Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy and Clementine were milling about the cafe, preparing to open. Tommy cleaned off all of the counters with a damp rag, watching as Clem swept the floors. 

The girl opened the oven, sticking a toothpick into the center of a chocolate fudge cupcake. She inserted it just enough that it missed the chocolate filling, and came out with a few brown crumbs stuck on. She pushes the metal rack back into the oven, and sets another timer for a minute and a half.

Tommy tosses his rag into the sink, and walks up to the front of the cafe. He clambers into the pink booths pressed against the window. Under the table, there’s a jumble of white cords. He pulls one up, and plugs it into the neon pink Open sign. 

Reaching down once more, he takes a fistful of wires and untangles them.

The one with a small P written in sharpie on the side is plugged into the pink  neon flower, O for orange, and it continues through the rest of the rainbow.

He hopped out, and brought the chalk menu board outside and onto the sidewalk. Kneeling down under the awning. It was striped white, and a buttery yellow. The awning came out pretty far, so he was protected from L’manburg’s insanely bright morning sun. 

The boy takes a white piece of chalk, powdered and rough in his hand.

Today's special: Lemon meringue – order 2, get 50% off! 

He glanced at the window boxes and set his hand in the soil. Three white roses sprouted. Their snow colored petals practically dragged anybody’s eyes away from the other greenery in the display.

Tommy ran his hand over the surface of their one outside table. The rainbow tablecloth was smoothed, and Tommy headed back inside. Fresh cupcakes sat in the display case, and his sister beamed at him. "All ready?"

He nodded, making his way behind the counter again. He grabbed a light blue apron off of his hook, securing it behind his back with a bow. 

Clementine joined him, wearing her own blue apron. "This is exciting, we finally rebranded and now it really feels like the cafe is ours , you know?" 

"Yeah, it feels amazing to be doing this all by ourselves. I hope people like the new recipes." Tommy lifted up a piece of the counter and slipped in next to Clem. "Clara was nice, but honestly her cookies were kind of shit."

His twin gave him a mischievous smile. "I'm telling her you said that."

Just then, the bell above the door rang out over their conversation signaling the Innit Cafe's first customer.

For the next few hours they served customers. When he was working for Clara, the smile he flashed was just customer service, but today it was all real. Tommy was genuinely happy to be behind the counter and he beamed every time a customer complimented the interior design. When Clementine had said she wanted a pastel color theme he took what she said and put together what he thought was a pretty nicely decorated room.

Although, because he was so focused on making the cafe perfect their apartment is a bit empty. The twins really just had a couch, table, TV, bookshelves, and a bed. Clara had tried to insist that they kept more of her furniture, but the two of them decided that it would be a complete restart.

“Are you sure you don’t at least want the chairs? You liked those chairs, right? I’ll just come there, and give them to you. Maybe I should just move back in? Will you two be okay without me? Hey, don’t you dare hang up you little shit!”

Maybe when they get a bit more popular they'll have enough money to make it nicer to look at.

Clementine pulled him out of his thoughts when she yelped after dropping a hot tray on her foot. Luckily, she has already taken the cookies off but that was a nasty burn. Tommy quickly grabbed the pan with a towel and ushered her into the backroom.

After putting the tray in the sink and scooping some ice into a napkin Tommy propped up his sister's foot and pulled her shoe off. 

Clementine snorted and batted his hand away. "You dumbass." She put her left hand just above the burn.

"Wha- oh wait." He internally face palmed as her hands started to glow. Once the burn was healed she crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked. "I forgot you’re a freak."

“You literally also have powers.”

A bell rang in the front. "Oh, maybe they're not here right now?" Both twins sprung up and hastily made their way behind the counter.

"Hi! Welcome to Innit Cafe, how can I help you?" Clem spoke in a cheery voice and smiled brightly. Tommy almost missed the way her smile faltered for a moment. Almost. When she turned to make the order he eyed up the man on the other side of the counter. Tall, curly brown hair, yellow sweater, gold rimmed glasses. He just looked like a normal hipster.

Tommy moved to help his sister with the three drinks the man ordered. "Why did you look at him like that?" He questioned and raised an eyebrow.

She gave him a wary glance. "Did you see the two girls standing outside?" Tommy looked out the window and saw two merling girls. One with pink hair, one with red.

The pink haired girl had purple fins protruding from the sides of her head, marking her hybridity. Her hair was pulled up, but if he had to guess Tommy would assume her hair is shoulder length. To her left, stood a slightly older girl with cherry red hair that fell to about halfway down her back. Her head fins were a dandelion yellow. Both of them had bright blue eyes. Almost like Tommy and Clementine’s own.

Distantly, he wonders if there will ever be a world in which he could show his hybrid features in public like that.

 He quickly turned back to Clementine, trying to hide his expression. "They feel familiar, right? I swear I know them."

"Definitely. But how? The only person we know is Clara. Unless they're from the lab." He shifted nervously. "They are hybrids."

"Something is different about them, though. I feel like we know them well. We always avoided people…" She trailed off, and Tommy immediately knew what she meant.

"Clem, we don't even remember what they look like. No fucking way it's them." He puts a lid on the final drink, and takes a shaky breath, trying to push that thought out of his mind. "Order for Wilbur?" Who names their kid Wilbur these days?

Wilbur came over and grabbed the drink carrier from Clementine. "Thank you!" The twins' jaws dropped when he put fifty primes in the tip jar.  They exchanged confused glances when he didn't reach back in to pull out the money. Instead, he just turned and left. They gaped at the door for a moment before Clementine broke the silence. 

"He just tipped enough for three trips to the grocery store." She blinked. "Like it was nothing"

Tommy gripped the counter. "Damn rich bitches."

The rest of the day was slow and the twins started to close up at 10:30 PM. By the time they finished it was 11:00 and they were exhausted. Tommy sighed as he locked the doors behind them. "I'd say that was a pretty fucking good first day." He grinned.

Clem was on her knees wiping the chalkboard off. "I know!! We made like a hundred primes, not even counting tips!" They started walking behind the cafe. The two lived just above it, but they did have to walk all the way around the building to get to the stairs. 

Tommy brushed his hair out of his eyes and his twin smirked. "I know, I know, you told me to pin my hair back." 

Unlike him, her hair actually was held back by colorful hair clips. Two strands fell in front of her face, but not enough to annoy her. Blonde hair faded into a tangerine color at the bottom of the curls surrounding her head.

Tommy's hair did not fade into orange because he wasn't a moth hybrid, but he did have super curly ringlets just like his sisters. Although his curls were shorter, their older sisters also had curly hair. It's been a while since Tommy's thought about 11 and 12 but those merling really reminded him of them.

He remembers them saying it was funny that they were the same hybrid type when Tommy and Clem were the actual twins. Usually twins would be the same animal, but neither of them got their features naturally, so it made sense. Maybe those girls were twins.

“Y’know, mommy wasn’t a hybrid.” 12 tells him, continuing to run a hand through his hair. 

“Really?”

12 only nods.

He shuddered at the thought of the lab and continued up the stairs behind his sister. Once they get inside they don't have to hide their hybrid traits anymore.

It felt good to let his tail swing around freely. His ears twitched and a dark mask-like shape appeared on his face. His gray freckles pooped out on top, and it really sold the whole raccoon look.

Clementine was now showing her orange antennae and translucent wings that Tommy always thought look more like they belonged to a fairy than a moth. Small orange swirls appeared on her cheeks, and her ears were much more pointy. "I wish we didn't have to hide our appearances. I mean, there are lots of hybrids in this city."

Tommy sighed and untied his boots. "Yeah, but if anyone from the lab hears about a bakery owned by a raccoon hybrid and a moth hybrid they'll definitely know."

He walked to the bathroom and grabbed an array of hair clips. Pinning his fluffy hair on one side, there was a loud thud in their bedroom. He ran over and was met with a bed entirely flipped on its side.

"Clem, what the fuck happened!?" 

She smiled sheepishly from where she was trying to haul it back upright. "It... fell"

" How? " He breathed in and collected himself. "Tell me Clementine, how the fuck did it just fall ?"

She laughed at his barely concealed annoyance. "I pushed it." And then, she just walked away. She said she pushed it and just left Tommy to put it back up . He did. Of course he did.

______

In the other room, Clementine was cackling her ass off. She hadn't actually meant to push it over but Tommy's eye twitching was hilarious. 

Really, she was trying to push it over to the wall to reach a cobweb in the corner, but that clearly failed. Eh, Tommy will probably see it and take it out anyway. Clementine propped her feet up on their coffee table. (Which was actually a bunch of cardboard boxes stacked inside of each other for stability.

Tommy came out grumbling about the 'stupid bed' and 'making me put it back.' He threw himself on top of Clementine and she hissed and swatted at his hair. "Off!! Off you nasty raccoon!"

He buried his face into her shoulder, and for a moment they stayed like that. Content to just exist in each other’s presence.

But then, he realized how gross he was.

He stood and walked to the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower and getting ready for bed. Night Clem." She rolled her eyes and went to their shared bedroom. Since Tommy gets the shower tonight that means she gets the bed, so she had to get comfy. 

When Tommy is out back out of the shower and dressed in his pajamas (Three sizes too big red flannel pants he got from a “garage sale” read: a guy in the park selling his shit. And, a huge plain white t-shirt), he digs through the closet for the extra blanket and pillow. 

Eventually, he finds them tucked into the back corner. Tommy treks over to the couch, and lays down.

He falls asleep with his tail wrapped around his waist, keeping himself warm.

______

When he woke up the next day three morning glories had grown around his wrist like a bracelet. He gently plucked them off and dropped the flowers into a small bin he had been placing them in every morning. When Clementine emerged from the bedroom she was already dressed and put together. Tommy, on the other hand, was covered in ivy vines, his hair was sticking every which way.

"What flower was it today?" She motioned towards the wicker bin.

He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Morning glories, kind of stupid in my opinion."

Clem snorted. "Your powers are telling you good morning." She moved to the kitchenette, pulled a granola bar from the cabinet and started gnawing on it. While swallowing she suddenly perked up, "Oh! You should grow a whole bunch of vines in the cafe! It would be so aesthetic ."

Tommy smiled "Yeah, I'll grow some glow berries too. It will look nice, and if I grow enough we might not have to turn on the lights at all. That would cut down the electricity bill by a lot." 

"That would be so cool looking! You have to do it!" Tommy nodded and moved to go get ready. He pulled on a blue shirt with a collar and black ripped jeans with fishnet tights underneath. 

They take fashion seriously in this house/apartment/shithole/cafe.

He opens a drawer, one full of accessories.

As soon as he and Clem had left the lab and discovered jewelry, he fell in love with the shiny stuff. It didn't really matter what the jewelry was as long as it sparkled. Tommy was going to get a little hoop for his fluffy ears, but he really only showed his raccoon features at home.

He did demand Clementine wear a whole bunch of shiny things though, so that he can look at it all day. 

She usually wore a small anklet they found in a thrift store engraved with the name Frank. No idea who Frank is, but he is very important to the two of them.

When they were getting everything ready to open, Tommy grew wisteria vines all over the room. Their first customers of the day were three familiar faces.

Two of which seemed way too familiar . The hipster and the merling girls came up to the counter excitedly. "The coffee we got yesterday was so good!! If your food is even half as good this is definitely gonna be our new favorite place to eat." The pink haired girl happily rambled as her curls bounced behind her with every movement.

The red haired one slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my XD, shut up! Anyway, I'll get a caramel frappuccino with extra whipped cream. She'll have a London fog, and he'll have a quadruple shot of espresso."

Quadruple shot!? "Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?" He questioned Wilbur.

"I need caffeine to function, gremlin child."

Tommy scowled. "I am not a fucking child. You're just old. So old, you already have one foot in the grave. Old man." He shot back. What does it matter if he and Clementine just turned fourteen three months ago, they are both very emotionally mature.

Definitely. Not like they flipped an entire bed last night to get a cobweb... Nope.

"Okay, sure." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we'll also get a raspberry tart and two butterscotch cookies."

Clementine joined in on the conversation "Oh, did you see the board outside? Butterscotch cookies are 'buy one get one free' today." Wilbur hummed.

"I thought you guys did a sale yesterday?" The red haired one asked. 

"We do something different every day." Tommy smiled. "We like to change it up."

Red head tilted her head "that's cool, so if I come in tomorrow it'll be different?" Clem nodded. "Guess we'll have to come in and see the deals every day then." She winked at the twins and Tommy turned to start making the group's drinks. 

After the trio got their cups and a bag full of treats they moved to sit in one of the lavender colored booths by the window.

One of the merling's eyes grew as wide as saucers when she tasted the tart and amaryllis flowers sprouted in the cracks of tiled floors. A gentle hand pressed down on his shoulder. Clementine smirked at him. "I know what those flowers mean, Toms." She shook her head and turned back to the coffee machine. "Don't be too proud, it's my recipe too asshole."

Chapter Text

The red-haired girl wasn't lying when she said they would come in every day. He learned that the pink girl was Niki, Sally was her sister, and Wilbur was Sally's boyfriend.

Tommy wasn't sure exactly what their jobs were, but he knew they were always off at 7 AM and 10 PM. They would come by Innit Cafe when they were opening and again when they closed. Tonight, the trio was accompanied by a huge man.

He had pink hair, but where Niki's was natural, brown roots peeked slightly out of the top of his head. His hair was also a few shades lighter than Niki's.

Clementine perked at the sight of the man. "Hello, welcome to Innit cafe!!"

Sally smiled at the twins softly in a way that Tommy would never admit made him feel warm. "This is Wil's brother Techno."

Tommy snorted, "Techno? That's a strange name."

"Yeah, it's hella weird." His sister chided after him.

Techno pointed at her nametag. "Says you, Clementine ." His voice was deep and monotone. Emotionless in a way that spoke power, and patience. 

Clementine pouted and crossed her arms. She was probably trying to glare at him, but she just looked like an annoyed toddler. He was about to Express this thought when Niki shoved her way to the front of the group. 

"You guys close in thirty minutes right?"

"Memorized our hours, huh? Must be obsessed with us. Kind of creepy, we're strangers you know."

Wilbur tilted his head at this. "You're not strangers, you guys are friends!"

Tommy ignored how the sentiment that slipped so easily from his mouth, so casual, like it was nothing , made his chest warm.

Niki rolled her eyes, amused but slightly annoyed that she was interrupted. "Aaaanyway, we wanna help you clean up. Figured it must be a lot of busy work for just you two."

Clem nodded enthusiastically "Yes! Be our servants and clean, peasants!" All four of the adults laughed. Well, Techno huffed but it counts.

Forty five minutes later and Tommy is wondering why they let these people in the cafe at all. They work faster than what the twins do alone, sure. But, right now the only step left is sweeping the floors.

Unfortunately they can't do that, as Techno is chasing Wilbur with Tommy's broom and Wilbur is defending himself with Clementine's broom. Niki and Sally and both cheering on Techno when he tackles Wilbur to the floor next to the counter.

The hybrid twins exchange a look before promptly walking over and plucking the now-weapons from them.

They don't even spare everyone else a glance as they start to sweep the backroom. Niki doubles over laughing, "All that build up just for the brooms to get taken!" She wheezes between laughs and Wilbur stands up. 

"Sally, why the fuck were you cheering on Techno? I'm the love of your life!!" He points his finger accusingly.

The merling just smirks triumphantly. "I root for the winner. Maybe you should get good Wilbur." She says with her hands on her hips. "Plus, you won't be the love of my life if you don't throw out that sand jar."

Not long later, Tommy was locking up the building as their friends turned down the street. Of course, still arguing about whether or not you can eat sand.

"-But it's crunchy!"

Clementine walked around and into the alley beside their cafe. He heard a loud gasp and rushed to see what had happened.

There, in a battered box was a small bundle. Both he and Clem registered what it was at the same time. "A baby…" the two muttered in sync. 

He cautiously stalked towards the kid. The baby turned its head up and black hair fell out of his face, revealing big, red eyes. "Awwww so cute" his sister cooed behind him. 

He knelt on the asphalt to level with this baby. "Hi buddy, do you know where your parents are?" The kid nodded.

"Mama said bye bye forever and Daddy went to sleep last week and didn't get up." He teared up as he said this and Tommy pulled him out of the box and into his lap. "Mama said if someone found me then I say that I need a new house." Tommy pulled the baby closer and turned to face his sister. She came closer and sat next to them on the ground.

"We can give you a new house sweetie pie." She brushed her fingers over his cheeks gently. "What's your name?"

…

"Shroud."

Clementine's face lit up "Shroud? That's a really nice name buddy! I'm Clementine and this is Tommy. How about we get you some food and a bath."

The three of them returned to their apartment. 

"Why do you have a tail inside but not outside?" The toddler tilted his head and kept petting Tommy's tail.

"Well, it's kind of a secret, so you can't tell anybody." Clementine explained as she plopped onto the sofa. "We're hybrids, but only up here. Out there, we're humans okay?" Shroud nodded and moved to fiddle with a coin on the table.

Tommy watched the little circle flip back and forth. So enticing. So shiny . Suddenly, his sister spoke up. "Tommy. Stop planning how you're going to eat that coin and clean up the kid."

He scowled before picking up Shroud and heading to the bathroom.

Tommy bathed him in low water while Clementine cut up some fruit for the kid. She rooted through the cabinets for any remotely sippy cup looking things. She settled on a plastic water bottle and warmed milk for Shroud. After plating the apple slices on a paper plate she turned to see Tommy balancing Shroud, who was wrapped in a fuzzy little white towel, on his hip.

He pulled out his wallet and passed it to her. "You go buy some baby things at the store and I'll feed him." Clem nodded and took the leather pouch.

______

She found herself in the baby section of a Walmart twenty minutes later. Pushing a cart through the aisle, she grabbed whatever was listed on Everything you need for your baby and more!  

Colorful plastic cutlery, bottles, diapers, a stroller, a crib she would make Tommy set up later, toys, and a plastic pen with a cushioned center. She almost forgot to buy him clothes, but was reminded when she tripped on the most itty bitty adorable shoe she'd ever seen. 

Children are so expensive. Like Tommy. 

Honestly, she has no idea how they haven't gone bankrupt with all the shiny windchimes he made her get for their balcony. Sometimes he just sits on the floor from the inside and watches them. It's a weird raccoon thing. Hopefully Shroud won't be annoyed by his constant swatting at keychains.

It's a good thing the cafe has become pretty popular in the lower districts, because they had more than enough to get all this, groceries, and pay rent.

It was fucking hard to pull all the new stuff up the stairs. She grunted as the box with the crib almost fell down the stairs again .

Clementine cursed under her breath when she dropped a box on her ankle. For a normal person, that may have resulted in her taking a tumble down the stairs. However, her powers were quick to heal it and she barely even lost her footing at all. 

Back at the apartment, Tommy sat on the couch with a sleeping Shroud snoring lightly against his chest.

His twin burst into the room and shrank back when she realized  she almost woke the sleeping kid.

Clementine declared that since she bought everything he would have to set it all up and took Shroud to the bathroom to change him into the new clothes.

Unpacking the boxes ended up proving more difficult than assembling the damned things. Tommy held out the instructions in front of him and slotted the rods into place on the base of the crib. It was packed with a toddler sized mattress that slotted right into the frame. 

They didn't have bed sheets this small, but they do have some thin blankets he could wrap around the plush surface. 

Apparently, Clementine woke up Shroud while changing him because when the two came back out, Shroud was swatting at her antennae while she bounced him around. "Look honey! A nice bed for you to sleep in! You wanna sleep? Yeah?"

Shroud kicked his legs and started fussing. Oh XD no. He could handle food being thrown earlier, but crying? Yeah. No. "No!! No sleep!! I wanna stay up!" He buried his face in his hands and wailed loudly. Clem shot Tommy a panicked look.

He rolled his eyes and reached for a pacifier. Taking Shroud from his sister, he popped it in the kid's mouth and swayed back and forth. The baby nuzzled into his neck and Tommy placed him on his back on the mattress. Clementine sighed and moved to one side of the crib.

They each lifted one side and shuffled it into their shared bedroom. Once they got it into the spot they wanted and made sure he was asleep the twins went back into the living room. 

Clementine flopped into the couch. Tommy looked up at her through shaggy blonde curls. "Are you just gonna watch or are you planning on helping with this stupid baby pen?"

She runs a hand down her face and rolls onto the ground with a thud. "I suppose I'll bless you with my assistance. Yeah, definitely a blessing when she calls Tommy a baby man when she's only like four minutes younger. Bitch.

That night, one twin fell asleep on a couch surrounded by baby products. The other laid on a mattress next to a crib. Vines, yellow lilies, and white roses hung over the two year old like a mobile.

______

The next morning, after brushing daisies from his hair and changing out of his sleepwear Shroud awakes and starts to cry. Tommy calms him and hands him off to Clementine to change him. Honestly, it was fucking with his head to hear a baby cry when he had only ever heard them in the lab before this.

He scooped applesauce into a plastic blue bowl and set it aside while warming a bottle of milk. The other two that live there came into the kitchenette. Clem was beaming and proudly displaying the outfit she had assembled for Shroud.

Red shirt, white overalls, and blue sneakers. A few red flowers from Tommy's bin were weaved into a mini flower crown, which sat atop his head and slightly pushed his fringe into his eyes.

Tommy resisted the urge to coo. Big men do not coo. Instead, he slid Shroud's breakfast across the small table.

After packing a bag of everything Shroud might need, they set up his playpen behind the counter and started opening the cafe. To keep the baby entertained he brought the chalkboard inside and let him scribble. 

They had work to do.

______

Clementine was left on babysitting duty today. It's been two weeks since Shroud moved in and yet she's still not been able to find a way to appease him other than cookies.

She glances over to see him sinking his teeth into a chocolate biscuit with a strangely thoughtful look for a two year old.

"What are you thinking about?" The moth hybrid tilts her head at him with a smile.

"Where is Mimi?" 

"Tommy went to go get some stuff for us to bake with." Shroud blinks, mouth agape.

"White sand?"

"Yup, he's getting sugar."

______

Tommy stood next to the truck waiting for the driver to unload ingredients. When the man stepped out he eyed Tommy suspiciously. "How old are you, kid?"

Tommy scowled. "Fourteen. Does it matter?" The driver shook his head.

"Guess not. Anyway, this is your stuff." He motioned towards the truck. Just then, a man slipped out of an alleyway and closer to the two of them. 

He unsheathed a pocket knife and grabbed the driver from behind. The man wrapped his arm around the other man's torso and Tommy felt a hand loop around his own waist. "Give us all you got, or we'll fuckin kill you." The two men were both clearly drunk and their words slurred together.

"He's right! 'M gunna shank ya!" Oh dear XD. They were drunk and stupid. You don't tell someone how you're gonna kill them. Dumb move.

You're supposed to use the element of surprise. This is why criminals always get caught. Tsk.

Suddenly, two figures swooped in from above. The first man was struck down by lightning and the other was encased in a bubble. "Don't you dare touch To- that guy!" The one who was keeping the man in a bubble had pink hair and purple head fins. The other, who had red hair, threw her hand out again and the first man was struck down by electricity again.

Aquareine and Astrape. Two vigilantes that patrolled these parts regularly. He had never run into them, as he lived further out, but holy fuck they were cool. And helpful.

The two of them protected their communities and Tommy definitely respected them. Seeing them in action was honestly… inspiring. Not that he would say that. Sounds cheesy.

After apprehending the muggers Aquareine saluted them before pushing the two mers back onto the roof they had descended from. Tommy realized then that he wanted to do more. Help the community like they did. He didn't just want to, he felt like he had to . As a way of saying sorry for playing a part in those experiments that pushed a shady business so much farther.

When he came back to the cafe with a wooden wagon of baking necessities he pulled Clementine into the backroom. 

Shroud followed them in and sprawled out on the floor next to their feet.

"We should become vigilantes!" Clementine stared at him in shock. Her expression slowly melted from surprise to an eager grin.

"You're right!!! That would be so cool, let's do it!"

"Yes! We ca-" Tommy started but was cut off by yelling in the front of the cafe.

Wilbur's voice boomed throughout the building. "You bitches better get out here right now!" They both poked their heads out the door and Shroud ran out. 

"Wilba!!" The baby climbed onto Wilbur's leg and smiled.

"What do you want, old man?" Tommy deadpanned from across the room. Wilbur grinned and rolled his eyes.

"I'm twenty two. Also," He picked up Shroud and sat him on one of the tables before walking to the backroom door. "I want you two to come to the gala." He held out a poster for a business owner's gala in the 1st district.

"Sounds like a room full of old rich bitches." Clementine said, setting the flier on the counter next to her.

"Yup! But I have to go so I think you should come." He smiled before adding on "Sally, Techno, Niki and my dad will be going too."

Tommy looked it over before sighing. "If we go, will you stop getting that death drink?"

Wilbur grins. "Yeah! I'll get something different, I promise."

"If you break that promise Tommy will bite you." Clementine said, "That's not a threat, it's just the truth." Tommy flashed him a toothy grin, his sharp canines gleaming under the fluorescent lights of the cafe. Wilbur shuddered and nodded grimly.

"I mean we have other responsibilities." Tommy chided.

All eyes fell onto Shroud, who was now hitting his little hands against the table to see just how much noise he could make. He was very concentrated.

"I mean, he can't come but maybe one of you should stay with him?" The gangly man suggested with a tilt to his head. 

Both twins brought a finger to their noses. 

"Not it!"

"Not- fucking hell!" 

Tommy scowled. Of fucking course. Now he has to go to the stupid gala thing and Clementine gets to stay home with the baby. Just his luck. He glares at his sister and Shroud giggles. 

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Wilbur having whiplash from the baby's mood swings. He laughs before slipping his hands under the crook of Shroud's shoulders and places him into the playpen. "You stay there while I run up to the house and get your pajamas." Shroud pouts and Tommy gives him a level look. "You can't get out of your naptime, big man."

The kid's eyes droop sleepily and he stands in the pen. "Can you get the soft one?" 

Tommy rolls his eyes fondly before nodding.

______

That night, after putting Shroud to bed the twins took a late night trip to the thrift store. They sifted through racks of clothes and searched for anything that looked cool. Clementine was looking at boots and Tommy moved to the back. 

Bingo. He found exactly what he wanted, a normal fucking shirt. There was such weird stuff here he wasn't sure if he could find anything.

Now, his outfit consisted of a red and white shirt, black cargo pants, and a green bandana. He also found some goggles in the Halloween section that he could probably slip some colored lenses into. 

Just as he turned, a 5 '3 ball of blonde came crashing into him. "Look! This is so nice, and so cheap! We're gonna be so stylish !"

The twins moved to try on their outfits. Clementine had a shirt that exposed her stomach and arms. The white collar stretched up to her neck and the front was laced together with pink ribbon. Below, there was a black skirt and tall boots. She wore a black medical mask and star shaped glasses. They fit just right to cover her eyes without falling, and the lenses had been replaced with white colored glass.

"I think it's missing some shiny things." Tommy inched closer to the metallic gold fabric paint.

Clementine snatched the paint before he could grab it and held it behind her back. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're gonna need to be cut off from gold." She shook her head disapprovingly. "I mean, you stopped three times to stare at displays on the way here."

"But-"

"Plus I can't trust you not to eat the paint." 

…

Touche.

______

Wilbur and Techno jumped from roof to roof. Not only did two children- because no matter how much they insist they're obviously children- threaten to bite him, but he also got scheduled for late night patrol.

