I'm a Healer, But...

3

Wilbur loves his family, but sometimes he really hates Technoblade.This is supposed to be his 'time off'- though, really, being a supervillain never stops. Still, he was meant to be left alone for just a few weeks, letting him spend some time with his son.Poor Fundy is the victim of a recent dumping- more than that, his fiancé was cheating on him. He didn't want to be alone, so Wilbur dropped everything the moment he could to join him.But Techno has called him twice in the last hour, which never bodes well, and he's trying to listen to Fundy's venting but he's starting to worry about what's happening back at home..."-at first I just thought it was because his little brother went missing, you know? I thought he was just freaking out because he ran away, and he was too stubborn to ask for emotional support. Okay, I'd give him space! But then he never answered his phone, and he was always busy with Gogy, and next thing I knew he was calling me and he said he had too much going on-"Wilbur gets his third call this hour, and declines it immediately. Hopefully Techno will get the message. "What a piece of shit. Brick his windshield.""Stop telling me to throw bricks through people's cars.""I'll stop when you start doing it." That gets a small laugh out of Fundy, and Wilbur relaxes a little.His relationship with Fundy is complicated, to say the least. He and Sally hadn't ended things on pleasant terms- though it was definitely with no fault to either party. She was, he would say, reasonably upset to learn her boyfriend was the supervillain known as the Siren, and he thinks he was equally justified in not bringing it up yet. He thought he had much more time before she realized he wasn't aging, but... whoops.Sally had broken up with him and moved out of town, and Wilbur understood completely. So much so that he didn't even keep tabs on her! Unfortunately, that meant that when she passed, no one knew about Fundy, either. It was only by genuine coincidence that Wilbur had heard about the passing of one Sally Salmons.He'd gone to see her home before it could be sold, bringing Phil with him for emotional support, and then found a child curled up in a cupboard, unconscious. An eight year old Fundy had been secretly living there, hiding away whenever the police or realtors stopped by and only going out by night to search nearby trash cans for scraps.Luckily, Sally had never badmouthed Wilbur to him, and so it wasn't too hard to bring him home. What was hard was raising him. Wilbur was forever twenty-four, and Fundy was a mostly normal child, other than his fox features. He had to balance a dozen things- normal childcare, hybrid childcare, being a villain, hiding his immortality...Eventually, he had to come completely clean to Fundy, and that had helped Wilbur massively- but it gave his son quite a few complexes. He didn't trust his father's love anymore. Even now, a decade later, they were still rebuilding that trust, which is why Wilbur was ignoring all of Techno's calls in favor of giving Fundy his full attention.Except now he's getting a text. Which is... a little more concerning. Not that Techno doesn't text him all the time- the man types as fast as he talks, so he usually prefers it over calling- but while Wilbur's on leave? After multiple calls? This... might be an emergency. And if something's happened that he really needs to know about...As soon as Fundy leaves the table to run to the bathroom, Wilbur checks his messages.baby brother Ɛ>: you have to stop phil right nowbaby brother Ɛ>: hes gonna tear down the house and build a new one...what?phil's favorite: what are you talking about?baby brother Ɛ>: im not supposed to tell you this but phils gone off the deep endbaby brother Ɛ>: were getting a healer and phils suddenly obsessed with expanding the nest even though we havent met him yetHe repeats. What?phil's favorite: WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE GETTING A HEALERbaby brother Ɛ>: some kid broke into the house and is trading us a teenage healer for the death of a hero check phils texts for oncephil's favorite: ....all i got was a text saying 'good news' and then he never messaged me back when i asked whatphil's favorite: what do you mean a kid broke into the housebaby brother Ɛ>: exactly what i saidbaby brother Ɛ>: he broke in and now he's living with us until we kill dreamphil's favorite: awww isn't dream your favorite hero?baby brother Ɛ>: worth it. the healer can stop illnesses apparentlyphil's favorite: wait why is a child living with usphil's favorite: techno why is a child living in our housebaby brother Ɛ>: i have no ideababy brother Ɛ>: phil likes him and the kid insists on staying until dream is deadbaby brother Ɛ>: im pretty sure dream has a price on his head or somethingphil's favorite: don't let him in my roombaby brother Ɛ>: too late he went through it yesterday"Everything okay?" Fundy asks, and Wilbur jolts, caught off guard. He didn't realize Fundy had returned."Um, yeah. Just... business, you know."Fundy doesn't know. Wilbur had offered, once, to show Fundy what they were really like, how the family business wasn't as scary as it seemed, but Fundy had been so terrified that he didn't try to push it- not even now, a decade later. Now, they tried not to bring it up."Oh... yeah? Is there... a problem or something?" Fundy asks delicately.Normally, he wouldn't even ask that much. Maybe he's warming up a little. Wilbur distinctly avoids trying to find out. "No, it's fine. We're getting a new... business partner. One that's, uh, going to be staying with us for a bit? Your uncle Techno seems pretty worried that Phil might be attached.""Oh." And the curiosity ends there. Still, that's an improvement, Wilbur thinks."Yeah. Techno's trying to rush me to come home and stop Phil, I think.""Oh." And despite how he's actively trying to avoid it, he can still taste the disappointment behind Fundy's words.Wilbur scrambles to fix it. "No- that doesn't mean I'm going to, I told him I'd be here 'til the tenth so he can wait-""It's fine," Fundy says, disappointment-resignation ."No, I'm not going," Wilbur insists, his powers slipping just a little-Believe-me .The tension eases out of Fundy's shoulders. "Okay. Sorry, I guess I was just-""It's fine," Wilbur cuts him off, trying not to feel guilty. "I know I've fucked up before. I'm not going back until the tenth."Fundy smiles and goes back to eating, but soon picks up the conversation again. "Sooo, I've been thinking.""About where to get bricks to throw through your ex's windshield? Because I have a supplier-""No," Fundy interrupts. "About wanting to go visit Grandpa and Uncle Techno."Wilbur raises his eyebrows. Fundy hasn't come home since he left for college- what's changed his mind?"I mean, I wouldn't go immediately, because finals are coming up and my game's new update is coming out soon so I need to be available to fix any bugs, but.... It's been a while. And I've been thinking about... the Big Thing."Oh.Ever since Wilbur told Fundy the truth, he's been waiting for this. He offered it immediately- well, he said it was an option immediately, he wanted to wait until Fundy was an adult to go through with it- but Fundy was so thrown by everything else that they never talked about it.They don't talk about a lot of things.But now Fundy's the one bringing it up. Wilbur's so excited. "Oh? Really?" he says, trying to sound calm. "Now would be a good time, probably. You don't want to get older than me-""Wh- shut up, we're in public!" he hisses across the table."Right, right-" He doesn't care. His son wants to stay.Wilbur has only been around a few centuries. He's lost people, yes, of course, that happens when the people around him get sick or hurt or just age to death. But he's never tried to have a family before. Sally was an accident, a fling that deepened so suddenly, ended just as fast, and then she passed before he could ever reconcile with her. Fundy was an accident as well- in a different way- but one he would never take back, one that he's grateful for every day.But every birthday has been a reminder of Fundy's mortality. Every growth spurt, when the streak in his hair started turning white, they were all little bits of proof that one day Fundy would be gone, and Wilbur's little champion would be just like every other human before him- rotting meat and bones buried deep in the Earth.But if Fundy wants to stay- if he's willing to pay the price- Wilbur will never have to think of that again."That's... that's good. We can make preparations-""I just said I'm thinking about it," Fundy cuts him off, shoulders hunched up. "I want to ask Grandpa and Uncle Techno about it, since... they've been around longer.""Sure, sure!" Wilbur will prep them first, make sure they don't say anything that will scare off Fundy. He can't let them ruin this. (Not that they would. Phil loves Fundy as much as he loves Wilbur, and even Techno has a small soft spot for him. But Wilbur won't risk it. )Fundy, Wilbur, Techno, and Phil- the four of them can be family for eternity.And with that healer Techno mentioned, they'll really never have to fear for anything. He's heard stories of the healer Phil and Techno had before he was born, how they let her slip away into Death's grasp. Wilbur won't let that happen with this one. They'll keep this one, the Syndicate's permanent healer, keeping them all safe and together.Never again will someone he loves go beyond where he can reach.