Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy stares at his ceiling with a sigh. He was counting the seconds till his alarm clock inevitably went off. 

10, 9, 8, 7 He counted down, 3,2,1 

Beep Beep Beep

Bingo. 

With a roll out of his bed he hit his hand against his alarm clock and rose. He stretched for a minute and yawned, and then took a look out his window. 

It was another sunny morning sky, the signs of a good day, but you could never really tell with Tommy’s life. It seemed like even the best days something was bound to go wrong and taint it, but Tommy knew he simply couldn’t let the bad thing ruin all the good. His life had been this way for quite a while, and he had grown to deal and adapt to it. 

He pulls himself out of his bed and then gets dressed, throwing on his usual do. Looking at his clothing selection he thinks he could use some new outfits, try to throw in and try a new style. He’s tempted to ask Wilbur, but he knows that his older brother wouldn’t care to help in the slightest. And so to that he just sighs. Maybe Tubbo could help.

Tommy walks up to his door once he’s dressed and ready, and then takes one more breath preparing himself. This never seems to get easier. 

With one last breath, Tommy then goes to open the door, where of course Phil is waiting outside for him. 

“Tommy! My baby boy!” Phil cheers and coos, walking up and hugging the blond, and already all that effort and energy Tommy had saying he could handle this another day, goes right out the drain. 

“Dad~.” Tommy groans. “I’m almost 17, I’m a big man, you havta stop calling me a baby!”

Phil just looks at Tommy sadly, and Tommy can see the hurt and tiredness in his father’s eyes, and for a moment Tommy feels somewhat guilty. He wonders if his dad slept well last night, or if he ever sleeps well, he never looks it. Tommy remembers being younger and hearing his father’s nightmares, and being scared, but he’s since learned to block the noise out. 

Tommy just continues to look at his sad aging father, and so gives slightly in. “I mean, yay I’m your youngest!” He fakes joy. “So that makes me the baby or whatever, yay!” And to that Phil just gives in a big sloppy grin, and hugs him once more tighter. Once he lets go and walks away towards the kitchen, Tommy lets his face fall. It never gets easier, and this is only the start of the day.

He breathes in once more to try to regain some of that energy, stamina, and charism he’ll need for the day, and then makes his way to the kitchen. 

As he is walking down the stairs he sees Techno and Wilbur leaving for their classes, and so he waves to them goodbye, but of course they just scowl at him and slam the door. 

Tommy never gets it. He used to be so close to his brothers, what could have happened? All he remembers is one day when he was eleven they were a happy family, and the next day his brothers were staring at him like a monster, sometimes even calling him as such, and ignoring him as much as they could. 

Tommy lets out yet another sigh, and then makes his way into the kitchen where Phil is preparing a meal for them.  Tommy just takes his seat at the table and mentally prepares himself for whatever might come next. He has his figures crossed that today will be a good day, but he can never be sure. 

He spares a glance to his father once he is seated, and once his father turns around, with that sickly sweet gooshey smile, Tommy knows he is done for. One last breath is all he gets to prepare himself before Phil is sitting next to him and trying to hand feed him applesauce. 

“Brrrrrrrrrr here comes the airplane~.”  Phil says as he swirls the spoon around as it gets closer and closer to Tommy. 

Tommy just wants to deadpan and let out his frantic panicky laughter about just how crazy and weird this all is! He wants to yell at his father for how strangely he treats him. And that yeah, he might be the youngest but he is not some baby. 

“Open wide~.” Phil says, and Tommy tries to take the spoon from his dad. 

“I-I can feed myself~.” Tommy tries to say calmly and not let his internal annoyance out. 

“No no no.” Phil says. “What if you choke on your food or hurt yourself? I can’t let my baby get hurt again.”

Tommy deflates slightly at that. His dad also changed a lot since he was eleven. He wasn’t always this really weird helicopter parent person. But then, just like his relationship with his brothers changes, so did his with his father. 

Phil always seems to mention him hurting himself or something, and once he brings it up, there is no changing his mind, and he usually starts to cry. Tommy has no idea why. Tommy can’t think of anything in his life that would have made his father act this way. Tommy thinks he probably got hurt a few times in his past, but surely he would remember something major that was life changing or something. 

He goes through this everyday, but he can never come up with any sort of reason for why his life changed. Sometimes, he considers that maybe he did get into some sort of accident when he was younger. Maybe he got into an accident and lost his memories of it. It would explain why he doesn’t have exact memories of the change or why things changed, and maybe it would explain his father, but not his brothers. 

Tommy wants to give in and just let his dad do this crazy song and dance, but he also wants to stand up for himself. What if the reason Phil treated him like a baby, is because Tommy never proves himself capable.

I”m a big man, I’m a big man. He tells himself. 

“Dad.” He then lets his face straighten and make eye contact with his father. “I’m almost an adult, yes I’m not quite there, but I am more than capable of feeding and doing things for myself. So, would you please put the spoon down?”

And Phil just stares at him with an indefinable expression and Tommy can’t tell what thoughts he might be having. Tommy tries not to let himself falter though, he can do this. 

Then the tears start appearing in Phil’s eyes, and Tommy starts to crumble. Ok, maybe he can’t do this. Phil’s eyes splutter a bit as he thinks, but in the end his face ends in one in anger, and he shoves the spoon into Tommy’s mouth. 

“Fine.” Phil says. “Eat your applesauce on your own for today.” He then stands up and leaves the room, and Tommy isn’t quite sure he knows that happened. 

Did he win? Is this a win? Or did he mess up? 

Tommy isn’t sure but he’s pretty happy to be left alone and be able to do what he pleases on his terms. 

He stares at the open applesauce container. Yuck, he is sick of applesauce. So he stands up and looks in the cupboard for something else he can eat.  

The bottom shelves seem to mostly have what might as well be called baby food, but Tommy can see near the top are some granola bars. Not the big man meal he is ultimately envisioning, but it’s better than applesauce. 

He realizes though that he is not tall enough to reach them that high though, and so he pulls over a stool that gives him a few extra feet. And then kabam, granola bar acquired.

He hops off the stool and opens the bar, biting into it. Umm yeah, much better than being force fed applesauce. 

Once he is done eating the bar, he throws the wrapper into the trash and then exits the kitchen. He sneaks around the side and peers to see if Phil is in the living room, and surely enough he is. Phil is sitting in his reclining chair, watching the tele, and drinking what looks to be alcohol. Ok, maybe Tommy messed up a bit more than he thought he did. 

He decided he better just go back to his room and leave Phil undisturbed, who knows what he could do. And so with that, Tommy sneakily rushes up the stairs and to his room. 

Once he makes it to his target, he quietly closes the door and sighs. Morning complete. And hey, maybe it didn’t go all that bad? Maybe the day will get better from here.

He then looks at the time, around late morning, so Tubbo won’t be out of school for a few more hours. With that in mind Tommy decided to take a seat upon his floor and go ahead and get his own school done. 

He’s been homeschool since “the change” that he has already mentioned. Yet another part of Phil being over protective, and another thing to add to the list of questions of why and how they came to be.

Tommy doesn’t really mind this one though. Yeah sure he never got to see most of his old friends again, but he’s gotten over it and Tubbo tells him they’ve probably moved on. Tommy was upset about losing them at first, but then one day, like a switch had been flipped, he felt fine.  And yeah Tommy doesn’t get permission to leave the house much, but he’s pretty ok with that too. 

Tubbo says that he is surprisingly calm and  reserved compared to how he expects someone to be in Tommy’s case, but Tommy takes it as a compliment. He is strong and can handle a tough situation. 

