Chapter Text
Waking up in the morning to stabbing pains down his side, is not how Tommy wishes to wake up, but on this sunny Monday, it is how he wakes up.
Tommy sits up slowly in pain.
God damnit that villain knows how to cook.
If you couldn’t tell, Tommy is a vigilante, known on the streets as Apollo, a nickname bestowed on him by his favourite, and only, roommate, who is called Techno. Techno rescued Tommy when he was young, he had been on the streets since he was 6, and at 9 he was barely alive, mostly a pile of skin and bones. When the vigilante, named Wither at the time, came across him, he picked him up and took him to get a Beast burger.
But today Techno has a little less sympathy for him, since Techno is now a Hero, and Tommy is now mostly safe and sound, and only in danger when on patrol.
So, when Tommy yelps and cries in agony, all Techno says is,
“Should’ve probably been more careful”
Tommy fills with false rage,
“YOU B****” he says with no real anger.
Techno chuckles, and states,
“You had that big interview today, didn’t you?”
Tommy looks up, how did he know?
“Yes, how did you?”
Techno just stared at the Callander, which in fairness stated, ‘BIG INTERVIEW TODAY’ in block capitals, on this date.
Tommy just nods slowly.
Techno watches, bites a piece off his toast, and then says,
“You didn’t tell me about this?”
Tommy nods and hums a little.
“Where is it, need a lift?”
Tommy shakes his head quickly.
“It’s important. It’s, different. If I don’t get the job, I don’t really want you to know I even applied.”
Techno looks a little hurt, but understands, Tommy is only 17, but his birth certificate and any other evidence states he is 19. Tommy’s only dream has been to be able to live for himself, and while he adores Techno, he can’t just rely on him forever. Techno was there too.
Tommy stands up and steals Techno’s other slice of toast.
Techno looked fake hurt for a moment, before standing up and saying,
“Welp, I better be off, the heroes won’t hero themselves.”
Tommy giggles, this is something he would say every day to make tommy laugh, and it was old, and not funny, but it was a tradition, and so it stayed.
Techno left, giving Tommy a quick hug, and then walking through the door.
Tommy heard it lock, and then quickly went to his room to get ready.
He put on the best suit he had, the shirt having a small stain, so he made sure to button up his, slightly broken, blazer, and chuck on the fancied trousers he could.
He left like Techno and locked the door behind him.
He strolled down the street listening to his “confidence” playlist, yes, he has playlists based on emotions he wishes to feel, and yes, most of the songs on this playlist were by bruno mars, or from hamilton, it’s a miracle this makes him confident instead of simply a cringy theatre kid, but I guess theatre kids have confidence? Either way, it seems to work as he walks nearer to the building, making sure Techno is no-where to be found. He must already be there.
Tommy has visited this building a few times and is familiar with some of the people.
This is because the building is the Hero Agency. This is where his br- roommate works. And he probably, definitely should not try to work here.
But when Tommy wants to do something, he will do it.
“Heyyy Sally!!”
The receptionist waves,
“Hello, hello, I haven’t seen you in a while, do you want some sweets?”
She replies.
“Haha no thank you Sally! I’m actually here for an interview, with uhh, Wimblur?”
Sally’s face goes red, I think she might have a crush.
“Yes! Wilbur, Of course, it’s on the SBI floor. Number.42 on the elevator, too floor ahah!”
Tommy nods and walks off, before asking,
“He’s Techies friend, right??”
Sally nods, and tommy goes into the elevator, presses the number in, and is off.
Tommy waits awkwardly as he listens to the buzz of the lights above his head. He tried to ignore the pain of the burns down his side, but it was getting difficult, the blazer rubbing against it making it so uncomfortable. He hears a voice out of nowhere, sounding robotic and similar to that animal crossing game?
"Thomas, you seem to have second degree burns."
Tommy looks around to see who said that.
"Thomas, I am an AI, my name is Sam Nook. I was made to ensure the safety of all who work in this building, and to ensure everything is in order. Would you like me to notify Wilbur Soot that you will need treatment?"
Tommy winces again and gets a little bit angry.
"Do not say a word to him, I need this job."
He frowns.
Sam speaks again.
"Okay, however if it gets worse, or I worry about your safety, protocol calls for me to notify Wilbur Soot, or any of the people you may be working for, for example Phil Za Minecraft, or PeepeePooPoo."
"Who the? Whose peepeepoopoo??"
"It is a nickname assigned by Wilbur Soot to Techno Blade. Wilbur reprogrammed me to replace his name with this fun nickname."
Tommy just laughs. After a while, the sign lights up, indicating that he is on the 42nd floor, SBI's. Now he just has to hope Techno isn't nearby. The doors open swiftly, and he is faced with a large room, it has separate rooms leading off of it, and it looks like a very posh and expensive living room, with a kitchen, all open plan. The rooms leading off are all labelled, for example "The gym" and "Wilbur Soot's Office".