Really fucking appreciated. He stilled when he saw movement in an alleyway.

Typically, heroes don't patrol the outer districts so it's not surprising that someone may be down there causing trouble.

Techno must have noticed too, because he waved his hand down towards the street. They both jumped down, shoes slowing the fall and landing with a soft thud. He tried not to let his jaw drop at the sight of the two men tied to a dumpster with rainbow ribbon.

Above them, someone had spray painted Raccoon & Mothra in orange. 

He stifled a laugh when one of the criminals coughed up a mouthful of black eyed susans. The saliva coated flowers fell onto his lap and the man groaned loudly. That's when Techno abruptly turned down the alley.

He hadn't noticed before, but two figures were crouched next to a puddle. One had big fluffy ears and a tail. The other had wings, and antennae. 

So they must be Raccoon and Mothra.

The vigilantes scrambled to get away. Raccoon scurried up a fire escape and Mothra flew alongside him. That's when Wilbur realized he should be catching them. He sprung into action, and jumped up the fire escape behind Raccoon. He considered actually arresting them for a moment before mentally punching himself.

Vigilantes don't do the city any harm. Plus, he and techno were on their way to warn Tubbo so this is fine.

Techno called out to them, "You don't have to run, we won't arrest you. We just want to let you know that the hero committee is planning on bringing in vigilantes for hero duty soon." The two stopped and stared at the heroes. Techno continued "We're not a hundred percent sure, but there's been a lot of talk about the lower districts lately and that's usually where vigilantes patrol, so it's best to be cautious." His monotone voice was distorted by the voice change concealing his identity.

Raccoon nodded and Mothra faltered. She glanced at her partner before snapping. The blonde man startled before turning to Wilbur and throwing his arms in the air.

Vines shot up and traveled through the fire escape to grip him and Techno. He grunted, trying to wrestle out of the plants when Raccoon rubbed his fist over his chest.

Sign language for sorry . Lily of the valleys sprouted on his arms and once the two blondes had left the vines slowly released

That night, he held the flowers in his palm. Wilbur potted it, before putting a popsicle stick that said Tallulah . 

Perfect, now he was a plant child.

Chapter Text

Clementine was annoying the hell out of Tommy today. She wouldn't stop bringing up the gala and making a big deal about what he was going to wear, how he would do his hair, hell, even how he was doing his nails. (Which doesn't even make sense because Tommy doesn't paint his nails.) He was a little fed up.

Right now, Tommy is trying to do his job and Clem is babbling about potential business partners at the gala.

"Who knows, they might not even take you seriously. We are young-"

Tommy could feel the phantom itch of his ears twitching. XD, if she doesn't stop he won't be able to suppress his instincts anymore. 

"I wonder if the Diamond Diner people are going, I've been thinking about talking to them sometime-"

Every noise in the room became louder than before. The sweet scents of the bakery flooded his nose. Everything became a hundred times brighter. A narcissus flower bloomed behind his human ear, the yellow color making it go unnoticed in her golden curls.

Brighter.

Brighter.

Brighter.

"Interesting, subject 14 is developing night vision. Its heightened vision will only be active in hybrid form, though." 14 was scared. He told 11 and 12 he would be strong and fight, but he was just so tired. Everything was bright. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't breathe-

14 couldn't breathe. 

He realized this fact one second too late, as he fell to the ground. 13 shrieked. "Tommy!" Tommy? Who's he?

His sister dropped to her knees and gripped 14's shoulders where he leaned on her heavily. Normally he would be worried about putting his weight onto her, what if a scientist saw and hurt them- but he couldn't breathe-

"Tommy, can you hear me?" 

That… wasn't 13.

It was Clementine.

And he wasn't subject 14. Not anymore.

He lifted his head through teary eyes and met his sister's worried expression. "Tommy, your features…" Suddenly, he was hyper aware of the fluffy appendages that now sat atop his curls.

Shit. Shit shit shit. Did someone see? He peered over the counter and searched the cafe front room.

No one was there. Good. Great, actually. He turned back to Clementine.

"Sorry"

His twin shook her head "Not your fault. Do you know why you fell?" He knew. He knew that it was because Clementine accidentally forced his hybrid features out by making him mad. Tommy hung his head.

"No."

Silence hung in the air for a moment. Oh no. She knew. She knew it was her fault and she was going to feel bad, Tommy was making his sister feel bad, he was making her upset-

"Mimi?"

Both hybrids snapped their heads in Shroud's direction. He looked so small holding his spider plushie close to his chest. He looked scared .

"I- um, is Mimi okay?"

Tommy jumped into parent mode and softened his expression. "Everything's alright baby, just a little sick." An alchemilla mollis sprouted out of the floor and vines cupped around Shroud's cheek.

Shroud lowered his voice to what was barely quiet enough to be a stage whisper. "I thought you were only fluffy upstairs"  He cupped one hand on the left side of his face. "Do you want me to hide you?"

"Oh no that's-" 

Before Clementine could finish the toddler was already pulling a pastel rainbow tablecloth from a booth at the front of the cafe and running over.

Suddenly Tommy's world was covered in colored stripes.

For a second he wanted to be annoyed. He wanted to hold onto the anger that sent him into this mess. But he couldn't. Because of course the first thing that happens after a panic attack is fucking nonsense.

Instead, he laughed. Then, Clementine and Shroud joined him. 

All three of them, behind the counter, hidden from view and laughing their asses off. It wasn't long until they pulled themselves together and Tommy hid his raccoon features again.

Tommy hadn't told Clementine she was being irritating but she must have just figured it out. 

Twin telepathy or some shit like that.

Anyway, she stopped talking about the gala and instead decided to ramble on about the rude customer that was being a stupid little idiot! earlier while he was baking the pumpkin pies.

"I mean he was bald , and coming from someone with gorgeous hair that means I don't have to respect him! He was actually so fucking weird, like, he had 3D glasses on. Why? I don't know. I'm not a movie. No, I'm more like a Broadway musical. Probably something with showgirls. I like the feathery things they have on their heads, and the sequins. You would probably have showgirls if you were a musical too, because you love sequins. Of course you don't have to worry about that because you're not a musical you're more like a play. You just don't seem like a singer I guess. Oh wait, I forgot to mention I saw a famous singer on the train yesterday on the way to the store! Cool right? Speaking of the train-"

Unlike before, this wasn't agitating at all. He was okay with just staring at her until she realized she had been talking at him for at least thirty minutes now.

______

She didn't realize. In fact, she kept talking for at least another hour.

Tommy served all the customers and even put Shroud down for a nap all while Clementine talked and talked. At one point she was writing on a cup and instead of writing the name she was given which was Robyn she wrote Cameron . 

They had just laughed it off and Clementine didn't even notice. 

Too busy talking about the musical Hairspray.

It was a bit strange, since she usually never ignored people, but Tommy remembers her once talking for almost a full eight hours when they were locked in the dark room. The topic was bread, Tommy believes. 

She had learned everything she knew from passing conversations between doctors. They talked about food a lot. That's why they decided to work at Clara's bakery when they got out. 

Because they at least knew something about a job like that.

Tommy was a bit sad to think about Clara in the retirement home. She was a nice elderly lady who had given them a home and a job. After about a month, she moved into an old folks home and they got Innit cafe.

He kind of missed her. 

He turned back into Clementine's complaints about the nearby bookstore and cut her off. "We should visit Clara." 

His sister stopped talking and turned to him. A smile broke across her face, albeit a bit of guilt shining through. 

"You're right, we haven't seen her at least since Shroud started living here."

"Maybe we should bring him." Tommy suggested, knowing full well they would never leave Shroud at home alone. As if on cue, the baby in question waddled in through the door of the backroom with his blanket around his shoulders like a cloak.

He put his arms up and made grabby hands towards Clementine. She picked him up and bounced him on her hip.

"Do you want to come see a friend of ours?"

Shroud peeked up through his shaggy hair. They were expecting curious eyes and a shy smile. Not a savage fucking burn.

"Clemmie doesn't have friends."

Clementine's jaw dropped and Tommy cackled like a hyena. "I do too have friends!" She objected loudly. Shroud just titled his head and raised an eyebrow and Tommy burst out laughing again. 

Clem scowled. "I do have friends and I want you to meet one of them."

"No thank you." Shroud crossed his arms and turned his head.

Tommy sighed. Fine . If he has to. "I'll stay home with him and you go see Clara. Tell her I say hi though."

"Thanks"

"Also Shroud is right, you don't have any friends."

Shroud giggled and ripped himself from the moth hybrid's arms before running to play with the curtains on the front windows.

Once again, Clementine's jaw dropped. "I have Will, Niki, Sally and Techno!!" 

Tommy rolled his eyes. "They don't count, they're customers which you see while you're working. Work life, home life separation is vital, Clementine ." He drawled out his sister's name to rub it in. 

His twin glared at him. "Well with that logic you don't have friends either!"

Um, absolutely not true . Tommy was very popular. A real ladies man. "I'm friends with Purpled and MD. You were always too antisocial to talk to other subjects while I was everyone's favorite." He lifted his chin and smiled smugly.

Although, Clementine didn't laugh. Actually a worried look took over her face. "Tommy you don't…" A long pause. The anticipation was killing him. "You don't still consider yourself a subject do you?" She grimaced when saying it, like it pained her to even consider that maybe Tommy was just a subject. Just another number. Well, tough luck. He is. And he is well aware.

"Of course I do. I mean it only fits."

A tear rolled down Clementine's cheek and onto the floor. Fuck. He fucked it up and now Clementine is crying. He made her cry. He made her cry. It was his fault. It was all his fault- 

His sister pulled him into a tight embrace and sobbed. 

"I'm so sorry. You had it the worst out- out of all of us."

What? Why is she apologizing? She's not the one who made their twin cry and had a panic attack just because that same twin was being themself. Fucking why is she apologizing?

"I should have gotten us out of there sooner . If only my wings had been stronger we could have escaped years ago."

14 looked to where 13 held her head in her hands. "What's wrong? Why are you sad?" He wrapped a baby's breath around her left wrist, the stem linking itself to the other end seamlessly.

"If only my wings were bigger I could fly us both out of her and we could escape." She sniffled, and her white jumpsuit became stained with tears as she nuzzled her sleeves into her eyes, wiping away their wetness.

14 frowned. He didn't like it when his sister was sad. "You can leave without me."

13's head whipped up in a flash. "Don't say that! I would never leave you here alone. The only reason 11 and 12 left us was because they had to or they would die ! I'm not leaving you, we're going together no matter what you hear me? Promise me you won't say that."

"I thought 11 and 12 were going to come back for us?" He said instead.

13 wrapped her arms around her waist, wings shifting uncomfortably. "I don't know… it's been so long and I'm scared of the big men with pointy things." 14 nodded. He was scared of them too. He didn't really want to wait for them to come back either. "But," 13 continued. "I told 12 we could wait for them."

14's frown deepened. "How about this? If we get to be as old as 11 and 12 were when they escaped and they don't come we'll go."

"Okay."

The memory shook Tommy to his core and he shuddered. "Clementine, look at me." His twin raised her head from his apron. "It is not your fault that we got out when we did. We were children." 

Clementine let out a broken son. "Toms…" she trailed off, choking on her words. "Tommy, we are children. We're fourteen, fucking damn it." 

The reality of her words hit hard. He couldn't deny it. They were children. They were just children in this fucked up unfair world. This awful world. If he could, he would tear it apart so that Clementine would be safe. If he could, he would run through the streets and burn it all down if Clementine would be happier because of it. He would love to tell that to her, but he never had.

And he wouldn't today either.

Instead, he just hung his head.

"You're right."

______

The wind rushed through his hair as he jumped across alleyways. The feeling of weightlessness during those short moments airborne sends a thrill up his bones. He glances up to where Clementine is flying, he imagines what it could be like to feel this thrill all the time.

He had flown with her before, but never long enough to really experience it. (Well, he did when they escaped but he was too panicked to take note of anything.)

Shouting from a dark spot on the street draws both his and his partner's attention immediately.

Clementine lands lightly, and Tommy lands in a flexible, raccoon-like position. The three men, who were all pulling on the doors of a shop, whipped around to face them. "Shit! Greg, you said there wouldn't be heroes around tonight!" The man wearing a yellow baseball cap snaps. What? People thought there were heroes? Disgusting. Absolutely fucking not. No. Fuck them. They probably have no wives. The only thing they can pull is a push door, fucking ass pussy bitches.

He scowls, rushes towards the men, and starts to fight. Clementine follows suit, and starts throwing punches.

A fist comes, and barely misses his chest. Tommy dodges and kicks out the man's leg. The man trips and quickly catches himself again. He throws his elbow out and Tommy receives a harsh punch to the gut.

He takes half a second to catch his breath and traps the guy in a headlock.

Pushing him to the floor, Tommy grabs the rainbow ribbon from the fabric store and ties the man's wrists together. The man gives up and Tommy dodges the next man, who was charging at him.

Clem was all the way across the street. She flew through the air above Greg's head and sent a swift kick to his neck. 

He turned his attention back to his fight, and threw a punch at the man's nose. The blood that floods out makes Tommy cringe and silently hope this guy has health insurance. Tommy reaches out and knocks the man over his head. He fell unconscious, and Tommy tied him up. 

Clementine drags over Greg who was wrapped in colorful ribbons. 

After tying them to a lamppost his twin knots a big bow on the front of them and tags the ground next to them. He grows Geraniums all around their feet before fleeing.

He shoots an anonymous tip to the police station before signing to his sister with practiced ease.

Maybe we can split up to cover more ground? He signs, and Clementine nods before responding.

Meet behind the cafe at 1 AM okay? Tommy nods back and turns down another alley. 

It's about midnight now, and for the next thirty minutes he runs around, pausing sometimes to stop petty crimes and laugh as grown adults choke on petals, tied up in rainbows.

He stops to take in the view of the city. It fills him with pure joy, to be free in the real world. Watching everything pass by makes him remember the days he yearned for this. Exactly for this. To stand and watch the skyline. Windows almost sparkling under the starry night sky. If he teared up, no he didn't. Anyone who says so should get their eyes checked.

Crow needs to get his eyes checked.

"You alright mate?" He whips towards the number one hero, eyes widening. "Your goggles are all fogged up. Were you… crying?"

Tommy's mind runs a mile a minute in a panic. Is he going to be arrested? He can't outrun Crow for sure. What will happen to Clem? And Shroud? What will he do without his Mimi? What will Wilbur do without someone to bother? What will Niki do without someone to make her coffee that she loves?

Crow tilts his head like a bird. 

He sighs before moving his hands quickly. Do you know sign language?

Crow perks up, but Tommy can't actually see his face behind the black veil. Yes, I am not fluent though.

I'ts  just fine. Tommy signs slowly so that Crow can understand what he's saying.

Do you hear or deaf? Crow stumbles through the words slightly, clearly not understanding completely.

Ah. Tommy has a choice to make here. He can tell Crow that he's deaf, which would throw them off of Raccoon's identity, or he can tell the truth. He chooses the former.

Deaf . 

Crow takes a step forward and Tommy stiffens. He almost makes a move to run but stops when Crow starts signing clumsily. I will not arrest you. Do not worry. Come sit with me. I want to speak to you.

Tommy cautiously sits next to the hero. At least a few feet from him, just to be safe. Why aren't you arresting me?

Because you've done nothing wrong.

I'm literally illegal. The older blonde man can't hear his tone but he probably gets the sarcasm because he laughs.

You help. And you are interesting. Where is your partner?

Elsewhere.

It can be hard, even for two people. I hope you have a support system somewhere. 

We have each other.

They both pause, waiting for the other to sign something. Tommy almost does, but is cut off by loud sirens blaring.

The blondes look towards the sound. As soon as he registers it he gasps. A department store is lit ablaze and engulfed in warm colors. A fire. It's a fucking huge fire. And then he sees a flash of orange and pink zooming in. Clementine.

Clementine is going towards the fire. Crow stands, and Tommy is relieved to see black wings swooping at his sister. 

In a flash, Clementine is on the roof with him, and the number one hero is flying above, diving down to pull out civilians. She moves to take off again, and Tommy dashes to wrap his arms around her.

He pulls her down with him into an alley and doesn't let go. She struggles and Tommy grits his teeth.

"Mothra! I'm not letting you burn in a fucking building." She continues to fight it and Tommy feels hot tears in her eyes. "Please, I can not lose another sister tonight! Stop it 11!" He shouts the last part, almost in tears.

Both twins freeze. He realized what he did. He called her 11. That's not even right. Her subject number was 13. He... he called her their oldest sister's name. "I…" Clementine trailed off. "Toms, let's go home." He nods and inhales sharply.

______

The kitchen was drowning in uncomfortable silence. The two were both sitting on the counter next to the sink, legs swinging mindlessly.

Tommy is the first to break it. "Do… Do you miss them?" He doesn't specify. He didn't have to, his sister knew what he meant.

"Yeah. I miss them." She takes a moment. "I'm sad that I can't remember them like I used to."

Tommy gets it. He can't remember them just right either, small moments but not their voices. He knows what their hair felt like, but not what it exactly looked like. He knows how it felt to have their eyes on him, expression gentle. Although, he can't remember what color their eyes were. He could practically feel their soft fingers in his hair, but not the stories they would tell him. He knows their voices. He doesn't know what they sounded like. Voices and what someone sounds like are not the same. Knowing the feeling of having them near, isn't the same as remembering having them near. It's not fair.

He doesn't remember them like he wishes he could. "Yeah, I understand that."

Clementine pulls him into a tight embrace and it screams safety and love. It also screams shared sadness. "I know you do, Tommy. I know. And I wish neither of us did." 

Tommy lets out a wet laugh. "We've had a pretty awful fucking day, huh?"

His twin laughs with him and buries her head into his chest. "The worst. XD must hate us so much, that little bitch."

They cling onto each other like a lifeline, laughing and crying, smiling and grieving, drowning and thriving. Chrysanthemums came down from the ceiling and curled around the dull light fixtures.

He stares out the window over her shoulder and wonders to himself ' Where did you go? '

______

Niki couldn't believe her ears. Two vigilantes that were hybrids. Not just that, they're raccoon and moth hybrids. Just like 13 and 14. Her baby siblings. They're both blonde too. One of them with plant based powers and one with healing powers.

It can't be a coincidence.

She might cry. She already has cried. She and Sally cried together, because there's no way they weren't them . They got out.

All these years they had tried to get back to the lab and save them.

All these years they failed.

Their twins had gotten out of there. Niki's so proud of them, and she loves them so much. She promises to herself now that she will not rest until Sally finds them. If her sister can just do her job as a human GPS, they'll get their precious siblings back soon.

Ever since the day they had moved into the Watson's guest house, Sally had been trying to find them.

But the lab was good at covering their tracks. 

When they returned to the original facility, everything was cleared out and there was no trace anything had ever been there.

"No!" Sally screamed desperately. She remembered everything, but she couldn't find them if they weren't  somewhere she had been. Niki felt awful for her, but was even more devastated by the fact that they hadn't made it.

They had promised them they would come back, and the twins had promised to wait. At this rate, they would be waiting forever.

Niki and Sally may never find them. It made her heart drop to her feet. She cried and fell to her knees.

The news was playing on the TV in front of them, and both sisters were in tears. 

Truthfully, Niki had trouble holding herself together around Tommy and Clementine. She knew that they weren't hybrids, but Tommy could grow things and Niki… felt something with them.

She laughed as Tommy threw his arm around Clementine's shoulders. "Yeah, she's got a bug brain for sure." He grinned cheekily. "Sometimes she just drifts towards the light when she walks." He laughed and Clementine scowled.

Niki had always noticed similarities, but it's not possible.

She cradled 14 in her lap as he yawned sleepily. 13 was staring intensely up at the fluorescent lights. She laid on the tiled floor, stretching her wings.

14 giggled. He tiredly reached out to his twin with grabby hands.

"Bug brain… silly bug brain!" The four year old laughed and 13 pouted.

With them, it's impossible. But with these two vigilantes it's undeniable. She's so sure that it's them, it has to be them. Niki practically runs to the closet to grab her Aquareine getup. 

That night Aquareine and Astrape almost got to have a conversation with them, but barely missed their chance when Raccoon pulled Mothra into an alleyway. It looked like he was restraining her as she kicked helplessly.

She couldn't hear what they were arguing about until Raccoon screamed.

" Stop it 11!" Niki's breath catches in her throat and she can hear Sally gasp softly. Not only did they just confirm her suspicions, they also just addressed Sally. That really must have been awkward for them.

13 says something quietly and the two of them make haste to get out of there.

Chapter Text

The day of the gala arrived and the cafe was closed so that they could prepare. Earlier in the week, Niki and Sally had taken him to a nearby tailor. They fawned over him and forced different color combinations for almost two hours. In the end, Tommy ended up with a black suit, red undershirt, and a gray cloth in the jacket pocket. He wasn't sure exactly what that was called but Wilbur probably knew the word.

Clementine pinned his hair back. Her earnings dangled around as she circled him like a shark.

They had both agreed he shouldn't wear any jewelry besides maybe studs, because they wanted to seem more professional. Although, she knew he was nervous so she had covered herself in different gems and chains today.

He did feel a sense of calmness from the shiny things, so it was well appreciated.

A rose quartz charm hung in front of his face as Clementine reached for the back of his head with the bobby pins and tucked up the longer bit of his hair. He probably needed to cut that soon.

Tommy swatted at her arms, "Get off of me or I'm gonna shine a flashlight on the wall!" 

Clementine stepped back and crossed her arms. "Just because I'm a moth doesn't mean that I'm addicted to light or something." Tommy snatched his phone from a nearby table and shined the bright light on the wall. Immediately, his sister's head snapped in that direction and she stepped closer. 

Tommy laughed and Clementine scowled. She ripped her head from the wall and put her hands on her hips. 

"Don't laugh! This is manipulation." 

"Manipulate, mansplain, manslau-"

"Don't you dare say manslaughter."

"-ghter" 

Clementine picked up a hairbrush and hit him over the head with it. 

"Ack!" Tommy put both hands on the top of his head and yelped. Out of nowhere, Shroud came barreling into the room and smacked his head on the wall full force. Both twins froze and the baby paused for a moment. At that moment, Tommy almost thought there would be no crying this time.

He was sorely mistaken.

Shroud wailed loudly, and Clementine bent down to scoop him up. "Don't cry honey, it's okay!" She shifted the crying toddler's weight in front of her. "See this is why we ask you not to run in the house. The walls are a bit tight together, so we might hit our heads like that if we run inside." She explained gently, rubbing circles on his back.

Clementine rocked him, and Shroud calmed. "I wanted to see Mimi all dressed up…" his voice shook and his lip quivered. He peeked through his hair at Tommy. "You look pretty Mimi."

Tommy smiled. "Thank you Shroud." Shroud reached out to him and Tommy took him into his lap.

Shroud sniffled and buried his face into Tommy's chest. Luckily, he hadn't been crying so much that he was snotty. Otherwise that may have been a problem. A lotus grew in a glass of water on the counter.

He checked the time on the clock hanging above their door. 4:30. Thirty minutes until Wilbur was coming to pick him up for the gala. He straightened the tie and set Shroud down on his own two feet. He ignored the kid's whines of dismay, and his grabby hands. "Sorry, Clem can hold you but I have to get the desserts I'm bringing packed." He went over to the counter and grabbed a cardboard tupperware container with the Innit cafe logo on the lid. Positive promotion, Niki had suggested.

Tommy picked up the glass lid from the cake stand and, as gently as he could, placed the cupcakes inside.

Vanilla with raspberry jam filling. They chose them because they were the Cafe's best seller, which must mean people like them. He figured if the gala guests liked them, business would get better and maybe he would be able to afford a new dress for Clementine. She had seen a sundress in the window and fawned over it before realizing the cost and sighing.

He had tried to insist that they buy it, but his twin just pushed him away from the store.

Tommy tied a yellow ribbon around the box, and set it aside to box the next four cupcakes. Fifteen minutes passed and he now had a tall stack. He checked the clock again and was pleased with the time he had left.

Probably enough time to tend to the plants.

He opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. The railing was overrun by leaves and vines. One of the larger flowers had wilted a bit, and he let his power seep into it. The flower rose from its slump and bloomed wide. 

While he could grow any plant, he still felt some sort of peace in tending to them like others would. That's why he only used his power if a plant was on the brink of death.

So, he takes his watering can and distributes equal portions to the many pots. The peonies were becoming a bit unruly, so he trimmed them. He was very careful not to get any dirt on his suit. While clipping a yellow lily, he heard the honk of a car from the street. Tommy leaned over and spotted Wilbur coming out of a nice car.

The man waved up at him. "Hey Tommy! Ready to go?"

Tommy groaned. Remembering that he had to go to the stupid gala made his chest lurch. He had a strange feeling. Like his gut was telling him that something would go wrong tonight. Even though there was no way. It's an event run by the hero committee, nothing could happen under their watch.

(That's not true, the crime rates in Tommy's district are the highest. The reason for this is that heroes never patrol around.)

"Yeah, I'm coming ya fucker!" Tommy calls, and he rushes out of the apartment. He emerges from the alleyway and Wilbur holds the car door for him. He slides into the car and smoothes over the wrinkles in his suit.

The ride there is quiet, but not awkward. Neither of them speak but that's because they're both busy looking out different windows.

Wilbur keeps his eyes on the road, which Tommy is grateful for because even now, he's swerving wildly. Tommy stares out of the side window at the beach. 

The twins were astonished. They stood on the dock and stared out at the waves, crashing into the shore loudly. 14 stared out at the water in disbelief. He couldn't remember anything outside of the lab, and while 11 and 12 had told them a lot, they could never describe this . It was so large, and beautiful, and it smelled amazing. 

The smell of salt taunts their noses and sand crunches under their toes.13 picks up a seashell and holds it close to her chest. "14… this is amazing." Tears spring in his eyes. The fluff on his ears tingle in the chilly air.

______

Once inside the hero tower, Tommy puts his cupcakes on a table in the middle of the room. His eye catches two people with pink hair talking nearby. Niki spots him and waves him over.

"Hey Tommy!" She waves a glass in the air and he walks over. She leans on Techno's shoulder, "Wassup kiddo?" He can smell the faint scent of alcohol lingering on her tongue. He snorts and takes the glass from her to put it down on the table with a gentle clink .

He doesn't bite back at her, as he never really minded when she or Sally called him a kid. For some… weird reason.

Niki gasps in fake shock. " No ! Not my champagne! No! " Her words slur together drunkenly. She makes grabby hands at the table and groans loudly.

"XD, Niki. The gala just fucking started. How are you already drunk?"

Techno pulls her so she's standing up taller and snorts. "She and Sally pregamed." Tommy has no idea what pregaming means, but he won't say that, so as to save his pride. He nods in fake understanding, and turns his attention to Niki. 

Niki grins wildly, and wipes literally nothing onto her pantsuit. 

It's a nice pantsuit, Tommy has to say. Very formal, but casual enough to be a business gala. Wait, why are the Watson family and the Innes sisters at a business owner's gala? Do they own a business? "Why are you fuckers even here?" He asks, confused.

Niki and Technoblade both pale. It's like that one question sobers her up as she quickly stands straighter. "I- um, the Watsons work with the heroes! Sally and I are their plus ones, so yeah!" She stutters and rushes the words out.

Working with heroes? Why is that something that makes them panic? Not like they're the fucking board members who make all the discriminatory laws against lower districts. He hates those guys.

