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When you’re a supervillain, a phone call at 2am isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However when a doctor is the one calling, then it’s safe to assume something just might be wrong. Especially when that doctor has absolutely no earthly reason to be calling so insanely late.
“Ponk?” Wilbur mumbled groggily, more confused than anything. Ponk was one of the only underground doctors that cared for heroes and villains alike, but they weren’t really friends.
“Siren! Thank fuck” the doctor blurted. Her tone was panicked, something that Wilbur had never heard from the usually even tempered doctor. “Finally! I’ve been trying to get a hold of someone all night.”
This woke the supervillain up. Wilbur quickly untangled himself from the blankets as he asked “What's going on? Is my- Is Crowfather injured?” Wilbur couldn’t really think of anyone else who could be hurt besides his dad. Phil was the only one out tonight.
“N-no, he’s fine” Ponk assured.
“Nihachu?” Perhaps Niki was out tonight?
“Sh-shes fine too, just lis-”
“The Bloody Shepard?” Did his brother sneak out and pick a fight?
“WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN!” Ponk finally snapped, causing both of them to go deadly quiet. Wilbur held the phone in silence until he heard Ponk sigh. “Sorry about that outburst. No, The Bloody Shepard is fine.”
“Who’s hurt?” He finally asked, lacing up his sneakers. He didn’t even bother getting changed out of his pajamas.
The doctor seemed to hesitate, their breath shaking. “It’s Red. He’s the one that needs help.”
Wilbur paused at this. “Red?” Red was a young hero, 18 or 19 that Wilbur sometimes fought. He was loud, reckless, and unpredictable. It made sense for him to have gotten injured, he always seemed particularly bruised up, even compared to other heroes. But why would Ponk call Wilbur for this? “What happened to Red?”
Ponk sighed in exhaustion “Physically they’re… Mostly ok. He has a few bruises and cuts, which I was able to tend to but…” He hesitated, like he wasn’t entirely sure how to say it. “Look, this is a delicate situation. Red won’t let me contact any heroes, neither the Warden or Captain will pick up, and the boy says he knows you so” A frustrated huff “Look, can you get here? He really can’t be left unsupervised right now.”
“I mean yes?” Wilbur replied in confusion “I don’t know him all that well though. I’m not sure why he would say that.” He admitted, jumping into his car and starting the engine.
“No, no, not like that” Ponk corrected. Wilbur had already gotten onto the street by then, driving carefully despite the time. “He’s not saying he knows you as Siren, he’s saying he knows your civilian identity.”
Wilbur’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What? That’s impossible.” How on earth would a scrawny little hero he’s barely even interacted with know who he was?
“Well” Ponk starts “I don’t know. He wouldn’t even tell me your name. But he did say he could prove it.”
“Okay…” Wilbur was still somewhat dubious, but undeniably curious. Red was probably either confused or lying but still. What a bold claim-
“He said ‘Would you like some blue?’ Does that mean anything to you?”
Wilbur was lucky there was no one on the road or he would have surely caused an accident. The Siren’s eyes went wide as he swerved in panic. There was only one person who knew that phrase, only one person who would think to use that phrase like this, only one person who would know how much those five words meant to him.
Tommy.
Tommy was Red.
It made a little too much sense. They both had messy blonde hair, a lanky build, and were both quick to temper. But also it didn’t make sense. Tommy was too young to be a hero, only 16. He worked an unhealthy amount of hours at a coffee shop, while heroes made a pretty good living. Plus, Wilbur should have noticed bruises on Tommy in the same area’s he saw them on Red.
Though Tommy finding out Wilbur was a supervillain is a lot more likely that Red finding out Siren was Wilbur.
“Are you ok? Your breathing is getting heavy.” Ponk asked nervously. Wilbur suddenly remembered that he was on the phone, and that Ponk could hear him freaking out.
“Y-yes, I’m fine” Wilbur forced out, pushing down the gas. “He’s right, he knows me. What’s wrong with him?” Ponk would not be calling Wilbur for some minor injuries. There had to be something more.
