Archive of Our Own

For some reason that Tommy couldn’t explain, his spider sense was off the charts today.  Typically it was always there, a buzz in the back of his head because there was always crime to be stopped, people to watch out for, but nothing necessarily urgent, especially when he was at school even if he wanted it to be.  He had forced himself to ignore the typical buzz that was there while he was at school.  But today was different.  Today it was screaming full force in the back of his head to the point he was bordering sensory overload from that alone.  There was no apparent reason for it to be going off like it was.  It wasn’t any stronger near specific people or in any class, but it was there and it was persistent.

And it sucked that it was today of all days to have a killer headache and a spider sense that wouldn’t leave him alone.  He had an Ac Dec competition tonight and there was no way he was going to be able to focus if his head was hurting this bad.  Luckily it was one of the shorter nights of the competition as it was only the Speech and Interview portions tonight, but didn’t make Tommy feel any better.  It was fine though.  He would be fine, he had done Ac Dec competitions in worse shape, a headache would definitely not stop him.

“You okay there, King?”  Tubbo asked when they were walking out of their last class for the day.  

“I’m not sure.”  Tommy answered massaging his temple to hopefully subside the headache that had been there the entire day because of his spider sense.  “I think I just need a nap.” 

“Go home, get some rest before we have to be back here for Ac Dec in a few hours.”

Tommy nodded.  “Yeah I’ll try and sleep a bit before coming back here.  See you in a couple hours.”

Tommy waved goodbye to Tubbo as they went opposite directions walking out of the school.  It was today that Tommy wished that he had asked Wilbur to pick him up instead of saying he was patrolling after school before his Ac Dec competition.  He didn’t want to walk home with a crappy headache and there was no way he would be able to focus at all on patrol and would only end up getting hurt.  Home wasn’t too far but it was far enough that Tommy didn’t want to walk.    

It was about halfway through Tommy’s walk home when his spider sense went from screaming headache to high alert in mere seconds.  Tommy was instantly more aware of his surroundings doing a quick 360 of his path looking for anything that screamed danger.  If it was any other day, a day when Tommy didn’t have a raging headache, he probably would’ve caught it, he would’ve noticed sooner he would’ve been able to move or duck or something, but today wasn’t any other day.  

Tommy didn’t notice the change in his spider sense telling him to turn around to look behind him until it was too late.  By the time he had turned whatever had been shot at him was too close.  He couldn’t duck, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t even grab whatever it was.  There was a sharp stabbing pain in Tommy’s neck and he was quick to pull out the dart that had hit him, but it was too late, even pulling it out less than a second later wasn’t fast enough.  Whatever was in the dart was already in his system.  Tommy tried to run, but the world was spinning, and his headache was even worse now and somehow he was on the ground?  He didn’t remember falling.  

The last thing Tommy remembered before everything went black was a figure leaning over him with a wicked smile on their face.  

Tommy blinked his eyes open, thankful the light wasn’t too harsh on his eyes.  The first thing he noticed was his spider sense was still screaming in the back of his head keeping him on high alert, but the headache he had been sporting the entire day was somewhat gone.  The second thing was that he definitely wasn’t home, he was in some room with dull gray walls and concrete floor.  There was no furniture in the room, only one door, no windows, it wasn’t that Tommy was surprised by the fact there were no windows, and only a door that was clearly bolted shut, but it still made him mad to see.

Of course today out of all days, the day where he had felt like crap the entire day had been the day he had to be kidnapped.  Okay well he would have preferred to not be kidnapped at all, but it sucked that it was today.  Though it made sense now why his spider sense had been going haywire, it knew something was coming, knew that someone was planning something.

With an exasperated sigh, Tommy moved so he was sitting in the corner of the room and leaned his head against the wall.  He didn’t really care that he was kidnapped, well he did, but at this moment he didn’t really care, he was exhausted, probably both a mix of his headache the whole day, school, and being drugged, so a nap sounded like the best thing for the moment.  There was no way he was going to be able to escape without having some rest.  His senses were too overwhelmed, and he wasn’t able to differentiate anything useful.  And if he couldn’t rely on his senses, then he had no way to get out.  He could try but it probably wouldn’t go well.  So a nap would be good.  He would hopefully be able to get rid of the headache or at the very least give his senses a sort of reset.  If that happened then he could work on getting out, but for now a nap.

Tommy let his eyes slip shut and he took a deep breath, he hoped that Wilbur wasn’t worrying about him right now.  He knew that wasn’t the case and Wilbur was probably worried sick because Tommy hadn’t texted him as he typically did to check in.  But it was a thought and it was a thought he knew was wrong, but wanted to hope otherwise.  

The next time Tommy woke up he heard shouting from somewhere within the building.  He forced himself to wake up more and focus on what he was hearing.  The voices were not close but they weren’t far either, if anything it sounded like they were getting closer.  There was yelling, until it stopped suddenly, somewhere close to the room Tommy was in.  