Tubbo tells him that he could never live Tommy’s life, being under watch all the time, having a confusing family, and not having many friends, he’d never survive. He has in the \past questioned if Tommy is really ok, but Tommy says that he’s surprisingly fine having just Tubbo to talk to. Tubbo is enough and all he needs. 

But back on the topic of being homeschooled, Tommy is actually pretty happy with it. He is surprisingly smart for someone of his age, and so has already gotten through and ahead a few grades. He’s doing college level stuff, and he’s proud of himself. 

Tubbo is also pretty smart, when it comes to certain subjects at least, but Tommy often finds himself helping the brunet out with his work, and he quite enjoys it. 

So for the time until Tubbo gets out of school and then sneaks into Tommy’s room, Tommy completes his own work for the day as well as playing around on his phone a bit. Tommy is very grateful for his phone, a gift from Tubbo. Tommy can’t really say and isn’t really sure if Phil is against him having a phone, but he never bought Tommy one, so when he met Tubbo, the brunet agreed it’d be best to buy him one and hid it from his dad just in case. 

Tommy smiles at the memory. 

He doesn’t remember meeting Tubbo too well, it’s kinda shaky. It was when he was fourteen though, something had happened, he can’t remember what, but he ran away from home. Tubbo was a kid who was outside though, probably coming back from a late day at school, and Tommy thinks he bumped into the brunet. 

Then something happened, maybe Tommy introduced himself? Explained whatever it was that made him run away? And Tubbo agreed to let him hide in his house. 

He hid for a while, but then it turned out that Tubbo’s older sister Niki was a friend of Wilbur’s, and so when his family was looking for him, she gave him up. Tommy can’t put his finger on why he ran away though, or remember too well what happened once he got home. But he supposes it couldn’t have been that important if he can’t remember. Also most kids run away at least once in their lives he knows, or at least that's what he’s read. 

He and Tubbo had remained friends after that though, Tubbo often having to sneak over and avoid Tommy’s family though. Tommy didn’t mind, it just made their time together more fun and exciting. 

His time scrolling the internet seems to serve him well. He watches a few youtube videos, plays some games, reads some articles, and then he gets a text from Tubbo that he is coming over, and Tommy smiles. 

He looks around his room and makes sure everything is ready and good. And in the time it takes him to do a little reorganizing, there is a tap tap tap on his window, and he trunks to see Tubbo smiling at him. 

Tommy smiles back and goes to open the window. 

“What's up big man?!” Tommy says and Tubbo enters. 

“Not much Boss man, but I do have a little homework to finish. Think you can help?” He asks, and Tommy just risks, 

“Of course Tubso.” He says, having to slightly look up to view his freind “You know me, I’m always eager to help a friend.”

Tubbo laughs slightly at that. “Yeah ‘a friend’ cause I’m your only friend.” He rolls his eyes. And Tommy slightly groans at that. 

“Well what about you you bitch!” He says. “Who are you to talk you don’t have any other friends either!”

Tubbo just gives him a chuckle smile. “Actually boss man,” He says. “I do have other friends.”

Tommy pauses, wondering if he is serious, and when Tubbo says nothing, Tommy realizes that he is. He walks over and slightly slaps his friend. “You bitch boy!” He yells. “How could you not tell me you had other friends?”

Tubbo looks to the side, trying to keep his smile but behind his eyes it’s clear to tell he is nervous. “Well I didn't want you to be upset by it.” He says. “I know I’m your only friend, and I didn’t want you to feel jealous of or upset at me for having people besides you.”

Tommy nods his head along. He supposes he can get that, and he’s not upset. Or at least he doesn’t think he is. Is he?

“Your fine Tub man.” He tells his friend. “I don’t mind you having other people besides me, and like I’ve told you, you’re all I need.” He smiles, and Tubbo smiles back, looking more relaxed. 

“So tell me about them?” Tommy says, and Tubbo perks up. 

“Well there is Ranboo, and Aimsey, and Maz, Bill, Freddie…” And as Tubbo continues to list people Tommy just nods his head along. Wow, Tubbo has a lot of friends, Tommy didn’t know that was normal. Was it Normal?

Once Tubbo seems done listing people, Tommy decided to insinuate to ask. “How did you meet them all?” He asks, and Tubbo just keeps his smile. 

“Well a good chunk of them I know from school, and all of them are all different ages. I’m friends with students and teachers, and adults around town. I know a lot of people from Niki’s bakery that she recently opened, and all sorts of people come in there regularly.”

As Tubbo once again begins to go on, Tommy feels slightly left out and bad, or at least he thinks he does. He can’t exactly understand what this feeling he feels is. 

Tubbo talks about Niki, and he has mentioned some of these names before, but Tommy never really put much thought into it. He knew of the bakery, but he never felt like this before.

“Do-do you think I could, that I could go. To her bakery that is?” Tommy whisper asks. Tubbo seems to hear him and thinks for a moment, before perking up even more. 

“Yes, that is a great idea! I’ll sneak you out of this hell hole and take you to Niki’s, and there you can meet all my friends!”

And Tommy continues to feel the feeling he doesn’t understand, but with the news that maybe he can be included, it slightly subsides. 

“Ok.” He says. “Ah, when can we do it, can we do it soon?” Tommy asks, and Tubbo just smiles and gives him a thumbs up. 

“You betcha boss man, let's do it tomorrow! Oh I can’t wait! This will be so fun!”

And seeing Tubbo’s excitement, it only helps Tommy to feel even more excited himself. He’s nervous with the prospect of leaving home for a bit, but he’s sure it will go fine. 

The pair then get back to Tubbo’s homework, which is mostly maths and english. Two things Tommy exceeds very well at.  Tommy helps Tubbo get the answer to the quadratic equation easily, and helpd explain how Tubbo can more easily solve it in the future. 

“Wow thanks Tom,” Tubbo says. “I’m still a little iffy on it, but you helped so much! How are you this good at maths?”

Tommy just smirks. “Well what can I say, I just am. It is simply for you, how do they say, a skill issue.”

Tubbo scowls at him for that which just causes Tommy to laugh more. 

After finishing up a bit more school work, and simply just hanging out, it begins to get late, and so Tubbo slips back out the window and gets home, leaving Tommy to once again be by himself. 

He spends the first few minutes on his own just excitedly thinking about meeting Tubbo’s friends tomorrow. He can’t remember the last time he felt excited like this. The last few years have just been a constant median, but finally, he is going to have some change, and that excites him.

After a few more minutes of day dreaming, he decides to go down for dinner, secretly hoping he can just grab some and run. 

He exits his room and it just so happens that Wilbur is there after coming up the stairs, now on his way to his room. 

Tommy knows by now that he should just give in and accept that his brothers will never love him, and part of him resents them too, but he still wants to try. Their relationship will never improve if one of them doesn’t try to be the one to keep it going.

“Hey Wil!” he says and waves to his brother across the hall. Wilbur’s eyes go to him, and then he just scoffs and continues walking into his room. 

 “Wait, Wilbur, hold up a minute!” Tommy says as he dashes over and tries to stop his brother from shutting him out, but unfortunately Wilbur manages to shut the door on him.   Tommy just sighs, well at least he tried, and then he's walking down the stairs. 

When he makes it there he is slightly happy but also slightly worries about seeing Phil passed out in his chair. Tommy tries to just not pay him any mind and then walks into the kitchen, where surprisingly Techno is seated eating his own food. 

Before Tommy even has a moment to say anything, Techno’s eyes are on him and then he makes a face as if he is upset, and then looks down away from Tommy. What's wrong with you? Tommy wants to ask, but he doesn’t. He just walks into the kitchen and opens up the fridge, looking for something to eat. 

