Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy slowly blinked himself awake; his eyes quickly met those of a smile mask looking directly at him. “You okay kid?” Tommy glanced around the dark passageway wondering where he was. “Kid?” The voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Who are you? Where am I?” His voice shook slightly; he couldn't remember how he got here or who this was.

“I’m Dre-Smiley. What’s your name kiddo?” The nice man said calmly.

“Tommy,” He paused, “I think.”

Smiley slowly extended his hand.

That was the lone action that put everything in motion

<><><>

Dream was his savior; he found him that night and helped him recover until he understood how to do things on his own.

Tommy had wormed his way into his mentor’s heart slowly, but once he was in, Dream would kill for him. It had taken months before his mentor was convinced he could train to be a hero alongside him.

He found looking down at the world from his perch on the top of the Hero Tower made his skin crawl; for no reason he remembered. Tommy wasn’t even afraid of heights; in fact, he enjoyed them. He’d been on building's roofs that were higher than this one and he felt no fear then.

He knew Dream would come up soon and tell him to go to bed. Not like he would though, work sounded far more appealing than sleep. His insomnia discouraged any attempts of the nightly ritual. He’d found that working in the middle of the night was easier for him than during the day. He wasn’t even tired right now, the aching to get to fight someone other than Dream was too great.

Heavy footsteps alerted the arrival of his mentor. “Aether. It’s too late for this. Go to sleep,” Dream sounded exhausted, he knew his mentor hated getting up to stop his late-night escapades to look at the night sky. “If you're gonna be up this late, you’re going to pass out during patrol. I guess if you’re that desperate to wreck your sleep schedule, then you can turn these midnight ventures into patrols.” Tommy glanced up at him in shock. Dream usually shot down his ideas of solo-patrol missions before they could fully form.

“Do you mean it?” Dream nodded hesitantly as though already regretting his decision. “I'm assuming you want me to turn in for the night.” The vague sound of a sigh of relief echoed through the night. Tommy waved before heading towards the stairs to change back into his pajamas.

<><><>

The night was nice, it was refreshing to breathe fresh air on his lonesome. A faint breeze ghosted over him, shrouding the world in a kind of calm that was unobtainable in any other scenario. His head felt clear for the first time in years.

The sound of fast-paced steps instantly soured his mood. It was an obvious noise of someone being near, nothing out of the ordinary. Despite his internal debate on whether it was a good idea to chase someone on his first patrol, he still followed the noise.

The footsteps ended at the destruction that had come of the West End. Rubble lay everywhere, still untouched from what it had been the day it had gone up in flames. He could recall Dream whispering about an old, and long since disbanded crime group, destroyed a large chunk of the city. The look Dream had had while telling him still sent shivers down his spine.

The group had accepted a new member months prior who caused entropy to befall them. People theorized their new member was from the Syndicate, and craving freedoms he couldn’t have in their ranks. The main reason the theory was so popular was because of his name, which in the Syndicate and the smaller group, was Erebus. Erebus had been brutally injured that day and was probably dead. Dream had delivered the final blow against him, marking the end of the battle.

That day had marked the beginning of a new era of, well, chaos. The Syndicate had started to overtake some of the smaller groups, slowly building power as the pile of bodies grew. Heroes rarely had to fight anyone that wasn’t a syndicate member such as Zephyrus the leader of the syndicate. Ares was known for the real boar skull he wore over his face and his extreme blood lust. And more often than not, Orpheus, whose voice could get nearly anyone to do anything with honeyed words.

One look around the wasteland had him realizing why Dream looked so anxious while recalling the long-passed day. Nothing still stood, from apartments to workplaces, everything was flat. He felt queasy at the sight, remorse overtaking him. He couldn’t understand why he felt that way, he wasn’t even a hero at the time.

A child’s teddy laid discarded under rubble making his blood curdle, the question of how many children died to this madman popped into his head, starting the downward spiral. He felt so much guilt when thinking of the innocent civilians that lost their lives in the chaos, they had families, families that waited with bated breath for them to show up to dinner.

A soft glow freed him from that train of thought. It felt as though Tommy was a moth drawn to the light, in some ways quite literally. The faint glowing turned out to be moss attached to a mask that resembled a deer skull. Erebus’ mask was gorgeous, it fit right in amongst the syndicate’s many masks, actually it was quite similar to Ares’ mask. He placed his hand against the cold bone of Erebus’ mask, and before he knew it, he had placed it in his bag. As much as he tried, Tommy couldn’t will himself to let it go.

