Chapter Text
“This is it,” Tommy says, putting as much finality into his voice as he can manage.
Finally, he is finally going to be rid of Dream, and all the terrible things the man had done to him and his friends. He’s finally moving forward, leaving the trauma in the past.
He is finally going to be free.
Loud noises come from nowhere. Noises Tommy knows all too well. Anxiety crawls up, tightening around his chest. As if it wasn’t enough that he is in a tiny box surrounded by lava with Dream , of all people.
No no, the Universe decided this wasn’t enough PTSD-inducing things for Tommy, because the loud sounds of TNT fill the air.
Tommy involuntarily lets out a shaky gasp. His gaze shifts to Dream, part of him hoping this is all in his head, and he’s just having a really bad nightmare…
While awake…
But Dream seems just as shocked as Tommy is, and Tommy knows the TNT is real.
And now it’s so much worse.
His chest contracts further, he doesn’t want to be here anymore. He wants to go home, go back to his hotel.
He wants to go collect diamonds for Sam Nook. He wants to be pat on the head and congratulated by the older man for finally getting rid of Dream.
He doesn’t want to be here .
“What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?” Tommy asks, pressing his back up against a wall, his arms wrapping protectively around himself. He doesn’t even register his own words.
Tommy read once that cursing can help with pain. He’s pretty sure the article meant physical pain, but the pain is physical. His chest hurts, right?
The article is wrong though. He isn’t being helped by his language. He needs to get out. He needs to go find Sam Nook. He needs-
“Sounded like TNT.”
Well yeah, no shit. Tommy knows that noise better than anyone at this point. Still, part of him was hoping Dream had said, “Oh it’s just the redstone in this place, you know?” Or better yet, “What the fuck was what, Tommy?”
“Why would TNT-? That was a lot- That was a LOT of T- That was A LOT OF TNT!!!”
“Get out. Get out. Get out.” The voice in the back of his head chants.
“I’m out,” he says, shaking. “SAM!”
“SAAAM!”
“SAM!!!”
“SAAAM!!!”
Sam does not respond. The only reply to Tommy’s cries for help is the sound of more TNT explosions.
Tommy doesn’t even register the words he’s saying anymore. He needs out. He needs out now.
This is Dream. This has to be Dream, right? Is this an escape attempt?
Tommy remembers the contract. He remembers that, should Dream escape because of or while Tommy was visiting, Sam could hunt him down until he was dead dead.
Would Sam really do that though?
Would Sam kill him?
Maybe not AweSamDude or Sam Nook, but The Warden… Tommy wasn’t sure about that guy.
He probably would, Tommy decides, and that freaks him out even more.
He doesn’t want to die . He was just about to move on from the trauma! He was staying neutral in server affairs! He was building a hotel and becoming a businessman!
He has his whole life ahead of him.
“What’s going on here?” Tommy demands. He knows this is Dream. It has to be.
When Dream doesn’t respond, he grabs his communication device.
Maybe Sam just can’t hear him. That has to be it, right?
Sam wouldn’t ignore him on purpose.
He wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t .
“Sam! Sam! Sam!” He shouts over and over, spamming The Warden with his communication device.
“He would have heard you the first ten times, Tommy. He’s not there. ” Dream sounds annoyed.
Annoyed Dream quickly transforms into Angry Dream.
Tommy doesn’t want to deal with Angry Dream. He can’t deal with Angry Dream.
“No no no. He said he was going to wait. He said…” Tommy squeezes his sides. He cannot cry in front of Dream. He just can’t.
The fight part of “fight or flight” kicks in. This is Dream’s fault. It has to be. There is no other explanation.
There isn’t .
“What the fuck is going on.” Tommy demands.
Dream is just too calm, too collected, too fine , for this to not be his fault somehow.
More TNT goes off, and Tommy visibly curls in on himself slightly.
“Hmm…” Dream says thoughtfully, and Tommy is suddenly very aware of how scared and childish he must look in this moment.
He’s a soldier for Prime’s sake! He shouldn’t be so scared of some TNT.
But he can’t help it.
Wilbur, blowing up L’manburg with the TNT Dream gave him.
Dream, blowing up Tommy’s belongings he worked so hard for.
Dream, blowing up Logstershire, Tommy’s home in exile, built by Ghostbur himself.
Dream, Techno, and Tommy’s father himself, Phil, blowing up L’manburg, leaving nothing more than a crater in the ground.
And now?
Now someone was attempting to blow the prison to the ground to let Dream out.
Who would do that? Who would want Dream out? Dream will only blow up more things! He will only make the server worse!
No no no no no ! He can’t have Dream seeing him weak. He can’t have Dream be the one with power again.
He can’t!
“What? What the fuck do you mean “hmm”?”
“It’s just interesting.” Dream is watching him with careful eyes, and it almost feels similar to the way he catches Puffy looking at him when she thinks he’s not looking.
Except, whereas Tommy’s always felt safe under Puffy’s gaze, Dream’s expression only makes him feel self-conscious and weak.
“What do you mean?” Tommy almost asks, but no. He doesn’t want to entertain Dream any longer. “SAM!” He shouts again, maybe this time Sam will hear him.
