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Sam walked sluggishly through the forest. The wind rustled through his hair, and since he'd left most of his gear in his enderchest, he felt it swipe up the corners of the loose shirt he wore. The strong breeze sent chills up his neck as if Dream were just around the corner, but Sam knew Dream was still in the prison. Even after everything... even after all the complaints and horrible conditions, Dream begged Sam to let him stay there hidden from Quackity. Sam was more than glad to keep Dream locked away.
Sam couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he spotted his familiar hill. He jogged forward to the hidden lever and opened up the door. The redstone whirred to life while he moved through the door and then pressed the button to shut the hidden bunker behind him.
"Fran! Come here, girl!" Sam called as he tossed his bag on top of a random chest leftover from Puffy's prank not too long ago. The redstone for most of the build's auxiliary machines had been shut off since... since before Tommy died probably, but they effortlessly restarted for his return. It was nearly a miracle how smoothly they started up this time. Sam always shied away from the machines after a vacation, there was always something in the gears that made a noise when they restarted. Thinking about it now, Sam doubted he even turned on the machines to change the permission list after he'd started working with the kid on the hotel. As he flicked on the lights he absentmindedly noticed Fran hadn't come to greet him.
Fran didn't come to greet him. Something was off. Sam carefully drew his sword and readied his ears for any sign of an intruder. It took Sam a minute before he realized the nearly silent hisses and puffs he'd attributed to the machines were ever so slightly irregular. Was it a mob? Had there been some cave-in? He pulled out his communicator and checked the security logs, but there was nothing. No out of protocol action or signal had been detected until... suddenly there was a ping. Front Door opened twice today. Is this intentional? the screen suddenly read. Someone else had been here. Recently. He really needed to reinstall those cameras. But still... either they knew how to hack into his security system or... no...
Sam sheathed his sword and dashed quickly towards the noise. Only once he'd dropped down to the lower level could he positively identify the sound, and while Sam knew he was safe, the truth didn't bring him any real relief. Sam rushed to the wall and let his fingers trace along the wall feeling for any sign of where he'd known a small nook in the wall had been. One he'd hidden in himself, not too long ago.
"Tommy! Tommy, where are you?" Sam asked frantically, reaching for his pickaxe only to find nothing on his belt besides his sword and trident.
The quiet sobbing stopped abruptly and the room plunged into near silence. Sam waited for Tommy to say anything but as the time stretched out it struck Sam that maybe Tommy wasn't hiding... maybe he'd been here for hours... maybe he'd finally run out of air. He honestly probably had been. The prison sirens had rung out hours ago after all.
"Tommy? Tommy, I need you to make some noise so I know you're okay. How long have you been in there?" Sam listened for anything but he heard nothing. "Ahhhh fuck. Fran! Marco!" Relief washed over Sam as Fran barked in response. He quickly skid to his right a few blocks. "Marco!" One final clear bark came from in front of him. "Good girl, Fran. Hey, Tommy, if you're awake in there still, why don't you give her a good scratch. I know you must be scared but she's trying to help you. She only plays if she thinks it's safe. I don't have my pickaxe on me, it's in my enderchest. I- I can see one to my left, I'm gonna go get it and come get you out of there, okay? O-or if you don't want to leave I'll make a window and I'll go get- I'll get grey wool so you can hide still, but you're gonna be okay either way."
Sam didn't wait for a response before he pulled off his crown, dropped it at his feet as a marker, then dashed to the enderchest. He threw it open and grabbed the first pickaxe he saw, not even bothering to make sure the chest shut before he turned and dashed back to where his crown sat on the floor. Sam hefted the pickaxe high above his shoulder to swing.
"Fran, protect Tommy's head!" He called through as he began to break at the block.
It took only a few seconds before Sam heard the telltale pop of the block breaking and the block shrank and was pulled into his redstone backpack. Light flooded into the small hole and Sam blinked quickly to adjust his vision. In front of him, draped over and around Fran was Tommy. The sight broke Sam's heart. Tommy was pressed as far back into the corner of the cubby, one ear pressed into Fran's neck, his face in her shoulder and one hand pressed harshly into Tommy's second ear. He had his second arm looped around her body and he visibly trembled as he held the wolf close, so close that she almost looked as if she were hugging him back. He couldn't make out much detail other than their positions in the dim light of the crevice.
"Oh, Tommy..." Sam's voice cracked roughly as he knelt onto the ridge left by the block separating Tommy from the rest of the base. "Hey..." Sam reached forward carefully and tapped lightly on the hand clenched deep in Fran's fur.
Tommy let out a cut-off scream, so quick and so sharp it sounded almost like a chirp and his head snapped up. "I- Don't- It- it wasn't me-" Tommy pulled Fran even closer in front of him. "I- I promise I didn't-"
"Hey, Tommy, it's just you and me, okay?" Sam tried to calm Tommy but that only seemed to panic Tommy even further.
"I-I- I shouldn't- where- Tub- Phil- I-I-I-"
"Hey, hey, Tommy, you're okay, you're safe." Sam tried again.
"I didn't help 'im get out- some-someone else helped- T-Techno, he owes-"
"Help who..." The contract. "Oh, Tommy I-"
"I know I signed it and- and you're supposed- you're supposed to kill whoever- whoever helped him. But you don't- you don't have to Sam- I- I-"
"Tommy, I'm not going to kill you." Sam shook his head as if he could shake the thought from his brain. It was horrible to think about what he'd said to Tommy the last time that was an option on the table. Sam forced himself to remember it anyways. The way he'd told Tommy that he was a threat. That he should be dead for what he hadn't even done before a full breakout was on the table.