If Erebus’ mask was here, then it was likely the rest of his outfit was as well.

Tommy mentally prepared himself and started looking around. His eyes were drawn to a sparkle amongst the matte of the destruction. As he knelt down to check it out, he noticed the blood stain that appeared to have squirted from in between two large plates of rubble causing him to gag. The shiny object was a wedding ring, still in mint condition despite the weathering that should have happened. The band sat upon a hand with its skin rotting off, Tommy had never been more grateful for the extreme filters in his mask, or the stench of melting flesh would make his rolling nausea even worse. He mourned silently as he thought of a relationship ending with a splat, he wondered how broken their spouse was. If their spouse had even made it out.

Blood stains were coating the underside of some of the rubble; he’d heard the incident had happened midday, but he didn’t think so many people would have died. Tommy was sure the heroes fought as hard as they could, though this felt so preventable. He could almost feel blood coating his hands, it was as though he’d been here himself, as unlikely as that was.

After some wandering, he stumbled upon the soft silk-looking clothes that once belonged to Erebus. The fabric still had a soft shine despite the years of dirt built up on it. The black blended into the night as though it had never been there. Tommy grabbed the soft clothes before shoving them into his bag and fleeing the scene.

As he thought about it, he hadn’t ever actually seen the villain. As he attempted to remember where he knew the man from, even the outfit, his brain felt like it was going to explode.

<><><>

When he got home Dream was already asleep and not a problem hence, he couldn’t question how his patrol had gone. Tommy pulled the costume out of his bag before promptly shoving it in a box to forget about. It felt like he was stabbing Dream in the back by bringing a piece of Dream’s trauma into their apartment.

He rose from his knees and grabbed a towel to prepare to take a shower. He stepped into the steaming liquid with a sigh.

As he stepped out, he felt a lot lighter now that he wasn’t covered in dirt and grime. His eyes caught his reflection in the shower, his hair reached his mid back when wet now, and Tommy couldn’t help but think about how similar it was to Erebus’ hair.

The casual thought caused his blood to go cold. And suddenly-

Wilbur’s arm was thrown over his shoulders half-hazardly; he looked content to be hugging his younger brother even though he was attempting to get ready. “Wilbuuuur. Get off me, I need to pull my hair back.” Tommy was not whining; he was too big of a man to whine. Wilbur let out a heavy sigh before stealing the scrunchie and putting Tommy’s hair in a ponytail.

The smug look on Wilbur’s face made him scoff. “Isn’t that better Toms? Now we can cuddle until it’s time to go.” Wilbur purred much to Tommy’s distaste. Despite his frustrations he would do anything for his older brother’s happiness.

-it was over. He felt his knees give way as a sob racked its way out of throat. Tommy desperately craved that memory to have lasted, and he didn’t know why. A part of him craved to get to hug the older man.

He forced himself to stand up and get ready for bed. He quickly brushed and braided his hair before going to the closet to put on his pajamas. Tommy pulled down his covers and hopped into his bed. The idea of telling Dream about his memory crossed his mind but was quickly dismissed at the prospect of potentially getting kicked out.

He took a deep breath and allowed himself to pass out.

He dreamed of loving promises and soft guitar serenades.

Chapter Text

It had been three months since that night. He still hadn’t gotten the guts to tell Dream about his memory. Instead, he was putting on a suit and preparing to go to an event where mayor Schlatt would announce some new plans for the city. He really didn’t wanna go, but Schlatt was obsessed with appearances there was a reason Tommy was forced to always be within ten feet of the man.

“You ready Tommy?” Dream's voice pulled him out of the thoughts of how much he despises being around Schlatt. He nodded absentmindedly. “Grab your throwing knives. Just in case.” He spared Dream a bewildered glance; he’d gone to these events before and Dream usually instructed him to leave any weapons behind. He shoved in his internal suit pockets.

The limo was waiting when they walked outside. “Took you two long enough.” Hephaestus muttered in mock annoyance.

Tommy’s eyes glanced around the car, caught off guard by the people sharing the car with him: Gelos, Hephaestus, and Hypnos. He also noticed Hephaestus elbow Gelos in the ribs smugly. If looks could kill, Hephaestus would be six feet under from the cold glare being sent from Gelos.

