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“Oh Tommy~” How did such daunting words sound so light-hearted? How did such a playful tone freeze him more than the tundra?
He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been running, how long it had been since he’d opened that damned chest only to find it empty.
Only to find his abuser holding the exact item he was looking for and the portal broken.
The beacons of Phil and Techno’s base were in the distance. He just had to get to them, he just wanted to be safe, fuck.
“PHIL!” He couldn’t breathe. Every stick in his path was another potential death trap, every little stone was going to throw him into the maw of the beast. “PHIL PLEASE!”
Dream laughed from behind him, taunting him but it sounded… strained? No, no Dream was tricking him again. Shit, he can’t lower his guard. Another swing to the leg that he barely dodged made him force his aching legs into going faster and faster
“Phil! Help!” His voice was getting hoarse and he could taste the salt from the tears he was still denying were flowing. “He’s fucking chasing me help!” Just a little further, the fences were in sight now
“Tommy?”
Tommy let out a sudden sob, pushing himself over the fences and collapsing motionless into the snow on the other side. He expected Dream to be on him immediately, Phil’s concerned voice his only hope at survival. He couldn’t do it again, he couldn’t die again-”
“Phil” He pleaded, far too quietly to be heard. Waiting, waiting…
Nothing came.
Hesitantly, he peeled his eyes open and took in his surroundings. Dream was nowhere to be seen. But he’d been right behind him, he was right there! He was… He was…
“Tommy? Breathe with me mate, I got you”
Phil was hovering above him, looking like he wanted to reach out to comfort the younger but at the same time was in full armour, weapon in one hand and piercing eyes scanning the treeline.
“Phil, he was there! He was chasing me I promise he was! He said he was gonna kill me and then bring me back and-” He cut himself off with a sob, “I can’t do that again Phil, he hurt me so much the first time- Please believe me, he was there!”
He went stiff as he vaguely registered arms around his torso, pulling him up from where he’d just been laying in the snow to lean against Phil’s side. He didn’t have the energy to hold himself up so he let Phil hold him instead.
“I believe you Tommy, deep breaths. Nobody’s getting you while I’m here” Phil seemed to have noticed Tommy was making no effort to move and concern flickered over his features. “Are you ok? Injured anywhere?”
Injuries,, Yes! That proved Dream was there, that meant he wasn’t crazy!
With a sudden rush of energy he surged an arm forward, displaying a nasty cut down the back of his elbow that honestly he’d forgotten was there in his haze. It started hurting again as soon as he recognised it, the bastard.
Everything started hurting, actually. His legs ached and his head was pounding. Just a bit longer.
“Phil, look! He was chasing me. Dream was- I promise, I’m not crazy! He was- oh my prime he was chasing me. Phil, he's gonna get me!” Tommy was barely aware of what he was even saying anymore, jumping from thought to thought randomly in a desperate attempt to be heard.
Phil sucked in a breath, gently holding Tommy’s arm and looking over the cut. Absently, Tommy noticed how his eyes kept flickering over to the woods where he had come from, fueled by a protective spark of anger.
“I believe you. You’re not crazy, I’m sorry that happened. He’s not going to get you here.” Phil’s soft voice laid out the facts and Tommy clung to each one. “Let’s go inside, okay?”
Inside. Inside was safer. Inside was warmer.
Yeah, inside.
Tommy nodded, suddenly finding himself unable to speak now he’d said all he needed to. He let Phil haul him up, practically carrying him with how little energy Tommy had for movement. Never once did the man complain, not even as he sat Tommy down gently on the couch and started getting out potions and bandages.
Faintly, he heard Phil muttering to himself as he collected the supplies, only really hearing ‘right after’,‘prison’ and ‘ungrateful’ before the haze took over again.
The haze was soft and warm. He didn’t need to think in the haze, he could just float.
Phil didn’t seem to like the haze, though. Tommy blinked and suddenly the man was in front of him, armour now off and concern shining in his eyes.
“Tommy? Hey bud, did you hit your head when you were running?” Phil didn’t mention a single thing about Dream and Tommy was grateful for it.
He really did try his hardest to think but remembering that awful chase, the words he was saying, hurt . He whined, trying to get his point across as he shook his head weakly.