Tommy wonders which one is Wilbur's office, and then laughs to himself as he realises that the one labelled as "Wilbur Soot's Office" is probably Wilbur's Office. He reaches for the handle, before realising, holy mother of primes, I'm about to be interviewed? His heart beats ten to the dozen. He stands there for another minute or so before knocking gently.
"Come innnnn!!" Wilbur says, sounding kind and calm, almost singing, but that's probably all in Tommy's imagination.
Tommy opens the door quickly, standing sheepishly in the doorframe.
"H-Hello."
Wilbur looks up saying
"Come in, come in, have a seat-"
Wilbur stares at Tommy for a moment, recognition in his eyes as he watches Tommy sit down.
"When I saw your file, I thought you were familiar, I couldn't think of where from," Wilbur starts, and Tommy hums in response, " I did not expect Techno's brother -of all people -to apply for a job here!"
Tommy laughs slightly, not knowing whether to respond or let Wilbur continue his monologue.
"Well let's start on this interview. Why do you want to work here?"
Tommy's eyes go wide, he wasn't expecting this question.
"Uhm, uh, well, I've always looked up to heroes, especially Techno, an-and I kind of miss Techno when he's at work. P-Plus I feel bad, he works all day, and then spends all his money on looking after me, an-and I'm 19, I kind of need a job now."
Wilbur looks like he wants to give Tommy the biggest hug ever, Tommy looks on the brink of tears, out of fear and anxiety.
"AWH Tommyyy! Sam! Sam NOOK!"
"Hello, Theatre Kid, how can I help?"
"Goddamn Techno- I mean... Please can you cancel the rest of the interviews? Pretty please Sammyyy"
"Of course, Wilbur, also I think you should know," Tommy stares at where he thinks the voice is coming from, thinking, if you dare, I swear to God! "Well Tommy has second degree burns down his right side, he has been continuingly wincing in pain throughout this short interview, and i believe he needs medical attention to ensure it doesn't get infected, plus his shirt is pulling at the burns, and causing more pain."
Wilbur stares at Tommy, with no real anger, more like worry, but Tommy gets very anxious.
"Why didn't you tell me Tommy?"
"I thought you wouldn't hire me...?"
"Come on let's go to Med Bay."
Tommy follows behind Wilbur awkwardly, still in pain. As they reach the elevator again, Tommy hopes they don't see Techno, and hopes he isn't in Med Bay. The doors to the elevator open again, and Tommy walks in before walking into a pole, which wasn't there before. Hang on a second. No, he walked into Techno, who looked down in anger, before realising it was Tommy and softening his face.
"Tommy? I thought you had that interview?"
"No time tech! He has second degree burns! You should've taken him to med bay!"
Techno looks at Tommy before realising he has to act like he didn't know.
"Tommy when did this happen?"
"Oh- uhm after you left, I accidently poured, uh, Hot chocolate! down my side?"
Wilbur looks at him as the elevator moves,
"Awh you poor thing!"
They wait in the elevator until the doors open to a new floor, which looks exactly like a hospital but somewhat more chaotic. Wilbur and Techno take Tommy to a bed where a nurse comes up to see him.
"Why hello young man, my name is Apple, what can I do to help today?"
Wilbur butts in before Tommy even gets the chance to speak,
"He has second degree burns! please help him!!"
"Oh my! Well, you're very brave kid! Can I have a look?"
Tommy looks around awkwardly, mostly at Wilbur.
"Oh! Sorry Tommy, I can leave if you want?"
Tommy feels bad but says,
"If that's okay... sorry"
"It's all good!!"
Wilbur smiles gently and leaves the not so much of a room. The bed Tommy is in is surrounded in a big curtain, giving him, Techno, and the nurse privacy. Tommy lifts his shirt slighty to show the nurse the burns.
"Ouch you are brave, that must've hurt a lot! I'm going to put some things on to make sure it doesn't get infected, this may sting a little, how did you manage to do this?"
Tommy looks at Techno before saying
"Uhm, well I fell and uh poured hot chocolate down me"
The nurse looks confused a second, like she can see through his lies, and says
"Hot chocolate, eh? It has good intentions, but can have tragic methods, can't it? I always try to avoid them, but it's difficult when, sometimes, they are so evil, and they are quite fiery."
Tommy and Techno were quite confused. She was talking like she knew he was fighting Hades, who is called Grian, and for some reason had a flame thrower. Honestly it was a full accident. Hades saw him patrolling and decided to have a chat, Tommy knew he should avoid him, but he just couldn't, and so he got a few flames to the side for it.
"Haha i guess so."
The nurse helped but bandages on, and Techno stood by Tommy ‘s side and comforted him, once they were finished Wilbur came back into the room, and they all went back to the SBI floor.
Wilbur said that Tommy should lay down for a bit on the sofa, and Wilbur said he could rest for a bit. Techno sat on the sofa, so Tommy rested on Techno's shoulder as Wilbur went back to work.
“Why work here? You’ve put yourself in so much danger”
Tommy didn’t know what to say, he wanted to act like a big man, but he also wanted to be honest, Techno deserved the truth.
Tommy was so conflicted, and started to worry, what if he was mad? What if Techie hates him now? Tears prickled at his eyes.