"But- The alarms went off- He's he's out and you- you're supposed to- you- don't- Don't lie to me, if- if you're gonna do it then do it." Tommy tried to glare at Sam but the way he shook and pulled Fran closer was too obvious to miss. "I- I'm not a coward. I've di- I've been there before."
"He didn't get out." Sam blurt out. "It was a false alarm."
"He what?"
"He- I thought he got out but he was just... He dug out some space in the toilet and was hiding in it so from out of the cell he wasn't in sight. I set off the alarm when I couldn't see him but he's still there." Sam spoke. "We can't tell Quackity I was wrong but he's still in there, I promise."
"He- He's not coming for me?"
"N-no, Tommy. He's- you're safe, Tommy. I'm not gonna let him hurt you again." Sam insisted, reaching a hand towards Tommy for a moment before asking instead. "You wanna get out of that hole, bud?"
"I- This is where you hid."
"Yeah?" Sam prompted carefully.
"From the egg. Me and Puffy brought you here and- and you hid here. But if someone came in they could see me so- so I closed it." Tommy explained shakily. "I- I thought that meant I- I dunno."
"You thought you'd be safe here?" Sam asked weakly. "Oh, Tommy... I was worried you couldn't breathe in here. I guess you didn't hear me, huh?"
"I-I guess not..." Tommy stuttered nervously.
"I thought maybe you weren't answering because you'd passed out. You gave me a good scare." Sam said scooting closer and reaching forward again. "Come on, Tommy, let's go-"
Tommy scrambled impossibly further into the corner, pulling Fran further on top of himself. "No, you're lying! You don't care a-about me, but you- you wouldn't hurt Fran and- and Dream won't- he won't look here. So- so I don't wanna leave. I-I'll stay here."
"T-Tommy, he can't hurt you anymore, he-"
"That's what you said last time!" Tommy shouted, tears pouring down his face. "You said he couldn't hurt me, Sam. You- you said you would protect me. You promised ."
"Tommy... as the warden-"
"What about our contract? You- You promised me, Sam. You- you said you and Sam Nook would- You were supposed to protect me too, Sam." Tommy sobbed before he pressed his face into Fran's neck again. "Please don't- I didn't- I didn't mean to help him."
"You're right. I should've done things differently. Tommy, the reason the alarms went off had nothing to do with you." Sam spoke evenly. "I know because- Well I know who was involved. I was there at the main cell when there was a security check I needed to do and when I got back he was gone. I know it wasn't you because I know what happened and Dream is still in the prison." Sam spoke. "It had to do with Quackity and Technoblade. Which makes sense right? Those guys fight a lot and Techno is friends with Dream. There's no loose ends, okay? I was coming home to see Fran myself because it was a stressful day, you know I do that."
"I- Dream's in the prison still?" Tommy whispered, barely audible as the sound was further muffled by Fran's fur.
"He is. You sure you want to stay in there?" Sam asked gently.
"I- I- I'll be okay?"
"Of course. You don't even have to leave the house just- Come out of the wall, buddy." Sam pleaded. "I'll- I'll get you some food or something to drink maybe?"
"Can- can you open it up so I can get out? I dropped my pickaxe when... y'know..." Tommy asked meekly.
"Yeah of course." Sam nodded, scooting back out of the hole. It didn't take him long until the second block was gone and Sam moved out of the way. "When- whenever you're ready."
Sam bit at his lip nervously, waiting for any sign that Tommy would come out on his own. Just as he was about to clear his throat and check on Tommy, he heard the soft scrapes of claws on stone and Fran padded gently from the nook.
"Here, girl." Sam called softly, kneeling down to catch her as she bound over to him. She licked at his face happily then sat dutifully in front of him. Sam smiled softly at the greeting and scratched at her ears. "What a good girl. Good job being there for him, Fran. I sure wasn't." Fran huffed at him quietly and turned to show him her back. "What's wrong... Oh, Fran, honey, what did you get in your fur? Is that-"
"It- It's lapis... Sorry."
Sam's head snapped up to see a weary-looking Tommy. The circles under Tommy's eyes were darker than they'd been after Doomsday. He almost looked thinner too. Like no one was around to notice if the boy forgot to eat every day. Tommy's entire image was heartbreaking, down to the way the boy was hunched over himself. Sam's eyes caught the hints of blue dust around Tommy's right ear.
"That's okay. I've put off giving her a deep clean bath for a bit too long anyways." Sam stood slowly. "Why lapis?"
"Ghostbur... he called it blue... um..."
"I remember now. Did you- Are you out? Do you want more?" Sam offered awkwardly. "W-whatever you need, just tell me."
"S-am." Tommy's voice cracked roughly as he crashed into Sam's chest and erupted into more tears. "I- I was so scared- I-"
"Shhh, I know." Sam didn't hesitate to pull Tommy into a tight hug. "But you're okay. He's not out."
"I- I- I didn't-"
"I know, Tommy. No one blames you. It's not your fault." Sam whispered into the top of Tommy's hair. "I lied before because I was scared too. I know- I know you would never help him."
"I'm sorry- I- I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay. It was my fault, not yours. Mine, okay?" Sam squeezed Tommy closer still. "I- I'm gonna make this right, okay? I won't- I won't be influenced like that again, not by Dream, not by Quackity, not by the egg. I'll protect you for real this time."
Sam didn't get a response with words, but the way Tommy sobbed in relief into his shoulder was more than enough to tell Sam he'd said the right thing.