"Edd, calm down."

Edd ceased his pacing to whirl around and shove a finger into Edward's chest. "Do not tell me to calm down, it's been two days!"

Edward seemed entirely unimpressed as he took Edd's wrist and lowered it, "And you working yourself up into up into a panic isn't going to help them come back sooner."

Edd shook off his grip and glared at him frantically, "Then what will?!"

It wasn't Edward who answered but Tom, sitting on the couch with Matt and watching the confrontation unfold, "We just have to hope they get back soon."

Something snapped in Edd.

"I'm tired of hoping that things will work themselves out! It obviously didn't work for them!" he bitingly gestured towards Edward but didn't see him flinch at the accusation, "Why would it work for us!"

"Because," Tom replied in a clipped tone, brow furrowing when he noticed Edward's reaction behind Edd, "It usually does work out. And those two are experienced soldiers, Edd. They'll be okay."

All fight seemed to leave him as he slumped, knees going weak. He would have fallen on his ass if it weren't for the strong, steady hands of his older self keeping him upright. Edd let himself be led to the armchair and collapsed into the plush seat, dragging a hand down his face in stressed exhaustion. Ringo took the chance to appear out of nowhere and climb onto his lap.

"I'm just worried..." he whispered as he pet his cat's soft fur agitatedly.

"So are we," Matt reminded him with a concerned frown, "But we can't track them. We just have to trust that... that they'll come back..." he looked down at his lap, unwittingly echoing Tom and biting his lip.

Edward looked at the two thoroughly downtrodden men and his gaze met Tom's, exchanging a concerned look with him. He had his suspicions as to why the two had left in such a panicked hurry but he hoped and prayed to any god that would listen that he was wrong. He didn't really know what he'd do in that case...

Tom sighed. Once again he found himself the only level-headed person in the room and it was as disorienting an experience as last time. He was obviously also worried, but even more than that he had the burning urge to demand answers the moment Thomas and Matthew stepped foot inside the house again.

The universe seemed to act in his favour for once as a loud knocking came from the door, followed by their ringing doorbell as if as an afterthought. Everyone in the room startled out of their contemplation to stare at it in shock. Another knock had both Matt and Edd scrambling towards the door, throwing off a very disgruntled Ringo who for the first time decided to seek affection from Edward instead. He knelt and pet her almost reverently with shaking hands as he heard the door open behind him.

There was a moment of stunned silence as Edd and Matt stared at Matthew standing in their doorway. Then Matt threw himself at the older man, Edd looking torn between doing the same and punching him. "Two days. You were gone for two days. No warning, not a single word." he managed to say.

Matthew laughed nervously as he tried to keep himself upright with an armful of Matt. A throat pointedly clearing behind him snapped him out of it. "...can we come in, though? We have a bit of an urgent... issue."

Edd frowned but stepped aside, dragging Matt with him by the collar and ignoring his protests. Matthew gratefully stepped inside, followed by Thomas who had someone's arm slung around his shoulder-

Edd blinked in disbelief as he mentally corrected himself. Who had Tord's arm slung around his shoulder, offering support. The last to enter the house was an unknown man with- wow, those were his eyebrows? He shook his head. No, focus. Tord.

Tom and Matt seemed equally frozen at the sight of Tord. Edward had retreated to a corner of the room with Ringo and seemed hellbent on focusing entirely on her. Edd frowned in consternation but his attention quickly shifted to the sofa, which Thomas had released Tord onto. Tom and Matt were both standing a bit off to the side, apparently not knowing what to say. The stranger had claimed a different corner in the room and was watching them all with an air of detached nervousness.

Edd approached the sofa to take a closer look at the state of his old friend. Tord looked dazed and more than a little woozy as he gazed around the room, taking in the many faces that suddenly surrounded him in somewhat alarmed confusion.

"...wait, am I back home? What's going on?" he looked like he wanted to keep talking but had to rest his head on his hand, apparently lightheaded. He looked sideways at Thomas, grunting with more than a little irritation lacing his voice, "Can you tell me now?"

"As soon as we get those wounds disinfected and stitched up properly, yes." Thomas answered clinically.

Tord frowned, forehead still resting on his hand, "Hell no. I don't even know who you are and I don't care that you look creepily like..." he gestured wildly with his other hand in Tom's general direction, "like him. In fact, that makes it... makes it worse." he stuttered a bit, his frown turning frustrated. "I need an explanation."

Thomas released a aggravated sigh and Edd stepped in before the whole thing could escalate. "That is Tom. They're us from the future, Tord. Their time machine broke and they're stuck here for now."

Tord's eyes snapped to him, an action he seemed to immediately regret as he closed them for a moment. Opening them back up slowly, he stared at Edd.

"Oh."

Edd raised a sardonic eyebrow, "Not even a 'hello'? Or are you just better at goodbyes than hellos?" he challenged. Tord winced but didn't respond, letting his gaze drop. After a few seconds he began removing his jacket, the bloodied shirt underneath following soon after to bare his bandaged torso. Edd and Matt watched with growing concern while Thomas' scowl deepened. Matthew then re-entered the room, having left for a moment.

"Found the first aid kit. We should probably do this in the bathroom." he called out.

"Right." Thomas said and before anyone could say anything, he slipped his arms under the injured man before him and stood up, carrying him to the bathroom. Tord was frozen in shock for a second before he started loudly protesting.

"Hey! Let me down, I can walk!" he squawked indignantly.

"Not with that leg, you can't." was Thomas' curt reply.

While they exited the room Edd and Matt exchanged a worried look and even Tom looked slightly concerned. This wasn't going at all how he had pictured his first meeting with Tord in three years. There were so many burning questions on his tongue, just waiting to be released, for both him and the two time-travelers who had disappeared on them. But they could wait until after they were sure Tord wasn't going to bleed out in their house.

He decided to distract himself from the whole ordeal by addressing the elephant in the room.

"Uh, who are you again?" he asked the stranger, who scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"My name's Paul. I was Tord's cellmate and they decided to take me along for some reason." he shrugged, "Can't really say no when someone offers to break you out of prison."

Edd blinked but nodded even as Matt mouthed "Break out of prison." with a rather baffled expression. "I'm Edd. Uh... nice to meet you, I guess?"

Paul nodded, "Likewise."

It was silent after that, only broken by the occasional muffled cry or pained grunt from the bathroom and Ringo's pleasured purring from the corner.

He should have felt relieved. Thomas and Matthew were back, and they had even brought Tord back with them. But a sense of unease persistently curled in his chest.

AN:

i will be skipping thomas' expert treatment because i didnt really want to bullshit my way through that. tord is still suffering from bloodloss and covering his wounds with used bandaging so, well, hes not entirely there mentally right now. the drama will have to wait a bit longer.

comments are always incredibly appreciated! and come talk to me on tumblr (same username)!