Gelos’ luck powers usually made bets to be in his favor, but Tommy could tell he’d lost and probably to Hephaestus. Hypnos per usual appeared to be sleeping, though his eyes still flickered to them when they climbed in.

“Hello to you too,” Replied Dream with laughter in his voice, “Did you remember your weapons?” They all nodded. “Good. I know some of you forget more than just your anniversary.” Dream wheezed out.

“You bastard! That was once!” Gelos was throwing Hephaestus a pointed look while holding up three of his fingers, “Anyway are we going to be the only ones with weapons or is your six-year-old also prepared?” Hephaestus motioned at Tommy, and the ‘six-year-old’ responded by throwing one of his knives at Hephaestus, purposely missed by about an inch, making the man quite literally jump. “Damn. You didn’t have to throw one at me!” Hephaestus glanced at the seat before attempting to pry the knife out.

Before long everyone started to remove their masks including Dream. “You’re not gonna let us see your face, Aether?”

“I would rather die.” He noticed the Quackity’s eyes flicker to Dream before settling on his mask.

“Why? We wanna know who’s the man behind the mask!” Quackity frustration leaked into his voice. “I mean we trusted you to see our faces! Why can’t we see yours?” Without the voice modulator the man’s voice was high pitched and whiny, the childish sound making him both sound and look like a child begging for dessert before dinner.

“I don’t feel like it, shortie,” He snapped back. Tommy hadn’t felt like himself since the first night of patrolling on his own; he’d overall been in a much crabbier mood since. Before he would’ve willingly pulled it off and made a joke about how hot he was, but he didn’t feel like it.

Dream glanced at him, clearly surprised that he’d snapped at Gelos, before his eyes softened, “You okay Aether?”

“I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

“You sure?”

“Yes!” Tommy just felt so frustrated; frustrated with Dream, Hephaestus, Gelos, and Hypnos. Aether just felt so confused; he’d never gotten mad at his mentor nor anyone else that he could remember.

“Jesus kid, did you wake up on the wrong side of bed or something?” Gelos looked confused and appeared to be attempting to laugh it off.

“I’m fine Big Q.” Tommy whispered as four heads turned to look at him, none of them sure how he knew that nickname.

“How do you know that nickname?” Quackity sounded distressed, “Hell, how do you know my name?” The man looked like he was five seconds away from having a panic attack.

“I don’t fucking know.” They all looked even more confused at his response. He realized what was off after a moment. He never swore and often corrected people for swearing.

Distantly he realized he was hyperventilating. “Are you sure you’re okay Aether?” Dream’s voice sounded far away despite their proximity. “Aether!” He could hear the underlying panic in Dream’s tone.

As his breaths grew faster Tommy felt more and more light-headed before he was falling back.

The last thought that crossed Tommy’s mind was how he longed to be embraced by a shorter blonde man with a kind smile.

<><><>

He blinked awake with pain flaring in his neck. The thought of lifting his head from the shoulder it was on sounded far too difficult. The vague thought that maybe he’d passed out on one of his older brothers, or his father if luck was in his favor. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were in a car, everything had the mild vibration that came from being in a said vehicle.

Then, far too quickly in his humble opinion, he realized he had been stuck in a car with Dream, Quackity, Hephaestus, and Hypnos. From that information he could tell he was lying on Dream; he wasn’t familiar enough with the rest of them for them to allow that. “Do you think Aether’s going to wake up soon? Sure, you said he’d be fine, but he’s always gotten frustrated with people who swear, so I don’t think that’s normal,” The voice, probably Gelos, sounded extremely guilty.

“He just woke up.” Hypnos smugly announced. No matter how often it happened Tommy always forgot how quickly Hypnos sensed when someone woke up. He could feel the eyes on him, he had the urge to murder all of them while their guards were down out of embarrassment. He opened his eyes and sat up ignoring the mutters of how the fuck did you know that?

“You okay there Aether?” Dream was concerned for a good reason; for once.

“Not really if I’m being honest.”

“I guess I should have expected that. I mean after your panic attack you literally passed out. You wanna tell us about what happened.” Quackity spoke softly instead of Dream causing Tommy to shake his head while trying to ignore the pounding in his head. “You sure kid?” Now that he thought of it, Quackity had probably been chewed out about pushing buttons (again) Dream was probably being an ass about it.

