Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Once the meeting started, and he explained what he got, he expected everyone just to look around that building when Tubbo raised his hand.

“Yes, Tubbo?” Wilbur asked, he wondered if he didn’t explain something clearly, after all Tubbo was a child and could get confused in his rants.

“I have a way to look underground through the stone” he said and Wilbur’s jaw dropped.

“First, how, uh, and, why didn’t you tell sooner? Wilbur said and practically screamed the last part.

“We wouldn’t see anything if we were far, it’s useful only if you use it near the gap in the ground you are trying to find, talking from experience” Tubbo explained, turning his head at Fundy who was as shocked as Wilbur was.

“What, okay, actually… okay, but how, fucking how can you see through ground?” Wilbur asked, trying to keep his composure.

Tubbo better be telling what’s true, because it’s not the time for jokes.

“So way back then, when we, me and Tommy, were trying to find Dream’s secret base to get the discs back, we found this method, you use a minecart and drive into leaves at head level, and for some reason you see each empty space near you” Tubbo explained, like it was something normal.

“So not only you and Tommy somehow discover it, but putting yourself in leaves while in a minecart does this?” Wilbur asked, at this point he considered it a waste of time.

An idea so ridiculous it would probably not work. It was probably a silly game the two boys created and Tubbo took it seriously somehow, but they still had to try it. There was no way it worked.

No way.

It worked.

Despite all knowledge of physics and basic common sense, it worked. Wilbur couldn’t believe his eyes when he suddenly saw each cave under them.

How did they even discover this?

As much as interested he was, he was on a mission. He started spinning, looking for anything that could resemble a room.

And then he did.

He found some structure of a few rooms, but more, he saw Tommy sleeping in one of them.

“I got him” Wilbur said as he crawled out.

The sound of cheer at the news rang among the small tunnel they made as they started leaving and went to grab their shovels and pickaxes.

With Wilbur leading the group to where he saw the rooms, everyone’s mood was lifted, hope rising in their chests.

Wilbur couldn’t see if Tommy was breathing or not, too far away for that, but there were no any new death messages so he should be alive. And Tommy would probably not reappear if he died again.

They kept digging through dirt, when they got stuck.

“Obsidian” Fundy mumbled and turned around to face the others.

“It has to be it!” Tubbo said, and began slowly chipping off little bits of the obsidian.

Wilbur just nodded his head in agreement, and soon Wilbur and Fundy joined in breaking the block, but a bit lower so they could fit once they get rid of it.

Shuffle.

Everyone stopped, frozen in uncertainty. Was that Tommy?  An animal? Was that Dream? Now that they thought about it, they actually had no way of checking if Dream was there. Of course, Wilbur looked through walls and knew Tommy was alone, but that didn’t mean that while they were digging, Dream didn’t come.

As no more sounds appeared, they continued. Finally, they dug enough that they met the walls of the room. It was one wall, covered in red, and from a small gap they made, they could see Tommy on the opposite, in a bed.

“Tommy” they whispered and saw as Tommy jumped at the unexpected sound.

Then they saw Tommy wince in pain, curse a little and cradle his leg.

Once he got over the pain, he looked at them, eyes wide.

“You… are you actually here?” Tommy asked, not believing his eyes.

“Yes, Tommy, it’s us, come on, come here, we were looking for you!” Wilbur said as he pushed to the front of their mining chain, and destroying the rest of the wall in a few seconds.

He ran up to the bed and looked at the boy.

“Are you hurt?” He asked, but he felt like he already knew the answer.

“My leg is broken” Tommy said and pointed at his leg.

“Okay, we will carry you then” Wilbur said and tried to put Tommy, who just nodded at the suggestion, in his arms, in a way that would be comfortable for the boy.

Running out of the tunnel, everyone was berading Tommy with questions, to which they would only get small short answers. It got to the point Wilbur had to ask others to leave Tommy with their questions for now, as the boy was way too tired for them.

Most of the way home, Tommy stayed silent. Wilbur didn’t question it, he had gone through a lot.

Next day, Wilbur went to visit Tommy. He saw him in bed and was about to turn around when he saw the boy move.

“Tommy, are you awake, sunshine?’ Wilbur asked, in a soft tone, as he came closer to the bed.

“Why?” Tommy asked, and that took Wilbur aback.

“What?” He responded, confused, Tommy just woke up, and his first question was ‘why’.

“Why did you choose to kill me?” Tommy asked and turned around, now facing Wilbur.

And Wilbur just couldn’t look in those eyes. It was clear Tommy woke up crying, and his whole face was without any brightness Wilbur was so used to. The bright, cheery smile was replaced with a tired frown, big blue eyes now had bags under them, were red where they should be white and duller in general than before.

And the question?

It broke him.

“I didn’t!” Wilbur yelled, not immediately realising the situation.

“You did, he told me it was your choice!” Tommy yelled back, now sitting up in the bad.

”I, I didn’t… I, I’m sorry, he wanted L’Manburg to surrender with the threat of your life, and I said we wouldn’t, but I thought he wouldn’t actually do that, or we will get to you first…” Wilbur explained, feeling really guilty, as he refused to look at Tommy while talking and put a hand behind his head.

‘He asked L’Manburg to surrender with the threat on my life?” Tommy asked, now calmer, interested.

“Yeah…” Wilbur answered and turned his head to look at Tommy again.

“Then you made the right choice, you are forgiven, Wilbur” Tommy said with a small smile as he motioned for the other to come to the bed.

‘Heh, thank you, Tommy, that means a lot” Wilbur said and squealed when he felt Tommy hug him.

With no hesitation, Wilbur hugged Tommy back.

“We will win this war, Tommy, for now just rest, Tubbo will soon come with food, and then we will try to find a crutch for you” Wilbur said, still hugging Tommy and slowly petting his back.

“Thank you, Wilbur” Tommy said as he hugged his brother and finally felt safe.

As Dream climbed down into the bunker, he didn’t expect anything new. The giant hole in the wall and his prisoner missing were new.

In a panic, he looked in the tunnel from that hole, and knew he was already too late.

Fuck.

Tommy’s free, which means L’Manburg can get independence, and sway Tommy’s mind against him.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He was about to call Wilbur, when he got a call from the man himself.

After a few harsh words at each other, they agreed to meet. It was okay, Dream still held the power. He had an army of strong soldiers, he had the resources-

He just hoped they wouldn’t figure out what he actually wanted.

