Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When Tommy was born, it seemed like magic was everywhere, but that was just because he was born into a small community where nobody felt the need to hide. They took care of their own and he felt loved by his mother and the rest of the community… just like every other child in the village. He thought he would live his entire life happy and content in that glade.

His memories are vague from this time, but he could remember the pillaging of his village. He could still remember the way the homes were burnt and people screamed. He could still remember his mother grabbing him tightly, whispering something to him, that feeling of intense magic being wrapped around him like warm blanket. Most of all, he could still remember her thrusting their family book at him and the cries for him to run and his bare feet pounding on the ground as he fled into the night.

As he hid in the forest for a few years, he didn't notice as his aging slowed to a stop until he was fifteen. When he did notice, it was much to late to reverse what his mother had done.

He didn't know how long he had stayed in the forest, but he did stay for a while, hidden in a cave that was blocked by a wall of vines. He studied the book by the fire and read about his people and their beliefs and their history. It had more pages than assumed and he was able to learn more about his magic and how to access it. He soaked up everything he could in that book.

When Tommy did finally step outside of the forest, he noticed a lot had changed… so he had to adapt. He started learning the language, which seemed to make the locals like him because they were working hard on converting "savages." This was England now, "land of the angels"… he called bullshit on that, because the angels he was practically forced to learn about wouldn't slaughter his people for just existing.

Tommy learned how to survive in this new world, learned to keep moving so his abilities weren't discovered. He survived the worst of England's history by moving around. He didn't want to leave the part of earth his people used to walk on… so he didn't travel outside the island. He just stayed put.

When the plague hit in the 14th-century, he became a doctor. He didn't want to just sit back and watch, especially since he learned quick he doesn't get ill. When he knew there was nothing he could do, he would whisper a small blessing his people used to say to ⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⌿⍀⟟⋔⟒, their goddess, wishing them safe passage to the next life.

In the 1600's, Tommy learned of the New World and he longed to travel there, in hopes that maybe some of his people were there too. He heard about the people there being called "savages" and it reminded him of what him and his people were called. People who weren't like them. Anyone who was different.

He didn't go though, instead, he opened a store that served a wide variety of customers. Whenever he learned of people whispering of his age and identity, he would lock up the store at night and just move it. It was easy, for him, at least. He lived above it and when he moved he always picked somewhere empty and only the bottom floor would change to fit the new area, his living quarters always stayed the same unless he willed the rooms to change.

The purpose of his store changed in the late 1700's, when he repurposed it to solely be a bookstore. He loved reading and would read every night, using his magic to place him into these new worlds as he read. It was lovely.

The store remained the same for awhile… until phonographs were invented and as soon as they became widespread, he started selling some music. It was nice to play some throughout the day.

During the World Wars, Tommy didn't fight. It would've been a sure way to get caught and taken to be some science experiment. He also saw it as that those weren't his people taking bullets, but the people who slaughtered his kind… why should he risk his safety for them? Why should he use his abilities to end their suffering when he was forced to suffer daily on his own?

During that time, though, he moved his store to smaller towns. It was less likely to be bombed and less likely for suspicions when his store didn't get blown up. He made sure to open his store up to kids, though, reading them stories to distract them from the world outside. The way he saw it, the kids didn't do anything, but they'll grow up to be just like them. He has no hate for the kids… just what they'll grow up to be.

The 1960's was a fun time, in Tommy's opinion. He was still a teenager after all… and nobody questions the random shit a high teen will say. He had never experimented before and because he never got sick, he had no need for drugs before. However, the crashes sucked and he hated them. Only reason he stopped, he hated the crashes after… otherwise he would've kept getting high because it was a great distraction from the pain he felt inside every day.

During the 60's a man, appearing a little older than Tommy, stopped in. He had long brown hair and when he bought something, he was very clearly American. With the long hair, Tommy assumed he was a hippie of sorts and asked why he was in the UK, wondering if he was there to listen to the Beatles or something. No, he was there to visit an old friend, but kept eyeing Tommy strangely.

The immortal teen brushed off the interaction and decided to move that night, just in case. He assumed he would never see the man again.

When cameras and identity cards became more common, he found a way to bypass all that. He made a simple spell that would erase any digital tie to him. Cameras would only see a small blur, but nothing out of the ordinary. If a police officer asked for an ID, he would simply wave his hand and the officer left confused. There didn't need to be a physical trace of him… well… he did have a fake ID for patrons worried about how old he was. He knew the people themselves remembered interacting with him… just not always why. It was why he had to keep moving.

Jump forward to modern day and he was opening the shop up for the day and getting everything ready for the patrons. His store wasn't as busy as it had been in previous years, but it was still a nice routine. He then unlocked the door and turned on the music choice for the day and sat back, reading a new book.

It was just past noon, he was reopening the store after lunch, when a blur of pink hair rushed in. He was pushed back and the door was slammed shut and relocked. He was prepared to defend his store at any cost, but when the person turned around, he froze.

Part of whatever curse his mother had put onto him, because living this life was a curse more than a blessing, was that he could remember everything. That face… he had seen it once before… in the 60's. Not for the first time in his life, he felt faint as he stumbled back.

Before he could even utter out a sound, the man glared at him, "do you know how hard it was to find you again?" When the teen didn't answer, the man looked at him with confusion, "you good, kid?"

Tommy shook his head slowly before darting upstairs and slamming the door to his private residence shut and locking it. His heart pounded fast than fists pounding on his door. He swallowed thickly as he backed away and loudly asked, "who are you?"

There was a loud groan of annoyance, "just let me in and we can talk this out!"

"No!" Tommy cried out, "who are you and how are you here? You should be old or dead or something!"

There was a pause, then, "did you really think you were the only immortal in the world?" Tommy's world seemed to come crashing down, "that's a bit self-centered."

For a moment, the immortal teen couldn't breathe. Had there been others like him the whole time? Did his residual magic cause this? Then his eyes widened, were his people still around? He rushed forward and swiftly unlocked and opened the door, his heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest. He looked this man up and down with wide, wild eyes, "were you from the ⌿⍜☌⏁⍜⌿⟟⏃ people?"

The man looked at him, confused, "what language was that?"

That question crushed Tommy as he slowly backed away again, his face falling. He didn't bother to close the door again as he numbly made his way to his couch, collapsing on it. "I'm still alone," he muttered.

The man, who had followed the teen to the sitting area, froze, swallowing thickly. "You're not alone, though," he told the teen this as though it was common knowledge as he finally sat across from him, "there are a few of us."

The teen looked up, his eyes much duller than just mere moments earlier. He shook his head, moving on from the hope he had felt for a brief moment, "how did you even find me?"

The man sighed, "it took a lot of time to notice you just wandering around. I was going to come back the next day last time, but you had already moved by then. Nifty trick, by the way."

Tommy took in that information and nodded slowly, "who even are you? How did you figure out that I don't age?"

The man sent him a tense smile, "my name is Technoblade and I could sense the same sort of magic that Phil has. It's ancient and it's clear that you've been blessed by a deity or some-"

Techno was cut off by Tommy shaking his head, "my mother blessed me before telling me to run. No deity involved."

The pink haired man stared at him for a moment before saying, "your magic reeks like Kristin's. What do you mean she wasn't involved?"

"Who-" this time Tommy cut himself off, "wait, I know that name." He slowly stood up and made his way to his bedroom, kneeling down in front of an antique trunk at the foot of his bed, ignoring that Techno followed him. He brought his hand to his neck and touched the leather cord that was situated there, just out of sight. Lifted it over his head, revealed a key that had been hidden.

With a deep breath, Tommy unlocked the trunk and slowly took out the book his mother had given him, flipping it open. He couldn't see Techno's eyes widen, but he heard him as he said, "that's a dead language."

