Chapter Text
Sunlight streamed through the trees and caressed his face as light laughter could be heard from next to him, making the blonde-haired teen open his eyes as he snapped out of his stupor. He blinked and squinted as he blearily looked up at where the sound was coming from.
Tommy recoiled when he saw the face of Ghostby leaning over him, making him groan when he hit his head against the knee of who he was laying on, scowling when he heard the barely muffled laughter from Dream behind him.
"What's with that face, mijo?" teased Quackity, who was leaning against both Sapnap and Karl, who seemed almost ridiculously comfortable if it wasn't for them holding onto the tall blaze hybrid just a bit too tightly. But no one could blame them after what had happened. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
In the past, Tommy might've raised his metaphorical hackles and been offended on Ghostby's behalf, but seeing the pout his brother put on that was so obviously fake (obviously by the twitching corners of the brunette's mouth) just made him let out a small wheeze. "You could say that, big Q."
Ignoring the whine of 'Hey!' from Ghostby, Tommy sat up and looked around at the small group of people that sat on the large blanket, mind still fuzzy from the nap he just took.
The group made him feel… safe, as weird as it was to say that. Especially considering half the people here are the reason he has trust issues in the place where he originally came from.
The fiances, Dream, Technoblade, Ranboo, Michael, and …
Tubbo.
So far, Tommy has managed to stubbornly avoid most contact with this universe's Tubbo, simply because he would feel too damn guilty about talking to him since really, the only people he actually misses are him and Ranboo.
He doesn't know if he misses Wilbur anymore, and he hates himself for it.
Honestly, the first time he saw him, the blonde thought he was hallucinating his Tubbo, but…his Tubbo doesn't need to use a wheelchair, and his Tubbo can still see, after all.
Tommy pursed his lips, healed scars pulling uncomfortably (and isn't that weird, that the scars are just uncomfortable and stiff and not painful anymore?) on his face as he turned away from the scene of the small family talking happily and looking towards his own.
Daydream sits behind him, mask off in a somewhat shocking display of trust in the group around him, even so, the mask is angled in a way that it hides most of his features from everyone who's not directly looking at him, and with a content smile on his face, looking like a satisfied cat who just got a can of tuna after getting scratched on the head. Wilby sat next to him, not leaning on him but still sitting close enough so that people would still think they're comfortable around each other (and they are, no matter how much his… brother denies it), and…
Technoblade.
The first thing Tommy insisted on was to get Technoblade outside, and despite the twist of pain on Philza's face, the winged man agreed after one look at Tommy's face.
When they did come for him, well…
There was a knock on the window, making the pink-haired man shift around and look up from his desk.
"... I'm hearing things again..." He muttered, eyes squeezing shut as the murmur of voices in his head rose up in volume.
You're not.
Look outside.
Window window window
E
He's here!
E
E
Not the time to E
Techno shook his head, "Is Phil back? It's been two weeks, so he might as well finally…" He mumbled, sitting up and closing the journal he was scribbling into a while ago. "Don't know why you're telling me chat, I thought you all agreed you won't announce his presence anymore."
Ew not Phil
Killza is not Dadza
It's gold
Gold gold gold
He's here for you
The pink-haired man narrowed his eyebrows, long ears flicking as he looked towards the window. "...Gold? Wait, you don't mean—"
WHOA
HOLY CRAP
DUCK
DUCK!
The red-eyed man didn't hesitate, he fell to the ground just as a rock flew through the window and shattered it.
"What the fuck man?! You didn't have to throw a rock THAT big!"
"He obviously couldn't hear us! He didn't react to the 4 small rocks!"
"Of course he could hear us, he's a piglin hybrid!"
"Well, then explain—"
He stared wide-eyed as a familiar voice could be heard from outside, before scrambling up, hurrying towards the broken window and not even caring as his hands got cut up on the scattered glass shards on the hardwood floor.
He threw open the broken window, and his jaw dropped when he saw a group of people under his window, but mostly…
"Helios?!" He choked out, eyes wide as he stared at the arguing figures of his brother and Tommy, who whipped around as soon as they heard him.
The duo stared at him like an Enderman you caught off guard during the rain under a tree, before they both grinned in perfect sync.
"Hey Techno! We came to rescue you!" Wilbur shouted, looking awfully happy for someone who's well, dead, and Tommy only nodded enthusiastically as if they hadn't just broken a very powerful enchanted obsidian barrier just to come rescue him.
He couldn't help the relieved laugh that escaped his throat.
It didn't take long to get Techno out, especially since there was no resistance this time aside from the near-hysterical state of laughter the pinkette was in. Possibly because he was under the assumption the duo had just abandoned him.
