HAH, I bet you thought I forgot this fic huh? Nope, just me being slow!

Techno was not used to seeing Phil so disorganized.

In the literal sense, sure. Phil wasn't the tidiest person around. The house often looked like a whirlwind had stormed through it. Not one to be a hypocrite, Phil was never the strictest in telling them to clean up their own stuff either. As long as there weren't any leftovers lying around that were growing mold and turning into a health hazard, Phil didn't enforce strict chores on them. Techno kept his room pretty neat compared to the rest of the house, but that was a personal choice.

It was just that Phil always seemed to know what he was doing.

Techno thought that was why the hero association felt comfortable not only allowing Phil to lead his own unit but also to foster three unruly teenagers with superpowers. After his parents died, no foster family seemed fully equipped to handle Techno. The government left him in the group home eventually and made him eligible for adoption because they were concerned with the logistics of letting anybody else take him in. The same probably happened to Tommy and Wilbur at some point, though Wilbur was taken in by Phil at a much younger age because Phil knew his parents and Tommy always tiptoed around the subject of his own childhood. Once Phil had the experience of raising Wilbur under his belt, the association didn't hesitate to pawn Techno off to him too. Phil was calm, determined, and clever, Techno didn't think he'd ever seen Phil panic even when they got hurt on the battlefield.

And now it was like this switch had been flipped inside his head.

"If you hear anything I need to be the first to know." Phil slammed the door hard enough for the entire house to shake with it as he walked into the room. Wilbur looked at Techno, for a moment seeming like he wanted to speak up. Then he frowned and turned away. He must still be angry.

Wilbur blamed Techno for what had happened to Tommy, despite him not wanting to admit it. And that was fine. Techno was way ahead of him.

He blamed himself for what had happened too.

"I don't care how many resources it takes, I don't care who else you need to put on this. Sam, we're leaving in five minutes. You let me know if you've pulled your head out of your fucking ass by then or not." Phil ended the call without waiting for an answer. He sighed and rubbed his face.

He had no idea what to do next, Techno could tell.

"So?" Wilbur asked. "What did he say?"

"A whole lot of nothing," Phil spat. Then he rubbed his face again, more tersely. He stepped closer to the table and reached out a hand to squeeze Wilbur's shoulder, part apology and part comforting. "They have no leads, that's the problem. He's just… he's just gone, thin air. They combed the entire area from headquarters to here, no sign of anything that could explain where he's gone. It's not a whole lot to go on. And you know that they might talk big, the association does not have eyes on every villain in the city. So we're going out and taking care of this ourselves."

"That's what I like to hear," Wilbur said as he got up. He had wanted to be out on the streets hours ago, while Phil had insisted they wait for backup or at least whatever information the hero association could muster up.

Techno could have told them they wouldn't find anything.

The thing about Dante had always been that he could disappear like smoke, evaporating his very presence into nothing. A combination of him using his powers and just throwing money at anything else he needed to go away for a while. Dante could buy silence, could buy compliance. Dante could buy a seat in the Senate if he wanted to and get away with it. Too bad he was more obsessed with making Techno's life his own personal hell.

He'd paid the price for it. Techno had ruined every foothold Dante had in this city once. And if it had taken him this long to build it all up from nothing, it was no wonder he wanted revenge. Going through his family was cruel though, Techno would admit Dante knew how to hit where it hurt.

Now Tommy was gone and Dante had to be behind it. Techno saw no other possibility.

He also knew he couldn't tell Wilbur or Phil.

Not only would it get him in massive trouble and reveal things he really couldn't afford for them to find out, it would also not help any for them to know. If the association couldn't track Dante or Tommy down, then Wilbur and Phil wouldn't be able to either. And there was no way Techno could talk his way out of them knowing everything if he only told them the safe bits. The bits he could share in confidence while protecting his secrets. No, his only hope was to solve this by himself before they did.

Techno would get Tommy back no matter the cost.

"Take these," Phil said, while handing them the long-range communicators the association normally didn't let them take on unofficial business. Techno didn't ask if Phil had gotten permission for them to use these devices off the clock. "I want updates every fifteen minutes. Pick a district of the city and start searching. We're meeting back here in three hours. Don't be late."

It was a plan constructed out of desperation and haste. Phil wasn't thinking this through. They'd never find Dante this way.

Techno took the communicator and nodded.

This was perfect. While Phil and Wilbur were off chasing ghosts, he could solve this whole mess. He could bring Tommy home and end this entire nightmare.

"Try not to get yourself killed out there," Phil added as he headed towards the door. "I can only lead one revenge mission at a time."