He manages to find what looks like some sort of sandwich, it looks so good and Tommy’s mouth waters. He promptly takes it out of the fridge and then takes a seat at the table with Techno.

“Hey Techno,” He says, and then Techno looks back at him. 

“Hey Th- you.” Techno says dryly, trying to not look at Tommy. But he manages to catch sight of the sandwich, which for some reason makes him look back at the blond with some sort of anger. Tommy is about to take a bite, when Techno speaks up.

“That's not for you.” He then says staring at the sandwich. 

Tommy inquires his brow. “Why not? Who’s it for then?”

Techno grumbles. “It-it’s for a person, a member of this family, not, not you.”

Tommy’s brow is once again raised. “Am I not a member of this family?” He asks offendedly. 

Techno just glares at him. “No.” He says. “You’re not.”

And Tommy knows he could just eat the sandwich anyways, and by putting it down he is basically agreeing, accepting, and surrendering to them, but he doesn't quite feel hungry anymore. So he wraps the sandwich back up, and shoves it into the fridge. 

Yeah he’s not hungry, he’ll just eat tomorrow. And so with that, he just stumps back upstairs and slams his door. After it is slammed he hopes it wasn’t too loud, he really doesn’t want to have woken Phil up, or annoyed his brothers. 

He just sighs, falling against the  door and then looking out the window. He can’t wait for tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow will be a whole new day, and maybe, maybe it might just change his world.

Chapter Text

When Tommy wakes up, it’s the same as most everyday. He wakes up a bit before his alarm, and then just stares at the ceiling counting the seconds until it goes off.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, bingo, 1!

But for the first time in quite a while he actually jumps out of bed in excitement. Today is the day he gets to meet new people! And not just any new people, but Tubbo’s friends and acquaintances, he gets to leave the house today!

Does-does he want to leave the house though? Does he need to meet new people?
Something in Tommy’s mind is telling him that this is wrong, that he shouldn’t.
It’s like stream of text, as if he has some sort of instincts, that yell

No-no-not safe!-against commands-do as told- obey!

And Tommy blinks for a moment. He can picture it in his mind, these words, but he doesn’t quite understand them. It feels like a buzz at the back of his brain, that has always been there, but he just hasn’t really noticed before.

It’s strange, and it kinda freaks him out, but he tries to just ignore it for now.

He’s about to gte changes out of his pajamas and get dressed, when there is a knock on the door.

“Oh Tommy~!” Phil sings, “Are you up baby? Time to get dressed!”

Tommy just groans. “Yes dad!” He yells. “I’m up, I’m getting dressed right now!”

“Oh wait then dear!” Phil speaks up, and Tommy can hear him opening up the door. Tommy quickly turns around to face him as Phil is now peeping into his room.

“I got you a new outfit doll.” Phil says. “Come let's try it on.” And Phil now fully makes his way into Tommy’s room.

As Tommy internally groans more, he looks to his after and the outfit he’s holding. It looks kinda like a sailor suit, but more casual? Tommy isn’t sure how to describe it, but he doesn’t want to wear it. When he said yesterday that he needed more clothes, he did not mean this.

“I-ah, I’m not sure dad,” Tommy begins to say, raising his eyes to look at his father. But then his words stop when he looks at his dad’s tired red eyes, and Tommy thinks he can say this might be on the list for a bad morning.

“No no no.” Phil says. “Baby was rude to me yesterday, so today you get to make it up to me.”

Tommy just nods and gives a little chuckle of panic. Oh shit! He thinks. How badly is this morning really going to go?

Phil just smiles and now steps into the room. Tommy really hopes that Phil is just going to hand him the outfit and tell him to put it on, but unfortunately nothing can be that easy, and then Phil is grabbing at and pulling off his shirt.

Tommy feels very annoyed, exposed, and embarrassed. Really what the frick is wrong with his dad? Did he fall on his head? Is he still drunk? Why does he have to make Tommy’s life so hard? Tommy would love to get mad and just push Phil away, but they are around the same height.

Phil just pulls the new shirt onto Tommy, and then starts going for the pants, but now Tommy feels like Nope! And so stops his dad’s hands.

“Really I can put them on myself.” He tries to say calmly through his teeth, but Phil just scowls at him.

They stare at each other for a moment, and then Tommy quietly adds on “Please?” and somehow that seems to get Phil to back down.

“Fine.” He says, throwing the rest of the outfit onto the bed. “Get dressed, and then you’ll come out.”

Tommy just smiles and nods, Yeah he can do that.

Sadly Phil doesn’t seem to want to leave the room completely though, so Tommy just steps over to the other side of his bed so he can use that as a barcade and get some privacy. Once he thinks he is good he quickly slips his pants off and the new ones on, and then steps back into Phils view.

Phil smiles at him. “Aww my baby looks so cute, oh Kristen is going to love it!”

Tommy’s brow raises slightly. Who’s that? He decides to ask. “Who’s that dad?” And Phil just looks at him like he broke his heart.
“She’s your mother!” Phil says. “How could you forget your own mother-”

“I have a mom!” Tommy’s eyes widened. He means, he knows he must have had one, but no one talks about her, so he wasn’t quite sure of the predicament, and never thought to bring it up. Is this his mom mom though, or like mom.

Suddenly though Phil gives him a different look, and seems like he realizes he said something. Maybe something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Oh shit.” Phil says. He then grabs something out of his pocket, Tommy isn’t sure what it is. Kinda looks like some sort of remote control. Phil then points it at Tommy and for some reason this causes something in Tommy to panic.
“D-dad?” He says. “W-what that? What are you do-”

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Tommy opens his eyes. What? What just happened? He looks around, and sees that he is in the kitchen. He sees Phil at the counter, preparing something.
Tommy kinda has a headache. What? When did he get here? What were they just talking about?
He-he can’t really remember… He looks down at himself and sees the outfit. Oh yeah. His dad made him put on this goofy outfit, and then, then they came downstairs. Now, now they’re eating break-ERROR- lunch.

Phil turns to him and smiles. “Is the baby ready for his food?”
And once again, there is like a buzz buzz in Tomm’s brain, that he can kinda picture. Telling him the words;

Yes-dada-daddy-obey!- food-yes

Tommy struggles for a moment. He can’t understand what this buzzing in his mind is. He tries to move his lips, but nothing comes out.

No.no.no. He thinks. What is happening?

Yes-yes-yes-obey his mind says.

And suddenly, like a flip, the words “🅈🄴🅂 🄳🄰🄳🅉🄰” come out of his mouth, in a very childlike way, and Phil turns around and smiles to him in awe.

“Who’s my good baby?” Phil says, lifting the spoon.

“🅼🅴” Tommy finds himself saying, and it feels like his brain is freaking out and doing things without his permission.

So he just closes his eyes and blanks it out as Phil feeds him.
Yeah. This is definitely going on the list of bad days, and he might just have to make a new one of the weirdest too.
When Tommy feels like he’s come back to consciousness, he finds himself sitting on his dad’s lap on the couch. His dad appears to be passed out, and so Tommy slowly tries to move himself. It feels like it takes a minute for his brain to do as he says, but finally, he moves.

Once he is successfully off the couch and a good distance away, he stares at his hands for a moment trying to figure out what is going on. This-this day has felt really weird. His body feels really weird.

What's going on? He asks himself, and thankfully, or maybe not, there is no answer.

Tommy takes a breath, and then quietly makes his way upstairs and to his room. When he gets there he checks the time, and thankfully he is not yet late, but a lot of time has in fact passed.

