Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

OHIO, 1995

Techno arrives at the house and sends the whistle he always does to his little brother, Tommy who's hanging out at their home's playground. There he sees Tommy just hanging about upside down

"We're both upsides down," Tommy comments.

"And I bet you're going to fall down first," Techno replies. 

Despite Tommy's arrogant comments, Techno manages to win per usual. Techno decides to add a bit of arrogance back before he notices Tommy fell.

"Mommy!" Tommy's little 6-year-old self cries out.

As their mom, Kristin walks over Techno explains what happened.

"Your pain only makes you stronger." Kristin comforts Tommy and then Tommy notices what he calls "forest stars." Kristin explains what forest stars are before they go inside for dinner. As they begin to make dinner, their dad, Phil comes inside. Phil then gestures a confused Kristin to go into a corner. Kristin knows what that look is.

"No," she comments in denial. "I don't want to go."

"Don't say that," he decides to say back. As they walk back to the dinner table he decides to break the news, "Boys. Remember when I told you that one day we would have that big adventure? Well, today's the day." Kristin hears Tommy's cheer and her heart drops before looking at Techno and realizing that he knows what this means.

Techno tries to pick up a photo album from all of his and Tommy's adventures. "No, leave it." He hears Kristin tell him.

They all settle in the car and the road trip begins. Despite all the dread in the car, Tommy's happy sunshine self seems to brighten things up. Even then it still seems so dull and dark.

As they arrive at the destination they quickly switch from the car to the plane. Phil gestures to Kristin to pull the plane up before seeing a SHIELD car arrive. Phil repeatedly shoots at them before they start to shoot back but towards the plane. Kristin gestures to Techno to help drive the plane due to her getting shot. Phil manages to get all the cars out of the way and the plane slowly moves out into the sky.

This is not Ohio anymore.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

CUBA, the following morning.

The plane descends into a foreign land that neither Techno nor Tommy has been to before. Tommy becomes heartbroken seeing Kristin like this.

"Get up mommy, pain only makes you stronger, remember?" Tommy says trying to make an understanding of this situation. In the distance, Phil sees his old general, Dream.

"The Angel of Death returns!" Dream exclaims holding his arms out to hug Phil.

"The Angel of Death returns triumphant," Phil corrects. "Please no more undercover work, I wanna get back into action. General Dream, it's been over three years!"

"Did you get it?" Dream asks before Phil hands over an unknown item. "And the North Institute?"

"Ashes," Phil says. Tommy sees Phil and tries to rush over. "I got this."

A soldier grabs onto Tommy and Techno rushes over knowing he has to protect him at all costs. He kicks the soldier and aims a gun at everyone in the vicinity. "I will shoot!" He says in Russian. "I will kill you all!"

Phil manages to calm Techno down. Techno and Tommy get dragged onto the plane and Techno knows he has to protect Tommy there. Tommy's all he has left.

"That one has fire in him," Dream comments. "What was his name?"

"Techno," Phil replies.

Tommy and Techno would see each other for 2 more nights each of which felt like years being filled with terror. Those were the last 2 nights before they were split up forever.

Well, it wasn't exactly forever.

It would be twenty-one more years before they see each other again.

Chapter Text

Techno didn't think the way he'd be reunited with his brother is by both of them pointing guns at each other. Yet here he is. I think we might need to rewind a bit.

So basically Techno managed to defect from The Red Room to this organization called SHIELD. All he had to do was kill General Dream even if there was a bit of collateral damage involved. He then became a member of The Avengers and fought a god and a robot who wanted to destroy the world. However recently The Avengers got into an argument and now he's pretty much on the run.

Thankfully a friend of his named Ranboo was able to hook him up with a nice trailer. Unfortunately, it ran out of power so he went to another safe house in Budapest. That's where the story truly begins.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I know you're out there," he hears a voice from the inside of the place he was about to break into.

"I know you know I'm out here."

"Then why are you skulking around like it's a minefield?"

"Cause I don't know if I can trust you."

"Funny because I was about to say the same thing."

"So are we going to talk like grown-ups?"

"Is that what we are," he hears as his younger brother, Tommy comes into view. That's when the fight begins. And let me tell you the entire kitchen was getting destroyed. By this point they were choking each other to death with a damn curtain.

"Truce," Techno finally says to end this sibling fight. "You've grown up."

"No shit," Tommy decides to answer after a couple of seconds.

"You had to come to Budapest, didn't you." Techno answers following after Tommy.

"I came here because I thought you wouldn't."

"If you didn't think I'd come why'd you send me this." Techno pulls out these vials filled with a strange red substance that he discovered inside of a box at his trailer. Along with it was a photo strip of him and Tommy when they were younger.

"You brought it back here?"

"I'm not here trying to be your friend but you need to tell me what that is." Tommy tries to explain it in depth but truthfully Techno doesn't have a clue what he said.

"Maybe in English next time?"

"It's a mind-control antidote," Tommy quips back in English.

"Real mature."

"Why didn't you take it to one of your super scientist friends?" Tommy asks slightly annoyed, "Jack Manifold maybe?"

"Oh yeah, we're not really talking right now so..."

"Great! Perfect timing," Tommy cuts off sarcastically.

"I don't want to be here. I'm on the run, you could have gotten me killed," Techno snaps back.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? You're the only superhero person I know. That was the whole reason I sent it to you," Tommy says before pausing,  "I kept checking the news expecting to see Captain L'Manburg bringing down The Red Room."

"What?" Techno says after a minute, "What are you talking about? It's been gone for years, Dream's dead. I killed him."

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Tommy asks before realizing he does mean it.

"Dreykov's dead." Techno repeats, "It took destroying almost the entire city to get him. Killing Dreykov was the last step in my defection to SHIELD."

"Simple as that?" Tommy asks.

All a sudden they hear soft footsteps before the roof explodes. Everything devolves into chaos as they all fight. Gunshots are firing everywhere and bombs explode.

They jump on a falling pipe before this unknown assassin comes after them. "I got you!" Techno shouts grabbing onto her so she doesn't fall. All the sudden she falls.

Everything feels like a blur and all of a sudden she's dead.

"Do you believe me now," Tommy asks?

"How many others?"

"Enough."