Chapter Text
Usually, when Techno worked the Hellp Desk, he had one or two people hanging around. Dream, who’d finally moved his way up to level one, or Tubbo who he was pretty sure only showed up to yell at the entitled souls that showed up. Which Techno wouldn’t really protest, he enjoyed the company, but right now he found himself kind of glad neither of those two were here.
With the poorly disguised frustration and anger on the face of the soul walking towards him, and the younger soul being dragged behind him clearly protesting his course of action, this was going to be an emotionally exhausting case. And neither Tubbo nor Dream were particularly good with bad father cases. Niki would probably be better. Or Sapnap.
Actually Sapnap would probably be the best suited to this situation, with his whole “going from a bad dad to a good dad named Bad” thing.
“Excuse me,” the soul started, making Techno raise an eyebrow at the polite start. He glances at the teen, watching as the kid tenses up and shoots him a scowl.
Techno ignores the ache in his chest at seeing someone so young in the afterlife, this wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. He should be used to it by now.
“Welcome to the Hellp Desk, mind letting that young man go? He looks pretty uncomfortable,” Techno says, watching the confusion grow in the older soul’s face before it gave way to an eye roll.
“I would if I didn’t know he was going to run off the second I did.”
Techno hummed, looking directly at the teenager. His face looks pale, and his eyes keep going rapidly between the older soul and Techno himself.
“You good there, kid? I can make him let go if you want me to.”
“Hey,” the soul protested, grip on the kid’s wrist tightening and earning a wince, “can you just help us?”
Techno doesn’t say anything, keeping his eyes on the— his eyes flicked down to the two files that had appeared on his desk— on Tommy’s face.
Tommy shrugged, deferring to— down again— his dad’s decision making. Techno relents at that, figuring he won’t be able to get Tommy to level one if dear old dad decided to try and drag him down to level four with him. He glances at Sam’s grip again, then makes the decision to bump him down to five.
“Need directions? Or is this a “we don’t belong here” situation?” Techno asks, setting the book he’d only been pretending to read since he caught sight of the two rapidly approaching him.
The father opens his mouth, closing it with a click as his eyebrows furrow and his lips twist into a frown. Techno just keeps his expression impassive.
“We don’t. We’ve been to every Prime church service and followed Exde’s word to the letter, there’s no way we should be here, I don’t care what the women at the front desk say.”
Ah, so Niki and Kristin have already dealt with him then. Probably why he thought he’d try his luck with Techno. He’s not nearly as scary as those two can be.
Sam’s mistake, Techno’s got them on speed dial.
“The kid doesn’t even follow Prime?” Techno asks, raising an eyebrow. Tommy’s breathing stuttered, his eyes locking on his dad as his fingers buried themselves in his shirt.
Probably should’ve kept that one to himself until he got Sam away from Tommy then. Suddenly, Techno kind of wished he had someone here to call backup.
Sam’s eyes snap to Tommy, but the only thing he does is tighten his grip to bruising levels.
“We were good people, Sam snaps, glaring at Techno again, “I was an officer of the law and I did my best to ensure myself and my son followed Exde’s word. We went to every Prime service, I donated to charities, Tommy volunteered his time at local shelters. We don’t belong here.”
Techno makes a show of dropping his eyes from Sam to the files in front of him, lifting the papers labeled with Sam’s name.
“Samuel Dude, shot a man in the arm, allowed and then participated in the mistreatment of those arrested, falsified arrest warrants when you couldn’t get them legitimately, ignored your only son in favor of other projects when you were home, hit him when he, and I’m quoting the file here, “got in your way,” the list is kind of going on.”
When Techno looks up from the file again, Sam’s expression is an ugly combination of shocked and enraged. Tommy is looking at Techno with a sort of awe that he refuses to admit warms his heart a bit.
“You’re so fucking cool man,” he whispers, only to flinch violently when Sam whirls on him. Techno narrows his eyes and presses a button on his desk before standing.
“Let go of the kid,” he says firmly, not at all fazed by the anger directed back to him. Sam isn’t the scariest soul Techno’s dealt with, and if he’s being entirely honest he was more pathetic than anything else.
“You do not get to tell me how to raise my son,” Sam spits, using his hold on Tommy to urge him behind his back. Techno raises an eyebrow as he steps around his desk and approaches the two calmly.
“One,” he starts, watching Sam back himself and Tommy into a wall, “you’re both dead. No more raising anyone after that nasty crash. Two, and this is the important part, you’re going down to level five— no six, and Tommy is going to stay with me.”