Tommy pushed himself further into the corner as he heard a set of footsteps come closer to the door.  His spider sense was screaming danger and Tommy braced himself for the worst as he heard the locks on the door disengage.  The door opened and the person looked around for a moment, his gaze settling on Tommy.  

“You’re not Gogy.”  The person said an annoyed look setting across his face before he turned so he was leaning out of the doorway to talk to someone outside.  “I thought you said Gogy was in this room.”  He turned back to face Tommy and a sadistic smirk formed on his face.  “Everyone makes mistakes right?  What’s important is that we don't repeat them.”  

The man walked out of the room for a moment leaving Tommy frozen in the corner.  There was a few seconds of silence followed by a gunshot and footsteps coming back down the hall.  

“Betrayal.  What a horrible thing.”  The person said walking back into the room holding a gun in his hand swinging it around almost aimlessly.  “I swear the people here are such idiots sometimes.  So since you’re not Gogy, who are you?”

Tommy kept his mouth shut staring at the person before shifting his gaze to the floor.  He shrugged his shoulders which was apparently the wrong response as the person started yelling.  

“I asked who you are!?”  The person shouted getting in Tommy’s face before backing up slightly.  

“Who are you?”  Tommy asked instead of giving a response, he hoped this wouldn’t piss the person off.  

“Me?  That’s not important right now.”  The person said.  “What is important is knowing who you are and where Gogy is.”  

“I don’t know anyone named Gogy.”  Tommy whispered with a shrug.  

“That’s completely useless information.”  The person said, rolling his eyes walking across the room away from Tommy.  

Tommy forced himself to take a deep breath.  Whoever this person was they were definitely dangerous if the screaming of his spider sense was anything to go by.  Not only that but the room seemed suffocating now with this person in it, Tommy wanted him to leave before something escalated.

“Look I’m sorry I don’t know where this Gogy person is.  Maybe they told you the wrong room.”  Tommy said, trying to reason with the person without them getting mad at him.  

The person cocked his head in Tommy’s direction, stalking a bit closer causing Tommy to somehow make himself smaller in the corner.  They stared at Tommy for a moment before turning around walking back towards the door.  

“Whatever, I’ll deal with you later.”  The person said walking out the door slamming it shut behind them.  

Tommy let out a sigh of relief as he heard the locks re-engage on the door.  He was tired and his senses were out of control.  He could still hear the person who was in the room with him yelling at someone.  Based on the fact that he couldn’t hear any other voices that were close to the yelling, he had to assume that the person who had come into the room was in charge or at least held some sort of leadership position wherever he was.  In all honesty, it made him want to get out even more, clearly that guy was a bit off and Tommy did not want to get on his bad side.  

For the first time since he got here, Tommy stood up taking a long survey of the room.  Even though he couldn’t see any clear signs of a camera, he couldn’t help but feel as though he was being watched, and based on how his spider sense was still buzzing in the back of his mind he had to assume there was a camera somewhere in the room even if he couldn’t see it.  And if there was a camera, that meant he had to be even more careful to not somehow reveal his powers on the off chance the people who kidnapped him didn’t know about the powers.  

Tommy paced the room for a few minutes before settling back in the corner pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself tightly.  He wanted to go home.  He wanted Wilbur to hug him as he always did when Tommy got back from patrol.  And he wanted Techno telling him not to do anything stupid.  And he wanted Phil to shake his head and laugh as Tommy told him about something that had happened on patrol.  He wanted his family, he wanted comfort, he wanted to feel safe, and that wasn’t going to happen until he got out.  

Tommy wasn’t sure how long it had been since the person had come into the room, but since then he hadn’t heard anyone even come close to his room, which was probably for the better.  But at some point he started hearing a lot of extra yelling and footsteps further from his room.  And it wasn’t long after that the yelling and footsteps started coming closer to him.  Tommy took a sharp inhale as the footsteps and yelling stopped outside of his door.  He heard the locks disengage and the door was thrown open followed by two people being shoved inside the room, the door slamming shut behind them.  

“What the hell was that for!”  The boy with blond hair and an American accent yelled pounding on the door.  

“Come on, there’s no sense in pissing them off more.”  The other boy with brown hair and a British accent said, placing a hand on the other guy's shoulder, probably an attempt to calm him down.

“But they-”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s going to piss them off, we don't want that.”

This blond haired person sighed and turned away from the door, his eyes immediately landing on Tommy.  Tommy stared back at the guy and scrunched his face in confusion.  Tommy’s confusion only increased when the guy with brown hair turned to look at Tommy as well. 

“Uh Mr. Dream, Mr. George, what are you doing here?  I thought we had an Ac Dec competition today?”  Tommy questioned frantically.

Dreams face morphed into one of panic.  “I thought it was in 2 weeks!”

“I’m sorry, who the hell are you and how do you know our names?”  George questioned looking over at Dream before looking back at Tommy.