The meeting happened a week after Tommy’s escape. Instead of inviting everyone, only three people were present.

Wilbur, Tommy and Dream.

Tommy was holding onto a crutch, definitely not fit to fight. Not like they would mean if he was healthy. He insisted on coming despite Wilbur begging him not to, said he had a plan but refused to share it with Wilbur.

Wilbur stood by Tommy’s side, before he stepped in front and hid Tommy a little bit with his body.

Dream snorted at that, which made Wilbur growl.

“So, Wilbur, what do you have to offer me?” Dream said as he took out his axe, put it in the ground and used it as something to lean on.

“Um, we have to end this” Wilbur said, avoiding Dream’s question.

“Yeah, we should just end L’Manburg” Dream answered with a laugh, comically stretching his leg and leaning even more at the axe.

He wasn’t even acting seriously. To him, it was all a game, a joke. To them, it was their country, their freedom.

‘No, we should end the war” Wilbur said, correcting Dream’s statement.

“Then you have to offer me something to back down’ Dream answered with a smirk as he stood straight again.

He saw Wilbur stumbling for words, all of them knew the man didn’t have anything to give.

That was when Tommy spoke up.

“I will be by your side or whatever you meant for up to four hours, if you want that much, at a time you choose, every day” Tommy said and ignored Wilbur turning to him with wide eyes.

“Tommy-” Wilbur said, turning in his direction, and his talking but was quickly stopped.

“Deal” Dream interrupted and offered his hand to shake.

“And we get independence” Tommy added, before elbowing Wilbur to offer his hand too.

“Yes, the war is over, you get independence or whatever, but I get you and we will be alone," Dream answered, shaking his hand in the air to show impatience at Wilbur’s lack of movement.

“What the fuck, Tommy, no, we are not doing that!’ Wilbur yelled as he shook Tommy by his shoulders.

“Agree” Tommy said, teeth gritted and tone a bit angry, taking Wilbur aback, who after a few seconds turned to Dream.

“Deal” he said and offered his hand, they shook them as the sign of a deal and Dream nodded.

“Time to go, Tommy” Dream said and started walking closer.

“What, no, not yet!” Wilbur stopped him, standing in front of Tommy.

“I get to choose when, and I want now” Dream said, voice low, a warning.

Wilbur felt himself pushed to the side as Tommy went by him and slowly came to Dream, his crutch creaking a little bit.

“I will be back soon, Wilbur” he said as he and Dream started walking away.

Wilbur couldn’t believe the interaction he just witnessed.

Why did the boy do that? Why did the man agree?

Something was going on. Something Wilbur didn’t understand. How did Tommy know what to offer, and why did that offer even work? What does Dream get from spending four hours with Tommy every day? Like he wasn’t the one to call the boy annoying. The twelve-year-old could be quite a nuisance, and Dream knew that.

What was the point?

Still, as he had many questions, he had to tell others about their victory.

“You gave them independence?” Subpoena screamed as Dream revealed what happened in the meeting.

“And for what, the brat being by your side, annoying the shit out of you?” Punz added, the men were incredibly confused.

“That’s my decision” Dream answered, one of his hands on Tommy’s shoulder, who was trying to pretend he wasn’t there.

“You’ve been paying a lot of attention to Tommy lately, care to explain?” George asked and others nodded.

Everyone noticed how Dream was basically obsessed with the boy, first he kidnapped him and then all the time he wasn’t with the child, he was tearing their ears talking about him.

“What’s so special?” George asked and came closer to the boy, who was quickly moved backwards by Dream, which made the man stop.

“You don’t have to know” Dream answered and realised he should have worded it differently when Sapnap came into his face.

“We are your friends, we should know!” He yelled, getting into Dream’s face.

Oh, friends. How did he not notice how tiring it was to put up with all of their behaviour. When they thought they stood on the same level. Question him? Who were they to question him?

He didn’t mind friends, but they had to know not to doubt him. He missed when they would listen to his every word, that made dealing with them much easier.

The only person Dream would give his attention to, the only one he could deal with, the only one who was in any way close to Dream, was Tommy.

None of them.

“You don’t have to” Dream repeated as he started to walk away, leaving the group he would once call his closest friends alone.

Not much lost.

As long as he had Tommy, he could deal with being without them.

They kept walking down the Prime Path, when they reached one of its ends.

“What do you want from me?” Tommy asked as they sat down in the grass.

“You see Tommy, you’re the one who makes this world interesting, your feelings, your actions ignite something others couldn’t dream of” Dream explained, but Tommy didn’t understand him.

“What actions, what feelings?” Tommy asked, he was so confused, and Dream’s answer didn’t help.

“You don’t know yet, I just want you to know you’re the only person I care about” Dream answered and now Tommy understood even less.

“What about George, aren’t you in love with him or something?” Tommy asked, trying to make sense of it.

“He is very inactive, and I wouldn’t say that I’m ‘in love’’ with him, I will miss him a little bit, but that’s not that much of a loss” Dream explained, and again it wasn’t clear what he meant.

“What about Sapnap, isn’t he your best friend?” Tommy asked, and at this point he was tired of asking questions and getting vague answers, but he wanted to know, so he had to continue.

“You’re my best friend, Sapnap turned out to be weak, wouldn’t listen to me, and didn’t bring any interest, so I just threw him away” Dream responded, and looked at Tommy.

“First, I’m not your best friend, what the fuck, second you keep talking like you’ve not been friends with them for a while, but I just saw you talking as friends!” Tommy said, he couldn’t miss the little bits that didn’t connect with reality.

“We’re best friends Tommy, you probably don’t think so right now, but after time you’ll see, don’t worry” Dream said with a cheer, snaking an arm to hug Tommy around the shoulders.

The boy shook him off, but when Dream reached again he left it alone.

“And the ‘I talk like this or that’ is, Tommy you haven’t seen much that I did yet, there are a lot of secrets and events you haven’t heard and seen, but I have’ Dream explained, bringing Tommy closer, stopping when Tommy hissed in pain when he was moved into a position in which his broken leg hurt.

“It will be okay, Tommy, but we will spend time together, you will see my vision, and together, we will be the most powerful people of this server” Dream said as Tommy looked to the side.

