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Jack was happy.
He really was.
Tommy was locked up, he had a business to call his own now, and he didn’t even have to do anything! Though he had had to deal with quite a few people trying to mess with the newly rebranded Big Jack Manifold Hotel, but it was a small price to pay. It doesn’t matter that Quackity had screwed him over or that they lost the top few floors of that he still hadn’t managed to fill in the two creeper holes outside because he just knew that it would’ve been so much worse if Tommy had still been here. It doesn’t matter that no one had even wanted to stay in the hotel after they found out that Tommy was in prison. It doesn’t even matter that Tubbo refuses to talk to him now, because he’s “being unreasonably cruel.”
Whatever.
He looked over toward Sam Nook, who sat powered down in the corner. The top floors could’ve probably been saved if he hadn’t had to shut off the bot’s power supply. Too bad the annoying thing had tried to stop him from setting up the big sign outside. He could’ve been useful.
No, everything went the best way that it possibly could. Because Tommy was a menace. He had to be. Because if he wasn’t that meant that the problems on the server were bigger than just one person, and that would be ridiculous. Of course it had to be Tommy. Tommy caused everything.
Though Jack had to admit. Not a lot had changed since the kid visited Dream. People were still stealing and griefing. The egg was still around. He’d had to clear out tons of vines in the past week. Then he had to barricade the door once Bad and Ant found out to keep them from getting inside and killing him. Sam held them off before, but he couldn’t while powered down.
But that’s fine. If Tommy were here the whole hotel would’ve gotten blown up or something so this is way better.
Right?
Jack saw a commotion out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look out the floor to ceiling windows of the lobby to look toward the prison. There looked to be a group of people headed toward the hotel. What was that about?
He checked to see if anyone from the Badlands was about before leaving the hotel, locking the door and following.
Tubbo, Ranboo, Puffy, Eret, Karl, and Sapnap of all people made their way to the towering black walls. They barely acknowledged him as he joined their ranks, but Tubbo in particular shot him a dirty look.
“So, where are we going?” He broke the silence.
Tubbo pointedly didn’t answer, so Puffy did instead. “We’re picking up Tommy.”
“What?” he asked, “You can’t break him out. No one can, it’s impossible!”
“He wasn’t arrested!” Tubbo rounded on him. “Someone else tried to break Dream out while Tommy was visiting and he got locked inside with him as a security measure! He didn’t do anything wrong, and he has to be let out after a maximum of seven days according to his contract!” The kid looked pissed.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “How do you know?” This could be a problem.
Puffy moved between them. “We asked. Sam told us everything we wanted to know and all we had to do was ask.” She looked at him disapprovingly. “It’s not that complicated.”
They kept walking as he stood still and short circuited for a few seconds. Fuck this was bad.
When he started after them, Sapnap put a hand on his chest to keep him in place. “You can come with as long as you keep your fucking mouth shut, alright?”
“Who pissed in your cheerios?” Sapnap raised an eyebrow at him.
“Fine. I’ll be quiet.”
He didn’t get what their problem was. It’s not like he did anything evil! All he did was rebrand one measly hotel that no one would’ve been using! Who cares if he threw a party in said hotel the day after Tommy was locked up? It’s his hotel he could use it how he pleased!
The entrance to the prison was right in front of them now. The nether portal inside warped and hummed, an indication that someone was coming through.
Sam appeared with TommyInnit’s arm slung over his shoulder. The kid looked like he might pass out at any second, and Sam didn’t look much better, the bags under his eyes more prominent than ever.
Tubbo let out a strangled cry and launched himself at his friend. He supported his other side and helped him limp out of the black stone room to the grass, where Tommy finally collapsed. Like all he’d been waiting for was to be out before he could rest.
Then he started to cry.
Jack Manifold never thought he would see TommyInnit cry, but there it was right in front of him. The rest of the group moved to help comfort Tommy, who looked more like his age than Jack had ever seen. His face was buried in Tubbo’s chest, who ran his fingers through his hair and rocked back and forth. Tommy’s fingers were scraped raw and bleeding. His hair was scraggly and burnt at the ends, and his clothing was in a similar state.
Tommy kept muttering things he couldn’t make out while Tubbo shushed him, telling him he was brave and loved and that he was safe now. Sam moved to Tubbo and murmured something in his ear. Tubbo nodded.
Sam moved to pick up Tommy, but the blonde refused to let go of Tubbo, crying harder at every attempt. It wasn’t until Tubbo assured him that he’d be right next to him the whole time that he allowed Sam to gather him up off of the ground.
The creeper hybrid was obviously exhausted, and he stumbled when he tried to walk, so the kid was transferred to Sapnap, who looked almost comical carrying a child who was almost half a foot taller than him. But he was nothing if not strong, so he had no issues with the weight.
Jack hung to the back of the group and watched them make their way back to Tommy’s dirt shack. Tubbo kept his hand in Tommy’s for the entire walk as Tommy’s shoulders shook. They all walked in silence until they made it back.
At Tommy’s house they put him in his bed, the kid obviously needed it. When they tried to leave however, he freaked out. He started screaming nonsense about not leaving him again and about Dream and Phil.
Tubbo immediately turned back and reassured him. He climbed into the bed with him.
“You’re okay Tommy. Dream isn’t here. You’re at home, and no one is going to leave you. You can leave any time you want. No one is going to hurt you here. You’re so brave, Tommy.”
“It was like exile, Tubbo. I kept waking up to his fuckin’ voice and I thought I was there and it was horrible. And he kept talkin’ about bein’ friends and shit and how it was the best thing that’d happened to him since he got locked up, and I was so scared.”
Jack slipped out of the room before he could hear any more. Sam tossed him a questioning look as he left the house.
The next day Sam Nook powered up for the first time in a week to a hotel missing it’s top three floors. But the Big Jack Manifold Hotel sign was gone from the front, and Jack’s letter of resignation was in a chest on the front desk.