Chapter Text
i’ve been going through the records
we’re not getting any better
maybe i’m just getting bitter
i don’t really care, whatever
i’m so tired of open warfare
when the point of this was to be best of friends
Whenever Tommy had the night shift at the restaurant he worked at, he would keep getting those non-stop messages from the two of his roommates (worrying about him if it had gotten too late and so on), and whenever he would get any of those messages, he would simply ignore every single one of them.
And when he would reach finally home for the night, Tommy would be met with an angry looking Tubbo and a worried looking Ranboo, the two would ask their questions (if he was okay? or why was he too late?), and every single time Tommy would answer with the same old words, over and over, saying that the two worry too much and were just like old people, which would immediately drop the subject and turn it into a lighthearted bickering between the three housemates.
It was normal, and Tommy knew his housemates well enough to stop their anger or worry towards him, it was fine.
But no, not today, because when Tommy had entered the little apartment he lived in with his said roommates, he was just met with a deadly silence, he has not received a single text from either of them throughout the night, and the state of their home was not the same as it was whenever Tommy would comeback from work, no, it was the total opposite, it was too messed up, he knew it was too messed up for Ranboo and Tubbo’s personal ease.
He knew the two also had jobs (they probably had late shifts today, just like him), but no, they never had night shifts at the beginning of the week, and when they did, they never stayed past twelve. He also knew that the two might have left to get the trio’s groceries (it was the beginning of the month anyway), but then again, no, they had just gotten their groceries last Friday. Likewise, he knew that the two might have just went on a late night walk, but yet again, no, they never leave the house past twelve (it was far too late for Ranboo’s comfort), and he knew how worried they would get when either Tommy or Tubbo would suggest leaving between twelve to four in the morning, and now it was way past midnight.
Now he was the one worrying too much. Thoughts and questions about where his housemates had went so late at night already building up and running through this mind.
Where could they have gone what if they are hurt what if they got lost what if they have no way of contacting him what if the villains of their town had attacked and they were affected what is they got kidnapped what if they got robbed what if they die- No, Tommy could not think like that, he knew the two were tough enough to take care of themselves… even though they were very reckless at sometimes, but that was besides the point.
He would always tell Ranboo that they were the one to care too much, but would never admit it when the words were repeated to him, and now he was the one worrying (yes, he was admitting it now, what about it).
His thoughts were cut off when he heard the front door of the apartment shuffle open, revealing the two teenagers he lived with, they looked tired. He had immediately rushed towards them, questions leaving his mouth right away without a second thought.
“Where the fuck were you two? Do you know how late it is? And I thought I was the one who would come home late, Jesus man” Tommy questions as they leave the little space of the entrance, Tubbo dropping his backpack onto the floor near the couch before heading towards the bedroom door.
“In the morning Toms, I’m tired” the brunette had mumbled, waving off the questions before going inside the room and closing the door behind him with a faint click.
“Ranboo, answer me” Tommy demanded the other teen in the house, walking towards the kitchen where they were.
“Dang Tommy, since when did you worry so much?” they simply tease, a smirk plastered on their face which only causes the blond to flip them off.
“No, but seriously, where were you two? I know you guys don’t leave after midnight, and now it is one in the morning” he asks yet again, sitting on the kitchen counter while watching Ranboo take out a bag of ramen from one of the cabinets and put it in a bowl.
“Our job plans were changed, I have night shifts at the cafe now and the I.T. office Tubs works at did the same” they reply ever so easily, watching the water in the kettle slowly boil before pouring it into the bowl.
Tommy had just eyed them, he did not know whether they were saying the truth or just straight up lying to his face, because Tubbo never came home from work tired enough to fall asleep immediately, and Ranboo never ate anything after returning from the cafe they work at (their boss had always made sure they had eaten something before leaving the cafe for the day).
“But the cafe closes before midnight…” he says, still eyeing the teenager, watching them stiffen (just for a split second) at his words.
“I-it did, I just went to… pick up Tubbo after my shift, you know how he gets when he’s at work for too long” Ranboo spoke, mindlessly stirring the ramen around the bowl with a fork and shrugging a bit, their back still facing Tommy.
The blond just gave them a hum as an answer, shrugging the topic off, they would probably explain to him more about it in the morning, right?
They always told eachother everything.
The two were just tired and needed some sleep.
Turns out Tommy was fucking wrong, because the next day when had woken up on the sofa and headed towards the bedroom so he can get ready for the day (they had sleeping arrangements, one on the couch and two on the bed, switching daily), he found Tubbo and Ranboo a seat on the bed that they had shared the night prior, sitting face to face while talking in little hushed tones, and once Tommy had entered the room, the two had immediately went silent, looking at one another then wishing him a good morning with little bright smiles.
He was not sure what they were not telling him, or why they were not telling him whatever they were hiding, but he could not really force anything out of them. No no, they would think that he does not trust them with handling things after being friends and living together for years now.