“Yeah, you’re crazy, at least I have to spend no more than four hours with you” Tommy answered, rolling his eyes.

“This will be fun, Tommy, probably not as much for you in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it” Dream said and Tommy didn’t want to know what he implied with that.

Wilbur wasn’t calm about the whole Dream and Tommy situation. Everything just seemed wrong and made no sense. He would have to look into it.

For now, he just has to trust Tommy that he will be okay, and trust Dream not to hurt him.

Something told him not to get his hopes up. Tommy would definitely get hurt, and Wilbur would be powerless to stop that again.

He will figure this out, he had to.

The next day, Tommy had to go to Dream again. The man was waiting right outside his house, for an unknown amount of hours. Creepy.

Did he watch Tommy sleep? He didn’t want to know actually.

“What do you want?” Tommy asked, so tired and groggy in the morning.

“Oh, I want to show you something…” Dream said and turned around, expecting Tommy to follow, which he did.

The days went by, Tommy would spend time with Dream, most times the full four hours.

He thought it would be worse, but it was okay. And Tommy started dropping his guard down. He started to forget just how much power Dream still had.

And that was a mistake.

“Tommy, I’ve noticed you started bringing armour and weapons when going on meetings with me” Dream said and Tommy looked at his armour.

He was wearing almost full diamond armour, the exception being his iron pants. Tommy worked day and night in getting resources for this. L’Manburg didn’t allow armour, but in the meetings with Dream, they were almost always outside L’Manburg, so Tommy brought it with him. It made him feel safe, feel protected.

Then he looked at his diamond sword. Oh, he was so proud of it! It took him two days to get the right enchantments, it had Sharpness 2 and Unbreaking 2, which were hard to get!

“Yeah, they are great, I spent a lot of time getting them!” Tommy said, he sounded proud and excited.

“Drop them in this hole” Dream ordered and dug up a two block hole.

‘What?” Tommy asked, his excitement replaced by apprehension, cradling his hands on his chest, while also trying to make his body smaller, so that he felt the armour on his body.

“Drop, I will blow them up, drop now” Dream said and took a menacing step forward.

“What, no, they, they make me feel safer!” Tommy protested and took a step back.

‘I will keep you safe, no reason to have all of this” Dream answered, taking another step forward.

“I spent so much time and energy making this, please Dream, I love them, I can, can just take them off, why would you blow it up” Tommy asked as genuine fear escaped through his voice.

“They are useless to you, don’t keep junk around, give me the armour and weapons, last warning” Dream said as he took the final step.

“No, you can’t just take my shit, they are mine!” Tommy yelled, refusing to take it off, instead clutching it as much as he could.

Instead of a normal answer, Dream raised his axe and struck Tommy in the shoulder. Tommy fell down, fresh blood leaking out of his uniform, Dream hit right into the small strap where armour wasn’t covering him. A scream escaped his lips and he looked at the wound.

“What the fuck, that hurt!” Tommy yelled, he was upset, the pain in his shoulder was quite big.

“Drop the armour and weapons” Dream repeated as he stood over Tommy and motioned to the hole.

“No!” Tommy refused and that was when he was struck by the axe again.

Tears sprang up in his eyes, as his shoulder kept pulsing with pain and blood. Memories of Dream breaking his leg, twice, surfaced, which made Tommy look up at Dream in fear.

“Hole, now” Dream ordered, and this time, Tommy stood up, hissing from the pain, but slowly he made his way over to the hole.

With great sadness, he started unstrapping the armour he spent so much time on. One by one, the pieces fell into the hole, and it felt like each piece took a piece of himself with them. Finally, once all armour was dropped, he looked at his sword and the Dream. Dream nodded and Tommy dropped the sword into the hole too.

Dream came over and threw an ignited piece of dynamite, and a loud explosion followed, destroying Tommy’s days of work.

“See, that wasn’t that hard, now come here” Dream said, tone cheerful again, like he didn’t just blow up something Tommy put so much energy in.

Tommy came over, he was speechless, and just wanted it to be done over it.

Dream raised his hand and Tommy flinched, something that made Dream stop.

“Sorry… “ Tommy said, he didn’t know why he had to apologise, but the threat of the man hurting him even more was enough to try and appease him in any way Tommy knew.

Dream raised his hand again, and Tommy closed his eyes, but opened them once he realised what the man was doing. He was applying bandages to Tommy’s shoulder, treating the injury he just gave him.

“I didn’t want to do that Tommy, but you left me no choice” Dream said, and he almost sounded… sad.

In the days he was talking with Dream, the man didn’t really feel like his enemy anymore. Actually, the word friends could be used for their relationship sometimes. Dream kept insisting that they are best friends, but Tommy knows that’s not true. At least to Tommy.

He had no clue who was Dream’s best friend anymore. The man still talked with Sapnap and George, but it seemed their relationship soured recently. A sudden shift in Dream confused everyone, and he didn’t care.

Now, Tommy was reminded just how bad Dream can be. He was acting like they were friends again, but Tommy doesn’t think blowing up someone else’s shit is friendship.

Quite the opposite actually.

Still, as Dream spoke soft words and treated the cuts so gently, he didn’t know where the line was. The line between enemies and friends.

Who was Dream to Tommy, and who was Tommy to Dream?

Wilbur was getting worried. He didn’t like Tommy’s meetings with Dream, but at least he was coming back okay. Now, Wilbur saw that something was wrong. There was blood on the uniform, Tommy kept flinching at sudden movement, he constantly let out hisses of pain.

It was clear Tommy tried hiding that, hiding that something happened to him. He would explain the blood with a bad fall or a mob attack. He would explain flinching by just being nervous with all the affairs happening in L’Manburg.

At some point, Tommy couldn’t hide it anymore.

Each day, he would come home hurt. Wilbur could see all the bruises and cuts. It was clear what was happening. Dream was hurting Tommy. Wilbur tried talking about that with Tommy, but the boy always brushed him off.

When he couldn’t brush it off anymore, when it was that clear, even then he wouldn’t talk about it. And also Wilbur noticed how Tommy always was making new equipment, mining for resources and using the enchantment table. When he asked why he was making new ones, Tommy just said he lost the others, or they were broken. There was no way all of this equipment would break so easily. One day, he got a response he never expected.

“Dream likes when I bring something, so he can show that I’m okay without it, I don’t want to come empty-handed and make him sad” Tommy said, polishing his new sword.