The teen glanced up at the man and glared, "it's not dead if I still speak it." Then he looked back at the book and flipped through the pages until he reached the section on his people's beliefs, images of the deities they had worshiped. He hummed, "you mentioned a deity and said the name of Kristin," he carefully lifted the book up to the man, "can you tell me if you see her?"

Techno was careful when he looked through the pages, his fingers were gentle as he turned each one. He was on the last page of the section when he paused, "that's Kristin" he spoke with a certainty as he showed Tommy.

The teen looked at the image Techno was pointing at, "⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⎅⟒⏃⏁⊑?" He glanced back up at the man, "that doesn't make any sense, we had a shrine to her sister, ⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⌿⍀⟟⋔⟒ in our home. Why would-?" He carefully took the book back and looked carefully at the woman in the book.

"I could call Phil and ask him to ask his wife," Techno shrugged.

The teen furrowed his brows in confusion as he finally put the book away, locking the trunk once more, "who's Phil?"

"He's my friend, uh," Techno let himself be led out of the room, "he's also married to Kristin."

Tommy, rounded on the man, "what do you mean he's married to ⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⎅⟒⏃⏁⊑?"

The man raised his hands and backed up slightly, "to be fair, he's slightly insane."

Tommy looked at him, baffled, "that doesn't-" he shook his head, "y'know what, just call him." He then collapsed back onto the couch and sighed as he could still feel his world being turned upside down.

The pink haired man sighed as he sat down again as well, pulling out his phone. It was a slightly older model that the teen guessed was from the mid to late 2010's. He pressed a few button before putting the phone to his ear, nodding slightly when it appeared this 'Phil' person answered, "hey, uh, I met the kid I told you about." He bit his lip as he listened to the person, his brows furrowing, "are you sure?" Techno rolled his eyes as he pulled the device away from his ear, sighing, and pressed a button as he held it out, "you're on speaker."

"Hey mate," the voice spoke clearly through the phone, causing Tommy to sit up a bit. They weren't American like Techno and it seemed to put the teen slightly at ease, "I heard you were a hard one to pin down, Tech's been trying to pick up your signature ever since you vanished." That did not put Tommy at ease, "how did you even manage that?"

The teen rubbed his hands together, "I- uh, I have an incantation that I made that allows me to move the store at night if I need to leave."

Techno's eyes widened as the person seemed to exclaim what there were both thinking, "you made that spell? That must take a lot out of you to just move the place."

Tommy shrugged, "not really, I've been doing it since the mid-1600's. It's not that hard, especially because I mastered my abilities long before that."

Silence. That, if anything, put the teen back on edge, "how long have you been around?"

That's when Tommy froze, he hadn't thought about that in a long time. His hands started to shake, "um, I- I'm not entirely-" he cut himself off as he kept his gaze towards the floor as he exhaled slowly, trying to steady himself. "I think-" another shaky breath as he closed his eyes to remember what he wished he didn't, "the Romani- uh, Romans, were still exploring and pillaging this country when they slaughtered my people." He slowly opened his eyes, "I- I'm not sure how long ago that was though."

There was a moment of silence, then, "you were around for the Romans?" That was Techno and his voice made Tommy look back up at his shocked face. When he slowly nodded, the man inhaled sharply, his eyes glancing at the phone he held, "Phil, I think you should really talk to Kristin."

After a second or two, "I think you're right." A deep breath was heard, "mate," Tommy wasn't sure who the man was addressing… until, "what's your name?"

The teen blinked slowly, "uh, Tommy. I- I go by Tommy Innit these days, I picked it up around the 1870's. Thomas was too formal and I stopped liking Weaver as a last name after a while."

"What about your real name?" Techno asked, cutting in.

The teen glared at him lightly, "you can't just ask that, man. That's a bit private, innit?"

As Techno's eyes widened, he began to swiftly apologize, but froze when the teen started laughing quite loudly.

"Jeez man, I'm just playing with you," he then straightened up, his smile that had appeared while laughing faded fast. The teen licked his lips, "my mother called me ⌇⏁⏃⍀⌰⟟☌⊑⏁. I- I don't know how to translate it to English," he was focused on his hands again, "I just know that it was an important name amongst my people."

Phil's voice over the phone sounded softer when he spoke, "⌇⏁⏃⍀⌰⟟☌⊑⏁, right?" Tommy was shocked the man pronounced it correctly before giving a small hum. "Alright, I'm going to ask Kristin about this. Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure this out."

The immortal teen shook his head, he could feel something thick in his throat, "I doubt it, I've been trying to figure this out for well over a millennia now."

Another beat of silence, "I can't promise anything, but I will try to get some answers." There was a small huff, "alright, Tech will stay with you for right now." It was as though he knew Tommy opened his mouth to argue, "I'm sorry, but we can't guarantee you won't run and it'll be another fifty or so years before we find you again." Okay… he had him there.

Soon, it was just Techno and Tommy staring at one another. The teen huffed loudly before standing and heading over to his kitchen. He noticed the hulking pink haired man following him. With a sigh, he grabbed the kettle and began filling it with water, "I'm not going to run."

Techno leaned up against the counter as the teen put the kettle on the stove, muttering something before a small flame appeared under it, "yeah, I don't believe that for a second." He looked around and then back at the stove that should've been turned on by turning a dial, "why does your little apartment up here look like a bunch of different rooms all shoved together? How'd you fit everything in here?"

Tommy let out a small snort, glancing at the man before grabbing a small ceramic canister and a spoon, "it's bigger on the inside."

Techno groaned, rolling his eyes, "did you just quote Doctor Who?"

The teen smirked as he turned to the man, "who do you think inspired an immortal man in a small traveling box?"

The man stared at the blond for a good while before the kettle began whistling and Tommy grabbed a tea towel to move it to a cool burner, muttering again before the flame vanished. He opened the top and put in a few scoops of an herb from the canister, "you inspired Doctor Who?"

The teen shrugged as he closed the lid and let the tea sit, turning back to the man, "not entirely, just some of it." He then went to grab a teacup and saucer, pausing, "would you like some tea? It's lavender… it helps with stress."

Techno shrugged, "sure, why not? Phil only has chamomile and I'm getting a bit tired of that."

Tommy chuckled and grabbed a second teacup and saucer, "yeah, I have a wide array of herbs and whatnot that I grow in my greenhouse."

As Techno thought about the fact the teen has a greenhouse in this funhouse of an apartment, Tommy got to pouring the tea. When Techno took his, he stayed leaning against the counter, as did Tommy, "how did you learn how to do all this?"

The teen took a deep breath before taking a sip of his tea, then setting it down on the counter, "lots of practice and I think I spent nearly a century or so just pouring over that book I showed you. My people were powerful, but," he bit his lip, shaking his head, "I- I guess I just had more time to practice and hone it all."

Before Techno could say anything, a loud bark echoed through the kitchen and a dog suddenly appeared out of nowhere, jumping on Techno as if it hadn't just come out of thin air. His cup and saucer shattered on the floor as the man pushed the dog off him gently, looking them over of any signs of distress.

Tommy sighed, "Henry, down!" When the dog did not listen, he huffed and let out loud whistle, causing his dog to sit and look at him, "Henry! What have I told you about jumping on guests?"

Techno looked between the dog and the teen, "that dog literally came out of nowhere."

Tommy shrugged as he knelt down to pet his dog, "yeah, well the spell got fucked up and now she just kinda comes and goes into existence." He smiled at his dog as he stood up, "she's a Bernese mountain dog, I got her in the 1800's I think." He then looked back at the man who had dropped his teacup and sighed as he shooed Henry to go off and play, "look at the mess you've made!"