“Well, you are Mr. George, my Comp Sci and Ac Dec teacher.”  Tommy said with a nod in George’s direction before shifting his gaze towards Dream.  “And you are Mr. Dream, his husband, also my PE and other Ac Dec teacher.”

“That doesn't answer the question of who you are.”  George said, still looking at Tommy with a confused look. 

“Wait, are we just going to ignore the fact that he said we are married?”  Dream questioned only to let out a small ‘oof’ as George lightly hit his arm. 

“I’m Tommy.”  He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

“Okay Tommy, we are definitely not whoever you are talking about, even if we have the same names, because both of us are still in high school, not teaching in middle school.”  George said.  

Tommy tilted his head in slight confusion looking at the two others in the room.  Taking a closer look Tommy could definitely tell that two were in fact not his teachers, even if they looked eerily similar aside from looking much closer to his age.  It was only now that he noticed the small cut dripping blood from George’s upper arm.    

“Wait, I’m in High School first off, so if you’re not- then who are you?”  Tommy questioned.  

“I’m Dream, a high schooler who also happens to be in Ac Dec.”  Dream introduced sitting down to the right of Tommy on the other wall.  

“And I’m George, another high schooler who happens to be in Ac Dec with Dream.”  George said, taking a seat next to Dream on the floor.  

“I’m so confused.”  Tommy mumbled, resting his forehead on his knees.  

“I think we all are.”  Dream agreed.  

The three of them sat in silence for a bit, Tommy eventually looking up and at the two others trying to figure out something about them.  He couldn’t help but notice the side eye glance he kept getting from Dream every few seconds as if the other was trying to figure him out as well.  As much as Tommy didn’t want to trust these two in any way, his spider sense wasn’t screaming as loud now that they were here.  In addition to that, it seemed as though they were kidnapped and stuck here as well which put them on the same side.  

“Why are you here Tommy?”  George asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know.”  Tommy answered.  “I was walking home from school cause I wanted to take a nap before Ac Dec cause I had a bad headache.  Then next thing I knew I was getting poked with something and I ended up here in this shit hole.”  

It was a half truth.  He actually wasn’t sure why he was here, though if he had to guess, it was Spider-Man related, but that was beside the point, and that wasn’t information he gave out, especially to some strangers he just met. 

“What about you guys?”  Tommy asked, he felt it was only right he got to ask as well.  “Why are you here?”

Dream and George looked at each other seemingly having a conversation with their eyes before Dream started talking.  

“We were also walking home from school.  Some guy jumped out and was trying to attack us with, I don’t even know, some kind of weird weapons though.  Then there was a flash of some sort and then we were here immediately being surrounded and restrained by the guards before being brought here.”  

“Holy shit.”  Tommy whispered.  “I didn’t think the multiverse was actually real.”

“What about the multiverse?”  Dream asked, and Tommy paused for a second to wonder how Dream was able to hear him from almost across the room, especially when George made no acknowledgment of hearing Tommy.  

He quickly waved off that thought, it was probably just how the sound carried in the room.  

“The multiverse.”  Tommy said simply.  “Like alternate realities, other universes.”

“And you think we are from one of those alternate realities?”  George asked, joining in on the conversation.  

“Yeah, that's the only explanation.  Especially since what you described with the flash and ending up here, it sounded exactly like something I had read in a book about the multiverse awhile back.  It was saying something that when people get brought into the multiverse from an external factor, meaning not done directly by a spell from a sorcerer, there’s usually some sort of super bright flash then you wake up somewhere random.  Now that may be wrong because there isn’t a lot of research you can just find on the multiverse but…”  Tommy trailed off with an embarrassed shrug.  

He internally cringed at his ramble.  The other two here definitely didn’t want to hear about it and his theory was a long shot anyway.  It wasn’t likely Dream and George were from a different universe, however it was the only explanation that Tommy could come up with that made sense.

“You know I think I remember reading something about that too.”  George spoke up.  “Remember when we did that deep dive in the library for some extra context for the Ac Dec topic.  I think we found it somewhere in there.”  

“Oh yeah.”  Dream said, leaning his head back against the wall.  “Now that you bring it up, I do remember that.  I mean oddly out of all the possibilities of what could’ve happened, somehow that one makes the most sense.”  

Tommy stared at the two with a questioning glance.  He wasn’t sure if they were making fun of him for even suggesting the multiverse theory or if they actually knew what Tommy was talking about and were agreeing that it could actually be a possibility.  And Tommy wasn’t really sure why he had even thought of the theory, but what George and Dream were talking about sounded familiar and he couldn’t help but blurt out his thoughts.  

They fell back into a silence, it wasn’t like there was much to talk about anyway.  Tommy did his best to stay focused on the noises he could hear outside of the room with hopes that he could hear if someone was coming or if some of the people left.  If people left that meant they had a better chance of escaping.  He was also listening for some sort of clue as to where they were and why they were taken.  It wouldn’t do them much good at the moment, but it was still good information to have.  