“Yes, I’m sure,” The limousine came to a halt. “How long was I passed out?”

“About half an hour” Hephaestus had already started to put back on his mask, and his voice sounded like it usually did during their interactions. That fact didn’t really bother him. His nap was nothing compared to the time he slept for forty-eight hours after his sixteenth birthday. His sixteenth birthday that he barely remembered, except hanging out with people and laughing hard enough that he couldn’t breathe then crying from how hard he’d laughed.

“We should probably start going now; Schlatt will kill us if we’re late.” The walk to the doors wasn’t difficult per se, just frustrating since there were over a hundred damn stairs. Tommy recalled the memory, the happiness he felt just thinking about it was so much despite not really being able to remember what happened that day.

The almost mansion-like building stood too damn tall. It was about a third of the height of the Hero Tower, though it still towered over the surrounding buildings that made up the South End. He couldn’t fathom why anyone would willingly fund the City Hall to look like this. It looked disgustingly similar to a Grecian temple in all the worst ways. This structure must have cost millions of taxpayers’ money, which did not help his perception of Mayor Schlatt.

The man was a bastard that took pride in spending too much money on L’Manburg buildings to flaunt his power. Tommy had no idea why people kept electing the man. Probably bribes, but still, he had quite literally never spent money properly. It was what led to the division of the city, North End being the poorest, West End and East End used to be equal in value, and South End the rich assholes summoning ground.

As they came to the top of the stairs, he could see the statues everywhere of random mayors that were covered in fucking gold leaf. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to hate this building, it was surrounded by perfectly kept gardens… that weren't open to the public! It was such bullshit that he would willingly spend money on such pointless things. Tommy watched the other heroes stop before the doors and joined them.

The doors opened before they could touch the obnoxious golden handles with intricate carvings coating them. He couldn’t help but frown at how much money was wasted on this building alone.

Just as Tommy thought the building couldn’t get even gaudier, he saw a crystal chandelier hanging down from the ceiling reflecting hundreds of light patches everywhere. The rich of the city were scattered about mingling and chatting with one another. Arches with windows lined the walls making the already quite open space feel even larger, the nooks and crannies already making him nervous. His eyes were quickly drawn to the stage in the front of the room where Dream was dragging him.

As they climbed onto the stage itself, Tommy noted the orchestra pit that was on full display. It was lovely with red velvet carpets with complex designs shimmering in the light. They quickly approached the curtain that separated the backstage from the audience. Gelos dramatically threw open the curtains aside to walk in, causing them to hit Hephaestus square in the face, said man only scoffing and walking in quickly followed by Hypnos and Dream.

As they reached the opening Tommy felt himself pause. Dream glanced back when he noticed nobody was following him, “You okay there Aether?” At his name being called Tommy snapped back to reality and continued the march.

He felt himself cringe at the expensive supplies thrown around haphazardly

“The main attraction finally arrived!” Schlatt’s grating voice made Tommy feel like someone was running their nails down a chalkboard. As annoying as Schlatt’s voice was, it was odd for him to have a reaction like that, though he was starting to think he should just ignore the oddities occurring. Schlatt quickly drew the attention back to him, “Good thing too! Since it’s time to make our little announcement!”

Schlatt straightened his tie before waving his hand to signal the time. The curtains drew back, and Tommy finally glanced around and acknowledged the other heroes in their line. As the lights dimmed, Tommy felt eyes bore into him, dissecting him, pulling him apart glance by glance.

Schlatt’s chest rose before he merrily announced, “Good citizens of L’Manburg! Tonight, as you all know, I will announce the city’s next big plan. And that is a ne-” Schlatt was cut off with an explosion as three villains invaded the building.

“Heroes! You finally started! I was getting tired of watching your precious mayor get pampered like the little doll he is! I mean I was pretty sure he’d start soon since he was already running an hour late, gotta keep up those appearances, right?” Orpheus’ honeyed voice filled the space and, well, it felt oddly inviting. He looked smug as he attempted to get Schlatt to agree until Ares gave Siren a look, “Anyways, enough of my complaining about ‘insignificant’ problems. I have an offer to you heroes; if you give us power suppressors then we won’t cause another accident like the Erebus accident. If you were wondering, no, you don’t get to know which one of us has the detonator.” Orpheus raised his hands invitingly. “So, what will it be?”

“Which one?” Schlatt inquired.