Techno glanced at the shattered mess at his feet, groaning slightly and looking back at the blond, "where's the-"

The man was cut off when Tommy simply waved his hand and he watched as the pieces floated up to him and he made a few motions in his hand, as though conducting a symphony. Techno watched as the teacup and saucer, which had been beyond repair, were put back together… there weren't even any signs of a crack left. The teen snatched them out of the air and set them down before another wave of his hand had the tea levitating into the sink.

As Tommy leaned back and grabbed his own teacup and took a sip, Techno stared, "how powerful are you?" He couldn't help but ask.

The teen shrugged, "how would I know, I have no frame of reference."

The pink haired man rolled his eyes, "bruh. What about when you had a family or whatever, could they do all this?"

Blue eyes turned icy as he sharply put down his tea, "how would I know, I was a kid. Everything seemed possible back then." He stood up straight, trying to be intimidating to the much taller and bigger man, "it wasn't until people like you came into our lives and destroyed everything!" He couldn't sense the dangerous magic that seemed to swirl around him, "so you don't get to ask about my fucking people and about their abilities!"

Techno could sense the magic, but he had dealt with enough bullshit in his life that he wasn't afraid. He did however, know he couldn't win this fight. He's only been alive since 1921 and he's only had these abilities since 1943, when he was supposed to die in battle during World War Two and was picked up by Phil. If he could only fight this child with his fists, he could win… not with these abilities. So, Techno let out a huff and raised his hands in surrender, forcing a fake smile on his face, "I was just curious, is all."

The magic seemed to die down, but Tommy's eyes remained icy as he picked up his tea again, "well stop being curious, bitch. It's my fucking life, not yours."

The two remained mostly silent for a while, only Henry coming and going into their space. Eventually, they moved back to the living room and Tommy grabbed a book from the side table and opened it up to the spot he had left it off on. Techno tried to get a book from Tommy's private bookshelf, but it literally snapped at him and caused the teen to chuckle at him before returning to his own book. So, Techno messed around on his phone.

It felt like ages before Phil finally called Techno back, the sun was just starting to set. The loud ringing caused the teen to jump slightly as the man answered the phone and put it on speaker, "hey, we can both hear you."

Tommy leaned in as soon as he heard Phil's voice, "I have some answers, but, uh, can I drop by to tell you all this?"

The blond eyed the phone warily, "I mean… sure? Do you need the address or did Techno give it to you earlier?"

He heard a small chuckle from the device, "no need. Techno," the man in question let out a small groan, "get ready." With that, the call ended.

Techno stood up, a very grumpy expression on his face, "I hate this part, it feels awful!"

"Wha-?"

Tommy was cut off as the man clutched his gut, doubling over slightly. Suddenly, another man appeared in the teen's residence. He looked like he could've been an older version of Tommy, except… were those wings?! The teen immediately jumped up and approached the man as he stared at the wings. He didn't notice the way the man was chuckling slightly at his response.

"Are those real?" The teen couldn't help but ask as he reached out, hypnotized slightly by them.

"They are, just- just be careful," the man, Phil, responded as he let one of his wings get closer to the Tommy.

Gently, Tommy touched the wing and was amazed at how to soft the feathers were, "how did you get these? Spell gone wrong or-" he stood up straight and backed up slightly with wide, excited eyes, "or spell gone right?"

Phil let out a chuckle, smiling brightly at the teen, "no, no, they were a wedding gift from Kristin."

The younger blond's eyes widened in shock this time, "the ⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⎅⟒⏃⏁⊑? She- she gave you wings? As a wedding gift?!"

The man nodded with a soft smile, glancing at Techno, who was still on the ground trying to catch his breath, "mate, you should be used to this by now."

Techno huffed out a groan, "I will never get used to you using that spell because it sucks!"

The teen looked back and forth between the men, "what spell was that, anyway?"

Phil smirked, "I just use a little bit-"

"It's more than a little!" Techno cut him off.

Phil just sighed, "I use some of his magic to transport myself to where he is. He should be used to it by now."

Tommy's eyes widened in excitement, "I bet he's just a pussy! Do that with me!"

Another chuckle escaped Phil, "how 'bout later, right now we have things to discuss."

With a whine, Tommy dragged himself back to the couch and falling into it. Then he huffed as he gestured for the men to take a seat, "let me guess, even ⌰⏃⎅⊬ ⎅⟒⏃⏁⊑ couldn't give you answers, right?"

Techno sent a glare to Phil, who stole his seat, as he sat on the ground. It was very clear he didn't want to sit next to the child he pissed off earlier… and Tommy was very happy the man didn't test him.

"Actually," the older blond smiled at the teen, but it was tense and very clearly forced, "Kristin knew a bit about what was going on." He watched as the teen leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, waiting for the man to continue. With a deep breath, "she remembered your name from all those years ago and how it was on the list of souls to be swept up into her arms that night."

"What happened then?" Tommy asked, his knee bouncing up and down, an anxiety he hadn't felt in ages filled his heart.

"While she was collecting the souls after the Romans slaughtered everyone," Phil's voice was even, his eyes soft, "your name vanished from the list. I-" he swallowed thickly, "she's not entirely sure what happened, but she informed me that your people were extremely powerful, more so than anyone who would've gained magic afterwards. She told me that she believes that," he took a deep breath, "she thinks your mother might've done a spell that should've only belonged to the gods and it blended with both of your magics."

The teen glanced between the two men in his home and sighed, his shoulders falling as he fell backwards into the couch, "so, no real information?" He crossed his arms, heart heavy, "I'm still where I've been since the beginning, no solid explanation, no people, no culture to stand with, nothing. I am still fucking alone."

Phil leaned forward, "but you're not alone, not any-"

Tommy cut him off with a glare, sitting back up with a ramrod straight back, "I am alone!" He breathed heavily through his nose, "I have no people, nobody to lean on to help me. I am forever fifteen and I am alone because of your fucking people! Your ancestors slaughtered my friends and family with no remorse!"

"Tommy-"

The teen cut the man off, standing up and walking to the door of his residence, "I think it's time you leave."

He watched as Phil and Techno shared a look before the blond one nodded and gestured for the pink haired one to follow. He led them down back into the shop and to the front door, carefully unlocking it once more.

Phil stopped right before leaving, producing a card out of thin air, "this is my number, call anytime." As he handed the card over, his eyes softened, "you're not alone, not anymore. If it helps, I'm not related to the Romans either."

Tommy's posture shifted just ever so slightly, taking a deep breath, "please leave." His voice cracked with an emotion that he hadn't let out in a long time… one he tried his best to bury.

Right as Phil crossed the threshold, he turned back and smiled, "I hope you call."

With that, Tommy carefully closed the store door and relocked it, not even looking at the men still watching him through the glass. Instead, he turned and slowly made his way back up to his residence and locked himself away in his bedroom. He let Henry lay atop him, providing some much needed comfort.

He kept flipping the card Phil had given him over in his hand, his other gently entangled in fur. He had a lot to think about… a lot to process.

Chapter Text

Tommy had been glancing at the card Phil gave him for well over two weeks now. He didn't know why he kept it in his pocket or why he kept turning it over with his fingers. He had no idea why he was so tempted to call the number that was listed on it.

Well, he did know. He was lonely and this was his only chance to not be. He wouldn't have to face the ever changing world by himself. Except he was still mad that there was no actual answer he could work with. He was still upset with Techno for even trying to pry into his life… into his family.

The loneliness though, it just kept eating at him and Henry, who he loved so much, sometimes disappeared for days and couldn't understand why he sobbed into her fur when she returned. She couldn't talk to him and help him understand his own thoughts. She couldn't hold him back, not really.