While he did this, he tried to keep an eye on Dream and George as well.  It wasn’t that he felt unsafe, but he wanted to know more about them, he wanted to see if he could find out anything about the two without having to actually talk to them.  For the most part George seemed normal, except for the clear nervousness that covered his face though it was displayed through a blank stare ahead and every few moments his eyes would flicker over to Dream.  It made sense, the two were clearly friends of some sort, Tommy couldn’t be sure how close they were, but it was obvious to Tommy that George was pretty trusting of Dream.

Dream on the other hand almost confused Tommy.  He stayed looking at George with a worried expression, even going so far as to tear off a piece of his shirt to tie it around George’s upper arm where he had a gash.  This wasn’t what was weird.  What was weird was the way Dreams' eyes flicked to the door every so often as if he heard something.  What was weird was the way that those glances to the door always lined up with when Tommy would hear someone getting closer to their door.  It was the way that Dream kept rubbing his temple every few minutes before shaking his head as if he was trying to rid of a voice or a buzz similar to what Tommy did when his spider sense was too much.  It was odd because Dream was doing things that Tommy did specifically because he was Spider-Man, and that didn’t sit right with him.  

It didn’t technically matter though, Tommy was stuck with them for the time being and his spider sense was telling him they were safe, so he could only assume they were safe.

At some point Tommy had fallen asleep even though he didn’t remember his eyes getting heavy or even being tired at all.  It wasn’t a good sleep, especially considering the circumstances, but it probably wasn’t a bad thing.  When he woke up the first thing he noticed was that Dream was still awake, but George was passed out with his head leaning on Dream’s shoulder.  

“Did you try to sleep?”  Tommy asked, causing Dream to look up from where he was staring at George sleeping on his shoulder.

“No.”  Dream answered simply.  “Too much going on.”  

“I get that.”  Tommy said with a shrug.  “But I had such a crap day before getting here so I haven’t been able to get rid of that exhaustion.  And being here is really overwhelming so that doesn’t help either.”  

“Understandable.  Being here is extremely overwhelming.”  He said trailing off for a moment.  “I mean wouldn’t it be for everyone.”

“Yeah.  Is it better that he’s here?”  Tommy asked, nodding towards George.  

“I don’t know.”  Dream looked at George then back at Tommy.  “I think it’s better that he’s not wondering what happened, at least that’s how I would feel if it were the other way around.”

“That makes sense.”

“What about you?  I mean anyone who would be worried that you’re not home?”

Tommy nodded sadly.  “My brother, he probably noticed pretty fast when I wasn’t at Ac Dec.  My kinda brother too, and my kinda dad.”

“You’re kinda dad?”  Dream asked with a confused look.  

“Technically he’s not my dad, but he and my kinda brother are my neighbors, so we’re pretty close.  My kinda dad is also a teacher at my school, but I knew him before that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did he become your kinda dad?”  Dream asked.

“He saw me and my brother and went ‘two chaotic kids in need of some parenting?  Guess I’ll adopt them.’  And then he pretty much has been like our dad since then.”

“Heh, there’s a teacher at our school like that.”  Dream chuckled.  “One by one he basically adopted our friend group which is actually how most of us became friends actually.”

Tommy smiled and let out a soft laugh.  “My kinda dad did the same with my friend group.  I had no friends, and then he started basically adopting the other chaotic children like me and now I have a friend group.”

Dream only laughed and Tommy leaned his head against the wall with a soft smile.  

“You know you’ll get home to them right?”

“I know.”  Tommy whispered sadness lacing his voice.  “Only a matter of time.”

“I know the point is that we are supposed to be weak here, but a little more food and water would be nice.”  Tommy said, staring at the door where Dream picked up the three bread rolls and jug of water that were just slid into the room.  “Not that I’m not grateful, we could be getting nothing.”  

“I agree with Tommy.”  George said, taking the roll that Dream handed him.  “But he’s right, at least we’re getting something.     

Tommy took his as well only taking a small bite of it when the other two bit into theirs.  It didn’t taste good at all, and was definitely stale, but he didn’t care.  It was at least something and something was better than nothing.  

“How often do you guys think they bring these?”  Dream questioned taking a small sip from the water before passing it to George.  

“What is this, the third one?”  George asked, handing the water off to Tommy.  

“Third since you guys have been here.  Fourth since I’ve been here.”  Tommy answered before taking a sip from the jug.  “My guess is once a day, that could be a bit off though.”

“At least it gives us some sort of time reference.”  Dream reasoned.  “Like Tommy said though, it’s hard to tell though.”

Tommy only nodded and sighed as he leaned back against the wall, the three of them falling back into silence as they ate their food and drank some water.  They only drank about half the water, maybe a little less in order to have some until the next time they got food and water.  It wasn’t much between the three of them, but at least it was something. 

