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Tommy was often told that he was just a late bloomer, that he’d develop a power at some point even if he was a few years past the age he should have already developed one. His brother told him that his body probably wasn’t prepared for it yet, that he needed a little longer to be able to handle it and when he did finally get his power, it’d be a really cool one.
And yet, when Tommy turned ten and then thirteen and no power came, he began to lose hope. Then he was suddenly fifteen and his friends stopped telling him that it’d happen any day now. At sixteen, he had finally given up on ever having a special ability and instead focused on his studying, because if he couldn’t have a cool power to make his father proud, then at least he’d have good grades.
Tommy was now seventeen and currently eight feet off the ground and being shouted at.
“Toms!” his brother, Wilbur, shouted up at him. “Get out of the fucking tree!”
Tommy laughed, twisting around to stick his tongue out and flailing only slightly as his weight shifted.
“Theseus,” his other not-really-brother-but-still-family called, irritated. “Don’t make me grab Phil.”
“Fuck off Techno!” he yelled back, reaching a hand up to the next branch and hesitating only briefly when he realized how unstable it was before pulling himself further up.
“Tommy, don’t—”
Wilbur was cut off by the blond’s startled yelp as the branch above him broke off and his hold on it vanished. He wobbled precariously as his hand scrambled to find something else to grip onto, but the branches were too spread out so close to the top of the tree, and they were all out of reach. With a sickening lurch in his stomach, Tommy’s foot slipped and he tilted forward.
He heard shouting beneath him and frantic movements, but Tommy could only focus on the terror streaking through his body as he tried to slow his fall by crashing through as many branches as he could.
“Fuck—ow, fuck.”
He could already feel the hundreds of bruises forming, and he winced at the thought of how much pain he’d be in in a few hours.
When the ground was only seconds away, Tommy clenched his eyes shut and hoped for the best. He felt himself collide with something hard, but still squishy, and he blinked his eyes open to see Techno staring up at him with a grim look on his face. The pink-haired man grunted as he gently shoved Tommy off, and the blond settled onto the ground, his eyes staring blankly at the other two, both of whom were gripping his shoulders. Their mouths moved, but Tommy couldn’t understand a single word that came out of them, the buzzing in his ears drowning them out.
He felt a hand brush through his hair, and he instantly burst into tears, leaning forward into his brother’s grip and tugging at his shirt to bring him closer.
His eyes were tightly clenched once again, and he felt the panic almost consume him. His bones felt like they were vibrating beneath his skin and his blood seemed to have electricity flowing through it, making his hair stand on end. His brothers jumped back from him with a startled yelp as a prick of electricity and a short flash of light flooded their vision.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy sobbed, turning to reach out for Wilbur, who had a confused expression on his face that quickly faded when he glanced back at the blond. “I don’t know how that happened.”
“Toms? Tommy, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
His sobs slowly lessened as the older man talked him down, and when he brought a hand up to wipe his face, he realized that Techno was being oddly quiet. He turned to the man with a startled blink, to see him standing a few steps away with a bewildered expression on his face.
“Techno?” Tommy whispered softly, unsure of what exactly was wrong.
“Who are you?” the pink-haired man spoke with his jaw clenched tightly, and Tommy felt a bolt of fear and dread shoot through him.
“Uh—Tommy? I’m Tommy, your brother?”
“I don’t have a brother.”
Tommy flinched, and he felt Wilbur put a calming hand on his shoulder.
“We’re not blood related,” he explained gently, his eyes more understanding than Tommy’s own. “But we’re still family.”
The older man still looked unsure and wary, his eyes narrowed and suspicious as though they were playing some huge joke that he wasn’t in on.
“Kids? What’s going on? Was Tommy climbing the tree again?”
Tommy felt himself sag in relief as the sound of Phil’s voice floated across to them from the house, but Wilbur and Techno only stiffened in response.
“Phil?” Techno’s voice was low. “Who are these kids?”
Phil’s steps stuttered to a stop and he seemed to take a closer look at Techno, realization flooding over his face as he glanced over at Tommy.
“You got your power?”
The blond blinked, dumbfounded, but Wilbur nodded his head next to him.
“What is it?”
“Swapping ages,” Wilbur spoke. “It was an accident, but I think Techno’s memories from past the age of twenty-three are gone.”
Phil hissed between his teeth and turned to place his hand on Techno’s shoulders. He glanced back at Wilbur and Tommy.
“What about you?”
The brunette shrugged uncomfortably. “I have memories from the next few years, the ones we haven’t lived through yet.”
The eldest frowned but didn’t push as Wil turned away and crouched in front of Tommy.
