Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Hiding in the prison was a great idea. Not only nobody looked for him there, he also had access to make intricate redstone machines. With his own skills, he could modify them to do something bigger. It also gave him a lot of materials for new machines.

He smiled as he glided his hand across one of the obsidian walls. Dream was almost satisfied with his current position, but he wished there were more. As he entered a blackstone room with one of the beginner checks of prison in, he got an idea.

He wondered if he could play everything differently.

Tommy.

Oh, he hoped he would take action sooner. Take Tommy when he was back at L’Manburg than wait for a strategic moment. Now there were no chance he could lock him in prison or even simply attack him. Tommy’s been hiding for a long time ever since Dream escaped, and as good as his hunter skills were, the boy kept slipping away. And when he knew where he was, he was with Phil.

Dream could take on Phil, that old man is not that strong, and probably rusty from his age. Still, he was Technoblade’s close friend, and that’s not a person he wanted to mess with. There are already problems with that, it seemed Techno and Tommy made up, as he let the young blonde into the territory and even let him into his house.

Dream looked at the wall again, wondering about all of the redstone behind it. He remembered Tommy, back when the blonde was a little boy. It would be so much easier to get him when he was a little boy.

Hm.

Who said he couldn’t try again?

It took him weeks, with help from Punz, and even Sam, after some threats, but it was complete. They worked on the portal system, trying to make something impossible: a time machine. They tried to link the portal not to the closest in distance, but the closest in time. Still, at first nothing worked.

The base of the machine was built, the portal was broken and uncontrollable, which wasn’t what they wanted.

So, Dream remembered about his Admin powers. While he couldn’t just use that due to the bounds of the world, he could directly communicate with someone who could.

XD.

Dream always tried to ignore the existence of the God, but he could always communicate with it. Summoning the deity wasn’t hard, but to get what he wanted wouldn’t be so easy.

Chanting the words, Dream saw how a green light filled the dark room. A bright flash of light later, and the being stood in front of him.

A grand figure, with a circular head white with two big letters, XD, turned 90 degrees, showing up in dark lines, acting as a face. Two crossed halos surrounded the head, lighting up in the dark as they floated. Green and gold robes, pristine and elegant, hung down the body, turning into nothing right as they were about to touch the ground, showing that the God wasn’t standing on the floor, but was floating in the air. 

“XD?” Dream asked, hoping that he didn’t mess anything up.

“Oh, hello, why have you called me?” XD answered before he stopped for a second.

“Didn’t expect an Admin to call me of all people, is there a problem with the world?” XD added as he tilted his head with curiosity.

Technically, Dream should only use his Admin powers to call XD if there was an emergency, corruption or other problems like that, but he hoped XD wouldn’t complain about that.

“I require your help” Dream said, no point in waiting.

“What is it, little Admin?” XD said, coming closer, laughing at Dream clenching his fists at being called little.

Both of them knew he had to keep any complaints inside him if he wanted the God to help. The green light the being radiated made Dream squint his eyes, sheer power standing in front of him was terrifying, but he had to do what he planned to do.

“I want to travel in time” Dream said, dropping the bomb.

For a second, nothing happened. The God just stared at him dumbfounded, trying to see if its divine ears were actually working.

“You what?” It said, confused at the bluntness and utter ridiculousness of the question.

“I want to travel in time” Dream repeated, trying to look confident.

“This could be fun, what have you got already?” XD asked, coming closer to Dream.

“Oh, I have a lot…”

With that, with God helping Dream for its entertainment, the man finally got what he tried to build. Adding something XD made and their machine and portals, they finally successfully created a time machine.

Now with the machine built, Dream sent Punz and Sam their way and got ready.

Setting the time to early L’Manburg war, Dream activated the machine and stepped in it.

Everything became white for a second, his body felt like it was being stretched and squished, but after just a few seconds, everything disappeared, and he found himself on an empty patch of grass.

Rubbing his head, he looked around. He saw a forest, and then saw the familiar trail from spawn to community house. Great.

Walking upon it, he wondered what his first action should be. Unlike before, Dream now could revive people, so he doesn’t have to be very careful in fights. Would killing Tommy and reviving him so soon break the boy immediately? After all, right now he is only nine, such trauma could affect him greatly.

Hm, no. That would be boring and would deal out all his tricks, he should keep the power a secret for as long as possible. And it wouldn’t be that easy, Tommy is not on his last life anymore and Wilbur’s still normal.

Slowly walking, he was a little bit surprised at the state of the community house. It was far from finished, building still happening. The second floor wasn’t properly made yet and outside didn’t look detailed. A small wave of nostalgia of him and his friends building the house, but as quickly as it came, it passed.

Useless.

No, his only interest is Tommy right now. He will get the boy, and he will be on Dream’s side, willing or not.

Tommy will stay on his side, and now Dream would condition him early on, when he is young and can be moulded like clay.

And like that, the journey began.

Tommy was running after Wilbur, they just continued writing their Declaration, smiles on their faces. L’Manburg was growing, staying strong as new members appeared.

Tubbo, Fundy and Eret were now on their side, fellow comrades. Wilbur made quick calculated steps with his boots as Tommy sloppily jumped from side to side as he followed him.

Right now, they were walking on the Prime path. They were in a war with these lands, but they still were allowed to traverse them. The times were tough, but each member of their country continued following their goal.

That was when they suddenly met Sapnap. As he noticed them, everyone’s faces became grim.

“Who do we have here” Sapnap slowly said, coming closer.

“We don’t have time for this Sapnap, and we’re getting materials” Wilbur said, staying calm.

“I don’t think it’s good for our side, but… I will let you go this time, Dream sent me for materials too, specific ones, no idea what they are for, but you better be running!” The man answered as he walked past them, pushing their shoulders.

