Chapter Text
The Soot family consists of 3 young boys, Technoblade and Wilbur, ‘twins’ who are newly 14 years old and Tommy who had just turned 11. There used to be more to their little makeshift family, but that was before, now all that they have is themselves, each other, and three stolen backpacks filled to the brim with everything they own.
It’s not half bad living on the streets, at least not on the nights where you’re lucky enough to find shelter from the harsh elements of the outside world. The small family of three had found an abandoned house that was halfway livable about a month or so ago and decided to make it their temporary home, at least until they inevitably got caught. The house really isn’t half bad though, with a usable second floor and a basement that luckily enough has a steady floor and insulated walls. There isn’t any running water, electricity, or heat in the house, but it’s better than the damp alleyway and ripped up tent they had been staying in the month before.
The rooms of the house that they’ve actually put to use are the two upstairs bedrooms, and the basement. Unfortunately, the middle floor has large windows that aren’t covered and if anyone saw them inside and called the cops it would mean having to run again. They’re always careful though and only come and go late at night or early in the morning just before the time that everyone else is waking up for work and school.
On days where they have enough supplies to last and nothing else to do all three boys are able to stay inside, spending their time relaxing in the basement. Other days the three venture outside to go searching for odd jobs that would hire kids with no papers, Technoblade and Wilbur usually have alright luck with getting a job washing dishes or helping clean up in exchange for some food or a few dollars. Tommy on the other hand is too young for most people to consider letting him work but he usually manages to get a few pity dollars here and there.
If they really needed money or a place to stay for the night, they could always go to Dream. Dream is...a friend, almost a brother in a way, older than Techno and Wilbur by two or three years. Dream had found them not long after they ran, hungry and tired in an alleyway behind a dumpster and after a bit of talking he had offered to help the three brothers out. Dream is in on the biggest underground fighting ring in the city, the Void, and if you could hold your own and managed to stay on his good side, he would help you find a fight. Usually, foster kids who are desperate enough to ask Dream for help end up pinned against each other, but in the end they all come out of it with a few bucks. If you lose you get a small bit of money for showing up and if you win you get a bigger cut of whatever bets were made over the night. But it still isn’t anything crazy, Dream takes a portion of the money along with the guys who run the place. Still a fight or two could get the boys enough money for a few decent blankets or a night or two in a motel when the winter air of Pittsburgh becomes just a bit too much to handle.
When they really need the money all three boys fight but if they only need a few dollars for a few secondhand shirts or a small meal, Technoblade is usually the one to fight, even with his long pink hair he’s an intimidating sort of person and a good fighter, he’s never lost a match. Wilbur and Tommy fight only when they need a motel room or right before winter hits when they all need to buy something to keep themselves warm, secondhand coats and gloves or extra blankets that they have to dump when spring rolls back around. With only enough room to carry around a backpack each they take what they can and give what they can’t to other kids they know who need it just as much as they did. With both Wilbur and Tommy, it’s a toss of a coin on if they win their fights or not, they’re both strong enough, with good right hooks, but getting paired with someone two or even one year older could end with them losing, it really just depends on the fight and the day.
Little did the boys know that this next fight at the void would be one of their last.
Tommy woke up early that morning, the morning of the day that everything changed, groaning softly as he shifted away from Wilbur who had apparently latched onto him at some point during the night and was now hugging him as though he’s some sort of teddy bear. Tommy huffs and rolls his eyes, carefully shifting his older brother so that Wilbur could latch onto Technoblade, which the older boy did almost immediately. Tommy stands, stretching, and making a face at the way his bones pop, sleeping on the floor was never comfortable despite how familiar it had become over the years. At least this floor is inside with carpet Tommy thought as he took a moment to really look at his brothers.
Wilbur with his oddly tall and lanky body had at some point in the night stolen most of the blanket he and Tommy shared and now his limbs are all tangled up in it. His prized dirty grey beanie had fallen from its rightful spot atop his head and now laid near him on the floor, next to his glasses which are held together in the middle with a bit of tan colored tape. Technoblade, or rather Techno for short isn’t quite as tall as Wilbur but what he lacks in height he makes up for in muscle, he’s the strongest and probably the smartest of their trio. Techno shifts, one arm protectively wrapping around his twin and as he does his black jacket that was currently acting as a blanket for his upper half while the small blanket, that they had stolen from a dollar store, covered his middle and legs, falls to the side.