Techno managed to convince Wilbur to search near the west bank of the river so he could go downtown himself. That was where Techno had his nasty little run-in with Dante previously, so if there would be clues to go off on anywhere, it had to be there. Finding the same alleyway was child's play, though the stone bricks felt colder than before as Techno ran his hands along them. He wasn't wearing his gloves or any of his vigilante clothes. In a strange sense, it made him feel vulnerable.

He couldn't sense Tommy.

Whether that was a good sign or a bad one was yet to be decided. Soulmates could feel each other's pain, the fact he hadn't felt anything yet had to mean Tommy was relatively unharmed. He couldn't be dead either - Techno knew from experience you couldn't really miss the sensation of your soulmate dying, terrible as it was. So maybe Dante was keeping Tommy locked up somewhere. Worst case scenario he was drugged or unconscious. But he wasn't in pain.

It was an empty sort of relief.

Techno had to be smart about this. Dante wasn't going to kill Tommy yet. It wouldn't make sense for him to kidnap somebody he could have already murdered on the street, so there had to be a long-term goal Dante had in mind. He had said something about ruining Techno's life and sure, murdering his family would probably go pretty far to accomplish that. Making them suffer would be even better.

Why then? Unless he wanted Techno to witness it somehow.

("Don't look away from this," Techno said. He was holding Dante's chin, fingers digging into his cheeks. The blade of his knife inched closer and closer to the curve of the man's forehead, so it would be able to trace a line down his face. "It'll hurt more if you close your eyes, I'm sure.")

"Techno?" Phil's voice came static through the communicator. Techno held it up to his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Good," Phil said. Techno hadn't heard him check in with Wilbur, but presumed that was because he had been zoning out. He needed to be paying more attention. "Any leads?"

"Nothing."

The alley was deserted again, but around the spot where Techno had his little scuffle, there was a small calling card left propped against the wall. Techno scoffed when he saw it. Dante really enjoyed his theatrics, didn't he?

The card didn't have anything on it aside from an address, about ten minutes away. Techno headed there immediately.

The odds of it being a trap did cross his mind, but what other choice did he have? Dante had set this up specifically for him, Techno would be a bad guest if he didn't accept the invite. The warehouse he found himself in front of was dark and abandoned. The door wasn't locked, so Techno could step right inside.

As soon as his foot crossed the threshold, a bright spotlight in the middle of the room turned on.

There were a lot of horrific images Techno could have imagined for him to find there. He didn't know whether to be disappointed that it was only the man he had been looking for, looking all prim and proper in his pressed suit. Techno walked into the room calmly, knowing that this could not be Dante. It had to be another illusion. Rushing him would do nothing.

"Is this where you're living these days?" Techno asked, glancing around at the high ceiling and corners filled with crates. "Cringe, didn't you used to have a mansion?" Maybe this place was used for unloading the cargo of shipping containers in certain seasons, the warehouse had clearly not seen much foot traffic in weeks or months. Tommy wasn't here.

"He's not," Dante said smugly - cadence light and a bit degrading. He took pleasure in the trick of mindreading disguised by his inquisitive deduction. Dante didn't know what was going on in Techno's head. Techno was just being too obvious. He was an open book and he needed to reel himself in.

"Then why are you wasting my time?"

"My, my, how impatient. You've not changed much from how you were, have you?" Dante stepped closer to him - or Not-Dante, Techno was still scanning the room trying to catch a glimpse of the real deal. Dante couldn't project his illusions beyond a certain range, he had to be nearby.

"What do you want?" Techno responded more bluntly. He was not in the mood for games.

"All I want is to have a little chat," Dante told him. "One where you don't fly at me like a rabid dog. Do you think you can manage that?"

The smugness dripping off every word was hard for Techno's pride to swallow. "It's a lot more tempting for me to kick your teeth in right now and call it a day, honestly."

"How uncivilized," Dante said with a little sneer. "That's about what I expected from you, though. So I took my precautions." He flicked his fingers and before Techno could really blink, there was a remote in his hand. Dante's thumb pressed down on the button.

The wave of pain that washed over him sent Techno to his knees. It was instant - burning with the intensity of fire. Techno had never felt the hurt of being electrocuted through a soulmate bond before. And if this was how overwhelming it was for him, he could barely imagine what Tommy had to be suffering through. It left Techno gasping on the ground, helpless.

His communicator crackled to life again. "T-Techno?" Phil coughed, barely recovered from his own pain. "Wilbur? was that-"

"Wasn't me," Wilbur gasped.

Techno looked up at Dante, who put one finger to his lips meaningfully, though it didn't hide the smirk behind it.

Lifting the communicator to his face, Techno managed to swallow away how bad it hurt so he could speak. "It was Tommy," he confirmed.

"Fuck!" Wilbur's line cut off into a high-pitched whine there. Techno thought he might have thrown the device. Phil muttered something, too low to hear.