He cocks his head, lacing his voice with suspicion. " Okay …" he drawls.

They exchange looks of relief and Niki reaches for another glass. Tommy grabs her hand, and pulls it away. She sighed and groaned loudly.

"No more champagne for you. You're already fucked up." He pulled her towards the desserts and pointed at one of his boxes. "Eat something and drink some water." He didn't know if that actually helped, but he had seen it on TV once.

A voice boomed over the room, so loud the speakers were vibrating at a speed that made it look like they were shaking. "Hello everyone and welcome to the annual hero committee business gala!" 

Tommy turned to look at the person on the stage.

"My name is Eret and I'll be your host tonight." She smiled brightly, and raised his glass. A short brunette boy and a tall boy with split dyed hair were the first to raise their glasses. Unlike the adults, they had fizzy water in their cups. Everyone in the room followed suit and raised their glasses. They clinked together, and the guests waited for Eret's next words. "Here's a toast to L'manburg and our wonderful community!" They cheered, and the crowd yelled out.

" To L'manburg!"  

Tommy smiled and Eret clambered down the stairs and off the stage to join and greet guests. The sunglasses hiding his eyes bounced as she talked animatedly with a blonde man wearing a green and white striped hat.

For a second, Tommy thought he heard a faint tick but was quickly distracted by a woman wearing an abundance of shiny jewelry. 

She had a purple sun hat, a black floor length dress, and curly brown hair.

They locked eyes and she smiled before moving in Tommy's direction. Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she got closer and closer. Click. Her purple eyes caught on his freckles. Click. He'll admit, the gray freckles all Raccoon hybrids had are a bit unusual but they can easily pass as the real thing. Click . She stopped a bit in front of him.

"Hello darling, what company are you here representing?" Her smile is warm, and his chest flutters.

"Innit cafe. My sister and I are the owners, it's in the furthest out district." He pauses, wondering if that was too much information. He wasn't good at this, Clementine should have come instead. "And you?"

"I own a bookstore in 5th. Ravens Nest, but I call it the unkindness since that's what a flock of Ravens is called." She gave the same amount of details as he did, so that's good he guesses.

Then, Tommy remembers why he brought the cupcakes. He snatches a box off of the table and holds it out to her in one hand. "Would you like to try a sample of our baked goods?" He sighs in relief when she peeks up with a big smile.

"I love cupcakes! Yes, I'd love to try one. What flavor is it?"

"Vanilla and raspberry. The frosting is just a blue buttercream." He explains, as he unwraps the box and hands her the cupcake he decided looked the most appetizing. AKA, the one with the most frosting. She happily bites into it and grins.

"This is delicious! Thank you- oh, I never got your name!"

"I'm Tommy."

The woman nods. For a moment, she looks a bit conflicted before she schools ner expression back to a polite smile. "That's a nice name, I always thought if I had a kid they would have a T or C name. Well, I'm Kristin." Tommy laughs at the irony.

"Actually, my sister's name is Clementine so we'd be the perfect examples." Because Tommy is packing away the rest of the cupcakes he doesn't see how Kristin's eyes widen. He also can't hear her breath catching in her throat, as his enhanced hearing picks up that same faint ticking noise he heard earlier when Eret made the toast. Tommy hums in determination.

The ticking was starting to piss him off, and he was so going to find out what it was. He quickly excused himself from the exchange and walked into the hall, following the sound. 

Once he found out what it was, he could ignore it. He's just curious, is all.

______

11 had once told him curiosity killed the cat. It was a warning after he had poked his head into another subject's session. His entire body seized and he stared in shock at the source of the ticking noise.

A bomb .

A fucking bomb .

His eyes darted to the timer. The digits read 00:06 . Shit he only had six seconds to get away from the bomb that was just a few inches from his feet. Acting on instinct, vines sprouted from the floor and wrapped around his waist.

00:05 . The thorns ripped his blazer, and plants pulled him backwards. 00:04 . He would have gotten out of there, if he hadn't slammed into a wall in his panic. 00:03 . 

He tried to save himself from the impact by creating a barricade of vines, yet they only rebounded him closer to the device. 00:02 . His face hit the metal of the bomb, and he turned over in an attempt to shield his face from the blast. Instead, his ears were the only thing still touching as he tried to rip his body away.

00:01 .

00:00 .

A loud beep rang out over the hall filled with dead plants and Tommy who had scooted as far away as possible in the last second. However, he still felt the explosion as if he was right up next to it like he had been.

He formed a cocoon of vines and aconites. It wasn't enough to protect him, but it kept him at least hanging onto his life by a thread. Shit. He's going to die. He's lying next to a detonated bomb, just barely conscious.

He knows from the lab that you aren't supposed to close your eyes when you die.

"14! Please don't close your eyes, you have to keep your eyes open! Open your eyes!" 13 shrieked and his eyelids grew heavy.

The white streak of his hair hidden in the back felt extra itchy against his bloody skin. All of the plants in the room withered and fell as Tommy's memories flashed before his eyes.

______

"Why do you two have to go away?" 14 frowned and tugged on his white jumpsuit. 11's eyes were wet with tears. Tears that she wiped away before scooping him into a tight hug. 

"We don't want to leave you alone here, but if we stay we'll die." She sobbed into his hair and his fluffy ears felt wet. Her fins flicked. "Us girls don't have our names in the revive book like you do."

"I don't want my name in the revive book. They'll hurt me."

11's grip tightened. "I tried everything to get them to put my name instead, sweetheart. You shouldn't have to have your name written. It's so, so unfair."

14 felt tears stain his rosy cheeks.

______

12 hugged him close and cried silently, so as to not alert the guards. She spoke in a hushed tone. "I'm sorry we can't get you out of here." 12 looked down at him again, unshed tears building in her eyes. 14's heart panged and he clenched her hard just a little harder.

His twin unburied her face from 11's shirt. "Is oki sissy, we know you come back."

12 looks at 11 who speaks. "I promise, no matter how long it takes we'll come to save you. Please stay strong you guys. I love you so much.

13 smiles sadly and 14 is sad too. "We can wait." 13 whispered.

They watched as 11 electrocuted people with her powers. The girls barely got out, and not uninjured. 14 is pretty sure they wouldn't have made it if they had brought the twins.

He silently wished them luck when Dr. Sam pulled him into one of the safe rooms for emergencies.

______

The lab had been kind enough to tell them when it was their birthday. Now that he was fourteen, Sam couldn't convince them not to try it. One of the men in white coats pulled out a tattered leather book.

14 knew his name was written on one of the yellowed pages.

They wanted to know if he would be brought back from the dead when he had his name prewritten. That's why they had written his government name in the book when he was six. 

He tried to peer inside, and saw Tommy In- before the man moved it from his view.

14 didn't know he had a government name until this morning. Apparently 13 had one too. It started with a C, but he didn't know the full thing.

Sam looked extremely upset as he filled a syringe with black liquid extracted from a flower 14 had grown.

The needle was cold against his skin. Suddenly, his whole body was on fire. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood. The metallic taste in his mouth choked him, and he could hear Purpled and 13 demanding to be let inside. Purpled had been brought into the lab when he was eight, so he remembered his name, unlike 13 and 14.

Spots danced across his vision and the two subjects came running in. His sister held his shoulders and Purpled started attacking every adult in the room.

"14! Please don't close your eyes, you have to keep your eyes open! Open your eyes!" 13 shrieked and his eyelids grew heavy.

13 tried and failed to heal him. Her powers hadn't been working since she had used all that energy on healing MD's leg yesterday.

______

Their hypothesis was wrong.

______

The void is cold and he didn't like it one bit.

______

"In the end, subject 14 had to have his name written again. It was successful in bringing him back, but you should call everyone who has asked to purchase a spot in the book. Let them know it won't be possible to reserve a place."

The white room was bright, and 14 shifted uncomfortably under the covers. 

Sam entered the medbay, and spoke to the doctor watching 14. "Your presence is required downstairs." The man nodded curtly, and pocketed his phone before he left the room. Sam's gaze fell onto 14 as he left the room. He almost thought he saw the green haired man nod before closing the door and… not locking it. Oh shit, Sam is helping him.

He stood on shaky legs before rushing to the door. 

14 had never been alone in the halls before, but he knew where the punishment room was. He could only assume that's where 13 and Purpled had been sent after pulling a stunt like that.

He knelt down and jiggled his finger in the lock of the door. 14 had hung onto every word when 12 taught him about lock picking.

The door swung open and the two hybrids were lying on the floor with all the lights off.

14 scowled, knowing they would have been left in here for at least three days. They both sprang up and ran to his side.

"14! Are you okay?" 13 hugged him, and Purpled looked into the hall for doctors.

______

The night's cold air was blowing his hair into his face as he clung onto 13. The gash on his side was big and he knew he wouldn't be able to run like this. 

Purpled turned to them with teary eyes. "Go," he said. "13, you carry 14 and fly."

13's eyes widened. "No! We can't leave you here!"

In a flash, Purpled's arm swung and knocked them through the hole in the wall. The air made both of their hair fly wildly around, and 13's long ringlets whipped him in the face. With great effort, 13 moved her wings rapidly and started flying. 14 grabbed at his side, trying to stop the bleeding. They flew for almost an hour until they were out of Pogtopia and in this new city, L'manburg. 

It was a seaside city.

The twins were astonished. They stood on the dock and stared out at the waves, crashing into the shore loudly. 14 stared out at the water in disbelief. He couldn't remember anything outside of the lab, and while 11 and 12 had told them a lot, they could never describe this . It was so large, and beautiful, and it smelled amazing. 

The smell of salt taunts their noses and sand crunches under their toes.13 picks up a seashell and holds it close to her chest. "14… this is amazing." Tears spring in his eyes. The fluff on his ears tingle in the chilly air.

______

I'll be Clementine! We can be the Innit twins, I love it!"

______

"No one will even know we're hybrids, because as far as the rest of the world knows no one can hide hybrid features."

______ 

"Are you two alright? You look a bit cold out here all alone."

_______

"My name is Clara, I'd love to have you stay here."

______

"She's going to the retirement home but we get to keep the cafe. Let's decorate, Clem."

______

Clementine sobbed. "I miss them too. I miss them so much."

_______

"This is exciting! We finally rebranded and now it really feels like the cafe is ours , you know?"

______

"I'm Niki, this is Sally, and this dumbass is Wilbur."

______

"We should become Vigilantes!"

______

"Mimi! Read me a story, please! "

______

"Take these cupcakes to the gala."

______

"Wassup kiddo?"

______

Clementine was panicking. Ten minutes ago there was a city wide alert of a villain attack on the gala. The gala Tommy was at. In her initial panic, she had left the apartment in her vigilante gear, and locked the door so Shroud wouldn't wander outside if he woke up.

She arrived on the scene to see the top three heroes plus Aquareine and Astrape helping people out. They only had their masks on, and they wore formal clothes covered in ashes.

Clementine scanned the crowd of evacuated guests for her brother. Her heart clenched when he was nowhere to be found.

She raced into the building, healing a few of the injured people on the ground as she went.

Half of the main party room was destroyed and she ran towards where the most destruction was. She could hear Aquareine and Astrape calling after her. Something about danger. She didn't care about danger, she cared about Tommy. 

Most of the remaining walls were still on fire. Her senses were screaming at her that Tommy was this way, that way, turn this way . 

Clementine knew she was getting close when she saw dead flowers. She shook her head, and tried to clear it of the worry surrounding the fact that they were dead. The explosion must have killed them. It has to have been the explosion. She's not sure what she would do if it wasn't.

The fire roared around her and she came across a pile of vines. 

The flowers weaved within were charred and stiff.

She started pulling at the plants desperately, knowing there was something beneath. She gasped when her hand brushed a blonde curl. Clementine's pace grew rapidly. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and let her powers flood into him. He still wasn't breathing. How long had he been not breathing? It couldn't have been long, he was still warm. No. This can't be happening. She forced herself to heal him more. A migraine formed and her arms ached.

Tommy twitched.

His breathing wasn't steady, and the pulse was faint. But it was there .

Clementine had almost no energy, but she was running on pure spite and determination. She ripped a bit of fabric from her skirt and held it against Tommy's mouth.

As fast as she possibly could, Clementine propelled herself through the burning ruins with her wings. She zoomed past Siren, who gasped at the sight of her twin. It was a gruesome sight, he was bleeding all over and his skull was definitely cracked. She tried to force more of her power into his unmoving body as she ran.

An ambulance was prepared for her arrival outside, and she made a mental note reminding herself to thank Siren. She assumes he must have alerted them about Tommy through his communicator.

Clementine watched as the paramedics lifted Tommy into the back of their vehicle on a stretcher.

A hero yelled behind her. "All the guests are out of the building now!"

Before anyone could arrest her, she took off in the direction of her apartment. She sprinted up the stairs, changed into a pink sweater and white skirt, hid her features, woke and dressed Shroud, and called an Uber.

In the back seat, Shroud was crying quietly. 

He hadn't taken the news that Mimi was in the hospital too well, and Clementine understood. She herself was forcing herself not to sob when the driver had asked for her destination. It hurt to acknowledge that she was going to the hospital for her twin brother.

If she had gotten there quicker, maybe Tommy wouldn't have all this happening to him right now.

She almost laughed, knowing that he would have scolded her for thinking like that. If he wasn't in a hospital bed fucking dying right now, he would have told her she did everything she could have. Clementine wouldn't believe him, but he would say it.

All she wanted right now was to hear him say that.

Chapter Text

As soon as Clementine arrives at the hospital she sees them.

Wilbur, Niki, Sally, Techno, a blonde man and a brunette woman are crowded around a door. None of them look to be terribly injured. Seeing them all so worried and pacing makes her heart pang with unease, if they're all sharing that expression of sorrow then it can't be good.

With Shroud's hand in hers, she rushes over to the group. All of them notice her immediately, except for the brunette woman. 

She falters for a moment. Shroud clings onto Niki's leg. Something about this woman feels so warm . The way this woman doesn't take her eyes off of the wooden door in front of her like she's lost in thought. Clementine is taken aback when she realizes that the woman has a similar looking face to her and Tommy. Tommy. Oh XD, Tommy. Ignoring Wilbur's protests, she flings the door to the room open.

"Toms! Tommy, are you…"

Clementine trails off when her eyes lock on the golden haired boy's still body. There are bandages wrapped around his head and she can see the bandages poking out from just below the blanket. 

She shuts her eyes and tries to will the image of his blood pooling inside of the plant cocoon out of her mind.

The bandages on his chest were most likely from his own thorns, as it was clearly his head that impacted with the floor the harshest.

At first, she doesn't even realize she's crying.

That is, until a gentle hand settles on her shoulder. "Breathe, Clem." Niki says kindly.

She tries the fill her lungs, but everytime she can almost feel like she's stopped suffocating she sees him again. Pale skin, eyes shut, body unmoving. She can hear shuffling behind her. For what feels like the hundredth time, her eye catches on her twin again. This time, she can just barely see a tiny helenium on the back of his neck.

Her breathing stops abruptly again and she starts to fall forward. The shuffling from behind grows louder and quicker, big hands grab her back and the crook of her knees.

Black spots dance across Clementine's vision as Techno carries her into the hallway.

When she can finally breathe again, and she doesn't feel like her organs are tearing themselves apart, all she can feel is warm . She's leaning against someone's chest, and her legs are swinging below the bench. Her curly blonde hair is making her feel overly hot in the new warmth, so he pushes it away from her eyes.

Clementine peeked up at who had been holding her so gently. She's met with striking blue eyes. Eyes she could almost mistake for Tommy's if they weren't on the face of a red haired woman.

Tommy. Tommy Tommy Tommy.

Sally wipes Clem's face with the back of her hand. "Don't cry, Clementine. " she coos, and if Clementine was her twin right now she would scowl and curse. Her twin. Her twin, her twin, her twin. 

She sobs harder and Sally pulls her closer.

"Don't cry honey, it'll be okay." 

Clementine finally musters up the strength to speak. "But what if it's not?" Her voice is hoarse and she almost winces at how small her own voice makes her sound.

Before her sister her friend can reassure her more, the blonde man chimes in. "You're Tommy's sister, correct?" She digs her nails into Sally's cardigan, and nods mutely. The older girl continues to rub circles into her back. "I'm not sure you and Shroud should see him like this."

One of the nurses passing by heard that and stopped. "We usually advise that children are kept out of the room for at least a day if the patient is comatose." Comatose!? No. He can't really be in a coma. That's- wait did she just call her a child? She rose her head from Sally's shirt and sniffled. She could feel her ears getting warm with the knowledge that she must look like a toddler. 

She assumes everyone else agrees when there's a quiet 'aww' from Niki.

Niki, who is her sister. 

Clementine scowled at the nurse and promptly ignored Niki. "I'm not a child. I'm nineteen. "

The nurse raised an eyebrow suspiciously. 

It was at this moment that she realized she had moved from sitting on the bench to sitting on Sally's lap. 

The brunette woman exchanged a look with the nurse and stepped closer to Clementine. Breaking her bubble of safety on Sally's lap, but it feels welcome. 

Once again, she feels warm . Like when the roaring bonfire starts to slow. Hot but not scalding.

Like a Mother. 

Clem sheepishly scoots off of the merling, much to her disdain. 

She faces the woman. 

"I know that you and Tommy are really close," the woman began, "and I understand that you want to be with him while he's recovering." That's for sure, she wanted to protect him like he always did for her. "But when you saw him, you collapsed. Maybe you shouldn't see him like this just yet." She spoke gently, and in a way that didn't feel patronizing like many of the adults in the lab did. 

And gently, oh so gently, Clementine took her hand. 

______

Wilbur watched Kristin lead Clementine away, holding her hand. It reminded him of how these twins are just kids.  

He glanced into the hospital room and saw one of said kids laying lifeless. 

The slow but steady rhythm of the heart monitor buzzed through his entire body. Like when sitting next to a loudspeaker. 

He looked over at his dad and frowned. 

Phil was talking to Techno in a hushed tone, pointedly not looking at Shroud. Speaking of Shroud, he was currently trying to go in the room, and being held back by Niki. 

" No! I wanna see Mimi now!" He cried, and Wilbur's chest tightened. 

It was tightening with many different emotions. Sadness, anger, and fear. 

Sadness that Tommy, who, again, is a child , has to be in so much pain. 

Anger that they hadn't gotten him out. That they had to let a vigilante save him, because no one knew he was there. He was angry he hadn't jumped into action sooner. He was angry at himself. 

Fear that Tommy might not wake up. 

Kristin came back into the hallway, this time without a blonde girl in tow. 

"Clementine is going to visit the woman who gave her and Tommy Innit Cafe. Apparently they lived together for a bit before she went to a retirement home." 

Wilbur's frown deepened. 

If this woman was so helpful and gave them a home, why would she leave? 

Why would she leave two children to fend for themselves?  If they hadn't been given the cafe then Tommy wouldn't have come to the gala. 

But, Wilbur also wouldn't have met the twins. 

"I'm gonna go for a drive." He blurted, without thinking. He didn't even want to go for a drive. Why would he say that? 

Before he knew it he was outside, standing in front of his car. Wilbur grimaced and slipped inside, adjusted his mirror, and cranked up the radio. The whole car shook along with the beat, vibrating as he pressed his shoe into the gas pedal.

______

After thirty minutes of mindless driving, he finds himself here. 

He's not sure how or why he's decided to come here , but he feels like the fluorescent neon pink Open sign mocks him. 

The door is locked, as it's late at night. But still, the rainbow tablecloths and yellow awning mock him. 

Innit Cafe mocks him. 

He ignored the front door, and headed into the alley. Just as he expected, Clementine left the door unlocked in her panic. 

Originally, Wilbur was planning to just lock the door for them, but as he walks up the stairs he feels curiosity growing. 

The Innit twins didn't tell them they didn't want anyone up there. 

They just never invited anyone up. 

Wilbur pushed the door open and flicked on the light. 

It was cramped. Enough so that if Phil were to come here his wings wouldn't be able to expand fully. He stalked into the only other room in the apartment and saw a single bed and a cradle. 

Dead White roses hung over the cradle like a morbid mobile. 

Actually, he's now realizing that every plant in the home is dead. The poppies hanging from the ceiling were withered and drained of color. 

All of the plants on the balcony- including the peonies he saw Tommy tending to earlier that day- were grayish and sad. 

It looked abandoned. 

Even though they had been there this morning, lively, and normal, it now looked like a graveyard for anything with leaves. 

It was so sad and bleak . 

Nothing like Tommy. He can't handle being here. 

Wilbur turned and ran out of the apartment. As he was rounding the corner again, he slammed into something. 

A large man with green hair, and yellow glowing eyes. 

Oh. He must be here to talk to the twins. It's possible he might be another business owner, but that doesn't feel right. 

Wilbur doesn't think he's seen this man before around town. 

"Oh! Sorry, didn't see you coming! Do you live in this building? " the green haired man gestures towards the apartment door. 

"Uh, no-"

"Good." His yellow eyes start glowing unnaturally bright. The pitch black scleras behind only add to the whole creepy and dangerous aura that follows him. Thick, like a toxic smog. 

The man brushes past Wilbur and takes out a communicator. 

He faintly registered the words 'found 'em."

As Wilbur continues down the alley he internally curses for not locking the door. He knows that the green haired man got in because he hears an agitated yell. 

"It's abandoned !" His voice is laced with poorly concealed anger. "Of course I'm sure, 14 would never let his plants…" 

The voice is increasingly quieter as Wilbur walks away. 

It's strange, he knew Niki and Sally were 12 and 11, but they had never talked about someone named 14 .

But if the lab was searching for someone why would they check Innit Cafe? 

Who's 14? 

______

Clara knew it was a bad idea to give a cafe to twin teenagers. 

But, they couldn't come to the home with her and she would never subject them to a life in foster, or homelessness. 

She wished that she would have just kept going and worked until she died . 

Tommy would yell at her for saying something like that. Mention of her dying had made him cry more than a few times, even though he knew she was elderly. 

Those twins were mature but they're still kids. 

Clara had, unfortunately, learned a lot of things that would make them cry. 

Talks of Clara dying, of the twins being separated somehow, or one of them getting severely injured. 

She could check off number three, as Tommy was currently on life support and Clementine- the sweet little girl who always yelled when referred to as such- was sobbing into her chest. 

The snot and tears would stain but Clara didn't mind too much. 

Her heart shattered further when Clem hiccuped and held on tighter to Clara's cardigan. 

When she saw the state of her moth hybrid pseudo daughter she had immediately rushed over to settle them both in an armchair. 

They could both fit as long as Clementine stayed partially on her lap. 

As much as she reassured the blonde, she herself couldn't stop thinking about Tommy. If he would be alright, what exactly happened - Clem wasn't too much help when she was in hysterics- she wanted to know what happened to send it all to shit. 

Clara yelped when she dropped a warm pan on her foot. "Shit." She cursed under her breath. 

Tommy tilted his head at her. "Shit? What does that mean?" His legs swung where he had sat at the counter. 

"Something you shouldn't-"

"It's the word Dr. Smith said when you bit him." Clementine interjected. 

Clara sighed, "I shouldn't have said it. "

In the end, Clara was the one who taught them all the swears they know and gave them their sailor vocabularies. 

At some point Clem had said something about Tommy's powers helping him. Fuck. His powers. 

"Did anyone see Tommy's ears or tails?" She asked, making sure to keep her voice down. 

Clementine's head whipped up. "Shit. I don't think so, he was human when I saw 'im."

Clara sighed in relief. "Well, let's just hope he doesn't reveal anything. '' she patted Clem's shoulder. "If he does, the lab could start causing trouble." The smaller shuddered, and Clara agreed. She had only been held there for a week or so, yet her arms still burned with the phantom pain of injections. 

She was just glad that she hadn't been there when the twins were. 

Otherwise they might have never trusted her. 

The way things worked in the lab, they would select four subjects at a time. If one of those subjects died they would get a replacement. It was unheard of to escape the lab, yet somehow all four siblings did it. Clara was a 'failure subject' meaning none of the tests went through. No new powers, no new hybrid features. Under normal circumstances a failure test would be killed in front of the other three tests to teach a lesson. However, since Clara's group were adults and they were about to run a field test anyway, they let her go. They even removed the chip. 

All subjects were chipped, which was why when the twins passed out in her alleyway she wasn't surprised to see the bloody gauges in their necks. 

Or the numbered tattoos on their thighs. 

Clara was number 8.

Sam was number 7.

As she sat on the cold metal table, she cried. She cried because she was older than other subjects, making her the scapegoat if this didn't work. 

It didn't matter if the chemicals were bad, they would blame it on her age. 

She cried because they had blamed it on her age. She cried because now, she was going to die. She was only thirty, but she couldn't stop this. 

She hoped that 7, 9, and 10 would be okay. 

Speaking of 7, he was walking up to her right now. 

"Cl- 8!" She turned, and her rich brown eyes met toxic yellow ones. She had known Sam before they were taken, but real names weren't allowed in the lab. 

Her heart panged with the knowledge that Dam is nearly eighteen. 

It made subjects seem too human. 

"The doctors said that when they release us for the test run, you can be let go!"

She gawked at Sam in shock. 

She was glad that he was the one to tell her. 

Sam is so kind. 

Now, almost thirty years later she wonders where he went wrong. 

Where did that kind boy go? 

And how did he become a staff member at that horrible place?

There are too many missing pieces. 

For now, she pulls Clem closer.

______

Kristin sat on a chair next to the bed. As her old friend and past partner got closer, she sighed. "I know this was one of the worst villain attacks in a while but-"

"I'm not asking you to come back on patrol with me, LD. " Phil interrupted. 

The retired hero turned with a shocked expression. 

Phil continued, "You were great on the field. I'll always think you should be a hero, but you need to be with him. " Kristin raised an eyebrow at him. 

Her friend rolled his eyes. "You're not being discreet at all. I'm just waiting for you to tell the girls, but you've obviously found your twins." Phil smiled and gestured towards the bed, "Although I am curious why you think it's them."

"Well," she took a deep breath and prepared to explain everything she's been thinking these last few hours. "For starters, they both have the scar on their necks that Sally and Niki have. That means they probably dug out the chips. They also have the same powers that the girls said 13 and 14 were given. And… "

Kristin trailed off. 

"And Tommy has a white streak of hair on the back of his head. Which means… " 

Phil knows what that means. She doesn't have to explain any further. 

Sally and Niki told them about the horrors of that book. 

"I'm not aware of anyone other than the lab that's been able to hold onto a revival book without it being taken." Phil said, but she heard the silent 'Then it must be them.'

"And, I know this sounds stupid but when I was with Clementine it… felt right? I'm not really sure what it was but it was good."

Phil nodded. 

"I was talking to her as I walked her down to that retirement home, and she's such a sad story." She sighed. "She's fourteen years old, but she's so mature. She shouldn't be that grown up. XD forbid children can rest." Kristin rambled, "What did they do in that lab?" She shuddered. 

It had been strange to listen to Clementine talk about the lab without actually mentioning the lab. 

"Tommy and I used to be in a… bad place before we met Clara. All we had was each other. "

Kristin knew it was them, she knew their faces. The voices that screamed so loud that night. The desperate cries as they were dragged away from their mommy. 

Those cries haunt her nightmares. 

She got some sort of closure from her older two. But, these two were there much longer. And they're still at risk. 

Tommy might die. 