So, after seventeen days, while Tommy was manning an empty shop, he pulled out the card again. He glanced at it, sighing, and then reached over to the blue rotary phone he had and slowly dialed the numbers printed.

The phone was soon picked up and the immortal teen could practically hear the man smiling, "hello, Tommy."

Pause. Rewind. "How-?"

Phil chuckled lightly, "only our kind have this number, and I have everyone already in my contacts. An unknown number either meant it was you or somehow you had thrown out the card, which you clearly didn't, and someone else had dialed." He let out a small sigh, "how are you?"

Tommy licked his lips, not entirely sure what to say. Then, "you said there were more of us?"

"There are quite a few of us," he answered smoothly, "I think you would get along with the other teens. They may be a bit older than you, physically, since you have us all beat in-"

"I get it," the teen cut him off, his heart beating fast as he scratched his eyebrow. "Would you like to come back to my place? Not-" he cut himself off, taking a deep breath, "not today. Uh, I don't have my shop open on Sundays or Mondays, you can come by then."

"Would you be opposed to me bringing Tech-"

"If you bring that bitch into my space, I will tear him limb from limb and watch with a smile on my face as he slowly puts himself back together."

There was a moment of stunned silence then, "you can do that- never mind. Noted, I will leave Techno home, but I can also bring one of the teens, if you'd like?"

Oh… that sounded tempting. Someone his age, at least technically, would be so nice. Everyone he has ever met who has been his age has grown up and died. But- "no, just you." He shook his head even though the man couldn't see him, "I have questions, you have answers. I don't need- only you can come by."

There was a hesitant, "okay," from Phil before Tommy was forced to hang up when a customer walked through the door. He wasn't excited for the meeting with the winged man, but… he wouldn't be alone anymore.

Tommy should've set a specific day and time for Phil to arrive, but he didn't. For that, he hates himself. Sunday was normally his reset day, something he learned from one of those new apps. Except if Phil was coming, it would cut into his cleaning time. Oh well, Phil could help him clean while they talked.

He was just filling up the mop bucket when he heard the echoing sound of a knock on the door downstairs. It was a good thing he set that system up a while ago because he quickly realized he didn't give Phil his cell number.

With a sigh, Tommy left the bucket on the tiled floor and made his way down into the shop and to the door. He waved his hand and the door unlocked just before he reached it, making it easy for him to yank it open, "you're helping today."

Phil, who had somehow hidden his wings underneath a shimmer, looked at him with wide eyes, "help with what? I thought you said the shop was closed today."

Tommy just sighed and turned around, walking to the back of the shop and towards the stairs, "close the door behind you." Once he heard it close, he waved his hand once more and smirked when he heard the man make a sound of interest. He then led the man back into his residence.

As soon as his private door closed, he turned to the man, "Sunday is my reset day, this new app- uh, TikTok, told me about it. Keeps me sane, y'know?"

Phil, for a moment, just stared at him with a confused expression before asking, "you know TikTok's been around for several years now, right?"

The immortal teen paused, then shrugged, "I've been around a lot longer, it's nice app, but it's still new compared to a lot of other things." He watched as the man shrugged, "also, stop covering your wings, it's a shitty cloak, I can it shimmering clear as day."

The man went to remove the spell, but froze, eye's widening, "nobody can should be able to…" he trailed off, his eyes drifting away for a moment before shooting right back up to stare at the teen, a spark in them. "We need a baseline because not even Kristin can see through that."

As Phil removed the cloaking spell, Tommy's heart stilled, "I-" his breathing became a bit quicker, "not even La-Lady Death can- oh."

Once the spell had dissipated and the wings were in clear view once more, the older blond noticed how panicked Tommy looked. His eyes softened at the sight, "you didn't know, did you?" When he got a silent head shake, he sighed, "that's why we need a baseline. I'll even get Kristin to stop by when we do-"

Lightning blue eyes widened, "no! Lady- we're not doing that today! I have- you're helping me clean and answering my questions, nothing else."

Phil nodded slowly, "alright, what would you like me to do?"

As Tommy was on his knees, scrubbing the floors of his library, Phil was dusting the shelves, but his wings kept flapping the dust everywhere. With a loud groan as another bit of dust got stuck on the wet floor, the teen looked up at the man, "just use the fucking ladder!"

Phil had the audacity to look sheepish, "sorry, I normally do all this by myself when I occasionally clean. I'm not used to it being a two person job."

The teen just continued to glare, "just stop using your wings to throw the dust everywhere. I don't like using magic when it comes to this."

He watched as the winged man slowly descended and then made his way over to the ladder, "why not? From what I've gathered, you're insanely powerful. I'm almost certain you can clean this all up with a snap of your fingers."

As Tommy went back to scrubbing the floors, he let out a chuckle, "of course I can, I just don't want to. Sunday is the day I get to be the most normal." He sat back on his knees, letting out a soft sigh as he looked back at Phil, who was actually taking care of the dusting, "I've lost the plot too many times, so I like to have some day where I can be as grounded as I can. Thus-"

"Cleaning," Phil finished the sentence, looking back at the physically younger blond with a sad look in his eyes.

Tommy nodded slowly before going back to scrubbing once more. "So," he started, "how many more of us are there?"

"Loads," the winged man answered as he reached over to a spiderweb to clear it.

"Don't touch the web," the immortal teen snapped without even turning around. Shroud lives up there and he's very particular."

Phil carefully retracted his hand, "alright then."

"Okay, back to us, you weren't very clear. How many and are they as shit as Techno?"

Phil had to steady himself on the ladder as he practically doubled over laughing. It took him a few seconds to be able to catch a breath again, "Techno isn't that bad, mate."

Tommy whipped his head around and glared once more, "he pried into my life and disrespected my language, he can go fucking drown in a lake for a century and then when he resurfaces I will rip head off and use it as a fucking bowling ball and then laugh while he has to wait the week for it reattach properly without pain and then I'll chop it off again!"

The smile Phil had faded during Tommy's violent rant, eyes wide with a realization, "you can, can't you?"

Tommy's brows creased together in confusion, "what are you on about, old man?"

The winged man slowly stepped off the ladder and then knelt in front of Tommy. Phil didn't care that his pants were getting wet from the wet floor as he stared at him like he was some animal that had just been discovered, "you can heal yourself, can't you?"

"Duh- wait," the teen froze, "you can't?" When Phil wordlessly shook his head, he continued, "I didn't think- I- what do you mean?"

His mouth opened, then shut, as if trying to find the words. Finally, "what I mean," he spoke slowly, "is that whenever we get hurt and it's serious enough that we can't fix it ourselves, like a cut or some burns or even a stab wound, we wait for Kristin for fix it for us. At least, my group waits for Kristin. Some have other deities, such as Watchers. It's- if we were to cut off a limb or something, we won't die, but it takes an act from a god to fix it."

Tommy was frozen for a moment, then, "so I'm even more weird…" he trailed off as he slowly stood up, "I've been hurt so many times. I've learned to hide because I've been hurt." He snapped his fingers and the floor was instantly cleaned, shelves fully dusted. He wasn't in the mood to finish that today, not anymore.

Phil quickly stood up as soon as the teen started pacing back and forth, breath quickening, "Tommy, can you calm down for me?"

The teen, however, didn't seem to hear him as he raised his left hand up to his hair and started tugging. His right hand was gesturing ever so slightly, "I've been hunted and burned and stabbed and I've even been torn apart after my head was chopped off!" His breathing was stuttering and there was a darkness creeping into his vision, "There was supposed to be someone there to help, is what you're telling me! Except I was fucking alone and-"

"Tommy," Phil began to reach out to the panicking teen, seeing some tears beginning to well up in his blue eyes, "I need you breathe, alright?" Then his hand fell onto the shaking shoulders…

The immortal teen turned around and practically bared his teeth at the man, his magic slamming into him, "don't fucking touch me!" He didn't exactly care when Phil slammed into one of the bookshelves lining the wall, "you had someone! My gods were on your side! My gods! Yet they had the gall to abandon me!" He let out a hysterical laugh as he glanced up at the ceiling, "leave."

