Chapter Text
Tommy seemed to be losing the lingerings of death that had had attached itself after his multiple revivals.
As each day passed, his color slowly seemed to come back. His nosebleeds continued, but the color was a brighter red. He bruised less. Small incidents didn’t cause cuts to open up. His smiles started to reach his eyes again.
However, living people often were inflicted with illness. And it became concerning when the cut on Tommy’s foot caused numbness and a limp that he could no longer control. There were dark streaks running up his shin, and he no longer could walk without support.
“The healing potions aren’t slowing the infection,” Phil murmured to Technoblade, one night after Tommy had retired to bed. “The only option would be to remove it. I may be selfish, but can’t lose another child.”
“I know,” the pink haired man sighed, hand rubbing at his temple. “We’ll have to talk to Tommy about the situation, but if he says no, well, Phil there’s nothing we can do.”
“And if he says no, and we do it anyway,” the older man rested his elbows on the table, and put his head in his hands, “he would hate us. Never trust us again.”
“It’s gotta be Tommy’s choice Phil.”
“What’s gotta be my choice?” Tommy appeared in the doorway, fluffy hair a mess and sleep lingering in his gaze.
He was leaning against the doorway, a makeshift cane helping him balance, and butterflies lingering around his ankle.
The two older men glanced at each other. And then Phil spoke up.
“I thought you were asleep, mate.”
“I was, but I heard my name. Why are you talking about me?”
“Tommy, come sit,” Techno said, as he stood up to lend and arm for the younger boy to lean on.
Getting him settled in a chair across from Phil, the boy glanced around, seemingly growing nervous at the tense air.
“Tommy,” Techno said as sat down next to Phil again. “We need to talk to you about something.”
Tommy seemed to freeze, fear filling his gaze.
“Please don’t send me back!” He pleaded, tears filling his gaze. “Whatever I did I can fix it, I can be better!”
“Woah, woah Bubba, no we aren’t giving you back to Dream. We would never do that,” Phil said, reaching across the table to grip Tommy’s hands. “It’s about your foot Tom’s. You have something called necrosis and it’s gonna make you really sick if we don’t do something about it.”
“Okay, I can take more healing potions, right? I mean, it’s okay if you don’t wanna waste them on me but-“
“Theseus no, that’s not it, at all,” Techno said gruffly. “The potions we’ve been using haven’t been working, thats why it’s a problem.”
“Oh, so what are we gonna do?” Tommy said, eyes still glazed over with tears.
“Toms, I think we have to, I mean we do have to, remove the infection, and the only way to do that is to, well…” Phil trailed off, unsure of how to phrase what he needed to say.
“Tommy this infection could kill you so we need to-,” Technoblade spoke, and Tommy sucked in a breath.
“Okay,” Tommy said quietly, looking a little dazed, cutting the pink haired man off.
“Okay?” Phil balked, a little horrified at how easily Tommy took the news.
Techno was quiet, face impassive to anyone who wasn’t Phil. Phil could see the way his eyes had widened slightly, and the pursed lips indicated he felt the same way that the older man did.
“There’s no use in fighting you on this, and I appreciate you telling me first. Dream wouldn’t have done that. It’s just- I know it’s a lot to ask but…” Tommy’s voice was shaky and Phil’s his already bleeding heart seemed to break even more. “I don’t want it to take to long, it was worse when Dream would stab me in way that it would take a long time for me to die.”
“Tommy what?” Phil squeezed the boys hands.
“You’re gonna kill me, right?” Tommy asked, a resigned look in his eyes. “I appreciate you not letting me suffer.”
“No, Tommy! Of course not!” Phil stood up, shocked, and moved around the table to kneel in front of Tommy. “We need to remove your foot. We aren’t going to kill you. We would never, ever, do that. We love you Tommy. But we needed to talk to you about it, because if you said no we would respect that answer.”
“Oh,” Tommy mumbled, and then threw himself into Phil’s arms. “I really don’t want to die again.”
Phil’s stomach turned at the phrase “again”.
“So I’ll die if you don’t cut my foot off?”
“With the way that it’s looking, yes,” Techno said, “But like Phil said, it’s your choice Theseus.”
“Okay, I trust you both, just please make it quick.”
“Tom’s we’ll give you a potion to make you sleep, you won’t feel a thing, okay?” Phil said, looking over at Techno from where he was still holding Tommy, his older son nodded.
“Really?” The boy asked, and Phil felt tears begin to make tracks down his cheeks.
“We’d never make you go through pain like that if we could help it, Bubba.”
“Okay I trust you. Can we get it over with?”
“I can do it tonight, Toms, if thats what you want. But we can wait if you want more time to think about it,” Techno said.
“I already can’t walk very well,” Tommy said, “Might as well get it over with. Promise it won’t hurt?”
“It likely will after,” Techno told him, “but you won’t feel it when it happens, and we’ll manage the pain after.”
“Okay, yeah let’s get it over with.”
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Tommy woke the next morning, curled up next to his dad and brother. He didn’t feel much different than the way he had going to sleep, except the pain in his foot was gone. Looking down, he noticed the missing right under his knee on his left side.
He cried, unsure of the emotions he was feeling. It was a loss like he’d never felt before.
Phil woke up, and pulled the boy into a tight embrace.
“You’ll be okay, Tommy. We’ll take care of you, it’ll be okay.”
“Will I walk again?”
“Probably,” Techno mumbled, pulling himself to sit up, and throwing an arm over Tommy shoulders. “It’ll be awhile before we can make that happen, but I bet you will. You know, I was right, calling you Theseus. ” Tommy flinched, but Techno continued, “Theseus was clever, and selfless. He was a warrior, filled with courage and strength that people both feared and respected.
That strength that you have gives me no doubt that you will be able to walk again. That you will survive the pain that Dream has caused you. One’s ending doesn’t define them. What does define them is the life that they’ve lived.
You aren’t a tragic hero Tommy, you are a warrior and a survivor, and you will be the Theseus that gets the ending he deserves.”
Tommy’s face crumpled, and he turned to bury his face in Techno’s chest.
He had his family, he wasn’t alone. He would be okay.
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A couple months later Tommy is up and walking, well running, around on a prosthetic made by Techno.
Within that time, Dream had ended up in prison. Dream’s arrest and imprisonment had led to everyone thinking Tommy was dead. And honestly, for the moment, Tommy was okay with that.
A few people had been alerted that he was alive, which had led to a reunion between Tubbo and Tommy. Tears and apologies wiped the slate clean, and the two communicated daily. Tubbo often made trips out to Snowchester.
On one sunny day, Tommy was bundled up in a warm cloak and boots, and he spent the day chasing the purple butterflies that had grown attached to him over the months. And as the sun set, he watched them float off, headed to a warmer biome more than likely.
And when Tommy came inside without the companions he usually had, Techno and Phil let out sighs of relief unnoticed by the boy.
Tommy dropped onto the couch and removed his prosthetic, curling into Phil’s side. Techno sat down next to the both of them and grabbed a book from of the coffee table. Opening the book to where an ornate bookmark marked the page. The older boy continued where they left off in the Iliad.
Tommy couldn’t remember a time that he had been happier.