It hurts Kristin to think about the fact that he could be gone just as she finally found him. The boy she spent so long searching for. The boy she gave up on finding. The boy that her daughters had to convince her to search for. 

She thought he was dead. 

And she might be proven right soon. 

She hopes not. 

This is all her fault. 

If she had tried harder, resisted more, told Tommy now to go away from the main Hall, kept her eye on the twins the whole time, done anything she could have saved them. 

Wilbur came into the room seeming a bit panicked. 

"Is Tommy dead?" Kristen's heart dropped to her feet at his words. 

"Mate, maybe we don't-"

"No, why." Kristin demanded, not a question. 

Wilbur shifted nervously. "I went to his apartment and all the plants were wilted." He explained. 

"It's just because he doesn't have the energy to keep his powers running and the plants were all probably inflicted by his ability a bit." Phil cut in, hoping not to leave room for his old patrol partner to panic. 

It didn't exactly help. Kristin gripped the edge of the hospital blanket. Slowly, she moved her hand to place it in her son's. 

Her son that she failed twice . 

______

There's a pounding behind Clementine's eyes. 

She tries to shut them harder to stop it. But the voice won't shut up. 

The Innes women are your family. Hold them close.  

It won't stop talking. 

Occasionally, it tries to tell her something she can't hear. 

Static fills her head when this happens, and it hurts . 

The same kind of hurt she felt when her instincts led her to Tommy at the gala explosion… 

Clementine decides she might start listening to the voice. 

______

Niki frowned as Sally wrapped the bandages around her hands. Shroud sat on the bathroom floor next to them, watching quietly. 

It's been three days since the gala. 

She feels awful. About everything. Not helping Tommy, watching 13 save him, punching that wall. 

She looked down at her bloodied knuckles and winced. 

"Yeah, it was dumb decision wasn't it?" Sally chided. 

Niki scowled at her. "Better I punch the wall than you." She snarled, and Sally clipped the bandage. 

"Get yourself under control." Her sister said cooly, looking a tad bit annoyed. 

Well that's just rude. She hates it when Sally tells her to control herself. And she knows that. "I am under control! I'm just fine ." she spat. Niki was absolutely not fine. 

The red haired girl rolled her eyes. "This is why you could never be a hero." She sighed condescendingly. "So stubborn."

Niki scoffed. "You can't say that, you're not a hero either."

"The only reason I'm not a hero," she began "is because you're holding me back."

"I do not-"

"Just shut up already 12!" Sally yelled, startling Shroud and Niki. She threw down the first aid kit and left the bathroom. 

12, come with us. We're going to try something new today. 

Niki's head hurt. 

Dr. Sam ripped 13 out of her arms. "No! Don't hurt her, please! "

She wanted to punch something again. 

"Just sit right here in this chair. We're going to wipe your memories of yours and your siblings' names. It's important you don't go calling each other human names."

The corner of the sink chipped, and the sounds on her knuckles reopened. Shroud, who was already in years scooted away. 

"Shroud, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare-" 

Shroud rushed out of the bathroom. 

Niki sighed, and stood. 

12 sighed and stood. 11 was lying on the park bench and bleeding. It won't kill her. 

She stepped into the hallway. 

12 stepped into the hallway. When her eyes locked on the guard standing over 14's shaking body she was filled with rage. 

Niki peered into the other room where Sally sat. 

12 peered into the other room where 11 sat. She was curled up against the wall, and the spot where 13 should have been was empty. 

Niki winced when her sister met her eye. 

12 winced when her sister met her eye. The blood flowing out of her nose mocked her. It's her fault that 11 was given the beating. 

She doesn't even seem sorry, just annoyed.

11 doesn't even seem sorry, just annoyed. And it pisses her off. What, 12 is just a nuisance? Not worth getting riled up? Of course not, no one is worth the queen bee's anger. XD, she hates her sister. And no, she is not just a 'moody teenager' 11. Shut up.

"You scared him." Sally remarked.

"You scared him." 11 remarked. 14 buried his face further into her clothes, tears staining the white fabric.

______

Wilbur opened the front door and stalked into the kitchen in search of something to drink. His alcoholism is one of his less healthy coping mechanisms, but it does feel good in the moment.

Opening the wine cabinet, he rummages around. When he finally gets that damn cork out, he pours a glass.

When Wilbur raises his cup to his mouth, he takes a moment to look closely at the crimson liquid. Ever so slightly , he can make out Tallulah's pot through the glass. He almost ignored it, but then… he notices that she seems to be dropping. Lowering the glass, Wilbur's eyes lock onto Tallulah.

The leaves that were a rich green three days ago were now grayed, and falling off.

Tallulah's petals were scattered on the table below the vase.

Realization hits Wilbur with all the strength of a bone crushing waterfall.

Raccoon gave him Tallulah.

Tallulah is wilting.

Just like the flowers in Tommy's apartment.

Raccoon gave him Tallulah.

Tommy gave him Tallulah.

Tommy is Raccoon.

But that doesn't make sense, Tommy isn't  a hybrid and it's not like you can hide hybrid features.

That was ridiculous.

But…

It didn't line up any other way. And why would Mothra come to help without her partner? Why would she only take him? 

That means Clementine is Mothra and Tommy is Raccoon. 

They must be. 

And Wilbur won't drop it until he finds out how they did it. 

Chapter Text

Tommy was underwater. 

No. Not underwater, but it sounds like it. Everything is muffled, as if someone was cupping their hands over his ears. Quiet. Too quiet.

Nothing should ever be this quiet.

Why is it so quiet?

It takes more effort than he would like to admit to open his eyes. As he slowly peels his eyelids open, everything hits hard. Everything except noise.

The lights are too bright. The warm thing he's laying on is too soft, his skin aches , his head is spinning. 

He still can't hear anything though.

Someone is holding his hand. Normally, he would swat them away. Instead, it feels very welcome. He looks from the hand to the person. Only to find… What was her name? Kristin, he thinks. Kristin opens her mouth, and Tommy expects to hear her speak. But she doesn't. There's no sound in the room at all. Only muffled ringing.

Kristin mouths something again.

"...What?" Not being able to hear his own voice is really weird.

 He squints, as if he can make himself hear harder that way.

She repeats whatever she said, and a worried expression breaks over her features. Kristin tilts her head and says something again.

Tommy gives his ears a moment to adjust.

They don't.

"I… I can't hear you." He says, not even knowing what he sounds like.

Kristin's frown deepens and she stands. Tommy watches her walk across the room and pick up a pen and paper. She scribbles on it and holds it up to him again. 'I'm going to get a doctor. We brought you to the hospital after the gala.' Tommy nods and looks around, only seeing Wilbur passed out on the other side of the room as Kristin leaves.

Where is Clementine? 

Surely she would have come as soon as she heard.

Or maybe not.

Maybe Clem finally realized how much of an awful brother he is and decided to just let him die at the gala. Maybe she just doesn't care anymore, she's probably tired of him being so broken. He really has only ever been a problem for her. All those times she worried about him when the lab had bad days. The panic attacks. Falling asleep on her. Making her use her wings when she had almost no energy. He is such a monster. Clementine probably hates him. Good on her, he deserves it.

Blue Columbines sprouted in his hair.

A hand wipes the tears off of his face. He looks up through his curls, and Wilbur sits next to him on the bed.

Tommy rubs his eye to get rid of the wetness, and Wilbur wraps his arms around him. He can feel the sobs racking his body, but can't even hear it.

He hopes it's not too loud, he wouldn't want to bother anyone.

When Wilbur pulls away, Kristin and the doctor walk in. At the sight of Tommy sniffling she comes over and sits back in the chair she had been in before, rubbing circles into his hand.

The doctor talks and signs at the same time.

Suddenly, Tommy is glad the lab made him learn sign language for educational purposes, like they ever had an education.

'Do you know sign language?' 

Tommy nods.

'The explosion caused permanent damage to your eardrums. You are almost completely deaf, but luckily, that tiny bit that is not can be enhanced with hearing aids. You should be able to hear completely fine.' 

His heart dropped to his feet. Hearing aids can be really expensive, he can't do that. How will he ever afford that pocket watch Clem was interested in? He wasn't thinking clearly and therefore couldn't sign clearly. 'No money.'  

'We could set up a plan if you can't pay.' The doctor speaks and signs.

Wilbur says something that surprises the doctor. Whereas Kristin just looks at him fondly.

'Mr. Watson has offered to cover all your costs.'

Tommy whips his head to Wilbur. The older man just writes something and shows it to him. ' No arguing. It's happening, we have wealth to spread, don't worry about it. :D'  Tommy sighs and shakes his head. Wilbur flips the page. 'Clementine already agreed.' Oh. He doesn't wanna upset her further than she probably already is, so he can't really fight this.

He just sighs and nods, making Wilbur grin.

The doctor leaves and starts to write on their clipboard. 

He's hit with a sudden bout of exhaustion and leans against Wilbur. The brunette makes a face Tommy can only assume comes with a coo, and moves his hands to hold him. One arm around his shoulders, and one hand on the back of his hair, guiding his head to Wilbur's chest

Tommy takes his hand away from Kristin's and rubs his eyes, yawning.

When he woke up Wilbur wasn't there anymore. Instead, Clementine was under the hospital bed's covers with him. 

She smiled at him. Tommy's breath hitched in his throat. She's not mad. She's just happy to see him awake. Of course she is, she's Clementine. She cares about him so much. He pulled her into a tight hug.

"Did you actually tell Wilbur he could cover the hospital fees?" 

Clem vibrates in a way that he knows is laughter. Laughter that would have been so beautiful if he could hear it, just like it always is. Tommy releases his sister and looks around the room to see Techno and Wilbur clearly bickering about something in the corner, Sally, Niki, and Kristin all talking, and a blonde man talking to a doctor. Not the same doctor though. Judging by the colorful ears printed all over her lanyard she's an otolaryngologist.

They had a few of them in the lab, Tommy saw one when his fluffy ears started bleeding once.

Shit. His ears!

He pats his head frantically and Clementine signs. 'No one saw your hybrid features, don't worry.'   He sighs in relief.

The doctor's eye catches on him and she comes over, smiling.

'Why don't we help those ears of yours?' 

______

The metal is cold against his ear. 

He presses the button on the side, shocked at how fast the world is silenced. When he turns it back on, the sound builds up for a few minutes before it's corrected, but turning it off, that's insane.

Tommy quickly decides he likes hearing aids. 

They're a metallic gold color, which is making the raccoon brain crazy , and they have small hooks for decorating. After the otolaryngologist gave him the hearing aids, she had also mentioned that he could attach chains or charms like someone with multiple piercings might have. His brain was already swarming with ideas of accessories.

He might be a big man, but that most certainly does not mean he forgets about his outfit.

Oh, Clementine is going to be so annoyed when he takes extra time to match a charm to his clothes. Jewelry matters okay! No matter what his dumb twin thinks.

The nurse taking him back to the room he was in lets him lean on her arm, taking the pressure off of his ankle.The first doctor had said he shouldn't walk on it at all for a while, but he's well equipped for dealing with pain.

Clara used to fuss over how they shouldn't be so tolerant of pain, but Tommy would just remind her that he's literally died before. And then, she would get this look on her face he didn't understand. 

Clara frowned and looked like she might… cry? Why? He just explained the revival process.

She reached out and hooked her hands under the crooks of his shoulders, tucking Tommy under her chin. "I'm so sorry baby." Ugh, baby. She always called him that. And it was more annoying that it made sense. He really did look tiny when Clara held him like she was doing now. Nevertheless, she needs to stop apologizing.

Tommy looked up. "Why? You didn't do anything. Actually, I was the one who grew the flower they stole the toxins from. It's my fault, honestly." A tear rolled into his hair.

"It's not your fault Sunshine. Not at all, those tests were sick." Her voice cracked on the last word. Tommy nodded, though he didn't really believe her. Mallows started to grow in the window sill.

He sat on the hospital bed, noticing that Techno and Wilbur were gone. 

That left him with Clem, Sally, Niki, Kristin, Shroud, and that guy he doesn't know. "Who even are you?" He blurted.

The man laughed, and turned to face Tommy.

"I'm Phil. Techno and Wilbur's dad." 

"Ah, so why are you two here? I mean I met Kristin for like a minute, and I've never seen you in my life." Phil chuckles again.

"Wilbur was pretty insistent on paying the bill, so he called up his source of money." 

Tommy burst out laughing. "Wilbur's a trust fund baby!" 

"That he is, mate."

Sally cut in from across the room where she was teaching Clementine how to make friendship bracelets. "Kristin is here because she's our mom!" She gently took the orange beaded bracelet from the younger girl, and tied a knot at the end.

Tommy's head whipped over to her. "She is!?" 

Niki smiled and nodded. She probably would have confirmed verbally if Shroud didn't have his hand on her mouth. For… some reason.

"Shroud, you alright?" The toddler turns and locks eyes with him.

"Mimi woke up!" He jumped off Niki and came running over to the bed, plopping himself right on Tommy's lap.

Tommy barked out a laugh. "Not surprised that you didn't notice, honestly. So what did you do while I was sleeping?" He pretended not to notice how Clem winced when he said 'sleeping'. 

"Oh I went to the baby house." Shroud said simply.

"What?"

"We live in the Watson's guest house and he's pretty dead set on calling it the bigger house's baby." Sally explained, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Baby house."

"No, Shroud-"

The merling was cut off by the two year old launching himself off of the bed. "Look! Look it!"

He was standing on his tiptoes at the window, pointing at something. Clementine leaned over and spotted whatever Shroud was so excited about. "Oh, Blade is doing an interview outside." She turned back to him. "Blade is your favorite hero, huh." Shroud nodded profusely.

"He has sharp arms like a knife." Clem pulled Shroud up onto her lap, smiling down at him. 

"Sweetie, I think that's why he's called Blade." She brushed his bangs out of his eyes and paused for a second. "Why is your skin so… sticky ?" 

Sticky? Why would Shroud's skin be sticky ? He hadn't noticed that when he was hugging Tommy. 

"Spider!"

"What?" The twins said in unison, making Kristin chuckle fondly. 

"I make webs like a spider. I got it when Mimi was at the big party." Shroud smiled, big and goofy.

"Wait, did your powers manifest!?" Clementine half yelled, not even phasing the toddler. 

"I think so, I can go upside down too." He hopped off of Clementine and started just sticking to the wall . In almost no time at all, Shroud was sticking to the ceiling on all fours. Welp, great. This is going to be awful, having a baby that will most likely never want to be on his own two feet. He can already hear the tantrums about 'No! I wanna be on the ceiling!' And 'You have to baby, the blood will rush to your head and you might pass out.' Tommy sighs, burying his face in his hands.

"Maybe don't do that honey. Come on down, and don't drop. Climb down the wall, please." He says, ignoring the 'awws' from him calling the kid honey . Whatever, he loves the kid and he doesn't care if it's cute or precious to the others.

Shroud climbs down and Tommy checks the time. Almost eight thirty. Around the time one of the twins would bring Shroud up to the apartment for bedtime.

"Clem, does he have an overnight bag or something?" She nods. "Okay Shroud, you should get in your pajamas. Have Clem help you." Shroud groans dramatically and Tommy rolls his eyes. "Go on, it's bedtime." 

For almost half an hour, Clementine struggles to get Shroud to settle down for bed. Only when they said he could sleep on the soft couch in the corner instead of Tommy's bed did he lie down.

He would have preferred to have just slept in the same bed, since the hospital bed has a side rail, but they should be able to prevent him from rolling off as long as they keep a close eye. He might have been taking that a bit too seriously, but he didn't really care.

"-ommy!" He turned to Clementine.

"Dude you've been staring at him for like ten minutes. I'm gonna bring him over to the bed." 

Tommy sighs. "Thanks. He won't be too happy when he wakes up though" Clementine waves him off.

Kristin smiles at him, and it feels so warm and loving. "I think it's so sweet that you can't concentrate if he isn't safe. I used to do the same things for my little ones." Her face almost looked pained at that. "Although you're much younger than I was when I had a baby. How did you guys even end up with the little guy?" 

Clementine set Shroud on his lap, and Tommy adjusted him so it's more comfortable for the both of them, growing an olive branch as extra support for his back.  "His mom left him outside the cafe, apparently having heard that the owners were nice people." The moth hybrid explained.

She walked over to a small coffee table, picked up the remote, and flicked the screen on.

Siren was on the screen, addressing a ridiculous amount of reporters. "We've confirmed that the bombing was an attack from Jschlatt and Pokerface. Their cases are being moved to top priority, we will not let these villains take us down." 

Tommy snorted. "I mean I like the guy but that was just cringey."

"This is why I prefer vigilantes." Sally stated, packing away the beads and string. Niki started choking on air, startled by what her sister said. Why, though? All she said was that she preferred vigilantes.

He would have been startled if Clementine said something like that, but why would those two?

He ignores it in favor of pressing a kiss to Shroud's head, easing him back to sleep after the kid had stirred a bit.

In the morning, the hospital discharged him and Tommy was soon limping out to Kristin's car. She had tried to insist they find him a wheelchair but he was fine. He could barely feel it anyway.

Clementine bounced Shroud on her hip, trying to entertain him by pointing out flowers and their meanings.

Shroud was very much not interested. Instead, he wanted to keep trying to tuck Clem's hair back, but she stopped him as she didn't want to reveal her pointed ears. He pouted, and demanded to be let down on the ground, kicking at Clem.

"It's only like ten feet to the car, you'll live." Tommy said sternly, and Shroud stopped kicking his legs.

The toddler crossed his arms and made a tiny 'hmph' sound.

Due to the fact that they don't own a car, they also don't own a car seat for Shroud. So, the twins just figured he would sit on someone's lap and they'd hold on tightly.

Clementine slid into the passenger seat, leaving Tommy to sit in the back alone. Everyone else was in the other two cars. One had Phil, Niki, and Techno, the other had Wilbur and Sally. Shroud was in her lap, and hit her on the chest with a tiny balled hand.

"Hey. We do not hit, mister." His twin warned. 

"I want Mimi!" He whined, tears threatening to spill. Clem just passed him to the back seat wordlessly. 

Kristin turned to the both of them. "So where am I taking you guys?"

"Innit Cafe. It's on Reese Blvd. White building, yellow striped awnings."

"Kay! We're off then."

 Shroud hits against his chest, and before Tommy can scold him he notices how pale Shroud is."My tummy hurts."

"Do you think you're gonna throw up?" He asks, fully ready to do everything in his power not to get vomit on the leather seats.

"No but it hurts ."

"We can get you some cold medicine at home." Clementine promises from up front.

"Just don't throw up in Kristin's car." 

Shroud sighs, and leans into Tommy. "Not gunna, but my tummy hurts ." He whines.

"I'm sorry baby, just make it home."

"Aww."

"Shut it Kristin."

"Damn."

The four of them arrive at the cafe and Tommy immediately notices that his balcony plants have died. It's sad to see them like that, but he'll just bring em back with a little magic boost.

They wave bye to Kristin, and go inside.

Tommy grabs a bowl, a thermometer, and a bottle of children's medicine from the cabinet. In the living room, Clementine has Shroud's head in her lap, and she's pulling through the tangles with gentle hands. He sets everything down near the couch, before walking out to the balcony.

He freezes when he sees… a notepad from the lab.

Oh XD. They were here. Someone from the lab was here while they were staying at the hospital. What did they find? Did they see Shroud's crib? Did they find the vigilante gear?

"Toms?" He glances up at his sister, When did he sit down? and blinks the tears away. Why is he crying?

He reaches over to the notepad, and sees that someone had scribbled 'Plants are dead. It is unlikely they are still residing here.' He passes it to his twin mutely, and doesn't need to look up to see her horrified face. 

"I- I thought after this long they would have stopped looking."

"Me too."

They sat in silence for a minute, the only noise being Tommy's windchimes and Shroud's soft snores.

"We thought wrong." Tommy said grimly, squeezing his eyes closed. "They're hunting us." The ground near the flower pots have been smeared with green, toxic liquid. Tommy's gut feels like it's filled with rocks. They sent Sam . He never had understood why he helped Tommy leave.

Although maybe he hadn't been expecting to use the open door to escape , he might have thought that 14 would just get his sister and friend from containment.

Dumbass.

14 let out a shaky breath, as a memory flashed before his eyes.

Sam's hand was cold on his exposed shoulder. 14 hoped that his fingers weren't dirty as a gash that big would surely get infected. "You will never escape." His hopefully-not-dirty fingers dug into his bloody flesh harder, almost enough to make 14 flinch. "Even if you leave, you can not escape."

Glowing yellow eyes set on 14. 

"You are the perfect outcome, the one test that has gone exactly as we wanted. You are my masterpiece."

Tommy almost laughs, remembering how much he didn't care. As well as how he just wanted Sam not to touch him if he was dirty. Clementine had always said he's a bit of a germaphobe. Not even true, he can handle germs just fine . He just prefers that if you are dirty, do not fucking touch him. Although, he can make an exception for Shroud. Sick toddlers get special privilege.

But if he starts gagging, Tommy is running for the hills.

So for now, he's going to ignore this awful feeling setting into his bones in favor of looking back through the apartment window.

"Go back to sleep, baby." He calls, catching his sister's attention. Clementine looks behind her and sees Shroud sitting up with a gray baby blanket draped over his shoulders.

To be frank, the kid looks like shit. Pale skin, exhaustion clear on his face, and hair sticking up every which way. Tommy stood up and went inside, guiding Shroud to lay on the couch again. He smooths over his hair and winces when he feels how warm the baby is.

He takes the thermometer off of their makeshift coffee table and points the red dot on a bare spot between the black curls.

Yikes, 38.9° Celsius.

Hopefully it will get better with sleep. That's what Clara told him, at least.

Both Tommy and Clem had managed to get sick after getting caught in the rain last night. It was kind of their fault, Clara had told them not to go to the thrift store that late. But they needed a fabric sample!

Tommy was caught off his train of thought when he coughed up purple hyacinth petals.

He groaned and turned, burying his face into a pillow. Clara patted his back and ran his fingers through his hair. "You two look so little when you're clinging to me like this. Try to rest a bit, sweetheart."

"Can't sleep. Hurts…" Being sick is a new experience, to say the least. The lab tried to keep them from getting colds or anything. 

"Close your eyes."

Tommy sighed, flopping on his back again, and closing his eyes.

"Try to sleep, I promise you'll feel better if you do."

Tommy slipped Shroud's spider plushie into his arms.

"You know when we were sick, you slept with a stuffed animal too. You're twelve years older than him." Clementine remarks, wearing a shit eating grin.

"I did not!" Tommy exclaims, flushing red.

"Did too, I have a picture."

"Delete that right now.

"So you admit that it's real?"

'"Wha- no you probably photoshopped it!"

"I'm not smart enough to do that, and you know it." She points an accusatory finger at him.

"Whatever." He mumbles, crimson roses sprouting all around him.

"Awww is little baby man Tommy embarrassed?" Clementine teases him as she takes out her phone. Much to Tommy's horror, her lock screen is a picture of Tommy wrapped in a red blanket, curled up with a small cow plush and sleeping on the couch.

What's worse is he knows exactly where the cow is right now, as it sits on the nightstand in their shared bedroom at all times.

"You're a right dick you know that?" Tommy deadpanned. Clementine threw her head back and cackled like a witch.

There was a knock on the door, cutting off his sister's laughter.

They exchanged worried glances and Tommy moved to open it. He was met with a huge man. Well built, dark sunglasses, suit, even one of those coily cord things cops have in movies.

He starts internally panicking. Something must be extremely wrong. They found files from the lab, maybe? Or they could have discovered their vigilante personas somehow. Neither is a good option, actually they're both terrible options. He would much rather this man just go home. Maybe they found out that the cafe downstairs is owned and run by minors. Oh no, they could take the twins into foster care. They would surely be split up. Shroud, too.

"Tommy and Clementine Innit? We're here from the hero committee on behalf of Dream."

…

Well that's not what he was expecting.

______

Wilbur's hella bored.

He's off work this week, and Sally's been preoccupied with… something. He honestly doesn't know, something about her mom acting really off.

Phil and Techno are on duty, and those Innit twins haven't been responding. It's been almost four full days since Tommy was discharged, and nothing. Radio silence. He wondered if maybe he made them upset? They could be iffy around him after getting the hospital bills paid for.

He should be working on the vigilante project, but he doesn't want to do that.

It's this stupid assignment the top heroes were put on. There's a shortage of hero recruits, and therefore they want to bring in vigilantes. However, there's been no luck as no one actually wants to turn in vigilantes. They're helpful, and don't have to bend to fit within the rules of the committee.

After Dream took over as the new committee leader, things just got worse. It got so bad, three pro heroes retired and almost all the recruits left.

That's what happened to Lady Death. Kristin hated every decision Dream made as a council member, but the day he got the promotion was the day she turned in her letter of resignation. Phil missed his patrol partner, but he could deal.

Just then, his phone started to ring.

Techno

Calling…

Wilbur pressed the answer button, and was met with an angry sounding Techno.

"I'm gunna fuckin kill Dream."

Wilbur sighed, "What did he do?"

Techno took a deep breath. "Since the vigilante project hasn't been as successful as he wanted, he just started targeting civilians. "

"What!? They can't just do that can they?" Wilbur questioned.

"They're going into the outer districts and just taking a bunch of barely legals who don't live with their parents. He's already taken an eighteen year old, and two nineteen year olds." Techno explains, and Wil can hear the frustration leaking through. "Apparently they knocked them all out, and when they wake up tomorrow, they're bringing them here from a second location and starting training."

"They just reinstated the young adults protection act didn't they?" 

"It was revoked."

Shit. This is bad, really bad. There are hundreds of people who could get caught up in this. The whole point of being a hero is to help people. If someone wanted to help in the way heroes do, they would have chosen to be a hero.

They can't just take people.

Can they?

______

When Tommy opened his eyes, he was faced with- 

"Purpled!?" He shot up and looked around.

A small contained space… maybe the back of a truck? All metal walls, no windows, very little light. Just barely enough to make out the face of his best friend. Purple glowing eyes backed by pitch black scleras stare at him.

"14? That's not actually you, is it? Where are your ears and tail? Did someone take them? I'm gonna fucking kill them." Purpled overwhelmed him with questions, making him laugh awkwardly.

"It's me. They're just hidden right now, no need to start a killing spree. Also, it's Tommy now. And 13 is Clementine." Tommy falters. "Wait, you escaped the lab?" 

He's sure they would have had security increased after the twins got out, so if Purpled got out it must have been something big.

Purpled sighed. "I didn't." Wait. What? "We're doing a field run. MD and I were sent out to see how we would function against the elements. Unfortunately, those assholes saw me and questioned me. I lied, and told them I was eighteen. They knocked me out after." He scowls. "If I had known they were going to be a threat, I would have taken care of them."

"Should have killed the pricks." Hold on. "You told them you're eighteen?"

"Yeah, fifteen is close enough. How old do they think you are? I'm pretty sure if they knew you're fourteen you wouldn't be here."

Tommy rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "So…" He began. "They might , hypothetically, think we're nineteen."

Purpled's face was completely blank for a moment.

And then, he started laughing hysterically. Tommy glared at him, offended. Once the alien hybrid finally calmed down he wiped a stray tear from his cheek. "No way in hell." Tommy scoffs. "Nineteen!? Dude, you guys look like you're twelve. It's literally fucking impossible."

"Well they seem to believe it."