"Tommy-"

There was a fire in the teen's eyes, "LEAVE!"

The next thing Phil knew, he was in the alley next to the bookstore. Shit.

Chapter Text

When Phil had opened his eyes in the alley, he was shocked. He had only ever been transported like that by Kristin. The child, because that's what Tommy was, had more power than on the tip of his own pinky. He was unsure of how to go forward from what had just transpired.

Quickly, the winged man muttered the concealment spell under his breath as he looked around. He hated hiding his wings, but he knew how dangerous it was to keep them out in public. Then, he started the trek back to the temporary portal that was set up to get to the teen.

The only thing on his mind was how this was nothing but a mess. A child should never have been left alone to deal with all of this. It was clear that he was fully traumatized and very lonely. He had nobody to fall back on and nobody to comfort him when things went wrong. Phil felt a determination fill him as he walked.

About half way to the portal, the pain of being slammed into a bookshelf, finally hit him. The adrenaline fading out of him and he felt like he may have broken something in his wing. Lovely, at least he had to talk to Kristin anyway.

Once he reached the alley, several streets away from Tommy's shop, he briefly looked around before placing the rune stone in the proper spot. Quickly, he stepped through the portal before kicking the rune stone on the other side out of place, closing the doorway behind him.

… And then he let out a startled yelp when he was nearly knocked down by one of the few immortal teens in his life that don't want him dead. A blur of a forest green shirt and messy brown hair flew by as someone yelled at him to get back. He took a deep breath, just a normal day with Tubbo antagonizing everyone, including Ranboo… especially Ranboo.

He let out a groan as he made his way through the mess that he assumed Tubbo had made, making his way to the living room. He assumed Techno would be reading or something on the couch and he was proven correct as he saw the man reading that new book he had just gotten.

"Move," Phil muttered as he nudged his friend's feet off the couch.

Without even looking up, Techno swung his feet to the floor and sat up slightly, "how'd it go with the devil- I mean Tommy?"

The blond let out a small wince as he sat down, "I think he broke something in my wing."

That caused the book to slam shut and for eyes to bore into Phil's skull, "heh?!"

Phil shook his head as he rolled his shoulders and let the cloak drop once more, "I don't think he meant to. I-" he looked over at his friend, "I set him off. He had nobody and I mentioned Kristin helping us if an injury necessitated it and-" his eyes fell to his hands that fidgeted with his shirt. "Gods, he has had to pull himself back together, literally. And-" he looked back up at the man beside him, "he hasn't had anybody, Tech. Nobody to explain anything or to hold his hand of- nobody."

For a moment, the room fell silent, the only noise was Niki and Puffy in the distance trying to separate Tubbo and Ranboo with Purpled in the distance yelling that they should fight it out. Finally, Techno let out a long sigh as he fell back, "you're gonna adopt another, aren't ya?"

"He needs guidance," Phil let out softly.

"He's been around longer than you."

"Tommy- he's only a kid, though," the blond slouched forward, his elbows resting on his knees, "he's been alone for gods know how long." He looked back at Techno, "you heard him, he's only fifteen."

The pink haired man let out a loud groan, his palms digging into his eyes, "yeah, but only physically-"

"And mentally!" Phil pointed out, "I'm forever thirty-two, you're twenty-two and Tubbo, Ranboo, and Purpled will always be nineteen. We are stuck at these ages and we may grow as people, but-"

"I get it, old man," Techno rolled his eyes, "he'll be a kid forever with those teenage hormones to boot." He then sat back up, looking his friend over, "but you can't force him to join this-" he gestured vaguely at the home they had created over centuries, "thing you call family."

"Which is why we're going to take this one step at time-"

"I mean I could always go stop in aga-"

Phil's eyes widened, violently shaking his head, "nope! He's quite clear on how he stands with you. I don't want to have to ask Kristin to reattach your head."

"He's not going to-" he froze when he saw the look on the other's face, "heh?! He- y'know what, just ask Kristin. I'm tired, goodnight."

As Techno stood up, Phil started chuckling, "it's not even noon." He did not get a response more than a tired grumble as his friend retreated. Great, now he had to the hard task of talking to his wife.

With a sigh, Phil pushed himself to stand up and made his way to his room. He rolled his shoulders as a twinge of pain hit him. It wasn't the first, nor would be the last, time he's had a wing injury. Just thinking back to his younger years, they happened so often that both him and Kristin were used to him needing help with them.

His bed was a more like a giant nest, a slight… side effect of the wings were his instincts. His mattress was on the floor and absolutely covered in soft blankets, pillows, and clothing from his flock. Even after all these years, it's still strange to call his make-shift family a flock.

Once Phil got situated in his nest, he crossed his legs, put his hands in his lap, let his shoulders relax, then finally closed his eyes with a deep breath. He never liked calling out to his wife unless the situation was dire enough, so he let her come to him slowly at her pace.

He could sense her, nearly hearing her gently calling out when- "I'm going fucking kill you!" Niki's scream startled the man out of his state with a groan.

"I didn't even do anythin' this time," Schlatt's voice echoed in the hall as footsteps passed by Phil's door. So the man was finally back from one of his benders… lovely. Now he was stuck dealing with that along with the current situation involving Tommy.

Okay, he can just block out the fight that was starting out- never mind, something just crashed and shattered. So, he pulled himself back out of the nest, wincing with the pain in his wing, then slammed open his door and glared at the pair that was shouting at one another.

"Shut!" Phil was stern as he looked at them and then to the shattered vase on the ground, "I'm trying to call my wife! Now," he let out a huff, looking at the actual father of one of the teens in his care, "what did you do now?"

The man in question raised up his hands in utter defeat, "I didn't do nothin'!"

"Tell that to Tubbo," Niki leaned in, sneering at him. "You promised last time that you were going to stay and yet you just abandoned him again! You can't just keep leaving and-"

"Niki!" Phil had a scolding tone, then he took a deep breath, "you weren't any better your first century. We all learned to cope in our own time." He knew that better than anyone, at least he was there for everyone and Kristin was there for him- shit! He nearly forgot that he needed to talk to the love of his immortal life about that one child…

His friend didn't seem to care, though, "he has a kid though!" She turned back to Schlatt, "a kid who is amazing and doesn't-"

"You don't think I know he's a great kid?" Schlatt glared at her. "I took him in when he had nobody. I gave everythin' when I had nothin'. Don't fuckin' tell me I don't know how fuckin' great Tubbo is!" The man was slurring his words… he was drunk… again.

"The why always leave?" The woman with bubblegum pink hair crossed her arms as she shifted her weight.

They've had this same argument over and over again. Phil knows how Schlatt is thinking, having had that conversation when he was sober. With a sigh, he cut off the man before he could even open his mouth, "Schlatt, go to your room and sleep off whatever this is. Niki," he turned to one of the bravest soldiers he had ever fought with, "go cool off. Yelling isn't going to help the situation and you know it."

He watched as both of them grumbled off. It finally gave him some time to breathe and turn around and go back to his nest. His feathers ruffled, which didn't help when one of his wings had a broken bone. Finally, he closed his eyes in and reached out to his love once more.

It's always strange when Phil's heart stops beating and his breathing stops. It's always strange when she pulls him into her domain to talk, but he knows she's more comfortable there and would do absolutely anything for his love. So, with a final breath, his mortal body slumped forward and his mind was one with Death.