“Are you okay?”
He shook his head wildly. “I’ve never fallen before. I’m so sorry. Techno—”
“Don’t worry about him,” Wilbur’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward to block Tommy’s view of the two men behind him. “Just focus on me. It was an accident, right? We know you didn’t mean to, and you’re definitely not in trouble.”
Tommy sniffed, wiping at his eyes. “How do I turn it off?”
The brunette tilted his head. “Turn what off?”
“My power. How do I turn off my power?”
“You can’t, not right now. It takes a while for someone to learn how to control their power and even then, some powers can’t be turned off until after a certain amount of time has passed. Sometimes they’re even permanent.”
His lower lip wobbled dangerously and he allowed himself to tilt forward into his brother’s chest as Techno’s voice rose from a few feet away.
“—working with the enemy Phil!” the snarl was loud and clear. “They could be spies, and you just let them wander into your home like we have nothing to lose!”
“They’re my kids, Techno,” Tommy’s father spoke stiffly. “They’re not spies, you’re just confused right now.”
“I’m not the confused one,” he growled. “They brainwashed you, that must be it. I’ll figure out how to break you out of it, I—”
“Shut up!” Wilbur finally snapped, moving to brush a hand through Tommy’s curls. “We’re not spies.”
“That’s what spies would say,” he snarled back.
“Then how do we know you aren’t a spy?” Wil’s voice was sharp. “You could be the one selling information.”
He gasped, his mouth open. “I would never. Don’t you know who I am?”
Wilbur snorted. “The Blood God. I’m not stupid, but you’re not anywhere close to how you used to be.”
The pink-haired man took this as a threat, his lips curling over his teeth. “I’m just as strong as I used to be.”
Wil’s eyebrows rose. “Sure,” and he turned his back on him.
Tommy yelped and scrambled away when the other’s body got thrown to the floor, Techno pushing his shoulders into the dirt. Phil’s voice rose in a shout, but Tommy could only curl into himself and muffle his gasps.
“What the fuck—”
“I’ll teach you to doubt me, you stupid spy—”
“Boys, let go! Boys.”
Why did Tommy even want a power? He was perfectly happy with having nothing, with only having his family by his side. He could’ve lived with himself, but now he’d have to live with this—with his brothers at each other’s throats when they were completely fine only seconds ago.
“Tommy, go inside,” Phil pushed out through gritted teeth, his hands threading through Techno’s own to get a better grip. “It’ll be okay.”
And now his father was lying to him because he wasn’t strong enough to take it. He was too weak, he brought too much chaos. He only ever messed things up for them, case in point. If only he’d listened when they’d told him to stop, if only he hadn’t—
“Tommy.”
The blond scampered away, throwing himself through the door, which was still open from when Phil had exited, and he didn’t stop until he had ran up the stairs into his room and under the bed. He dragged a blanket under with him and buried his face into the soft fabric, his body shaking with the silent sobs.
Eventually he managed to calm himself down enough that he could wipe away his tears without them immediately reappearing, and he stuck his head out when he heard the door creak open.
“Tommy? Oh,” Phil’s eyes focused on him under the bed and he offered a small smile. “They’re okay. They’re both in their rooms now. Do you want to come out?”
He hesitated for a moment before deciding that yes, he didn’t want to be under his bed anymore.
“There you go, kiddo,” he murmured, opening his arms for Tommy to throw himself into.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy cried, his arms wrapped tightly around Phil’s. “I didn’t mean to, I swear I didn’t. I don’t even want a power anymore, I—”
“Don’t say that, Toms,” his father murmured. “You’ve been waiting for a power for years.”
“Not this,” he hiccuped. “Not like this. What if Techno never remembers? Wilbur doesn’t even seem to like you anymore and I don’t know why. He’s ignoring you. What could you have done for him to—?”
“I don’t know,” Phil gently interrupted. “But I’ll figure it out later, I promise. Everything will be okay.”
He shook his head, but the older man gently brushed his cheek to stop the movement.
“Do you remember learning about power cuffs in school?” he asked, his voice careful and low.
“They’re—they’re used for villains.”
“Not always,” he smiled down at him. “They can also be used to help people who need a little longer to train their power.”
Tommy hummed. “You want to get one?”
Phil nodded. “You have already been registered for needing one, so they’re going to give us a few within the next couple days, but I wanted to ask you about it first.”
He thought about it for a long moment. “Will Techno and Wilbur go back to their actual ages?”
The older man shrugged. “They might, and they might not. We’ll figure it out.”