“What do you mean, ‘so he can show I’m okay without it’”? Wilbur asked, worried about what Dream was doing.

‘He, he takes my equipment  then we stay safe so he shows that I’m safe with him or something like that, I don’t really understand, but I can’t afford the lack of it for the rest of the day and he always knows if I made new ones” Tommy answered and Wilbur realised he was right to worry.

He tried to talk about it with Tommy, but he just went away with some excuses. The situation was bad, and Wilbur was very worried for the boy, but couldn’t really help him.

“Tommy, you have to tell me what was going on” Wilbur said one time he saw Tommy enter L’Manburg, clutching his hand.

“Hm?” Tommy answered as he was poking at one of the latest cut.

“This, Tommy, this!” Wilbur screamed as he pointed at Tommy’s hand poking the cut.

“Oh, this, I just, I know I shouldn’t poke it-” Tommy said before he looked at Wilbur who looked at him with worried eyes.

“No, why does Dream hurt you, and you do nothing about it?” Wilbur asked, carefully taking Tommy’s hand into his own.

“I…it’s okay, I should just behave better” Tommy answered looking at his hand in Wilbur’s hand.

‘Tommy, you can be annoying sometimes-” Wilbur said, and with that start he saw Tommy wince, but he wasn’t done.

“Still, you do nothing to deserve this, I don’t know what he put into your head, but he’s wrong” Wilbur added, tracing his thumb over the top of Tommy’s hand.

Tommy just looked at him with a wide yes, basically asking if Wilbur was serious.

“Tommy, you’re great, don’t listen to him, please, Sunshine, you’re great” Wilbur said as he hugged his younger brother.

Soon small sniffles filled the room, and Wilbur felt his uniform get wet. It was okay. Tommy was struggling, and it was his job to help him. He had to talk with Dream.

He wasn’t waiting anymore.

When Dream was walking up the Prime Path, he didn’t expect to run into an angry Wilbur Soot.

So angry, actually, that the man grabbed him by the clothes on the chest and brought him to his face.

“Stop hurting Tommy” Wilbur warned, fists clenched in the green fabric.

First, Dream broke away from the hold and dusted himself off like Wilbur made his clothes dirty.

Second, Dream turned forward to Wilbur and made him notice that his hand was on his sword.

‘He’s okay’ Dream answered, there was no point hiding it, Wilbur knew, and he wouldn’t buy any of Dream’s excuses.

“He’s not, stop this, first your creepy talks, now this!’ Wilbur yelled, thrashing his hands in the air to evaluate his points.

“Wilbur, this is the only way he will learn!” Dream screamed, he was done with these useless conversations!

“He is a child, sometimes he does something wrong, but he doesn’t do anything that deserves this!” Wilbur yelled, coming right up into Dream’s face before he was pushed away.

“I know that, but that boy learns like that very quickly” Dream answered and shrugged taking a step away from Wilbur.

“That’s not good, and what are you even trying to teach him?” Wilbur asked, crossing his arms, he also moved his weight on one leg.

“That’s not up for you to know” Dream responded and before Wilbur could say anything else, he threw an ender pearl and teleported away.

Dream forgot that Wilbur was still alive. He thought he would get to Tommy and after that it was destined for success, but he forgot that Wilbur would be in the way.

Everything was already not going to plan. L’Manburg gained independence, Tommy’s free, for the most part, he got a support system and kept questioning him.

He thought it would be easier, Tommy was younger, more susceptible to him, didn’t know much about him… Still, somehow he was managing to slip through his fingers. He had so much progress with him, progress that Wilbur could destroy.

Was it really a good idea to travel in this time? Could there have been a better choice? This timeline was changed too much already to hope everything goes to how it did in his own. Try another one? Try to stay with this one?

Dream had a lot of thoughts, but he felt like with all the work with Tommy he already made, he should at least give it another chance. They didn’t even know he had the Revival Book, he still had some aces up his sleeve.

He knew their fears and some of their secrets. What could he do? He still had the daily talks, but with Wilbur being there to change Tommy’s mind, he wouldn’t get far.

Hm.

He could just… isolate Tommy from Wilbur then.

Yes, that was worth a try.

This talk was the same as other ones at first. Dream talked with him, made him destroy his equipment and at about two hour mark something changed.

“I met Wilbur yesterday” Dream said as they were sitting on a bench similar to the one near Tommy’s house.

Except this one was on some different cliff that was further from the other people. Dream liked talking here, where they could enjoy some views and be alone.

“Yeah?” Tommy asked, prompting Dream to continue.

“He seemed annoyed with you” Dream said, looking into the skies.

“What?’ Tommy asked, tone quiet and scared.

“Yeah, he saw you coming home injured after our lessons, and told me he thinks you’re so weak for getting them” Dream answered, still refusing to look at Tommy.

“What, no way he said that!” Tommy refused, looking at Dream, who kept staring away.

“You’re always hurt and look so weak, I agree with him” Dream added as he gestured his hand in the air.

“You’re weak Tommy, your behaviour is bad so you keep getting more injured, and he’s tired of it” Dream continued and finally looked at Tommy.

Tommy felt tears appear in the corner of his eyes. Was he really weak? Was that really that bad? So bad Wilbur complained about it… Dream was trying to make him a better person. That’s what he always said in their meetings. Something about power and improving Tommy.

Wilbur was annoyed. Not in a good way. Wilbur was actually upset. And Tommy had to change that.

Wilbur saw Tommy return from the daily talk. He smiled, as finally, Tommy came back uninjured. At least, on the outside. It seemed his talk with Dream had some effect.

The following days, Tommy came home unhurt, he could see him standing in front of his house. Wilbur ran to hug him one day, but the flinch Tommy had made him stop hugging, putting his hands on Tommy’s shoulders instead. Was something wrong?

“Tommy, are you okay?” Wilbur asked, outstretching his hand, trying to reach Tommy after he took a step back.

Tommy moved himself a little bit more away.

‘It’s fine Wilbur, I just, the sudden movement scared me…” Tommy admitted, which sent Wilbur into some thoughts.

He started acting like that when Dream began hurting him, but now he stopped, but Wilbur seemed more apprehensive about Wilbur than before.

‘I, we can hug, I’m, I’m okay, Big Man Tommy Innit, sorry for that annoying flinch…” Tommy said as he rubbed his hands around himself.