"Hello my love," Kristin's voice had him spinning around to face her in this dark space. She was radiant, as always, smiling down at him in her massive form before shrinking to be on par with his own height. She wore a long, flowy white dress that seemed to billow out and fall like petals on a tulip, layering ever so gently. She was absolutely adorned with gold and her long veil was already lifted up over her wide hat. She wore no make up, as per usual in her real, but she was always stunning in Phil's eyes.

The man smiled brightly at her, "I missed you so." He then took a few stumbling steps forward, something common for him as he always took a moment before figuring out his movement in this real. "It's always an honor when I get to see you," he gently took her in his arms and held her close for a good few moments before pulling away slightly and pressing a kiss upon her lips.

She pressed one back before pulling away, a bit confused, "you reaching out caught me a bit off guard," she admitted. "You were supposed to meet that boy today, the- the one I-" she looked a bit sad, "the one that slipped from my fingers. I wasn't expecting you until much later, what happened?"

"I fucked up," Phil closed his eyes as he pulled away from her, "I-" he opened his eyes once more and looked at her with these eyes that reminded Kristin of one of the tormented individuals she's had to take home with her. "He can heal himself, pull himself back together piece by piece. I- that was amazing, I thought, but then I mentioned how we have to ask you," he gestured toward the goddess, "to help us if something is too much and-"

"And he got angry," her voice cut in, eyes refusing to meet his, "is that right?" When Phil couldn't even respond, she looked back at him again, "he's angry with me- with all of us, correct?"

With a nod, the man confirmed her assumption, "from what I can gather, he's been alone for so long and thinks you all abandoned him-"

"But we did," the void around them finally melted away into the home they had shared before she had made him immortal, a fire crackling and warming up the space. It wasn't anything flashy, but it was theirs. "I- we did abandon him to be all alone. If only-" she let out a huff as she practically collapsed into the seat at the table, tossing her hat onto it, and then she buried her head in her hands, "I should've checked that list twice and even then gone back to check to see if it had changed."

Phil slowly sat in the chair next to her, hand resting on her shoulder, "you couldn't have known-"

Kristin cut him off by sitting up and pushing his hand off, eyes full of guilt, "I should have!" She stood up once more and started pacing, "his people held the strongest belief in our pantheon. We all nearly-" she swallowed thickly before facing her husband again, her lip trembling, "when they died, our pantheon nearly ceased to exist completely."

Oh… oh no. The man went pale in horror. That had never occurred to him, that Tommy's people had held so much power with a single pantheon. "Oh," it felt like a gut punch as he slowly stood.

She sighed, "there's a reason you haven't met my family, they're gone. I'm all that's left and that's because you-" she drew closer and didn't complain when Phil wrapped her up in his arms, "you found me and now we're dealing with one my wayward souls that shouldn't have suffered as he has."

The pair were silent for a while before Phil spoke up when he slowly pulled back, "I think Tommy's scared to meet you."

Kristin let out a snort, quickly trying to cover her blossoming smile, "I'm not that scary, he knows-" then she cut herself off, sobering the mood once more. She fully pulled away and sighed. "He knows I'm safe, he was raised on the belief that everyone's ends up wrapped in my arms one way or another. Except he didn't and he thinks we- I abandoned him. He-" she chewed on her lip, "he might also be scared that I'm angry that he slipped through my fingers."

Quietly, Phil contemplated. Then, a question struck him, "what would you have done had you found out that night?"

She looked startled for a moment, "what do you mean?"

Even though the blond wasn't breathing, it felt like he took a deep breath, "if you had found out that Tommy was made immortal that night or even the following nights or months or even years, what would you have done?"

The goddess golden eyes drifted away from her husband as she stared into the hearth. She stared into it for what felt like an eternity, the question rolling around in her mind, "I-" she swallowed again, "he would've ended up in my care… he's a child and he would've been made my child."

"Then tell him that," Phil looked into the fire as well, wrapping his non-injured wing around her. "Tell him that he would've been loved. He went completely off the radar and he doesn't know that. You need to-" he gently lifted up his hand and gently guided her face to look at him, fingers on her chin, "you need to tell him that you wouldn't have let him live a single second alone if you had known."

The goddess nodded, looking into her husband's eyes with love and regret, "I should go tell him now-"

That was immediately cut off with Phil's eyes widening and a bunch of strange, choked out sounds coming from the man, "maybe not- okay, he's still mad and maybe don't go to him just yet. I mean, he threw me into a bookshelf and most like broke something in my wing, but-"

"I beg your fucking pardon-?"

"But we should give him some time to cool off and maybe send the menaces-"

Kristin squinted her eyes as she cut him off again, "you mean Purpled, Ranboo, and Tubbo?"

The man snapped his fingers with a grin, "yes! I think him talking with somebody his… age might lead to a more… productive meeting."

She let out a huffed laugh before glaring at him playfully, "alright. I'll let you try that, but if it doesn't work, I'm going myself. Now," she pushed him away slightly before guiding him to the table and basically throwing him into his seat once more, this time backward, "tell me how he did this while I fix it."

So, Phil told her. She was absolutely amazed with the immortal teen's powers and strength. She asked how the library had felt to the man, asked if Tommy looked strained at all. The answers weren't much, just proved how little they knew about the boy and how powerful he truly was.

Once Phil's wing was fixed and both were preened, the pair were relaxing on the old bed. It wasn't as comfortable as the man's nest, not by far, but it was home. Kristin then let out a, "I wonder if…" she trailed off.

The winged man glanced down at the goddess who rested in his arms, "wonder what?"

She bit her lip once more before shaking her head, "nothing, I-" she cut herself off, "it's probably nothing. Don't worry about it."

Okay, little worrying, but if Kristin wasn't going to talk about it, he wasn't going to push her. So, he just nodded even though she couldn't see him from her position and then leaned down and kissed her head, "alright, my love."

Before long, they were saying their goodbyes for the moment and Kristin told him he had at most a month to sort out the Tommy situation. However, if something major happened, he would have to come get her. She wanted to make things right, but didn't want things to go so wrong before she could.

So, with a healed wing, he collected up the trio of evil and told them to stay near the shop for a while. He explicitly told them not to interact right away and slowly make a connection with Tommy… so what the fuck happened to make two of them come running home roughly a week later?

Apparently, Tommy snapped and broke down and Tubbo was stuck with him or something… fuck. Now he needed to talk to Kristin again and Techno was looking at him like his point was proven. Why the fuck was Schlatt staring daggers at him? He didn't even know the entire situation! Okay… time to sort out this problem… and maybe get chewed out by the love of his life… fun.

Chapter Text

Tommy didn't open his shop up for the next week. He had a feeling that even if he moved his shop, Phil would find him again and he wasn't in the mood to play cat and mouse. He spent his time just holed up in his room and laying in his bed as he stared up at the ceiling, rotting away.

Henry showed up exactly once before vanishing again and leaving him on his own. He missed her, wished she would just lay atop him again and keep him company. He sobbed over the thought that he was alone, something he hadn't done in so long.

These people came into his life and just reopened old wounds he had to stitch himself over centuries just so he could function. Now, he couldn't stop thinking about how lonely it all was. They had help from his gods, but they had abandoned him in his time of need. Where did his prayers at night go? Did they even matter?

It felt like he was Atlas holding up the weight of the heavens as he slowly got up. He wanted nothing more than to let it crush him, but he knew it wouldn't work. Nothing he did worked, after all. He would always wake up and be forced to breathe the toxic air. He missed the days where it wasn't like that, missed waking and being able to enjoy the day. He now hated waking up… he sometimes wished he didn't wake up.