He snorts. "Yeah, probably because they just wanted to take you and your sister." He paused, looking around. "Uhm. Where is your sister?"

Tommy looks all around. Clementine isn't here.

He gasps, and stands up. It almost makes him fall over, as the truck is currently driving, but he manages. He tries to keep steady breathing as he searches the truck, but keeping his cool right now is like gripping at water. With every drop that slips through his fingers, his head pounds more.

"-ommy!" A hand grasps his shoulder. He turns to see Purpled there, with a stern expression. "Breathe. Here, sit down." Tommy gets guided to sit on his knees by gentle hands. "Now, tell me five things you can see."

As he tries to draw a breath, he surveys the truck. "I- I can see the- I can see the metal wall. Your hand, your eyes, my pants, and my shoes." He takes another shaky breath.

"Four things you can touch."

"The floor, your hand, my hoodie, and this… bump in the floor." Tommy lists, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat.

They continue until Tommy's fully calmed down, and leaning heavily on Purpled. In return, his friend just cards a hand through his hair.

"Do you know where they could have taken her?" He asks, seeming a bit hesitant to say anything about Clementine.

He replies, hoping to ease Purpled into speaking freely again. "Well those guys said they came on Dream's behalf." He mulls it over. "What would Dream want with us? And why would he separate us? Oh shit, Shroud-"

"Tommy." Purpled grips his arm a bit tighter. "Slow down. Who's Shroud?"

"A baby me and Clem found."

"I'm- not even gonna ask." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Maybe, they took two per truck. So Clementine and Shroud might be in another truck."

Or they could have left Shroud behind. They could have killed Clementine and left the poor kid with a bloody dead body. They killed Clementine. Oh, XD they should not have done that. As soon as Tommy gets his hands on them he's going to wrap vines around their throat and squeeze until the life leaves their eyes. He'll grow plants around their organs. Fuck them. Fuck all this, ge just wanted to own a cafe and maybe, just maybe be able to help people too.

The metal all around taunts him. Petunias bloom from the slits in the floor, reaching much higher than they should.

"Purpled." Tommy looks up at him, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Let's fucking kill them." 

Purpled grins widely. "Oh, hell yeah." He stands, much steadier than Tommy did, and reaches a hand out. "On the count of three, we charge at the door and you boost yourself for extra strength. Tommy nods.

Vines crawl up his legs, and brace to launch.

"One…" 

"Two…"

"Three!" The boys scream in unison, both slamming hard into the large metal doors. They fly open, letting them both roll out and onto the asphalt. Almost immediately, the truck screeched to a halt. Tommy and Purpled shot up and ran. 

As fast as possible, they sprinted down an empty highway. In the distance, he heard faint yelling. It might not have been that far though, Tommy's hearing still wasn't the greatest.

He turned his head to check and saw that two men who were much closer than they thought were following behind, loading their guns. Unlike the man earlier these guys had full bulletproof vests and helmets. Clearly prepared for this.

Tommy prepares to try and dodge the bullet. However, when the guard shoots there's no bang. Only a slight zap as something white hits Purpled's back. He drops, and Tommy stops to try and pick him up. Just then, he hears another zap .

An unwelcome coldness spreads over him and settles into his bones. All of the energy leaves his body as his legs give out. His chest felt empty, and he went limp. A soft green glow emitted from his palms, and then, it was gone. When the green glow disappeared it was as if a part of him was missing . Something was wrong. Something is so, so wrong, it's- 

It's his powers.

He can't use them. No matter how hard he tries, no flowers bloom, and no vines wrap around him.

Tommy imagines a poppy growing.

Nothing happens.  

He gives in, and lets his eyelids shut.  

When he wakes up, he can hear cruel laughter. One of the guards is now in the truck with them, talking to the driver. A steel capped boot presses down on his chest.  "One little hit and they were both down." The man laughs again. "Can't imagine why Dream would want to use these assholes." Dream. Oh shit, Dream is taking them.

He could easily kill them. Tommy would never want that for Purpled or Clementine.

If he didn't think it would hurt Clem, he would embrace death. But, he knows that would upset her. It would also probably inconvenience the rest of them, too. Funerals cost a fucking fortune.

Damn. Is this really how he goes out? Tommy Danger Careful Kraken Innit, big man extoirdinaire. He forgot to wash the dishes. Clementine will kill him. Tommy looks up. "You can't take me away."

The man looks down at him with a sneer. "Why not, brat?"

"Because I said so." Duh, these guys must be stupid. "Things only go the way I want ever. I am but a sickly orphan. How dare you assault this crippled, grieving orphan. Did I mention my mother just died? Dear old Mam, malaria's a bitch."

Purpled kicked his shin hard . "Shut up before I kill you."

"Owwww, that's treason! This is tyranny! Oligarchy! Other corrupt government things!"

"That doesn't even make sense."

Suddenly, the boot presses further into his gut, almost making him gag. "You two shut your asses up, just let us get to the tower."

"Naur! Cleor!" Tommy blurts.

"The condensation!" Purpled finishes, except that he did it wrong . No accent, just normal. What a bitch. That killjoy gets no bitches or cash.

Wow. Tommy is really delirious huh? 

Chapter Text

Tommy could cry. There, standing only a few feet away, is Clementine. A lotus blooms somewhere he can't see, probably in the nearest body of water. She looks a lot better injury wise, as she probably didn't try to escape and land face first in the road. She rushes over, touching his face. "Toms, what happened to your face? Wait- Purpled!?" Purpled just waved. "What the hell happened to you two? You look awful."

"Thanks Clem, real kind." Tommy retorts sarcastically. "We ate it into the asphalt and got shot with power suppressors." He opens his palm, satisfied when a small succulent sprouts on his finger. 

"Good thing it wore off." Clem said, before suddenly getting a look on her face like she just remembered something. "They took Shroud."

Oh shit. Holy fucking no, they got him.

"But.." Clementine continued, "They did ask me if there was a place he could be sent to. Like a trusted friend. I.." she looked at Tommy again, almost sheepish. "I offered Niki Sally and Kristin. I know we probably shouldn't, but the voice said to and-"

"Voice? Clementine, what are you talking about." He demanded, growing more worried when she didn't answer. "What voice? Explain."

Clementine continues to stare at her feet, and fidgets nervously. Purpled watches from a bit away, his amused smile now turned into a confused grimace. "Well…" she took a deep breath. "The night of the gala? A voice started talking to me in my head." She winces, seeing Tommy's shocked expression. "It told me how to find you though! And it keeps telling me who I can trust as well. When that man came to the door it was screaming at me not to let you answer it, but… I didn't listen and now-" tears roll down her cheeks, and her voice cracks.

Tommy pulls his twin into a tight hug. "It's okay. It's not your fault." 

Someone else comes into the room, interrupting them. "While this is sweet," Tommy looks up. "We need to get this show on the road." It's a man in a neon green suit, with a smiley face mask and a smiley face tie to match. He tilts his head, face hidden. "They told me you were all much older. Well, it doesn't really matter. If you weren't living with your parents anyway it'll be fine." Well that's a bit fucked, in Tommy's opinion. "Definitely our youngest heroes. That's good. You'll have more time to work."

He gestures for them to follow, and they all walk down a long hallway.

First, they pass two large steel doors. "This is the cafeteria. You will only be allowed in when your trainer brings you." With one hand, he gently pushes the door open to reveal a large room with lots of heroes milling about. Some of them, Tommy recognized. Blade and Crow were talking in hushed tones, not even taking notice of the group entering. In the corner, stood two heroes from another agency, Ocean Queen and Yammy. 

Tommy let himself smile at the sight of Ocean Queen's axolotl Sir Strawberry for a moment before tuning back into the man's spiel.

"On the forty fourth floor are your rooms. Be up by seven at the latest." Well that won't be too bad, they already wake up super early to open the cafe anyway. Tommy sighed, it couldn't be that bad.

It was that bad. It was worse, actually. After a full day of training it was now 3:00 A.M. Now, Tommy could run on four hours of sleep. He did it on less regularly, due to his habit of getting sidetracked on patrol.

Tommy wasn't usually enduring hours of endless training with no breaks.

Hopefully it wouldn't be as bad with the heroes Dream told them would come tomorrow morning.

They had only been training for one day, and he already felt like he could crawl into bed and die. When they finally allowed the heroes in training (or the H.I.T.s as Dream called them,) to go to their rooms, Tommy had stared at his new array of bruises in the mirror for a while.

It was a bit like staying in a hotel, with the way the bed sat in the middle of the room. He had only stayed in a hotel once, when Clara needed to meet with some family who lived a bit far out, but it had been a bit bigger, and had two beds.

Clara set their bags down on the bench next to the TV stand. "I can help you." Tommy offered, standing behind her and trying to look over her shoulder at what she was doing.

"It's late, baby. Go to bed." She responded, without looking back to see his scowl. "You're already in pajamas."

He pouted a bit. "I can help you, though. I'm not tired like Clem is." The twin in question stirred, but stayed sleeping. She shifted, just now moving to a different spot than where Clara had tucked her in after carrying her in from the bus. "I can help." Tommy repeated.

"Bedtime, Tommy." His frown deepened. He doesn't have a bedtime , he's fourteen.

"I'm too old for bedtime." He informs her, slightly annoyed that she's treating him like a baby. He is most definitely not a baby.

Clara turned her head, and she seemed amused. "I'm an old woman. If I can still pick you up, you're young enough to have a bedtime."

"But you can't!" Tommy half yelled, frustration seeping through.

She stopped rummaging through the bag and turned the whole way around, gently grabbing his forearms and meeting his gaze. "Tommy, you're lashing out right now because you're tired. It's time for bed."

"I'm not tired." He grumped, crossing his arms like an angry child, which he was not.

Clara scooped him up surprisingly easily, bringing him to the large bed Clementine was sleeping in. She dropped him on the plush mattress, before tucking him in. 

Tommy had fallen asleep minutes after that, and now, although he still thinks he is much too old for a bedtime, he wishes Clara was here. He wishes she was here to comb through his hair, tell him it was okay. 

It is definitely not okay.

The door connecting his room to Clementine's creaks, and she slips in. "Toms?" She looked through the dark room until she finally laid eyes on him. "Can I…" her cheeks flush, and she looks down at her socked feet. "Can I sleep in your bed?"

Tommy smiles. "Yeah. I think I need it too." After taking off his hearing aids and releasing the magic gripping his hybrid features, he slips into bed. Clementine comes after, and presses into Tommy.

When they wake up, Tommy doesn't mention the wet patch on his shirt. He reads the alarm clock on the nightstand. 6:37 A.M. 

He's surprised to find clothes in his closet, but not surprised that they're all work out attire. And slightly too big for his skinny frame. Clem goes into her room to find her own clothes, and they make their way to the gym.

The fact that all three H.I.T.s are dressed in the same white tank top and gray cargo pants makes them look weird. Like when people go to theme parks in matching shirts. They probably look like they're on a field trip.

It also really sells the whole twin thing. They have fairly similar faces, and besides length and Clem's orange tips their hair is the same. Blonde, curly, and unruly . Multiple heroes gave them confused looks as they came through, as well as an intern who was saying that those two kids look so stinkin' cute, all matching!- 

Like damn, they're twins but Purpled is there too. Give him some credit, although his shirt is definitely on backwards. Tommy considered telling him and ultimately decided, nope! Simply too much effort.

When they get to the training room, the masked man from before isn't there. Instead, the hero group SBI are all standing in a circle, whispering.

For a second, they don't notice the three teenagers. But when Siren finally spots them, he punches Blade and points at them. His mouth formed a small o like he was shocked.

When it seems Blade registers them, he speaks. 

"What are you doing here!?"

Tommy and Purpled exchange confused looks, and Purpled points out the obvious. "We're the new heroes in training, I guess? It's weird to say that."

"Two nineteen- holy shit. You- none of you are adults! There is no way in hell they actually believe you lot are grown ups." Crow says. Although it seems a bit like them being young isn't actually what he's upset about.

Tommy scoffs, crossing his arms. "I am too a grown up!"

"Do you remember what we were talking about before-"

"Shut your trap, dumb shit-"

"We were taken, you had Duffle-"

"Stop talking! This is a lie! Slander!"

"If I get my phone back, I'm sending it to everyone I know."

"You know like seven people."

"Both of you stop." Crow reprimands, reminding the twins of the heroes' presence. "We know you're not adults, so tell us exactly what happened. Did they just take you from your houses?"

"Pretty much, I mean they asked me if I was living with my parents, and my age, but I think these two just got knocked out." Purpled says, gesturing towards Tommy and Clementine (Who were glaring at each other.) "He said it's the government's right to draft us into it."

"Didn't tell us that." Clementine grumbles.

Without warning, Siren takes off his eye cover, revealing-

"Wilbur!?"

______

Turns out, all the Watsons are heroes. Tommy probably should have guessed, who else has that deep of a voice and pink hair? They were supposed to be training the new recruits, but none of them wanted to put them through the hard training of a hero.

"You guys are way younger than we were when we started this, and it was still fuckin' hard." Techno states plainly "You're children."

"No we're not! We're nineteen-" Tommy starts to protest, only to get cut off by Wilbur.

"Tommy. Nobody believes you." He grabs Tommy's shoulders and fixes him with a completely deadpan expression.

The doors slam open, and in comes Dream. Like angry rain clouds, he storms in, drenching them all in negative emotions and what Tommy can only imagine as acid rain.

Phil glares at the man, stepping closer. 

"Why the fuck are you trying to turn three children into heroes!?" The anger is evident in his voice, and Tommy almost flinches at his harsh tone.

Dream sighs. "If they were children, they would have guardians. We have the full right to do this. I don't know what you think you're doing though, they should have already started training by now." Dream waves his hand. "Go on, I'll assign you your mentors. Purpled, Blade. Clementine, Siren. Thomas, Crow."

They separated, now standing in three groups of two.

Phil reluctantly started. They were sparring,and Tommy kept a close eye on the way his mentor moves. He was strong, but his wings can weigh him down, as well as throw him off balance.

Tommy took advantage of that, and the next time Phil slowed, vines shot through the mats and pulled him to the ground. 

His victory was short lived, when Phil proceeded to knock him onto his ass three rounds in a row. 

Finally, he got an opening. The avian moved swiftly behind him, and in the split second between landing and stepping, Tommy gripped his arm. Copying what he had once seen a gaurd do in the lab, he threw him over his shoulder. Slamming on the ground, (and probably hurting his wings) Phil quickly sat up. "XD, mate! Where did you learn that?"

"Saw someone do it." Tommy shrugged, making the avian hybrid stare in disbelief.

"Hold on," he started, baffled. "You just saw someone do it, and copied without even learning technique at all?

Tommy nodded. Phil just kept staring.

Over on the other side of the gym, Wilbur and Clementine were watching this exchange. 

"It's true, he has always just been able to copy shit. He played a piano once, I've never even seen sheet music." Clem explained, sounding just as exasperated as she was fond.

Wilbur perks up a bit. "You've never seen sheet music?" Clementine shook her head silently. "Would you like to learn to read it." He smiles again when he sees how she just beams. 

"Yeah! I've always wanted to learn to play guitar. One of the," she pauses. Should she just say doctors? Or make something up? "People, I used to know played sometimes." She smiled, that doctor was one of the few who actually treated them like kids when they were really little. Like, before 11 and 12 left. She was 'fired' (read: killed) when she refused to give Clementine an injection.

The hero doesn't seem to notice her inner turmoil, instead turning in everyone else's direction. "I'm taking Clementine outside to the track." He calls, before starting towards the door.

Clementine hastily follows, wondering why they would suddenly switch training like that.

She gets even more confused when Wilbur doesn't go outside, and gets in an elevator. She steps in as well, watching him click the 93rd floor. 

"Why aren't we going to the track?" She asks, looking up, because this bitch is so tall .

"You'll see."

Well that's cryptic. That doesn't at all make Clementine think he may be plotting to take her where no one can hear her screams and shank her. Not at all. Why would she think that? It's not like someone saying 'you'll see' has ever been used in any horror movie. Of course not. Clearly, Wilbur is going to take her to a candyland full of butterflies and rainbows. That's clearly what he implied.

When the elevator dings, they're on a floor of meeting rooms. Wilbur leads her into an empty one, and then stands on a chair to pull down a ceiling tile.

Wilbur holds a hand out.

Clementine stares in confusion. 

"You… want me to get in the ceiling?" She asks, grabbing his hand. Albeit hesitantly.

He puts one foot on the table, and lets her step on his thigh to climb up. When she pulls herself in, she gasps. A small wooden loft  is hidden above. Wilbur follows, moving the ceiling tile back once they're both up. Clementine looks around, there's pillows, a guitar, and polaroids strung up. There's pictures of Techno and Wilbur, Wilbur and Sally-

"Ew, you guys kiss?"

He laughs, grabbing the guitar. "Yes Clementine, I kiss my girlfriend." She scrunched up her face, making him laugh a little harder. 

For the next hour, Wilbur explained sheet music, chords, and guided Clementine as she strung together sloppy notes.

When they get back to the gym, their moods immediately sour.

Phil, Techno, and Purpled all stood together, looking furious . Tommy was on the ground, dried blood trailing from his lips to his chin. Dream stood above, with one foot pushing down harshly on his back. Guilt hit Clementine like a train.

While she was off learning guitar, Tommy was being put through hell. Where the hell was the voice when that happened? Huh? Is it even still there ? 

XD, she failed him again .

Without thinking, she ran to him and started healing his injuries. The room went silent, until Dream started cackling.

"How lucky am I? A healer! I'm so glad I decided to knock this kid out." Clementine grit her teeth. He talks like he was just bored and wanted to beat up her twin. Now, she was barely staying up right. It had looked like just a busted lip, but he must have had some other major injury that she healed if it took this much energy.

Dream starts speaking again, but it all blurs together as she sways. Before Tommy even regained consciousness, she was out cold.

______

Tommy has been in training for a month now. Every day, he wakes up, trains with Phil until Dream eventually decides he wants to let his anger out.

On the first day, he did this around everyone else, and made it look like sparring.

Now, he takes him to another hall and just beats the shit out of him. He claims the two of them are training his powers, although they both know his powers are strong enough already.

After Clementine healed him and got found out by Dream, he started hiding his injuries from her so she wouldn't try and exhaust herself. Sometimes, she's forced to go to the medbay and heal injured pros. All of which could heal just fine by themselves.

His powers had been feeling slightly off lately, he assumes it's because he hasn't used them in a bit.

He's pulled out of his train of thought when he receives a harsh kick to the gut. He coughs, blood and spit spraying the floor.

He has to get up. If he doesn't get up, Dream will be mad.

Speak of the devil, the man walks closer. "You have the potential to be a hero, Tommy. Don't mess this up. This training, this pain, it's all love! I love you, and I'm training you to be the best. I don't want to hit you, but if it's the only thing that can teach you to take a punch, you need to learn." Tears burn at the corner of his eye, and he fights to keep them in. Dream coos. "Are you crying Tommy? There's no need for that, I would never hurt you."

Dream would never hurt him. Dream loves him, Dream just wants to help him.

"No, no, we would never hurt you 14! We just think it's so amazing that you can do all this stuff! Why don't you let go of your sister now, it's time for a test." 14 clings harder onto 11's leg, and shakes his head profusely.

"Nuh uh. I' hur'." He tried to speak, throat still sore from crying.

The doctor's face darkened. "I didn't want to do this, 14." He presses a small metal button. A sharp,  electric pain encompasses his whole body, and the chip just below his skin buzzes. The shock hurt, he doesn't want it to happen again.

Dream would never do anything like that . His goal is to have more heroes. That would help people, which is good. "N-no, I'm not crying." He struggles to keep his voice level, and still fails anyway.

"Good." He turns, and walks back towards the gym. "Go eat a protein bar and come straight back. You still have training with Crow."

Tommy nods, and walks to the cafeteria. He stops, eyeing the buffet. He can't have it, and he needs to stop thinking about it. Dream already told him, he won't be a good hero if he's greedy. Instead, he takes a bar from the nearby basket.

The room feels smaller. His breaths come shorter. He feels eyes on him from everywhere, his chest is constricting, he can't breathe, he can't- he can't breathe- 

He stops breathing. He tries to gasp for air. Nothing happens. Poppies grow on his stomach, bursting through the fabric of his shirt. He falls. It's almost like the poppies on his front are coming from inside of him. He can almost feel the vines of his own power wrap around his organs. He can almost feel the white carnations on his heart. 

Almost.

He would probably feel it if he could feel anything. Again, he kinda isn't breathing right now.

The world goes dark, as everything gets blurry. His hearing aids have thorns on them, cracking the metal. The sound of the cafeteria fizzles into static, black spots dancing around his vision. Distantly, Tommy knows this hurts more than when he died.

Maybe he is dying.

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

He stops gasping for air, now silent in the corner of the room. No one had even noticed him at all. Nobody noticed the boy in the corner, now covered in plants, barely visible underneath.

Not breathing.

No heartbeat.

Dead.

______

He's back in the void again. It's just as cold as it was, and dark. He was here for three weeks before. Now that his name won't be rewritten he can't come back. It's over. It is really, finally, over.

He can rest now.

Tommy smiles.

______

Sam tries his hardest to study the vial in front of himself. If they can perfect this, it will enhance powers immensely. If only 14 was still here. He was always the best subject.

Every test had the desired result, every addition stuck, every alteration changed what was needed and only what was needed. Subjects number 15 and 16 are not so great. 15, or Purpled, is fine . Most of the time nothing changes about him. Only subtle changes they weren't aiming for. However, it still provides information.

MD was always a problem. Sam thinks he's going to finally label him a failed subject soon. For each test that made him worse pushed the man closer to pull the trigger. Until they find 14 and 13 again he'll hold off. 

It's effective to remove them in front of each other.

It makes sure they all know what could happen if they're difficult, or become useless to the lab. 

Sam thinks back to when he left the door unlocked. 

Why did he do that? He had barely been thinking. Does that mean he wanted them to escape? Of course not. He wants the lab to be successful in their experiments. There's no other reason for his life.

Then why did he leave the door open?

Now, he thinks about 14's death. It was a good thing. A successful experiment. Then why did he feel so awful filling that syringe? It felt like he was dying when the kid crashed, hacking blood onto the tile. Seeing 13 and 15 huddle around him, begging him to stay awake. It was worse when he left them in the punishment room.

None of this makes sense. Obviously, it's for the greater good. Even when he was a patient he knew that. But now, it all feels wrong . Inhumane.

But was Sam ever human? Will he ever be human again? When can he stop being subject number 7 and just be Sam ? He's not Sam now. He's Dr. Sam. This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

 This isn't what he wants.

This is what you want.

This is what he wants.

Of course it is. This is for the greater good. Those subjects are selfish and ungrateful for ever defying the lab. Self centered children. As soon as he finds them, he will teach them a lesson. 

Defiance means death.

______

Clementine, of course, was forced into the Medbay again. All day, she exhausted herself on stupid fucking twisted ankles and bruises . Someone brings a stretcher in. A serious injury? She hopes it's not, as she doesn't want someone to be in pain, but also she's not sure she can take healing another bruise.

The stretcher comes closer, more into her view. It's a jumble of vines, with just a bit of blonde hair peeking through.

Tommy.

Oh XD, it's Tommy. He had been a bit withdrawn since they started training, but he never said anything about his vines going out of control. Why wouldn't he tell her?

Multiple healers stood over him, cutting away vines to reveal bloodied clothes. Just as she reaches for her twin, a hand grips her shoulder.

Ponk shakes their head. "You don't have nearly enough energy. Go, I'll handle this." They say, heading towards Tommy.

"I can't! He needs help and I can't just-" before Clementine can finish, Ponk cuts her off.

"My powers are stronger than yours. I promise I can help. Now go, wait in the room with the other patient." They don't see her scowl, continuing to charge up their powers. After a painstaking moment of consideration, she turns and heads to the other room.

The boy in bed waves. Apparently, he's some vigilante SBI lets hang around their floor. "What happens if Dream finds you out?" Clem questions, hoping the conversation will drag her attention away.

"He won't. What Dream doesn't know won't hurt him. Plus, I'll just have my mum talk him into letting me go." At this, she tilts her head. "My mum was kind of a mentor for him before she went rogue."

The blonde's eyes widened. "Pirate is your mother?" Unlike her brother, Clementine had actually put effort into learning about the city's heroes, vigilantes, and villains. Pirate used to be a top hero, but when the tower changed the minimum age of work from twenty one to eighteen, she went rogue. Different than Lady Death, who stopped as a whole.

Now, The Captain is the head of a vigilante organization. Mothra and raccoon were never approached by them, but they also avoided pretty much everybody they saw on the street.

The boy speaks again, dragging her back to reality. "Are you alright? You're shaking. Like a lot." Clementine looked down and- oh shit. She really is shaking a lot. She takes a wobbly breath and nods slowly. He sighs again. 

"So who is it?" He asks, staring at her expectantly.

Clem is quite confused. "What? I don't understand."

He rolls his eyes. "I heard you talking to Ponk. You clearly know the person who's getting treatment right now. Who is it?"

"Uhm.." Clementine swallows, thinking maybe she shouldn't vomit right now. "My brother. Twin brother. Did you know that 40% of twins invent their own language? I had no idea. I thought that was mine and his special thing, because like, I've never met another pair of twins. Our whole thing is about tapping on counters. Like this-" tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap. "-Means that one of us is feeling sick and wants to leave the conversation." She smiles, and laughs- simply putting it- like an idiot. It's dopey, and this is why everything sucks. 

She can't even stay sad , because her brain just has an endless amount of rambling material. Suddenly, her new hyperfixation- Hamilton- comes into her head.  

Not the musical.

The guy.

Before she can start talking all about 1788, the boy speaks again. 

"I'm glad your mind is off it I guess? Anyway, I'm Tubbo. You?" This is when she finally notices the small stumps on top of his head. Now that is drawing some connections. He has horns, just like his mum.

"Clementine. My brother is Tommy." Faintly, she hears '1..2..3!' Followed by a shock, most likely electrical cardioversion.

"We have a pulse!"

______

Tommy feels his body slowly being ripped from the grasp of the void. No. No, please , no. 

He doesn't want to go back.

All of his problems could be solved if he just disappeared. He begs the world to release him. To let him stay, to let him be here in the void.

The void is cold and lonely, but it is the only place he can't feel pain.

Can't be sad if you're dead. When you die, nobody can hurt you anymore. The tugging starts to get stronger, more forced, Tommy goes limp.

And then he's being dragged back.

Again .

Chapter Text

 According to Ponk, Tommy's powers had been under extreme stress from disuse. Powers are a form of energy, and that energy needs to be released. If an enhanced person doesn’t actually use said enhancement, that energy will force itself out. In short: they needed to get out, so they just busted. His organs were torn through, something that wouldn’t have been healabe had Ponk not been in that day.

His hearing aids were also destroyed, crushed by vines and flora. When they had found them, each was broken into pieces. 

It’s a shame, Shroud loved those. The kid had fawned over the shiny “Mimi ears”.

XD, he missed Shroud. He hadn't heard a single thing about how he was doing with the Innes.

He couldn’t stop thinking about him, if he was alright, if Shroud missed him. Tommy wanted to be able to just scoop him up and dance them around the cafe together again. Clementine blasting a musical theater soundtrack, Tommy pretending to hate it. Shroud pretending his spider was the leading lady as he mumbled lyrics to a song he didn’t know.

Their life together had become so precious, until it wasn’t.