He took a breath and opened his arms, a sign for Wilbur to hug him. Wilbur took the hint and enveloped Tommy, but his words worried him.

“Tommy, you flinching is not annoying, never would be, I’m just worried for your safety, and flinching is a sign something is wrong” Wilbur answered, hoping to calm down the boy, who instead only tensed more.

“Nothing is wrong, I won’t flinch, as I have no reason to!” Tommy screamed right into Wilbur’s chest, and now Wilbur knew something was definitely wrong.

“Tommy, it’s okay, you can always tell me if something’s wrong, I won’t judge you” Wilbur responded, rubbing circles on his younger brother’s back.

That made some tension leave the boy, but he still wasn’t calm. Soon, Tommy broke the hug and went to his house without another word, the house he just walked out of.

Actually, Wilbur noticed that Tommy now always went to his house first before meeting anyone. He didn’t do that before.

More days passed.

Tommy was constantly apologising, hiding that he was upset whenever he was in front of Wilbur. It was normal for him to look up to Wilbur, but this was something else.

It felt almost like he was trying to prove something to his older brother. Like he didn’t mean everything to Wilbur already.

“Sunshine?” Wilbur asked, making Tommy look up at him.

“Yes?” Tommy asked, walking a little bit closer.

Tommy had been at work the whole day he wasn’t with Dream, contributing to the resources of their country. He even refused to play with Tubbo today. He was really overworking. The boy’s best friend had come to Wilbur to ask what was up with Tommy at least three times this week, and it was only Thursday. It got to the point that even Fundy was worried.

“You know you can tell me anything?” Wilbur asked, taking Tommy’s hand into his own, noticing that the boy was wearing gloves.

Tommy stopped to just look at his brother, many thoughts flying through his head. Wilbur patiently waited for an answer.

“Yes” Tommy answered, taking a deep breath.

Wilbur kept looking at him, expecting some reveal, but all he got was silence.

“Your suit has a stain on the chest” Tommy said and walked away.

That wasn’t the reveal Wilbur expected. He looked down at his suit, and just like Tommy said, there was a stain. Probably he spilled some coffee in the morning. He would have to go clean that off.

Tommy didn’t have a good day. Dream hit him with the axe in the leg, and it seemed the wound was deeper than Tommy first expected. The bandages started leaking at the most inconvenient time.

He was talking with Wilbur, when he looked down. Right there, a small red stain started appearing on his white trousers, basically screaming along the light fabric. The bandages leaked, and now the blood was flowing outside.

Tommy put the leg behind him and with a quick excuse ran away, trying to turn in ways that wouldn’t let Wilbur see the stain.

Coming into his house, he fell at the threshold. The pain was too bad, sharp and burning in his leg. He kept trying to stifle his screams as he was getting up. Finally, when he got on his knees, he almost stood up when he fell again.

Fuck.

Dream hit him hard this time. Then he felt something slide down his cheek.

Oh no.

He was crying.

This was bad. Now the tears will erase all of the makeup he put on to hide his bruises. Tommy found the best way for Wilbur not to see the injuries was to hide behind a wall of wake up or clothes. He was lucky no one questioned his gloves, he didn’t know if he could hide the cuts with makeup and if it would even stay for the whole day.

He was so tired.

Tommy just wanted to become better. He followed all of Dream’s rules and directions, but the man always found something to punish him for. He kept messing up.

Tommy could just become better, and then he wouldn’t have to hide his injuries! Wilbur couldn’t see them, couldn’t see how weak Tommy was.

He crawled to his chest, taking the small box of make up and a mirror. Then he remembered about his leg and decided to treat it first.

Tommy’s face can wait.

It was quite painful taking his trousers off by himself, but he had to do this. Unwrapping the bandages, Tommy threw them to the floor and blindly looked for new ones. Tommy’s hand was in the medkit searching for the bandages. Once he touched the rough texture, he pulled out the whole roll. Biting to cut off a piece, he reapplied them on his leg

He tightened them more, hoping to lessen the blood flow. Then he remembered he hadn't cleaned the wound once, but he assumed it would be fine. After all, where could it get dirty?

For a second, Tommy felt smart when ideas came into his head. Dream’s axe could be dirty, his trousers that touched the wound right after the strike, or the floor he was kneeling on right now.

He still didn't have time for it, and he wasn’t unwrapping them again. Picking the small makeup box, he opened it and grabbed a brush. Setting up the mirror, Tommy got the desired colour, which he then slowly applied to his face. The bruise beneath his eyes hurt a lot, even the small brush sent sparkles of pain.

Urgh, everything hurt.

Why couldn’t he just become… better? Why was it so hard for him? He was pathetic. He tried numbing the reality by working, after all, their new and growing country required a lot of upgrades, so it made sense that he would spend hours in the mines.

Somewhere he was alone and no one could hurt him.

Where he didn’t have to fight for how others perceive him.

Where he didn’t have to hide his reactions at the bursts of pain in his body.

It was calming.

Tommy only worried that Tubbo that always invited him to games would start getting suspicious after Tommy’s many refusals to get involved. It’s just that playing and running around was hard for him right now, the pain was just too big to hide there. Constantly avoiding his friend made Tubbo sad, and Tommy just couldn’t bear to look in his disappointed face.

Tubbo probably thought he was a jerk.

He also regrets snapping at Fundy when he asked if Tommy was okay for the fourth time today. He knew he was just trying to help, but Tommy was so tired, he became irritable.

Another bad side of him.

Become better.

Become better.

Tommy took a deep breath to steady himself. He had a lot of work about himself, but with Dream’s guidance he believed he could achieve becoming a decent person.

All of L’Manburg members would be so happy to see him once he is better.

Better, yes, better.

That word was flying in Tommy’s head, Dream pronouncing it, a constant reminder in the back of his mind.

He felt grateful that Dream even put all of this time in improving the boy. Back in the war, Tommy couldn’t stand the man, but now he was listening to his every word.

Dream had great plans for Tommy, and all Tommy had to do was follow the rules.

Standing up, Tommy dusted himself off and went back to his country.

Tommy’s head was killing him. The world was spinning in his head and the pickaxe in his hand felt so heavy. Standing up was hard. He would rather just stay on the ground in this cave, where he could put his face on the cold stone.

