Phil had stayed true to his word and refused to let Techno rejoin the mission even after Techno pleaded his case the next day. Techno knew Phil could be a mother hen with them, but he didn't think Phil would fully commit to this decision the second he thought Techno would be too distracted for their mission.

The mission itself wasn't that big of a deal. They had planned to travel to all the unknown safehouses that the heroes weren't using at the moment and bug them with listening devices. There was nothing even dangerous, but the safehouses were thick in numbers and in the distance between them and the city. So they estimated the time it would take to fully cover every unused safehouse would be an entire week. That's the whole week Techno has to himself with nothing to do. Sure he could do some solo crimes, but with the recent activities of the hero group Dream team, Techno doesn't want to chance it with no back up now. Dream has always had it out for Techno in the past.

Techno could understand that Dream had the power to steal other people's abilities and use them as his own, seeing him as the top hero. And who wouldn't want the power of being practically immortal? Unlike most powers, Techno's abilities didn't necessarily have a limit or hold him back in the middle of a fight. Sure he couldn't fly and have wings of blades, nor could Techno produce such disastrous sound waves from his mouth. He also didn't have to deal with sore wings or a sore throat all the time like some people he knows. He simply had strong healing abilities that made it just about impossible for him to die. His body just refused to give up to the point that Techno was sure that the only way to kill him was to rip out his heart completely. But that was a secret that only members of the SBI knew of. Just how they all knew Phil's right-wing was weaker than the left due to an accident in the past. Or like how Wilbur's power didn't affect people whose hearing was impaired. It was just the secrets of the family, really.

The next day, as expected, Techno wakes up in an empty house. Both Wilbur and Phil have already departed for their mission, leaving Techno with a small note on the kitchen table. 'Don't burn the mansion down' is written in messy handwriting at the top, Phil's sloppy work. Just below it, in semi neat writing, Wilbur has added 'Loser' to the note. Wilbur was always the eloquent one of the family.

Rolling his eyes, Techno sat down at the table and pulled out his phone. A whole week huh? Maybe he can sort out his inner troubles with Tommy today and then sleep the rest of the week… Sounds like an excellent plan to him. Tommy is probably bored out of his mind right now, so it was a win-win. Techno can release whatever attachment he was forming with a child by getting his questions answered, while the kid gets to tease and bully him for a bit. Getting up, Techno called the hospital's receptionist on one of his burner phones. He informed her that The Blade would be arriving soon to visit Tommy Soot in room 420. With that out of the way, Techno puts on some regular citizen clothes and grabs his mask. His typical suit was getting patched up at the moment by their housekeeper Edward, a selected mute who the family trusts greatly. Plus, he just doesn't feel up to wearing it for long if all he would do was sit in a chair for an hour and chat with a child. Techno refuses to believe that he would let the kid charm him into staying for six hours again. No way. Not happening.

A moment later.

"THE BLADE!" Tommy screams as he tries to get untangled from his wires and tubing to get closer to Techno. Techno's heart swoops at the sight of the kid's desperate attempts to get closer to him. Tommy pulls at a few machines to give him more length to move closer to the villain. The bed looks just as big as the last time Techno saw Tommy in it. Only this time, Techno spots two stuffed animals sitting next to Tommy's squirming legs.

"You're going to break something at this point. Calm down, Tommy" Techno smirks as he watches Tommy now try to get all the knots out of a few wires that he tangled up while moving around. Tommy frowns, realizing that he can't get closer than he already is to Techno.

"Oh! The blade you missed me firing thousands of paper planes at Betty! That old nurse that smells like old people! She screamed and called me a gremlin! PFFFT BHAHAHAHAH," Tommy yells as he laughs his butt off about his recent scheme. Techno smiles a little as he sits down in his chair next to the bed.

"Aren't you worried she'll poison your IV drop?" Techno asks with sarcasm on his lips as he leans back in his chair. Tommy grins like a child high on 75 sugarcubes.

"The great Tommy Soot could never be poisoned! I'd like to see someone try! I'm invincible!" Tommy brings up an arm and attempts to flex any muscles he had on his string bean of an arm. He acts as if he is sporting the same muscle mass as Techno. "See?! No one would dare fuck with me! Plus, I have the Blade on my side!" Tommy beams brightly.

Techno, for a second, felt words get caught in his throat. This child is too precious. He feels like he can't get enough of this small kid. Tommy is like a drug at this point. The more they chat, the more Techno feels a gravitational pull towards the kid, and soon, one hour turns into five so quickly for them both. Neither of them noticed the passing of time till a nurse came in with a tray of food for Tommy.

