Chapter Text
Tommy could hear his heart beating rapidly in his ears, accompanied by the sound of his brother, Wilbur, and their best friend, Techno, ushering him to hurry up.
“C’mon Tommy! Get a move on or he’s gonna leave!” Wilbur whisper-yelled, looking up at Tommy from his crouched position on the cold, wet ground. The three boys were hidden behind a dumpster in a alley, just around the corner was a bus stop were a man stood, not knowing he was being peeped on. Techno was just slightly in front of Tommy, watching the man around the corner. Without averting his gaze, Techno spoke up, “Tommy, you gotta-“ “I know! It would be easier if you two would shut up!” Tommy pretty much yelled in response, receiving a glare and a loud SHHH from Techno and a hand over the mouth from Wilbur. Tommy removed Wilbur’s hand from his face and shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his oversized jacket. “I’m going I’m going.” Tommy muttered, stomping off towards the bus stop and towards the man.
Tommy hesitated, briefly looking back at the others for any sorta help? Reassurance? Wilbur gave him a big smile and used his right hand to gesture Tommy to keep going, Techno just gave him a thumbs up.
Tommy, Wilbur, and Techno, have been on the run for about a week. Tommy and Wilbur met Techno when they were taken and put into the Hayley’s Foster Home, which..wasn’t exactly the nicest place. That’s why they left and that’s why Tommy is now about to mug this innocent guy who’s probably just wanting to go home, but hey, gotta eat somehow right?
Tommy looked back at the task at hand, he took a deep breathe and continued walking over to the guy. He tapped the dude on the arm, the guy looked a bit confused for a second before looking down at Tommy. “Hey mate,” Tommy started, “can you spare a few bucks?I..I lost my wallet and this prick of a driver won’t let me ride without any cash.” The guy tilted his head to the side, giving Tommy a sympathetic look. That’s a good sign, that means it’s working! The boys figured out they have a higher chance of snatching wallets if they use Tommy, I mean after all, all they see is a nice twelve year-old boy who’s down on his luck. Tommy had done this a lot already, but it didn’t stop the anxious feeling he got every time.
“That sucks kiddo,” the man spoke up, “Have you tried calling someone?” “Well shit,” Tommy thought, “Of course he had to ask that question instead of just handing out free money!” “Uhm,” Tommy stuttered, trying to think of a good excuse other then “I don’t have a phone mister!” Which was true, but kinda suspicious considering Tommy’s age and considering the fact that he was “alone”(unbeknownst to the guy that he wasn’t). “I-I smashed my phone, slipped and fell and it broke!” Tommy replied, trying his best to sound upset. The guy nodded slowly, Tommy started shuffling his feet in worry the guy wasn’t buying it. A huge wave of relief washed over not only Tommy, but Wilbur and Techno too when the guy started pulling out his wallet. The man opened up the leather holy grail(at least in Tommy’s mind it was)and started flipping through some wrinkled dollar bills. The man turned his body fully towards Tommy and leaned down just a tad, wallet right in front of Tommy’s face. It’s honestly shocking this dude couldn’t see the pure joy and greed in Tommy’s sky blue eyes. “How much you need?” The guy asked. Tommy took a hand out of his pocket and waved it dismissively. “Not a lot, all I need is a buck or two-“ Right as Tommy finished speaking, he swiped the wallet from the mans hand and bolted in the opposite direction and back towards Wilbur and Techno.
The man was quiet for a moment, trying to piece together what just happened, but when he did he didn’t waste a second thought before he started yelling and rushing after Tommy. Wilbur and Techno dipped out of the alley and ran just slightly ahead of Tommy, laughing as the man cussed them out. “GET BACK HERE WITH MY WALLET YOU LITTLE SHITS!” The man screamed. Ouch, that one hurt(it didn’t, it wasn’t the first time they’ve been called little shits and won’t be the last). “Good job Tom!” Wilbur chuckled looking back at Tommy, his long legs carrying him, to what Tommy feels like is fucking miles in front. “Can we celebrate when this guy’s not on our asses?” Techno asked. “Yeah!” Tommy panted, slowly but surely running out of air from trying to keep up with Will and Techno.
{•}
After what feels like hours of running(which is most likely only thirty minutes) the trio finally looses the man, leaving him by a water fountain in the park hunched over and sweating his ass off. The boys take refuge in a nearby bookstore, all catching their breath.