“I believe one of you should know; right Zephyrus?” Orpheus glanced at Zephyrus with smug practically radiating from the man.

“Probably, but you need to remember these people aren’t the brightest. The disks; as some of you may know, they belonged to one of our old members, and we want them back,” Zephyrus’ voice was calm, and smooth despite the chaos surrounding him.

The moment the counting started everyone froze, “Ten seconds,” The only sound was heavy breathing, “Nine seconds, ” There was no way time was normal, “Eight seconds,” Something about them was so scarily welcoming that his heart started beating out of order, “Seven seconds,” Dream made a motion for him to follow, “Six seconds,” When Dream started climbing the intricate detailing Tommy internally sighed, “Five seconds,” They stopped in a window arch and turned toward the stage, “Four seconds,” Time felt like it had slowed down and the thought crossed his mind that the vigilante Kronos was hiding amongst the crowd, “Three seconds,” Dream motioned at the trio while mouthing ‘Trust your gut’, “Two seconds! You're cutting it close, heroes!” Orpheus sing-songed. Tommy threw one of his knives at Ares, directly skewering his hand and the detonator simultaneously. “Who the actual fuck threw that?”

Immediately chaos erupted.

Zephyrus attempted to fly toward him, causing Hephaestus to tackle the man before trying to set the avian on fire, always narrowly missing. Gelos quickly took to going head-to-head with Orpheus, his good luck protecting him from Orpheus’ voice keeping them in a near infinite loop. Dream and Hypnos were attempting to stop Ares from stabbing anybody with the exception of themselves. Because of where he was, Aether had nothing to do except keep the high ground and throw knives at villains at any chance he got, usually only distracting them by trying to get him down. The police rushed in soon after the fight began and started evacuating citizens while leaving the fighting to heroes.

Everyone’s reflexes were slowing as they attempted to keep the other side at bay. He whimpered when Dream was thrown harshly against Hypnos knocking them both down, and probably concussing Hypnos, allowing Ares to aid his colleagues. Ares made the split-second decision to stab Hephaestus causing them to engage in a fight. With the temporary distraction, Zephyrus was able to take off and head straight for him. Despite this being an absolutely terrifying moment, he felt relaxed as though this absolute menace wasn’t going to harm him. As Zephyrus grew closer, Aether pulled out a dagger and stabbed the man in his abdomen. Zephyrus, who was clearly frustrated with the unfurling situation, grabbed Tommy as the elder started to fall.

The room was nearly empty with only heroes and villains left due to police evacuations, because of how Zephyrus had started falling, Tommy was pulled against his chest resembling a child curled up against their father. And, well, if Tommy had noticed Zephyrus cradling him a little too gently, he didn’t comment on it. As terrifying as this situation should be, he was fully relaxed in the villain’s arms. The man had adjusted his grip on the hero, allowing himself to run his claws through his hair, thoroughly confusing the hero.

It was clear that the other heroes were panicking at the sight of Aether plummeting while being restrained by Zephyrus. All of them were attempting to try to separate the pair, but the villains were doing a great job at preventing any help from reaching him. They were seconds away from hitting the floor before Tommy got yanked out of the older man’s arms against another chest.

“You’re okay kiddo,” Captain reassured softly, “Retreat now. This fight is no longer in your favor, and you should probably leave now; unless you want to be caught.” Captain’s firm voice made Tommy automatically relax a little.

The villains looked as though they were calculating the chances of escape versus battle victory. “You have a week to give us what we want or there will be hell to pay.” Orpheus declared as the syndicate members disappeared in a flurry of purple particles.

Immediately the healer, Asclepius, started barking orders to get any and every hero healed efficiently.

Captain had effectively picked him up bridal style before setting him against a wall gently. “Are you injured anywhere?” Tommy shook his head silently, “Good. Do you need anything?”

“Probably sleep, but I’ll survive,”

“You can rest now, Dream will make sure you get back home safe and sound,” Captain startled a little when her name was called before letting out a sigh, “Sorry Duckling, I’ve got to go help over there. Sleep well,” Captain enveloped him in a hug before running toward where her name was called.

With nothing to keep him awake Tommy found himself drifting off.