"Jello time!" Tommy shouts when the tray is placed on his side table. Quickly as if knowing what jello time meant, the nurse rushes out of the room. Tommy grabs the small cup of red jello and the plastic spoon that came with it. Removing the top, Tommy got a good amount on his spoon and started to aim the spoon at Techno.

"Don't even try it, Tommy. I could drop kick you so fast." Techno threatens with absolutely no heat behind his words. Even Tommy cracks a small giggle at the threat.

"Fine, but that means you have to help me then!" Tommy put the spoon back in the jello cup and held it out for Techno to take.

Without hesitation, Techno took the cup and raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Tommy wanted him to do.

"Go to that window there, open it, and then shoot jello at people!" Tommy laughs at his greatest plan ever and starts to bounce one of his legs because he is just so excited.

Techno watches Tommy and feels that he can't say no. With a sigh, Techno did just what the child asked of him. With the window cracked open, he watches as people pass by from a few stories down. With half the jello locked and loaded on the spoon, Techno aims at a middle-aged man in a suit. When the man is close enough, Techno shoots the jello. It immediately backs away from the window, so it doesn't look obvious. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Tommy and Techno heard from outside. It took all three seconds before Tommy busts out laughing so hard that he clings to his stomach in pain. Even Techno laughs from how infectious Tommy's loud laugh is.

Once Tommy calms down from that prank, Techno and he continue their conversation about Tommy's other fun antics while Tommy has lunch. Techno's idea to question Tommy and get all of his answers was quickly forgotten that day. Techno had stayed until the sun began to set.

With a yawn, Techno stands up and stretches his arms and sides real quick. Tommy frowns, already knowing what's going to happen. "Will you come back?" Tommy couldn't stop himself from asking.

Techno looks over at Tommy with a smirk. "What? Don't tell me you already have separation anxiety?" He teases Tommy as he ruffles the child's blond hair lightly.

Tommy pouts and tries to push Techno's hands away from his fluff. "Stop ittttt!" Tommy had to use both hands to grab Techno's wrist and hold it above his head so that Techno wasn't messing with his hair anymore. "Seriously though… Will you?" He asks sincerely, looking at Techno with the softest pout Techno has ever seen.

"Perhaps." Techno didn't want to fully set plans into stone, but he also didn't want to fully say no either.

Tommy takes this as a yes, and his leg starts to bounce again. "YES! Blade, you have to give me your phone number so I can send you funny videos and memes!"

"Heh? You think this country's top supervillain is going to give you his number just so that you send memes and videos?" Techno couldn't believe this kid entirely forgot that he is a highly dangerous person. He can't tell if this kid just straight up forgot or didn't care. Either way, Tommy's extremely bold, that's for sure.

"Well yeah. That's the point of exchanging numbers. Plus, this way, we can still talk while you're gone," Tommy explained as he looked around for something. Spotting his cracked iPhone, Tommy snatched it up and opened the phone. It didn't even have a lock on it. From where Techno was standing, he could easily see Tommy's screensaver was a picture of a galaxy with a sloppy attempt at photoshop of the two stuffed animals floating around. Tommy quickly goes to contacts and presses the plus on the side. Pleased with himself, Tommy shoves the phone in Techno's hands and stares up at him, waiting.

Techno stares back at Tommy for a moment. "Fine. But I'm giving you the number of my burner instead. Don't tell anyone that you have it, or I'll just throw the phone away," Techno said as he typed his number into Tommy's phone. When he was done, he handed it back to Tommy and watched Tommy excitedly put Techno's name as '💥BLADE🐖.'

"Yeah yeah, don't worry. I'd actually have to know people to leak your info. But lucky for you, I've decided to make you my first friend. You're welcome." Tommy laughs at himself as he holds his phone close to his chest.

Again Techno felt his heart squeeze at the child's words. "Uh-huh. Sure gremlin. See you later" Techno uses the nurse's nickname for Tommy as he says his goodbye. Tommy's smile falters for a moment, and Techno, just for a second, could easily see the loneliness and hurt in those blue eyes. But as quickly as Tommy can, he easily slaps on a bright smile and starts to wave goodbye.

"Bye, stinky," Tommy threw in an insult as Techno started to walk out of the room. Techno yells a 'BE GOOD' at Tommy's door before he makes his way out of the building, careful to avoid most cameras.

