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The sun was setting over the tall city buildings. The light was almost pure golden, staining everything else with the same shade.
Techno leapt from rooftop to rooftop with ease. He was one of the best heros in the city, it would be ridiculous if he found it difficult.
His bright pink hair shifted slightly in the small breeze as he stopped to scan the city streets below him. He checked to make sure his sword was still safely in its sheath before moving on after not seeing anything of interest.
Techno did the same thing over and over again for the next few minutes. Honestly, it was pretty boring. Patrolling wasn’t always that interesting, and tonight was definitely seeming to be one of the least interesting nights he’d had in awhile.
He landed on yet another rooftop, scanning the area below him. The roof he was standing on was a particularly lower one, meaning he could see a lot of the alleyways better then usual.
Just as Techno was preparing himself to move on, he heard a faint, strangled noise, like someone was in extreme pain, coming from one of the nearby alleys.
Without even a second thought, he was jumping down into the alleyway.
Golden sunlight streamed into the tight space, trying it’s best to make it look cleaner than it really was. The brick walls around Techno were covered in dirt and grime. The concrete under his feet was cracked and little weeds sprouted up from every crevice.
He had to admit, the site of a famous hero in such a dirty place would make some people break down in laughter.
Techno pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned towards the end of the alley. His eyes widened at the gruesome sight before him.
A young vigilante, one that he recognized to be Icarus, was curled up against the wall in a pool of his own blood. The thick red liquid poured out from a gash on the vigilante’s chest. Icarus looked like he was on the brink of death.
Techno knew he should arrest Icarus. That was part of his job afterall, to catch vigilantes.
But part of him- most of him-, didn’t want to.
Techno couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young vigilante. Not only was he most likely going to die here if he didn’t get help soon, but the one person that found him was someone who was technically legally obligated to arrest him.
Just as Techno took a few careful steps towards him, Icarus’s head snapped up, wide blue eyes, surrounded by a light red mask, meeting Techno’s blood red eyes and pig-like skull mask.
“Pl-Please don’t kill me.” Icarus choked out, coughing up blood before speaking again. “I-I don’t w-wanna die.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Techno replied steadily.
He knew it was against the law to help a vigilante, but it was also against his morals to leave someone to bleed out in a dirty alleyway.
Techno took another few small steps forward, slowing his pace every time he saw Icarus flinch back in fear. As soon as he reached Icarus, Techno bent down, taking a deep breath.
Most people were born with minor powers. Things so simple that they hardly even affected daily life. Some were even so insignificant that nobody knew they were there.
But a small percentage of people were born with extremely strong powers. Techno was in that particular percentage, like most heros were. It was almost impossible to become a hero if you didn’t have strong powers.
Techno could control the flow of someone’s blood.
As gruesome and terrifying as that might seem, it was just a fact. With almost zero effort Techno could very easily stop someone’s blood from flowing to one area or another. He could control people, stringing them up like puppets by forcing the blood to move in certain directions, making him able to control every movement they made.
Although another part of his power, one that he used significantly less often than the others, was one that allowed him to close up any wounds someone had, simply by making the blood on the surface clot, leading to faster healing.
This part of his power, was the part he knew he needed to use on Icarus.
The vigilante squeezed his eyes shut and flinched farther backward, with a quiet whimper as Techno crouched down onto the bloodied pavement in front of Icarus.
Techno grimaced as he felt blood sink into the expensive material of his hero uniform. He hoped he didn’t have to pay for a new one after this. He could afford it, but he was, admittedly, a bit attached to his current outfit.
“Hold still for a minute, alright?” Techno said, even though he was fairly certain that the young vigilante, who by only a second glance didn’t even seem to be an adult, wasn’t listening anymore.
Techno carefully placed his hands on either side of the wound. He took a deep breath before letting his powers activate.
The blood immediately began to clot, stopping Icarus from losing anymore of it.
It took Techno a few moments to get to his feet, a bit of pain having spread through him at healing Icarus’s wound. He glanced down at the vigilante, expecting Icarus to be awake enough to leave now.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Icarus was alive, thankfully, but he was totally out cold.
Techno groaned, realizing he couldn’t leave an unconscious vigilante in a dirty alleyway. His only possible option other than outright arresting him, was to take Icarus to Techno’s house and then hopefully put him outside as soon as he started waking up.
