So after Techno ended his jailbreak stream he was actually still online. He talked to Eryn on their stream and among other things they got to talking about Ranboo's hostage situation. Techno confirmed that if Sam had asked him to go back inside the prison instead of being so hyper-focused on Dream, that actually would have worked.
Hence this AU was born...
"You have the wrong hostage, Sam. Dream doesn't care." Techno drops his arm a fraction, a futile gesture of surrender. Maybe if he lowers his sword, Sam will do the same. A long shot – desperation and fear and panic all curled up into a tight little corner of his mind. But he has to try, for Ranboo he has to try. "I care."
Sam stops moving. For a tense moment, there isn't anything except the three of them, Techno trying to retain eye contact and read the expression on Sam's face. It's impossible, if there is even a smidge of the person Sam used to be before becoming the warden left behind that mask, Techno wouldn't be able to tell. His green eyes flick upwards, over Techno's shoulder, where Dream's frantic yelling is nothing more than a static fever pitch trying to convince Techno to run.
And Techno can imagine it so clearly, the realization sinking in and Sam deciding that if Ranboo can't help him get back the one thing he still cares about, then there is no use to him at all. Techno can envisage what it would be like if Ranboo died here.
Instead, Sam must still have a single brain cell rattling around up there. Realizing that Ranboo is not the bargaining chip he'd need to get Dream to cooperate, he changes tactics.
"Technoblade." He presses the sword more firmly against Ranboo's throat, only getting a slight tremble but no noise in response. Ranboo is eerily still, as if part of him was expecting this. "Drop your weapons and armor, right now."
(Because after all Sam is not an idiot and Ranboo is the wrong hostage if he's trying to convince Dream of anything but for Techno's cooperation, now that's a whole different matter. There aren't a lot of targets more ideal.)
"And you'll let Ranboo leave?" Techno asks skeptically, even as he's already lowering his arm the rest of the way down. Even as he's already dropping the potions out of his inventory. It's one thing to play a losing hand, it's another to throw in your cards before the round is over with.
"Guaranteed," Sam says. "Drop your items. Get back in the prison. All the others can go."
'Except Dream' is the unspoken caveat but that's another matter entirely. 'I will hunt that fucker down to the ends of the earth' is written all over Sam's face. Because Dream is gone now, tucked tail, abandoned Techno like many of his so-called allies had done before, once he noticed Techno was folding to the warden's demands. But Sam's grievance with his long-time prisoner is a can of worms completely separate from the current circumstances – plus something Techno is not overly concerned with. He is concerned with Ranboo. He is concerned with Phil and Niki, who will undoubtedly one way or another be traced back to his break-in.
It's not a hard choice to make.
"Wait!" Ranboo finally stirs alive at Technoblade dropping his sword to the ground and moving to unbuckle his armor. His eyes grow wider, uncertain. In one hand he's clutching a piece of paper, though Techno can't tell what it is. "Wait what?! That's-"
Sam silences him with the sharp edge of his blade.
Nobody else is able to intervene as they're led back inside the prison.
Bad won't stop staring at him from across the table.
Technoblade supposes having killed him a few hours before must not have endeared him to the guy, but he's without netherite and wearing one of the prison's hideous orange jumpsuits instead. All his weapons have been taken from him, his potions, his enderchest. Yet still Bad looks on edge.
Techno taps his fingers on the table, ignoring how such a simple movement rattles the cuffs on his wrists. "So how's Skeppy?"
Not the right thing to ask. Bad huffs, and frets, and holds his weapon a bit tighter.
They're waiting on the cell to be ready again. Sam is not taking any risks, of course. He's not about to put Technoblade somewhere he's escaped from before without patching up those flaws. And adding approximately three layers of additional security on top.
Which is not concerning at all. Nope, not in the slightest, Technoblade is not concerned.
(the voices are screaming)
"About Ranboo-"
"I'll make sure he's fine." Bad looks up at him then. Sam had taken the enderman with him, promising to let him go only once Techno has been fully locked up and secured again. And, well, it's not that Technoblade wouldn't like to take Sam's word for it, but more that he had used Ranboo as a hostage so Techno absolutely did not take Sam's word for anything anymore.
But now Bad is looking at him, and there's a trace of sympathy behind it despite the situation. "Sam is... the prison-" Bad decides against it, shakes his head. "I'll make sure Ranboo's fine. You don't have to worry about him."
Techno concedes that's enough for him.
Once Sam comes back, he's led to maximum security again. This time when the bridge extends over an endless pool of lava it's with the express implication that Techno is going to cross it and not come back. He peers into the molten fluid and wonders if he can see the ashen remains of Apollo in their depths, or if that's just his mind playing tricks on him.