Tommy sighed, letting himself relax into the hug as he listened to the noises of a door slam open and someone moving downstairs to make something in the kitchen. The quiet creaking of a door down the hall followed a few minutes later. He glanced up at Phil and noticed him also listening to the noises as voices began speaking.
“Do you need to go watch them?” Tommy asked, his grip unconsciously tightening on Phil’s shirt.
He chuckled lightly and shook his head, pulling him impossibly closer. “They’re both adults. They can handle themselves for a while longer.”
Tommy hummed, and they descended into a silence as Tommy allowed himself to soak up Phil’s comfort and the warmth of his embrace. Eventually he would have to get up, but Tommy drifted in the moment.
It felt like only minutes but was probably over an hour later that Phil shifted and told him he’d have to get up. The voices from downstairs had risen and he needed to calm them down before something was broken.
Tommy nodded in understanding and unclenched his hands from the other’s shirt, watching as the older man quietly left the room. He waited until the sounds from downstairs had faded before slowly rising to his feet and getting ready for bed, having already eaten that night.
He slept fitfully, unable to fall into a deep sleep, and he ended up waking up sometime in the afternoon the next day.
It took him a while to convince himself to get up and go downstairs, where he knew his brothers were, but he eventually mustered up the courage and shuffled down the stairs.
They were all sitting in the living room when he went down, and he realized that they were probably forced to be there by Phil. They were each sitting on opposite sides of the couch while his father sat on the chair closest to the television, which was playing some kind of drama.
Definitely forced, then.
The blond took a breath to hype himself up and bounded into the living room, holding his deck of Uno cards as he glanced between the two brothers to see which one would be more likely to play with him. Wilbur probably would, but Techno didn’t seem to be doing anything.
“Techno!” he called, dropping himself next to him, but not close enough to touch. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t actually the brother that he knew.
“Play Uno with me.”
“No,” he didn’t sound upset, only tired, and Tommy thought he might be able to convince him.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! It used to be your favorite game.”
He huffed and didn’t answer this time, only turning away.
“Hey, don’t ignore me,” he hissed. “It wont even be that bad. I can teach you if you don’t remember.”
“Hey, Toms, maybe don’t—” Phil called gently, but Tommy plowed through him.
“We can play with Phil. And I’m sure Wilbur will want to—”
“What part of no do you not understand, kid?” Techno glanced over his shoulder with a glare. “I’m not playing.”
Tommy huffed. “Well, older you is obviously better then. He would’ve played with me. Younger you is so bor—”
“Oh my Prime, why would I ever like a kid like you?” Techno snapped angrily, and the blond quickly jumped off the couch and took a step back. He saw Phil glance up from the corner of his eye, but Wilbur was faster.
“Just because you can’t remember doesn’t mean you can act like a jerk,” he pushed Tommy behind him and stood in front of the older—younger?—with a fierce glare.
“Why are you defending him?” Techno growled, pushing himself to his feet. “He was annoying you, too.”
“He’s a kid,” the brunette frowned. “He’s allowed to have fun.”
“Then he can do it away from me,” Techno seemed to tower over Wilbur, despite being shorter.
“Get out of my face!” the younger brother hissed, his hands clenched into fists as the other glared at him. “There are plenty of places you could go instead of here.”
“Why should I have to leave?”
“You’re the one who has a problem!”
“Boys—” Phil finally spoke up, but Techno plowed on.
“You seem to have a problem with it now!”
“Because you’re being a fucking dumbass!”
“Boys—”
“Shut up, Phil,” Wilbur spat, and Tommy flinched again.
Phil stood from his spot and the youngest froze, his head instinctively bowing, but the man only ruffled his hair and once again told him to head to his room.
Fleeing to his room didn’t silence the shouting, though.
“Why do you even care? When have you ever actually done anything for us?”
“He’s done plenty! You’re just too self-centered to see it!”
“Or maybe someone is too much of a baby now to admit they’re wrong!”
“Calm down,” Phil’s voice was tense. “You’re both confused and on edge. Take a breather.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“Can you just shut up?”
“Oh, you’re so—”
“Boys,” Tommy had rarely heard Phil use that tone, and he found himself curling further into himself. “If you don’t calm down right now, I will go find that twin shirt and stuff you in it from now until next winter.”
The silence was almost deafening.
“Techno, believe me, I know where your mind’s at right now, but I swear it’ll get better. You won’t feel this way forever, so please just relax for the next day or so until we can get the power cuffs. And Wilbur, I don’t know what I’ve done to hurt you, but the Phil you’re thinking of isn’t me. At least, not yet. So please, tell me so I can fix it. I never want to hurt any of you.”