He got dressed and ate something for the first time since he had retreated to his room, snapping his fingers along the way to clean up the mess his magic had made from his… outburst. Then, he shakily made his way out of his residence and down into the bookstore, only to freeze when he spotted three teenagers just hanging out in the small reading and cafe corner he had set up. Wait a minute…

"Tubbo?" Tommy's heart seemed to stop beating at the sight of the other teen… the one that used to be his friend… in the 80's. His friend, that he had abandoned after nearly being found out by someone who was snooping too close for comfort.

As soon as he spoke, that caught the attention of the three and he watched as his old friend's eyes widened, "I fucking knew it! I knew when Phil said your name it was you!"

"I- how-" he couldn't even get out his question before he was tackled by the shorter teen, arms wrapped around him so tight that air was knocked out of him.

"I missed you so fucking much!" Tubbo, his old friend, cried out as he buried his face into Tommy's neck, "I thought someone killed you or something, you just vanished!"

A choked out laugh escaped Tommy, "how are you alive?"

"Phil," the brunet pulled back slightly, "he stopped me from getting hit by a car or something and realized later that he fucked up and then Kristin had to make me immortal. It was really cool! Do you still have the Walkman I gave you?"

"Yeah," the blond let out a wet laugh as he pulled Tubbo close once more, "it's sitting on my nightstand." He then tightened his grip around his friend, "I missed you so fucking much."

"I missed you, bossman."

"Hey," one of the other teens butt in, "sorry to interrupt, not really, but how do you two know each other?"

Tubbo let out a groan as he finally released Tommy, turning back to the other pair with a glare, "Purpled and Ranboo, this is Tommy-"

"Yeah, we knew that-"

"I met him in '85," the brunet stressed, "before Phil found me and took me in as a stray."

The teen who wasn't being a bitch, the one with split-dyed hair, smiled nervously at Tommy, "nice to meet you, I'm Ranboo."

"Ranboo…" Tommy tested the name in his mouth, then smirked, "you better be nice, Ranboob, or else I'll kick you out like Phil."

Eyes widened and the taller teen took a step back, "please don't, I really don't want to give you another panic attack."

"Panic attack?" The blue eyed teen shook his head, "no, I don't get those, I was just being childish or something."

The group was quiet for a few moments until Tubbo glanced at them nervously before looking back at his friend. "Speaking of childish-" he was cut off by a groan, but barreled right past it, "you said you were fifteen when we met, are you actually permanently fifteen or did you pull a Twilight and just say you were fifteen to trick others?"

Tommy blinked very slowly as he processed the brunet's words, "you are still very much the same, aren't you?"

The brunet just smiled widely at the other, "mhm!"

With a sigh, Tommy just turned around and gestured for the teens to come up to his residence, "how did you even get in? I have-" he paused before turning back around, "I never stripped you from the wards."

Purpled's eyes widened, "I fucking knew it! I knew it was something like that!" He spun on the shorter teen, "you are an asshole! I should've known you knew him!"

Tubbo let out a small giggle before shrugging, "I didn't know there were wards, so me telling both of you that you just suck isn't that far off."

Okay, Tommy was going to let these people into his home… probably a mistake on his part, but oh well, he could open his shop back up tomorrow or something. "Just-" he let out a huff, "come on." He led them up the stairs and slowly opened his door into his living room. "Welcome to my home, don't fucking break anything, I don't wanna fix it."

Purpled's eyes widened as he breathed out, "it's bigger on the inside."

While Tommy just ignored the reaction, Ranboo and Tubbo didn't. "Since when have you watched Doctor Who?" Tubbo asked while Ranboo simply stared at the purple-themed blond.

"No idea what the fuck you're talking about," the teen replied as he continued to look around, but freezing at the sight of something hanging from the ceiling. "Why do you have a taxidermied crow in a cage?"

The "younger" teen froze before looking up at the corner of his living room and bursting out in laughter, "I forgot I did that!" It took a few moments for his breathing to return, but when it did, he explained, "I got so angry after meeting Techno and Phil that I kinda put a crow in a cage. I'm surprised the old man didn't see it."

Tubbo took a tentative step towards the cage, head tilted, "how did you-?"

"Old spell that I rarely use nowadays. Nobody really wants preserved animals in their homes anymore," Tommy's answer was smooth as he stared at the crow. "He felt no pain, I promise. He was already on Lady Death's doorstep."

The room fell into an awkward silence for a moment before Ranboo cleared their throat and clicked his tongue, "um, so what do you wanna do?"

The youngest teen by age, not by years, sighed as he turned away from the crow, "we can just chill in the garden or something."

"You have a garden?" The shortest of the group asked, "and you didn't take me there before today?"

Tommy just stared at his old friend with a tired expression, "mate, I thought you were old or dead by now-"

"I would be thirty-seven!"

Tommy continued like he hadn't heard a thing, "I wasn't expecting you to still be around and kicking. Besides I left Brighton at the time, I was almost discovered and couldn't go back." Then he paused for a second before saying, "you also didn't know I had this residence above my shop, I never took you up here."

Tubbo continued to glare at his friend before Purpled yanked him back a bit, "so, where is this garden of yours?"

"This way," the immortal child sighed as he led them down the hallways. Right before the door to the garden, he was stopped by Purpled,

"What's this door?" The teen pointed to an old door, very much not matching all the others in the residence, "why is it different?"

The question alone made Tommy's heart seize for a moment, "it's- it's nothing. He reached forward and yanked Purpled forward, "this is the door we want," he then opened up the garden door.

It felt like summer compared to the cool spring breeze outside. The air was clean and it had no hint of smog, sun shining in even though it was overcast everywhere else. There were flowers and bees and a lovely pond with frogs. A good sized deck with a picnic table and grill was off the the side with a swing in one of the corners opposite. Surrounding the garden were walls of the residence. A small sanctuary surrounded by the prison of his home.

"Dude," Ranboo breathed out, looking around, "I can breathe properly, what the heck?"

"Why are there so many bees?" Purpled piped up with, tracking one that flew right by his nose.

"This is so fucking cool!" Tubbo exclaimed, already running about and looking at everything.

Tommy smiled softly at the group. He loved this garden, having put so much time and effort into it. He slowly sat down on the bench next to the door, "I made a self-functioning beehive after I met Tubbo and he wouldn't stop talking about bees."

Said teen froze when he heard that, eyes widening, "oh, I didn't- wow." He glanced around until he spotted the hive, "I don't even like bees that much anymore, but… wow."

"I mean," Tommy shrugged as he leaned back, "you were obsessed, big man, and honestly you talked so passionately I kinda latched on and decided to keep a hive for myself."

That ended up kicking off a long and, frankly, excitable talk between the group. The trio didn't push Tommy into learning anything new about this immortal group they came from and Tommy didn't feel pressured to show his abilities in front of them. Of course, because it was as natural as breathing air, he did show them some things. He didn't mind and he enjoyed seeing them practice their own magic.

He learned Ranboo was technically the oldest, but it was Purpled, who came from the sixties, who really thrived with magic. It was interesting to see their different skill levels, something he could vaguely remember from when he was a very young child and struggled while the adults were so amazing.

Then, Purpled asked where the bathroom was and Tommy didn't even think twice before answering. He didn't even think or feel anything was off as the other teen left. He didn't even feel anything wrong until about five minutes later and an incessant buzzing that entered his ears.

Without a word, he flung himself up and back into the residence, freezing when he saw that room open. He could see Purpled frozen, staring inside as his own heart was beating so loud he couldn't even think. As a hand fell onto his shoulder, all hell broke loose.