He looks up at Phil and Wilbur who are talking about something he can't hear. They're not signing. Everyone was supposed to be signing everything if he's in the room. And here they are. Not doing that.

They specifically didn't want him to hear. They looked a bit angry, but not with each other.

It slightly bugged him that they were using his deafness against him. He felt like a child, watching but not understanding what their parents were talking about.

Tommy wonders what his parents would have been like. He imagines a happy home, a safe place for him and his three sisters. A place where 11 and 12 never left. A mom and a dad, a dad and a dad, a mom and a mom, maybe just a mom. He closes his eyes, and tries to see the perfect little image. Lounging with his family, watching a movie or playing games. The walls are colorful, the lights bright.

The blonde opens his eyes when he's lifted into someone's arms. Wilbur smiles down at him and signs. 'We thought you were asleep. Tired?'  

He shakes his head, and moves his own hands. 'No, just daydreaming.' His own signing was much less choppy, and easier to read. The older man sets him down on his feet, and loops an arm around Tommy's shoulders. He makes sure Wilbur can see his hands, and asks, 'what were you talking about with Phil?'  

The arm around him tenses, and Will wraps both of his arms around him. He pulls away just enough so that his hands are visible. 

He kisses Tommy's forehead, before bringing his hands up again. 'Nothing important, just work stuff.'  

Now this is a bit concerning. Wilbur hugged him and kissed his forehead . Something you do when comforting people. Something Clara would do when Clementine fretted over things she shouldn't. The twins both knew they had no impact on the rent of the apartment, but his sister constantly asked how much it was. She wanted to pay for a portion.

Spoiler alert, she did not.

Sally, who had been across the room throughout this ordeal, came over to them. Tommy was glad for her constant presence now. She sat next to Wilbur, and rubbed his shoulder. She, Niki, and Kristin had been visiting frequently, though they couldn't bring Shroud (hence his spiral earlier.) In the past few days, the oldest of the three was here the most, but not with them. 

Kristin spent time in meetings and conversations with board members, which was confusing to him.

What business could she possibly have with the hero committee? She owns a bookstore. A bookstore Tommy fears he may never see. He's stuck in the tower. If he leaves he's free game for the lab, if he stays he's with Dream. 

He actually hasn't seen Dream since he died again.

They had continued training, but without his daily beating. Nobody ever found out, and Dream hadn't returned to the gym. The good part of that was they could now have water breaks. As well as the fact that they weren't going at it for hours.

(That doesn’t mean Tommy doesn’t still sneak downstairs for extra training sometimes.)

The bad part was the anticipation. Will Dream come back? Will he be angry with Tommy for losing control over his powers? Dream only wanted the best for him. Foxgloves sprouted, and wrapped around his ankles.

But he's pretty sure that Phil wants the best for him too. 

Phil has never hurt him during training beyond a small bump or bruise.

Dream did do that, but it was to make him stronger.

He was strong from Phil's training without the harshness. 

Dream was kind to him. He gave him mercy.

Phil was kind to him. He gave him love.

It was all so confusing.    

Tommy will just have to handle that if he comes back. Not if- when he comes back.

Dream is training him, he wouldn't just stop. Tommy's not that useless. Not enough for Dream to give up on him.

Tommy is the most mentally stable person on earth. 

Obviously. 

Purpled entered the room, and beelined towards Tommy. 'Seen Kriatin?' His sign was the worst of all of them. Surprising, considering he was also raised in the lab. 

He just assumes Purpled meant Kristin, and shakes his head. The other boy sighs exaggeratedly and makes a show of stomping out of the room. Why would he be looking for Kristin? Tommy's pretty sure they've never spoken before.

The lights flash, and he turns to the light switch. Phil is standing there, and he points towards a large metal box that was most definitely not there five minutes ago. 

He walks over to it and looks inside. There's large contraptions, padding, and a letter.

Use this for training. You'll need to teach the H.I.T.s parkour and stealth this week. If they haven't mastered it by then, I don't care. They will need it on Saturday.

Tommy looks back to his mentor. 'We're learning parkour?' Phil nods. He resists the urge to scoff. He happens to be pretty fucking good at parkour. For obvious reasons. Maybe if they ever get out of the tower again, he and Clementine will go back to being their vigilante personas. It was refreshing to be in their hybrid forms, something they couldn't do unless they were sleeping.

It was getting increasingly difficult not to chitter, or swipe at Techno's shiny accessories. Embarrassing, honestly. Only kits chitter. He's no kit. He is a grown ass raccoon.

Phil flicks the lights again, drawing his attention back. 'Help me unload this please.' Tommy's quick to start heaving the platforms out. Some have comically large springs attached to the bottom, some spin, change directions, and some are made of a different material that seems really hard to stay on without crashing to the floor. Sort of like those Ninja Warrior shows Clara watched.

The rest of their training crew joins them, and helps lug the machines into the main gym area. Clementine picks up the letter. She speaks and signs to Tommy and Phil. 'What's happening on Saturday?' Tommy shrugs, and Phil says something he can't hear. 

Tommy scowls, and petunias bloom in his hair like a crown. What was even the point of them learning sign if they don't use it?

He carries the platform- one of the spring-y ones- in, and screws it into a foam rectangle, angling the spring to slot in. 

Phil and Clementine walk in, with the latter glaring at the former. Before he can ask his twin what happened, Phil claps his hands. "Alright! Stretch whatever you need to for a bit, and then go with each of your heroes for the parkour portion." Tommy starts to stretch when something across the room catches his eye. Something shiny. One of the gold screws had fallen out of the platform. It wouldn't be a problem, those were obviously good quality and could function without one measly screw.

But it was so shiny.

He smelled pink camellias, and shut his eyes tight. He whipped his head to the other direction, and continued to stretch. Somebody taps his shoulder. Wilbur is there. 'Why are your eyes closed?'  He chuckles a bit, and Tommy has to resist staring at the motor screw currently rolling in their direction.

Clara led the both of them through the back of the thrift store. 

Clementine chats about something he's not listening to. His eyes catch a windchime in the corner. Tommy stops dead in his tracks. No. Don't do this 14, instincts can wait. Just look at some of Clara's jewelry or something.

He closes his eyes, unaware of how odd he looked. His pseudo mom's hands rest on his cheeks. He cracks his eyelids open. "Are you alright baby? You look conflicted."

"He looks constipated." Clementine says, absentmindedly fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"Oh, you assho-"

"Guys! Don't fight, if you argue Santa won't bring gifts for you." She laughs, as if she had said something hilarious.

The twins blink. "The fuck is a Santa?" Tommy asks a completely normal question. No reason for Clara to gasp like she's the lady in a 1950's movie that's about to faint. Clem looks just as confused as he is.

"You poor kids. "

Tommy just shrugs at Wil, and turns to go start with Phil. Unbeknownst to him, Wilbur is still standing there. Concerned for him.

Phil smiles as he approaches, and signs. 'Ready for some parkour?’ The younger nods, and rushes to the starting line, which Purpled and Clementine have apparently decorated with glitter glue… 

Of course. Of course they did.

Where did they even get that?

______

Phil watches his H.I.T. complete the parkour first try without falling once. Tommy had immediately chosen the most difficult one, unable to see his mentor signing not to do that.  He gave himself a running start, and jumped onto a high up block. It tilted, but he didn’t falter. He placed his other foot and jumped to the next one, a rotating wooden wedge.

The boy looked like he may fall for a second, until he quickly settled and timed his next takeoff. He threw himself at the large wooden frame attached to a rock wall. 

For the rest of the run, he does it flawlessly. He even lands at the end without stumbling.

Phil watches his H.I.T’s twin sister do the exact same thing.

Every hero and child in the room watch as the two clearly-children-owners-of-a-bakery make their way through  an obstacle course that would have Techno quaking in his boots.

That should not be possible. 

Unless they have experience. But where could they possibly have gained parkour experience? The height of the buildings surrounding Innit Cafe vary too much for them to have learned it around where they live. Phil doubts Clara would let them do it, so they would have had to learn parkour after she moved out.

And at that point, they would be running the shop themselves.

Meaning, they learned at night. But, if somebody sees teenagers parkouring around, they call the police. There hasn’t been a report of it in their area for years . 

Phil racks his brain, trying to wrap it around how they just did it like it was nothing.

Could they have picked something up while training with the heroes?

Purpled steps up to the starting line, much more hesitant than the other two did. He shook out his hands anxiously, wary of falling. Phil felt bad for him, the poor kid was scared. 

He bent his knees, and pushed off the ground and onto a spring platform. His full weight hits, and the spring lowers, before rebounding back up. Purpled was lifted up and into the air. The moment he panicked it was clear. In his scramble not to mess up, he forgets to brace when coming down on the next platform.

This platform was at a 45 degree angle, only adding to the difficulty of it. The boy’s sneaker slipped on the rubbery material, and he fell backwards onto the mat.

Techno came over, and helped him up. He calmly explained why that happened, how he can stop it from happening, and how to make it further.

The three heroes in training were all progressing at the same peace, so if they had picked something up from one of SBI, all of them would know it. However, Purpled just fell, which is the normal thing to happen by the way, and the twins did not.

Well that just proves that they didn’t learn it here.

What the hell?

The twins were small too, anybody would say what they did was impressive.

And when he says they’re small, he doesn’t mean like they’re children- which yeah, they are- but they’re just little . Phil is pretty sure he could lift both of them at once with ease. They’re skinny, plus they’re both short.

The Watsons all know Dream didn’t really believe the Innits were nineteen, nobody could. Just earlier, Wilbur picked Tommy up with, like, zero effort.

They were at most sixteen. Phil goes to find his son, eventually spotting the man complimenting his H.I.T on her course run. Wilbut doesn’t seem to be nearly as shocked as he should be.

Clementine shoots Phil a dirty look, most likely because of their conversation earlier. “Don’t make me mean mug you, old man.”

She leaves, and the two men share a look. “They did that parkour way too easily, it shouldn’t have been that simple.”  

Wilbur nods. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. “A little while ago, I went to their apartment. Remember when Tommy was in the hospital?”

Phil hums a noise of confirmation and confusion. Where could this be going?

“Phil, I think they might be Raccoon and Mothra.”

… 

Holy shit. 

He's absolutely right. There's so much evidence. They have the same hair colors, samesame builds, athletic abilities, and powers. There is one huge problem with this idea though.

Raccoon and Mothra are hybrids.

Tommy and Clementine are completely, without a doubt, 100% human. It would be impossible to hide features like those. Wings are maybe doable, but antennae? No way in hell. Clem also doesn’t have markings on her cheeks. Moth hybrids have small orange swirls on their cheeks, and Phil has seen her face enough to know that she does not.

Just like moths, raccoon hybrids have face markings as well. Their famous bandit eyes, as well as occasionally having stripes on the sides of their faces.

So, then why does everything else fit so well?

Maybe there’s another pair of vigilantes without their hybridity. The only thing he’s certain about is that these kids are vigilantes. He’ll have to look into this more. 

There’s information about almost every vigilante in the city databases, so that’s the best bet. Phil turns, and sees Tommy signing with Techno and Purpled. He swallows. 

How could that innocent looking kid be a criminal? Sure, he doesn’t dislike vigilantes in the slightest. Of course not, Tubbo is probably on their floor right now, plus Puffy.

But them ?

The kids who run a cute little cafe downtown, blast musical theater, and talk passionately about their hobbies and interests. The kids who Kris thinks may be hers.

If they were hers, they would be fourteen . 

Fourteen, and they have experience owning a business, raising a child, and fighting muggers at two in the morning.

That is, if he’s even correct about his guess. 

Phil leaves the gym. Almost immediately, he runs into the one person he does not want to see. Dream crosses his arms, and sighs. “Crow. Where are you going? You should be training with your assigned apprentice.” The blonde takes a deep breath, and focuses on not ripping this man’s fucking head off. 

“ Tommy is still training, I’m just leaving to finish up on my paperwork. You know, since I have no time to do it after patrol. Because you make those kids train for hours all day every day.” Phil scowls, and brushes past Dream. He ignores the indignant sputtering man, and steps onto the elevator.

As he’s brought up the building, he questions what led him here. 

He used to just be a single dad trying to get by. Every day, he worked his ass off for his boys. That was until a hero approached him one day.

“You have wings! Can you fly?” Lady Death asked, seemingly very interested in Phil. 

But why? Why would she speak to somebody so unimportant? She’s a hero , she helps people. That’s something Phil just isn’t sure he has the power to do. But he wants to. So badly, he wants to help people. He wants to create a safer life for Tech and Wil, he wants a world where he doesn’t need to hold them tightly, and make empty promises.

“I’ll be able to afford Christmas presents next year, I promise.”

“You won’t need to live like this much longer, I promise.”

“We’ll get out of here. I promise.”

He clears his throat. “Uh- yes. Yes, I can.” Her eyes widen, and she silently slides a card into his hand.

Phil peers down at it. It’s an advertisement for any powered person. Any powered person who wants to become Lady Death’s partner. 

He looks back up, about to question why she would seek him out personally.

She’s gone.

Here he is now. Taking the elevator up through the hero HQ, as LD sits in a meeting room somewhere in the very same building.

Phil knows she’ll have no problem being reinstated as a hero.

He also knows she just wants to keep watch of her babies. She wants to help them. Even if it means she has to go back to working under Dream.

The elevator dings. Crow steps off, and makes a beeline for his office. He almost trips over Wilbur’s guitar, and curses as his elbow knocks Techno’s book to the floor.

Ignoring his fumbling through the hall, Phil sits down at his computer. He enters the password, and goes to his favorite government database. 

The Nether is a research amenity built specifically for catching wanted criminals. However, it also gives the perfect opportunity for the kinder heroes. See, it has information of the weaknesses, but it also keeps tabs on their strengths. It’s really not all that difficult to lie down and claim that you had absolutely, positively, no idea that a vigilante could do that!

Phil types the letters M-O.

• Monarch

• Morning Glory

• Mothra

• Mossy

• Molt

The cursor hovers over number three. Phil doesn’t know why he hesitates. He has no clue as to why he’s scared to look at the file. It shouldn’t matter, because even if they were vigilantes it would be fine. It would be good.  

His finger presses into the left side of the mouse, and for some reason he winces at the motion.

There’s a blurry picture of the girl in action. She’s flying, her wings are an orange blue behind her. Her blonde hair is braided, with astrantia flowers weaved into the sections. The tips of her hair are the color of a tangerine, just like Clementine’s own curls.

Mothra

Height: 5’3

Ability: Undetermined

Strength: Agility, hand to hand combat

Calling card: Rainbow ribbon, graffiti, flower petals.

Last sighting was long enough ago to consider this vigilante to have been permanently terminated.

Partners/Accomplices : Raccoon

Phil clicks on the name of her partner.

Raccoon

Height: 5’6

Ability: Plant manipulation

Strengths: Long range combat, use of ability

Calling Card: Rainbow ribbon, graffiti., flower petals

Last sighting was long enough ago to consider this vigilante to have been permanently terminated.

Partners/Accomplices: Mothra

Next to the information is a picture of Raccoon using his vines to grab a man wearing all black. His fluffy ears and tails match the color of his hair, blonde. The same blonde as Tommy.

That plant that Wibur got from Raccoon. He threw it out the day after Tommy was put into the hospital.

Because it had wilted. Just like the plants in their apartment did. 

The last time they were seen was the day before the gala.

It adds up too well for this to be a coincidence. Back to the elephant in the rom, where the fuck did their hybrid features go?

It’s like he’s assembling a puzzle. He’s slowly fitting pieces together, except this puzzle came without any corner pieces. The puzzle doesn’t fucking fit without the corner pieces.

Although…

In the case that they are Kristin’s twins, they would have been subjects. Just as Sally and Niki were. Maybe it’s something they’re able to do because of those tests, if the lab could acquire and keep a revival book, who’s to say they can’t give their subjects abilities like this? And if they can do that , there’s no telling what they could do.

But is he really considering that the lab could affect something like that? That would be a huge scientific discovery, since literally nobody in the world has ever been able to reach it. The “Innit” twins have probably seen and felt insane things for that inhumane lab.

As soon as Phil can confirm that they are who he thinks they are, he’ll need to ask them some questions about the lab that their sisters couldn’t answer.

Of course, there’s no way in hell he would ever let them help in taking down the lab.

Like he’s said a million times, they are children. They’ll probably be there when the heroes finally take action, but from a safe distance. 

LD already lost her kids once, and Phil refuses to let it happen again.

______

Kristin guides her eldest to the doorway of the main hall. “Sally, make sure they stay close. I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick.” She kisses Tommy’s head, and turns to leave.

The crowd is thick, she finds it quite difficult to navigate it. 

By pure luck, she somehow manages to find the restrooms. 

A few minutes later, she is once again trying to make her way through all of the people. Kristin spots a tuft of Cherry red hair, only to realize that the girl it is attached to is crying. Crying, and trying to escape the grip of a man who she doesn’t know.

Niki is in the same position, and the twins are trying to hide underneath a wooden crate.

Once she’s determined that they’re out of sight from the men, she runs towards her daughters. “Girls!” she cries. 

Another man rounds the corner into the main hall. Kristin tries to dodge him, but she’s restrained. She struggles to breathe as her face is pressed against the cold tile floor. She screams, which only results in her spitting up bile. Her nose leaks blood, and for once in her life, Kristin is truly disappointed in herself. 

Her entire being is struck with a wave of self loathing, so large she may even be washed away in it. She is a hero goddamnit. 

Her whole job is fighting bad guys, she’s supposed to squash them like bugs.

Yet, here she is. Watching as Niki desperately tries to pry a huge man’s grip away from her. She screams and cries as she’s dragged away.

The man comes back. Niki isn’t with him anymore, and immediately fear flashes across Sally’s features, She knows she’s next.

She, too, is taken. 

Kristin shrieks. Her mouth is overcome by a metallic taste. She coughs the blood onto her attacker’s hand, and he forces her face into the ground.

She’s forced to listen to, but not see, her babies being found in their hiding spot. “Mommy!”

Tears spill from her eyes, as her ears are filled with their pleads. 

Eventually, their cries are muffled by a persistent ringing.

Kristin shoots straight up under her covers. 

Frantically, she gets out of bed. She needs to see her kids. She needs to know that they’re alive. Kristin walks down the hallway and opens the door to Sally’s room.

The merling is fast asleep, safe and sound. For a moment, the brunette just watches her chest move up and down. She’s breathing. Sally is breathing and she’s here. She’s here. She’s safe. Nobody will ever be able to hurt her ever again. Not if Kristin has any say in it.

Softly, she shuts the door. 

Swinging Niki’s bedroom door open, she finds her daughter still awake.

“Nix? It’s late, head to sleep.” 

Niki nods, and pulls her pajama pants up before moving to stand. Just barely, Kristin can see what she was doing. The bottle of concealer is left discarded on the carpet, and that horrible 12 tattoo is half gone. Her vision blurs with tears, and she’s quick to leave the room. 

She knows she wouldn’t be able to cope with talking about that right now. 

The light in the guest room is off, and Shroud can’t stand the dark, so she’s sure he’s sleeping.

But Kristin still needs to make sure all of her kids are safe. She slips her dark purple coat on, and grabs her car keys out of the small glass bowl on the counter. As she enters the garage, she presses the white, square shaped button next to the door. 

The garage door rises, and Kristin gets into her car. 

She takes a moment to adjust her mirrors, before pulling out of the driveway, careful not to hit the truck that always parks in the road across the street. The rest of her drive is a blur, but soon she’s standing in the car park of hero HQ.

Across the eerily empty lot, somebody else takes an open spot. They step out of their car, and dig around in their center console for a few minutes.

When they finally find what they were looking for, they smile.

Kristin can make out the logo on the box. The person is holding brand new, top of the line hearing aids. Ah. Ponk must have sent somebody to pick up Tommy’s new pair.

Earlier today, Sally had told Niki and Kristin all about how mad Clementine is. Phil wasn’t signing whenever they had a group conversation, which excluded Tommy from the conversation.

While she’s sure there was a reason, or something to justify his actions, Kristin is also a little frustrated with her ex-partner. He knows that he is her baby . Even if the kid himself isn’t aware of it, he’s her baby.

That’s the exact reason she came here tonight.

When she finds the exit, she pulls the door open. There’s a door with a sign that reads “Stairs” with an illustration of a stick figure walking up a set of steps. No elevator, though.

She makes her way into the stairwell, and gets about ten floors up before she starts to regret not looking for the elevator. Her feet hurt. If Phil was here, she would have made him fly them both up the stairs, but this is a stealth mission. 

After what feels like an eternity, Kristin reaches floor fifteen. She opens the door, and starts down the hallway. All she has to do is find room twenty three and twenty four. Simple, no biggy. Except the map is a little hard to understand, and she can’t exactly figure out just which way has rooms 10-20 and which has rooms 20-30. That is a little bit important, considering she has to find their rooms to check on them. She wanders around, eventually managing to find room 21.

So this is where rooms 20-30 are!!

Kristin is so smart, an actual genius, she’s been told.

Room 23 has an anemone flower wrapped around the door handle, and the paper card inside of the plastic window thingy that was supposed to say “23” instead reads:

“Clem’s room! Enter if you dare to face the evil Tommy monster!!” With a devil face and flowers doodled all around it.

There’s also a wreath on the door. It’s made of the same flower that sits just a bit lower.

Kristin doesn’t knock, Clementine should be asleep by now anyway. Her hands brush the stem of the anemone as she slowly clicks the door open. She’s met with the back of a blonde girl. A blonde girl who, somehow, didn’t notice her mother’s presence. 

Clementine is sitting on the floor, looking out a large window as she brushes through curly hair. Whenever the comb reaches her orange tipped ends, she pulls it away, and starts again from the top.

Next to her sits a plush, pink shag heart pillow. Above her, on the windowsill, there’s a wicker basket full of a jumble of vines and flowers.

There’s an overwhelming amount of baby breaths compared to the rest of the flowers. Does Clementine like baby breath? Maybe if Krisin gets her a present at some point, she’ll include some of the flowers.

As quietly as she can, Kris closes the door. 

She turns. Only to be jumpscared by a literal child. Purpled is staring right at her with a death glare, and he looks pissed. 

“What are you doing in Clem’s room?” He steps closer. “I knew it. You’re trying to kill her. You’re trying to kill Clementine, that’s why you’re here right? Well I’m not going to let that happen.” 

Kristin nearly falls back in shock. “No! Of course I’m not trying to kill her, why would you say that!?”

“You’re on the board. That’s why you’re always in meetings with the higher ups. Dream and the rest of you hate us, so you’re trying to take her out.” Every word is vicious, spat with pure hatred. 

She doesn’t know what to say.

“I won’t fall for it. I know who you are, and I know you’re trying to hurt the twins. So leave before they hear you and come out. They trust you. They don’t know your intentions, they think they can trust you-” 

“And they can! I’m not trying to-”

“But I don’t. Never come near either of them again, you wench.”

Kristin is nothing if not a mother.

And right now, she knows that in order to help her kids, she has to go. She has to take the time to prove to Purpled that she’s not evil. That she would never, ever, hurt them.

Lady Death left the league because she didn’t believe in what they were doing.

So, there’s only one way to show him that Kristin doesn’t either. And that, is to reveal herself as LD.

______

Tommy rolls over in bed, his eyes adjusting to the light the window is letting in. He groans, making the universe aware of how fucking mad he is that he has to get up.

Groggily, the blonde pulls morning glories from where they had been tangled in his hair. 

He slips off his mattress and treks across the small living quarters. The morning glories are thrown into the trash, even though he knows his twin will just take them out again anyway. Tommy agrees with his sister. He does think it’s good to save the flowers, who knows what they could be used for. 

But morning glories? 

They wilt in the afternoon! What’s the point in keeping a dead flower?

The door connecting Clem’s room and his own, swings open. She runs in, looking very excited. She’s also dressed in something other than their training uniform. 

Her outfit consists of a yellow bell dress with a mesh collarbone and sleeves. Above that, she has a solid yellow collar and buttons connecting to the dress. On her feet, she wears lace socks with a ruffle at the top, paired with platform mary janes. And to finish it off, a yellow poinsettia tucked behind her ear.

What, Clementine talks about fashion a lot, okay?

“Going somewhere?” And, Tommy would just like to clarify, when he asked that, he was making a joke . A funny haha. You know, since they literally can’t leave. They’re stuck in HQ.

“Yup! And so are you”

What.

Twenty minutes later Tommy finds himself wearing a white button up shirt with a sage green vest overtop, blue ripped jeans, and a shit ton of jewelry. All of which match very nicely with the hearing aids that were delivered to him at two in the fucking morning last night by some guy who looked and smelled like he just walked out of a hotbox.

Clem used a hairdryer to get the stench off of his hearing aids, because XD forbid him wear them with a sensitive nose like his. Raccoons have an excellent sense of smell. 

Although they are still a little bit hot.

Anyway, the reason they’re getting all dressed up is because apparently Dream wants every single person in the city to attend some event. They have an announcement, but even Tommy’s gossip loving moth-sister doesn’t know what it is yet.

Surprising, considering Clem usually hears some crazy shit from the nurses in medbay.

There’s a knock on the door. Tommy opens the door, and is met with one of the men that originally brought the three H.I.T.s here in the first place. He’s big, intimidating, and has a very shiny ring attached to his sunglasses.

“I’m here to escort you two to the city wide announcement.”

The twins share a nervous glance, but continue out the door and after the man anyway. When they come to the lobby of the hero HQ, there’s a sleek black SUV waiting for them right outside of the door.

The man opens the car door for them, and they slip inside. Tommy is shocked to find that fucking 404 and Flare are there as well. 404 is riding shotgun, and Flare is sitting in the backseat on the left side.

They climb in, and Flare looks up from his phone to acknowledge them.

“Oh! Hello, who are you two?” He smiles, almost the exact opposite of 404, who seems uninterested and borderline annoyed at their presence. Maybe he has a resting bitch face.

Tommy sits between Clem and Flare. “I’m Tommy, this is my sister Clementine.” He motioned to her, and she waved. 

Flare laughed. “You two are pretty cute kids.”

“Hey! We’re not kids, actually we are far older, maturer, and wiser than you will ever be, scum!” Clem pointed her finger right in his face, and Flare chuckled again.

“Alright then, how old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

404 turns around in his seat, and pulls his glasses down his nose. Multi colored swirling eyes bore into Tommy’s own. “How old are you?”

This is 404’s power. He can make anybody tell the truth, and so Tommy has no choice. “Fourteen.” 

404 pulls his glasses back up, a smug smile on his face. He faces the front once again and leans back. Flare grins at Tommy. “I knew you were a kid.”

Clementine huffs, crosses her arms, and whips her head to look out the window. The raccoon hybrid doesn’t have the heart to tell her she’s only making herself seem younger.

“So, are you a hero’s younger siblings?” Flare asks, twisting in his seat to reach past Tommy’s head and flick Clem’s neck.

“We’re he-”

“Yup! One of the lower rank ones, I don’t think we’re allowed to tell you who though.”

Clementine looks at Tommy in confusion. She hasn’t caught onto why, but she probably knows that he doesn’t want Flare knowing they're heroes in training. See, he knows that they’re fourteen, and therefore, not old enough to do so. He doesn't want to be a H.I.T, but since he knows they’re children, they could be taken out and sent into foster care.

“Ah, alright then.” Flare pauses. “So, tell me a little bit about you.”