“There really is no good way to say this” The doctor admitted “But from what he said, the bruises aren’t from a fight. They’re from his sponsor.”
Wilbur gripped the steering wheel tightly. “He’s being abused?” Ponk made a sound of confirmation, and Wilbur’s incredulity changed to rage. “By who?”
“Look, I don’t know” She said “We wouldn’t tell me. But that’s not my main concern right now.”
“What else could possibly be more important than Tommy being abused!” He demanded with an angry screech, not even caring that he used Tommy’s real name.
“The scars weren’t caused by his sponsor” there was something sad in their voice. “They were self-inflicted.”
Wilbur went stark white. Tommy was hurting himself? His sunshine, the precious little boy who always greeted Wilbur with a smile and playful cuss? The blonde child that would brighten anyone's day? He cut himself?
How did Wilbur never notice he was suffering so much?
“Has he…” Wilbur swallowed nervously “Has he tried to hurt himself again?”
“I don’t know, but he hasn’t left my sight since he arrived. I’m calling you from outside the room, but it’s my psych room, so there’s a wall of bulletproof glass.” Wilbur’s been to Ponk’s makeshift hospital enough times to know exactly what room the doctor was talking about. Though he didn’t know it was a psych room. “That’s actually why Red came here tonight, but he tried to change his mind and leave.”
“You didn’t let him right?” Wilbur demanded, suddenly glad that it was so late. Absolutely no one was on the road to see him speed to almost double the limit.
“Of course not. I told Red he had to stay, and he didn’t put up a fight at all. He agrees that he shouldn’t be alone right now” Ponk explained calmly. “Usually I would contact the official hero hospital for something like this, but that’s not an option.”
“I’m going to be there soon, just keep him safe.” His voice cracked as he spoke, but Wilbur didn’t care.
“Of course. I’ll see you soon.” They said before hanging up.
Usually if took thirty minutes to get to Ponk’s hospital from his house. Wilbur took fifteen that night.
He didn’t bother properly parking the car, the lot was empty so it didn’t matter. Wilbur didn’t waste a single moment, nearly tripping on the door as he jumped out. It didn’t stop him.
The brunet raced to the door, only pausing when he saw a small blue flower by the door. Just a little weed, it wouldn’t be missed. But he couldn’t help but linger on the color.
The whole ‘blue’ thing was started by Tommy. Wilbur had a bad day and was pretty short tempered, even to the blonde. But instead of slinking away he gave Wilbur a pretty blue rock and said “Here, have some blue.”
Of course he probably meant to say something like “Here, have this blue rock” or “Here, have something blue” but it didn’t come out right. As soon as Tommy said it he turned bright red and started stuttering in embarrassment. It was so amusing at the time that Wilbur burst out laughing.
Soon it became an inside joke. Anytime either of them was upset or stressed, usually Tommy, the other would find something blue and give it to them. Wilbur would never tell anyone this, but he actually bought a bunch of chocolates with blue wrapping just for Tommy. However blue could be anything. A stone, a crystle, even a flower.
Without a second thought Wilbur plucked the little weed up. Maybe it would make Tommy feel better, if even just a little bit. He needed comfort right now. Besides, Tommy liked flowers.
Wilbur shoved the door open, slamming it against the wall. Ponk was in the main hall and jumped in surprise. “You’re here already?” She asked incredulously.
“Where is he?” Wilbur demanded, breathing heavy from the run over. There was no time for small talk.
Ponk beckoned at the nearest room, the one with walls of glass. Instead of being empty like usual, Tommy sat in the stark white hospital bed. He was wearing his dull red costume, but his mask was pulled down. His skin was much paler than usual, except where dark bruises were starting to form on his arms and face. His long sleeves were rolled up and his thin wrists were covered in bandages. Wilbur got slightly nauseous when he realized what had to be underneath.
Ponk unlocked the door and Wilbur practically shoved them out of the way to get into the room first. “Tommy” he said breathlessly, just staring at the hero. How did Wilbur never notice?
Tommy turned to face him, his blue eyes wide with awe. He looked so young, so scared. “W-Siren? You’re here?” His tone was disbelieving, like he didn’t actually expect him to show.
