Where is Your Rider?

Epilogue

The first thing that Tommy and Tubbo did when they settled down in their new home was get a haircut. So they did, getting their hair cut short for the first time in a long time, by professionals and not by whatever means they had in the first place.

The hair stylist was horrified at the state of their hair and Technoblade, who had accompanied them since he needed to get his roots re-dyed, promised that he'd take care of it.

Ranboo did get his haircut as well, but kept it rather long and, after much pestering from Tommy, got it dyed half black and half white, split down the middle.

Technoblade chuckled to himself as they drove home, it'd be nice to have someone to get his hair touched up with, if they ended up staying. Neither of the men who had taken in the kids had high hopes for them staying, least of all Technoblade himself, but maybe they would.

About a week or two into their stay at the Sleepy Bois household, they had settled in. They got two bedrooms in the second level, Tommy and Tubbo deciding to share a room while Ranboo slept in the smallest room alone, quite enjoying the quiet.

They got their van, which Wilbur affectionately named the Child Crime Cruiser, which shockingly stuck despite Tommy's protests about not being a kid. They didn't have to work extra jobs so they could focus on school and, with Techno's help, Ranboo and Tubbo were on track to graduate early, Tommy not far behind.

Game nights became commonplace in the house, often bridging into early morning as they tried to battle it out for supremacy in whatever game they played. This night's game of choice was Monopoly and Tommy was very angry that Ranboo had quietly taken over a large section of the board that his piece was residing in.

"It's not fair, I don't wanna pay Ranboo! He's a wrongun! He's a wrongun, Phil, don't make me pay him." Phil had stepped out of the game in order to be their banker. He just sighed, giving Tommy a look.

"Pay Ranboo, Tommy." With a loud groan, Tommy crumpled up the colorful bills he owed Ranboo and threw them over, which hit him square in the chest. Ranboo just smiled triumphantly and straightened out the fake money, adding it to his growing pile of cash.

Wilbur laughed from the kitchen, he had been banned from Monopoly from flipping the game one to many times. "Serves you right, gremlin child." He called, boiling water for tea and hot cocoa.

"Fuck offff Wilbur!" Tommy shot back, flipping him off with a glare. Tubbo and Ranboo exchanged a look at his display. That was their Tommy alright, back with full force.

"Oh, that reminds me, there's something we need to talk about." Phil said as Techno slid him some of the fake money and reached for a hotel to put on his own property. The three children looked over, confused and slightly concerned.

"I know Tubbo, you're turning eighteen soon, but until then, we don't have your records and people are looking for you and Tommy." Phil began, pressing his his fingers together. "And I really don't want to have CPS or anything busting down our door, so I was wondering if you guys would be okay with us... going through the adoption process? You don't need to think of us as your family, but we will be able to better take care of you, since you're all danger seekers it seems."

Phil looked up to see the trio's shocked expressions and quickly began to talk. "You don't need to make a decision or anything, it's just so you don't have to lie about records or anything, since it does complicate a lot of stuff, so I'll be able to sign off on anything you guys need. I won't ask, ever, it's just..." He trailed off when he noticed at least Tubbo in tears. The three looked at each other before nodding in unison.

"Well, you've practically adopted us to begin with." Ranboo chuckled and shrugged, hunching in on himself. Tommy leaned back and crossed his arms.

"I mean, if Tubbo doesn't have to lie and hack the school and shit anymore... I don't see why not." Tubbo smiled, standing up and grabbing Phil into a shockingly tight hug.

"Thank you..." He breathed quietly before darting back to his seat, where the game of Monopoly resumed like nothing happened. Ranboo ended up winning after a truly fierce battle with Techno. As the three got into their beds and drifted off, the prospect of actually being adopted felt... good. Tubbo and Tommy would have an actual family, at least for a short while, and Ranboo could finally have the brothers he never had.

Life felt better.

Their career choices didn't change at all. They still did their vigilante work, generally on their own with Tommy still as their runner with Tubbo and Ranboo as the guys in the chair. But on occasion, they'd ask for help. Usually they'd go to Wilbur, who paired well with Tommy despite their bickering.

Sometimes they'd ask Phil, since his mobility with his mechanical wings made him a good lookout.

If things were really dire, they'd ask Techno. But usually it was just Wilbur. And they were fine with that.

They occasionally went to the Pit still, working through leads on anything suspicious they'd found, though if any of Bench Trio wanted to go, they needed to have Phil or Techno with them, since they still hadn't been able to find the group that assaulted them and nearly killed Tommy.

And eventually, they began to be like a family. When Tubbo turned eighteen in late December, he still remained with them, insisting that it was just because he promised he'd wait for Tommy, though everyone knew it was also because he liked having a family.

Turns out that when Tubbo was given stable living circumstances, he was quite the homebody, learning how to bake with Phil and playing the ukulele, a birthday gift, with Wilbur.

Tommy learned how to fight with the help of Techno and on rare occasions, Phil. The elder blonde was shockingly good at fighting as was able to best the unbeatable Technoblade on more than one occasion. Actually, it was often him who won. But Phil said that he had given up his path to help others.

They couldn't help but wonder what path that was.

Ranboo ended up flitting between Tommy and Tubbo. He was remarkably similar to Techno in their research interests and even speech patterns, though he was far more like Phil in being the calming, grounding force in his own group of energetic people.

When they were taken to get much better computers, all of them took quite a shine to Minecraft. Phil was very excited to finally be able to share his interest in the block game, so their 'family' game nights added Minecraft into their rotating wheel of things to do.

It was shockingly kind to Ranboo, Tubbo and Tommy. They hadn't really experienced this much kindness in one place, but the welcoming embrace of Phil, the warm laughter of Wilbur and Techno's calm, quite presence was something that they wouldn't change for the world.

This was their family now, and they would do anything to protect it.

AN: the sequel is out boys!! check it out!