Tommy smiled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he glanced up and Wilbur was smiling back at him. “I’m proud of you Tommy.” Wilbur says, he brings a hand up to wipe some sweat from his forehead. “Yeah you did good.” Techno agreed. “I had it all handled.” Tommy said proudly, tossing the wallet to Techno and receiving an eye-roll from both older boys. Techno quickly counted over the money, “Yep, should be able to buy dinner and maybe more.” “Hell yeah!” Wilbur cheered, in return he got told to quiet down by, what Tommy guesses, is the owner. Wilbur smiled awkwardly and apologized, but as soon as the owner was out of sight Will started doing a little happy dance, getting a giggle out of Tommy and an arm punch from Techno.
“You’re really embarrassing.” Techno remarks, spinning Wilbur around and unzipping one of the small pouches in his backpack. “I’m awesome.” Wilbur retorts, “Yeah, Will’s cool!” Tommy says. Techno zips Will’s pack back up and spins him back around. “You’re both lame.” Techno smiles and pushes open the store door, leaving. Wilbur and Tommy exit right after Techno, Tommy already throwing a fit about Techno’s comment. “You take that back right now you bitch!” Tommy demanded, running in front of Techno. “I agree, that was really rude.” Wilbur said, arms crossed all serious-like. “Yeah, no.” Techno responded plainly. The trio continued their bickering as they walked down the sidewalk, soon their conversation wavered into what they were gonna eat. They mutually agreed on McDonald’s.
{•}
There was a light knock on the door. “Come in!” Phil called out, looking up from his paperwork. The door opened smoothly and a dark skinned women stepped in. “Good afternoon Detective.” The women said, closing the door behind her. “Afternoon, what can I help you with Mrs. Stephens?” Phil asked, setting the pen he was holding down. “We have an update on the missing Hayley’s boys sir. A man named Jordan Smith called in claiming he was mugged by three boys matching their descriptions.” The women, Mrs. Stephens said. Phil hummed in response, he had been working the Hayley’s runaways case since they were reported “missing”.
Phil had been working with the L’Manburg Police Department for years and normally worked on cases involving kids, a few boys running off wasn’t anything he hasn’t seen but these boys were..something. Unlike most, they didn’t immediately leave town, and as far as evidence shows, they didn’t save any money to try either. They didn’t hide their faces and they were racking up quite the criminal record. Theft, public disturbance, and apparently one of the older boys, Techno Blade, assaulted another person. Phil couldn’t lie that it was pretty concerning how violent the kid was. The person Techno attacked was a full grown adult and he left that person pretty messed up. Their foster mother, Connie Hayley, when questioned about Techno did agree that he had a violence issue and that he definitely needed some help and how this wasn’t the first time he’d done something like that. She was oddly harsh when talking about Techno, but she was also pretty dismissive when talking about the three boys all together. No matter how hard she tried to hide it.
Then there was Wilbur Soot, the supposed brains of their operations. He was the oldest one, but was currently the same age as Techno at sixteen, going on seventeen. According to Ms. Hayley, Wilbur was a pretty intelligent kid but struggled with impulse control. Ms. Hayley also said she’s positive that Wilbur came up with their plan on how to escape the house.
Last but not least, Tommy Soot, the younger brother of Wilbur and the youngest one of the three. Most of the information about Tommy came from Ms. Hayley, he was extremely clingy towards Wilbur and would never leave his side. He was also quite the uh, smart mouth and was as sneaky as a raccoon. “Nothing really stood out about him though.” is what Ms. Hayley said about Tommy during her interview with Phil.
The way Ms. Hayley acted when talking about these kids made something in Phil feel..off. She didn’t really seem like the boys being gone scared her, she didn’t seem like the motherly type either which Phil felt like is normally a quality people have when their job is to parent children ‘til they’re actually given a home and parents.
“Did he see where they went or where they could be going?” Phil questioned, eye brow raised. “No sir, he said he lost them and they completely fled the scene.” Mrs. Stephens answered. Phil sighed, “Alright, bring me the report and I’ll look it over. We really need to catch these boys, their slowly becoming more of a danger to themselves and I’d rather find them all alive.” Mrs. Stephens nodded, she was a mother herself and had a son Tommy’s age, it was obvious she was worried for these boys. “I’ll be back in a moment detective.” Mrs. Stephens says, turning to the door. “Oh, and Amelia.” Phil said abruptly. Mrs. Stephens, Amelia turned her head to look at Phil. “Hm?” She hums. “Please, just call me Phil.” Phil said, giving her a small smile. Amelia returned the smile and nodded once more, “Okay Phil.” Amelia takes her leave and Phil is left alone in his office. Phil’s smile disappears and he pushes his glasses up and rubs the corners of his eyes with his index finger and thumb.
“I hope those boys are okay.”