He was right at the entrance, about to go on another mining session when he just fell. Tommy didn’t mind, that stone against his face felt heavenly.

Sweating was rolling down his body, but he couldn’t care. All of his thoughts were sluggish, every sound too loud and too quiet at the same time. He would close his eyes for just a second-

“Tommy!” Wilbur screamed as he saw his little brother on the ground at the entrance of their mine.

He expected an answer, but he only got silence. Coming closer, he saw the dropped pickaxe near the boy. The blonde wasn’t awake and didn’t even look like the position he was in was comfortable.

“Tommy?” Wilbur asked as he kneeled next to the boy.

He noticed that the blonde’s hair was damp with sweat, and then he realised he had to check something. Putting his hand over Tommy’s forehead, Wilbur gasped.

Tommy was burning up!

He shook the boy to try to wake him up again, but it wasn’t successful. When did Tommy manage to get sick, and so sick that he just dropped down somewhere?

Wilbur called Tubbo and Fundy to help move the boy and bring him to Wilbur’s quarters. There Wilbur had some medicine which he hoped would help the boy.

The small gasps he heard behind him alerted him that Tubbo and Fundy arrived. Wilbur took the top part of Tommy while Tubbo took the legs, and they started carrying him. Fundy ran off to prepare a bed in Wilbur’s living quarters. He knew there was one more bed on which they could put Tommy on.

Once they reached the building, the boy and the man put the blonde onto the bed. Tubbo went to get a wet rug while Wilbur started scurrying through the medicine he had. Fundy took off Tommy’s suit and most of his uniform, helping him get in a more comfortable position.

Wilbur managed to make the boy swallow two pills, which was easier than he expected. And like that, they just waited for Tommy to wake up.

The world came slowly to him, but soon Tommy opened his eyes. He still felt like shit and his mind was a mess.

“He’s awake!” Tubbo screamed, and it was followed by quick and loud footsteps.

All of that screaming and the noises just made his head hurt more.

“Urgh,,,” Tommy grumbled as he tried to sit up when a hand stopped him.

“Bed rest, you’re sick” Wilbur explained, and showed Tommy his hand, which held two pills.

“This is, uh, some medicine I found, should help” Wilbur said and gently put the pills in Tommy’s hand, also making him sit up after all.

Fundy soon came over with a glass of water, which Tommy used to drink the pills, and then drank the rest of the water greedily. It felt good to have some liquid in him. Fundy got the hint and refilled the glass quickly.

Water went down his throat, cooling him down.

“What happened?” Tommy asked once the glass was taken away.

“I found you unconscious at the mine entrance, and Tommy you have a fever” Wilbur explained, sitting next to Tommy on the bed.

“Oh” Tommy said, it was quiet as he tried to remember anything close to that moment.

It was blurry, he remembered he didn’t feel good, then he dropped on the ground and leaned against the stone. After that, he probably passed out.

“Do you have any idea how you could’ve got sick?” Wilbur asked, brushing the sweaty golden curls out of Tommy’s face.

“No idea” Tommy answered, as he felt tired again.

The pain in his leg reminded of itself once more, which brought some shock to Tommy.

He clearly wasn’t completely dressed as he was before, and he worried that they found his injury. Soon they would laugh at him for being weak and getting punished again. Trying not to attract anyone's attention, he lifted the blanket he was under and saw his trousers. He gasped when he saw the red stain, which made everyone look at him.

“Is something wrong?” Wilbur asked, his tone worried as he reached for Tommy.

“No, no, everything is okay!” Tommy answered and tried to drop the blanket in a way others wouldn’t notice.

“Tell us if you feel worse or better, for now I think you should get some sleep” Wilbur said as he carefully lowered Tommy down from the sitting position to the bed.

Tommy didn’t mind the idea and soon drifted off.

Staying in his quarters, Wilbur didn’t expect anyone, it was evening and everyone already went to the designated houses. So when Tubbo appeared on his doorstep, he was surprised.

“Um, Dream came over and asked where Tommy is” Tubbo explained and Wilbur just wanted to facepalm.

He completely forgot about their daily meetings, which Tommy of course missed being sick and unconscious. Now he had to talk with the man and explain the situation.

With a groan, Wilbur stood up and waved Tubbo off as the boy went back to his house. He had to dress, at least put a coat on top of his home clothes before going outside. Grabbing one, he quickly threw it on himself and went outside.

The bugs were chirping, and practically no daylight stayed. Everything was lit up by their many lanterns, the air a little bit cold. It reminded him of the night Tommy was kidnapped. The simple evening was enough for Wilbur to tense up. Now he knew Tommy was safe and sound, and he would see him again in a few minutes.

Coming up to the entrance of L’Manburg, Wilbur met Dream.

“Where is Tommy, why didn’t he come, did you forget our deal?” Dream demanded, and Wilbur was a little put off with just how angry the man was.

“Tommy is sick, really sick, he can’t go and meet you” Wilbur explained, he was so tired, if Dream asked for some proof right now, Wilbur would probably just hit him and deal with it later.

“He is?” Dream asked, and it took Wilbur off guard how concern was present in his voice.

“Yes, now go away, it’s late” Wilbur said as he turned around and waved his hand bye, not really checking what Dream’s reaction was.

“Okay, goodbye” Dream said and started walking away, and Wilbur decided to check after all that he actually went away.

When the man disappeared from his sight, Wilbur let out a breath of relief. He just wasn’t ready for any fighting, physical or verbal, he was too tired. So with that problem solved, he went back to his house.

Wilbur was pacing in the room which held Tommy. He looked at the boy, still half dressed, and realised he had to fix that. He would prefer to do that when the boy was awake, but he didn’t want to wake him up. So, he slowly lifted Tommy a little bit, and took off his shirt.

He planned to just dress him in a new one when he saw the state of Tommy’s body. It was covered in cuts and bruises, old and new. They covered him like a psychopath’s drawing, with a couple bandages around his torso.

This whole time, Wilbur thought Dream stopped hurting Tommy. Turns out the boy was just hiding all of his injuries.

Why? Why would he hide them?

A thought crossed his mind.

Was he embarrassed by them?

He would have to talk about it with Tommy later. Now that he was aware of the injuries, he noticed some dark line on Tommy’s face. The sweat rolled down, and under it was definitely not healthy skin. Wilbur wiped a hand over Tommy’s face, only to find his hands covered in something.