Throughout the next four days, Techno and Tommy have been in constant communication. Tommy stuck to his threat of sending funny videos and memes, but Techno found that he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would. He enjoys the videos of the top ten most humorous clips of superheroes failing or videos with funny bits. Tommy knew exactly what would get a laugh out of Techno.

As well as text messages, Techno had also visited Tommy every day since they exchanged phone numbers. Techno is hooked onto Tommy, and he didn't think he could handle not seeing the kid. Tommy has fully wormed his way into Techno's heart. The sick child had walked through the castle walls of Technos heart and stood before the throne with a bright smile on his face. All this and Techno is utterly positive that Tommy didn't even have to try. This child has no ill intention and only wants to be close to him. Tommy looks at a villain and only sees his friend.

As they hung out, Techno learned a few things about his new friend. Tommy is 15 years old and is currently living in a teen group home. The city had decided to keep him there instead of the foster family considering stress was deeply tied to Tommy's well-being. From what Techno has gathered, Tommy's illness was unknown to his doctors. They only recently found out that his energy was a direct link to his health. If Tommy was stressed and tired, he would immediately get sick with a cold. That would probably spiral into an almost hospitalizing fever with pneumonia set in if not treated within a day. But if he was well-rested and calm, Tommy fares well. He could walk easily but get tired after a while. Tommy also mentioned that he still wasn't used to his claws, but Techno doesn't understand that comment. He doesn't press Tommy about it since he wants to make the child feel like he is under interrogation. So he lets it slide and just chalks it up to maybe a hybrid thing. They have a silent unspoken agreement that they were not to ask each other about personal things. Techno is sure Tommy is silently happy about this, given that just about everyone has probably already asked him enough to last a lifetime.

Techno wakes up at the buttcrack of dawn to his burner ringing. He lightly groans and leans over to answer it. "Hullo?"

"Hey, it's Tommy. I know it's really early, but my group caretaker won't answer her phone, and I need a ride home. I-I don't have anyone else to ask this, and I trust you to take me home and not somewhere weird." Tommy spits out. Techno hums and looks at the time.

"Yeah, I can take you home. It might be a little for me to get ready and get there, so just be ready to head out right away." Techno informs the younger, debating if he should wear his attire or just be a civilian. He picks out some regular clothes and just slaps his boar mask on before heading out the door. He can get food later.

Techno opens his door to his car and sets some Beethoven songs to fill in the silence. He passes a Mcducks and decides to grab the gremlin some breakfast that's not hospital food. The car moves up to the speaker, and Techno orders 2 pancake meals and a butt load of hashbrowns, like 15 of them with chocolate shakes for the drinks. Techno pays and ignores the employees' faces when they recognize the mask and grab his food from the frozen manager. He pulls out of the McDucks and speeds through the many stoplights to get to the hospital.

Techno walks up to the front desk, looking around the front foyer for Tommy. He sees the blond clearly looking at his phone and looking up to the door. Tommy brightens up when he sees Techno and hobbles over to the much larger man.

Techno holds out the bag of food to Tommy, "Here, I figured you would like to eat something that is not from the hospital. You can have some of the hashbrowns, but not all of them. I have a chocolate shake in the car cause I don't know what you would like."

Tommy looks into the bag and gasps at the pancakes. He looks up at Techno and looks at the lady at the desk. Tommy pulls out some paperwork and hands it to Techno. "These have to be filled out before we can head out."

Techno nods and moves over to a table, and pulls out a pen he left in his pants. Tommy digs into the pancakes, sad that there is never enough syrup for them but inhales them anyways. He leaves the second set for Techno and grabs like 3 of the hashbrowns. No one can say no to McDuck's hashbrowns.

Techno speeds through the questions and stands up, grabbing the trash the younger made. Techno tosses it and goes to the desk, and hands the paperwork to the lady. She inputs all the info and gives Techno the right away to head out with Tommy. He nods and goes to the door, looking back to make sure Tommy is following.

The two climb into the car, and Tommy puts his address into the navigation system. He leans back and downs his chocolate shake. Techno listens to the directions and heads down to the group home.

Techno knocks on the front door of the home and waits with Tommy. A lady that just reeks with cigarette smoke opens the door. She raises her eyebrow but groans at the sight of Tommy, who sheepishly hides behind Techno. The lady moves out of the way and gets a good look at Techno. She freezes and then darts off to a large room with lots of noise spilling out. The noise stops, and the door shuts and locks.