“I- I- I uhm, I really.”
“Hey, hey, hey, why are you crying it’s okay! you’re safe, I don’t mind, I’m just worried?”
“I missed you so much!!” Tommy burst into tears, “I just wanted to see you more”
Techno's face softened, leaning in to hug tommy more,
“I missed you too, but you shouldn’t get a job just because you missed me”
“But- but I also felt bad!!”
Techno looked very confused, felt bad? why?
“You work every day, risking your life, just to come home to me and buy and make me food and everything!! I wanted to help, I’m 19 now, I need to help out”
Techno wanted to join tommy in crying, but he knew he had to show tommy it’s okay. He gave tommy a proper hug, tommy resting his head on techno's shoulder and using his shoulder pad to cry into.
“You don’t have to do anything, and you’re only 17,” he said in a whisper, “you are my brother, I care for you so much, and I love you, you shouldn’t feel like you have to do anything for me, because I will always, always be there for you, and I love you.”
Tommy cried harder; he loves techie too.
Wilbur walks in and sees Tommy crying.
“TOMMY, ARE YOU OKAY WHAT HAPPENED??” Wilbur yelled.
Tommy flinched and held Techno with a much stronger grip.
Techno looked at Wilbur and said,
“Will you be a bit quieter? He’s pretty sensitive to noise?!”
Wilbur looked shocked and upset, he walked closer carefully, making sure not to startle either of them.
“I’m sorry Tommy I didn’t know…”
“S'okay will” Tommy said, immediately going to hug Wilbur too.
Wilbur looked like he adored everything, and spoke
“You are so adorable and thank you, also, techno? group hug?”
Techno rolled his eyes, but reluctantly gave in.
In this moment, Tommy was the happiest he has been in a while, don't get me wrong, Tommy had been very happy for ages, ever since Techno picked him up from the street corner, and nursed him back to health, making sure he was safe and well, but this made him feel loved, and cared for, and it wasn't just Techno, Will was there too.
"Oh, hello mate"
A new voice spoke, and Tommy hid his head in Techno's coat, scared for who it is but also a little curious.
“HEY PHIL!” Will shouts loudly, before being nudged by techno, and then saying it again, a bit quieter.
“Hey” Techno says, and Tommy dares to peek at the man.
The man was pretty short, although compared to Techno, Tommy and Wilbur, most people are. He had short blonde hair and looked old and tired. Tommy realised that this man was Uranus, also known as Philza.
The hero was notorious for despising vigilantes, so Tommy knew he had to be weary of him, but stood here, he looked so welcoming? Like a father, or a teacher, someone who you would cry to, who would lend a shoulder, and help you with your issues.
“Hey, I haven’t checked who's patrolling tonight yet, who is it?” Philza says.
“I don’t know but I’ll probably patrol” Techno says, turning to face Philza, showing off Tommy from where he hid.
“Oh! You must be Tommy! Techno talks about you all the time; I can’t believe we’ve never met!”
Tommy peeks around at the man again.
“Hi Philza.”
“Awhhh matteee, you can call me Phil! Techno you didn’t say he was adorable!”
“You aren’t adopting him; he is my brother.”
“Then maybe I should adopt you,”
“Heh??”
Will butts in again,
“He’s, our secretary! Or assistant, I honestly don’t even know what the job was for, I saw Tommy and said “hired” instantly”
“Hahaha mate that’s not how jobs work but, to be fair, I would probably have done the same.”
Techno looks down at tommy, pats his head and says,
“I’m glad he’s here, I missed him when I went to work”
“Now how come you never miss me when you go home!” will says.
Techno just looks at him, confused look on his face, before saying,
“Tommy is like 10x better than you, plus at least he is actually nice!”
“HEY!! Oh, right uhm, heyy!” Wilbur says, quieting down when he remembers tommy.
“It’s true Will, I am simply the best man, in fact, I am truly the bestest human on earth!” tommy says.
“Pshh, Techno, you called him nice?” Will says jokingly.
“I stand by my previous statement”
“I am telling dad”
“I’m right here?” Phil says, “and Techno is correct!”
“Daaaaaaaaaddddd” Will says in fake despair.
Tommy didn’t quite know what was going on, but he did know one thing. Throughout his life of living with Techno, or even before that on the streets, he has never really felt like he belonged, like he was in a family. He loved Techno but he was just a brother, and being here, he almost felt as if Techno and Will were his brothers and Phil was his father. No matter what you say, Tommy would probably never admit it, but in this moment, he believed they could be a family, and he didn’t really mind.
That was, until the crushing weight of reality hit him, and he realised they could never be a happy family, especially when Phil found out his secret.
And the weight of Will landing on him, yelling,
“Pillow fight!!!”
Apparently, Tommy had missed Wilbur's warning until the last second, where Wilbur collapsed onto him whacking him with a pillow at the same time, and Tommy just fell with him, letting his head hit the floor, with a loud bang, before laughing.
He may never truly get to experience a family for himself, but for now. For now, this will do.
And he should probably get his head checked out, when he goes into shock that’s gonna hurt.