Make up.

He grabbed a tissue and cleaned Tommy’s face, only to let out a gasp of horror as he saw the little boy’s face covered in bruises and cuts, just like his chest and torso had been. How could anyone do this?

Wilbur was a strong man, but the sight made some tears appear in his eyes.

The boy, a twelve-year-old child, was covered in injuries from head to toe, and was hiding it all, doing grueling work and not spending a minute to rest.

Head to toe.

Wilbur had to check his legs too.

Taking the blanket off and piling it in Tommy’s chest, Wilbur saw his white trousers. At least they were supposed to be white. A giant red stain wasn’t a part of their uniform.

Quickly rolling up the pant leg, Wilbur saw a bunch of soaked bandages. They were covered with blood. A small hiss left Wilbur when he saw what condition they were in. Definitely not put on by a professional, and more like… a child trying to bandage his leg with only small skills of doing so.

Urghh, Tommy, why didn’t he say anything?

Wilbur took some scissors and started cutting off the material. Once all of it was off, Wilbur felt nauseous at what he saw and smelled, but he also knew why Tommy was sick. Disgusting yellowish or green pus was leaking out from a red cut, with some red lines spreading through the wound and around it., a foul smell hitting Wilbur right in the nose.

Infection.

Judging by the red lines, it spread quite far too. Fuck. No wonder Tommy had a fever. The boy, hiding everything, clearly didn’t take care of the cut properly, leading it to get infected.

At least Wilbur knew how to treat Tommy now.

In the morning, Wilbur explained the situation to others, and Tubbo looked downright horrified. Still, the other two members were way too interested in seeing the wound themselves.

Wilbur agreed, but when Tubbo wanted to throw up, he didn’t really feel bad for him.

A small movement from Tommy alerted all of them and they came closer.

“Mhh…” Tommy grumbled as his eyes slowly opened.

Tommy spent a few seconds just waking up, but then he turned his head to the others. Their expressions didn’t leave the best impressions on Tommy.

Then he felt it.

A small breeze on his leg. In a panic, he turned his head, and to his dismay, saw that the leg wound was uncovered.

They knew.

Then, another horror struck him when he saw the condition of the wound.

“What the fuck!” Tommy screamed, but instantly regretted the loud noise as it hit his head.

“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy…” Wilbur said, and the beginning already told Tommy enough that it wasn’t going to be good.

“Y-yeah?” Tommy asked, his face had a smile, and he tried to hide how nervous he was but failed miserably.

“Would you like to explain why you hid so many injuries and didn’t even take proper care of  them and ended up getting one of them infected?” Wilbur asked, and his voice was nice, but Tommy knew that meant he was fucked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Tommy said, he tried to pretend, but the gritting of Wilbur’s teeth and a twitch of his eye showed that it wouldn’t work.

“Okay, yes, I hid them, but for a good reason!” Tommy added, admitting it, as much as he didn’t want to.

He was caught, there was no point in pretending at this point.

“Hm, and that was?” Wilbur asked, the nice facade dropping and going to a strict mood.

Tommy had to gulp down his throat.

“I just… I didn’t want you to think I’m weak, I know how embarrassing this looks, I tried to be better, it just didn’t work yet, I will be better, please, I will!” Tommy admitted, tears flowing down his face.

Wilbur listened in horror.

“Why would I think you’re weak, why would that be bad, why is it embarrassing, what do you mean by be better?” Wilbur asked, questions spilling out of his mouth.

That was… not the reaction Tommy expected. He expected laughter, mockery, disappointment, insults… Not this.

“Dream said… that you thought I’m weak because I kept getting punished, so I started hiding my injuries…” Tommy answered, looking at the ground.

“He said what?” Wilbur asked as he took a step back, confused.

“And what punishment, what the fuck?” He added as he could only stare at his little brother.

“He said he met you, and you said what, and the punishments are there for when I do something bad or break a rule, they are there to make me better!’ Tommy said, spewing the last part really quickly.

“First, I never said anything like this” Wilbur said, that was just a start, and walked up to Tommy, taking his hand.

“Second, you are doing nothing to deserve treatment like this, whatever he told you, ignore him, I’ll have a talk with him, messing with your head… you are already great, not perfect, but none of us are, so please, listen to me” Wilbur continued, holding Tommy’s hand gently and looking him into the eyes.

“You are great Tommy, you are sometimes annoying-” Wilbur added and saw Tommy’s wince, but held on tiger to Tommy’s hand.

“Sometimes you are annoying, but it’s not that bad, we love you like this, so please Tommy, don’t try to become better when you are already good, we love you, don’t change and don’t listen to that freak” Wilbur explained, spitting the last word with venom Tommy didn’t hear often from his brother.

Tommy was crying, and before he could protest, Wilbur hugged him, trying to be careful with his injuries. And after a second, Tommy hugged back.

For months, he was listening about how terrible he was that he didn’t even question it once. Why was he listening to Dream? When did the man make his opinion so important?

He was surprised when he felt some wetness on his back. Wilbur was crying too.

Then he felt two more pairs of arms wrap around them, Tubbo and Fundy joining their hug.

Tommy realised that those people cared for him, and he could trust them.

Dream walked on the Prime Path. He didn’t expect Tommy to get sick, but he couldn’t do anything about it. There was also something else to worry about. What could Tommy babble and reveal? He had him in a good position where he was getting more and more isolated, but now all of that work could amount to nothing.

Dream’s plan had many flaws. While travelling in time brought him to a younger, naive Tommy, he forgot that didn’t mean no obstacles will appear in the way. He will have to see what condition Tommy will be in once he’s okay. By that, he will judge if he continues or abandons this plan.

This timeline was different to what he expected. He planned to win against L’Manburg! And now that country gained independence because Tommy always knew what to offer for it! In every timeline, Tommy still acts like Tommy, which Dream wants, but that’s annoying when it goes against him.

How did he even get sick?

He hoped it wasn’t one of the injuries he inflicted on the boy. That would be inefficient, self-sabotaging even.

He had to wait for now.

Tommy got better, in terms of health, quickly once they found out what was wrong, also in terms of health. Also in general.

Wilbur had everything required for an infection, but it didn’t go smoothly.