Just how long was he unconscious?

It-it doesn’t matter. Like he said, just a weird day. A really weird, weird day. But he has a lot to look forward to! Hopefully the worst of it is now over.

He looks over himself once, and decides that he should probably get cleaned up a bit more before Tubbo shows up to get him. He has to look his best! So he quickly changes out of the weird outfit his dad made for him, and decides maybe he’ll jump in the shower. So at least he’ll smell like something besides applesauce. Yeah that's a good idea.

He quietly rushes over to the bathroom and gets the shower set up, and then gets in. He washes his hair and scrubs his body quickly, and tries to avoid thinking much when it seems like the buzzing in his head gets louder.
Once he is clean he hopes out, grabs a towel, and books it back to his room after quickly peeking to make sure his dad was still asleep.

Then once he is in his room, he gets on an outfit that is a bit more his style and throws it on, and just in time as he hears Tubbo knocking on the glass.

Tommy smiles at his friend as he walks over to let him in. Finally some calm normality to his day.

“Tubbo!” He cheers, “Tommy!” The other cheers back, and then they hug.
Once they separate Tubbo gives him a look, “Do you think you’re ready for this bossman?” He asks seriously yet cheerily, and Tommy just nods his head.

“Ok, so before we leave, a couple ground rules, you need to-” Tubbo then stops as he eyes the strange outfit on the bed.
“Dude what is that thing?” He asks, and Tommy just groans. “Don’t mention it man, don’t mention it. It’s just a weird outfit my dad bought and told me to put on.”
Tubbo seems to look at him a bit strangely after that. “Todo what?” Tubbo asks, and Tommy isn’t quite sure. “I don’t know man, he just told me to put it on, and then we had breakfast. JUst-don’t ask man.”
“Ok, ok.” Tubbo backpacks, clearly still sirius and also maybe weirded out.

“Ah what was I saying….”

“The ground rules.” Tommy supplies for him.

“Oh yes!” Tubbo perks up. “So stick with me, we can’t have you getting lost in the city. Also try to not get offended by anyone. Don’t cause a scene or be rude, even if you think it will be funny. My friends are all super nice, but, forgive them if it takes them a minute to, you know, come around to you and all.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Tommy asks, and Tubbo looks like he’s unsure how to answer.

“I mean, that I think they’re going to ask some questions about you.” Tubbo says. “I’ve told them all about you, but seeing you for themselves, they might be curious, so just try to stay calm, not get offended, and if you need you can lie or let me handle it.”

“What would I possibly lie about?” Tommy asks like he has no idea, because he has no idea what Tubbo is talking about.

“Just…. Just let me handle it.” Tubbo smiles, and Tommy can’t help but be a little bit curious and cautious.

Tubbo then makes his way back towards the window, “you ready big man?” He asks, and Tommy nods. He feels very nervous, but he’s ready, and he needs this.
He takes a look out the window, and the tree they are going to need to climb down, and maybe now he’s getting a bit of cold feet.

“Hey, don’t worry about it boss,” Tubbo says. “I’ve done it countless times and I’ve never gotten hurt, and I’ll be here to help you too. Ok?”

“O-ok.” Tommy says, and then he takes his first step onto the branch. Tubbo has stepped out by now, and is further on the branch and has one hand extended to Tommy, slowly leading him towards the center of the tree. Once they are at the base, they slowly start to climb down, until eventually they make it to the bottom. Tommy is scared he’ll slip a few times, but they maange to do it with no issue.

“See boss man,” Tubbo smiles. “I knew you could do it. Now let's go! Before your dad or family realize you are gone!” And with that Tubbo starts to run away from the house. Tommy is eager to follow him, but he spares once last glance at his house.
-Error- bad- obey-stay-do as you are told-

The words appear in his mind again, and with that, he’s sure. He needs to get away from this house, and whatever is going on, as fast as he can. So with that, he turns away, and starts chasing after Tubbo.

Both boys give a short and quiet yell of joy as they are running down the street and away from the house, and honestly, Tommy doesn’t know when he’s felt so free. He thought he was content with his life, but already just taking one step out of it, away from it, he can already realize what he is missing out on.

He smiles and stares at the bright blue sky, and the shining sun. The puffy clouds, the green grass by the side of the road, it’s all so wonderful.

The boys run for a bit through the neighborhood, and then they are turning a corner, and soon enough, Tommy sees it, the central square, somewhere he hasn’t been in years.
He awes at it. The busy streets, the shopping centers and stores all around. So cool.

Tubbo takes his hand with a smile. “Common, this way to Niki’s” and then they're dashing again, but this time past all sorts of people. Tommy can see people of all sorts of ages, and pets too. Wow it’s been forever since he’s even seen a dog, it fills him with so much joy.

Soon they come to a stop in front of a building, and Tommy reads out the words on the sign. “Niki’s Bakery and Cafe” it reads, and Tommy feels his eyes widen. This, this is it. He’s about to meet so many people, and he’s finally getting to see and taste some of Niki’s goods he's heard so much about.

Tubbo gives him one last look asking if he’s ready, and Tommy gives him a nod, meaning yes, and then the two boys make their way in.
As they enter a bell rings, and suddenly Tommy can see a group of people all around a table in the back, all their eyes on them. Tommy’s eyes widen.

“Hello everybody!” Tubbo yells. “I’m very excited to introduce to all of you, Tommy innit!”

Then all eyes are on him, and they are all giving Tommy looks he can’t dissect.
His eyes go to one tall guy though. He’s so tall, even taller then wilbur, and Tommy didn’t know that was possible. The guy wears a mask and has sunglasses perched on top of his head.

“A Tubbo?” The guy asks “Are you sure this is Tommy?”

Tommy scowls. “Of course I am Tommy, who else would I be?” Tommy steps up.

“Tommy,” Tubbo steps up in front on his, “remember what I said earlier, it might take them a bit, just try to stay calm, and let me handle it.”
Tommy is partially confused, but nods his head. Tubbo takes another step in front of him.
“Yes everyone, this is in fact Tommy. The Tommy I have been telling you all about.”

One person in the front, who has a beanie with a daisy on it, looks at him curiously and concernedly. “Tubbo,” They say. “I know you said not to ask questions, and that you’ve told us before that you feel like Tommy never seems to age since you’ve met him, but when did you meet him exactly?”

Tubbo sighs. “I’m fine Aimsey, I saw this coming and expected you all to be curious. I met Tommy when we were both 14.”

The crowd doesn’t seem to be convinced by that information, and Tommy isn’t sure why.
Another person steps up from the crowd, they wear a bandana. “Are you sure they’re feeding this kid at home tubs? Because he don’t even look that.”

Tubbo isn’t really sure how to answer, so turns to Tommy.
“I’m not really a hungry person, but yes I do eat.” Tommy says. “I have lots of applesauce and occasionally alphabet soup. Now what is all your problem with me?”

The same bandana boy that just spoke seems to laugh a little. “Alphabet soup?” He laughs. “Tubboy, man, please tell me this is some prank. You’re not seriously saying this kid is almost 17 are you? He’s tiny, and looks maybe 10.”

To this Tommy has a scowl. “Excuse you, I am not tiny, nor am I young! I am a big man and almost 17! I am only a few inches shorter than my father, Tubbo, and some of you here now! So don’t insult me.”

The person with the beanie, Aimsey, steps up again. “We mean not to insult or offend you mate, we’re just very very confused and curious. You are quite, unusual for your age, is all. And so it took us by surprise.”

Tommy isn’t really satisfied, still feeling a bit hurt, but he looks to Tubbo who looks stressed up, probably wanting them to get along, so Tommy supposes he’ll accept it, for now.