"So when's dinner time?" Techno asks Sam, taking in the sight of his new abode. "Because I remember you guys doing some pretty fierce boiled potatoes in this place and I honestly kind of missed that while I was a free man."
The warden doesn't humor him.
The lectern is gone, Techno notices. All the books are gone too, the bell is gone, the bed is gone. There's nothing aside from that loathsome toilet-hole and while Techno doesn't feel the need to check he assumes the escape tunnel Dream had been digging there is gone too.
He's starting to get a bad feeling about this.
"Stand back from the blocks, prisoner," Sam tells him. And his voice is so calm, so detached from what a person should sound like, it actually manages to make Technoblade feel uncomfortable.
The lava curtain comes down and Techno is left alone.
(Half a day after being locked up, his pearl is destroyed.
Having a pearl in stasis is a strange but almost unnoticeable sensation. The faintest little tug on your soul you're not quite aware of but which is impossible to shake completely. Having it destroyed however is much harsher. Techno winces at the painful jolt of it through his body. Then nothing.
His pearl stasis chamber back in the Syndicate room has been rendered useless, he knows.
And the fact that nobody else but a fellow member could have been down there in the first place is something he tries not to think about.)
Sam does not bring him potatoes, but he doesn't bring any other food either. Or water.
Techno would really like some water.
Obsidian conducts heat. The cell has a terrible, sweltering atmosphere and it doesn't take long for Techno's head to start pounding to the tune of dehydration. There is a tap set in the wall near the toilet that they used for drinking and the occasional washing up last time he was in here, but turning it now finds it disconnected from any larger system. Nothing comes out.
(Chat is starting to get very concerned. Techno isn't)
He paces the room, and sits around, and sleeps when he gets tired, and does anything to distract himself from the growing pit of empty that is his stomach. He loses track of time. He calls out to Sam a lot, not knowing if the warden can hear him. It's better than doing nothing.
"Not to be an ungrateful tenant, but I really feel like you're being horrible landlords right now," he complains to the walls. "At this rate, you're going to start making me miss Dream of all people."
He laughs at his own terrible sense of humor, getting only a silent audience in return.
By the time he gets exhausted enough to fall asleep again, there still hasn't been any food brought to him.
Sam returns eventually with a single glass bottle of water.
He doesn't hand it to Techno directly, looking around the room first. For all Techno knows he's inspecting it for signs of another escape attempt. Techno's throat is too parched to speak up and ask.
When he's finally handed the bottle he downs half of it in one go. It's like liquid salvation, chasing away at least the worst of his headache. He licks his lips – cracked and dry – and finally knows his voice won't strain too badly.
"Thanks for the hospitality, it's much appreciated."
Nothing except more blank stares. Techno is starting to think Sam might not grasp the concept of sarcasm, or is at least pretending not to. They just stand there staring at each other some more.
Sam's baritone finally breaks the stand-off. "Finish the water, prisoner."
Oh, Sam is waiting for him to finish so he can take the empty bottle with him. Techno's not even trusted with glass items now? This has to be a new low.
"Can't I just keep the rest of it?" he says half-heartedly. "This prison hasn't really been the greatest at making sure my basic needs are met. I think it'd be smarter for me to hold onto this since I won't know when you're next gonna grace me with your presence."
He doesn't expect Sam to buckle to his demands, or even acknowledge his humor.
"Finish it now or I'll be forced to take what remains with me."
Techno raises the bottle back to his lips. "Fine, fine, no need to be difficult about it either Sam-"
And he doesn't get to drink any more before Sam's fists are curling into his shirt, shoving Techno harshly against the wall. He drops the bottle and it shatters on the floor, the cold water hissing where it seeps into overheated obsidian.
"Do not... Call me that." Sam's voice is constricted, fingers digging into Techno's collarbone.
"H-hey, easy now," Techno struggles, can't get out with the solid weight pressing against his chest, pinning him down. "Sam, what are you-"
"Do not call me that!" Sam repeats, louder. He pulls forward, then slams Techno back against the wall hard enough for his skull to crack. On top of the not-completely-gone dehydration, it's all Techno can do not to collapse. "I. Am. The. Warden. Every prisoner will refer to me as such, including you."
Techno can't do much more than grunt in pain, and when Sam lets go he slides down the wall and onto the floor. His vision is a blur, and he's cutting his hands open on shards of glass. Concern for his current situation finally starts registering.
"I was going to feed you tomorrow, but disobedience deserves consequence. I will return when your punishment is fulfilled, prisoner."
Watching the curtain of lava descent on him once more, Techno can recognize this time 'round will not be at all like it had been before.
(It will be so, so much worse)