<><><>

“Fledgling, you need to sleep more,” Tommy blinked sluggishly with his head on the arm of the couch, “if you keep doing this, I’m gonna have to force you to. Again,” Frustration leaked into his father’s angelic voice. His father stood up, taking to kneeling next to him before placing a hand on his youngest’s sandy blonde curls with a sigh, “Fledgling you can barely even stay awake right now. Just go to sleep darling, I’ll still be here when you wake up,” Tommy stubbornly attempted to keep his eyes open, despite playing a losing game.

After a few minutes of tense silence he gave into sleep, blissfully unaware of his father’s concerns.

***

To say Phil was stressed was an understatement. His youngest kept on pulling all nighters to get more work done. Everyone else’s workloads had indeed become reasonably lighter since Tommy started working overtime. He knew his youngest was doing this out of love, but it was killing him.

Phil knew why he did this; he knew so well it hurt. Tommy had never manifested a power, which in itself was quite rare but amongst a family of powerful people it was difficult to maintain.

The twins always worked so hard to keep their baby brother safe and content, not that that ever made the kid happy. Hell, even Sam helped Tommy know they accepted him no matter what, yet it was never enough. Tubbo and Ranboo had been attempting to keep the youngest in their friend group entertained without the kid doing any work. Tubbo’s gadgets always kept Tommy entertained for hours on end and Ranboo kept on picking up stray kittens that captivated his attention for days. Of course, despite everything being done, Tommy was still worried about not doing or being enough.

If Phil was being honest, all he needed and wanted Tommy to do was to be healthy and happy.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and scooped up his kid.

<><><>

Tommy woke up to being placed on a bed. Everything felt heavy, and the thought of even trying to get up sounded extremely hard. “Kid? Are you with us?” He didn’t have enough energy to respond. Someone put their hand on his forehead, “He has a fever, I thought you said he didn’t have any injuries.”

“He said he didn’t have any injuries.” A second voice stated

“Odd, he doesn’t really lie about such serious things. Asclepius? Can you check Aether for injuries?” The first voice inquired.

“Of course. I want to make sure Aether is comfortable, so you should both probably leave the room while I conduct the examination,” A third voice explained. He vaguely registered the sound of a door shutting, “Okay kiddo, I’m gonna remove your mask now, okay?” A gentle hand pulled off his mask, much to his displeasure. He wanted to fight, but his body wouldn't move.

A gentle hand softly stroked the side of his face.

Before he knew it, Tommy succumbed to sleep.

Chapter Text

Tommy would admit that he couldn’t ever recall being this sick. After a couple days of not getting better he had to be transferred to the hospital wing. He wasn’t allowed to get up and look around since he was on bed rest. From what he’d been told, Dream visited a lot, Tommy just wasn’t aware and/or awake.

To be fair, Tommy was sleeping more than half the day. Asclepius checked on him at least twice a day (he was probably checked on more, but he was constantly drifting in and out of awareness), and other heroes were dropping off small trinkets and gifts telling him to get well soon. Which, in all honesty, felt mildly threatening; like they were repeatedly threatening him to get better. Creepy.

He had been told his mystery illness was probably contagious, making Tommy glad about his lack of visitors. This sickness was absolutely kicking his ass, and he wouldn’t wish this on anybody, not even his worst enemy.

Ascelpius had come into the room for one of his daily checkups, and Tommy noticed the man yawning every so often, “‘M sorry I’m so much work.” Tommy slurred.

Asclepius’ eyes softened and the man gently placed a hand on the young hero’s curls, “It’s fine, my sleep schedule isn’t your fault hon,” Ascelpius sighed softly, “You just focus on getting better. Your family is worried about you.” Tommy let a confused sound slip from his mouth, “Just go to sleep, Theseus. Resting is the number one thing you need to do right now.”

Tommy couldn’t help but agree with the doctor and he let his eyes slip shut.

<><><>

Reawakening was not an easy feat. There was a pounding in his head that made him want to go back to sleep to avoid the struggle. When he heard the click of the door opening, his eyes flew open. Ascelpius hadn’t put back on his mask earlier, and nobody was allowed to see his face. His eyes met the black beady circles that made up Dream’s mask. Dream who was just standing awkwardly in the doorway, “Sorry, did I wake you?” The guilt was evident in the way his shoulders curled inward and he shuffled awkwardly.

“No, couldn’t sleep. My head hurts,” he whined as Dream approached.

The older hero’s hands carefully removed his mask as he sat down, “I’m sorry. Ponk warned me not to give you any more pain meds. Which is absolute bullshit in my opinion.”