“He’s so fucking stupid” Tommy said once the man was far enough that he wouldn’t hear.

“Tommy… but yes, I agree, now that we know Dream is scheming something again, we better be careful” Wilbur said, before looking around, scanning for any danger.

“I think we’re good to continue” he added, and strove forward, Tommy coming back to his cheerful mood as he jumped after him.

It was easier to build than Dream expected. After making so many underground bases, Dream was used to it taking days, but with the tools he brought with him, it wasn’t hard.

He didn’t even have to collect many resources, just asking Sapnap to get everything. It was comfortable to have someone on his side who believed his every word. Dream doesn’t want to admit it, but he missed this.

In the future, Sam helps Dream out of fear, Punz out of money, and everyone else wouldn’t ever help him.

Now, Dream was walking through his new bunker. Deep underground, only one way out.

Tommy will love this.

After all, Dream even decorated it to his taste, considering that he is much younger right now! He plans to keep him here until the end of the war. Then he will probably have to ‘give him back’. It wouldn’t be for long, Dream will catch him once again, and slowly, Tommy will get used to him. He will slowly grow to listen to him.

It was evening. Tommy was really tired and wanted to go to sleep already, but Wilbur asked him to bring some cobble from his house. Most of the time Wilbur didn’t allow Tommy to walk alone in the dark, but today he was very busy, and they had to fix that broken wall.

It got dark quickly, and a sense of unease creeped up Tommy’s bones. Tommy’s house, the one he felt safe inside, wasn’t far away, he just had to get there and he would be okay. Tommy was a Big Man, he could handle this.

As he opened his door, he felt relieved. Quickly looking through his chests, he picked up some cobble and with half of the mission done, he felt better. The unease disappeared as he thought how happy others would be to see him bring the materials. After going outside alone at night!

He remembered how Wilbur told him to be careful. And he was! It was okay, he will do this quickly. He could do this quickly and bring others the materials.

With newfound confidence, he stepped outside. Despite being inside only for a few minutes, he noticed it got way darker. Hm.

It wouldn’t hurt to take a walk on the Prime path? The air is nice, and now that for some reason he wasn’t as worried, he felt like he should prove to himself he wasn’t scared.

He wouldn’t go far. Just to the first house he sees.

Thud.

Tommy whipped around. He definitely heard something. Could one of the L’Manburg people come here looking for him after he took so long? Then why was is just one step?

Thud.

Oh, it wasn’t one step! Why didn’t they announce themselves? It wasn’t nice to creep up for someone like this.

Thud.

“Hello?” Tommy asked, he tried to get the person to answer, and tell them not to slowly walk behind children in the darkness of the night.

Not that Tommy was a child, he was a Big Man! And Big Men weren’t scared of random footsteps! It could just be an animal. Tommy hasn’t seen an animal around the houses in ages, but it was still possible.

At night?

Could it be a mob then?

Thud.

“Hello, who is this?” Tommy asked, again trying to figure out who that was.

“Who is it, this is not nice!” Tommy yelled, he was getting annoyed, and just a little bit, just a little bit, scared.

Thud.

Swoosh.

Tommy didn’t get enough time to react as a heavy object slammed into his head. Tommy’d world went dark instantly, leaving him defenseless on the ground, as the person who struck him grinned and laughed.

“So easy” they said as they swung their axe in their hand again.

Tommy came to slowly. He blinked heavily, the darkness filling with light. Once he was awake enough, he sat up.

Quickly.

All he could see was a red wall, which he definitely hasn’t seen before in his life, and underneath he felt something very soft.

“Hello” he heard on the side, and, very manly, screamed.

He almost screamed again when he registered who the person was.

“Dream?” Tommy asked as the masked man stood way too close to his face.

“What the fuck?” Tommy added, scooching closer to the wall and away from the man.

“It’s so nice to talk to you” Dream said, making Tommy confused.

So, he just repeated his question.

“What the fuck?” Tommy said again, earning a chuckle from the man.

“Okay Tommy, you’re probably wondering where you are” Dream said as he stepped even closer to what Tommy now realised was a bed.

“No shit” Tommy answered, adding venom to his voice to show his frustration with the situation.

“Now now, calm down, you’re here only temporary” Dream said, leaning in.

“Where am I?” Tommy asked again, he was done with this.

“You’re somewhere deep underground where no one but me knows where you are, and you’ll stay here for a few days so I can finish your stupid little country off” Dream said as he stood straight, spreading his arms around.

Tommy just stared, registering the information before he gave a loud ‘what the fuck’.

“Didn’t know kidnapping children was your bit Big Man, like that’s low, and also it’s really creepy, it is, you creepy bastard, and L’Manburg will win the war with or without me!” Tommy said, and yelled the last part, climbing on his knees to move easier without standing up.

“Tommy, you don’t know that, but you are the key, L’Manburg only got independence because your actions were taken, they won’t win alone” Dream said, before he quickly realised he had made a mistake.

“Got, as in got, like past tense, have we won and no one said anything to me, and what actions, what are you talking about?” Tommy asked, confusion written in his face.

Dream slipped up, he should be more careful.

“Nevermind that, just, stay here for a few days, oh, and don’t worry, no one will hear your screams this deep, and you shouldn’t do that at all, or there would be consequences” Dream threatened, and laughed as he looked around the room again.

“I dug really deep for this” he added with a chuckle.

“What consequences?” Tommy asked, he didn’t think about it before saying it, but kept a straight face.

Slap

He sat in shock as his cheek burned from where Dream’s hand just landed. It hurt more than he thought a simple slap would.

