
He shook his head, “It's alright, I get it. But it's funny y’know,” he looked back at all of them with a pained smile, “somehow I just can't bring myself to hate you too.”
Tommy faced Dream once more, the look in his eyes defeated but determined, “If I do this, everyone will be safe? Can you promise me that?”
The masked man nodded, “I will back off, L’Manburg won't have to see me around if they don't want to.” Tommy weighed the answer for a moment, then nodded, and reached his hand out to Dream.
After taking his hand, Dream tightened his grip on Tommy's wrist, and turned to Technoblade, who let out a sigh, “Lemme guess? You wanna call in that favor?”
Dream smiled behind the mask and shook his head, “No, no,” he looked at the piglin hybrid as he took out an enderpearl, and chucked it as far as he could, “I was just going to say; have fun.” Dream was only able to catch a glimpse of the near feral smile that spread across the man's face before he was launched to a different place, Tommy still held tight in his grip.
The blond struggled and tried to wrench himself free at the realization of what just happened, “What the fuck?! You- you fucking liar! You said they'd be safe!”
Dream only tutted, as if dealing with a child throwing a tantrum, “I never lied, Tommy. I said that I would back out and not involve myself with any of L’Manburgs affairs. I never said anything about Techno though.”
The words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Tommy continued his struggle, trying to keep the tears he felt prickling in his eyes from spilling over. It was only when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, that he stopped, and watched as the light quickly disappeared and he was plunged into darkness.
---
It had been a few weeks since the small country was reduced to nothing, a giant hole in its wake, much larger than either of the times it had been blown up before, the damage irreparable.
New homes were built, away from where the new crater sat, there was no longer a country, just a simple collection of people.
Dream seemed to be away a lot more, though he'd still be around the area occasionally, sometimes even speaking with the citizens. Today seemed to be one of those days, though, a slight difference had occurred from all the other visits.
“So what? You just made a new kind of potion?” Quackity asked as he held the bottle, containing a strange liquid, up to the light of the sun, examining it.
Dream nodded, “If you wanna test it out go ahead, it's safe, I tried it myself.”
Ranboo watched on, as his friends gathered around the two, a knot seeming to tie itself in his stomach, because something felt wrong .
“So you tested it out on yourself then? That doesn't seem like a good idea, even for you, Dream.” He tried to voice his worries as best he could, but he just couldn't pin down what it was.
The masked man waved a hand in dismissal at him, “Yeah, I did… More or less.”
And that, that was what seemed to make the thought click into place, the worry growing stronger as the knot tightened, and as much as he hated it, he leveled Dream with a firm glare as he asked his next question;
“Dream, where is Tommy?”