“Bruhhh.” Techno sighed as he lifted up the vigilante, throwing him as gently as he could over his shoulder, and leaving the alleyway.
———
After Techno got home, he put Icarus on the bed in his guest bedroom, promptly locking the door behind him, just in case the vigilante woke up while he was gone.
He stood awkwardly in the kitchen for a few minutes. Techno, honestly, wasn’t sure what to do.
It was hard to process everything he’d just done, out of nothing but sympathy and impulse.
Techno was well-aware that he could be arrested for saving Icarus like that. It was a dangerous thing to do and he could only hope that, in the end, it would be worth it.
Just as he was finally starting the process of making dinner, his phone buzzed.
With a quiet sigh he pulled it out of the pocket of the hoodie he had changed into after his patrol. It was a text from his friend, Wilbur, saying something or other about work.
Techno immediately swiped away the notification.
He didn’t want to talk to Wilbur right now. Techno wasn’t sure if he’d ever want to talk to him again at this point.
They’d had a really bad argument a few weeks ago, about the direction the heros should be going. Wilbur had thought they should try to focus more on arresting powerful villains and vigilantes. Techno, needless to say, hadn’t agreed in the slightest.
In his opinion, they should be focusing more on just simply protecting civilians. That was what the hero program had been made for. If they weren’t helping the very same people who supported and funded them, then what good were they?
Techno and Wilbur had argued almost the entire today, and when they’d presented the issue to their older friend, Phil, Techno had been sure he’d take his side.
He was both shocked and hurt to learn that Phil actually agreed with Wilbur.
Without even another word, Techno had stormed out of the hero building.
Techno was grateful that he didn’t live with them anymore because he had no idea what would’ve happened otherwise.
He had, admittedly, been avoiding the entire scenario since, even though Techno knew he should try to talk to them. He had never been the best with social interaction, and this was only proving it farther.
After awhile, Techno finished making dinner, which was a simple potato soup. He ate quietly, content to watch the sun finish setting out the window of his small house.
When he finished, he went to the guest bedroom to check on Icarus, only to find the vigilante gone. The window to the room smashed open, glass shards littering the floor. Techno wondered how he hadn’t heard the glass shatter. He had always thought he had decent hearing.
“Bruh. Now I’m going to have to replace that.” Techno mumbled, staring at the jagged edges of the broken window.
———
Another day, another patrol- or more accurately, another sunset, another illegal interaction with a vigilante.
Techno hadn’t meant to run into Icarus again.
He’d just been patrolling, like normal, trying to catch villains in the golden light of the setting sun, when he’d heard footsteps behind him. Techno had turned around, expecting to see one of his usual rivals, and had instead been met with a light red mask and bright blue eyes, staring at him from across a particularly high up rooftop.
That had led Techno to his current situation, where he was awkwardly staring at a vigilante who he’d illegally healed about two days prior.
“Uhhhh- Are you just goin’ to stare at me all evening?” Techno managed to get out, shuffling uncomfortably. For how good of a hero he was in combat, he really wasn’t that great at talking to people.
Icarus laughed, although it sounded slightly empty and tight. “No, I was just here to ask you a question.”
There was a sudden pause and for whatever stupid reason, Techno’s subconscious decided this was a good time to speak. “What are you going to ask me?” He said, sounding impatient and regretting the words as soon as they were spoken.
“I- uh- Why did you heal me?” Icarus asked, taking a step closer. “That’s illegal, innit?”
“Yep.” Techno shrugged. “But it’s against my morals to let someone bleed out in an alleyway. Plus, you do actually help people. Even if your not in the legal hero system or anything, you’re still essentially doing heros jobs for us.” He was surprised at the level of confidence he’d suddenly gained, but Techno decided to just go with it.
“You just didn’t want me to die?” Icarus sounded even more confused than he had before. “Aren’t you supposed to hate me?”
Techno let out an amused huff at the vigilante’s questions. “Maybe I am, but hate is a strong word. Don’t you think? Honestly, all I care about is that you’re not trying to stab an innocent civilian or a hero or something.”
“Oh-“ Icarus replied, sounding choked. “Well, do you think you could uh- help me with some stuff?”