"Now, if you don't want a repeat performance, are you prepared to listen?" Dante asked.

Hating himself for it, Techno nodded and pushed up onto his knees again. Even if he could find the real Dante and was fast enough to somehow attack him and retrieve the remote, they wouldn't know where Tommy was being kept. The risks were too high.

"Let's reconvene at home," Phil said through the speaker. "I don't- I don't want you two out on the street alone right now."

Since Wilbur didn't reply, Techno didn't bother to either. Dante was looking down at him, not hiding at all how superior this entire situation was making him feel.

"You know, one mistake I will admit to making last time is that I didn't do my due diligence." Dante walked in a slow circle around him, like a predator looking at their prey. Techno felt cornered in more ways than one. "That's not to say I underestimated you, no… obviously not. But knowledge is power, and not knowing enough about you meant you could take me by surprise too often."

"Take you by surprise?" Techno echoed, a small laugh unable to be kept in. "Is that what you call me ending your cartoon villain career or whatever that was you had going on."

"It's amateurish to confuse luck for skill," Dante said. "Something you'll learn soon enough. I did my research, picked apart every little thing I could about you. My condolences about your parents, by the way. I should have known back then you were simply a confused child lashing out."

"Shut up!" Techno growled. He had forced himself up on unsteady feet, the last shadows of pain still clinging to his bones. But he was not going to listen to Dante gloat while lying down. "You do not get to talk about them!"

"Oh, touchy subject? I get it." The other man stopped in front of him again. "Touchy enough to get you to start playing a very dangerous game. Becoming a vigilante? Now that's one hell of a trauma reaction. I'm glad the angel managed to get you on the straight and narrow."

Techno didn't say anything.

"Then again, not for long, did he? Because you've been stirring up trouble again. Gotta say, the fact you never stayed down no matter how often you got kicked definitely was your most annoying trait."

"And your long rambling speeches that fail to get to the point are your most annoying trait," Techno said.

Dante laughed, so sincerely it was almost like an old friend chuckling at some quip their buddy had made. It turned Techno's stomach. "See, the reason I'm bringing this up is it doesn't make sense. Why risk your new family and job all for doing at night what you're already getting paid to do during the day? But I found out they benched you and honestly, yeah, I'd be pissed off too."

"What does this have to do with Tommy?" Techno asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Dante spread his arms with a shrug. "He's just a means to an end. I want to get some stuff done, you seem quite eager to get your hands dirty. I just took the kid as… insurance, that you'll be willing to play along."

With a frown, Techno crossed his arms. "If I do what you say, you'll let Tommy go?"

"If you do what I say, I won't kill him," Dante corrected. "You have nothing to bargain with, me not spreading his brains all over the pavement is the best you're going to get. Unless you'd rather I do that and go fetch your other brother, perhaps you like him more?"

"You're not touching either of them," Techno growled. But even to his own ears, the words fell flat. Dante was right, he was left completely to the other's whims.

There was nothing that Techno hated more.

"Techno?" Phil asked over the communicator. "Where the fuck are you?" He sounded like he was concealing worry with anger, though Techno assumed Phil was pretty pissed too.

"Don't keep daddy waiting," Dante told him. "I'll be in touch."

His illusion had melted away before Techno could blink. Techno raised the communicator while glancing around, though the real Dante was nowhere in sight. "What?"

"What part of 'let's reconvene at home' did you not understand?" Phil asked. And now that he knew Techno wasn't dying in a ditch, it was definitely fury Techno could hear.

"I was checking something," Techno said.

"Get back here, now." The line went dead with an unusual crackle. Techno swallowed, turning around to leave the warehouse.

By day four of them looking for Tommy, the tension in the house had become pretty much unbearable.

Sam was calling Phil non-stop. Techno heard him end the conversation by hanging up more often than not. The association had no leads, and until they did Phil didn't want to hear from them. If they continued to neglect their duties, they might get fully suspended. The thought tasted bitter to Techno after all the effort he was making to not screw up their lives. After months of hiding his nightly outings to protect his family.

That hadn't changed, though. Just the nature of what he was doing.

Dante had him running errands, deliveries mostly. Techno should be humiliated that he was reduced to doing meaningless tasks for a crime empire, but he wasn't going to complain. This way, he could bide his time and gather intel on Dante's business. It was ambitious, Techno would admit. Dante was working his way up again from the bottom, starting with petty crime and gang violence. Everybody had to be in Dante's pocket for him to feel happy, he needed to have his dirty fingers all over everything.

He was cannibalizing the crime hierarchy.

And Techno was helping him, transporting money and drugs. Earning goodwill for Dante. Or worse.

