Chapter Text
Tommy knows what's about to happen. He feels the building shake. Hears the fountain groan. And yet he still can’t help but yell as the ceiling collapses. Dust clouds around him, choking him. His lungs wail for a breath of fresh air as they frantically take in dust and debris. His legs scream out in pain as the ceiling crushes them down. His body goes cold, as the warm stick puddle grows underneath him. He feels as if the world pauses, waiting in bated breath as his heart gives one final beat. Then darkness.
It's in every direction. No matter how far he walks, it follows. No matter how fast he runs, it surrounds him. Inescapable and cruel. Death isn’t warm or comforting, it's cold and unforgiving. A knife in the back. He lies defeated for what feels like months, maybe even years. Darkness is the only thing that greets him.
Until he sees it: a sliver of light. A green hue in an otherwise dark world. It surrounds him, filling him with the warmth of life. It wraps around him comforting him like an old friend. Before it yanks him back. Light spills into the darkness. Lighting up the cruel cold. He feels his heart begin to beat again.
“He’s alive!” is shouted from above him. The blur figures move too quickly for him to understand what’s happening. They circle him asking questions he can’t answer. How is he alive? His heart stopped. He was crushed. There was no way they were able to get to him that fast. So how is he alive? How is there light? How is there warmth? How is he still breathing?
“Hey kid, my name is Dream. I think you’ll be staying with me for a while”
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“Tommy, are you even listening to me?” Dream snaps, pulling Tommy back to the conversation at hand. “God, you're useless. You think after three years some of my lessons would have stuck” Dream says.
“Sorry Dream” Tommy speaks fast. The faster the apology the less of a punishment. That's how it's always been.
“Did you even hear anything I said?” Dream asks, his brow furrowed disappointedly. Tommy picks at his nail beds. He never liked failing Dream. After all Dreams done for him and he can’t even focus on a simple debriefing. It's embarrassing.
Tommy shakes his head, looking down as if not seeing Dreams furry will save him from it. “Of course you didn’t,” Dream sighs. “I’m going to make this short because you're making me repeat it. Despite my protests, the hero corporation wants you to go on a real solo mission. You will be sneaking into a warehouse downtown. We’ve gotten word that a Syndicate meeting will be happening there tonight. Now I expect results, get information before you shut it down. You know what happens when you fail, and I would rather not waste my time teaching you another lesson” Dream finishes.
Tommy can’t help but let the pride rush through his chest. It's been three years since the hero Dream saved him, bringing him back from the dead. Teaching him everything he knows. Keeping him safe and out of trouble. And now his progress is finally showing. He’s finally proving to Dream that his time wasn’t in vain. That he wasn’t a mistake.
Even his fear of messing up can’t stomp out his pride. The Syndicate’s a huge crime organization, it's run by some of the most terrifying villains Tommys ever encountered. Three huge crime bosses with hundreds of kills under their belt. Their stories are the ones older kids tell trying to scare their younger counterparts. A boogie man reincarnated.
And yet, here Tommy is sitting on a rooftop, waiting for the boogie man. Dream sent him off a few hours early, telling him to warm up before the deal goes down. The city seems quiet. The loud streets are merely gurgles in the background, as he waits for something to happen.
Not even a few minutes pass before he hears sirens begin to wail. Tommy jumps up going to investigate. The noise leads him to the front of a bank. Through the glass, he sees the masked bandits. A group of five. One presses a gun to the head of the recipient as the others either stuff money in the back or watch the hostages. It's a simple situation. One Tommy has deescalated a hundred times before.
“Want some help?” A voice shouts from above. Tommy looks up, only to spot Forge and Impact standing on the roof. Vigilantes Tommy has worked with before. Despite Dream’s distaste for them, Tommy thinks they're rather helpful. Even if it's against the law, they're really doing the same thing he is. They've helped Tommy out of hard situations before, maybe even saved his ass a couple of times.
“I would have been fine on my own!” Tommy yells back at them, rolling his eyes. He knows by now there's no way to talk them out of helping.
“Don’t be like that big man. You know you need us!” Forge says, jumping down from the room. Forge stands a head shorter than Tommy. His suit consists of a black, elastic material. It has a small yellow radioactive symbol on his chest, almost like a brand would. A pair of hexagon forging glasses are used to hide his identity. Impact quickly follows after his friend jumping behind Forge. His costume is odd for a vigilante. It sticks out like a sore thumb with its split black and white coloring. A matching mask is used to hide his face.
“Normal plan?” Impact asks, getting straight to the point.
“Of course, as long as you do the honors,” Tommy says, gesturing to the door. Impact acts quickly, forcing the doors open without even touching them. The doors slam against the wall, bringing the attention of the robbers to the three entering the building.
“Don’t need to show off, Matilda” Tommy says as he steps in front, strolling right into the center of the action. The robbers stand dumbfounded for a second before they jump into action.
The man who was watching the hostages grabbed one of them. Holding the gun against the man’s head. He opens his mouth, most likely to say some cliche line about how if they get closer he’ll shoot. But he never got the chance because the gun had already been knocked out of his hand.
“I think your powers should be considered cheating” Forge accuses, glaring at Impact.