“Is your arm doing better?”  Tommy asked George.

Dream was currently asleep, his head resting on George’s shoulder, and George looked up at Tommy as he spoke.  

“I think so.”  George answered looking to where the cloth was tied around his arm.  “It wasn’t too bad to begin with.  The cut was pretty shallow.”  

“What happened?”  Tommy asked before quickly adding.  “If you don’t mind me asking.”  

“It was when we first got here.”  George explained.  “We were sneaking around because somehow just showing up here out of nowhere didn’t set off any alarms.  I honestly thought we were going to make it out, but then a group of guards came out of nowhere.  It was kind of weird because it seemed like Dream had known there was something coming at us before it even happened.  But they had come from behind and one of them had thrown a knife.  Dream had somehow managed to pull both of us out of the way, but that distraction allowed other guards to get much closer.  They were swinging knives and we had managed to not get hit aside from the one cut on my arm.  It was pretty much right after that when we got thrown in here.”  

“I’m sorry that happened.  It was probably not very pog to just get thrown into this place.”  

“No, but at least we’re not alone.”  

“That’s true.”  Tommy agreed.  “I’m not happy you guys are here, more for your sake, but also I’m glad you guys are here.  It’s better than being alone.”

“When I say I’m glad you’re not alone too, I know I speak for both Dream and myself.  It does suck being here, but we have each other.”  

“Do you ever think about the other universe?”  Tommy asked suddenly, changing the topic, he knew he was going to get sad if he continued to think of the possibility that Dream and George could disappear at any moment.  

“What do you mean?”

“You guys have like counterparts in this universe.  I just wonder if there’s a me in your universe.  And if there is, does he somehow know you guys.  Or have any relation with anyone you know.”  

“I don’t know.”  George answered truthfully.  “We know of a Tommy in our universe, though we’ve never met him.  He’s a friend of ours’ younger brother, but he refuses to let us meet him.”

“Why?”

“I think he’s just really protective of him.  But I’m sure if we knew you in our universe we’d see you the same.”

“And how’s that?”  Tommy asked, a slight hesitancy in his voice.  He wasn’t sure if he was scared of the answer that George would potentially give, but he was also more scared of not knowing.

“Like the younger brother neither of us ever had.”

Tommy wasn’t sure how long it had been.  Maybe it was a few days, or maybe it had even been close to a week if not longer since George and Dream had gotten here.  The three of them had talked a bit, but nothing that important, more just stuff said to fill the time.   

Tommy was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a set of footsteps approach and stop at the door.  He snapped his eyes up to look at the door noticing Dream do the same while George looked between the two with a confused expression.  It was only when the locks started to disengage that George looked up at the door.  Dream shifted and motioned for George to move so he was next to Tommy in the corner and sat by the two, not directly in front but in a position that he could easily get in front if needed.  Tommy recognized it all too well, he had done it enough times with his family, keeping them closer or standing in ways that he could get in front of them if needed.  It was a subtle yet noticeable form of protection that went unnoticed from those who didn’t know exactly what they were looking for.  Tommy shifted up slightly so he could be ready to attack if needed, again it was a subtle change to how he was sitting, he needed to be ready no matter what.  

When the door opened the guy from earlier walked into the room, his eyes landing on the three boys sitting together in the corner, his eyes lighting up as he did so.  

“Gogy there you are!”  The guy said, causing Tommy to scrunch his face in confusion.   

Dream quickly glanced at George before looking at the guy who had walked in, it was a fast movement one Tommy wouldn’t have caught if he wasn’t paying attention.  

“Who are you?”  Dream asked shifting ever so slightly closer to George.  

“That’s not important, what’s important is that Gogy comes with me.”  The guy said moving closer to the three.  

Both Tommy and Dream shifted forward not wanting the guy to come any closer. 

“There’s no Gogy here.”  Dream said, his voice was somehow clam yet laced with venom.  “Who are you?” 

“Gogy is here, he’s right behind you.  Now move.”  The guy said moving forward again Dream stood up this time standing in front of George and Tommy protectively.  

Tommy thought it was kind of dumb for him to try standing up to the villain like that, but then again he couldn’t really say anything because he was halfway standing ready to fight in a seconds notice.  

“Whoever you’re looking for, that's not him.”  Dream spat.

“Tell us who you are.”  Tommy spoke up.  “And we can help you find who you’re looking for.”

The guy cocked his head to the side staring at Tommy before shifting his gaze to Dream then George.  

“Fine.”  He agreed.  “My name’s Juicy.” 

Tommy let out a small snicker and had to force himself to hold in his laughter.

“No really, what’s your name?”  Dream asked clearly, trying to hold in his laughter as well.  

Tommy glanced back at George only to find he was in the same boat as himself and Dream.  

“I told you, it’s Juicy.”    