Tommy sighs and moves over to a hallway with lots of doors. He looks back at Techno, who is still standing at the door, looking at the other room. Techno turns and points a thumb at the room, asking, "Is this normal? Or is that just because of me?"

Tommy winces and nods, "This happens every time I get back from the hospital. Even if someone is with me, she will lock the door to the lunchroom."

Techno scrunches his nose at the information and follows the goblin to his supposed room. Tommy opens the door to a tiny room, basically a closet with a small cot in it. Tommy flops onto his plushy-filled bed and adds the two new ones to the piles. "Oo, I can tell you how I got each of these stuffed animals!" Tommy exclaims out in excitement. Techno huffs and gets comfortable on the floor.

Tommy chats about each plushy and its name, with the reason why he got them, who brought them, and their "personality." Techno notices a pattern that most of the plushies are from Bad, Tommy's social worker and that most of them follow after a bad foster home. It takes Tommy 4 hours to go through all of his plushies and their stories.

Techno stretches and gets up, looking at his watch. "It's almost lunchtime. Do you eat with the other kids or by yourself? Where is your kitchen?"

Tommy curls into himself and shakes his head, "Most of the time, the warden forgets I'm still there and forgets to feed me. I usually can get to the kitchen and make myself food, though sometimes, I am just too exhausted to make food." Tommy spits out. Techno clenches his hands at the mistreatment that Tommy has endured. Even in a government-funded home, Tommy, an ill kid, is still mistreated and discriminated against.

Techno walks out of the room and stands in front of the lunchroom with a frown on his face. He moves past the room and into the kitchen. The open door wafers fresh food through the air. Techno looks through the cabinets and finds some mac n noodles. He looks at Tommy and shows the box. Tommy lights up and nods, moving over to another cabinet to grab some pots.

The two have fun making jokes as they wait for the food to finish and eat lunch. They finish and clean up. Techno looks up when he hears a door open, and out walks the warden, the caretaker. He moves in front of Tommy, watching the neglectful woman.

Tommy pushes past Techno and moves back to his room. Stopping shortly at the doorway to the living room. Looking at the pile of teens in front of a tv. He sighs and continues down the hallway. Techno looks into the room to see what caught Tommy's attention and turns back, not seeing anything wrong. He catches up with Tommy and pulls the thinner and shorter male into his side.

Tommy flinches at first but quickly leans more into the larger man as if it's the last time he'll get gentle physical contact. He looks up and mentions, "Did you know that the warden would tell me the tv is broken and shoos me off to my room every time I ask to watch a movie?" Techno turns to Tommy, remembers the pile of teens chilling in front of a TV, and narrows his eyes in disdain.

"That's it. I'm taking you home, and you are watching as many movies as you want." Techno says resolutely. He wasn't going to let Tommy go through this anymore. Tommy gasps in excitement.

"You mean I get to SEE THE GREAT BLADE'S HOME!? And watch movies WITH THE BLADE?"

Techno laughs and grabs the two plushies he bought for Tommy. "Grab what you want. You will be staying for a bit. I don't feel comfortable leaving you here with that woman."

Tommy speeds over to the suitcase he had just emptied and grabs everything he would need for the next handful of days. He doesn't even bother to fold any clothes and just stuffs everything on top of each other, along with a few stuffed animals.

Techno grabs Tommy's bags from him and walks out the front door. With Tommy following like a lost puppy. The two hop back into the car for the second time and settle in for a long drive. Tommy pulls out his cracked phone and an aux cord to play some music.

Techno watches from the corner of his eye but lets the child do what he wants. He looks back at the road and drives out of the city and far into the countryside.

The older man mentions that he has a room dedicated to only his weapons which causes Tommy to gasp and beg Techno to see the space. Techno rolls his eyes and laughs, saying, "No, I don't trust you around sharp things or even heavy blunt things. I might take you to see, only see, my weapons room, but you have to promise me you will not touch anything. OK?"

Tommy nods furiously, "I promise. I promise."

Tommy continues to ask questions about Techno's weapons and what Crow and Shout use for fighting. Techno explains that Crow's feathers turn into blades that the villain can send out and use as either a sword or a swarm of knives.

Tommy's eyes sparkle at the information, and he looks out the window watching the birds fly in the air. "I wonder what it is like to fly."

Techno glances and absentmindedly mentions, "Crow might possibly be up to take you on some flights. Not anytime soon, though."

Tommy gasps and leans over the center console, "YOU MEAN I GET TO MEET CROW?!" Techno snorts and shakes his head. He didn't have to look over to know that the kids' eyes were sparkling with joy.