“It’s ok.” Tommy says, and Tubbo seems to sigh out in relief, and then stands up straighter again, turning back to Tommy.

“Tommy,” He says. “These are my friends Ranboo,” The Tall guy in the mask, “Aimsey,” The beanie person, “Billzo,” The bandana, “and Freddie and Max,” The two last people that don’t stand out much, but the last one kinda looks like he could be Tubbo’s twin brother.

“Nice to meet you man.” Ranboo says, extending his hand, and then everyone else seems to do the same. Saying hello and shaking Tommy;s hand, and Tommy almost forgets about how awkward it was a few seconds ago.

The group all take a seat at a table and talk a little, Tommy feeling a little too nervous to be his usual boisterous self, but soon a woman with Pink hair walks up to them.
“Good afternoon everyone,” She says. “I know you’re all familiar with the menu, so what can I get you?” Her eyes then land on Tommy though and she gasps.

“Tubbo,” She says. “Who is this?”

Tubbo sighs. “Niki, this is the Tommy I’m always telling you about.”

“What?” Niki gasps. “Wait, you’re Wilbur’s little brother, right?” She says, and that makes Tommy slightly perk up. Not necessarily being “wilbur brother” but that someone else knows him.

“Yep.” He says looking at her, and Niki seems to take a bit of a breath, and then forces a smile. “Cool.” She says. “Cool.”

It’s then quiet for a minute, and then BFreddie speaks up. “Can I have the caramel latte and a muffin?”

And after that everyone seems to relax. They all order, Tommy gets some pretty good cookies, and its a grand time. Tommy tries to talk more, but its hard when people are still giving him weird looks. He knows he looks kinda young, but it’s not some problem or something. His dad just has short people genes, and his brothers have… their mom’s genes? Does Tommy have a mom?

Error-stop-no-404

He blinks, what was he just thinking about? He isn’t sure, so he goes and steals some of Tubbo’s muffin.

“Hey stop that you gremlin!” Tubbo yells, and Tommy snickers as he tries to pop the whole muffin in his mouth now. Tubbo then starts hitting him and Tommy can’t stop laughing.

They have a good time, and then some of the group has to get going, and so they split and big eachother adieu. Then the remaining of the group is brushing themselves off, and exiting the shop.

Just as Tommy is about to leave, someone grabs his shoulder though, and he turns around, its Niki. “Tommy?” She whispers.
“Yes?” He answers.

“Just, be careful. Don’t let your family know you’re out. And if you need somewhere to stay, please feel welcome to come to me. Ok?”

Tommy feels slightly odd about what Niki says, but he nods his head nonetheless. And then Niki smiles and lets go, and he’s turning and joining back up with the group.

Niki, and a lot of Tubbo’s friends, are pretty strange. But he supposes he’s a tad strange too, so he shouldn’t really judge. He just puts on a smile and continues walking, and walking Tubbo and the others laugh.

Soon they come to another store, and go into it. Once they are inside Tommy sees all sorts of electronics. From phones to computers, to drones, to what kinda look like battle robots. Cool. Tommy thinks. And he doesn’t know why, but something about the atmosphere, it feels familiar, and almost safe. But why would that be?

“Oh Sam?!” Tubbo is ringing a bell at the counter. “It;’s Tubbo and co! We’re here and I brought someone who wants to meet you!”

“Coming, coming.” A tall man says as he walks towards them from the back. He has green hair and lots of freckles, and Tommy thinks he looks really nice.

Once Sam’s eyes land on him, Tommy waves, and Sam smiles. “Now who’s this Tubbo?” He asks. “This your younger cousin or something?”

Tommy’s smile suddenly drops, and he’s about to speak up, when suddenly Tubbo steps in front of him and cuts him off.
“No, not my cousin. And while yes he is younger, he’s not that much younger. And actually, this is Tommy.” He smiles. “My friend I often talk about.”

Sam’s mind looks blank for a minute. “The homeschooled one?” he asks, and Tubbo nods. Sam’s eyes then go back and forth between them, and it looks like he wants to ask something, but ultimately he doesn’t. He just forces his face to go back to a smile.
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Tommy.” He says, extending his hand. Tommy shakes it, and wow does this guy have some grip. Tommy can hear some sort of clicking sound and he hopes he hasn’t broken anything or something.

“Nice to meet you too, Sam right?.” He says, and Sam nods his head. “That would be correct.”

“Sam owns this electronic store,” Ranboo says. “And he’s also a winner of the battlebots competition!”

“What's a battlebots?” Tommy asks.

“Oh it’s like Robot Wars!” Aimsey pipes up. “Super cool and fun to watch. Sam even offered to help us form a robotics club this year and maybe we can enter as well.”

Tommy nods his head. Cool? He thinks, but for some reason something feels wrong, and he isn’t sure what or why? Is he getting nervous about being away from home? Is meeting so many people overwhelming him? Is he jealous? He doesn’t know. He tries to keep a smile though, can’t let Tubbo worry about this ‘not right’ feeling.

“Oh gosh guys I can’t take all the credit.” Sam says. “My partner Ponk and my friend Fundy also help a lot too. We’re a team in the battlebots competitions, and I couldn’t do it without them.” He smiles.

All the other teens then start to awe and talk to Sam a little, but Tommy decides to let his eyes roam around the store. Yeah there isn’t too much here. Mostly phones and computers. But he sees one thing in the back that catches his eye. It looks kinda like a person, but missing its head.
Sam seems to notice Tommy’s gaze. “You like him?” Sam asks, and Tommy nods sorta. Well he’s curious ok.

“His name is ROB.” Sam says. “He’s kinda like an exoskeleton robot, except I don’t have to wear him so he’s not an exoskeleton.” Sam laughs. “I made him in my college years getting my degree in technologies and robotics. You basically just put on some gloves and pads, and then he copies what you do. Like fighting if you want, but mostly just picking up heavy things.”

“Cool.” Tommy finds himself saying. He’s never really had an interest in or even thought about robots before, but this all sounds pretty cool. He thinks? Yeah, it’s cool.

“Yeah I’ve been working on a more advanced robot for a few years now, not never really made any progress. Fundy is still stuck on it’s code and Ai, and Ponk on what we can add to make it more human-like. But it's fun, you know?”

“Sounds awesome!” Tubbo chips up. “Yeah really grand!” Aimsey says. “Please let us see some of it when we get the club situated.”

Sam laughs, “ahah, will do I suppose. We could use a few more sets of brains.”

Then they all hear something from the back, and suddenly another person is walking in. Sam perks up. “Ponk!” he says. “I was just talking about you! Come come.” The person, Ponk, makes their way over. “Well hello everyone, what are we talking about?” They say.

“Oh I was just telling the kids here about the project, and they are all really interested in seeing what we’ve come up with so far.”

Pink smiles, or at least Tommy thinks they’re smiling. It’s hard to tell with the mask they are wearing, but their eyes crinkle up, so Tommy assumes that they’re smiling.

“Well that's really cool.” Ponk says, looking at all of them. “And yeah, I’m totally onboard with you guys se-” Suddenly they stop when they see Tommy. “Tommy Wastson?” They question, “is that you?”
Tommy feels very strange about them, but nods in confirmation.
“Wow.” Ponk says. “I didn't, I didn’t expect-.”

“Do you know Tommy?” Ranboo asks what they're all thinking.

“Uh, kinda.” Ponk says. “I ah, was on Tommy’s case when he ah, came to the hospital a few years ago.”

“I went to the hospital?” Tommy asks himself in a whisper.

