Chapter Text
The silence in the warehouse was thick, the kind that pressed down on your chest and made breathing harder. The Dream Team whispered about with fear and awe, just stood there, unmoving. Blaze’s expression was unreadable, Shroom looked like he’d seen a ghost, and Skeppy muttered something under his breath that no one caught. BadBoyHalo, ever the calm one, stepped forward slightly, gaze fixed on Tommy.
Tommy didn’t flinch under their stares. He didn’t back down. His blonde hair hung in his face, caked with dirt and blood from the battle. His shoulders ached, his wrists throbbed, and his mind buzzed with adrenaline—but he stayed still, chin up, heart pounding.
Dream broke the silence. “He saved me. Took down Nihachu and helped me get out before Fundy could finish me off. He’s one of us.”
Shroom scoffed. “He was a hostage.”
“Not anymore,” Dream said coolly, glancing at Tommy with something close to pride.
The others murmured amongst themselves, but Dream didn’t seem to care. He stepped closer to Tommy. “You’ve got skill, a Dark Fire. You’re not afraid to fight for what you believe in—even if it’s messy. We could use someone like you.”
Tommy blinked, his mind spinning. Part of him wanted to say yes right away. The other part—the one that still remembered Tubbo’s laughter, Ranboo’s worried texts, and the feeling of grass under his feet—hesitated.
“I’ll think about it,” Tommy said finally, voice quiet but sure.
Dream nodded, something unreadable flickering behind his mask. “Fair enough. You know where to find us.”
⸻
Later that night, Tommy sat slouched at his desk, a pencil loosely gripped in his hand. His math homework was a mess of half-solved equations and doodles in the margins, the numbers swimming on the page. The battle still echoed in his mind—Nihachu’s glowing hands, the crack of Fundy’s fist, the look Dream gave him.
His phone buzzed, jolting him out of the haze.
Incoming Call: Tubbo.
Tommy stared at the screen, guilt twisting in his chest. He’d ignored their messages all day. He let it ring once… twice… and then he picked up.
“Tommy?” Tubbo’s voice came through, thick with worry. “You okay? You didn’t answer any of our texts. We’ve been freaking out.”
“I’m fine,” Tommy said quickly, too quickly. “Just tired.”
Ranboo’s voice joined in, muffled slightly but unmistakable. “Did you see what happened downtown? The livestream? That villain—Phoenix—he helped Dream escape.”
Tommy tensed. His pencil snapped in half in his grip.
“Yeah,” he said, carefully. “I saw.”
“It was insane,” Tubbo said. “I mean, who even is that guy? He just dropped out of the sky and took out Nihachu like it was nothing.”
“Kind of badass, honestly,” Ranboo added. “But also kind of terrifying.”
Tommy let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah. Crazy.”
There was a pause on the line.
“We were worried about you,” Tubbo said finally, voice quieter now. “With all the fighting near the north end… we thought maybe you got caught in it.”
Tommy glanced at the bruise blooming along his arm, the ripped fabric of the hoodie he’d worn under his suit. “I’m okay,” he said again, softer. “Promise.”
They talked a little longer—about the fight, about school, about nothing and everything—but the whole time, Tommy felt like he was standing on the edge of a knife. He wasn’t lying to them… not exactly. Just not telling them the truth.
When the call ended, Tommy sat back and stared at the ceiling. Phoenix had saved Dream. Phoenix had stood in a warehouse full of villains and been offered a place among them.
But Phoenix was just a name, a mask.
Tommy clenched his fists, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep them separate.