Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was used to a routine, one where he’d wake up over the dusty futon on the floor of the living room, listening to the noise of his mother preparing some quick breakfast for Dream and his brother, who was already awake and eating in the small dinner table some free-sugar cereal. Every day was like this, and Dream groaned, raising his arm to briefly cover his eyes from the sunlight coming from behind the window’s curtains. 

Then, after being a little more awake, he brought his arm, rolling up his sleeves faintly to look at the bright green numbers. It was a habit everyone in that timezone, their city, had. 

00:00:00:17:30:10

Normal, for now at least. 

Sighing, he accommodates the sleeve of his white shirt and let’s the arm go before sitting in the futon, yawning and stretching loudly, his still sleepy joints aching. The 'bed' was starting to get too old already. “Hey, Tubs” greets, and the teen turns around to see him, smiling and swallowing the cereal in his mouth before greeting him back.

“Good morning, Dream!” the brunette says, hyperactive as always. By their voices, the white-haired woman appears from the kitchen a plate of some fried eggs along with a piece of bread. There's a smile on her face as she greets her older son. “Good morning, duckling. Get ready for work, okay?” the blonde nods and yawns again, getting up from the futon and stretching even more. He is tired but it’s not like he has enough time to waste by being lazy and spending his day laying on his bed.

Dream walks behind Tubbo’s chair to go to their tiny bathroom after ruffling the hair of the younger with his left hand. He changed his clothes and prepared the old backpack he always uses and went outside the bathroom before looking at his clock again; 00:00:00:17:28:46.

Furrowing his eyebrows in disgust and placing a black wristband to cover it he goes back to the living room, going around with almost a whole day of time to live and letting everyone see it was a totally bad idea so it’s better keeping it hidden. 

Eating quickly his breakfast and drinking some water while standing, he turns to see Tubbo, “Tubs, time for you to go to grandma’s. C’mon.” gestures to the door and the other groans in annoyance, arching his neck and head back a little. “Why can’t I stay home alone while you two work?! It’s not fair.”

The older huffs, adjusting his backpack over his shoulder and fighting the urge to look at his clock again. He doesn’t have time for this conversation again. “You know why, Tubs. If someone gets in here to steal our stuff while I’m not home to protect it I don’t wanna them to find you with a ‘hole year in ‘ur arm, alright?” asserts, and the teen let’s go of the spoon in his hand before lowering his head and nodding, getting up from his chair and going grab his own backpack. 

Finally , he internally sighs in relief, turning to look for their mother. Puffy was getting ready too to open her Café. “I’m going to walk Tubs to ma’am Seph’s and then go to the fabric, mom. Don’t wait for me.” 

The woman tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, she walks over to both of them and reaches both her arms to cup her son’s cheeks. “Be safe, okay? Love you, my ducklings”

The pair of brothers smiles fondly, nodding their heads. “We love you too” Dream is the one to reply, his hand already on the doorknob, “See you later, mom” If he is lucky- if they’re lucky.

There’s no rules out there, at least not in their world.

After saying their goodbyes, Tubbo and Dream go out of the apartment and walk down the staircase to reach the streets, the blonde making sure to grab the younger’s hand in his as they walk through all the people that’s starting to rise up and do their routines too. Seraphina -or Seph- lives a couple blocks away from their house, so it’s already at least five minutes wasted by walking. When they’re about to cross the street, he brings his arm up to stop Tubbo on track, gesturing to him to lower his head so as to not make eye-contact with the drivers of the couple of government cars making their way through the timezone, watching for someone to pester this early.

Fortunately, they don’t stop and continue their way, making both brothers relax and resume their walking. They reach the woman’s house and Dream knocks on her door, a few seconds later, it’s open by a blonde lady around her twenties, -like everybody who has stopped aging a long time ago- she cautiously looks around before looking at the brunette and blonde pair of boys, relaxing and opening the door completely. “Ah, it’s you two. Get in, Tubbo”

“Good morning to you too, ma’am” Dream says and smiles at the annoyed woman’s face as his brother makes his way in the apartment. “Good morning, Dream” greets back, and the other laughs. “Okay, our mother will surely come pick him up by noon. Tubbo, behave.” he points at the young man. 