Tommy couldn’t hold it in any longer and busted out laughing quickly followed by George and Dream doing the same.  The guy Juicy only stared as the three boys lost it, unable to contain their laughter.  It was the screaming of his spider sense that caused Tommy to stop laughing and snap his gaze to Juicy.  He saw the villain's hand move as he let out a low growl.  Tommy sensed the knife before he saw it and launched himself at the villain only to be beaten by Dream.  

There was no way that Dream could’ve seen the knife, it was not even out of the hilt when Tommy sensed it and it was less than halfway out by the time Tommy had launched himself.  

Tommy ignored that thought for now though, watching as Dream wrestled the knife out of Juicy’s hand and tossed it backwards.  Tommy caught it midair by the handle and quickly handed it over to George, Tommy was better with his fists anyway.  Dream and Juicy fought on the floor until Dream was kicked backwards off of Juicy and Tommy was quick to help Dream up, both of them falling into a fighting stance.  

“That wasn’t very nice now was it?”  Juicy sneered standing up from the floor.  “I just wanted Gogy, that’s not too much to ask.”  

“That’s not Gogy.”  Dream repeated.  “And either way he’s not going with you.”  

“What?  You don’t want your boyfriend to leave.”  Juicy mocked, causing Dream to mutter a quiet ‘he’s not my boyfriend’.  “Well too bad, he’s coming with me.”    

Juicy lurched forward and Tommy and Dream were quick to stop him.  Tommy landed a punch to Juicy’s cheek, and Dream was quick to follow it up with a punch of his own.  The two fell into some sort of rhythm fighting Juicy, one landing a hit quickly followed by the other, not giving Juicy much of a chance to get his own hits in.  

Every once in a while they would fall out of rhythm, a clear sign they were both used to fighting solo, not used to having extra help or someone to fight alongside.  It was at these moments that Juicy would manage to land a punch, or on the off chance he was able to get a good hit, knocking one of the boys to the ground.  But as quick as they fell out of it, they fell back in sync quickly taking the upperhand in the fight.  

With the two of them fighting it didn’t take long for Juicy to get knocked out leaving Dream and Tommy to catch their breaths giving the other a nod of ‘good job’, and leaving George staring at the two as if they had grown another head.  

“I’m sorry.”  George said, shaking his head to snap himself out of whatever trance he was in.  “What the actual fuck was that.”  

Tommy exchanged a glance with Dream then shrugged his shoulders.  

“Not important right now, we’ll explain later because I think we all don’t know what just happened.”  Dream said standing up straight walking over to George offering a hand for the other boy to take.  “Right now we have to get out of here.”

George sighed and grabbed Dream’s hand pulling himself up from the floor.  Tommy was already at the door watching the interaction between the two, and when they walked over next to him they all shared a nod of acknowledgement.  Tommy opened the door and took a quick look down the hallway thankful he didn’t see anyone.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath focusing on where he could hear other voices.  When he was pretty sure he had a good idea of how many people and where everyone was he motioned for Dream and George to follow him going left out of the room. 

They stuck close to the walls as they made their way down the hall.  Each time they made it to a corner Tommy stopped and listened, searching for other people and taking note of his spider sense.  He could see Dream doing the same thing behind him with George between the two of them.  To be honest, Tommy wasn’t sure where exactly he was going, but for the most part he was relying on his spider sense to guide him.  Even though his spider sense was going off like crazy, he was able to differentiate between immediate danger and the danger of being wherever they were.

Tommy wasn’t sure how long they were making their way through the building but somehow they managed to get out without setting off any alarms or running into any people.  They definitely would have if it wasn’t for his spider sense, that alerted him on when to stop, where to turn, and when to keep going.  Outside of the building they found themselves in some woods and just started walking without really caring for where they were going aside from getting as far away from the place they were in as possible.  

They had been walking for a couple hours and so far none of them had spoken a word since they had left.  At some point they had figured out which way they had to go in order to get to London, which thankfully wasn’t too far.  

“So are we going to talk about what happened?”  George asked, breaking the silence.  

“What is there to talk about?”  Tommy said with a shrug of his shoulders.  “We escaped and we’re making our way to London.”  

“I’m talking about the way that both of you fought that Juicy dude, oh and lets not forget about how both of you apparently knew this dude had a knife before he even pulled it out.  Or what about the way that you both happened to know where every person in that building was and even managed to avoid every single one of them on the way out.”  George looked between the two with a raised eyebrow and Tommy just looked at Dream nodding slightly towards George prompting him to answer. 

Sure, George’s question technically was addressing Tommy too, but Dream was also George’s friend so it was only fair that he was the one to answer.  

“It started with that field trip we had to EggCorp-”

“Wait, you guys had a field trip to EggCorp too?”  Tommy interrupted.

“Yeah.  While we were there I got bit by a spider that gave me these really weird powers.”  Dream said and Tommy failed at concealing the shock on his face.  “Let me guess the same thing happened to you?”