Another explosion.
This cannot be happening. It just can’t.
“Tommy, this sounds like a security issue. You could be in here awhile.”
No no no no no no no no no. No! Absolutely not. No! There is no way. He cannot stay in here. He just can’t.
“Sam! Please let me out! Seriously, I want to leave now, please! This isn’t funny!” Tommy shouts.
“Tommy, you signed a waiver that said you could be in here for up to a week. That sounded like a security issue to me, I don’t know if you agree.”
“What?! No! What?! What was it?! I- What?!”
“I don’t know,” Dream says, annoyingly calm, considering that Tommy was on the edge of an emotional meltdown.
“No no no. Let me out. I cannot be in here for a week. I have my hotel- I need to go spend time with my pals! I can’t be in here! No no no no no. Let me out!”
Dream just shrugged, as if he could do nothing , even though Tommy knows it’s the other man’s fault.
“Phil!” He calls out unintentionally. There’s no way his dad could hear him, let alone do anything about his situation. Yet right now he really wishes Dadza would come and save the day like the superhero Tommy always thought him to be when he was younger. “Phil!”
“Tommy, if there is no way to get out, maybe we can work together. We can work something out and escape!”
“Fuck off.” Tommy would never help Dream escape. He’d rather die than let that monster out into the world.
“Well then, there is no way out.”
Where is Sam? Why isn’t he-
Tommy’s communication device beeps.
“You’re going to have to hang tight, Tommy. The prison is on lockdown. There has been a security issue.”
No no no no no. Please. Please. Please Sam. This cannot be happening.
Tommy feels his brain shut down. He doesn’t even know what’s happening any more. He can’t flee, so he is in full fight mode now.
His brain is just trying to protect itself from more trauma.
Why did he have to come today . Why couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow or something, or even just like 20 minutes. Why is Dream’s escape plan starting now?
When Tommy starts registering things again, he’s clutching a potato to his chest. He’s next to the lava, no matter how much fear the hot orange molten rock induces in him. The lava is his exit. Sam will come for him soon. He’s sure of it.
Dream is on the other side of the room, watching Tommy carefully. He’s subconsciously rubbing his arm, so Tommy thinks he must have hit him at some point, though he can’t remember when.
Tommy wonders why Dream didn’t hit him back.
He remembers that Dream can die and spawn back in this room, but if Tommy dies, he spawns back out in the control room part of the prison. Did Sam tell Dream not to kill him so that Tommy couldn’t leave?
Or did Dream not want Tommy out.
An idea forms in his head. Maybe Sam can’t get to him because he’s in the main cell still. He stares at the lava, tempted.
It wouldn’t be a fun way to go, but he’d be out. He’d be safe. He’d be okay…
He scoots closer to the lava, and then there are arms around him, pulling him back. Pulling him into the lap of the arms’ owners.
“Tommy, don’t. They are keeping you in here because of the security issue. If you try to run, they’ll probably think you had something to do with it.”
“So what, I didn’t!” Tommy says, trying to pull away from Dream. “Sam will believe me. Why would I even want you out?”
“Tommy,” Dream’s grip remains firm. Always stronger, even after being in prison for months . It doesn’t keep Tommy from trying to get away. “The prison works with a strict “Kill first, ask questions later” policy. You’re on your last life. It doesn’t matter how innocent or guilty you are. They will kill you.”
“Then you can just bring me back. I don’t want to be here , Dream.”
“Tommy. I can’t bring you back if the people who imprison me here refuse to allow me to because they think you’re a bad guy.”
Tommy has always hated it when Dream was right.
“Fine,” he snaps. “I won’t go into the freaking lava, okay? Now let me go.”
“Calm down and say that in a way that makes me believe you, and I will.” Dream counters.
Tommy doesn’t listen. He doesn’t like the idea of giving into Dream’s demands ever, especially not here where Dream has no power.
Yet, no matter how much he struggles, no matter how long he tries, Dream is unrelenting.
Tommy tries not to cry as he gives in. He tries his best not to show his distress at the situation.
He tries, that doesn’t mean he succeeds, as a few tears slip down his face as he forces his body to stop struggling against Dream’s embrace.
It’s all too familiar for him, and he hates it.
“I won’t go into the lava. Promise,” he says, trying to keep his voice as even and calm as possible.
That seems to be good enough for Dream, as the older man relaxes his grip, allowing Tommy to move out of Dream’s arms.
Tommy scoots back over towards the lava, and he notices Dream tensing out of the corner of his eye, but Tommy just settles himself a block and a bit away from the lava. Close enough to be able to leave when Sam let’s him, but far enough that he won’t accidentally burn himself.
“Come on, Sam. Please hurry up and fix this so I can get out of here,” Tommy says, mainly to himself. However, with nothing but the sounds of lava to drown his voice out, coupled with the space in which he and Dream were sharing being small, Tommy knows Dream can hear him. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
If Dream wants to respond to Tommy’s pleas, he doesn’t show it. Tommy never feels Dream’s eyes leave him, just as Tommy’s eyes never stray from the hot stream of lava, permanently flowing from above.