“What sort of stuff?” Techno asked skeptically. He didn’t think the vigilante would hurt him, but he was worried that Icarus could be leading him into some else’s trap. Icarus might be a vigilante, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have the potential to be cruel.
“Patrols.” Icarus mumbled.
Techno raised an eyebrow. “Patrols? I thought you had a lot of experience with that already.”
“I-I do. It’s just… my partner.” Icarus began, looking like his nervousness had nearly doubled in the past two seconds. “Promise me you won’t tell any of the heros anything I’m about to tell you.”
“I don’t think you’re in the place to make demands… but alright.” Techno shrugged again, trying to seem disinterested, even though his mind was starting to race with questions.
“My partner- who I won’t be giving you the fuckin’ name of- got injured really badly. He didn’t want to keep patrolling once he got better.” Icarus sighed. “I’m not used to patrolling alone.” The last part was hardly more than a whisper.
It took Techno a few moments to put it together. “You want me to patrol with you?” He asked, just to make sure he’d reached the correct conclusion.
Icarus nodded slowly. “Yeah. Just temporarily, so that I can get back up on my uh- feet and everything. Once I’ve got the hang of things you can leave me alone and go back to whatever the fuck else you’ve been doing.”
Techno hesitated to respond. While he knew that he should just say no, part of him wanted to say yes. He’d, admittedly, been a bit lonely ever since his argument with Wilbur and Phil. Techno usually patrolled with one or both of them, and although he could patrol alone, he honestly didn’t enjoy it as much.
Techno took a deep breath, and gave his answer. “Fine. I’ll help you.” His response came out rougher than he would’ve liked it to, but at least it had done the job.
Icarus’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Techno nodded. “Meet me here, at sunset every day, and I’ll help out. I won’t arrest you, or any of that. I’m just gonna help you out for an hour or two.”
“Th-Thank you!” Icarus said, seeming genuinely surprised and grateful. “I’ll be here!” He called out, before leaping over to the next rooftop and disappearing off into the distance.
Techno wondered what idiotic decision he’d made had led him to agreeing to illegally meet up with a vigilante.
It was probably the decision that involved illegally healing that vigilante.
Hopefully it would be worth it.
———
It turned out that Techno’s choice was worth it. At least in the short run.
Icarus proved to be genuinely good at fighting crime. He definitely struggled here or there, but Techno was always there to help now.
Icarus was also just a fun person to be around. He was always cracking jokes and coming up with interesting conversation topics.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Techno found himself becoming closer and closer with the vigilante, to a point where, sometimes, he forgot what he was doing was highly illegal.
———
Techno had never asked Icarus anything to do with who he was outside of fighting crime, and in turn, Icarus had never asked Techno anything.
The very thought of trying to figure out who Icarus really was, and invade his privacy like that, made Techno feel sick.
Which was why the current situation made him very uncomfortable, internally scrambling to figure out what to do.
They had just been stopping a simple robbery. It was a really common task, nothing unusual.
But as they’d been leaving, jumping across the rooftops in the golden light of the setting sun, Icarus had slipped and fallen. His mask had fallen off, the very thing protecting his identity had fallen onto the concrete like it was nothing.
Techno now found himself staring, open mouthed, at what was literally a child.
Icarus couldn’t be older than sixteen, with sky blue eyes and golden blonde hair. The vigilante was frozen where he stood, his eyes flicking between Techno and his broken mask, laying on the dirtied concrete.
Techno had theorized for a long time that Icarus wasn’t an adult, but it was terrifying to have it confirmed. Icarus shouldn’t be fighting crime on his own yet, if he were in the hero program, he’d still be in training.
“I-I know you promised before but- please don’t turn me in.” Icarus spoke, sounding choked as he shuffled backward.
Techno could feel his heart beginning to break at hearing the fear in the words. He thought they were long past feeling any distrust towards each other at this point.
At that moment, Techno decided that if Icarus didn’t fully trust him yet, then Techno should be the one to make the first major show of trust.
With trembling hands, Techno undid the strap on his mask and carefully pulled it away from his face. “I’m not going to turn you in.” He said, flashing Icarus a tiny, reassuring smile.
Icarus gasped. “Did you really just do that?”
Techno shrugged. “Yeah. I figured this would be a fair trade of trust. My real name is Techno, by the way.”
“Oh- I-I’m Tommy.” Icarus- or Tommy, took a few steps closer to Techno.