"I did say, 'Not anytime soon, so don't get your hopes up."

Tommy groans and turns away from Techno to pout. Techno laughs at the younger and asks Tommy, "What would your favorite knife be?"

Tommy looks over his shoulder at the older man, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know. Probably something badass or coolly shaped." Techno hums and thinks.

He stops humming when he puts the car into park, finally arriving at his home. "We are here, you goblin."

Tommy pouts and clambers out of the car, grabbing his things from the back seat. Techno follows him to the front door and opens the double doors. He looks back at Tommy only to stop as Tommy is standing next to the car, looking at the mansion with awe.

Tommy snaps out of his gaping and runs up to Techno. Asking if Techno could show him every room inside. Techno laughs hard and shakes his head. "Listen, kid, We barely even use half of the rooms here. I can show you the rooms we do use, but the rest are all empty or are for storage."

Tommy grumbles curses under his breath but stops once he gets a good look at the front foyer. The grand entrance is full of details and expensive-looking things, like a crystal chandelier. The marbled floors look so clean that Tommy is sure he could eat off them. The tall walls and high doorways made Tommy feel even smaller than he already was like he'd just shrunk a few feet. The elite style of the entrance seems to spread from the front foyer to the two hallways. Tommy could see down one of the hallways and noticed the walls were decorated with pictures and paintings.

Techno coughs, get Tommy's attention and turns down a hallway to the right of the entrance. Tommy follows quickly and gasps at the room the two end up in. Weapons of all kinds cover the walls. Knives, swords, whips, guns even. Tommy gravitates to a short sword. The blade is primarily red with a black center, and there are ridges towards the bottom of the edge. The skull-like patterns on the handle really bring the whole knife together, and its black case sits right behind it in the display case where the short sword sits.

Techno watches Tommy eye up one of his short swords and decides to give it to him. It's not like he has a shortage of them. Tommy could use some form of self-defense too. He walks up to the case and opens it, pulling the blade out and sheathing it. Giving it to Tommy, who holds it like the Blood God themself gave it to him. Tommy looks back up at Techno to make sure Techno is truly giving it to him and places the blade carefully in his bag.

"I think I've peaked! I own one of Blades's knives!" Tommy gleamed as he held his bag more carefully now.

Techno smiled softly and took off his mask that he's been wearing up till now. "My name is Techno. You can call me that when it's just us, kid." Techno decided to reveal his identity to Tommy since he could feel deep down that this kid would become something of a permanent person in his life.

Tommy started to bounce with excitement. "Holy shit! Really?! Oh my god, this is so fucking pog!" Tommy was practicing buzzing at this point, and Techno couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"Yeah. Come on, let's watch something" Techno ruffles Tommy's hair fondly as he walks out with Tommy right next to him. The two walk down the hallway to a large room with multiple rows of chairs and couches. A giant bookcase full of DVDs and other forms of movies sits right next to the door, where another leads to the projector room. Techno motions to the bookcase and grabs Tommy's bag to settle down on one of the couches. Tommy paces through all the moves and eyes the 'Up' and the 'How to Train Your Dragon' movies.

Tommy picks 'Up' first and looks over to Techno, silently telling the older man he doesn't know how to put in a DVD. The older cuffs and stands up. He grabs the DVD from the younger and inserts it into the DVD player attached to the projector. He takes the remote and gently pushes Tommy to the couch he has picked out for the time being.

Sitting next to Tommy, Techno relaxed as the movie slowly started up. Tommy's attention was immediately drawn towards the starting scenes with a couple going through life. Halfway through the film, Techno notices that Tommy is leaning against him and looks almost half asleep.

Once the movie ends, Techno finds that he is locked in place by Tommy having grabbed his arm in his sleep. Techno smiles and lets the kid cling to him for now. He holds the remote and puts on a different movie with low volume to pass the time. Techno isn't sure how he will approach the topic of Tommy with the rest of the family, but he does have two days to figure it out, so there was no rush yet.

As he slowly closes his tired eyes, Techno feels something deep down finally settle now that he has his kid safe.

End Chapter notes

Wowie! Guppy here! This chapter took a lot out of us both! We didn't plan for it to take this long or even be this long, but here we are! The storyline is starting up finally and we can't wait to make everyone cry! This is probably the last chapter that is going to be this calm. So buckle up your seatbelts! We're going in!

Moo at your service. I enjoyed writing the end half of the story.

We have a discord :DDD

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