Tommy kneels down grabbing the old worn beanie from the floor before carefully putting it back on Wilbur’s head, holding his breath as his brother stirs a bit in his sleep before relaxing again, he then lifts Techno’s jacket and places it more securely around his shoulders. It wouldn’t be long before Tommy would have to wake his older siblings up, if they didn’t wake up on their own, but for now he decides to let them sleep. He figures he could run out and grab something for breakfast before it came time for them to leave the house. Tommy manages to sneak out of the house pretty easily, and as the chill of the fall air hits his poorly protected skin he shivers and wraps his dark purple jacket tight around his middle, the zipper having broken long ago. Using the neighboring fences as cover to jog his way down to a nearby gas station, which would have some cheap breakfast burritos cooking by this time in the morning with the golden sun just starting to come up over the horizon in hues of orange and yellow, Tommy’s mind wanders.
The air has been getting colder and colder, as the once hot summer turns to a chilly fall and soon enough jobs of shoveling snow will come up to help them through the harsh winter months. Until then the brothers will get in on a few fights to help them buy some cheap winter coats and gloves, if they’re lucky this year, they might be able to find some kind of cheap portable heater for sale or at the very least some more blankets. Tommy figures he and his brothers are lucky that Dream had managed to get fights for Techno and him later in the day.
“11:30” Dream had said in his charismatic and deep tone of voice, a smile dancing on his lips and a hand running through his blonde hair “Don’t be late.”
Dream had also promised to get them another fight tomorrow if they won tonight, this time with a fight for Wilbur too, so losing tonight just isn’t an option. Tommy never really understood why adults seemed to like watching two kids beat the crap out of each other, but he figures it’s something along the lines of the next best thing for them, rather than getting to beat the kids up themselves. Tommy doesn’t really mind fighting, the wave of adrenaline that hits when he steps into the ring always makes him smile and he knows that Techno and Wilbur are the Same way. That rush of adrenaline… sure the adrenaline comes with the feeling of fear, of not being safe and the idea that one hit too hard and the win either way would be permanent… still it’s worth it in the end, when on particularly difficult nights they get to stay someplace warm with the promise of food in the morning.
They’d leave Wilbur behind tonight, in the house, Techno claimed it was so that he could make sure no other runaways tried to steal their things or their spot, but they all know he’s really being left behind so that he doesn’t have to watch his brothers fight when he can’t, as long as they both get back safe, Tommy is sure that Wilbur doesn’t mind.
Tommy enters the small gas station and as the warm air from the heaters hit’s his cold skin he hums happily, stomping his feet a bit to get some of the snow off of his worn-down sneakers. He may be homeless, but he’s still got manners and he doubts the 20 something year old, who he just knows smells like burnt coffee and college level depression, behind the counter would appreciate him tracking snow and mud everywhere.
The 11-year-old manages to get three of the freshly made, fake cheese and ham filled, breakfast burritos and two bottles of water with the ten-dollar bill he’d been given yesterday for his help in raking an old man's yard and when the cashier is done ringing everything up he still has a dollar and twenty cents to spare which he pockets before leaving the gas station and once he’s a good walk away he begins to jog again, this time careful of the bag of food in his hands.
Tommy makes it back to the house just in time to see Techno waking up and he wastes no time in handing his half-awake brother a bottle of water, what little change was left from the ten and one of the breakfast sandwiches. Techno nods as a thank you as Tommy sits down next to Wilbur, gently shaking his brother awake before handing him his glasses and a sandwich, they’d share the water.
Breakfast is spent in silence, as is most of their time when Tommy isn’t speaking, the trio uses a mixture of verbal speech and sign language to communicate. Technoblade doesn’t usually mind talking in front of his family and will often speak or sign to them but around other people he tends to keep to himself and will only speak when necessary. Wilbur is a different story, the blue haired boy hasn’t spoken in a little over two years, not to anyone, not even Techno and Tommy. They’re lucky to know sign, Wilbur and Techno had begun learning the silent language in one of their first foster homes, at the time their foster brother, who by now they have forgotten the name of, was mute, and he had kindly offered to teach them as much as he could. After that, the brothers realized it was nice to have a silent way to communicate that most of the people around them wouldn’t understand, so they took books from the library and continued to learn on their own, eventually sharing the knowledge with Tommy. In the end they were happy to have learned it because now it was the only way they could communicate with Wilbur and even then, he only signs around his brothers when they’re alone or when he’s sure no one else is paying attention, but it’s better than nothing.