“Will do, man! Goodbye, Dream”

“Goodbye, Tubs”

After that, he walks away and starts to run towards the fabric’s direction, he was going to get to work late and they would discount two hours of his payment and that was for sure bad for someone like him. On the way there, he saw his childhood friend Sapnap waiting impatiently for him by the entrance. He seemed already annoyed with the green-eyed man that was late like always and Dream smiles knowingly, the ravenette was so easily bothered by everything.

“Hey, Sap!” greets once he gets there, smiling widely while the shorter man crosses his arms over his chest and moves anxiously his feet. “Dude, I’ve been waitin’ for ya for like, fifteen minutes, what the hell were you doin’?”

“I was making sure Tubbo got safely to grandma’s, don’t be mad at me for being a good brother” Sapnap huffs, avoiding his gaze before letting the matter go as they start to enter the building’s entrance. 

As they walk, they avert their gaze as the figure of another body lays lifeless on the floor, it was something that happened a lot and they were already too used to it. And they started working without minding every person that would collapse once their timer reached zero, dead. 

They had to unpack and do the packing of things they didn’t care about, just stuffing random things into boxes and lifting them towards the trucks that would deliver all this stuff somewhere. By the time they were allowed to leave, four hours were added to their clock as the week’s payment, it was Friday today.

Dream cautiously rolls up his wristband to look at his timer, making sure there wasn’t anyone who could see it. 

00:00:00:10:12:30

He sighs, rolling it back down and turning to see how Sapnap walked towards him, the man passing a hand through his dark hair and smiling to his friend. “Wanna go have some drinks? I pay.” 

Dream smiles, but shakes his head. “Nah, I've got some errands to run, so I gotta go now. I’ll see you later, Sap”

The other raises an eyebrow in disbelief but only nods and doesn’t push the matter any further, saying goodbye to his friend before leaving.

Once alone and outside the building, Dream looks around and looks at the actual clock in his other wrist: 8 PM. He has to be somewhere in twenty minutes, so he runs like a maniac, and goes inside an empty alleyway and gets some stuff out of his backpack. 

Along the hoodie he gets out of it, a white porcelain mask comes, the smiley painted face greets him warmly like always, and he puts it on.

Yeah, he has some errands to run.

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Alleystone St. was as gloomy as always, perfect conditions for the only place that the government always leaves unsupervised, never minding enough to look under the old stone bridge that connects to a destroyed city no one lives in by now and to the abandoned route they don’t use anymore, and it’s the place where all of the lowlifes do their thing; Buys, sells informations or make illegal time transactions, normal things, daily things. By all the kind of dangerous people that walk around this part of the timezone, nobody would think they were here to play cards with their friends or something like that, this was serious business.

Or so he thought, anxiously looking around and looking at his pocket clock every two minutes, he has been waiting for the person he was supposed to meet for like an hour, and Skeppy swears that if it weren’t for this client being some big shot in all of this...work, he’d have already cancelled the fucking deal they supposedly had.

And his partner seems to be as impatient as him by now, drumming his foot on the ground rather nervously, the brunette was starting to be too angry and tired of waiting. No one really wants to see an angry BBH, so Skeppy slowly establishes some distance between the two of them, not wanting to be close by the time he combusts.

“Ugh, where in the world is this muffinhead?” groans, it was hard to annoy someone who has been in the business of being an informant for a decade . 

Skeppy was about to answer, before he felt a presence behind them that sent goosebumps down his back, he slowly turned around and almost had a heart-attack when he was met face to face with the creepy as hell smiley mask that a taller man wore. On the contrary, BBH turned and placed his hands on his waist in an annoyed posture, not being scared in the slightest by the other. “Finally, we’ve been waiting for you for an hour. Did you get the wrong date again , Mask?” to the question the other didn’t reply, briefly tilting his head and shrugging, which made the other sigh resignedly and let the matter go.

“I’ve the information you paid us for.” he gestures to Skeppy who hasn’t been able to stop looking at the other. In his defense, he was scary as hell, okay? “Skeppy, show them the files.” orders, and the younger does as he said, struggling to get the files out of his bag without breaking it. Beside him, BBH scoffs, “Don’t worry, he is still a newbie. He’ll learn” apparently their client was somehow annoyed by the shorter man’s slowness. 

He wasn’t a newbie. But okay, he’ll take it.

