Let me level with you man, as someone guilty of the game

11. Getting Ungrounded and then Promptly Regrounded

Tommy was having a good day. Until he wasn’t, of course.

It started when he woke up that morning. Sapnap was waiting in the kitchen for him, a smile on his face and a familiar suit in his hands. He tossed the clothing to Tommy, giving him a wink.

“Get your shit, we’re going on patrol!”

Tommy blinked, turning towards the couch where Dream sat, flicking absently through a book. Dream looked up at him, then at Sapnap, before sighing, setting the book down.

“I suppose you’ve been grounded long enough,” he relented, causing Sapnap to cheer. Tommy hurried back towards his room, shooting Sapnap a grin over his shoulder as he quickly slipped on his suit. 

It had really been too long since he had been out as Icarus, Tommy thought, standing in front of his mirror and looking himself up and down. It was odd, seeing the white and gold patterns of the suit next to his maroon wings, a stark contrast to his black and red Theseus suit. A shout from Sapnap pulled Tommy out of his thoughts and he shook himself, giving his reflection a grin before hurrying out the door.

This was going to be fun.

………………………………………….

This was not fun. This was a war zone.

Tommy stumbled back, scowling up at the man who loomed over him, grinning widely. Somehow, Sapnap and him had found themselves in the middle of a terrorist attack, just South of the Tower. It had started as just a bomb threat, but the more Tommy fought, the more he started to think they meant it.

“I really don’t want to kill you,” the man drawled, cracking his knuckles as he took a step closer. Tommy glanced around him desperately, trying to see any sign of Sapnap, of Dream, of anyone, but there was nothing. 

“Then why don’t you just, like, not?” Tommy gritted, taking a careful step away from the man. The man scowled, stepping forwards again.

“Because what fun would that be?”

The man raised his hand, a knife flashing in his grip. Tommy didn’t have enough time to react as the man brought the knife down, only able to close his eyes and brace for the pain.

Nothing. There was a shout, the sound of a short scuffle, and a thump. Then silence. Tommy blinked, looking slowly from the man, who was lying on the ground, to the person standing over him, her arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow raised. 

“That wasn’t very nice of him,” Odysseus commented, looking up at Tommy slowly. “He could’ve at least said please.”

Tommy sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair. “Ya, people can be really dicks sometimes, huh?”

Odysseus snorted, carefully unsheathing the sword at her waist and moving to walk around Tommy, towards where Sapnap had been fighting earlier. “We should go, your friend needs help. Others are coming, but I don’t know how long it will take them to get here.”

Tommy nodded, following after Odysseus as she jogged towards a building across the street, the one the bomb threat had originated from. Tommy realized with growing dread that the building was a public apartment complex, most likely filled with innocent civilians.