Right now, said piglin hybrid was happily reading a book while leaning against the big oak tree the group's chilling under, and so Tommy chooses to leave him alone for now. Especially when he feels a familiar hand run through his hair and the cold presence of another body suddenly slide into his lap.
"You alright, sunspot?" Daydream says as he smiles down at him and Ghostby, who is cuddling into his torso like a goddamn cat. "You seem deep in thought, don't overdo it on the thinking."
Tommy's mouth dropped at the blatant teasing, "DD, you bastard! You know my brain is 100% the size of a normal person's!" He pouted as he felt the hand slide from his hair as the tan man wheezed, only to stiffen a bit as said hand drifted down towards his neck, where his life count is hidden under his hair.
"Dad, I'm okay." He said, one hand coming up to grip the older man's arm as he could see a small frown rising to the freckled man's features. "I told you it doesn't hurt anymore."
"I know, but…" Daydream took a long, shuddering breath "I can't help but feel… guilty and worried—"
Tommy scoffed, shoving the man in front of him lightly "It wasn't you, dickhead, and you know that."
It wasn't that long ago when Daydream remembered the fact that all of Tommy's lives are broken, the heart tattoos representing how many a person has left are all blacked out as if someone took a piece of coal and tried to scribble the little hearts out.
It didn't take long for the dirty blonde-haired man to figure everything out when he saw Sapnap's white streak of hair get bigger after he got revived, putting one and two together wasn't that difficult when Tommy has one that was identical.
"Tommy" The blonde startled, looking up from his slice of pumpkin pie as he looked up at his father figure. They had just recently made it back into their underground base and were eating after the long, exhausting day. Especially since it took a while to build a temporary room for Techno and George to stay in with no planning ahead of time. "Can we talk?"
The teen gulped internally, quickly reassuring himself that it probably wasn't anything bad. "Sure big man, what's up?"
Daydream stared at him with his mask still on, before sighing and plopping down on the couch next to him, taking the mask off, something that still startles Tommy despite the fact that DD now seems extremely comfortable around him.
"I—" The older man started, clearing his throat, before looking him in the eyes, as if searching for something. "Tommy, have you been revived before?"
The teen froze, dropping his spoon as he paled.
He completely forgot Daydream saw his life count.
"What are you talking about, big man? God couldn't kill me if he tried!" Tommy said forcefully, looking pointedly at the living room entrance, hoping that it was enough of an indicator for DD to see he doesn't want to talk about it.
He saw Daydream frown out of the corner of his eye and had to bite back a snort at the semi-frustrated expression.
"Tommy…" The older man continued, voice firm but also gentle, so very unlike the man from his universe, and well, seeing that gentle look aimed at him broke him as soon as he turned his head to face DD.
"... DD." Tommy started, voice trembling, hands shaking at his sides. "I need to tell you where I'm from, promise you won't… freak out on me or someshit, okay?"
The brunett gave him a mildly concerned look, but pursed his lip and nodded despite the concern swimming in his green eyes.
"I'm uh… " Tommy gulped, hands tightening into firsts as he pushed away the plate with pie he almost forgot he served himself. "A few hours ago, I don't know if you heard Phil mention it but… I'm from another reality. As in, not from this universe, at all, out of this orbit entirely."
He could see Daydream inhale deeply out of the corner of his eye, but before he could be cut off he hurriedly continued.
"Everyone from here exists there too, except for me apparently…" Tommy paused, but took a deep breath and braced himself. "There's no black death, but… my universe is a mess. There's… Been a lot of war and conflict, death…"
" ...War." Daydream said slowly, a horrified tone noticeable in his tone. "You– Is that how you?—"
"Yeah, partially." The teen said tensely, pointedly looking away. "The country I was a part of went to war with… Well, the main SMP, I lost two lives… I was a child Soldier."
Tommy was sure he just gave his father figure an aneurysm.
" …Who."
If the teen was being honest, the tone of voice Daydream used kind of reminded him of both Dream and Wilbur when they were about to fly into a rage, which almost scared him enough to not talk again.
"You won't like who it is, big ma–"
"Tommy, please." The tanned man said desperately, eyes wide and pleading as he reached out and gently grabbed Tommy's hand.
Tommy hesitated, but looked down and opened his mouth again.
"... Where I'm from, I got exiled, not once, but twice. Fucking crazy right? It was… not very good, to be honest, the first time it happened my… brother, the other Will… he went insane, he'd stay up at night pacing that goddamned ravine and raving about "His L'manburg", he'd send me off to do work for hours and hit me when I didn't bring back enough loot, he'd lock me in the closet as punishment, knowing I was claustrophobic… " Tommy sighed, trying to ignore the way DD's hand squeezed his tighter. "It was shit, and then he went ahead and killed himself, leaving me behind."