Tommy cocks his head in thought. “Like what?”

“What are your hobbies?”

Clementin perks up. “Well, we like to bake together! And I’m an okay artist. Tommy gardens. And we like thrift shopping, too.” 

“Clem watches a lot of musicals.”

“Ooh, yeah, have you seen Ride The Cyclone?” 

Flare smiles. “No, I haven’t. What’s it about?”

“Okay so there’s this magic guy in a box, and he can predict when people die”

The rest of the ride is lively as the three of them talk animatedly. Tommy doesn’t keep up with Clem’s speedy summary of the musical, but he listens anyway, because it’s nice. He really can’t remember the last time she was this excited and upbeat since they joined the league. 

Well, since they were brought into the league.

Crocus flowers creep up the underside of the car seat.

The SUV rolls to a stop, and Clementine pushes her door open.

Once he’s out of the car, Tommy’s met with a large stage and a huge crowd.

Clem gasps. “Tommy! Look look look! We’re at a concert hall! I’ve always thought they looked so cool!” She gushes, before starting to run into the crowd. A large hand grabs hers, and she’s pulled backwards.

Flare keeps her in place. “Don’t go running off, can’t have anyone getting lost.

Well, this seems like the perfect moment to go. If he sprints and stays sprinting until about… that store, he can probably see as much as possible before Flare catches him.

Then, 404 takes Tommy’s hand. “You too, I know what you were thinking.” 

Damn. His super evil plan has been foiled.

The two heroes lead them up to the front of the crowd. The stage looms over them, and somebody tries to push their group out of the way.

Tommy almost got knocked over, but 404 catches him and brings him closer to the man’s chest. He wraps one arm around the boy’s torso, and one is looped under his armpit, leaving 404’s hand to rest on his shoulder. 

The older man’s chin is just above his head. Normally, he wouldn’t notice the height difference between himself and adults, but when you’re this close together it’s difficult to ignore. He feels very small, like a little kid. 

Maybe he is just a little kid. 

The lights above the stage blink to life, and two people step onto the stage. Dream, and…

Lady Death!?

Okay, no.

She retired, right? Or maybe Tommy’s going crazy. 

No no, she definitely retired. 

The woman speaks into a microphone. “I’m proud to announce that today I will be…” She looks at Dream, and Tommy notices that she seems anything but proud of herself. “Re-joining the hero league.” 

Even when the crowd cheers, and everybody applauds, she doesn’t lose the look on her face of just… deep sorrow.

Why would she come back if the reason she left in the first place hasn’t been fixed?

Chapter Text

It doesn’t make any sense why she would do that.

Clem told him how big of a fuss she made when resigning. About the new laws, that is. So why now? Tommy scans her face, searching for some ulterior motive in her features. Unfortunately, there were no tiny goblins living in her face screaming “I’m an ulterior motive!! Rahhhhh!”

He pointedly ignores the goblin-looking ass fuckwad to her right.

Lady Death is staring down into the crowd at them all, and Tommy can’t help but gawk. \

She’s wearing her old hero costume, and she looks, honestly, majestic . Her hair streams down her back like a waterfall, curly yet calm. It’s nowhere near unruly, but it’s not pin-straight either.

Her curl pattern is almost identical to Clementine’s.

Tommy pushes away from 404’s hold, stepping a bit forward. The woman on the stage meets his gaze, and they hold eye contact.

What happens in those few moments is difficult to put into words. 

There’s this feeling. It settles deep into his bones. A connection. Similar to the feeling he gets around Sally, Niki, or Kristin. She smiles down at him, and Tommy isn’t sure if he should be in awe, or if he should be angry that she would smile at somebody who literally embodies the reason she left.

Although Tommy understands that strangers may not be able to tell his age, he is quite massive.

Only a few more seconds go by before Sapnap is pulling him away by the arm. He leads Tommy from the stage, running to catch Clem who appears to be chasing a butterfly into the ever- growing crowd.

He looks back at Lady Death. But then, a high-pitched ringing begins. It’s almost like the crowd goes silent.

Tommy covers his ears and follows the others. 

______

“Heads up!” Wilbur tosses him a wooden stick. Tommy catches it with ease and turns it over in his hands. He inspects the stick, finding nothing special other than that it’s literally just a stick. “Alright, work your powers into that baton for me.”

“This is a stick, Wilbur. They come from trees.”

The brunette rolls his eyes. “Okay, fine. It’s a stick. Now use the bato– uhm, stick– and push your powers through it.”

Tommy blinks, confused. “What do you mean? That doesn’t make sense at all, you’re not making sense you dumb bald idiot. You’re stupid and you’re bald and you don’t make sense.”

“You are a mean child.”

Tommy rolls his eyes, and swings the stick - it’s a fucking stick!- around in a circle. “So what exactly are you wanting me to do?”  The stick falls to his side. “Also, I'm not a child. I’m a big, grown ass man.”

The hero stares at him blankly. He shakes his head and walks closer to the boy. “Your powers rely on plants, right?” Tommy nods. “Well, your specific set of powers are sourced from the cerebellum, which is a part of your brain. That’s the same part that controls body movement and balance. Your powers are connected to your movement, so, if you can harness your abilities through a vessel, you can direct them farther, and you won’t have to make contact to grow anything.”

“So you want me to make all of my vines come from the stick even though I have plant guns in my hands?” 

“Your hands are not guns, don’t say–” Wilbur tries, only to be cut off by the younger.

“They are, actually. They’re flora firearms.”

“Okay, I’ll admit that was creative, but still you can’t say–”

“They’re my han–”

“I don’t care that they’re your hands, you can’t–”

“I still don’t see why you even want me to do this.” Tommy remarks, cutting Wilbur off. “What's the point in harnessing my power through a vessel when I can just make plants anywhere I want?” 

Wilbur pinches the bridge of his nose, before freezing. “Wait. You don’t have to be touching something to grow vines?” 

Instead of answering this stupid question, Tommy opts to send a vine of pink hyacinths around Wilbur’s ankles. The plant creeps up through a small crack in the floor, before launching at the man.

Wil goes crashing to the ground, and the younger just starts laughing his ass off.

He stops laughing, however, when he realizes Wilbur is staring at him in shock. He can’t tell what emotion lies underneath the shock. Anger, fear, sadness? Tommy has no clue. The feeling that Tommy can identify is just…

Pure and utter disbelief.

Oh shit. 

Did he do something wrong?  Is Wilbur mad at him? Is he going to punish him? 14 doesn’t want to go to the dark room again.

14 doesn’t want to go to the dark room again. He knows he shouldn’t have moved during a test, but he really didn’t mean to!  He couldn’t stop his tail from twitching, and now Dr. Sam is mad at him. 

The blonde’s lip wobbles. But he knows he can’t cry. Especially not while he’s being escorted to the dark room by a guard. 

Dr. Sam told him and 13 that they just turned eight. That means no more crying. And if they ever  cry again, they’ll have to get a scary brain thing that tells them what to do. 

The twins had heard a conversation between two scientists once. They said the only reason they weren't using it yet was because it has a "mind of its own".

14 doesn't really know what that means, but he knows it's not good. 

"Tommy? Are you alright?" 11 appears in front of him. 

Well, that’s not quite right.

She left years ago, why is she still in the lab?

No.

This isn’t the lab.

This is the hero tower. The place he’s been living for a long while, the place he’s trained in for so long. The place he was just training in minutes ago. So why would 11 be here?

Tommy blinks the haze away, refocusing on the woman (his sister?). 

It’s Sally. 

It’s Sally, and everything about her is the same as 11. The red hair, her hybridity, her personality, hell, even her voice sounds like an older version of 11. How did he never notice this before? He’s an idiot. He’s fucking stupid, it was so clear .

They thought something of it when everyone first started coming into the cafe, but they never really noticed it after that. XD,  He is so stupid. 

In his panicked realization, he clings onto her.

Tommy can barely hear the merling’s voice. “Tommy? Are you–” For a moment, she’s silent. He hears a gasp. Not from Sally, though. From somebody else. Sally breathes out an “Oh, Wilbur…” 

Sally is 11. 11 is here, she’s been here, just next to him the whole time, his sister.

“No!” 11 was screaming, hitting, using her powers. 14 had never seen her so riled up before. She grabbed Dr. Sam's arm. “Stop it, please! Don’t do this! Put my name instead! Put my name in! ” She screamed. “ You can’t do this to him!” 

There was no remorse in Dr. Sam’s eyes. With one hand, he released himself from her grip. The electricity circling both of them didn’t affect him at all. 

“11. If you don’t stop, I’ll kill him” 

She froze. Her eyes wide as saucers, she tried to reason with the beast of a man looming above her. “What!? How could you do that? He’s…” 11 begins.

“He’s crying.” Sally finishes. 

Tommy takes a gasping breath, trying desperately to fill his lungs. It can’t be true, it can’t . 

She said they would come back. They promised they would come back for them, and they didn’t . They lied. Sally lied to them. So did 12. If Sally’s 11, is Niki 12? 

Both of them. They both lied , and they both had the audacity to come back into his life. They probably knew. From the moment they stepped into Innit Cafe, they probably knew. Just when Tommy was finally able to move on. He had Clementine, Clara, and Shroud, and they were just starting to pick up traction with the cafe.

Is that how the hero coalition was able to find them?

Did Sally and Niki sell them out to the heroes?

Everything was perfect, and now everything is gone. 

It’s all their fault.

Tommy grabs the merling’s wrists and shoves her backward. “Don’t touch me! ” There are too many emotions running through his mind all at once. Every beat of his heart feels as though it rattles his entire body. Every breath he takes feels like gasping for air. His ears are ringing, his hands are shaking, and his anger is bubbling inside of him. It leaks and spills out of him like deadly poison. The glare he fixes on his “ sister ” is lethal.

Sally stares at him in shock, her blue eyes wide. Clumsily, the blonde pushes himself up. 

There are no thoughts in his head other than blind rage as he turns tail and runs out of the gym.

Minutes later, Tommy finds himself backed up against the cold bathroom wall. As his breathing evens out, the fog in his brain clears a bit. Wincing, he places a hand against the side of his head. He always gets a headache after having so many flashbacks in a row. 

It’s quiet in the bathroom.

Tommy always thought that when he reunited with them, there would be tearful hugging. He thought one of his sisters would hold him close as she whispered reassuring words into his ears. 

And he thought he would believe them.

All this time, he never thought he resented them. He understood, they had to go. So why was he so bitter? Why did he want to scream and cry, and yell vile things? Vile things like “I hate you”,  “Why did you leave me?” , or “You said you would come back.” 

Maybe they’re just liars. Tommy crushes a black dahlia in his palm, gritting his teeth.

It took him until this moment to realize something very important. 

Tommy hates his older sisters. He has since the day they left him.

Since the day his twin promised they could wait.

Since the day they lied , and promised they’d come back. 

He hates them.

Tommy hates them.

It’s been accumulating inside his head for years, festering and simmering. Now, when he had finally thought he moved on, the pot started to boil over.

Tommy curses them out in his head, poison thoughts tainting every laugh, every good memory, every hug. It reeks of acid betrayal.

______

Clementine stares at the slip of paper in her hand.

Use this for training. You’ll need to teach the H.I.T.s parkour and stealth this week. If they haven’t mastered it by then, I don't care. They will need it on saturday. 

It’s the note Dream left with the parkour equipment. 

Lady Death’s return had made everything so hectic, and everybody completely skimmed over that little detail. They hadn’t been training parkour at all, (which was fine since she was already quite skilled in that department.) “They will need it on saturday.” 

It’s friday. And Clementine still hasn’t figured out what’s happening tomorrow. All week (Well, since after Lady Death was reinstated as a hero on Tuesday,) she had been trying to figure it out. She had almost just asked Dream. But the voice told her not to. Maybe she should just do it anyway?

Don’t. Don’t talk to Dream. 

Shut up stupid voice.

Clementine stands up. Before she can take a step, a loud static-y noise fills her senses.

Her entire skull erupts in pain. She falls to the floor, gripping her temples. Her fingers dig into the sensitive skin. “What the hell!?” She hisses, trying to stand up, only to find that her legs feel heavy as lead.

I told you not to leave.

“You don’t control me! You’re just a dumb–” Clementine grunts, gripping the carpet. “Just a dumb voice in my head!” She winces as another, harder, pounding starts behind her closed eyes. “What even are you anyway!?”

I’m helping you! 

“Get out of my head!” She screams.

I don’t want to hurt you Clementine, but you can not speak to the head of the board.

Clementine sucks in a harsh breath. “Fine!”

The pain stops.

“Fine, yeah, I won’t ask Dream.” She sighs. “Well, what do you want me to do?”

It’s strange, having a conversation with the voice in your head. It started out as just a few instincts, or passing thoughts on what she should do in a situation. But now, it's evolved into something of another person . He even has his own voice.

It’s not deep, but definitely a little older than her. 

After a while, he started to have thoughts and opinions. Right now, he’s doing what he always does and “looking out for the best survival situation.” but sometimes he expresses his distaste for another person or thing.

The voice absolutely adores Tommy.

You should search Philza’s office.

“Why?”

He has details about everything concerning heroes in training, does he not?

Clementine considers it. That’s actually a pretty good idea. 

I know it is. 

“Shut up.”

______

INCORRECT PASSWORD

After seeing this screen for the sixth time, Clementine bangs her head against the table. If only this stupid little dumb stupid idiot password would just type itself in.

“Having some trouble?” 

Clementine's full body flinches, and she looks up to see Tubbo standing in the doorway, a smug grin on his face. 

“Uh, this isn’t what it…” she looks around her, at the drawers she had thrown open and searched for a passcode. “...Looks like.” 

Tubbo walks over, and stands next to the computer chair. “If you’re trying to get into Phil’s computer, I can help you.”

The moth hybrid raises an eyebrow, and scoots her chair to the side, allowing him to slide in and type something into the code bar.

White pixels cover the computer screen for a moment, before transitioning to a picture of the Watson family all huddled together on a green couch. 

Phil’s taking the picture, one arm up. Wilbur’s halfway off the couch, falling headfirst with his mouth open wide. Laughing in that way he always does. When she messes up a chord and groans like it physically pained her.

Techno’s smile is smug, he’s probably the one who pushed him off. 

And in the corner, she can just barely see a boy she doesn’t know. He’s tall, with skin split in half, black and white. Nex to him is Tubbo.

Clem eyes the boy suspiciously. “Why are you here? SBI is all on patrol right now.” she questions.

“Why are you here?”

She goes silent.

“Yeah. I thought so. Well, I’m going to go back to searching through Techno’s shit.”

He leaves the room, and shuts the door softly behind him. 

Well that was quite the strange interaction.

“Yes it was.” She looks back to the screen, and begins to search for anything that could be useful. “Did you memorize the password?”

963802

“Thanks.” 

The desktop is crowded with little manilla folder icons, and Clementine has to move like twenty out of the way to get to the H.I.T folder. Scrolling, she finds a recent email from Dream.

Crow, 

 Have them prepared for the fight by saturday. 

Regards, Dream

Well that isn’t helpful at all.

It’s actually super not helpful.

There’s another email pinned, one from the tech support unit. 

H.I.T costumes are nearly completed. Once the finishing touches are added, they will be field ready.

Field ready.

I believe they are sending you into the field.

“No shit sherlock.” Clementine rolls her eyes. Yeah, this is a super intelligent computer. She tilts her head. She supposes she would need a costume if something was happening tomorrow.

But that would imply that she’s going out tomorrow under the hero’s planning. Not as Mothra, but as whoever they decide she’s going to be.

Plus she’ll have to work in a team with Tommy and Purpled.

She winces. This may be just a teensy bit difficult.

______

Tommy follows behind Wilbur, glaring all the way. The older man hasn’t even brought up his breakdown in the gym, and Tommy just wants to punt him into the sky. This man assisted his “sisters” in trying to pry their ways into his brain. Blue violets bloom in his hair, which he quickly plucks out. He desperately does not want to start the conversation of his powers with Wilbur again.

They turn the corner, and enter the tech support hall. The walls stretch up high, all exposed metal. Some wires were running between panels, with a few warning signs posted next to them, reading DO NOT TOUCH . Purpled and Clementine are already there, both holding bundles of clothing.

His twin hops down from where she was previously sitting on a metal table. She runs up to Tommy, hugging him.

To the outside world, this looks like a normal greeting between twins. Well, the world must not know them very well if they think that because Clementine is a bitch. Nevermind that, there is an ulterior motive to this hug.

The rest of the world doesn't see her lean closer, and whisper in his ear. “Something is wrong.” she pulls away, smiling big. Nobody except Tommy would be able to tell how forced it was. Well, maybe Purpled

Across the room, Purpled locks eyes with him.

The other boy shakes his head twice. 

Purpled shakes his head four times. During the limited time they had away from Dr. Sam, they had decided to make a code. 

They had made a list of meanings they may have to communicate to each other wordlessly, but they weren’t the same from person to person. If 14 wanted to say “Good luck” he would shake his head twice. If 13 wanted to say the same thing, she would shake her head five times. If Purpled wanted to say it, he had to nod three times and shake his head once.

For “Be careful” it was as follows: 14 nods twice. 13 shakes her head seven times.

Purpled shakes his head twice.

Be careful.

What was there to be careful of?

Tommy looks around the room, taking inventory of everything in his line of sight. Tools, a lot of screens, mannequins… two of the mannequins were bare, and one had a black tactical suit on. It was leather, as was the bundle Purpled had. 

Clem has something white, with a few red ribbons here and there.

Wil catches where his eyes are leading, and calls him out on it. “That’s your new hero suit.”

The world stops spinning for a few seconds. Tommy feels sick.

He doesn’t know why, but until now, it never really settled in his mind that he was a hero now. Until now, he was inside of the building, but now …

Now it was real.

He really was going to be working for the hero league. Going on missions for them, patrolling for them, being a part of them. 

No. 

He can’t let himself go down that train of thought, because it is not true. 

Tommy will never be a part of them. He will never be a part of the people who kidnapped him. Or the people who lied to him. 

This is the first and last time Tommy will even consider letting himself being a part of the heroes, or a part of this weird “group”. He refuses to let himself think that way again. Sally and Niki betrayed him, the heroes were never on his side, nobody was on his side. (except for Clementine and Purpled of course, but they are his group, so…)

Purpled sets a hand on his shoulder, grounding him with his presence. 

Tommy smiles gratefully, and goes into the changing room. The material in his hands is a little… rubbery? Tommy’s not sure that’s the right word for it. It’s not uncomfortable, but Tommy definitely wouldn’t lounge around in it.

He looks at himself in the mirror, taking in the black tactical suit.

It makes him feel like somebody else. 

Tommy doesn’t feel right in his body. This isn’t who he’s supposed to be. He’s supposed to be the owner of a cafe downtown, who smiles big and laughs loudly. 

Where did he go wrong?

He steps out again, and both of his friends give him a once over. Clementine grimaces, but still gives him a thumbs up. Purpled groans. “I have to wear that? We’re gonna look like nerds.”

He changes into his own suit, and for some stupid reason he pulls it off a lot better than Tommy does. Rude.

Wilbur’s been talking with an intern on the other side of the room for a while now. He turns, sees the three of them, and motions towards the bundle of clothes Clem left on the table. The annoying, bitchy, backstabbing, pretentious old man hero returns to his conversation. “That storm last night was crazy…”

Clem tries her own outfit on, a white dress that falls down to her knees. There’s a red ribbon around her waist. Red lace along the edges, and a nurse’s headband. It’s decorated with a red cross, and honestly looks like something out of a movie. “Tommy, I think I've discovered sexism.”

“Wow.” Tommy says. “Nobody else in the entire world except you has ever experienced anything like this ever.”

“Especially not other women.” Purpled adds, very helpful.

“I’m glad you understand.”

“I assume that Tommy and Purpled will also have flashy costumes like yours at some point.” Wilbur chimes in. “I think this first mission might just be the other two. If the black body suits are anything to guess by, it’s a stealth mission.”

“So what I’m hearing is I can wear jewelry and Tommy can’t.” Clementine remarks. Tommy perks, shiny?

Wilbur just laughs, making Tommy scowl. He’s not allowed to be enjoying his time and speaking to them, he (helped the Innes) betrayed him.

Once they’ve changed back and returned the clothes, they head up to Clementine’s room. Purpled elects to go into his own room and find something to make a shank out of, leaving the twins alone. They walk in tandem, right foot, left. The moment they’re out of earshot of Wilbur and anyone else in the tech support hall, Tommy speaks.

“What’s wrong?” he asks in a low voice. Right foot, left . 

Clementine stares straight ahead, watching for anybody that may turn the oncoming corner. “I snuck into Phil’s office today. There’s something happening tomorrow, remember the note that came with the parkour equipment?” Right foot, left.

Tommy nods, he does remember. It had slipped his mind somehow, annoyingly. He probably should have remembered that little detail. Right foot, left.  He had gotten caught up in the haze of it all, plus he got his new hearing aids and it just–

Escaped him… a bit.

Obviously, that’s not an excuse but it’s something. He sighs, running a hand through his fluffy hair. “I really hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Lady Death coming back.” Clementine’s eyes widen in understanding. 

“You think they brought her back for whatever’s happening tomorrow?” she questions, looking like she couldn’t possibly wrap her mind around that thought. Right foot, left.

“Why else would she come back so suddenly?” Tommy reasons.

They reach room 23, and enter. Tommy drops onto the floor, cushioning his fall with a jumble of vines and primroses. For a while, the two of them sit there, enjoying each other’s company. Tommy rambles about stingrays while Clementine constructs a “whiplash playlist”.

“Why the hell are you making a playlist with thirteen different genres!?”

“It’s called a whiplash playlist for a reason! One second we’re listening to Taylor louderman belting her little heart out, the next you’re listening to the Arctic Monkeys.”

Tommy tilts his head. “Arctic Monkeys? Is that a band?”

“Yeah, Wilbur showed them to me during one of our… training sessions.” she answers, avoiding eye contact. 

He decided to ignore it and move on. Tommy knows that the Innes are their real family, Clem can have whatever this is. “Cool. Phil never plays music, his old man ears can’t handle it.” In reality, they don’t play music because Tommy was deaf for a while, and they never got back into the habit. 

“Fake. Phil is so fake.” Clem responds.

Tommy nods, solemnly. “Phil is not a real one. Not at all.”

The both of them startle when there’s a knock at the door. Clementine hops up, and swings it open. Wilbur, that bastard, is standing on the other side. If looks could kill, Wilbur would be six feet under from Tommy's intense ManlyScary glaring.

Clementine smiles, and turns around. “Sorry Tommy, I forgot I have to train, bye!” She shoves both herself and the hero out of the room, and slams the door.

That’s strange, she didn’t even change into training clothes. Wilbur wasn’t dressed for exercise either. She left in such a rush, too. 

Eh, whatever.

The blonde stands up, groaning like an aging man. He takes out his hearing aids, setting them on Clem's nightstand. Once the damn things finally come out , he walks out into the hallway. 

On the other side, Purpled is leaving his room and locking the door.

Huh. Tommy didn’t even know they had locks. He taps him on the shoulder and signs. “Where are you going?” 

“Lady Death wanted to talk with me.” Purpled signs back, and Tommy’s jaw drops. “Right? It’s strange.” He shrugs, and walks down the hall. 

Tommy is left to gawk. 

Lady Death. The Lady Death  wants to talk to Purpled? What could she possibly want to talk about? What would she say? Would she say: "Hey Purpled I’m super cool, let’s talk about the currency state of our economy.” !? 

No.

Tommy doesn’t think she will. 

Well, now he has to find something else to do.

He heads into the stairwell. Walking will give him more time to think about what he actually wants to do. 

Before he can even think about it, he’s opening the door to floor thirty four. He strolls down the hallway much too casually for what he’s doing. 

He opens the door to Dream’s office.

Dream says something he can’t hear, and Tommy points at his ears. The man nods. He starts to sign fluently, every hand motion hitting the perfect spot and timing. His gaze is cold, and calculating. 

“Hello, Chloris. I hear Crow has been letting you take it easy. Is there a reason you’re in here and not training like you should be?” (‘Like you should always be’ is left unsaid, but clearly implied.)

“Chloris, sir?” Tommy questions.

“Your hero name.”

Well. Correct Tommy if he's wrong, but he's pretty fucking sure that's supposed to be his decision. Dream probably has all of their names picked for them. 

“Alright. I wanted to ask you if there was anything I could do besides training? Most of the equipment is being used right now.”

That last part was a big fat lie, but come on, he's been training forever! Give a big man a break. 

“Patrol.” Dream signs. 

Tommy blinks. Patrol. That one word could carry so much weight if he allowed it to. It doesn't even have its own sign, so the man finger spells it. Slow enough to read, quick enough to comprehend. 

Perfection. 

“You have the black suit do you not? Go.” 

Tommy nods curtly. He tries not to let his surprise show on his face. Better to be a mystery than an open book. 

It's all a blur, going through the motions, just existing.

Until, Tommy is pulling the black fingerless gloves on. And his mask is covering his mouth, and the suit is on. 

He pulls the hood attached to the back of the suit up and over his head. 

There’s an earpiece attached to the inside, also functioning as a hearing aid. Distantly, he recognizes that somebody took the time out of their day to make this especially for him . It’s most likely someone he doesn’t even know. It’s a strange thought to have, the thought of an item meaning so much to him, when it means virtually nothing to its creator.

Tommy slides the window open, making an open space the size of a door.

He backs up to the opposite wall, and takes a running start. He doesn’t think as he jumps, letting the air carry him. Strelitzias bloom all over the walls of the building. In between the cracks, looping around the corners, his vision is completely overtaken by the flowers as he basks in the sunlight.

There’s that beautiful moment of suspension. The moment a dancer feels, when they time the leap just right, or the second of freefall 

He lands on the ground swiftly, primroses cushioning his fall once again. 

It feels like something out of a movie as he makes the strelitzias wilt and rain down around him.

They hit the ground, making small splashing sounds due to the rain of the night before. Tommy relishes in the feeling of glory. He probably looks ridiculous, continuing to stare up at the sky even as the flowers have stopped falling, but he doesn’t care.

Right now, he could forget about the world. The lab, the heroes, the gala attack, his newfound family. All that exists is Tommy. Tommy, and his graveyard of wet flowers.

Once the rush leaves, and the feeling ends, Tommy takes off. 

He uses a vine to swing himself onto a nearby roof, and starts to run. 

He jumps across alleyways, and the feeling of glory is back. The feeling from when he first donned the mask of Raccoon, the seconds of weightlessness in between every step. 

He skids to a stop, and looks out at the city. 

It's not been long since they left the lab, but now, looking over all this … 

It feels like he's always been free. 

There are so many buildings, and everything is just so big . Every store has its owner, and every owner has their employees. One city connected by the people. The only thing keeping them from blending and mixing into one is the district system. 

Although Tommy thinks he might just be able to see district 23 from here. He thinks that if he squinted, he could find Pogtopia. 

He wonders if they stayed there. Would the lab pack things up and move, or would they stay put? 

They have to be at least a little close to L'manburg, considering Sam was snooping around the cafe. 

Hell, he didn't even try to hide that he was there. 

Did they really think that the twins had left, or did they just want them to know they'd been there. 

Have they been watching all this time? 

No, they've been far too careful. They would have noticed. They would have noticed, right? Yeah, they definitely would have noticed. 

Of course. Obviously. 