“Yes Tommy, Wilby’s here” he reassured, stepping closer and throwing his arms wide to give the boy a hug. “I’m here.”
Tommy’s blue eyes filled with tears as he jumped into the villains arms, sobbing in his pajama shirt. Wilbur held the boy tight, all while shushing him gently and reassuring him it was going to be ok. “Don’t worry, I’m here. You’re safe. I’m gonna take you home.”
This made him look up to Wilbur with teary eyes. “You’re taking me home?” Tommy’s voice was high with terror, and he had started shaking. Wilbur couldn’t help but hold on a little tighter.
“No sunshine, I’m taking you to my home. You don’t have to worry about the hero’s, I promise. How does that sound?” Wilbur asked, running his fingers through Tommy’s blonde hair.
He sniffled “G-good. I wanna go home with you.”
Unlike a normal hospital Wilbur didn’t need to sign any forms or hand over insurance information. If there was a payment he could take care of it later, but for now nothing was needed. The supervillain just told Ponk that he was ready to leave with Tommy and the doctor helped escort him out.
Though Tommy was a bit perturbed when Ponk insisted that he sit in a wheelchair. “I’m a big man, I can walk.” He defended, though it was much weaker than his usual protests.
“No Red, you fainted when I took your blood, and admitted that you haven’t had anything to eat since this morning.” Ponk explained gently, which made Wilbur go slightly pale.
“We’ll stop at McDonalds or something, you must be starving.” This earned a slight smile from Tommy as he was wheeled out to the parking lot and Wilbur’s poorly parked car.
Tommy was able to get into the passenger seat himself, but the two adults kept a very close eye on him in case he got dizzy or collapsed. Luckily he didn’t, and Wilbur closed the door behind him.
“Contact me as soon as you can. I have some resources that will be able to help, but everything’s unstable for him right now. Give him a few days to adjust before introducing anyone new, including any therapists.” Ponk told Wilbur softly, glancing at Tommy as he spoke.
The super villain nodded “I have a few resources of my own to help, but tonight he needs some food and sleep.” Ponk seemed satisfied with this, and sent Wilbur on his way.
When the supervillain got into the car he couldn’t help but notice that Tommy was oddly subdued, looking down at his hands. It was almost like he had done something wrong, which was very much not the case.
“I’m sorr-” He started, before Wilbur interrupted him.
“Have some blue. I think you need it.” He told Tommy as he passed the boy the blue flower from before.
Tommy stuttered a little in surprise, but finally gave an awkward “thanks” before tucking the flower in his hair. It was honestly adorable, and if the circumstances were better Wilbur would have taken a picture.
After a few awkward minutes of silence Wilbur finally bit the bullet. “Tommy” he started, and the boy tensed. “You’re not in trouble, not even remotely.” Wilbur was quick to assure “But if you’re able to tell me, I’d like to know what happened tonight. Who hurt you? Ponk said it was your sponsor.”
The blouse swallowed nervously and looked at his feet before responding. “Dream. Dream’s my sponsor. He’s uh, he’s the one that hurt me.”
Wilbur saw red, but forced himself to take a deep breath and keep his cool. “So this is Dream’s fault?”
Tommy’s eyes went wide in panic. “What? No, no! He just had to teach me a lesson, that's all. I tried to hide something from him, and he wasn’t happy.” He explained like it made perfect sense. It only made Wilbur’s rage worse.
“Well what did you hide? A dead body?” Wilbur could barely keep from snapping.
“N-no” Tommy started hesitantly “I-I hid some money from him.”
“You hid money?” That’s why half of Tommy’s face was turning purple? That’s why he hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours? That’s why he was pushed almost to the edge tonight? Just because of some cash?
“It wasn’t Dream’s! I didn’t steal it from him, I swear.” Tommy defended, like that was the problem here. “I got it from the cafe. And I know I’m supposed to hand over all my wages, but it was tips so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“Why did Dream want your money?” A hero as well known as Dream would have a fortune by now. A few extra hundred dollars wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Tommy shrugged helplessly. “Well he was my sponsor, my legal guardian. He gave me a place to sleep, so he has control over all my things, including any money I make. That’s just how it works.”