While he was participating in a war, he wasn’t actually used to serious fighting still. The most he did was when he and Tubbo ran around trying to get the disks back from Dream, but at the time the man wasn’t putting as much strength as he did in this slap.

“This is just the start, if I hear you scream all the time, I will give you an actual reason for screaming, and no Tommy, I won’t hold back, I’m long past that when it comes to you” Dream said as he grabbed Tommy’s chin and brought his head closer to his own.

“What the fuck!” Tommy screamed as he left Dream’s grip quickly.

“You can’t just do that, are you insane?” Tommy continued, and felt himself shake.

“Hm, I can, you’ll get used to it, for now, I think it’s time I leave you alone, if you try to escape, you will regret it” Dream said, turning around, and walking over to a ladder.

“See you in the evening Tommy” he finished and started climbing.

Tommy could hear blocks breaking, so the exit was definitely blocked and just going up the ladder wouldn’t work. Soon enough, the ladder was removed too. The only light was a small lantern on some table near the bed.

At least he had a bed.

He stood up and started exploring. The room wasn’t big, but big enough that he could pace in it. He noticed two doors, and decided to check each one out.

When he opened the first one, he found a small bathroom. It looked small, but it had everything necessary. The second door led to a small kitchen. A stove, a few cabinets and a kettle, along with a pot. For a second, he hoped Dream put knives in here, but after searching each cabinet, he found nothing but some food and a spoon.

He didn’t even understand what the stove was for, all of the food didn’t require it. Was Dream going to later give food that he would have to cook? There’s quite a lot of food already, for him to eat all of this.

A question appeared in his head.

Just how long will he have to stay here?

Dream would probably just keep Tommy here for a few days. Get him off the battle, because he was so strong, Dream apparently was scared of him.

After all, why else would he keep Tommy away? He probably remembered how he and Tubbo got the discs back, and thought fighting such powerful Big Men was too much for him. As much power as Tommy brought to L’Manburg, Dream seemed to underestimate the other members.

Tubbo isn’t here with him.

Fundy and Wilbur can hold their own.

Eret…

He didn’t want to think about them, not when they betrayed them.

Soon enough, Dream will come back here, tell that he lost, release Tommy and they would celebrate their independence.

Another story, Tommy will escape. He’ll see what happens first. Escaping… That was a good idea.

There weren’t any more rooms, so he came back to the one with the bed. Other than the bed, which had red covers, a red blanket and a white pillow, there was a small table. Tommy had already seen it and looked at another wall. There was a clock and a small cabinet.

When he opened the cabinet, he found some books. Empty books. What is he supposed to do with them? There was a quill on the cabinet, and also a small bottle of ink. The dark, black ink sat in the bottle, not even reaching the top of it.

Tommy plopped back on the bed. He looked at the red wall next to it, the one where the ladder is put to go in and out. He walked up to it and looked up. There was a hole up, the passageway for Dream or any visitor. The ladder was taken away and there was nothing else to grab onto.

He wondered if he jumped high enough, could he fit in the small space of the passageway and then climb his way out using the tight walls as his anchors. He didn’t even know if there was a door at the top or was it just a block. Tommy didn’t know if he could break a block, when he would have to put all of his strength to hold onto the walls.

After jumping a few times, he could clearly see he wouldn’t reach it. The ceiling of the bunker was too high for that.

He went further along the wall as he stared at it. What is it made out of?

After feeling the texture a bit more, Tommy tried to dig his finger into it, and to his surprise, something shifted a bit, leaving a small scratch on the wall.

It was just clay. Hardened clay.

Tommy could dig through it. A smile appeared on his face as he started digging into it, picking it apart in small pieces.

Clay isn’t very soft, it’s a good, hard material, but it was possible to break it with your arms. Tommy stepped back and looked at the dent he made. It was very small, but it was a start.

He couldn’t really continue, his fingers hurt, with blood coming out of some, his nails stung and had tons of clay under them. When he was washing his hands, an idea popped up in his head.

The spoon!

Why would Dream leave something that could help him escape so easily? He’s such a fool.

With newfound interest, Tommy ran back to the dent, now with a spoon, and started carving it out more. Now, the progress was quick, as no pain stopped him and the metallic part of the spoon chiselled way more off than his fingers.

He was getting a significant hole when the spoon got stuck. He moved it back and forward, to see that it didn’t go any further. So, he tried chiseling near that. Soon enough,he saw it.

A black, shiny surface met him.

Obsidian.

The whole room was covered in obsidian on the outside. There was no way Tommy could dig through obsidian.

Fuck.

He knew  Dream would probably think about it, but he held hope. The spoon or his nails couldn’t really help with obsidian.

That’s another plan failed.

Wilbur was pacing in circles.

Where the fuck was Tommy?

He sent him to grab some cobble over two hours ago. That was long enough to make the walk to his house 20 times over and mine stacks of cobble in case there weren’t any at the house.

It’s really late now, and everyone wants to sleep, but the panic that was slowly rising didn’t help anyone rest.

It’s possible Tommy went to Tubbo’s quarters instead of Wilbur’s. He checked them fourty minutes ago, could he have come there in that time? It was worth a check.

The walk to Tubbo’s quarters was short, their country wasn’t really that big. With a quick knock, Wilbur looked inside.

He saw Tubbo in the bed, but he wasn’t asleep, just staring at the ceiling.

“Is Tommy here?” Wilbur asked, despite already seeing that he probably wasn’t there.

“No, he’s not at yours too?” Tubbo asked sitting up.

“No…” Wilbur answered and looked to the floor.

He clenched his hands in fists and huffed.

“Okay, that’s it, I’m checking his house, if that fucker just decided to stay there-” Wilbur said but stopped at the end.