“He was in an accident, and I, and my team, we fixed, helped him out.”

Ponk seems very stuttery, but Tommy doesn’t really focus on that. He focuses on the fact that he apparently was in the hospital once. Unless there was another Tommy Watson that looked a lot like him.
Why couldn’t he remember this though?

“I ah, I’ll be right back.” Ponk says, walking back into the back of the store.

“What was up with her?” Tubbo questions.

“I’m not really sure,” Sam says looking back at them. “I’ll have to ask him if he’s ok later. But ah, for now let's just all stay here and stay calm.”

They spend a few more minutes talking with Sam and looking around the store, but all Tommy can think about is what Ponk was talking about. An accident? A hospital? Why can’t he remember any of this?

Time seems to pass quickly, and then there is a bang, and someone else is entering the store and slamming the door. Tommy quickly blinks out of it and turns to see who made all the commotion. He see’s Wilbur.

“Wil?” He questions, and Wil just glares at him and then points. “You!” He yells pointing to Tommy. “You are coming with me right now.”

“Hey hey hey now,” Aimsey says. “Now what's this ruckus for and what do you want with Tommy?”

Tommy just sighs in defeat at seeing Wilbur’s angry glare, and Techno’s soon right behind him.

“Don’t worry guys.” Tommy says. “They’re just my brothers.”
“Do not call me your brother!” Wilbur yells in anger, “Yeah that thing ain't no brother of mine.” Techno adds on.

All of Tommy’s new friends look at him sadly after that, and Tubbo looks worried. Tommy just smiles at them though. “Don’t worry guys, it’s normal.” He says.

“Phil is worried sick about you when he noticed you were gone and then we got that call! How do you think he’s going to feel when he hears that you willingly snuck out!”

What call? Tommy thinks, but he just groans, he knows there's no winning, so he steps forward. “I’m sure he’ll be real mad and yada yada. Let's just get on with it, yeah? I’m in trouble, ok, now let's just get home and get this over with already.” Tommy deadpans.

Wilbur and Techno seem a bit surprised, i.e. shocked, but quickly collect themselves and nod, and so then Tommy is stepping out of the shop.

“Bye guys!” He waves to his new friends, that will probably also be his last if he knows Phil. “It was nice meeting you, and I hope I will be able to see you all again.” He knows he probably won’t.

They all continue to stare sadly at him, but he just trunks away and makes his way out the shop and off with his brothers, or ‘not brothers’ as they would say.

Sigh, he hopes he isn’t in for too much trouble.

Chapter Text

They make their way back to the house quietly. There is no discussion among the brothers, and it is about what Tommy expected. 

When they make it back to the house Phil is waiting by the door crying. The moment he sees Tommy he runs forwards. 

“Tommy my baby!” He yells and engrosses Tommy in a tight hug. “Oh baby, what if something had happened to you?! You have to stop running away, what if you died!” Phil looks him in the eyes and Tommy can see the grief and hurt. It’s like Phil really thinks he would have died from just going on a little walk with his friends.

-bad-bad-disobedience bad-

His mind tells him, and Tommy, although really annoyed, can’t help but agree. His dad is a wacko, but Tommy can’t help but feel bad about how hurt and upset he seems. 

“I, I’m sorry dad.” He says. “I just, just wanted to see something new.”

Phil glares at him but there are still tears in his eyes. He then hugs again tightly. “You don’t need anything new, everything you need is right here, with us. Where you are safe.”

And Tommy really wants to complain. Again, he realizes, he thought he was happy, content with life before, but even just stepping out that window, made him realize he wasn’t. And meeting all these people and seeing how much more there really is outside, confirms it. His life wasn’t good before. 

His life hasn’t been right since he was eleven years old, and everything changed. He has a paranoid over the top dad and neglectful brothers. He doesn’t have anything. He felt so free and happy earlier. 

“Dad, “ he decided to speak up, and Phil looks at him. “I’m not very happy, dad.” He says, not looking his father in the eyes. “I’ll be seventeen soon, and I think you’ve got to start letting me have some more freedom, and not worry about me so much. I can handle myself, like I’ve said, and I just need you to trust me, to give me the chance.” He looks to Phil again, Phil looks very hurt, and looking at those eyes again, it looks like he’s grieving someone. Like he already thinks that Tommy is dead, when he’s not.

“Wilbur, Techno.” Phil says, straightening up. “Thank you for finding Tommy, now please escort him back to his room, while I figure out how to deal with this.”

Wilbur and Techno look quite angry, as usual, and Tommy feels let down that this probably means things aren't going to change anytime soon. 

Wilbur doesn’t say anything, just points his hand into the house and to the stairs, and Tommy gets the message. He starts walking. 

He makes it to his room and Wilbur and Techno continue to glare at him. Tommy looks back at them and he just can’t understand. 

“What did I ever do to you?” He asks them, because really, he doesn’t feel like he has much more to lose, and he thinks he deserves some answers. “Why do you hate me, your own brother?” 

“You, you are not our brother.” Wilbur says. “Theseus was.” Techno speaks up from behind, and Tommy thinks he can almost see some tears. Why is he crying?

“But I’m theseus! I’m Tommy! I’m Tom, or, or whatever name you want to call me, I’m him!”

“No you’re not!” Wilbur yells. “You’re you, and you’re not our little brother.”

And Tommy realizes then, that he hasn’t heard his brothers call him by his name in a few years. Why is that?

“Why won’t you call me Tommy?” he asks, and Wilbur groans. “Like we’ve already said, because you’re not him!”

“But, what does that mean?” Tommy asks. “When did I stop being Tommy? When did I stop being your brother?”

“You were never our brother.” Techno says. “Because you were never Tommy, and you never will be.”

Tommy is just so confused. What are they saying? He decided to ask one last time. “What did I ever do to you?”

Wilbur steps up with an angry glare, and Techno looks at him worriedly and backs up slightly.

“You existed you stupid mother fucking machine!” Wilbur yells, and then he’s grabbing a sword that's nailed to the wall, and how has Tommy never noticed that before. 

Wilbur is then unsheathing the sword and runs ar Tommy, who once realizes what is going on tries to back up, but it’s no use, and Wilbur manages to stab him. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” Tommy yells seeing the swords go right through his chest. Wilbur then knocks him to the ground and holds him down more as Tommy flails and screams. He’s to overtaken with shock and fear that he doesn’t even realize the lack of pain.

“Wi-wil stop it!” Techno yells. “Dad’s gonna to hear you.”

“Well I don’t care if he hears me, maybe this will be a wake up call for him!”

Tommy continues to scream and try to pull himself free, but he’s so much smaller then will. And then will is pulling the words out, and slicing into Tommy’s chest again, and Tommy has no idea what's going on, and suddenly his mind starts showing him those words again.

-error-bad-not good- error-

Tommy is breathing frantically and Wilbur has now sliced a square into Tommy’s chest, and Techno continues to just watch. Tommy stares at what Wilbur has carved, and as he continues to breath frantically he comes to ask himself where the pain is and why he doesn’t appear to be bleeding. 

Wilbur then takes the sword hilt and uses it like a crowbar, and somehow pries open Tommy’s chest, and Tommy is sure he is about to die. His brother is currently murdering him! As he is pried open though, Tommy is flabbergasted to see that instead of guts flying everywhere, there are sparks, and wires. 

Tommy just stares in not understanding, and Wilbur gets up off of him. 

“You see!” He yells. “You’re nothing but a stupid machine! You’re not our brother.”

Tommy looks down at his chest, and brings his hand to touch at it, and a spark zaps him. He looks abc up at them. “I, I don’t understand?” He says shakily.