Tommy only nodded as Dream continued his story.  It went pretty similar to Tommy’s own.  He got bit by a spider and got extremely sick for about a day then all of a sudden he was perfectly fine.  Except for the fact that his senses were dialed up to 11, he had gained super strength, and now had the ability to shoot webs.  That part was different though, Tommy had to make his own webs which was definitely not fair and Tommy made sure to make that known.  

“All I’m saying is that it’s not fair that you just ‘came with’ webs.”  Tommy complained out with an exasperated sigh.  

“How is it not fair?”  Dream questioned shooting a web towards a tree as if to emphasize his point.  “I literally couldn’t control the fact I got bit by a spider or what kind of spider I got bit by.”

“Well I know that, but I’m just saying it’s not fair that you don’t have to make your own webs.”  Tommy argued.  

“You didn’t have to go the whole Spider-Man route though.”  Dream pointed out.  “Why did you go that route anyways?”

“Well considering the fact that I literally got bit by a spider.”  Tommy deadpanned.  “But also I could scale walls and I could run fast, but I still couldn’t get places fast enough, so I figured why not embrace it and make it my brand.”

“He’s got a point there, Dream.”  George chimed in, then let out a screech as Dream picked him up.  “Put me down, please.” 

“I thought you liked how strong I was.”  Dream complained with a pout, but did as George asked and put the other man down.  

“I do, but not when you use it to pick me up.”

Tommy laughed at the interaction between the two, and they once again fell into a comfortable silence as they continued walking.  He wasn’t sure how much further they had to go, but the longer they stayed in silence the slower Tommy began to walk, his mind slowly picking up speed racing with thoughts.  He knew that Wilbur, Techno, and Phil were probably worried sick about him, and he was unsure of how many days he had been gone.  Regardless, it didn’t really matter how long he had been gone, he was still excited to see Wilbur, to give his brother a hug.  Whatever day it was that he had left school with a pounding headache, that had been his plan, to go home and hug Wilbur until he had to leave for his Ac Dec competition.  But he never got to do that.  He never got to hug Wilbur that day, and he hadn’t hugged anyone since, he was desperate for one to say the least.  He was desperate to feel Wilbur’s arms wrap around him filled with promises of safety and comfort.  Soon enough he would be home though and he would get his hug.  

“You okay Tommy?”  Dream asked, pulling Tommy from his thoughts only to realize he wasn’t walking anymore and the other two boys were staring at him.

“I-I don’t-”  Tommy tried to speak but the words got caught in his throat, too many thoughts in his mind to process which ones he wanted to say.

“Tell us about your family.”  Dream said, wrapping an arm over Tommy’s shoulders to pull the boy along.  “You said you had a brother?”

“Yeah.”  Tommy whispered, focusing on the feeling of his legs moving in sync with Dream’s.  “He’s the best. He’s been taking care of me for years now, I barely remember our parents.  Even when they were there they weren’t ever really there , y’know?”

“I get that.  I have a younger sister, she means the world to me.”  Dream explained with a soft smile.  “You actually remind me a bit of her.  Anyway, our parents are kinda- I don’t even know, but right after I got my powers I wasn’t really sure what to do with them.  I was walking home from Ac Dec practice when I heard someone scream.  I don’t know what exactly I was thinking, but I just knew that I had to go do something.  When I got there, I don’t remember what I even did, but the person who screamed was my sister.  I had never been so scared, so it was after that when I decided I needed to help, that I needed to do something useful with my powers, and well you know the rest.”  

Tommy nodded as Dream finished.  He did know the rest, the rest was how Dream and George somehow ended up here in his universe.  “Your sister must be pretty cool then if I remind you of her.”  

“The coolest.”  Dream confirmed. 

“Poggers.”  Tommy said leaning further into Dreams hold (if it reminded him of Wilbur he tried his best to ignore that thought).  “What about you George, are you part of the shit parent squad too?”

George chuckled and knocked his shoulder against Tommy’s.  “I am indeed part of the shit parent squad.  My parents are rich, which means they would rather ship me off to boarding school if it meant I wasn’t their problem anymore.  I think the only reason they haven’t yet is because they’re never home.  I mean hey, they leave enough money for me to survive, I save what I don’t spend on food and other necessities, and I live alone 99 percent of the time so I can’t really complain, I honestly prefer when they aren’t there.  A lot less fighting.”  

“It still sucks that your parents are shit though.”  Tommy said.

“It does, but I’ve accepted it at this point.  I think we all have.”

Tommy looked between the two boys and let out a quiet chuckle.  “We were all just fucked from the start weren’t we.”  

“Yeah, but so what?”  Dream scoffed though there was no heat behind his words.  “We wouldn’t be where we’re at without it.  Keep going Tommy, tell us more about your brother.”  

“I couldn’t ask for a better brother.  I mean he kinda sucks at cooking, but he tries his best and he has gotten a lot better.  He didn’t go to university ‘cause he was taking care of me, but he started taking his music more seriously and now he does really well with it.  I’m really proud of him, his music is really good too.  And I’m not just saying that cause he’s my brother.  Wilbur does so much for me, if it wasn’t for him… I don’t know.”