Infections are dangerous, and they had to act quick. It already managed to spread quite a lot due to Tommy neglecting it. The fever really worried everyone, but it started to drop. Tommy’s leg was swollen and red, something that terrified each one of them. Multiple times Tommy had screamed that he didn’t want to amputate it, with Wilbur confirming that none of that was involved in their treatment. Then Tubbo heard it, and started making the same chants with Tommy. At the end of it, Wilbur didn’t think they actually feared it but instead were just messing with Wilbur

Soon, after around three days, Tommy was out of bed, spending time with Tubbo. They finally looked like kids again, with the only difference that Tommy was out of his uniform and every day had to take a new dose of antibiotics. He had to stay in bed rest, but a little bit of activity was allowed for him. Tommy’s headaches finally started letting down, and the swelling lessened. Wilbur didn’t really let Tommy out of his sight, something that annoyed the boy, as he lost all opportunities to prank the man. So to satisfy Tommy’s wishes of pranking, they planned them together for others. That   Tommy had something to do when he was just resting. Ten days later, Tommy was good as new. No traces of the infection were visible, and many other wounds were healing. They treated each of them again, in case Tommy messed something up with them too. There were quite a lot, but soon most of the pain was gone.

Tommy would laugh and play, and finally stopped overworking. The country was doing great, and so were its residents.

Now that Tommy felt okay, it was time for Wilbur to talk with Dream. He didn’t care about the deal anymore, he couldn’t let that keep happening.

So he went out onto the Prime Path, sending Dream a quick message. The reply was instantaneous. Creep.

He came to the meeting quickly too, like he was just lounging around the Prime Path. Wilbur tried his best to keep his composure and not tear out Dream’s throat.

“So, why did you call me?” The man asked, leaning on the handle of his axe, interested, but also constantly looking around.

He probably expected Tommy to be here.

“Tommy is healthy again” Wilbur said, that was just the start.

“Oh, so can I see him today, tell him to go right now-” Dream said but was stopped by Wilbur’s sword at his throat.

“He won’t be talking with you anymore” Wilbur stated, his grip on the sword unwavering.

The pure fury in Wilbur’s arms combated his composed, calm appearance. The man, without any armour, with just an iron sword, looked like he was more dangerous than Dream, who was decked out in netherite.

“The deal-” Dream said before he was stopped again by Wilbur’s sword coming even closer.

“I don’t care about the deal, it said you would just talk with him, not hurt him!’ Wilbur spat out, coming closer while keeping his sword in the same position.

“I didn’t hurt him, nothing unreasonable-” Dream said as he was stopped once again, he didn’t get to talk at all, and somehow that felt like his strongest weapon breaking.

“Nothing unreasonable?” Wilbur asked incredulously, the sword shaking in his hand.

“Nothing unreasonable, you hurt him for no reason, or what it was, he didn’t follow your rules which were shit, and he didn’t have to follow any of your rules, you messed with his mind!” Wilbur screamed as he took Dream by the clothes in his chest.

“Wilbur!” Dream screamed when the man’s sword started drawing blood from Dream.

With that, their screaming match was stopped.

The two men were heavily breathing, Wilbur’s sword swaying in the air, not as close to Dream as before.

Dream took a step back.

“This had to stop at some moment, and that moment is now” Wilbur announced as he pulled his sword back.

“Fine, have it your way’ Dream spat, turned around and started quickly walking away.

Did that all just… work?

It worked!

Wilbur smiled as he realised Tommy was finally free from this tormentor, from this creep. They could live peacefully and be free, for now at least.

Now, it was time to tell the good news.

Dream had hit the point which decided whether he would continue or not. Wilbur ruined everything, Tommy fell from his control, all of that work gone. He could try to continue, but that would be something like in his own timeline, no point in doing it here. That means it was time to go home.

He didn’t know if he would time travel again, but he knew this attempt was a failure.

Not a failure in time travelling, but a failure of his plan for this travel. That was still an interesting experiment. He had quite big progress with Tommy. Wilbur turned out to be more of a problem than he expected. Those brothers…

At least it was fun while it lasted. At least he saw what this amount of progress looked like. Now, he was coming back to spawn, near which he knew was his time machine. Travelling through the woods, it wasn’t hard to find. He was lucky no one else discovered it or didn’t break it.

Climbing back in, Dream remembered how it all started. How difficult everything is.

Dream set the coordinates and time to his own timeline and started the machine. The familiar portal opened, which he jumped through. With him, the machine moved across timelines, landing him back in his own, inside the prison he now lived in.

Deactivating the machine and hiding parts of it, Dream settled back down.

He should visit Tommy.

After Wilbur’s talk with Dream, the man was nowhere to be seen. They haven’t heard a word from him for weeks, to the point they had to ask his friends if they knew anything.

They didn’t.

Dream’s disappearance was sudden and unexpected. Dream’s whole behaviour shift was unexpected, like he was swapped with someone else.

It didn’t upset L’Manburg much, now that the man was gone, they didn’t have to worry about him. The friends, he soured relationships with, weren’t happy but not as sad as they thought they would be.

That Dream didn’t feel like their friend, ever since his behaviour shift. It wasn’t easy to ignore all the history they had with him, and to some degree, they mourned him. Tommy wasn’t the happiest too, in the months he spent talking with him, the man felt like a friend.

And it was fun to mess with the man, and after all, he was fun to be around sometimes. Still, he would get over it. Their country was growing, even welcoming new members.

Dream just became a piece of history, they haven’t forgotten him, but they didn’t look for him.

After some time, Eret came back to ask for forgiveness. It was hard seeing the traitor, and it was hard to figure if the apology was real or because they had nowhere to go now that the man who was supposed to make Eret king was gone. Eret had the crown, but when it came to actual ruling, no systems worked.

The SMP outside L’Manburg didn’t really have anyone in power, except Eret, but their power was questionable.

Seeing how L’Manburg flourished, they rethought their decisions and were honest in their apology. It took a while, but eventually even Wilbur forgave them.

The horror was over.

Other SMP members started to respect L’Manburg, and even those like Sapnap, who was fighting against it, eventually warmed up to it.

Their lives got so much better.

The country was settled, the life was peaceful, filled with some small chaos that wasn’t actually dangerous, instead anything chaotic was just making everything more interesting. Eret decided to build a museum, which also held information about Dream. In some time, more countries popped up, but there was no real conflict between them, as everyone was just being playful or peaceful.