“No it isn’t!”
“Look, I wasn't going to do anything bad with it! I was just saving up to get my own place one day!” Tommy defended, still not understanding what the issue was.
“Tommy, that was your money! You should have gotten to keep it. What Dream did was wrong. Taking your money was wrong, and beating you was horrible.” Wilbur tried to explain calmly, though his rage was surfacing more than he’d like.
“I know,” Tommy said, soft as a whisper. “He hasn’t been my friend. He’s just been watching me, hurting me. That’s why I wanted to leave.” The blonde curled up in on himself, looking out the window. He was silent for a few seconds before continuing his story. “He, well Dream hit me pretty bad and left. I was done with it all and…” He glanced down at his bandaged arms, seemingly even more pale in the moonlight. “I just didn’t see another way to escape.”
Wilbur’s breath hitched. “Wait. This was a suicide attempt?” All Ponk said was Tommy hurt himself. He didn’t tell Wilbur that Tommy actively tried to end his own life.
“I changed my mind, I swear!” Tommy quickly jumped in “I’m not going to do that again, I promise. I’m not going to cause any problems. I was just being a little irrational, it won’t happen again.” He was starting to hyperventilate.
“I believe you,” Wilbur reassured, which seemed to calm Tommy down a bit, but his own panic was only rising. This was a lot worse than Wilbur thought, and that was saying something. Tommy was going to need some serious help. “Is that why you went to see Ponk?”
“Yeah, I changed my mind, but I was bleeding pretty heavily. Dream would just get even more angry, and all the heroes I knew were Dream’s friend.” Then he paused. “You know, maybe I’m just overreacting a bit.”
“Tommy-”
“No, no, I’m just being a bit dramatic. Dream’s probably worried sick.” He gripped his arms “Yeah, I should go back. Right now. It’s only going to get worse if I don’t. Really, I-”
“Tommy, I'm not sending you back.” Wilbur said sternly “It’s two am and you’re covered with bruises, bruises Dream caused. There is no way in Hell I’m giving you back.” Wilbur cautiously checked to make sure the child safety locks were on. It didn’t seem like Tommy was going to jump out of the vehicle, but Wilbur was getting worried.
“Well, some of them were caused by me.” Tommy tried to joke. It fell flat.
“Don’t even joke about that.”
“Sorry.”
A few more minutes and Wilbur was pulling into the McDonalds drive through. Tommy looked at him in confusion. “What are we doing here?” He asked, genuinely curious.
Wilbur raised an eyebrow. “To get food? I told Ponk I’d get you something to eat, and it’s too late to cook anything.” Wilbur explained.
Tommy just looked in utter confusion. “Well I know you said that, but why are we really here?”
Ok, what the fuck? “To get you food? Seriously Tommy, what do you want?”
The young hero looked like a fish out of water as he awkwardly replied “Uh, a burger I guess?”
Wilbur ordered him a burger, fries, and vanilla shake. Tommy’s eyes went wide as Wilbur handed his paper bag, filled with calorie rich fatty foods. That was exactly what Tommy needed right now. “Can I have this?”
The supervillain was ready to kill by this point, but forced himself to stay calm. “Yes Tommy, it’s yours. You can eat it.”
“Thank you!” He smiled, before tearing off the wrapper and devouring the burger. It made Wilbur smile, but also saddened him. He shouldn’t be eating a shitty McDonalds meal like it was the first food he’s had in days. “This is so good!”
“You’re welcome gremlin.” Wilbur chuckled, though he frowned to himself at how fast Tommy was eating. Still, the boy’s face was filled with glee as he ate, an off hand comment wasn’t needed.
Wilbur drove a lot more cautiously on his way home, obeying every single traffic and stoplight. With the stop to McDonalds it took closer to forty minutes than thirty to finally arrive back home. It was around three am when they finally arrived back at his house.
By then Tommy had curled up and fallen asleep, his lanky legs folded awkwardly in the seat. Wilbur let out a playful huff and smiled. The poor boy must have been utterly exhausted.