They've come too far to let this be the end of it all. Tommy refuses for this to be the end. 

And it won't be, because they would have noticed. It's just that being outside again is making him anxious. That's all it is. 

So why does he feel like he's being watched? He can sense eyes on him. It's just anxiety, he knows, but he can't help it. 

Tommy turns around. 

And there, standing on the rooftop ledge, is Dr.Sam. he's wearing a black gas mask. There's an assortment of tubes and wires attached to it, leading to other weapons and machinery. 

Without even thinking,Tommy's hybridity takes charge. His ears and tail poof into existence, confirming his identity to the scientist. 

He starts to run, cursing himself out under his breath. “You stupid fucking idiot, why not just wave around a banner that says ‘hey! I'm exactly who you're looking for!’ Stupid, stupid, stupid…” 

Sam chases him for a long while, and Tommy knows he can't run forever. He's not sure how far they've gone, or where they are. 

“14!” 

Tommy almost stops. He almost retreats, gives up, but he doesn't. 

If there's one thing to remind himself of it is always that he is not 14. He will not answer to that name. 

“ 14! Come on, you've had your fun!” Sam calls. 

The boy turns his head, continuing to run forward. “Leave me alone dickwad!” He jumps down, landing on an apartment complex’s fire escape. 

Tommy's blessed with a moment to catch his breath, but only a moment because Sam is still absolutely, 100%, definitely still chasing him. 

He backs up against the wall, and when he sees Sam come into view, he shoots his hand out. 

A vine adorned with Aconites deploys from his hand, and wraps around the man's middle. “I'm a minor you know! This isn't cool, you fucking wrongen!”

At his words, Sam only scowls deeper and starts trying to tear the vines off. 

Before he can escape, Tommy moves again. He raises the vine up, and slams it down onto the ground of the alley. 

He's able to pull it off once more, before Sam rips the vines off of his waist. 

Sam grips the vine, yellow venomous liquid seeping through his clawed finger and into the plant. It travels all the way up the plant, eventually meeting Tommy's hand. 

Tommy crumples, clutching his hand to his chest. 

“14. You need to come with me now. Don't make me use excessive force.” Sam says. 

“This doesn't seem excessive to you, freak? Yeah, of course! Just a normal Friday, hunting me down!” Tommy retorts. He flinches back when Sam starts to move again. 

He needs to get up, no way in hell is he letting Sam near him while he's down. 

The fire escape shakes violently, and Tommy looks down to see the man clawing his way up. He looks monstrous, ripping metal railing off like they're toothpicks. Through his shirt, Tommy can see his veins glowing a toxic yellow color, electricity surging through his body. 

“You on steroids or something? That shit's crazy.” Tommy tries to move, but his body feels heavy. 

Stand up damn it! 

Desperately, Tommy searches for something to hold onto. His head is pounding, and his vision is swimming. He needs to get out. 

He needs to get out. 

Tommy starts climbing up the side, and he's glad he did, because suddenly, a fucking huge hand grabs the floor where he was just sat. 

Tommy panics. He slips a bit. 

With just one hand gripping the bar above him, Tommy tries to whack Sam in the face with his tail. 

It works the first time, but then Sam grabs his tail. 

Hot pain erupts all over his tail. It feels like someone just lit it on fire , and Tommy releases a guttural scream. It's some of the worst pain he's ever felt, and he's fucking died. 

Three Times. 

He whips his tail away from that fucking mutant monster man's hands, and sees that the fur has been singed right off. 

Blood and acid drip off, making him wince. That does not look pretty. 

But he doesn't have time to mourn his beautiful tail, instead he needs to get the ever loving fuck out of here. 

He spots an open window across the alley, and shoots out a vine to use as a grappling hook. He kind of feels like the guy from that movie Clem made him watch. Spiderguy, or something like that.

He swings past Sam's head, his ankle just barely missing the man's neck. Tommy pulls himself into the building, seemingly some office building. 

Well, they must have made it to district 2 somehow, as it's the most career oriented part of the city. Never mind that, he needs to either find a spot to hide or escape without being seen. Maybe a box or vent or something. 

There's no shot he could fight Sam and win, so his options are limited here, okay? 

Tommy can't afford to die today, he promised Clara he would send her a birthday card. 

Probably one with a dog on it. 

He races to the other side of the room, through the maze of cubicles. He's halfway through when he hears Sam at the window. 

The man spots him, and immediately starts to sprint at him. 

Tommy ducks under a desk, army crawling to the other side and jumping over another one. Sam throws a lamp in front of him, the glass shattering in his face. He tries to sneak around as quietly and quickly as possible, but maybe it’s a waste of time when the room will be destroyed anyway.

Sam just tears through the room like a beast, breaking through cubicle walls and knocking over filing cabinets. 

“That’s probably going to be someone else's job to clean up, you prick! I know you're like, evil, and trying to capture me, but have some compassion for the working class!” Tommy looks around at the trashed office. 

The window he entered from is a no-go, Sam is over there. He can’t access the rest of the building, he wouldn’t be able to get to the door without being spotted. 

Okay so his best option right now is definitely to launch himself out of the nearest window. Yeah. That sounds about right.

He finds one nearby, and looks through. There’s a construction site outside, and Tommy notices that there are some support beams suspended in the air, making a mighty fine bridge…

He dives out, and lands on one of them. He crashes onto it hard , and forces himself back up. Tommy jumps from beam to beam, not taking the moment to watch them swing as soon as he leaps off. 

Tommy laughs, that wicked feeling of freedom returning in full force. His hood falls back, revealing his blonde hair. 

The setting sun hits it just right, and he can swear the wisps of hair that fall into his vision are sparkling. 

When he starts to run out of beams, he looks behind himself. Sam is rapidly approaching. He jumps like he has more parkour practice than Tommy. And that doesn’t make sense at all, considering scientists are supposed to be wimpy little nerds. Not huge monster men that can balance on top of the cranes holding Tommy’s support beams.

That's just totally unfair by the way, Tommy could literally never get up there ever. 

Sam jumps towards Tommy, and the only thing he can think is as follows:

Oh shit.

Chapter Text

Sam comes barreling down onto him. The man almost completely crushes him under his weight, and Tommy wheezes for breath. He’s pretty sure he heard some sort of crack, too. Fuck. The support beam spins wildly in the air, their combined weight and wrestling turning it like a windmill.

The two of them push to their feet, and while Sam collects his bearings, Tommy seizes the opportunity. He punches the man straight in his face, only for his forearm to be gripped by huge clawed fingers. He tries to free himself, pulling and grabbing at the larger man's fingers, but it’s almost impossible. He knows he won’t escape this unscathed, he’s already injured , for XD’s sake. 

Tommy just pushes the man’s hand away, and loses a whole hunk of  his flesh in the process. He’s left with a gaping hole in his arm, and he ends up staring at a piece of his own body sticking off of Sam's claws like lamb on a kebab.

That is absolutely fucking vile. Probably the grossest thing he’s seen in years. Not far ahead watching one of the doctors decapitate that turtle, though.

Sam grips him once more, by the shoulders this time, and forces his back to slam into the support beam. 

Tommy’s knees are trapped under Sam’s body, but once he can finally wiggle enough to draw them up to his chest just enough, he kicks as hard as he possibly can into Sam's chest, sending the scientist flying off of the beam. Tommy barks out a laugh. 

He hears a snap. His head shoots up, trying to find the source of the noise. The metal wire suspending the beam in the air has started to fray. Y’know, the wire holding the beam Tommy's standing on, suspended like forty five feet in the air?

Yeah, that one.

Tommy panics, frantically trying to find a way off. On the side of the next building over, he spots one of those window cleaning platform things.

He checks below him to find that not only did Sam not fall to the ground, he’s actively climbing back up the scaffolding surrounding the site. “What the hell?” He mutters to himself. Tommy yells down to the man. “Hey, are you fucking invincible or something? Stay down!”

He knows that if Sam could survive that, he could probably survive anything Tommy throws at him. 

The wire tears a bit more.

XD, there’s nothing he can do. So, he runs. He runs towards the platform he saw, his heart rate increasing with every step. If he doesn’t make it out, if he gets caught, it’s all over. 

He’ll never see Clem again, never visit Clara, never find Shroud, but worst of all, he’ll never be free again. The past eight months of Tommy's life have been the best he’s ever had. Even when he’s trapped in the tower, forced to destroy himself for Dream, Tommy is free.

Tommy used to live in fear of death every day.

He doesn’t have to do that anymore.

No way in hell is he letting go of his freedom. He won’t let anybody hurt him again. Keep him in a fucking cage like an animal. Never again.

Sam is hot on his tail, having climbed up and pushed himself back up. As Tommy reaches the end of the beam, he starts to see the platform clearer. It’s a huge gap, one he’ll only get over if he can execute this perfectly. 

Tommy has to get off now, the wire’s almost completely ripped.

He speeds up, praying to XD, or any other god out there to let him just make this jump. Please. If those fucking gods will never grant him anything in his life again, just let him make this jump. Tommy puts pressure onto his right foot, and his left springs out in front of him.

XD, he is so screwed.

His heart skips a beat, no– make that multiple beats. 

Tommy’s whole body slams down into the metal, and he blinks. “Holy shit that actually worked . ” he whispers to himself. He almost lays down to wait for his breathing to settle, but then he remembers oh yeah i’m being chased by my former caretaker/abuser. Fun times. He scrambles up and onto his knees.

He expects Sam to be chasing close after him, ready to attack. What he sees instead sends chills down his spine.

Sam is stumbling wildly, shaking the entire beam. He grips the sides of his head, hard .

The wire snaps.

Sam plummets.

Tommy reaches forward helplessly, as if that would do anything. Obviously Tommy wasn’t a fan of Dr. Sam, but he didn’t want him to die. But… there was nothing he could do now. A vine creeps up out of the gap in between windows, and brings Tommy’s platform to street level.

He can barely function properly, stumbling through his haze. How was he supposed to comprehend something like that? He just… killed a man. A real, living, man was dead. Because of him. Tommy’s eyes sting with tears, and he staggers into a nearby alleyway. After emptying his stomach in the dumpster, he evaluates his injuries. 

Obviously, he hasn’t forgotten about the nasty hole in his arm, nor his burnt tail. That seriously did hurt, and he knew once the adrenaline wore off Tommy would be suffering through immense pain. What he forgot about was his hand. 

He had paid it no mind when the acid pumped its way into his hand at first, other than it just stinging a bit. But now, as he got a better look at it, he realized how bad it was. 

His entire hand was turning this strange green color. He’d have to worry about that later.

Tommy ripped a bit of his shirt off with his teeth, and used it to wrap around the wound in his arm. It was getting dark. When he finished tying the knot, and had moved onto his tail, he got fucking jumpscared.

His comm buzzed, the ringtone blaring in his sensitive raccoon ears. He tapped the side of the machine lazily, leaning heavily against the alley wall. “Ayup.”

“Tommy, mate– I got an alert that you lost blood, what’s going on, are you okay?” Phil rambles on the other end, and before Tommy can even catch up with the rest of what he says, one thing sticks out to him. 

“How’d y’know I lost blood?” his words come out slower, and more slurred than he would have liked, but Phil seems to understand.

The man takes a deep breath. “All the mentors have access to their trainee’s vitals, you have that device on your arm, remember Tommy?”

“Oh. Shit’s crazy.”

“Tommy.”

“ Hmmmm? ”

“You knew that. You– you knew that, we told you when we gave you the device to wear whenever you went out.” Phil takes a deep, shuddering breath. “ Where are you, kiddo? You need medical attention and I can't get you the help you need if I can't find you.”

Tommy looks around. “I dunno big man, some fuckin’ alley.”

“Do you know what district you’re in?” Phil asks.

He thinks he does. He figured it out earlier didn’t he? Yeah… No, he did. “Two.”

“You’re in second?”

“Think so.”

“Alright, what do you see around you?”

Tommy sees… his tail. Oh, Phil doesn’t know about that does he? Well, it’s probably not safe to hide his features when injured, but he has to. So, he uses quite a bit of the little energy he has left to put them out of sight.

“Tommy?” 

Oh yeah, he kinda left Phil hanging.

“I see… a crane.” Tommy squints at the construction site he and Sam had fought at. “And… a really tall building.”

Phil breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s good, just stay put mate, I’ll find you.”

Tommy tried really hard to keep his eyes open. He thought back to the gala, when he was trying to do the exact same thing. He thought back to his first death. (And isn’t that such a strange thing to say. Most fourteen year olds probably haven’t died multiple times.) “14! Please don’t close your eyes, you have to keep your eyes open! Open your–”

Somebody shakes Tommy by the shoulders.

And standing above him, inky black wings spread all the way out, with a concerned look on his face, was Crow. Tommy felt himself be scooped up into large arms, and he let himself drift off once again. Phil won’t hurt him. Phil is good.

______

There was a fluorescent light trying to assault his eyes. How does he keep ending up in the hospital? This is what, his third time? This is actually fucking ridiculous. His head feels so floaty… 

What happened? 

He tries to remember. 

Oh yeah, he has a huge gash in his arm. And burned his tail. And his hand is fucking infused with acid or something. Tommy raises his hand to his face, and winces upon seeing it. It's no longer green, but it is definitely glowing. 

At least his fucking hearing aids didn’t break again, honestly, he’s gone without hearing far too many times. Tommy looks around, and finds a similar scene to the one he was greeted with after the gala. Kristin was fast asleep in a chair by his bed.

So, if Sally and Niki are his sisters, then that makes Kristin…

Holy shit.

Well… She wasn’t there. In the lab. So, she really didn’t betray him at all, really. Kristin’s innocent. Yeah, of course she is. 

Tommy pokes the top of her head. “Psst- Kris?”

Her head shoots up, immediately locking eyes with Tommy.  He tries to talk to her, but is effectively silenced by Kristin’s tight hug. “Tommy,” she breathes. “You’re awake.” She sighs in relief, and Tommy feels a small pang of guilt for worrying her. “Hey Toms,” She smiles, though it quickly falls into a frown. “What happened?” You never told anybody you were leaving at all.”

Tommy’s cheeks burn. He hangs his head. “ ‘m sorry…” Tommy mumbles.  He really didn’t mean to scare anyone. Especially not Kris. he had always felt some sort of bond with her. 

Guess now he knows what it was. 

“It's okay, that's alright.” She pulls away, hands resting on Tommy's shoulders. “But we do need to know what happened. Why did you leave?” He tried to remember. Why did he leave? He was talking to Clem, before their mentor dragged her away and… 

“Because Dream told me to.”

Something dark flashes across Kristen's face before being quickly traded for a warm smile. “Well, I'm glad you're okay. I'll go get Clementine.” Uh oh. Well, Tommy always knew he wouldn't make it to eighteen. (Really he already knew that since he has died , but he's choosing to ignore that little fact right now for the sake of comedy.) 

Tommy adjusts his position, preparing for the crushing hug he's soon to receive. Clem steps into the room, shutting the door behind her. She lingers at the door, her left hand holding the door knob with a death grip. 

She doesn't move for almost a minute. “Tommy. Innit.” 

“Clementine.” He greets. Tommy grins at the back of her head, and begins to explain himself. “Y'know, I can't really be blamed at all. I was just patrolling, nothing bad–”  His twin whips around, and Tommy's face falls. Her eyes are rimmed red with tears. She walks up to his bedside. 

“What in the world were you thinking? I leave you alone and you go and find Dream?” She seethes, “The one who forced you to train without food, the one who almost killed you!?” Clementine's lip trembles, and she takes a deep, gasping breath. “Phil hasn't even signed off on you patrolling at all .”

Tommy grits his teeth. “Clem, the whole reason we’re here in the first place is because we’re training to be heroes. Plus, I have experience from being a vigilante– we both do! I’m not some incompetent idiot who just stumbles through life clueless .” He hisses.

“Oh yeah? If you have so much experience, then why are you here?” she gestures to the sterile white walls around them. “If you were ready to go out and fucking– patrol the city alone, how did you end up in the medical wing? Tell me, if you’re so good, of course you’ll have an explanation.” And– oh, of course Clementine would think that wouldn’t she. Even after they spent months training, fighting, and jumping around the city, she still thought he had managed to get hurt just by patrolling.

His face heats with anger, and Tommy sat up much faster and more aggressively than he probably should've. “I’m not an idiot , Clementine. Do you really think any random guy off the street could do this to me? No.” He pauses, “I ran into someone.”

She raises an eyebrow, her expression quickly changing from one of anger to concern. “Who was it?” she asks.

Tommy considered for a moment. He should definitely tell her, it would be cruel not to. She deserved to know. It was her right after dealing with Sam and the facility as long as they both had, but on the other hand, Tommy watched him fall off of the support beam. Sam was dead. Tommy had killed him. “It doesn’t matter who it was.”

Clementine gapes at him. “Doesn’t– I’m sorry, you’re carried back to the tower and sent into emergency healing, and you’re telling me you don’t think it matters who did that to you!?”

“It’s part of the job, heroes get hurt sometimes.”

“You don’t even want to be a hero!” Clementine yells.

The two fall into silence. She’s right, he doesn’t want to be a hero. He never has wanted to be a hero. Maybe… he should just tell her what happened. But, Tommy could never do that to her. He doesn’t want his twin to have to spend every waking hour wondering when the lab will find them again. This attack was just proof that they never had the upper hand in the first place. Those scientists were always watching, they were just allowing them to have their fun. They spent all that time planning an escape, taking the biggest risk of their lives, and it didn’t even matter?

Tommy can’t ever let her know that they failed. That Tommy failed her.

“What if I lost you for real?” 

Tommy looks at her, really looks at her. He sees something he didn't before. Now, in place of an airy laugh and a confident smile all he sees is fear, real raw fear. 

“You don't understand, Tommy. You keep putting yourself in these dangerous situations, it's like you're just– like you just don't care! You're throwing your life around like it means nothing.” Clementine's voice grows quieter and softer as she speaks. “I know how you are. I know you don't care about yourself as much as I care about you. All I want is for you to be safe, Tom.” She breathes for a moment. “What if I lost you?”

He doesn't answer her question, he thinks deep down, she doesn't want him to. 

______

There’s people outside of the room. They’re arguing, and Tommy knows he’s heard his name come up a few times, though he hasn’t caught much else. He can’t even try to listen through the door, because Sally’s sitting just a few feet away.

She, being the responsible adult she is, wouldn’t even let him get out of bed to stretch his legs earlier. It was boring, just sitting there doing nothing for hours. He’s not talking to Sally, for obvious reasons. But he’s almost ready to just get over it and start a conversation anyway. He probably would if this was just a small grudge against her.

Unfortunately that’s not the case. 

For years, the only thing keeping him going was their promise. She swore she would come back for them, and she didn’t . She left them to rot.

So he’s not talking to Sally.

He wants to see Shroud. It’s been so long, and the poor kid probably has no idea where his caretakers suddenly disappeared to. Honestly, he doesn’t even care if he would have to watch a trashy kids show with him, he just wants to see him. He needs physical proof that the boy’s still alive.

Tommy notices that Sally has distracted herself with something on her phone.

Maybe if he could just stand up and creep past her… He sits up a bit. She doesn't even twitch. He swings one leg over the side of the bed. 

Sally groans, sets down her phone and makes it to his bedside before his left leg can even touch the ground. She grabs under Tommy's knees and the small of his back, pulling him up bridal style… And promptly dumps him back into the bed. Tommy scowls. He sits up straight again, and opens his mouth to argue with her.

The door slams open, hitting the wall with a painfully loud bang. Tommy feels a phantom pain where his ears would have flattened against his head. Dream storms in, pushing Sally to the side as he passes her. “Thomas. Be ready to head out on another mission in five hours. You’re healed enough.”

Phil rushes in, standing next to the director. “No! Tommy, you’re not going on the mission, you’re still surviving off of medication, your body still needs time to recover.” He turns to face Dream fully. “He just got out of emergency healing, for the last time, he’s not going!”

Dream sighs. His face makes a bored expression, like this is just a stupid conversation he doesn’t have time for. Like it’s below him or something. “Crow, you don’t have the authority to make that decision.” He says coolly. Dream turns around, sending Tommy a look , and walks away, back down the brightly lit hallway. and the room is silent.

Sally sits down and wraps an arm around his shoulders. Tommy allows it, too stunned to protest. “What’s the mission?” she asks. Tommy looks up at her. This position feels very… familial. 

Phil glances at the two of them and frowns. “It doesn’t matter, he’s not going.”

“I know,” Sally placates. “All I asked was what the mission was supposed to be.”

Tommy groans. “It wasn’t even that bad! Plus, they already healed me. I should be able to go, I’m fine.” If the tower has the so-called “best healers in the world”, he should be fine to get up now. The only response he gets is a head shake from Phil, and a puzzled look from Sally. The former follows Dream down the hall and his sister enemy turns to face him.

“Tommy,” she says, he rolls his eyes. “ Tommy. Healing is a slow process, even when powers are involved. You’ll be on bedrest for at least two days.” This time, it’s his turn to spring up and face her. “This isn’t something you can argue with.”

XD, he hates her.

Tommy gets an idea. He will definitely be going on this mission.

He nods, hanging his head. Sally hums sympathetically, and presses a kiss to his curls. “I’m sorry all this is happening to you, Tommy. You’re so young and new to this, I’ll try and figure out a way to get you up and moving again as soon as possible.” Sally stands up and heads out the door, leaving Tommy alone. Perfect. 

He waits ten minutes before he so much as blinks.

Tommy flexes his fingers, reaching out for something to latch his power onto. He closes his eyes, and…

There’s a plant on the windowsill on the floor above. He doesn’t use this part of his power very often so he’s not used to it, but Tommy tries his hardest to control the plant even though he can’t see it. It takes a lot of effort, and he starts to feel a pounding behind his eyes.

He pushes through it, even when the pain ascends into pulsing waves of force. The stem of this plant grows longer, and begins to creep up the side of the tower.

It slips into the small gap between the window and the windowsill of his bedroom. His whole head throbs in pain, but he can’t stop now. He needs to concentrate. After feeling around aimlessly for a minute, the plant finally latches onto something stretchy and a little rubbery. The tactical suit.

Tommy stands up, trying to balance on shaky legs. He can barely hold himself up when another wave of pain ripples through his head. Three steps in he slips, and nearly loses his hold on the suit. The ocular headache finally kicks in, and the room blurs. 

Blindly, he stumbles to the window and holds his arm out. Tommy releases his hold on the vine, and the bundled fabric falls, landing perfectly in his hand. For a second, it almost feels like the weight of the suit might be enough to send him toppling out of the window. But he holds his ground, and staggers back to the bed in long, wobbly strides. If Clara were here, she definitely would have commented on it.

“Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” Clara asks, shifting nervously from foot to foot as she watches her pseudo-son stand with his hands out in front of him. Hollyhocks begin to bloom in his hair, and Clara starts cooing at it,

“Cla ra I’m trying to focus! Stop it!” He whines. He had to get this right. Dr. Sam had said something about power usage without physical contact, so it had to be possible right?

Clara giggles. “You’re so cute when you focus.” She teases. Tommy huffs out an angry breath, and glares at her. She stands up, walking to her bedroom. As she passes him, she plucks a flower from his hair and presses a kiss in its place. “Make sure you get to sleep at some point. You’re working in the cafe tomorrow.”

Tommy tucks the suit under the covers next to him, and finally lays back down. 

He deserves to rest for a second.

______

It had been a little difficult to get here. Especially since Clem was waiting with Dream, but he did it. Purpled and Tommy were currently running around the city, on their way to meet up at the mission spot. Dream was debriefing them over comms, and Tommy was very glad Clementine didn’t have one. She immediately would have ratted him out to Phil.

“You’ll go in through a vent on the back wall of the building. I’ll guide you through the ventilation system until you’re in his office. Once you’re there, I’ll disconnect the comms so they won't be able to trace the call back to us if you happen to lose them. You’re going to find the files, and get out. Do you understand?” 

Tommy executes the plan in his head a few times, so he doesn’t get confused and panic when it finally comes time to put it into action. “We understand.” He tells him.

Purpled makes eye contact with him, and mutes his comm. “You keep going, I’m gonna stop for a minute.”

“Why?” It wasn’t like Purpled to get tired so soon.

“Just go.”

Tommy nods, and continues. The earbud was telling him when and where to turn, so he barely had to focus on the journey. Instead, he looks around himself at the city. This is the fancy part of town, nothing like Reese boulevard. He misses the cafe.

There’s decorations all over the place, advertising an upcoming festival. His legs ached. Tommy’s entire body was still shaking from using his powers earlier, but he ignored that in favor of dropping into the street to grab a flier.

He boosted himself back into the air with a vine of solidaster flowers, and took off running to the next roof once more. Tommy held the flier up to his face. 

Support sick kids! Come to the White Rose festival and donate to the Logsted Fund for Childhood Illness! The poster was decorated with white flowers and smiling faces. Hearts and stars covered any and all blank space. Now that he took another look around, the decorations were all white, and all the flower pots and window boxes were filled with white roses. It was beautiful.

One community joined together to support a cause. He’d never seen anything like it before.

He read the poster again, and saw that the festival was in July. four months from now, and the whole city is already showing their support. What beautiful people. Every single person has their own story. Each of the tiny ants below him have their own life, their own family.

He imagines it. He imagines the woman closing up her bookshop going home and greeting her son. The man on his phone at the bus stop arrives at the party ready for a night of insanity.

So many people. So many people.

Tommy realizes he’s stopped moving. He takes off again, his earpiece telling him he’s nearly there. Roughly ten minutes until he arrives at the building Jester works from. Ever since the gala, the hero coalition has been trying to understand what he could possibly gain from working with Ram. The villain had never been the type to cause harm to civilians for no reason. In fact, he’d worked with the heroes a few times before when their interests aligned. It wasn’t lining up.

So, Dream needed someone to go into his office and retrieve his files. And he chose Purpled. Tommy was going to watch his back and fight off any guards while he got the information, and Clementine would be outside healing. Tommy really hoped he wouldn’t end up having to see her at all. Besides, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.

He stops abruptly. His shoes slide on the wet road and he nearly topples over.

This is the place.

It’s not what he was expecting. He was expecting a warehouse, or a giant, luxury building, not… a motel? He’s not one hundred percent sure, but he thinks that’s what this is. It’s a dingy old building, with rows of rooms all facing the outside. There’s a large sign that stands about thirty feet tall that reads “Big Q’s”. 

Big Q… Tommy almost thinks that sounds familiar. But why?

Tommy’s comm pings to life. Dream’s voice filters in through the speaker, the man practically whispering. “Have either of you arrived at the address yet? Why are you taking so long?” From the other end, Tommy hears Clementine’s question of “Either of you”? And holds his breath. Dream doesn’t speak for a moment. Until, “Don’t worry about it.”

Tommy can practically see his sister fuming. She’s never been the type to sit back and take someone’s dismissal, but she must be feeling passive today, as she says nothing in return. 

The B in ‘big’ on the Motel’s sign flickers. It looks old. The entire property looks like something out of a horror novel. Of course Tommy doesn’t read, because he’s not a loser, but he can assume. 

So, all in all, it looks about right for a villain base. Tommy’s vision swims, and he almost regrets his decision to sneak out. But then he remembers that he’s Tommy Innit and he’s never made a good decision in his life, so he just clicks his earpiece on. “I’m here. Big Q’s, right?” He confirms.

Dream hums affirmatively.

There's a few seconds of silence. 

Where's Purpled?