He would be happy if he found Tommy there, but also angry, because probably something like the child’s laziness got them so worried.

He quickly walked out of Tubbo’s quarters and rushed to the exit from the walls.

The night air was chill, and Wilbur couldn’t help the small shiver that ran down his spine. It was so dark, and the small lantern he carried didn’t light up everything that much.

He heard insects in the background, wind blowing through every now and then. The sky was clear and the moon was so bright, he didn’t have to fully rely on his lantern.

Soon enough, Tommy’s house appeared in the distance. Wilbur’s pace quickened, and he ran up to the door.

He swung it open and looked inside.

“Tommy, are you here?” He asked, he did it in a loud voice and staggered through the house.

Wilbur opened the door to the backroom where Tommy would sleep, completely expecting the child to be snoozing off over there.

He took a pause when he saw an empty bed.

“Tommy?” He asked again, now he sounded a little bit nervous.

“Tommy!” He screamed, but go no answer.

Where the hell was Tommy?

With no choice, he left the house and went back to L’Manburg. He hoped Tommy will just turn up later, they would probably see him again in the morning.

He had to be back by morning, wherever he was right now, and Wilbur would have to scold him about disappearing like that. Wilbur already got an idea how to start his speech once the child is back with them.

Tommy didn’t know what to do. It was boring and Tommy didn’t have much to entertain himself.

He looked back at the books and grabbed one. Taking the quill in his hand, dipping it in the black ink, Tommy started using it on the book.

He didn’t feel like writing, so he would draw. He is really bad at drawing, so it will just be incomprehensible doodles.

Tommy thought he would draw L’Manburg members. He started with Wilbur, that lanky tall fuck. The stickman Tommy drew was long, and he added some curls on his head to show his wild hair. Hm, he would draw himself next.

Of course, he was big and tall. Taller than Wilbur. He added muscles to arms and legs, then a charming smile. That man would get all the ladies, and Tommy was that man.

Quite realistic in Tommy’s opinion.

For Tubbo, he just drew a dot, because Tubbo is so tiny.

Fundy… Tommy didn’t want to draw a furry, but he felt like he couldn’t just exclude the man. So, the boy decided to just draw a fox. The blonde created a body, head, legs and a tail and laughed as soon as he looked at the complete drawing.

Whatever this creature was, it was not a fox. Tommy wouldn’t even say it’s alive. How can something like this be alive?

And Eret…

When Tommy thought of them, his hand just started creating random lines and curves, twisting it all in one big messy ball.

That traitor.

Tommy’s hand kept on going over and over the same lines, combining them all in one big mess.

Tommy didn’t like to think about Eret. When he looked at what his hand created just at the thoughts of the man, he only saw a black ball. A stain, just like Eret deserves.

He didn’t feel like he wanted to draw anymore.

Putting the book aside, Tommy looked at the passageway leading out of this bunker again. The hole to it was tall, but suddenly an idea popped up in his head.

In the kitchen, there were two chairs. Actually, now that Tommy thought about it, why were there two? Is Dream planning to trap someone else here?

Or is it for Dream himself?

Tommy didn’t want to think about that.

Still, he could try climbing on a chair to reach the hole in the ceiling. Excited, he ran to the kitchen, grabbing the closest chair. It was pretty tall, so some hope started appearing in Tommy’s chest.

Setting the chair down, Tommy climbed on it and saw how far the hole was now.

Still too high. He could try raising his leg enough to put pressure on the wall in the passageway opposite to the one he could touch right now. When he tried, he figured it was still too high up.

He was about to drop this escape attempt, when he remembered there was a second chair. It would be risky, but he could try climbing on two chairs. Bringing the second one from the kitchen, Tommy put it on the other. The whole structure seemed very unstable, like it would fall apart at any second.

Not like he had another choice.

So slowly and carefully, he tried to raise himself up. Each time he felt it shake, he took a pause. Finally, he was on the first one, just standing on the edge as the rest of it was blocked by another chair. Now, he had to get higher.

He was tall enough to reach the inside of the passageway for support as he hauled himself up. One final jump, and he was atop the second chair.

That didn’t last for long, as the structure gave way and started crumbling to the floor. With Tommy on top of it.

The fall was far from graceful, and Tommy screamed as he landed.

So far, there was only some dull pain, but that changed quickly. Half of his body was in pain, and the worst, was his leg. He could feel an aching, sharp pain that made him wince every time he tried to move it.

Fuck.

Now he had an injured leg. Escape is still far from reality, and it’s not like he could use his plan again. The whole plan sat on that Tommy would use the walls of the passageway for support as he would climb it up, with his legs and arms keeping him up. Now, with an injured leg, that plan was ruined.

Tommy felt like he was going to cry.

He wouldn’t.

No.

Sniffle.

No!

Sniffle.

He can’t keep it anymore. Tears started freely flowing down his cheeks. He’s stuck, kidnapped, at Dream’s mercy, in pain with no way out. How could he end up in this situation?

Wilbur was right, Tommy had to be more careful, but of course he let his arrogance get to him.

He just hoped they would at least win. Tommy also wondered if anyone was looking for him.

Wilbur would.

He would.

Tubbo probably too, even Fundy. He just had to wait a little bit, and they will break through the exit and get him back.

Soon they will come.

They have to.

In the morning, Wilbur was ready to see his younger brother. As soon as he woke up, he looked around to see if Tommy came home. He wasn’t where he slept on normal days, so Wilbur figured he was outside. Tommy’s sudden disappearance worried them all, and they didn’t even do that planned work because they didn’t get the cobble and were worried about him.

Outside, there were no signs of Tommy. He called Tubbo who he saw standing outside, he had to know where Tommy was.