After the three boys finished eating, they packed what little belongings they have into their three bags. Techno carried the heavier and more important things while Wilbur and Tommy took whatever food and blankets, they currently had. It isn’t safe to leave anything they might need or want behind in the house, even if they did plan to come back later in the day. If someone else got to their things before they got back, they would take everything the boys had, the brothers had learned that lesson the hard way.
The trio’s day was spent wandering the town, on the day of fights none of them bothered with trying to find any kind of side work, they didn’t want to be exhausted when the night finally came. So instead, they spent the day together, hanging out in the nearby park, playing cards under a big oak tree, or seeing which of them could skip stones in the pond better. It was fun and relaxing despite the chill in the air which only served as a grim reminder of the winter to come. By the time night rolled around the boy’s had all made it safely back to the house, Tommy and Techno leaving all of their things in the bedroom with Wilbur before hugging their brother goodbye.
“You’ll be safe?” Wilbur had signed, and it wasn’t hard to see how anxious their brother was so as Tommy hugged him one last time Techno signed back.
“We’ll be safe, I promise”
The Void is a sleazy sort of place in an abandoned warehouse about a twenty-minute walk outside of the main part of town. Some go to fight, some to watch and others to buy beer or cigarettes because no one at the Void cares about seeing any form of ID, all that matters is that you have cash, or you plan to fight. None of the Soot brothers particularly like the place or the people in it other than Dream, but money is money, you do what you have to, to get by.
The fights go well enough, both boys win, and Techno even manages to get a second fight when one of the new kids chicken out, which isn’t a rare occurrence, but it definitely ruins your chances of convincing Dream to get you another fight. Tommy sports a new black eye, and a few bruises can be seen forming on his arms and chest, but the boys smile is unwavering. Techno has a still forming bruise on his chin, a few on his back and one or two on his chest, but he's smiling too, watching Tommy jump around with excitement, the younger throwing his bruised fists, that match Techno's, in the air as he tells Techno all about his fight as if his older brother hadn’t been watching from the sidelines.
Tommy is small for his age, but he can hold his own and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind, despite everything he’s been through he’s a strong kid with a strong will and a bright smile illuminated by one single dimple, Techno honestly couldn’t be prouder. Tommy’s fluffy black hair is more wild than usual right now with all of his jumping around, and his electric blue eyes shine brightly under the streetlights they pass by which take their time to light up the boys’ freckles as though they are stars against his tan skin.
“-and-and I was like bam!-” Tommy throws a fist in the air “-bam! And everyone started cheering! And-”
The small smile on Techno’s face as he listens to Tommy’s story falls when they finally reach the house. Police. There are two cop cars, with their lights off and doors shut, surrounding the abandoned house. Techno’s heart stutters painfully in his chest and he quickly grabs a hold of Tommy, one hand grabbing the boy’s wrist to pull him backwards before the other circles his waist to keep his kid brother from moving any closer to the house.
“Techno!”
Tommy’s eyes shift from the police to his big brother and it’s easy to see that he’s filled with fear and worry, Tommy has never been all that good at hiding his emotions, at least not with his brother’s. Wilbur- their brother is in that house and who knows what will happen if the cops have found him.
“I know- I know, but if Wilbur left in time and we go running in there we’ll get caught and he’ll be alone, okay? We need to play it safe, get closer without them seeing us and figure out what’s going on, come on”
Techno says and then pulls Tommy by the wrist further down the sidewalk before turning down a driveway three houses over. Most of these houses don’t have any sort of lights in their backyard which makes it easy for the two to sneak behind the fences all the way to the neighboring house of the one they had been staying in. They’re close enough now to hear two of the cops talking without the worry of being caught. An older, bald man with an oddly high voice, that Tommy is sure smells like donuts, says
“Pretty sure the kid isn’t going to talk; I couldn’t even get his name out of him.”
“Anderson is in the house talking to the kid now, he’s probably just a runaway who’s trying to plead the fifth”
The tall blonde cop laughs, makes Wilbur’s silence sound like some sort of joke and Techno wants to punch him for it, the bald cops laughs and responds.
"Maybe, he might be mute or something, who knows- Either way we’ll take him into the station and get an ID on him, it’s nothing to worry about.”