“Nice to finally meet you, Tommy.” Techno replied, closing the distance between them and reaching out a hand.
Tommy took it, shaking it slowly up and down. “Nice to meet you too.” He said quietly, seemingly still in shock.
———
They started hanging out sometimes outside of patrols. Tommy and Techno exchanged numbers, and began to text each other occasionally.
It was nice, and Techno tried to ignore the way that his chest still ached.
Even if he had Tommy now, Techno still missed Wilbur and Phil. He just didn’t know how to fix their broken relationship.
———
It was about a week after the whole mask incident and Techno woke up that morning to a loud crashing noise coming from his kitchen, followed by someone shouting a string of curses.
That definitely wasn’t normal. Last time Techno checked, he lived alone.
Techno slowly got out of bed, despite the very concerning noises coming from the kitchen. He didn’t really have anything worth stealing at his house, so if they wanted to rob him, he hoped they had fun trying to find anything valuable.
Once he finally got dressed and exited his bedroom, Techno was met with the sight of someone who definitely wasn’t the masked robber he had expected.
Tommy was standing the kitchen, frantically checking the cabinets for something. A large metal bowl, that Techno didn’t even remember owning, was sitting on the counter with what looked to be an attempt at cookie dough sitting inside of it.
“Bruhhh, I just wanted to have a nice peaceful morning. What are you doin’ in my house?” Techno asked, stepping into the kitchen.
Tommy jumped, slamming the door to the cabinet he had been looking in. “Nothing!” He said, clearly trying to hide his surprise. “I was just uh… You know what? Forget I was ever here.”
Techno raised an eyebrow, eyes scanning over his now dirty kitchen. “No. I don’t think I will.”
“I-I’m not really here anyway! I’m just a fuckin’ illusion!” Tommy was clearly stumbling over his words and was desperately trying to feign confidence. “There is no Tommy in your kitchen! I was never here! What are you talking about?!”
Techno sighed. “You are very clearly here right now, kid. I’m not mad, I just wanna know what possessed you to break into my house in the middle of the morning.”
“I was trying to make cookies.” Tommy mumbled, motioning towards the bowl. “I think I messed it up though.”
“Why did you need my kitchen to make cookies?” Techno sighed again. Honestly, sighing was something he did a lot around Tommy. “Don’t you have your own kitchen?”
Tommy shrugged, shuffling uncomfortably. “Uh- I may or may not be homeless because I couldn’t afford rent anymore. But it’s fine! Don’t worry! I’ve got it all covered.” He laughed, although it was obviously fake.
“You could stay here, if you wanted.” Techno replied, not even realizing what he’d said until the words had already left his mouth.
“Really?” Tommy looked at him like Techno had just had just given him a million dollars.
Techno nodded. “I have an extra room.” He paused looking down at the ‘dough’ in the bowl, if it could even be called that. It hardly even looked like cookie dough. The whole thing looked sopping wet and was slightly off-color. “Why were you making cookies anyway?”
Tommy raised his eyebrows. “You’re asking a lot of questions.” He sighed. “I was making them for you’re friends or whatever.”
Techno’s eyes widened slightly in shock. Out of all the answers he could’ve gotten, he hadn’t expected that. He’d only mentioned Phil and Wilbur once or twice, just in passing, about how they used to be his patrol partners but then they’d argued, so he didn’t patrol with them anymore.
“They were meant to be apology cookies. For you to give to them.” Tommy said quietly. “I thought it might help. You seem like you miss them.”
“Thanks.” Techno responded softly. “Although, that dough doesn’t look like it’s going to make very good cookies.” Without hesitation, he picked up the bowl and proceeded to dump its contents into the trash can. “I’ll help you redo it though.”
“Hey!” Tommy exclaimed. “That was my own hard work you just threw away!”
Techno shrugged, although amusement was dancing in his eyes. “Well, you can work hard to make some better dough. And I’ll help this time.”
“Fine.” Tommy replied. “These better be the best damn apology cookies anyone has ever made.”
Techno laughed. “They will be, I promise.” He paused for a moment. “Wait- How did you get into my house?”
———
After Techno fixed a broken window, for the second time in the past month, and the cookies had been baked, they agreed to meet up outside Phil and Wilbur’s house the next day.