"The second one… god that was worse, my best friend, that world's Tubbo… exiled me this time, my other half, I've been alone for months, I wasn't allowed to leave those goddamn plains because he wouldn't let me. He'd blow up my things, hit me with his axe, he taught me..."manners", made me suicidal… I think I went insane at one point, I started hallucinating, I… I tried to kill myself more then once." Tommy admitted, there was a lump in his throat as he said all this, he could feel DD's hand shaking.
"Later the whole server banded together to put him in prison, and I visited him for closure… But he beat me to death before reviving me with the revival book he somehow got…" The blonde teen steeled his nerves and looked up at Daydream. "I… That person was the Dream of my universe, that's why… I was so scared of you."
Needless to say, his dad did NOT take that well, almost having a mental breakdown over abusing him and if he didn't hit him over the head, he probably would've been dragged into a blanket burrito.
Shaking away the memories from his brain, Tommy moved to sit up, giving Ghostby a cheeky smile when he whined at the loss of warm contact. While Tommy was very extroverted, sometimes he needed time to think, and he's been surrounded by people left and right for the past few days.
"I'm gonna check on the pets." He told DD, who seemed like he wanted to protest but didn't want to stifle him.
"Alright, be back soon, alright sunray?" The sandy-haired man said, making Tommy flush when the others cooed at the wholesome interaction.
"Yeah yeah, don't tell me what to do, bitch!" The blonde retorted, bounding away and blocking out the sound of laughter behind him as he went to the nearby cliff right behind the trees, where they set up a temporary pen for Buddy and Holly to enjoy the grass and sunlight.
Except, when he arrived, someone was already there.
It was Ranboo and Tubbo.
Wait.
"T-Tubbo?!" Tommy exclaimed, healthy eye almost bugging out of his skull when Ranboo turned to him, along with Tubbo who was situated in a wheelchair.
Tubbo slowly turned his head, and Tommy's heart stopped when he noticed the milky white eyes instead of the usual hazel.
Seems like the radiation scarring rendered him blind.
Tubbo tilted his head, then mumbled something to Ranboo Tommy couldn't hear, which Ranboo nodded at and then walked away from the animal pen, in the direction of the picnic.
"Hey." Tubbo spoke, and Tommy would be a liar if he said he didn't flinch at the sudden voice breaking the silence. "Why don't you come stand next to me, boss man?"
Tommy hesitated, but complied, making his steps loud on purpose so that Tubbo could hear him approaching. He stopped right next to the blind man, the older version of his best friend.
"You're Tommy, right?" Tubbo continued, sending a smile in his general direction. Tommy couldn't help but notice the red bandana he made Tubbo for Christmas around the ram hybrid's neck. "Ran and Mike talked about you."
"Uh… Yeah," Tommy mumbled, not knowing what to say to the reflection of his Tubbo, suddenly feeling immensely guilty for being so happy to be here when the Tubbo back home was probably worried sick about him. "You're Tubbo, right, nice to… Meet you, big man."
Tubbo nodded mutely, before his smile turned sympathetic. "I probably look really different from the Tubbo back home, huh?"
Tommy froze, how the hell did Tubbo know that?
He gaped at Tubbo for a moment, before he realized exactly how Tubbo knew.
"You're not supposed to be here."
He's seen Tubbo in limbo with Kristin, he probably spent the last few years of his coma with her there, and she probably told him everything.
Tommy pursed his lips, averting his eyes.
"Not really, you still have your family, you look the same, just with more scars… And I'm sure you're just as unhinged as back home." He jabbed softly, no real malice in his tone.
Tubbo must've sensed his fondness, because he softened even more.
"I see, were you close?"
"... Fuck, close? We were like brothers, big T."
Tubbo breathed out a sigh, slumping in his seat, before he reached out in Tommy's general direction and clumsily patted him on the arm.
"I'm sure he would've wanted you to be happy, even if you're not with him." Tubbo spoke, with a distinct fatherly voice Tommy didn't know how to feel about, especially from his best friend.
"Yeah…" Tommy muttered. "Yeah, he would."
Later that night, when Tommy, DD, and Ghostby made it back to their base, they all settled down in a cuddle pile in front of the fireplace while their guests bustled around the kitchen.
As Tommy was slowly drifting off, he clutched onto Daydream and muttered blearily.
"Dad.. Thank you, for taking care of us.."
Tommy didn't see, but Daydream almost teared up from the soft appreciation "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
All was well.