The masked man took the file with their gloved hands and read it through a little before closing it again and extending their free hand to BBH, who seemed to understand the gesture and shook the other’s hand in his, sealing the deal. “Glad you’re satisfied! We expect forty percent of your income in exchange for the trouble it caused to gather all that info, what do you think?”

Skeppy was surprised his friend could talk with this dangerous person like it was nothing, it must be something it came with the job, right? 

‘Mask’ was known among the outlaws for being one of the most annoying time thiefs in this timezone, the man would just go, steal everything from their target without no one noticing and then disappear again like it was nothing. For this, he is one of the Speedrunners.

Everytime their targets or the authorities thought they were going to trap them like a cat would do with a naive mouse, they’d pop some weird tricks out of their arses just to get away at the last minute, or to outsmart everyone with those tricks. They were both terrifying and frustrating. 

The ravenette looked how the one with the green hoodie lifted their hands and raised three fingers, was they saying they just deserved the 3%? Did this person have any idea of how hard it was to get this information?

However, BBH seemed to understand something else, his eyes widening in curiosity. “The thirty percent, you say? Uhm...Fine, we’ll take it. You’re so annoying, hope you have that in mind”

With a nod and a goodbye with a hand gesture, he disappeared in the shadows, going to god knows where. And just then Skeppy was able to breathe and relax.

How much he hated these things, he was a hacker, not an outlaw- Well, BBH was also a hacker so he doesn’t have a good excuse. Hope they can at least obtain a good amount with all the burden it caused all those servers, devices and computers they’d to get into through all of those stupid firewalls and antivirus and all that shit that only slowed their job and made it annoying as hell. 

There was something that bothered him, though.

“U-uhh, Bad? Who is Mask going to steal from?” they’ve started to walk while BBH just was humming some random song he didn’t bother to recognize. The brunette turned to see him and shrugged. “Uhm, some big family? I didn’t pay too much attention when I decodified the files you sent to me. I think it was SBI or something like that?”

And Skeppy choked in his own air, stopping on track to cough, “Th-the what? That’s the- the biggest mafia in all the timezones, what were you thinking? ” He was quite close to losing his mind , but his partner remained all chill and relaxed like they didn’t just help someone steal from the SBI family . 

“In making easy time?” BBH tilts his head and furrows his eyebrows, looking at Skeppy like he had his shoes on his head. “Don’t be a muffinhead, Skeppy. It’s not like Mask hasn’t robbed them some other time, this is their terrain, you know?”

“...I’m not going to accompany you to these meetings anymore. My heart can’t take it” Bad laughs at his reply and smiles.

“Too late, we’ve another one right now”

“Oh, fuck me” curses.

Why was their day to day like this?

Chapter Text

Wilbur was having a pleasant noon, drinking some warm tea back in his study, the soft sound of a symphony coming out from the old phonograph he is listening too. He lets go a satisfied sigh after drinking some of the tea.

His brother was attending the business while he was on his break, enjoying a warm and delicious drink and bathing in the delicate sounds the music created.

Until an alarm ran off, its noise echoing through all of the mansion, and it made the brunette sigh in annoyance, getting up and walking out of the room. 

"What's the matter?" He asks to one of the guards while a lot of them were running around towards the same direction, "Someone broke inside the inner vaults!"

Wilbur furrows his eyebrows, who had the nerve to dare to break in their home? "What did they take?"

The guard looks around uncomfortable, "W-well..."

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"The FUCK? They took EVERYTHING?!" 

Wilbur didn't expect to be welcomed by the sight of one of their vaults opened and completely empty, that couldn't be true! In all those years no one had been successful in stealing from them, and oh how much they sure have tried, and it was one person. "You can't be serious, a single person did all THIS?!"

His twin, the pinkette standing close to the vault while their people had an investigation in the go, one man taking pictures of the empty space of the vault, the other holding accountable the amount that had been stolen, and the last one searching for clues. Technoblade was holding in his hand a piece of paper, a low growl escaping from his throat, "The system didn't even notice and the cameras didn't catch anything. Like they were never here!" He throws away the paper which Wilbur crouches to grab.

He frowns and his hand trembles when he reads what it's wrote. 

"Should enforce your security. 

  - :)"

Wilbur groans and crumbles the paper in a mere ball and throws it aside, "They're testing us. This wasn't more than a experiment, I've the feeling that they'll strike again. How much we lost?"

Techno nods and gestures to the man that was writing down the exact amount and takes in the document, "Three centuries and a decade."