The sun was setting, casting its usual golden glow across the sky, when Techno arrived, a box full of cookies in his hands.
He tried to ignore how nervous he was, and how much his hands shook.
Techno was just beginning to think Tommy wasn’t going to show up when he heard a loud thump behind him. Techno turned around and was greeted with the sight of Tommy in full vigilante gear, smiling widely.
“Why are you in your vigilante uniform?!” Techno asked, his panic leaking into his voice. “My friends are literally heros! They will arrest you, Tommy!”
Tommy’s eyes widened and his joyful expression from before, quickly disappeared. “Oh- I was just gonna try to uh- surprise them. Since I’m like famous and all. I’ll uh- go and change-“
He was cutoff by the front door opening, revealing a very shocked looking Wilbur. There was a long pause, where all three of them just stared at each other.
“What the fuck?!” Wilbur finally yelled. “Why is there a vigilante here?!” His gaze turned to Techno. “Techno?! What are you doing here?! With him?! I’m calling the fucking police!” He slammed the door and Techno heard the sound of someone running across the house.
Techno turned towards Tommy, wide eyed. “Tommy! You’re going to get arrested!” He said, trying his best not to raise his voice. “Go home! I’ll talk to Wilbur.”
“Nah, can’t do that.” Tommy shrugged, although his breathing was slightly unsteady. “I’m not leaving until we do we what we came here to do.” With those words, he proceeded to jump through a nearby window, the glass becoming thoroughly shattered.
“That”s the third window he’s broken this month!” Techno examined under his breath. He contemplated his choices for a moment before jumping through the shattered remains of the window.
———
Unsurprisingly, it took a solid forty minutes for everyone to calm down, Techno included.
At least they had managed to stop Wilbur from calling the police.
“We made cookies.” Techno said, placing the box on the kitchen counter. “Apology cookies.”
Wilbur just stared at the box for a moment before sighing. “I appreciate the effort, but you also have a fuck ton of explaining to do, Techno.”
Techno shrugged. “Yeah. I guess I do, huh?” He said quietly, shoving his hands in the pockets of the jacket he was wearing to hide the way they began to shake.
Phil, who had appeared sometime during the earlier chaos, spoke up. “How did you end up becoming friends with a vigilante? Isn’t that like highly illegal, mate?”
“Yeah.” Techno shrugged again. “But Icarus isn’t a bad person.” It felt weird to refer to Tommy as his vigilante alias again after so long, but he didn’t want to expose his friend’s identity.
“He healed me.” Tommy said bluntly, trying and failing to sneakily steal one of the cookies from the box. “Then I dunno, things just worked out for us to help each other on patrols and shit.”
“That’s great and all, but one that’s highly illegal, and two- you broke our fucking window.” Wilbur replied.
“I can pay for that, if you want.” Techno offered, glancing at the broken remains of the living room window.
Phil sighed. “We can deal with that later. But I do want to say that I do forgive you Techno, even though our current situation his fucking ridiculous.”
“I forgive you too. We both forgave you from the start.” Wilbur said quietly. “And I wanted to say that I’m sorry too.”
Techno stared at the cookie box, not daring to look up at any of his friends. “I forgive you.” He responded softly. “I also have something to ask Icarus.” He forced himself to look up at the vigilante, who was busy trying to discreetly steal more of the apology cookies. “How would you feel about me mentoring you? Like- becoming a registered hero and all that. So that nobody gets arrested after all this.”
“Are you serious?!” Tommy said, practically jumping up and down from excitement. “Fuck yes!” He ran forward and hugged Techno, who stood there in shock for a few awkward moments, before hugging him back.
“Alright. Now that everything is sorted, can someone please fix the fucking window?” Wilbur asked, motioning towards the gaping hole in the wall which now had cold wind blowing into the house through it.
Techno sighed, moving away from Tommy. “Yeah. Sorry about that, that’s about the third window Icarus has broken this past week.”
———
The sun was setting over the tall city buildings. The light was almost pure golden, staining everything else with the same shade.
Techno leapt from rooftop to rooftop with ease, only this time, there were three other people following closely behind.
All his friends were there with him, ready to help the city in every way they possibly could.
They all disagreed on some things, but they had agreed to disagree, and Techno couldn’t be happier.
It was a slow night, but that was fine.
Techno had his friends- possibly even family- patrolling with him.