He did not know what he did wrong for the two to not trust him enough and keep secrets between each other, but he would try to make it up to them, he wanted his housemates’ trust, he didn’t want to feel left out, or like he was not worthy of their trust after so long.
And with that Tommy just leaves for work, it was the afternoon anyway, the two did not even bother to wake him up early, but that was fine, they knew how much he hated mornings, he was very much not a morning person.
He heads to the place he works at, ‘The Pirates Cab’, a wooden looking restaurant that feels ever so slightly similar to an old pirate ship, old looking maps and ships in bottles designing the place, fishing nets as railings, chairs built to look like barrels, boat looking couches, lets not forget the fish tanks around some of the corners of the restaurant, and a delicious American cuisine.
Tommy worked as a waiter there, he could not really cook anything, he would most likely burn the kitchen down, so he just took peoples orders and served them their food, it was fun at most times, he would be able to have a little chat with his coworkers, not including the fact that his boss was really nice and would always be there if you need a parental figure in any way.
Speaking of his boss, she was sitting right where he would hang around during his lunch break, he grabbed a some food that was handed over to him by Sam (one of the chefs at the restaurant), and sat next to her.
“Hiya Tommy” Puffy had greeted quietly, looking up from her own food to face him, brushing some of the curly white hair out of her bright green eyes.
“Hello Puffy…” he trailed off, thinking whether he should ask her about the whole situation with his roommates or not.
“You look in question Toms, spill it out, I’m all ears” his boss speaks as if she just went through his mind and out by just looking at him, taking a bit from her own food, while glancing at him form the side of her eyes.
“My roommates are being weird, I feel like they are hiding things from me but I’m not sure, they keep talking quietly when I’m around and giving each other weird looks ever since Ranboo got their powers and I don’t know why” Tommy rambles without hesitation in one breath, slightly feeling bad after that for throwing it all at Puffy, it was definitely not her problem, god, she did not even know his housemates in person.
“I see, have you tried talking with them about it tho?” and god she is so wise, how didn’t Tommy’s little tiny brain ever think of that before, he shakes his head no, remembering that she was asking him a question, eating some of the sandwich in his plate.
Tommy’s shift finally comes to an end, he waves off his co-workers who were on cleaning duty that night and begins his little walk home.
It was quiet around the west side at night, other than the fact that there could possibly be a superhero, villain, or vigilante around any alleyway or rooftop, not to mention that two new vigilantes who were introduced a few weeks ago, although Tommy has not seen them in action just yet, and the villains did not really attack the citizens out of the blue, no, in fact (from what Tommy has seen, at least) they sorta helped out more than the heroes did (who mostly cared about the the further north area as that was where the richer people lived), and they did not really hate the vigilantes around the area as much as the hero agency did.
He was just humming to whatever came to mind when he felt his phone buzz inside his pocket, reaching over to it and checking who had messaged him, seeming a bit pissed off when he saw that it was an unknown number but opened the messages app anyway.
—
Unknown
->Dadza
->Dad
->Father
->Help
->I’m kinda in trouble
->Now
->Before you go all ‘WiL wHaT wErE yOu ThInKiNg’ like the old man you are
->And go all grumpy and shit on me
->I wasn’t thinking okay
->Now help me pleaaaassee
->I swear to fucking god if you forgot how to use your phone
->DAAAAAAAD
->FATHER
->DAZAAAAAA
->FATHER DEAREST
->I’m literally dying and you’re probably at home drinking your stupid tea
->At least let ‘your favorite son’ come help me
->For fucks sake
Tommy
<-Jesus man how many messages can you send in a second
<-Also I’m not Dadza, dad or father
Unknown
->Well no shit he would’ve beaten the shit out of me by now and called me a ‘little shit’ like always
Tommy
<-Wow okay
<-Is there something wrong
<-Can I help in anyway?
<-You seem in trouble
Unknown
->I don’t know who you are man
->You could be a cop or some shit
->Then I’ll be even more dead than I am
Tommy
<-Wooooowwwww
<-You think I’m THAT old
<-Okay I’m sorry I even asked to help you bitch
<-Have fun dying
<-You probably look like shit doing that
Unknown
->FUCK
->NO WAIT
->COMEBACK
->FINE
->ILL TELL YOU
->SHIT
->I JUST REALLY NEED HELP RIGTH NOW
->BUT YOU DONT SAY SHIT ABOUT ANYTHING ALRIGHT?
->If I got my dads number wrong
->I don’t want to know who I’ll text next by guessing his number
Tommy
<-OKAY FIIIIINNEEE
<-Where are you?
Unknown
->*shared a location*
Tommy
<-Okay, that’s not so far from where I am
<-I’ll be there in a second
—
Tommy began walking over to the location, sure the contact he texted was not Tubbo or Ranboo, sure he did not know who the person was, but they seemed like they really needed help, what if they were actually dying?
He can not just risk someone loosing their life while he knew, no no, that would be too cruel.