“Tubbo, has Tommy come back?” Wilbur asked, a little bit scaring Tubbo at the sudden appearance, but the nervous look Tubbo had right after the shock wasn’t a good sign.

“He still hadn’t come back?” Tubbo asked in a meek voice and Wilbur stopped.

Tommy hadn’t come home.

“Fuck” Wilbur said, and it was all he could say.

Tommy was missing.

Tommy woke up, still here. He groaned and touched his head with his hand. It was hard to climb into the bed, his leg still hurt a lot. After he couldn’t find anything to do yesterday, he went to bed. He was surprised just how comfortable it was, leading him to fall asleep quickly.

The red wall met him once again as he rolled off the bed. Dream hasn’t come back since Tommy’s capture, which Tommy was happy about.

He didn’t want to see that bitch who trapped him.

Tommy’s stomach growled, and that was when he realised he hadn’t eaten anything yesterday. Going to the small kitchen he now had, which wasn’t too easy with an injured leg, he opened one of the cabinets.

Grabbing a carrot, he washed it in the sink and took a bite off the pointy end. Tommy always liked carrots, they were tasty, healthy, interesting, and he didn’t even have to cook it!

Satisfying some of his hunger, he felt better.

And he didn’t have anything to do again. He also regretted not taking his clothes off before going to sleep, his uniform full of wrinkles and body sweat stuck on him. He just didn’t want Dream to come down and see him in just a shirt. Tommy had a blanket, but he could unconsciously drag it off himself in the sleep.

With nothing else to do, Tommy took the drawings he made yesterday and looked at them again.

Still great.

The dot, two stickmen figures, some creature that was supposed to be a fox and a stain.

As he was looking at them, he heard some shuffling from above.

Soon, a sound of a block breaking and light fell from the passageway to the room. With it, Dream soon followed.

“How was your day, Tommy?” Dream asked, and Tommy just could hear the smile in his voice.

“Fuck off” Tommy said, he didn’t want to say anything to the man, but at the same time it felt more interesting than sitting in silence.

“Be careful with your words, I can just leave” Dream answered with a small chuckle.

“Why are you laughing, I would be glad if I didn’t have to see your bitch ass again” Tommy said, turning his head away to show his point.

He could feel Dream frown. Good.

“Oh come on, Tommy, you’re happy to see me!” Dream said as he came closer and put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder, which made him flinch, invoking another laugh from Dream.

“Why would I want to see someone who kidnapped me?” Tommy asked, full of genuine confusion, he didn’t understand yet.

Yet.

“It must be lonely in here, or are you, oh, right, you haven’t gone through everything, I forgot, my bad” Dream responded and then jolted when he registered his own words.

“Gone through… what?” Tommy asked, now confusion was growing.

What the hell was Dream talking about?

“Ah, forget it, just forgot something” Dream said, waving his hands in the air.

Tommy just stared at Dream like he lost his mind. At this point, Tommy wouldn’t be surprised if he had.

“Let me out” Tommy demanded, he didn’t want to deal with all of this.

“Once I destroy L’Manburg, I can let you out for a while, but not for long” Dream said calmly, like his words weren’t insane.

“What the fuck?” Tommy yelled, this was getting creepier by the second.

“What do you want from me?” He added, still in a loud voice as he leaned forward.

“Oh, I missed this, you’re still full of energy, such a spitfire” Dream said, and it sounded like a praise.

“What the fuck” Tommy repeated, because at this point he felt like Dream just had gone crazy.

“Tommy, don’t you understand who is the winner here?” Dream said as he also leaned into Tommy’s direction.

“I’m giving you a chance to be on the winning side, you’re the only one I can grant my affection towards” Dream added, throwing his hands in the air.

That was… creepy.

“Your affection… you are a fucking creep, have you forgot who you’re talking to, I’m a minor!” Tommy yelled, trying to hide his fear with anger.

“Oh no, Tommy, no, not like that, haha, nothing like that, it’s just… I want you by my side” Dream said and Tommy was taken aback at how… honest the last part sounded.

He wanted him by his side? Why? Didn’t he always fight against Tommy? And what was so special in Tommy that Dream, the strong and powerful member of the SMP, who is literally attacking their country right now, wants Tommy to join him?

“I’m not joining you, I stand by L’Manburg!-” Tommy said but was quickly stopped.

“Tommy, I don’t care about L’Manburg, I will destroy it, it’s no problem, I want you, you’re choosing the wrong path in life, and I want to help you” Dream explained, except it still didn’t really make sense.

“And why do you care?..” Tommy said, dragging out the last part.

“Best way to put it… I know where this is going, and I want to intervene while it’s not too late, not that I can’t do anything when it’s too late, there’s not really any ‘too late’ for me, but it’s easier to do this early” Dream said, trying to explain it to Tommy, but the blonde felt like he was hiding some information from him.

“You’re a creep, Wilbur will beat your ass” Tommy answered, scooching away from Dream, similar to how he acted when he first woke up here.

“You’ll get used to me, we’re going to be great friends” Dream said as he grabbed Tommy by the shoulder.

“Ah!” Tommy screamed when Dream pushed him to stand, his injured leg let itself be known again, shooting pain through it at the moment pressure was put on it.

Dream just looked down and sighed.

“How did you manage to get injured already, more how did you hurt yourself here?” Dream said as he shook his head.

“None of your business” Tommy answered and grabbed his leg.

He saw Dream leave the room and go into the kitchen, where some medical supplies were. Tommy would’ve got them himself, but the required climbing on a chair as the cabinet was quite high, and he just couldn’t do that with his injury.

Soon, Dream came back, and treated his leg. It was embarrassing seeing the one who was supposed to be your enemy helping you. Tommy kept running Dream’s words in his head.