“Wait?  Did you say Wilbur?”  Dream questioned.  

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

“No way, one of George and I’s best friends name is Wilbur.  He’s so chaotic, but we love him.”  Dream said with a laugh causing both Tommy and George to laugh as well.  

“He’s awesome though.”  George agreed.  “Oddly enough, he’s into music too and is really good.”  

“Maybe it’s just a Wilbur thing.”  Tommy suggested with another laugh before it trailed off into a sadder laugh as he leaned even closer to Dream.  “I miss him.  I don’t even know how long it’s been.”

Dream pulled Tommy a little closer and George grabbed his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.  

“You’ll see him soon.”  Dream promised.  “Only a little longer.”

When they finally made it to London, Tommy couldn’t help walking a little faster, practically dragging Dream and George to his apartment.  Tommy sprinted up the steps only stopping for a moment when he reached his floor to make sure Dream and George were still behind him before he started pounding on his apartment door, being careful to not hit it too hard so he didn’t break it.  (He had accidentally broken it one time when he had forgotten his keys and he’d rather not have a repeat of that situation.)

“Wilbur!”  Tommy yelled, still hitting the door ignoring the slightly concerned look that Dream and George were giving him.  “Wil-”

Tommy was cut off by the door swinging open to reveal a frantic and stressed looking Wilbur.

“Wh- Tommy?”  Wilbur asked dumbfounded, his face immediately changing into one of relief.  “Oh my god Tommy.”

Wilbur was quick to pull him into a hug and Tommy hugged him back like his life depended on it (in a way it kind of did).  Tommy couldn’t help the tears that welled up in his eyes.  Somehow they ended up the rest of the way in the apartment hugging in the living room and it was only then that Tommy remembered  Dream and George.  

“Oh my god, I completely forgot-”  Tommy started only to be cut off by the apartment door being slammed open.  

“Wilbur what’s wrong we- Tommy!”  Techno shouted and was across the room in seconds pulling Tommy into a hug that Phil was quick to join as well.  “Where the hell have you been?”  

Tommy pulled away from the hug, he knew he would get more later.  He turned to Dream and George only to find them staring at Phil, Techno, and Wilbur in shock.

“That is not important right now!”  Tommy started excitedly and pointed to Dream and George.  “So you guys know Mr. Dream and Mr. George my Ac Dec teachers right?  Okay this is them but from another universe!”

“Tommy, that is not as important as where you’ve been.”  Techno pointed out. 

“No, no, but it is!”  Tommy insisted.  “Because they were kidnapped with me.”

“You were kidnapped?”  Phil, Wilbur and Techno yelled in sync.  

“Yes, but-”

This time Tommy was cut off by George.  “Tommy, your brother looks exactly like our best friend Wilbur.”

“And blondie over there,”  Dream started nodding in Phil’s direction.  “Is literally the teacher I was telling you about that adopted our friend group.”

“Really?”  Tommy questioned his face lighting up.  “Because that’s my kinda dad who adopted us and my friend group!”

Dream opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else but quickly turned to George and grabbed his hand.  Tommy felt it too, whatever it was that he could tell Dream was feeling.  It was weird, it was like his spider sense knew something was happening, but couldn’t say what and next thing he knew the spot where Dream and George were standing in his living room was empty and the two others were nowhere to be found.  

“What the fuck just happened?”  Wilbur asked as Tommy slowly turned to face his brother before crashing into his chest for another hug.  

They were joined by Phil and Techno not even a second later.  

“I think they got sent back to their universe.”  Tommy whispered.  “They were pretty cool, and helped us escape too.”  

“Yeah about that.”  Phil chimed in.  “You need to tell us what happened, you’ve been gone almost 5 days.”

“Later.”  He mumbled, sinking further into his family’s embrace.  “I just wanna stay here for a little bit.”  

Tommy closed his eyes and rested his head against Wilbur’s chest feeling the exhaustion from the last few days truly start to sink in.  He was starving and dehydrated, but his body was so tired that he could deal with that later.  Right now he just wanted to stay in his family’s embrace.

“Love you Sunshine.”  He heard Wilbur whisper, it was quiet enough that even with how close they all were Tommy knew he was the only one who could hear the words clearly.  “Always and forever.”  

“Forever and always.”  Tommy mumbled back, fully sinking into Wilbur’s embrace as he let the exhaustion consume him.    

“Do you have any explanation as to what the fuck just happened?”  George asked, staring at Dream where they stood in the middle of George’s living room, which was definitely not where they were when they had disappeared days before.  

“I have no fucking clue.”  Dream stated matching George’s shocked expression.  

“So Spider-Man huh?”

Dream only buried his head in his hands as he groaned.  George was never going to let him live this down.