“You’re a copy.” Techno spits up.  “Of our poor unfortunate little brother, who was too young to die.”

Tommy looks at them as he tries to process it. Suddenly he can’t control one of his eyes and it zooms in and out. 

“I-I’m a robot?” He asks. 

“And a lousy one at that.” Wilbur pipes up. “But you were the best they could do I guess. Under short notice.”

“I-I still don’t understand?” Tommy pipes out. “What's going on? why did he die? Why do you hate me?”

Wilbur glares. “What's happening is that I’m decommissioning you. Dad never should have gotten you made, you’ve ruined our lives. All you are is some sick reminder of his death!” Wilbur takes another step forward. “Why do we hate you! Because as I said you're a cruel sick reminder! Because you’re the reason our mom left us! You’re the reason our dad is crazy and doesn’t love us! Because you’re not Tommy, never would be! And because you ever thought you could be!” Wilbur then slashes the sword at Tommy’, who slightly doges, but it manages to cut part of his face, making some of his skin start to fall off.

“Wil calm down.” Techno says. “Let's get out of here before dad finds it. I know you want him to open up his eyes, and I hate the thing as much as you do, but let's get out of here before we get maga grounded or even killed.”

Wilbur spares one last angry glare at Tommy, and then looks abc to Techno, and they nod. They both then stand up and walk to their individual rooms, grabbing some bags and walking down the stairs, and out the door. It seems they were already prepared to leave… Tommy wonders how long they’ve been wanting to do this. 

He lets out a breath as things are now quiet. Well except for that buzzing in his head, which now has grown louder, as well as the text filling his vision.

-error-error-bad-need help-maintenance- error-

He looks down at himself again. Looking at the wires, and some gears inside of him. He can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem real. He-he’s a robot?

He spends a few more minutes trying to take it all in, when he suddenly then hears Phil’s voice. 

“Yeah I need you pronto Ponk! He’s going haywire and disobeying orders! I thought you said he wasn’t supposed to be able to do that! He says he wants more freedom, he shouldn’t want that, he should want to be my perfect baby boy. I need you to come and reset him, that's what's best. I don’t want some strange ansgsty teenageer, I want my son!”

Tommy’s eyes, or at least the one, widens. 

“Yes I know it will erase the last years, but I think that's good. This is only the second time we’ve needed to do a full reset. I’m sure third time's the charm!”

Tommy backs up the most he can. Oh no. No, he's a robot. They-they want to reset him. Wilbur wants to discontinue him. He-he needs to get out of here. 

Tommy, can he ever call himself that ? Starts shaking. He looks for a way to escape, but he can hear his dad, Phil, by the door, so the window is his best option. He stands up shakily, and looks out into the now darkening sky. 

He had Tubbo to help him before, but now he has to get down by himself. He opens the window back up and takes a step onto the branch, then another and another. He gets to the core of the tree and then starts trying to make his next step down, but he slips, and then finds himself falling and hitting the ground with a hump.

It, it feels weird, but he realizes it didn’t really hurt. Has he always not been able to experience pain? Or, is this because Wilbur cut and messed up something in his system. 

He shakes his head and realizes it doesn't matter right now. Phil might be up to check on him soon and then will freak out when he is gone. Tommy needs to figure out where to run, but where?

His mind goes to earlier, Niki, Niki told him he could come to her if he ever was in need or danger. Did, did she know? Did she see this coming? It doesn’t matter, he stands himself up and starts running towards where he thinks he remembers Tubbo showing him the bakery is.

It takes him a bit, and he feels rather lost, but eventually he makes it to the center square, and then from there finding Niki’s isn’t too hard. 

He gets there and just prays that Niki is still there. It’s late, so would she still be open? 

He runs up to the window and takes a peek inside, looking to see if anyone is there. He knocks and knocks on the window, but he begins to lose hope. He slides down the glass and stares at his hands, and the chunk of his chest flapping open and closed. He probably should have brought a disguise or something. Who knows what people would and will do if they see him.

Tommy starts to cry, this this is all so horrible. It all still feels so unreal, but he has to accept, taht it is. He’s an abomination. 

His tears mixing with the sparks don’t seem to do very well, and he starts fistleing, and it feels and sounds really weird.  

He doesn’t know how long he sits there crying, it could be hours, it could be minutes. His sense of time is completely thrown off. But eventually, he hears a door opening, and he sees Niki exiting. She then seems to stop and see him. 

“T-Tommy?” She questions. 

“Niki,” He quietly cries, “please, please help me. You said I could come here, and I hope,” he looks down at himself. “Me being like this doesn’t discard that.”

Niki just looks at him sadly before looking both ways, and then walking closer to tommy. 

“Here,” she says. “Take my hand. Let's get you inside.”

Tommy feels scared, but having hope in Niki is the only hope he’s got, and so he takes her hand.

She ushers him into the back of the bakery, where there is a little area set up fro the staff to relax. She sits him down and gets him a blanket. She also brings over some hot coco, but after looking at him, she sits it back down.

“Are you not afraid of me?” Tommy asks. 

“No.I’m not.” Niki says. 

“Then did you know? Or, why are you not afraid?”

Niki gives a sad smile. “Because I know you, or at least I used to. And yes, I-I knew about you being a robot.”

“How?” Tommy questions. 

“I’m best friends with Wil,” She says. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I can to your house a few times before, your accident.” She says. “And then after it, well Wilbur needed someone to vent to, so of course he vented to me.” She smiles. 

“Then you know why they hate me?” Tommy asks, and Niki nods sadly. “Yes I know.” She says. “Wil talked about you quite often, and how angry you made him. About how you ‘ruined his life.’”

Tommy nods. “Then, well. Wilbur mentioned one of the reasons he hates me, being I made his mother leave, do-do you know anything about that?”

Niki sighs. “Yes, I do know about that, and I’ll explain it more if you need and want.”

“Yes please.” he nods. 

Niki breathes. “Well, after your accident, your family mourned you. And with time, they seemed to be moving on. Not your dad though, he held on. He apparently knew some people, and had a lot of money from his line of work, so he told them to do whatever they could to save you slash bring you back, and they presented him with a robot body. Apparently, in your accident, you only really damaged your body, your heart, and only some of your brain, So transferring your brain into a robot body, that was enough to bring you back.”

Tommy continues to listen in deep thought. 

“Your dad was overjoyed about you basically being back.” Niki smiled, and then frowned. “But the rest of your family wasn’t. They tried to give you a chance though, to see if they could get used to the new normal, having you back, but in the end it was too hard. Your dad became very, overprotective as wilbur told me, and he seemed to only really focus on you.  The rest of your family didn’t like that, and your mom, well she believed that your death, although tragic, was the natural cycle, and to disrupt it would be wrong. She wanted you back so much, but she knew brining you back to life, as a robot, wasn’t the way. So she left.”

Tommy opens his mouth in shock. “Why didn’t she take Wil and Tech then?” He asks. 

“I don’t know.” Niki answers. “That was one of Wil’s biggest questions. Why would she just abandon the rest of them? And again, I’m not sure.”

Tommy nods his head. “And why Niki,” He looks to her,”do you seem to care about me? When they don’t.”

Niki looks at him broken heartedly.”Because I know you’re still you. Your brothers, they see you as a robot, I see you as a second chance, a miracle. A tragic one, but a miracle nonetheless. I think a good way to look at it, would be that your brother believes that your soul is kept in your heart, so so, because you, since you’ve become a robot, don’t have your original heart, they think it can’t really be you. They think you’re just a machine masquerading as a person. But me, I believe the soul is stored in the brain, and so because they saved your brain, you are still alive, you are still the same Tommy to me. Despite now having a mechanical body, you are still you, to me at least.”