He wants him on his side. It’s also clear he didn’t see L’Manburg as any threat, despite them showing they are quite powerful. He was acting like he already knew what would happen.

Tommy just hoped the other members would defend their country without him.

After that, Dream stayed to talk with Tommy, even make some drawings. It almost felt like they had fun like friends, and not enemies and not kidnapped by the other.

When Dream left, Tommy found himself reaching for him. That made him freeze. What was he doing? The man showed a sliver of kindness, spent some time with him, and now he wanted him to stay? That was enough for his brain to forget who this is? That was enough to forget in what situation he was in?

Dream is a creep, and he’s trying to get into Tommy’s head. And Tommy, missing his friends and brother, was falling for it.

Somehow, Dream knew his every weakness, his every fear. He knew all the topics Tommy liked to talk about, despite him never actually mentioning them to the man before. It was confusing. Like Dream knew everything about him out of nowhere.

Creepy.

Dream smiled as he left the bunker. He was already getting through to Tommy. It was so much easier doing it before all the trauma, as he was still naive and couldn’t notice some signals.

Now he had a meeting with Wilbur, as the man was quick to put pieces together. It was so much easier when the man was dead, his stupid ghost brought no trouble, but now Dream actually had to take the man into consideration.

As he approached L’Manburg, he hasn’t even left the Prime Path when Wilbur got in his way.

“Where is he” Wilbur demanded, angrily pacing up to Dream.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I came for the meeting you requested” Dream said, he didn’t want to let any secrets out yet.

“Quit the shit, where is he, you definitely did something” Wilbur repeated his question, trying to keep his composure, but Dream could see his heavy huffs and his dismantled hair.

“You wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him?” Dream said, he thought it was a good time to reveal what power he had.

The face Wilbur made almost made him laugh. The sheer terror at realising Dream’s implications and the confirmation sat heavy on Wilbur.

“What the fuck Dream” Wilbur said, and Dream couldn’t hold back his chuckle.

“That’s what he said too, you’re actually brothers!” Dream said as he laughed, Wilbur’s expression getting more horrified by the second.

“Surrender, or our little Tommy could go down a life” Dream threatened, smile growing wide.

“We… will not surrender, we will rescue Tommy, and you can’t hurt him” Wilbur said, his expression serious.

“I will hurt him if I want, your only chance for his safety is you surrendering, if you don’t, then I will have some fun, which could be just pain, could be some murder” Dream said and turned around as he prepared to leave.

Wilbur stayed silent as Dream walked away. The man in green knew the choice that hung heavy on the leader’s shoulders now.

Once far enough, Dream’s laughter bubbled out of his chest as he grabbed his stomach. It’s clear what would happen next to L’Manburg.

It’s not like they’d win.

Without Tommy, they have no chance. As there would be no duel, no discs trade. And without those? L’Manburg will be overtaken in a few days. The only reason the war stopped last time was thanks to Tommy, who couldn’t help them now. They can’t offer him anything he actually cares about.

And in the time they think they can stand without Tommy, in case Wilbur will decide to continue fighting, Dream will just get more time with Tommy, manipulating and messing with his mind enough that he would fall right where Dream wanted him to.

It’s so much easier to do with all of the information he has from the future. Tommy’s so young, it’s not hard to sway his mind to the side Dream found best. In the future, it would be much harder to get Tommy under his control again, but here? It will be a piece of cake to get the boy under his control.

And once that happened, nothing will stop them as they will be stuck with each other for eternity, two immortal beings others would listen to, respect and worship.

With the revival book, it won’t take long to reach that immortality. With Tommy by his side, everything will be perfect.

Tommy had to do something. He had to escape. He was surprised Dream hadn’t noticed the hole in the wall, and didn’t question his injured leg, the man said he would make Tommy regret it if he tried to escape.

Tommy probably should cover that up. As he looked at the space below the hole, he sighed. It was quite high, so he couldn’t just put a book over it.

Actually…

Tommy took a book, made it stand vertically, another one, and another one. It was just high enough for the hole to be covered, but he didn’t know how he would explain it if he was asked about it. He didn’t have many books left, and it wasn’t something good.

Where would he draw if he ran out of them? There really wasn’t much to do other than making doodles or small poems. The food didn’t require cooking, staring at the wall got old fast, and he couldn’t move much with an injured leg.

“Urghhh” Tommy grumbled as he plopped back onto the bed.

He couldn’t help it, but he hoped Dream will come back soon. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he missed him.

He didn’t miss Dream specifically, he just wanted some company.

Tommy still hates the fucker, he is in a war with them and kidnapped Tommy! Still, he wasn’t used to being alone. And it seemed to weigh on him more than he thought it would. The last time he has seen the man was quite a while ago. So long, Tommy was scared the other forgot about him, or was planning on leaving him alone even for longer. After all, Tommy had food and some entertainment.

Tommy sprang up when he heard blocks breaking.

Dream was coming back!

Hold on. No cheery mood at this. None at all.

“Hello Tommy, how have you been?” Dream asked as he climbed the ladder down, the entrance still open.

Tommy eyed the ladder for a few seconds, but then moved his attention to Dream.

“I’m so bored, you weren’t here for so long!” Tommy said as he climbed on the edge of his bed.

“I saw your hole in the wall, you tried to escape, and I told you there would be consequences, and these ones were that I left you alone for a day instead of a few hours” Dream answered, a smug smile hidden behind the mask.

“That’s supposed to be bad, I don’t want to see you anyway!” Tommy said, crossing his arms.

He didn’t want Dream to be here. Not seeing him for a while was great.

It was.

Tommy looked at the ladder again.

“Oh, come on, Tommy, I know you missed me!” Dream said, almost signing as he came closer.

