Dahlia - The Flower Of Betrayal. || SBI Hero AU

-CHAPTER FIFTEEN-

“Please— please, don’t—” he begged, hands shakily reaching for the other’s legs, but the man only backed away, leaving him on the floor.

“Get up.” The boy didn’t move, causing him to grab onto the boy's shirt and try to pull him up by the shoulder. “I’m not doing this again, Theseus, get up. Or I’ll leave now.”

“No, no, no! Don’t leave, please!” Tommy pleaded. He tried to push himself up, only to fall again. And after that, his limbs were too feeble, too limp to hold his body, and anything other than laying there would have been to no avail. “I can’t— I can’t be alone again, please. Please. We can...I can start training again! Or whatever— I’ll do whatever you want me to do, I will. Just don’t leave me here...again.”

Then, two words he wished he could take back.

“Please...sir.”

He hurt. Everywhere. Dream knew how to hit in just those right spots to make Tommy crumble, the ones where it hurt most, or just where it gave him another free shot at the boy. Once he fell, the boy couldn’t get back up. When he was physically able to, Dream kicked him down or tripped him, just to laugh at him, saying that this was pathetic—how Tommy gave in after a few hits.

Dream scoffed at his attempt, rolling his eyes. He squatted down to the kid's level, tilting his head with just a hint of a smile on his face. “Theseus,” he spoke softly. “I’ll stop if you answer some questions. Make up for all that, hm?”

Tommy was frantic to accept, nodding his head and choking out something of a beg. Dream reached a handout, to which the boy flinched, but graciously took. And with some help, and a little struggle, he rose to his feet, wiping his eyes and composing himself without another word. Dream’s smile grew only more notable, yet Tommy went oblivious.

“Theseus, I need you to be honest with me. You know what happens when you aren’t honest, don’t you?”

“Yes. I’ll— I’ll be honest, I— I will, I will...please.”

Dream hummed fondly, turning his back to the boy. He sighed, then proceeded. "Where are Jubilee and Blade, Theseus?”
Tommy was quick to answer, in the fear of what would happen if he didn't. “I’m— I’m not sure,” he answered honestly, with a bit of a nervous laugh—like he knew that this answer wouldn’t be sufficient.

“You...aren’t sure?”

“I just woke up there, I mean...I couldn’t find anywhere that I recognised, and—”
“Theseus, I need an answer. You’ve been avoiding my questions all day, but I need you to start talking now.”

Tommy shook his head, reaching his hands out, cupped together. “No, I promise, I’m telling you the truth, I— I would tell you if— if I knew. I would!” His voice was shaky, but even Dream could tell he wasn’t lying—and if he was, he was a good liar. Unlike Dream, who was standing up straight, his back arched and his chest puffed out, Tommy was small in the sense that his posture was terrible. Hunched over himself, and significantly lower than the other—by more than the few inches that normally separated them. “But, maybe...I don’t know,” Tommy started, looking to the ground. “If they are patrolling, maybe— I could bring you to them. If— If you let me out.”

Dream thought for a moment, grabbing onto the boy’s shirt. His movements were aggressive, yet gentle. Looking him up and down, he released him. “You’ll do it anyway, though, won’t you?” Pause. “Won’t you?”

He wanted to speak, but his words were drowned in a morass of pain and helplessness. He stalled, “Well,” Tommy bit his lip. “I mean, you could— it’s just for a bit right? I'll show you where they are then...I could help, right? To prove you can trust me!"