The brunette curses once again, "That son of a bitch" clicks his tongue. "I'll speak to Schlatt so he'll be alert of any suspicious time activity around. Any clue of who was it?"

"I already called him. And yes, it was one of the Speedrunners. I think they were called 'Mask' " says and adds, "He had stolen from us before, but just a few years, testing the waters like you said. I think he is going for the big deal now."

Wilbur crosses his arms and thinks, "He just did this to tell us 'hey, your security is trash and I can break through it easily'. We've to be smarter than him, dear brother. Or else he'll go for the big boy after." Affirms and his twin nods.

The brunette holds the tip of his finger between his teeth in frustration. They need to solve the flaw in the system before this thief decides to attack again, whenever that is going to be.

Before stepping out of the room, Technoblade turns to him and says, "Wilbur. Contact with one of the Hunters. I want to see who is the bastard that has the nerve to steal our time under our nose."

Wilbur smiles, "Of course, brother. I was thinking the same thing"

Oh, this was going to get interesting.

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Bad is not surprised when he feels a presence in the shadows of the alleyway he is walking in at the moment, and he is not surprised either when he turns around and sees Mask standing there, a black backpack open and showing casets of time compacted in each one, there were a lot. The brunette takes off the hood of his jacket and smiles, "Why, hello. Seems like you had a fun evening, right Mask?"

The other doesn't answer like always and extends the backpack to him. Bad takes it a little confused, "What about your part?" Mask gesture towards one of his arms, and he quickly understands, "Oh, you already took it. Mind if I know the whole amount, not that I don't trust you but-" 

The man with the white porcelain mask nods and takes a paper out of his pocket and gestures it to him. Bad takes in and reads it, "Three centuries and a decade?" A nod once again, so he focuses his sight in the backpack, "So here there is almost a century right? A century for me and, two hundred seventeen years for you" a nod again.

Bad sighs yet accepts the deal, "Well, it's more than I was expecting to be honest. However, I'd like to make the deal of the fifty-fifty of the income from your next...move. If that's okay with you, of course, I'd provide all the information I have because...I didn't give you everything we found, as I'm sure you noticed" silence meets him because the man just stood there, but the lack of response spoke volumes to him. "Don't look at me that way, this is how the business is run. Anyway, a pleasure to work with you and hope you've a pleasant night"

Mask seems to give up and nods again, before walking out of the alleyway, when Bad walked out himself, the other was nowhere to be seen. 

Bad can't help but admire how them were able to disappear out of nowhere and fade into the night quickly.

An interesting ability.

Sure chasing one down was incredibly challenging yet amazing. But he was sure the only thing they did was annoy everyone.

It was a battle of endurance and speed. And he wonders who would win in the end.

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The next day, a lot of people of a certain timezone woke up to find out there was a decade in each one of their arms out of the sudden. With a note on which just a smiley face was.

It was obvious to everyone from who it was.

When Dream wakes up, the next morning, his mother seems really excited, "Dream, duckling! You won't believe what happened yesterday night!" The white haired woman says, there was fresh and a little expensive food on the counter of the kitchen, Puffy's face seemed to glow in happiness. 

He plays dumb, and passes a hand through his hair, "Mhm? What...What happened?" 

Tubbo answered, helping the eldest of the three, "Yesterday one of the Speedrunners, Mask, appeared and gave each person a decade! Even mom has two now!"

Dream stands out surprised, excited, "No way! Really?! That's amazing!" He moves to hug his mom, and the other returns the gesture, holding her oldest son tightly. "I'm so happy for you, mom"

The woman caresses his hair softly, having to stretch a little to reach the taller, smiling softly and grabbing the other by the cheeks, "Us, baby. Us. This is for us, okay? I'll give you some years too, and you won't have to work that hard for a few hours a week."

Dream quickly shakes his head, and smiles as he grabs one of the hands that were on his face, holding it between his gently, "I don't need it, mom. I'm fine. Save it for you, for Tubs and for whatever we need." 

The other pouts sadly but lets him go, and Dream can't help but let a satisfied and relieved smile make it's way to his face at the sight of his family with smiles on their faces, full of light and happiness.

The tick of a clock fills his ears, he could feel it ticking along with the beats of his heart.

00:00:01:00:00:58

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00:00:00:24:01:05