Once his phone signaled that he has reached the location, he looked up in front of him, at an alley way, now, you would call Tommy stupid for walking in there, which was most probably correct, but he was sure it was not a threat, trust him, he knew a wounded silhouette when he sees one, perks of taking extra medication classes from Ranboo’s boss at the cafe they work at.
“Hello? You texted me to come help you here” Tommy had finally called out, seeing the head of the silhouette’s head perk up towards him from where they were looking at the floor.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I texted a fucking child” the person says, his British accent obvious in his voice as he drops onto the floor with a huff and not a second thought.
“Yeah yeah sure, it’s better than no one isn’t it?” The blond argued, brushing off the man’s complains and walking over towards him, dropping his backpack onto the floor.
“Sure, yeah- whatever, you know how to clean a wound, kid?” The man, who seemed to be a brunette in the dark of the alleyway spoke while looking up at him, although Tommy couldn’t see his face, but he could tell he had a hand wrapped around his shoulder or bicep.
“Yeah, show me” Tommy replies, taking out his phone and pointing the flashlight towards the brunette who visibly winced at the sudden shine of bright light, the man’s sight causing the blond to stiffen and freeze in position.
Siren (or Phantom as others called him), one of the cities highest ranked villains, number three to be exact, sat in front of Tommy, his deep blue mask (the same color of his suit) covering his eyes, fingerless gloves around his palms, one hand tightly wrapped around a wounded and very much bleeding upper arm, brown locks falling onto his face in front of where his eyes are supposed to be, but were covered by a piece of cloth instead.
“Well… are you just gonna stand there and let me bleed out or will you help me here?” Siren’s voice shook him out of his trance, quickly nodding before adjusting his phone on a nearby dumpster, taking out a clean towel from his bag and going over to start cleaning up the man’s upper arm.
The brunette finally let go of the wound, allowing the teenager to do what he can, he rested his head against the wall behind him, running a bloodied hand through his brown locks, smudging the crimson liquid into his hair and forehead a little.
“You look like shit” Tommy speaks out of no where, fully aware of Siren’s powers of mind control, but hey, he is the one helping the villain here, so he can’t really do anything to the blond.
“Excuse me?” the brunette says, his head facing Tommy now, who just shrugs and continues cleaning up the wound. “You’re literally a child” the man continues, brushing away more hair that has fallen onto his face.
“You’re literally a child, I’m the one helping your arse here, shut up” the blond mimics the villain at first, eyes not moving from the wounded limb.
And if Tommy could hear actions as his super power (one that he hasn’t gotten, yet), he would swear he heard that man in front of him roll his eyes at his words.
It had taken Tommy a few moments to clean the wound up as much as he could, then took out another towel he had, wrapping it tightly around the wound.
“This would do until you reach your house” the blond speaks out his thoughts, backing away to give Siren’s arm a look before nodding to himself, clearly proud of what he has done.
“Not too bad, did you learn from a nurse or something?” The brunette says, standing up and dusting off his clothes a bit before putting on his coat that was laying on the floor near by.
“Ex-nurse, she’s my roommate’s boss at the cafe they work at” Tommy speaks without thinking, slightly cursing at himself for revealing information about himself and one of his roommates, Siren only hums though, walking towards him. The blond slightly looks up (Siren was only around a few inches taller than him), and gives the brunette an awkward smile.
“Thank you a lot for this, how do you want me to pay you back?” the villain speaks, motioning towards his upper arm for the first half of his words before looking back at Tommy. Speaking of Tommy he was currently shocked, not expecting the top third ranked villain in the city to want to pay him back, and for what? Only half way fixing up a wound?
“Yeah yeah I know, I’m the best, but in all seriousness I don’t think I’ve got time for the whole ‘pay me back’ thing, it’s really late right now” he answered, picking up his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder before reaching for his phone, cursing under his breath when he found some messages from his roommates.
“Is there something wrong?” Siren asks, poking his head over Tommy’s shoulder, muttering a small ‘oh’ once he’d seen what it was.
—
Tubso: *20 unread messages* WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU???
Ranboob: *10 missed calls* *13 unread messages* Tommy, please answer
Tubso: *5 missed calls*
Boss: *3 unread messages* Your roommates are saying you didn’t reach home yet, are you okay???
Tubso: *5 unread messages* you’re dead when you get back you know
—
“Fuck” Tommy curses, basically forgetting the fact that a literal supervillain was still with him.
“I can get you home fast” Siren immediately speaks up from behind the blond, causing him to jump lightly before turning around to face the brunette.
“Take that as me paying you back…?” The villain says, which sounded more like a question but the blond nodded anyway.
He needed to reach home, and he needed to reach home as fast as possible.
What Tommy did not expect was to get picked up by Siren, yelping as he did so, but the villain did not even bother to say anything about it, like he expected him to do that, he used a nearby emergency ladder to get to the roof of that building, and began running and jumping from one roof to another. Once Tommy had pointed at a certain area, the brunette came to a stop, he thanked the villain who just returned it with a bright smile before waving off Tommy and leaving to head is own way.
Now it was Tommy’s turn to deal with two angry teenagers.