“Let's just wrap this up ok. I got places to be,” Tommy yells. He’s already taken out the girl threatening the recipient. Flapping his wings to give him an extra boost he runs over to the third robber, who is going for a hostage. Tommys fast to kick him in the back of the head. Pushing him to the floor as he quickly disarms the man. By the time he zip-tied the man's hands behind his back, the others had already been taken care of. Forge holds a small bat to the last man, knocking him out.
Impact zip-ties the last of the criminals’ hands as Tommy guides the hostages out. Forge’s bat disappears as he heads over to help Tommy. As they led all the people onto the street, sirens got louder.
“Do this again soon Havoc!” Forge shouts before running down the street. Impact gives a small goodbye before following after the other vigilante.
It doesn’t take long for the police to arrive. Tommy gives them a quick statement before climbing onto the roof. Opening his wings, he lets the cold air blow through them as he falls. The wind is quick to pick him up, letting him glide across the city. Sooner than Tommy wanted the warehouse appears on the horizon.
Tommy scopes out the building, picking the most likely place for the deal to go down, and the best hiding spot overlooking it; which turns out to be a small cramped space in between an old dusty desk and the wall. Not an ideal place to be but it would have to work. It had the perfect view of the entire first floor, being located on the overhang. Quickly he scooches in preparing for the worst part—waiting.
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It takes a little over two hours for them to arrive. Tommy watches closely as Crossfire and Corvus walk in. He waits in bated breath for Hemlock. Only it's just two of them. And it's only them. They were supposed to be meeting with another group. Tommy reasons that they probably just got here early, but still something feels off. Tommy takes his time to study the two. Dream usually keeps him far away from these three, so he’s only ever seen them in blur photos and sped-up videos.
Crossfire’s outfit looks like normal streetwear. A long trench coat is thrown over a black turtleneck. Baggy pants covered the top of his combat boots. Tommy wonders how this man can fight in the summer without overheating; even his mask is made out of warm material. Corvus’s costume is better, even if Tommy thinks it looks stupid at least he's not at risk of passing out from heat exhaustion. His outfit is dark green with a stupid matching striped bucket hat. A plague doctor mask hides his face from view. Huge black wings sprout from his back. Tommy can’t lie when he says he's a bit jealous of them. Corvus can get anywhere in seconds without needing to stop. He doesn’t even have to climb up tall buildings to catch a breeze like Tommy does. It’s unfair in Tommy's mind, but Dream says that clipping his wings is healthy, so maybe Corvus is just being stupid.
Five minutes go by and nothing happens. No signs of the other group coming and no sign of the Syndicate leaving. Tommy picks at his nail beds just for something to do. His hiding spot is feeling smaller than ever, and with nothing to focus on it is also feeling more boring than ever before.
Another five minutes pass and Tommy gets worried that he is witnessing the Syndicate getting stood up. The two on the floor have yet to do anything other than quiet small talk. Tommy was starting to wonder if he should just get them. They were his main target after all. Dream wouldn’t be too mad if Tommy didn’t get the others.
Tommy was about to crawl out when something grabs him from behind. It wraps around his ankle pulling him away. Tommy yelps as he’s flung out of his hiding place. He is pulled up and hung from his ankles, facing the last Syndicate member, Hemlock.
“Looks like our trap caught a little rat” Hemlock yells. Tommy hears footsteps coming up the stairs. He struggles desperately trying to escape the vines that have entangled him. Tommy doesn’t understand what's happening. How did they know he was here? What do they mean by trap? Was this a setup? Do they have a mole? What are they going to do to him? Tommy's head is moving too fast for him to focus on just one thing.
“Take him back to the base. We can question him there” Tommy hears Crossfire shout. “I really thought we would get a bigger hero. Isn’t this one Dream's little sidekick? Why on earth did they send him?” Crossfire complains as his voice fades.
Tommy feeble kicks and wiggles trying to escape the vines. He sways as Hemlock walks, heading towards a window. Tommy struggles as Hemlock jumps out the window, dragging him behind as he Spiderman's through the city. Pulling himself up off the buildings with his vines.
Tommy fights with all his might as they swing through a narrow alleyway. A small ring on his finger is brought up to the vine. From the ring, a small seamless knife shoots out. Tommy’s quick to begin cutting through the vines. He feels them give out letting him fall. He wonders if he should have thought this through a bit more as he looks down.
“Shit!” is all Tommy hears before he feels the last Hemlock's vines slip off him. He watches as the ground grows closer. He did want this to happen, but not twenty stories in the fucking air. He hears the clank of the metal fire escape before he feels his brain rattle. He feels the wind rushing through his ear. He prays not to hit another fire escape on the way down to his certain death. Maybe it's better this way. Dream would never have to bother with him again. Even if he was useless on this mission, at least he would never have to see Dream disappointed. If he were dead then maybe Dream would be proud. After all, he stayed with him till the end. Loyal as all ways, maybe even to a fault.
His body relaxes as the corners of his vision start to blur. His eyes close as his mind goes fuzzy. He knows the ground is not far. He knows this is it. So why not enjoy his last breath. Distantly he feels something grab onto his ankle, but he's too far gone to try and figure out what it is. A harsh tug on his leg is the last thing he feels before his world goes dark.