Two Years(DISCONTINUED)

We're Going Home

No one could take their eyes off of Tommy for long. How could they? He was here, yet so different from the boy they used to know.

This child wasn't the same bold scammer seeking out every opportunity he could. He wasn't that brave soldier who somehow surprised everyone when he gave up his disks. And he wasn't the cold angry boy dragged from his home, abandoned by basically everyone.

The boy before them now just wasn't him.

He was so quick to apologize, not that careless flimsy set of words he used to toss back as he laughed. These apologies were loaded with gravity, the pure panic they lit in Tommy driving him into near panic attacks and even fainting.

His words, when he used them, were snipped. There was no rambling, no crude comments added. Nothing more than was absolutely necessary.

Worst of all though, his aversion to touch. You couldn't even approach him with soft warnings, from his line of sight, or with his permission without his tensed muscles tightening so painfully you could see Tommy's eyes glisten. Even being close seemed to burn him. Though they were neither bound, it's like he was scorched with every interaction.

As the days dragged on they quickly realized Tommy scarcely finished a meal. More often than not he'd barely had more than a few bites. He was already so thin but who could bring it up?

Thankfully Techno could. Something about the man seemed to make him listen without as much fear. Not that it disappeared far from it. But Tommy was at least able to ground himself enough to be coaxed into just a word more. Maybe the twitch of his lips or near eye contact.

He never met their eyes. It hurts every time. Trying to gain it though wasn't something to attempt. Not while they were traversing the dangerous landscapes and clinging to the hope that things would change once they returned. Maybe then he would be much better than this. Maybe being home, and safe, Tommy would finally heal.

It's the last stretch that Tommy does the unexpected. Looking at The Nether Hub he speaks, without prompting.

"Is this real?" He asks.

There's so much in his voice, in his fidgeting hands, and wary gaze. That disbelief but uncertainty as if he doesn't truly know if he's meant to be here.

"All of this is real? I'm, we're so close. I thought," he dropped there crouched on the ground. "I thought I'd never see anything again. Dream, he said I couldn't, that I would die before I could. You're all, you're really here. You came for me right? I didn't lose it? I'm not in hell, right?"

"Tommy," Tubbo had anger in his voice, hate for the bastard who did this. The flinch Tubbo received shouldn't have gouged out his gut as easily as it had, this wasn't out of the ordinary. Softly he hoped the apology would be heard in his tone, "Tommy."

"This is real," Techno interjected. The man speaking much more placating lately. "We came for you. Brought you here. We're taking you home, Theseus."

"Please," Tommy looked down into the lava. "I can't. I-I can't. "

"You can. You will." Techno stepped closer. "You're almost there."

"But-"

"Tommy, please," Wilbur braced himself for the inevitable that didn't come. Tommy eased into Wilbur's hand still staring below. "Let's go home."

"I'm going to be in so much trouble," Tommy shook, leaning more toward Wilbur, the man taking the chance to sit beside him. "I came here before...once. I couldn't, I was. The lava looked like home. I was going to, to fall in."

"No, Prime," Tubbo crumbled there.

"I didn't. But I was so close if he, if Dream wasn't there."

"Fuck," Philza sighed. "Tommy, listen to me right now. You are safe."

"We should move," Techno added. " Wouldn't want to miss the views, would we?"

Taking a little while to recompose himself, Tommy leaned heavily on Wilbur for the final stretch. Again Tommy faced a portal. This one, the one he couldn't even imagine. Just another step and he'd be home.

Finally he was home.