Wilbur scoffed. “It’s too late for that now.”
“No it’s not,” the older man pushed. “There’s still a chance to fix it.”
There was another silence, and the voices lowered enough that Tommy could no longer make them out, although he could tell by the tone that while they were still tense, it was calmer as well.
He didn’t know how long he had stayed buried beneath his covers, but eventually Phil came to knock on his door and he slowly opened it at Tommy’s murmured assent.
“They’ve both calmed down now. Are you okay?”
His lip quivered but he nodded his head.
“You don’t have to be,” Phil spoke gently. “It’s okay to be hurting.”
“I’m—how long until the cuffs come?”
“Sometime tomorrow,” he answered.
Tommy huffed. “I’m going to stay in here until they come.”
Phil frowned. “You don’t have to. You’ve already been in here so much. I can kick the other two out.”
He shook his head. “It’s only for another day. I don’t want to annoy them again.”
His eyes softened. “They can take it.”
Tommy frowned. “I don’t want to be around them.”
Phil seemed to finally realize how serious Tommy was about this, and he nodded. “Okay,” he murmured. “I’ll come check on you later. Make sure you eat something.”
Tommy nodded and watched as Phil left, with only a single glance back toward the boy once again buried beneath his blankets.
As soon as the door shut, Tommy huffed and tugged at his pillow, burying his face into the soft sheets.
He couldn’t believe how quickly everything had gone to shit, and how much of it was completely his fault. Maybe if he hadn’t wished so much for a power, nothing would’ve happened. Or maybe if his body had been stronger he would’ve gotten it earlier and actually would have had time to learn how to control it.
Or maybe if he’d never even found them in the first place they wouldn’t be in so much pain.
But then he’d still be living a nightmare, and he was too selfish to wish for that. He couldn’t live through being tied up and spit on and yelled at again. It was bad enough the first time, and he still had scars from the ordeal that he doubted would ever fade. No, he’d much rather this happen than still be living in the past.
As Tommy drifted off to another restless sleep, having nothing better to do and with the sound of shouting filling his ears, he hoped that everything would eventually work itself out.
**
“I can’t imagine myself ever liking Tommy.”
The blond in question had crept downstairs hoping to be able to grab some water and flee back to his room, but he’d found himself stuck when he realized Techno and Wilbur were there, not yelling at each other for the first time since the switch. Now it was late morning and they’d finally seemed to tire themselves out.
He found himself wincing at the admittance, but he could definitely understand where the older man was coming from.
Tommy was a lot of energy, almost always bouncing off the walls and shrieking with excitement. He’d get into everything he could and found joy in annoying his brothers until they cracked and agreed to play with him.
Techno was almost the opposite. He preferred the quiet and quickly got burnt out from social interactions. He would rather be reading a book in the quiet of his room than playing with a screaming child.
“Because he’s our brother,” Wilbur offered, his voice soft. “Because he’s funny and kind and much smarter than he seems. Because he know when to take a step back and when to keep pushing. Because he’s been through so much, almost as much as you have yourself, and he’s still got so much joy and playful youth that was ripped out of you.”
Techno hummed and there was silence for a long moment.
“I didn’t mean it, you know. I like him just fine, but at a distance.”
“That’s how you were when we first met him. You kept your distance and it took months for you to finally warm up to him.”
Tommy grinned, remembering how excited he’d been the first time Techno had dropped himself beside Tommy and allowed the younger to curl into his side.
“I just have problems with being so close to strangers.”
“We know. That’s okay, but you still shouldn’t take it out on him.”
He breathed out softly. “I didn’t mean to snap.”
“I’m sure he knows that, but don’t you think he also deserves an apology?”
Techno must’ve nodded because Tommy could almost hear the smile in Wilbur’s voice.
“Then maybe tell him that.”
Tommy startled at the sound of sudden footsteps behind him and whipped around to see Phil approaching, a wide smile on his face. His expression stuttered for a second when he saw Tommy’s own guilty one, but it quickly returned as he stepped past him and into the kitchen, gesturing for Tommy to follow him.
“The cuffs are here.”
Techno and Wilbur blinked, dumbfounded, but Tommy found himself hopping in place, his eyes finally noticing the small box in the older man’s hand.
“Put it on, put it on!”
Phil laughed. “Let me open it first.”
It took less than thirty seconds for the box to be opened and for Tommy to yank the cuffs out, ripping off the plastic wrap around them. He let Phil take them with only minimal complaining and watched as he untangled the bracelet-like pieces of metal.