“In your dreams, bitch, oh, look, dreams and Dream, that’s a pun!” Tommy said, and laughed at his own joke.

He was truly the best.

Tommy, the most strong, great and handsome-

“So you want me to leave?” Dream asked, and involuntarily, Tommy immediately said no.

What was wrong with him? He didn’t want Dream to be here!

Why did he stop him?

One more glance at the ladder.

“Tommy, you will have to get used to my company, you’re staying here for a while after all” Dream said as he put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, who quickly shook it off.

“No, I won’t, in fact, I’m leaving really soon” Tommy answered, a smile appearing on his face.

“Yes, like about when?” Dream asked, as he laughed, treating Tommy’s words as a joke.

“Right now” Tommy said and turned his plan into action.

In one swift movement, Tommy jumped off the bed, ran past distracted Dream, and climbed onto the ladder. He managed to avoid pain in his leg by stepping on it with a small lean, so that the injured bit wouldn’t be really moved.

“Oh no you won’t!” Dream grumbled, the tone sounding way too angrier than Tommy thought he would have to deal with.

Tommy rushed up the ladder, he couldn’t miss that chance! Leg after leg, step after step.

He was almost at the top, so high he saw that after the passageway there is a tunnel he will have to run through. He was ready. Tommy just had to finish those few steps-

Tommy’s injured leg flared out in pain as he put pressure on it in the wrong way. Tears appeared in his eyes, but he gritted his teeth and tried to continue. Now he had even less time, but he hoped he would be quick enough-

A hand grabbed his ankle and pushed him down. Losing his balance, Tommy’s hands let go off the top of the ladder and he fell down.

First, he fell on Dream, who just shrugged him off, and Tommy fell the rest of the way down. He landed hard on his back, eliciting a chocked scream. That hurt.

The failed attempt hurt even more.

He was yet to realise how hard he fucked up right now. He realised it when he saw Dream climb down.

Tommy can be written off as dead, judging by how fuming Dream looked.

“Why do you always try to escape?” Dream screamed, as he clutched his head with his arms.

“Every fucking time, so many times, right when I almost got you, you slip away!” He continued, confusing Tommy, he didn’t really understand what Dream meant.

He had some quarrels with Dream, but had that happened that many times? Tommy can’t remember running away from Dream more than like two times. At least regarding those the man would even remember. What was Dream talking about?

Seeing his confused expression, Dream seemed to calm down a little bit and shook his hand in Tommy’s direction. He also mumbled something, but Tommy couldn’t catch that.

The man took a deep breath and started walking over to Tommy. Taking this as a signal to run, Tommy started crawling away, but he couldn’t get far as soon he hit his bed. Dream reached him, squatted and took Tommy’s injured leg in his hands.

Tommy hissed in pain at how not gentle Dream’s hold was.

“In that case, I will just make it so you can’t run” Dream said and looked Tommy right in the eyes, enjoying the fear he saw in them.

“Dream, what are you doing, I’m sorry!” Tommy pleaded as Dream outstretched his leg and positioned it so that his arms were holding it from the foot and the knee.

“Too late for that” Dream said as his hold became very tight, and he stood up halfway.

“Dream, what are you doing. please, let me go-” Tommy said, but couldn’t finish as he saw Dream raise his leg over Tommy’s.

And in one quick movement, he brought his foot right through the middle of Tommy’s ankle, with a loud crack sound accompanying him.

Tommy screamed so loud, he felt his throat hurt. Still, he managed to pay attention to that the passageway wasn’t yet blocked off, and hoped that the tiny chance someone heard him would happen.

Right after the scream he started crying, sobbing even, as pain blossomed in his ankle and travelled up his body. Dream just broke his leg. He couldn’t stop the heaves, couldn’t help the loud wails.

“Oh, Tommy, why did you make me do this?” Dream said, like it was Tommy’s fault his leg was broken.

Was it? He had the warning, but he thought he acted rational for a kidnapped child.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, I kept you out of the battles in this safe bunker where you don’t have to do anything, kept you away from the war, and you make me hurt you?” Dream said as he carefully lifted Tommy up, paying attention to his hold of the leg, and put him on the bed.

Tommy just cried. Dream mentioned something about that the medical supplies they had there wouldn’t be enough for a broken leg and that he would go and get them. After some time, as Tommy was still coming out of the shock, the man returned and treated his leg, putting a cast on it.

At the moment, Tommy didn’t really pay attention, he just went to sleep as soon as the man left.

Wilbur heard a scream. Tommy’s scream. A chill ran through him at the guttural sound, and as much as he didn’t want to hear it, he was glad he did.

He now knew near which building Tommy was. That made their search mission have way less territory to explore. They weren’t going to surrender. And they would get Tommy back, away from this crazy man. Now that Wilbur knew Dream actually hurt Tommy, he wanted to just put his hands around the man’s neck and squeeze until he stopped moving.

It wouldn’t be an attack from L’Manburg which didn’t like violence, it would be a personal attack from Wilbur. Quickly calling a meeting, Wilbur went to meet others.

Before he could walk away, a familiar figure appeared.

Dream.

“You, you, what did you do?” Wilbur asked, fury evident in his voice, hands clenching into fists.

He has to hold on, he has to hold on-

“I’m here to continue my threat, since none of you surrendered I wanted to remind who’s in power right now” Dream said, he sounded smug and unafraid, because he knew he could be.

“Dream don’t do anything, please-” Wilbur said and Dream simply walked closer.

“Oh, how nice it is to see you beg, the great leader, why do you even care, you went into a war, and you knew he could get hurt” Dream said, coming way too close.