His knuckles were covered in blood. The man Techno had beat into a pulp sagged against the wall, cupping their hand over a broken nose. Techno couldn't feel pity. He was doing this for a good enough cause and the guy was a bastard anyway - some small fish in this villainous lineup this city would call its underworld. Their time manipulation powers had given Techno some trouble but he'd managed.

"Dante gives his regards," Techno said. The man might be too unconscious to hear him.

Well, if it was important, Dante could send a calling card. Techno had done what he was supposed to. He had to get home.

His phone went off when he was about halfway there. Techno almost hung up automatically, not wanting to speak to either Phil or Wilbur. Only a handful of words had been exchanged between them since that first night after Tommy was taken, the majority of them spoken in anger. They were all tired and frustrated and Techno didn't need to see the look in Wilbur's eyes to know his brother hadn't been able to let go of how much he was blaming Techno for Tommy's disappearance.

If Techno hadn't yelled at Tommy, he'd never have walked home alone and-

It was Ranboo's number.

"Ranboo?" Techno checked his watch. "Isn't it a little late for you to still be on the clock."

"You asked me to keep this between us," Ranboo said. "So that means no Sam, right? He's uh, he's cautious."

"Has he been giving you trouble?" Techno asked.

"I think he's just worried about you guys," Ranboo said. "I mean… I'm worried about you guys. And about Tommy."

"Yeah…" Techno stopped for a moment under the harsh glare of a streetlight. "Did you find anything?"

"A bunch of names," Ranboo said. "I can send them to you."

"That'd be perfect. Thanks, Ranboo." Techno continued to walk, turning the corner that led into their street. The wind was picking up, cold creeping into his bones. He was exhausted - he hadn't slept more than a handful of hours since this all started. The painkillers were fading, allowing him to feel how bruised he was.

But with Ranboo's help, they were finally getting somewhere.

"Hey Techno," Ranboo said, quietly. Techno hadn't even properly registered he hadn't hung up yet. "Are you sure you know what you're doing? Like, does Phil know that-"

"We're working on it," Techno said. "Really, it's fine. We're very close to figuring this out." His lies didn't even sound convincing to himself anymore.

"Right, no, that's not- I don't doubt that. I'm just… worried," Ranboo finished lamely, realizing he was repeating himself.

"The list will help. Thanks again," Techno said. "Uh, maybe after this is all over we could hang out sometime. You know, like when Tommy dragged us to that bowling alley?" He waited, hand hovering over the knob of their front door. The lights were on, so Techno could only assume Phil or Wilbur was awake.

"That'd be nice," Ranboo said. He sounded sad. It made something in Techno's gut twist uncomfortably. There was nothing he could do about it though.

"Great. I gotta go." Techno didn't wait for an answer before hanging up.

When he walked into the living room, Phil was sitting at the table sorting through some papers. He was using his shadows to turn them over, working on a dozen things at once. Wilbur was lying on the couch, seemingly not doing anything. Though Techno knew looks could be deceiving.

"Mind telling us where you've been all night?" Phil asked, without raising his chin from his work.

"Out," Techno said. Wilbur scoffed loudly, something Techno ignored. But Phil also looked up at him, expression deceptively neutral.

"And you didn't tell me because…?"

"I was just doing some stuff," Techno said. "It's really no big deal."

"It's great you're getting your 'stuff" done," Wilbur raised his hands so he could emphasize the quotation marks there, "while we're actually trying to be useful."

"Wilbur," Phil said.

"No, seriously, we're all thrilled for you, Techno. We love pretending not to notice you coming and going at random fucking hours all day while we're working to get Tommy back. If you don't care you can just say so. It's not like it's your fault this happened in the first place."

"Wilbur!" Phil repeated, louder. Wilbur fell silent.

Part of Techno wanted to believe Wilbur didn't mean that. That he was just understandably exasperated by the entire situation, by their helplessness, by their fear. That he was taking it out on Techno because Techno was an easy target in this equation.

But an even bigger part of Techno knew Wilbur was right.

For the wrong reasons, sure. Wilbur didn't know how much it really was Techno's fault.

"I'm grounding you, Techno," Phil said.

Techno blinked, stunned. He almost laughed at the absurdity of that statement. "I'm not a child anymore, Phil."

"Then I'm doing it as your team leader. No more going out by yourself doing whatever the fuck it is you think you're accomplishing out there. It's too dangerous."

"I'm-" Techno started, then stopped. Even if he told them he was trying to help Tommy, would they believe him when he couldn't reveal what was actually going on? Would it sound like an excuse? Like he really didn't care?

Techno turned around to head upstairs.

"Fine, whatever."

He was already sneaking around their backs to get this done, one more rule he'd be breaking would hardly make a difference.