“Language.” Dream snorted.

“I should be the one correcting you,” Dream chuckled bitterly, “I’m sorry for not being a better brother. I feel like you shouldn’t have had to mature this early. If you want to quit being a hero, I won’t stop you. Hell, I’ll encourage you. Please pick something else. This isn’t healthy for you!” Dream’s voice was thick with tears, “Please consider at the very least taking a break. This is killing you and I can’t let it go on any longer!”

Tommy stared at Dream silently, “I’ll take a break.” Dream relaxed before heading toward the door.

“And Tommy, do what you want to do. Get out of the hero tower for a change… Once you’re better.” Dream amended. “Bye Tommy.”

Tommy felt tears silently slip down his face, before he knew it, he was out like a light.

He had nightmares of Dream leaving that night.

<>

<>

It had been only a week since he had fully recovered, and with his newfound awareness had come the questioning of why Zephyrus’ arms felt so safe. A part of him ached to curl up in the familiar arms once more and forget about reality. However, the logical part of him told him to forget about it and grow up. It had to have been imagined, there was no way a serial murderer and terrorist could be capable of such gentleness.

Chapter Text

Heroes:
Dream - Smiley
Sapnap - Hephaestus
George - Hypnos
Tommy - Aether
Quackity - Gelos
Ant - Felis
Callahan - Caribou
Hannah - Gaia
Bbh - Hades
Skeppy - Pluto
Puffy - Captain
Ponk - Asclepius
Villains:
Wilbur - Orpheus
Phil - Zephyrus
Techno - Ares
Niki - Nemesis
Jack - Thanatos
Sam - Daedalus
Foolish - Midas
Tubbo - Nuke
Ranboo - Ender
Tommy - Erebus
Quackity - Gamble
Vigilantes:
Tina - Kitten
Charlie - Slimecicle
Karl - Kronos
Eret - Monarch
Gods:
Mumza - Achlys
XD - XD
Drista - Drista
Tartarus - Tartarus
Mayor:
Schlatt

Chapter 1:
Tommy wakes up in a dark alley and meets Dream.
He remembers only his age, name, and the fact he is powerless.
Dream is a hero and gets Tommy to be his sidekick.
Chapter 2:
Tommy fights the syndicate leaders cause they tried to blow shit up for something stolen from them.
Nothing too bad happens other than Tommy vaguely remembering his family.
Chapter 3:
Dream is a chronic worrier and upsets Tommy.
Tommy chills at Q’s apartment with his mask on.
Tommy meets Sapnap and Karl.
Tommy has a flashback of sitting in Q’s living room.
Chapter 4:
Tommy goes back to Dreams apartment they make up.
The syndicate fights Tommy, Dream, Sapnap, and Karl.
Tommy gets knocked out from a head injury from Ares.
Chapter 5:
Tommy has memories of laughter in surroundings he doesn’t recognize.
When Tommy wakes up he overhears Dream and Sapnap talking about him.
Chapter 6:
Tommy visits Las Nevadas with Dream Sapnap and George.
He meets Q as villain.
He feels like the statue called ‘Midas’ should be moving and he doesn’t know why.
Drinks alcohol illegally for his age.
Chapter 7:
Because they’re out of commission Tommy goes to a cafe called ‘Arctic Avians’.
Tommy encounters Wilbur working there.
Wilbur asks if it’s really him and Tommy is just awkward and pretends not to know him.
Chapter 8:
Tommy drinks his coffee
Tommy also questions if this situation could be due to his memory loss
Tommy (irrationally) decided to attempt to befriend Wilbur
Chapter 9:
Wilbur seems very kind and always helps Tommy
Tommy admits he has memories of Wilbur that shouldn’t be possible
Wilbur comforts Tommy and tells him everything will be okay
Chapter 10:
Wilbur and Tommy bonding <3
Tommy fighty fights Niki and Jack
Trauma goes brrt
Chapter 11:
Tommy gets closer to Wilbur and starts relaxing
Tommy feels scrambled and has a panic attack
Tommy faints
Chapter 12:
Tommy manifests the power of feeling and manipulating emotions
Super fucking stronk
Tommy meets with Wilbur and he invites Tommy to meet his family
Chapter 13:
Tommy meets the sbi and there is a confrontation
Tommy feels attacked and runs