Tommy stares at her in awe, and feels some tears going down his good eye. “Thank-thank you Niki,” He says as he begins to sob. He doesn't really know how he cries now that he thinks about it. 

Niki comes over and hugs him, and Tommy, he really isn’t sure if things are going to be ok, but for now, he feels alright. 

Niki allows him to stay in the shop for the night, and promises to come back in the morning. And that she won’t tell anyone, but maybe Tubbo, about where Tommy is. 

So then soon enough Niki is gone, and Tommy is left in darkness. He tries to sleep, but it feels hard fro some reason. Is it because of his fear? Or something else?

It takes some time, he’s not sure how much, but eventually he thinks he gets to sleep. Or at least he blanks out for a good while, and then when he comes back to consciousness the sun is starting to shine and soon he hears bells ringing.  He looks up, and smiles hearing Niki enter the shop, and then he gasps upon seeing Tubbo is in fact behind her as well.

“Now Tubbo,” Niki says, stopping Tubbo from getting into eye sight. “Remember what I told you, Tommy is here, but it needs to remain a secret, as well as what I’m about to tell you. And please try not to freak out.”

“Ok.” Turbo says, and then they are walking around the counter and into the back. 

“Tommy dear,” Niki speaks up, “are you doing ok?”

“Yeah.” Tommy says groggily, which makes him think maybe he didn’t in fact sleep very well. 

Tubbo peeks around from behind Niki, and gasps when he sees Tommy. 

“T-Tommy, what what happened to you?!”

Tommy looks down. “A realization.” he says. 

“What?” Tubbo questions. 

“I’m a robot.” Tommy says. 

“I can see that.” Tubbo answers. 

“You don’t seem too shocked.” Tommy adds on. 

“Well, I kinda had a small suspicion.” Tubbo scratches the back of his head. “Not exactly that you were a robot, but that you weren’t exactly  normal. I mean you never seem to age, and you’re super smart! And I don’t know, part of me said ‘either he’s a robot, from the future, or he’s an alien’” Tommy laughs a little at that. But then he looks back down at himself and only sees his broken body.

Tubbo and Niki seem to notice his displeasure, and walk up closer. 

“Hey it’s ok Tom.” Niki says. 

“Yeah, don’t worry Tommy, we’re here for you.” Tubbo adds on.

And Tommy tries to smile, but it’s hard. 

The day is then spent rather normally, at least for Tubbo and Niki that is. For Tommy it’s very strange. While they are working in the bakery he is left to think, to contemplate on everything that has happened in just the last twenty four hours. 

Tubbo comes back a few times to comfort him, and brings up the idea that Sam knows a lot about robots and could maybe help repair Tommy’s body, but then Tommy remembers Ponk being on the phone with his dad, and Tommy isn’t sure if he can trust Sam. So he tells Tubbo he’ll think about it, but he really doesn't.

The day goes by surprisingly quickly, and then Tubbo and Niki are leaving again, closing up the shop for the night.

“Hang in there Tommy,” Tubbo says. “Things are going to get better, you just wait.” Tommy just nods his head, and then he is alone again.

It's this night that everything really seems to sink in. All of it, his apparent death, his family’s hatred, losing a mom he can’t even remember, and just being a  robot. 

He can’t handle it, it’s too much. Niki and Tubbo have tried to comfort him, but he knows he’s an abomination. His dad is probably going crazy looking for him and wanting to rest him, Wilbur wants to kill him, so will other people if they find out probably, and if the government finds out about him they’ll probably want to use and study him.

It’s all too much. Tommy hates himself. Hates himself for destroying a family. Niki might say he is the real Tommy but he doesn’t feel very real right now. He’s scared, and he’s panicking. It’s just too much, and he realizes he doesn't want to go one, it would be too hard. 

He bows his head down, and accepts his fate and decision. He doesn’t completely want to, but it’s the only way. He isn’t quite sure how to do it though, but he has a small idea. 

He knows he has taken a shower before, but when electronics get wet they go haywire, so maybe water is his best bet. 

He walks over to the sink, and prepares a cup of water. Then he takes a napkin, and writes out a “Sorry and thank you.” To Niki and Tubbo, and then he pours the water down into his open stomach, and he can feel the steam, sparks, and electricity shocking through him.

It might not even really be the water exactly that kills him, but rather the electric shock. 

The cup of water falls from Tommy’s hand, and he is dead.

Chapter Text

When Tubbo and Niki walk into the store the next day, they are horrified by what they see. The broken and damp body of Tommy, water and glass spilled everywhere, and on the counter a note written out on a napkin, thanking and apologizing to them about what he had to do.

Tubbo cries, and tells Ranboo, who is shocked to learn that, one, Tommy is dead, and two, that he was a robot. Then later they tell Aismey, who is also shocked, but brings up that if Tommy was saved before, then maybe he could be saved again?

So they bring him to Sam. Sam is beyond flabbergasted when he hears the news and sees Tommy’s body. He spends a bit studying it, and then realizes that it is based on his and his friends' model, and so he contacts both his friends about it. Fundy says he has no idea what Sam is talking about, and Ponk tries to act oblivious, but Sam catches on, and so the lemon loving guy admits to what he had done, to being paid lots of money if he could just find a way to bring back this kid, and seeing that their robot was the perfect way to do it. Making a completely robotic AI doesn’t work, but implanting a human brain into a robot, now that worked out. 

Sam is furious and feels betrayed by Ponk, but Ponk promises not to tell Phil or the Watsons about Tommy’s location and status, if only they will allow her to help again and make up for the first time. Sam isn’t sure, but with a little convincing, he begrudgingly agrees.

The next few days are spent working on rebuilding Tommy’s body, and then carefully transferring the brain, hoping that the electricity didn’t completely fry it. 

After just a few weeks, they seem to have things ready and set, and Sam hits the button and suddenly Tommy comes back to life. 

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows from there. Tommy is horrified and distraught at having been brought back, and somehow, after being brought back, he has regained all his previous lost memories, which are overwhelming. Everything is, and Tommy is too scared. He kills himself again.

Take three, third time's the charm, but once again Tommy is unstable, and begs them to just let him die. They try to keep a better watch on him, but they can’t and he gets away. They soon find him, dead again. 

It repeats like this for a while, whether Tommy kills himself or just tries, it always ends the same. In failure. 

Months pass and they all start to lose hope.  Maybe it would be better to just let him go? , they think, but they don't want to. 

Ponk raises that possibility that they all fear. “A factory reset”, she says, “It’s the only way to keep him calm and from killing himself. He has far too much trauma, and we can’t save him without dealing with it.”

And so although they didn't want to, they reset Tommy. Tubbo is heartbroken at having to do it, but it is the only way. Tommy no longer remembers Tubbo, but he also doesn’t remember anything else. It is as if he has retrograde amnesia.  He isn’t a baby, he knows things, he just lacks memories, and his brain goes back to being eleven. 

This lasts for about two years, living happily with Sam, and then somehow Tommy realizes that he is a robot again, and that by itself is enough to drive him crazy and back to suicide. 

So they try again, but this time, they tell him from the get-go that he is a robot. They change his code, allowing him to be more self-aware. They want him to be as human as he can be -- he is just a human boy that met an untimely fate -- but it seems like, no matter what they try, this poor boy just can’t live with the truth. So in the end, they allow him to be more machine than man.

Tommy is booted up for the, hopefully, last time; he smiles, and says, “Hello, world.”