Purpled was flung from the room and he hit the wall with a loud thud and Ranboo, who had put his hand on his shoulder, was also flung away. The only ones who were left physically unaffected were Tommy and Tubbo. The former carefully stepped forward and looked into the room… a sob catching in his throat.

Purpled, who regained some composure, looked at the other blond through his hair, "why is there is there an empty nursery in you fucking house?"

The immortal child didn't answer, just silently stepping into the room before collapsing to his knees. He let out a loud sob as suddenly Purpled and Ranboo were evicted from his home. Distantly, he could hear Tubbo calling out to him, but his mind was already swimming as he let out a heart-wrenching sob as he snatched up one of the old toys he had never picked up and held it to his chest.

At some point, he thinks that Tubbo understood the picture a bit and knelt besides the teen, pulling his head into his lap. Silently, he ran his fingers through the curly blond locks and whispered quietly. As much as Tommy willed his magic to push his old friend away, it still trusted him… still saw him as family… it wasn't going to hurt Tubbo.

After what felt like ages, the room grew cold and the candles he had never replaced with electricity started flickering as a small breeze filled the nursery. He could feel Tubbo go tense, but he didn't know why… until…

A sharp inhale, followed by a voice behind the pair spoke up, "I remember this nursery." The voice sounded so kind, yet it broke something in Tommy, "I remember little Clementine, she was so loved, but-"

It didn't take a genius to realize who was there, standing so close. One of his deities… the one who didn't take him all those years ago and the one who took everything, who will continue to take everything from him… even his daughter.

The lady of Death has decided to pay him a visit after all these years… finally.

Chapter Text

Kristin had only ever dealt with grief once, with Phil when his family passed on and he was left alone with just her. The rest of the group she made immortal was handled by Phil. Even with him, she had never seen someone's ire turned towards her for taking a loved one. So, to see Tommy slowly turn to glare up at her, the boy she had missed all those years ago, it was a stab through the goddess' heart.

His people had loved her and her family, the pantheon they held together with their belief. Now, the last remaining member was glaring at her and she didn't know how to feel. How does one who messed up so badly fix this giant mess? ... You can't. You just have to move on and hope all will be fine in the end. She doesn't know if it will be.

Before she could open her mouth once more, Tommy slowly lifted himself out of Tubbo's lap and asked, "how could you take her and not me?" His voice shook with anger and grief and just pure hurt, the door to the nursery slamming shut and startling the brunet next to him.

The goddess carefully knelt before the duo on the floor, reaching out to the blond. However, when the immortal teen flinched away, she pulled back, not daring to push her luck. His electric blue eyes stared into her dark ones. They were filled with anger, but also sadness. She wanted nothing more to hold him, like a mother comforting their child.

"I am so sorry," her voice shook a bit as she apologized. "I didn't know I missed you and I didn't know she was yours." It felt like she was a parent apologizing to their little one for simply leaving them behind at the store or accidentally locking them in the car. How does one truly apologize for leaving a soul, a child, to walk the earth alone for nearly two thousand years?

… You can't.

Tubbo tried to reach out to wrap his arms around the blond, but was pushed gently back as Tommy's glare harshened, "let's go through everything, yeah?" His chest heaved as he started listing everything, "first, you took my home, my people from me. Yet you just decided to leave me the fuck behind and not even drop in to say 'hi' or help me while I was hiding in the woods! I had to change everything fundamental about myself just to survive without being called a witch and a heretic because guess what? Being burned at the stake, chopped into tiny, little pieces, and drowned fucking hurts!"

Silently, Tubbo gasped while Kristin kept staring at her wayward soul. She deserved this. She deserved everything he had to say and do. She… could hear stuff breaking outside the room? Nothing was touched inside the nursery, but outside she could hear glass shattering and things being tossed around.

"I-" Tommy's voice broke, "I was alone for so fucking long and-" he swallowed thickly as he looked around, "I had nobody until I found Clem. If I had moved a day earlier, who knows what would've happened to her in that alley." He took a cautious step away from Kristin and Tubbo, turning and gently resting on the crib. It was old, ornate with small protection sigils carved into the wood, a spinning mobile of clouds and a small hot air balloon hung above. "She- I never knew I could love someone so much and I handcrafted everything for her. I- I studied the book so much so I wouldn't be alone anymore."

As his breath became quicker, Tubbo quickly stood up and hesitantly put a hand on the other's back, "hey, why don't we head back to the garden to calm-"

"Fuck off!" Tommy pushed the brunet back, not with magic, though Kristin could see it wrapping around him as if keeping him safe. "I don't need to calm down!" He then turned back to the silent goddess, "the closest I got to replicating the spell my mother did was with Henry and she goes in and out and I didn't want to fuck it up with Clem. Even if she did grow old and leave me, she would've had a whole life full of love. Then you came and took her from me!" A pained sob broke from the teen, "I- she wasn't even a year old!"

"I-" how could someone respond that? The child she had abandoned was hurting because of her. If she had looked at the list twice, if she had looked around the nursery a bit more… looked at the sigils on the crib closer, she could've helped him sooner.

Tommy bowed his head, more broken sobs spilling from his lips as he looked at her. With a deep, shuddering breath, he inhaled, then said, "you wanna know what the worst part of all of this is?"

Kristin opened her mouth to respond, staring up at him from the floor. However, no words fell from her lips as she watched the blond try to hold it together just a bit longer. She wanted to reach out and hold him, take him back to her realm for a bit to keep him safe. She wanted to dry his tears and apologize for all she did wrong, even though she knew it wouldn't help.

Luckily, Tommy didn't wait for a reply, "the- the fucking worst bit in all of this is-" gasping breaths escaped him as a wet chuckle broke from his lips, a broken smile spreading across his face, "I can't even hate you." He looked at Tubbo, who was staring with wide eyes, then back to Kristin, shaking his head and smile falling once more, "I really want to hate you, but I fucking can't!" There was a fire in his eyes, dim, but present, "I wish I could just stab you- just stab, stab, stab and the pain would be gone," he licked his lips trying to take to a steadying breath, "but I could never actually do it."

Kristin started to reach out, but the moment she said his name… his real name, "⌇⏁⏃⍀⌰⟟☌⊑⏁-" she had to practically launch herself forward to catch him. Outside the room, there was one final loud crescendo, then silence. In her arms lay a boy who looked exhausted and just done. She had seen in it many souls she had taken before and it always broke something in her.

"Toms?" Tubbo called out, startling her slightly, forgetting he was there. When he got no response from his… friend? How know each other? Whatever, when he got no response from the blond, he crouched down next to the pair, "is he-?"

The Lady of Death stared down at her wayward child, sighing softly as she ran her fingers through his curly blond locks, "he'll be alright," she hoped. After just blinking down at his prone form, she looked up at the older immortal teen, "I think you should head on home, your friends are worried." When Tubbo opened his mouth to interject, she cut him off with a soft, "don't worry, I've got him now."

The brunet's lips quirked up for just a moment as his caring eyes just kept looking at Tommy, "are you sure? I- we knew each other in the 80's and-"

With a deep breath, Kristin opened her mouth once more, "his magic trusts you probably more than it does me, but-" she looked back at the boy in her lap, "go home. ⌇⏁⏃⍀⌰⟟☌⊑⏁," she could feel him tensing, "and I need to talk."

Tubbo hesitated once more before nodding, standing up and heading towards the nursery door. However, he paused and looked back at the pair on the floor. He briefly opened his mouth before shutting it and prying the door open. He froze once more and Kristin could see glass and all sorts of things tossed about in the hall. Tubbo glanced back one final time before stepping through the door, turning… and finally leaving.

Now, it was just Kristin and Tommy. A goddess with too much to apologize for and an immortal teen who had been broken so many times. Could they mend any of this? Who knows… certainly not Kristin