Techno’s not really sure why he said that, but he wasn’t gonna take it back when he looks at the teen and sees cautious excitement buried under the pain and fear in his eyes.
Sam looks at him, glare nasty with a poison that would have Techno shuffling uncomfortably if he wasn’t familiar with the demons of hell and the various spirits that occasionally took residence in his head. They were a lot more terrifying than a dead man and abusive father who doesn’t even want to accept the torture he was about to go through.
When someone finally, finally, removes Sam’s hand from Tommy’s wrist, Techno gestures for the kid to get the heck out of dodge. He hesitates for only a second to glance at Sam before he’s ducking under the arm of Exde and settling behind Techno himself.
Techno blinks at seeing who’d answered his call for help.
“I thought that button was connected to George?” he asks, raising an eyebrow when Exde turns its unchanging expression towards Techno.
“It is!” he answers cheerily, and— Nope. No, Techno’s not touching that with a ten foot pole. Not in a million lifetimes.
“Right,” Techno says, looking at Sam’s now deathly— hah— pale expression, “I moved him down to level six.”
Exde just nods, seemingly giddy at getting to take the soul down to George’s level of hell. For a being who loves all humanity, it sure does have a thing for the different levels of torture.
Techno squints after him. Actually, it might just have a thing for George.
“…Woah.”
Right, there is now a kid under Techno’s care, for some reason.
“Yep,” he answers, turning back towards the desk to plop himself back down in the comfortable office chair, “you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to kid. You’d been assigned level one in case you did, since you didn’t really dedicate yourself to any one religion, but not really a big deal if you just go to the void or reincarnate or something.”
Tommy hesitates, glancing in the direction Exde had dragged Sam, before lifting himself to sit on the desk. Techno pays him no mind, lifting his book and flipping through the pages until he found where he’d left off.
“That— What’s level one?”
“Ehh, it’s basically therapy and a spa day? But lastin’ however long you need it until you feel ready to earn your chance at paradise and reincarnate.”
Techno has no real issues explaining, he’s not about to shut the kid out when he’d read on his file that’s what he was used to. No, he didn’t have a soft spot for him already.
“You—” Tommy starts, then cuts himself off with an uncomfortable shift. Techno waits him out, figuring he’d ask when he was ready.
The steely look the kid gains after a minute of silence is enough for Techno to know he figured right.
“You pointed out I don’t follow Prime. Does that mean all… this,” he gestures to the hell surrounding them, “isn’t the only afterlife?”
“Smart kid,” Techno praises, pretending not to notice the way the kid preens at it, “and pretty much, yeah. My own afterlife is in the Fields of Elysium. I’ve got a friend who’s own afterlife is in the halls of Valhalla. There’s the Egyptian pantheon, the Roman pantheon but if you go there us bein’ friends will probably annoy the hell outta Hades, and since the Order of the Jedi is officially recognized as a religion in Australia, you could probably go check that out.”
Tommy stares at Techno as he explains, his expression slack-jawed in shock or confusion. Techno’s not really sure which, but both are honestly an understandable reaction. The kid suddenly clicks his mouth shut, throat bobbing as he swallows and fiddles with his sleeves.
“Can I—” he cuts off, face reddening as his eyebrows furrow and his lips tug into a scowl.
“Hey,” Techno says, getting Tommy’s attention and shooting him a small smile, “whatever you have to say, you’re free to say it. I’m not gonna get upset or anything stupid like that just because you have words and you dare to speak ‘em.”
Tommy hums, nose scrunching before the bridge smooths back out and he takes a deep breath.
“Can I stay with you?”
The question catches Techno off guard, though he supposes he really shouldn’t be surprised all things considered. Kid’s gone through years of neglect and Techno did just prove to him that he’d protect him and give him a voice.
“Ehh, I mean it’s kinda unorthodox. You were given a place here since you practiced the religion despite not believing in it, but,” Techno looks at the way Tommy’s face starts falling, his shoulders climbing up towards his ears as his eyes remain fixed on his fidgeting hands, “I can probably call in a favor or two.”
Tommy’s eyes shoot to meet Techno’s, narrowing in suspicion and a cautious hope that tugs at Techno’s heart in a way he’d deny for the rest of eternity.
“Really?” he asks quietly, and Techno grins.
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty good friends with Persephone, and she’s the one I’d have to convince. Hades’ is a total pushover when it comes to his wife.”
Tommy snickers, but his entire demeanor has brightened considerably and Techno takes that as win.