“One should work fine,” he mumbled. “The other two are just in case the first one breaks or gets lost.”
“Put it on,” Tommy whined, and Phil laughed, dropping the other two back into the box and reaching for Tommy’s arm.
“Wait—” Techno’s hand landed on the cuff, an inch away from Tommy’s wrist. “I just—I want to apologize before you reverse it.”
Tommy glanced at Wilbur and was surprised by the calm acceptance on his face.
“I know I was being an asshole, and I’m sorry. I’m not the best around strangers, but even after you explained what was happening, I was still a jerk, so—I’m sorry.”
There was silence for a long moment before Tommy huffed gently and reached out to grip Techno’s hand.
“It’s okay, I get it,” he smiled. After all, he’d once been in the same place. “And I know you didn’t mean it. It was my fault this all happened anyway.”
“No,” several voices clamored at once, and Techno continued. “It was really bad timing, but that wasn’t your fault.”
The blond hummed disbelievingly and Wilbur sent him a playful glare.
“We’re going to work on that,” he promised, Phil nodding at his side. “And we’ll repeat it as many times as you need. It wasn’t your fault.”
Tommy flushed with embarrassment and yanked at Phil’s wrist.
“Hurry up and put the cuff on,” he grumbled, and the older man laughed.
There was a flicker of doubt as the cuff drew closer to his wrist. What if it didn’t work? What if his power wasn’t an ongoing thing, and it couldn’t be stopped with just a cuff? What if he wouldn’t be able to fix it? What if they were stuck like this forever?
But as he glanced over toward his family, all of whom were watching him with warm eyes and no sign of the same unease that was flooding Tommy, he realized that maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. They’d figure it out, he was sure. Especially now that they were all listening to each other.
There wasn’t a big bang or a flash of light when the cuffs snapped around his wrist and for a moment, Tommy thought nothing had happened. He glanced up at Phil, his eyes reflecting Tommy’s own confusion, before looking back toward his brothers.
“Oh,” he whispered, his mouth twitching into a smile at the sight of the two embracing.
“I’m sorry,” Wilbur tightened his grip. “I don’t know why I was so angry at both of you.”
“You told me why,” Phil spoke up and Tommy blinked, surprised. He didn’t realize they had had a chance to speak about it. “I’ll fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”
Wil glanced at him from where he was wrapped around Techno, and nodded with a small sniff. “Not just for me.”
“No,” Phil agreed. “Not just for you.”
The two brothers pulled back after a moment and Techno reached out to Tommy, pulling him into a hug.
“You’ll always be family to me,” he mumbled gruffly. “I didn’t mean any of that.”
“I know,” the youngest responded softly.
They descended into silence and allowed themselves to take in each others’ company, to readjust themselves and allow themselves to apologize and forgive.
“Look, we’re all still here,” Phil spoke after a long moment, gesturing around to include all of them. “A little conflict won’t split us up that easily.”
It almost did, Tommy thought, but he kept silent.
“No matter what happens in the future,” he continued, “every one of you is important, okay? Every thought you have matters.”
At this, he made eye contact with Tommy and the latter startled, turning away guiltily.
“I love all of you,” Wilbur agreed. “And that’ll never change. Even when I was upset at Phil and Techno, I still loved them. Tommy too, of course. You can never escape me.”
The blond in question yelped as the brunette harshly rubbed his elbow over Tommy’s head and he swatted at him.
“I love you guys too,” Techno’s voice was quieter and they all stilled with gentle smiles.
“Me too,” Tommy admitted. “I love all of you.”
They turned to Phil expectantly and the eldest laughed.
“Of course I love my kids.”
Tommy wrinkled his nose. “Ugh Phil, you’re so old.”
They burst into laughter and he felt a sense of warmth flood through him as he watched his brothers grin at each other and his father watch them with fond eyes.
“Um, Phil?” he interrupted with a hesitant glance.
“Yeah Toms?”
He twitched his wrist, watching the cuff chafe uncomfortably against his skin. “Can we maybe get some more comfortable cuffs?”
“Of course,” Phil pulled him into a hug. “These were just sent quickly, but we can get some more customizable ones for you. And you won’t always have to wear them.”
“Yeah Toms,” Wil agreed. “We’ll help you learn how to control your power.”
Techno nodded behind him and Tommy felt a sense of calm flood through his body as he buried himself deeper into Phil’s embrace and his brothers’ hands came up to wrap around him as well. He let himself soak in as much of the contact as he could and relaxed fully into their arms, glad for everything to finally be back to normal.
Or, as normal as it could get in the Watson household.