“I, I, expected no kidnappings for torture, I thought we would have battles where everyone could defend themselves, not being removed from them!” Wilbur answered as he looked to the side, his face grimacing.

It’s true, he led them into war… Still, he didn’t think Dream would do anything like that.

“This is war, Wilbur, and I’m not going to put up with all the shit you pull, I’m too used to it, now everything will go right” Dream responded as his mask came close to Wilbur’s face.

“With what, used to what?” Wilbur asked, he was confused, as far as he knew, it was hist first war and battle against Dream.

Did he mean how Tommy tried to get his discs back? He would expect then to say that to Tommy, not Wilbur, who had no hand in it. Was he saying it to him because Tommy was his brother? Did he mean something else?

Wilbur was pulled out of his thoughts when Dream spoke again.

“Surrender right now, or he will go down a life” Dream threatened and Wilbur looked at him with wide eyes.

“We… are not surrendering, but you won’t do that, you won’t!” Wilbur yelled, desperate and angry, staring into Dream’s eyes as his own raged with fury.

Without a thought, he reared his arm back and strove it forward right into Dream’s head. Before it could connect with Dream’s face, his wrist was caught by the man hand, inches from his head.

“And I thought L’Manburg was against violence” Dream tutted as he held Wilbur’s arm.

With a shake, he threw it towards Wilbur, who just cradled it with another arm.

“Fuck you” Wilbur spat, getting his hand ready to punch again.

Dream just looked at it and took a step back.

“I see you made your choice” he said as he turned around and walked away.

Wilbur just saw him throw an ender pearl, so that the brunette couldn’t follow him. That bastard. They had to find Tommy soon.

Tommy was asleep, after breaking his leg, Dream went somewhere, and he just hoped he wouldn’t come back soon.

Tommy’s hopes were crushed when he heard some shuffling to the right and up.

In the passageway. Soon he saw bits of broken blocks fell on the floor and the ladder being lowered down.

“Dream?” Tommy asked, his voice was meek, he was scared and tired.

At this point, Tommy was crushed, he wasn’t crying anymore, but he could still feel tears in his eyes. He looked at his cast, wondering if he was ever getting out of here.

Oh, actually he knew he would get out of here, he just didn’t know if he ever won’t be not at Dream’s side, be free from his clutches.

He turned around into Dream’s direction slightly, careful not to disturb his leg.

“Tommy, l really don’t want to do what I do next, but L’Manburg chose this” Dream said, words gentle and tender.

“What?” Tommy asked groggily, he was falling asleep and now Dream was warning him about something.

“Remember, this was Wilbur’s choice” Dream said, and Tommy looked up at him.

Then, in one swift movement, Dream reached for his sword, and in the next second, the sword pierced Tommy right through the heart.

Tommy, stunned and surprised, couldn’t say a word. For a few seconds, tears flew down his face, and then his body disappeared into smoke.

He woke up again on the bed in the bunker, down a life and with intense pain in his chest. A distant scream met him, the sound familiar, but he couldn’t say which it was. He coughed, but it was painful. It reminded him of when he died the first time. The phantom feeling of a sword in his chest, his body stopping working, the feeling in his limbs dissolving as his vision went dark and the world went silent.

He quickly started sobbing, but each breath reminded him of his recent death, and despite the sword not being there anymore, each breath shot a sharp pain in his chest, each movement making him stop what he was doing.

“And your leg healed after you died, so we have to break it again: Dream said as Tommy looked up at him in horror.

“What, no, please, Dream, I won’t try to escape, please-” Tommy said, he was begging, but it was in vain.

Dream just shook his head and took ahold of Tommy’s leg. He ignored all of Tommy’s protests as he positioned like last time. The passageway was still, open, so Tommy could hope his scream would be heard again. He closed his eyes as he saw Dream getting ready to strike.

Just like last time, a sickening crack was heard, as Tommy screamed and jerked, accidentally hurting himself even more. This day was full of pain. 

Tommy just continued sobbing, it’s not like he had anything else to do. Not like he could do anything else.

Dream just hugged him, careful of not making Tommy’s torso move and leg too, he pet his head like he wasn’t the one who just killed him.

With no one else to calm him down, Tommy sank in Dream’s embrace until he was too tired to cry. The man made a cast for him again as Tommy whimpered. Dream carefully put him back in the bed, giving a small head pet again as he turned around and left.

TommyInnit was slain by Dream.

Wilbur looked in horror at the message. He did it. The fucker actually did it. He killed him. Wilbur couldn’t hold back his tears. When they went into war, they knew this could happen, not the kidnapping, but the death. When it actually happened, it struck different. They weren’t ready for this. Tommy wasn’t ready for this. Wilbur wasn’t ready for this.

The distant scream that followed soon after made a chill run down his spine. What brother, what leader, what protector he was if he couldn’t help his younger brother when he was in audible range? When he was somewhere near, hurt and scared while Wilbur just stood there and did nothing?

Guilt was crawling up his spine, as his tears were still flowing down his cheeks.

They just wanted to be free.

They wanted their own country to be free.

Is that really so much to ask for?

Did Dream actually have to do this?

At this point, it didn’t feel like a war with L’Manburg, but a personal war with Wilbur and Tommy.

Wilbur stopped at that second. It actually felt personal. Was there something he was missing? Dream often said something that Wilbur didn’t really understand, events he had no memory of. The way he would mention that something kept happening, how he was used to it… Was Wilbur supposed to know what Dream was talking about?

Whatever it was, it had to stop. He moved the time for their meeting, making it urgent, as it’s clear they couldn’t lose any time. They had to find Tommy now. The meeting would be moved for only for like two hours, others should get ready for it quickly. He didn’t know why, when he heard the first scream, he didn’t make the meeting urgent.