“You sure? So if I do this,” Phil lightly pressed down on different areas of his head, eyes fixed on him and waiting for any shift “it doesn’t hurt?”
Tommy shook his head, more sure this time. By the relieved sigh Phil gave he assumed that was the correct answer. He dropped his hands from Tommy’s head, resting them on his cheeks instead for a second. The elder smiled at him and then gently began inspecting each of his limbs for cuts and bruises to heal up. Whether from branches or the axe, Phil wrapped them in regen-soaked bandages all the same.
The tears fell without his permission, really. He wasn’t used to being treated as something so… precious. Even Dream, who called him ‘the key’ and ‘his other half’ would rough him up when he felt like it. But Phil was sitting here, kneeling in a way that was sure to hurt his old man knees and gently winding bandages around nicks and scratches on Tommy’s legs.
“Oh sunspot” Phil breathed and it took all of Tommy’s will not to throw himself into the man’s arms there and then. No matter how much he tried (and he really tried) he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. He wanted to talk, wanted to scream about what Dream had threatened to do but he couldn’t. He couldn’t and it was terrifying.
“It’s going to be ok.” Phil said it like it was a proven fact “That bastard isn’t coming near you ever again, If I see him on my property I’ll shoot him dead. That’s a promise, sunshine.”
As he finished tying off the last bandage, Phil rose to sit next to Tommy and ever so slowly opened his arms in offering.
He had a lapful of sun before he could even give his signature smile.
“You’re safe.” Phil whispered it just for him to hear, pressing promises into his golden curls. “I don’t know what he did to you -and you don’t need to tell me right now- but it’s never happening again. You can trust me.”
Tommy nodded, not quite sure what part he was agreeing too but knowing that he desperately wanted to be safe. To not have to worry about if his actions will kill his best friend or if allowing himself to heal will mean losing everything else.
He fisted his hands into Phil’s shirt, tentatively resting his head on the man’ shoulder as he fought with his own thoughts. Phil hurt him but now he was protecting him so fiercely and he felt nothing but safety being curled up on his lap.
He gaped a little as things suddenly got dark. Ebony wings wrapped around him, warm and soft on his bandaged skin and he melted against them. Hands ran through his hair, pushing his head down gently to fully rest in the crook of Phil's neck.
"Relax, sunshine. I promise you that you're safe. You're exhausted, rest." Phil softly mumbled.
"But.. what if he-" Tommy pleaded, already half asleep
"He won't. And if he does, he won't get past the fences, mark my word." The words curled into a snarl yet the tightening arms only felt protective.
The clutches of the Angel of Death had never seemed so safe before. Well, perhaps they had, long ago. The idea of having that back, the safety and freedom he had as a child was so perfect in nature that Tommy thought he might already be dreaming. Slowly, eased on by Phil’s soft humming and his own looming exhaustion from the adrenaline drop he felt himself drifting off to the land of dreams.
Phil sighed, tension draining from his shoulders as he slumped and rested his head on Tommy's. Regret wasn't a feeling he was used to but the feeling was burning him alive.
Slowly, pausing at each sleepy mumble, Phil picked the boy up from the couch, grabbing a few blankets and wrapping them tightly around him. Pillows were quickly added to his own normal perch on the windowsill before he placed Tommy there. The boy whined at the loss of warmth coming from Phil and the elder quietly shushed him, adjusting the blankets until they were perfect for his sunshine.
He left for barely a few minutes and hated every moment of it, darting from chest to chest to grab potions, weapons, fireworks, extra weapons and backup armour, just in case. He wasn't afraid of running away if it secured Tommy's safety.
Tommy was still sleeping soundly, bundled in blankets, when he got back. He piled all of his collected items on the floor next to the windowsill before clambering up himself, pulling his boy back into his arms
Later, true apologies would be exchanged between the two.
Later, more tears would be shed and promises of protection made.
Later, a father and son would truly be able to call each other family again.
But for now, Phil sat by the window, sword in hand and wings tightly wrapped around a sleeping teen: eyes fixed on the treeline and crows on high alert. Dream wasn’t coming within a mile of his sunshine without him knowing and doing something about it.