Except it is. They have Wilbur, Techno should have known better than to leave his twin alone in that house. He’s not sure what to do, he could go running inside and try to help from there but that would probably just get them all caught or he could wait until they walk out and- Techno figures he has at least a few minutes to figure out next steps if Wilbur is still inside of the house but that small spark of hope disappears in an instant when Technoblade hears the side door of the house creak open and sees Wilbur being led down the concrete steps with his hands cuffed just a bit too tightly in front of him, well shit. Techno does a quick scan of his twin as Wilbur is dragged from the door, he looks relatively okay, no new visible bruises and no visible panic, at least not yet. Techno knows his brothers like he knows the back of his hand and Wilbur is trying to act tough with all of the cops around, but Techno can see the hidden fear in his golden-brown eyes, and he can see the way Wilbur’s hands tremble from their place trapped in cold metal. Techno’s sure if it was Tommy in Wilbur’s place the child would be dragged out of the house kicking and screaming words no 11-year-old should know.
“Grab him and run” Techno says
It’s the only plan Technoblade can think of while watching his brother be dragged away, they don’t have much time and it’s either get Wilbur or get caught and go with him but there’s no way in hell that either Techno or Tommy would leave their brother behind.
Tommy runs first, going straight for Wilbur while Techno runs in behind him, using the element of surprise and as much strength as the child can muster Tommy slams into Wilbur’s back, freeing him from the cops hold which sends Wilbur stumbling for only a spilt second before he regains his balance and without a second of hesitation he runs. In the meantime, Techno pushes the tall cop into the donut smelling one in order to give them at least a bit of a head start. As they run past the cop cars and into the street Tommy, out of the corner of his eye, spots their bags leaning against one of the cops back tires and makes a split-second decision to run over to grab at least one. As Anderson, who Tommy notes smells like stale cigarettes, reaches a handout to grab him Tommy swipes one of the bags ducking under the mans outstretched hand before bolting, turning to look back for only a moment in order to stick his tongue out at the man.
They run for what feels like forever, sneaker covered feet pounding on pavement and grass under the dim light of the crescent moon, they hide behind fences, in alleyways and behind trash cans, at some point Techno takes the backpack Tommy had grabbed, slinging it over his own shoulders so his little brother isn’t weighed down as he’s trying to run. They have the advantage after running for so many years the boys have learned a thing or two, still the cops are surprisingly persistent and when a cop car shows up at their every turn their running eventually leads away from the main city and into a nicer part of town. Each house here is spaced out with big yards and small hills, white fences and children’s jungle gyms, pools and ponds and houses the size of five apartments. There’s a cop right on their tail, flashing blue and red lights following them through the streets, someone who must know the city as well as they do, someone who isn’t keen on letting them go.
It’s getting harder and harder to keep running with each of them malnourished and bruised up, not to mention Wilbur's wrists which have been bleeding for a while now, the metal of the handcuffs digging into his skin, drops of crimson red blood running down his wrists to his fingertips before landing on the cold pavement below.
They need to stop, at least for a few minutes, at least long enough for them to catch their breathes and maybe long enough for Techno to either find a way to get Wilbur out of the handcuffs or put some sort of padding in between his brother's skin and the blood-soaked metal. Techno eventually spots a shed with no visible chains on the doors and is quick to grab ahold of one of Tommy’s wrists and Wilbur’s arm, quickly dragging them over to it. Technoblade considers them lucky when he pulls on the metal door handles of the shed and finds the doors to be unlocked, they swing open with no resistance and Techno is quick to push both of his brothers inside the small space before stepping in and shutting the doors behind them.
The small space in filled with the sound of panting for a full minute and through the cracks in the old sheds walls blue and red lights illuminate the space for a moment before fading and the boys can’t help the way their shoulders sag just a bit in relief. They may not be done running, not tonight and maybe not ever but a break, if only for a few minutes, from running is good enough.
Suddenly Tommy is launching himself at Wilbur with a whispered shout of the older boy’s name and as the blonde-haired boy crashes into his older brother it causes the teen to stumble and fall over into a stack of yard tools. The sharp bangs of the tools clattering to the ground echoes throughout the small shed and causes all three brothers to flinch simultaneously.
“C-crap, I’m sorry”
Tommy mumbles, quickly pulling himself and then Wilbur up into a sitting position.
Before anyone can get another word in or even think to plan their next move the shed doors are opening again and a bright white light is shining into the small space. The brothers tense, fully expecting a cop to be standing above them, ready to cart them all off to a group home or jail, but instead when they look up and past the almost blinding light they find a man standing in pink heart fuzzy pajamas and a t-shirt with a cartoon dog on it, with a flashlight held steady in one hand and a wooden baseball bat raised above the man’s head in the other.
For a moment the boy’s and the man simply stare at each other, and then after a moment of confused hesitation the man speaks
“Um… Hello Mate?”