The supervillain didn’t even bother trying to wake him up, instead he picked him up as gently as he could, holding him like a newborn. Sure, Tommy’s height was a little difficult to maneuver, but he was so light he was actually pretty easy to carry.
Wilbur readjusted his grip on Tommy to open the front door, expecting the house to be dark and empty. But when he opened the door Siren saw that not only were the lights on, but a very pissed off Techno was standing in the foyer.
“Wilbur you’re in so much trouble-” His brother started angrily, before actually looking down at his brother and presumably noticing the child in his arms. “Heh?”
“Shh! You’ll wake him!” Wilbur whispered in warning, with a glare to match.
“Wilbur” Techno’s voice had raised a few octaves, and his eyes had gone wide. “Why is Tommy dressed as Red? And why do you have him at three am!”
“Tommy is Red,” he replied plainly.
“Heh?” Techno blurted loudly. Wilbur’s glare sharpened.
“Hey! Shush!” He warned again as Tommy started to move. Wilbur froze, but Tommy didn’t wake up. The boy merely curled up even closer before once again going still. Wilbur softened even more, something he didn’t know was possible. “Look, just get the door to the guest room for me. Then I’ll tell you everything.”
Techno was still staring incredulously, but nodded and walked with Wilbur down one of the many narrow hallways, until they finally ended up at one of the more out of the way rooms. They lived in a rather large house, though most of it was underground. Needless to say there were plenty of guest rooms, so naturally Wilbur made his way to the most plain one. It had never been used, and really only had a bed and a desk, not even a closet. There wouldn’t be anything Tommy could hurt himself with in that room.
Techno raised an eyebrow at Wilbur’s selection, but said nothing as he opened the door, letting the two of them inside.
Then Techno wordlessly lifted up the fluffy blankets, letting Wilbur tuck Tommy in without any trouble. The blonde curled up in the duvets with a wispy smile on his face. Wilbur gave Tommy a gentle kiss on the forehead and smiled, before ushering Techno out of the room.
As soon as the door closed Techno turned towards his brother and loudly whispered “What the hell is going on?”
Wilbur sighed and slumped, utterly exhausted. “It’s a really long story.”
Techno guided him to the couch. “Well, we’re both awake. Dad won’t be home for a few hours, but you’ll have to explain why there’s a hero in the guest room.”
“He shouldn’t be a hero!” Wilbur yelled in frustration “He’s too young!”
His brother nodded sympathetically. “I know. So why don’t you tell me what happened?”
Wilbur let out a sigh before explaining everything. He started with the unusual call from Ponk only an hour before, to actually picking up Tommy and being told how bad the boy's mental state was, before ending with what little he knew about Dream and how he was clearly abusing Tommy.
Techno didn’t say anything, but Wilbur knew him well enough to read his emotions. He noticed the slightly raised eyebrows, Techno’s twitching ears, and his clenched fists. By the time the story ended Techno was barely holding it together.
“There has to be more to the story, but right now this is all I know.” Wilbur admitted, watching Techno grind his teeth. “Do you need to spar?” He honestly wasn’t in the mood, but that usually helped Techno calm down.
“No. I just need to find that stupid hero and punch him in the face.” Techno growled as he stood up and paced the room. Wilbur was equally as eager to get his hands on Dream, maybe even more. After all, Tommy was his best friend. No one got to hurt his best friend, especially not an overrated hero on an ego trip.
“I’ll let you get the first punch if you explain this all to Phil when he gets home. I’m exhausted.” He could barely keep his eyes open at this point, and his dad wouldn’t be home for a few more hours at least. There was no way he’d be able to stay awake that long.
Techno looked down at his brother and softened. “Yeah, get some sleep. I’ll take care of dad.” Phil was always a pushover, especially when it came to children, so Wil wasn’t too worried.
Wilbur didn’t even bother going to bed, instead he just closed his eyes and curled up on the couch. He mumbled out a thanks as Techno draped a soft blanket over him, falling asleep not long after, content that Tommy was safe not only from himself, but from anyone who wanted to hurt him.