"Techno?!"

A harsh pounding on his bedroom door made Techno shoot awake suddenly, the echo of the dream he'd been having leaving him confused and disoriented. He couldn't remember exactly what it was, probably a nightmare knowing his own fickle brain. But he'd been so exhausted none of it filtered through, for a blurry moment Techno sat there and all he could remember was cloying darkness.

"Techno?" Phil knocked on his door again. He sounded a little more concerned now.

Techno rolled out of bed, stumbling upright. He almost fell flat on his face immediately because a sudden wave of vertigo took hold, a little embarrassing honestly. Clutching onto his bedside table prevented him from collapsing into a pathetic heap and he made it to the door so he could unlock and open it.

"Hm?" Techno asked, failing to form much of a meaningful sentence when he was still half-asleep. It wasn't even that early in the morning, but he'd spent all night on the street working menial labor for Dante.

"Mate, you look like shit," Phil said automatically. Which in turn made Techno's lip twitch up into an almost-smile.

These days it felt like all they did was fight. Having Phil sound like himself - like before all this started, before Tommy was taken from them. It was nice.

"I didn't sleep very well," Techno said, rubbing at his face. "Did you need me for anything?"

And all at once Phil's expression fell, morphing into something more serious. "We're going out to follow some leads again."

Leads into dead ends. Techno knew vaguely what direction Wilbur and Phil were searching. Little red herrings Dante had prepared for them, some Techno had helped set up. Fruitless, all of it.

"Are you un-grounding me?" Techno asked. He expected the answer before Phil sighed.

"No."

Techno tried to close the door in his face, but Phil stuck his foot in the gap before he could. With his palm pressed to the wood, he held it open.

"Don't act like that," Phil said.

"You're not my father," Techno answered. He could see a brief flash of hurt in Phil's eyes that brought him absolutely no satisfaction. He hadn't pulled that card since he was an edgy teenager, thinking the entire world was out for his throat. "And right now, you're not my team leader either. I'm on probation, remember?"

"I know you're pissed off, I'm fucking pissed off too. But that doesn't mean you get to take it out on me."

Techno held the door in place, staring blankly at Phil.

He was burning bridges. Even if they did get Tommy back, who was to say Phil wouldn't kick him out, or the hero association wouldn't fire him? Techno couldn't fault them for it either. He just didn't want to deal with this. He was tired and nauseous and had a dull throb in every muscle of his body despite the painkillers.

He couldn't deal with this.

Phil sighed a second time. "Sam might call while we're gone, I need you to stick close to the phone."

"Got it."

Phil stepped back. Techno wanted to slam the door in his face but found he couldn't. He wasn't that cruel. None of this was Phil's fault.

"I know how badly you want to be out there with us searching for him," Phil said. Techno had to hold in a sardonic chuckle. Oh, Phil had no idea. "But this is important too. I really think we're getting somewhere and if Sam could just-"

"It's fine," Techno interrupted him. "You don't have to come up with some dumb, fake reason why it's better for me to stay behind."

"I'm not," Phil said. He sounded so damn sincere. Techno crossed his arms, picking at his sleeves. He had bruises all along his skin from one of Dante's latest ventures. He pressed down on them slightly, watching Phil not flinch in response. He couldn't feel it.

Maybe that was a good thing.

"Well, we both know Wilbur might kill me if he sees my face anyway," Techno tried to joke, though it lost any humor and fell flat between them. "So maybe it is better if I don't go near him."

"He's just… upset," Phil said.

He hates my fucking guts, Techno thought. Again, maybe that was a good thing.

"We'll figure this out, Techno." Phil looked as if he wanted to reach out so desperately. But the door wasn't left open more than halfway and Techno took another step back, enlarging the empty space between. "We'll get Tommy back and things can go back to how they used to be, yeah?"

He couldn't break Phil's heart. Not more than he already had.

"Sure," Techno said. "Good luck looking for him, you know where to find me if you need me."

After he was sure they'd both gone out, Techno went downstairs. He tried not to leave his room unless necessary these days, Phil left him food on a little table in the hallway. Techno didn't want to face Wilbur, barely wanted to face Phil. He didn't know what was worse, Wilbur's dramatic huffing and poisonous glares and unspoken blame that Techno might have well signed Tommy's death warrant by being a prick, or the way Phil was slowly breaking under the strain of keeping their pseudo family together. Phil was right, they would get Tommy back. Techno would make sure of it.

He just doubted that if he did, things could truly go back to how they were.

Techno opened Phil's laptop, having guessed the password months ago. The old man was sentimental, he used nostalgic dates for all his security. Kind of ironic for somebody meant to be a pro-hero. Opening a new private browser tab, Techno returned to his spreadsheet.

He'd been cross-referencing all those names Ranboo could get for him, every little fish in Dante's pond. Techno had compiled all the information he could find, from home address to work history to what jails they spent time in. Dante was smart, but he was overly cautious.

And being too cautious made people predictable, in a way.

Techno had narrowed down a list of places Tommy could be from over a hundred entries to about a dozen. With a little more work, he could knock that down to three potential spots Dante could keep his brother hostage. Three would be doable in one night. Techno could work his way through them one by one before sunrise and without Dante noticing what he'd done.

In less than a day, he would have Tommy back with their family.

Waiting until nightfall was almost unbearable.

Dante had been eerily quiet all day. Techno didn't think the villain had caught onto his plan, but the uncertainty was there. He couldn't take the risk so he had asked Ranboo to let Phil know his last coordinates if Techno didn't check in with him by sunrise. Once he'd sent that message, he sat on his desk chair waiting, expecting Phil to barge up the stairs and chew him out for attempting to sneak off alone. But Ranboo showed Techno that his trust hadn't been misplaced. Phil would be none the wiser unless something went terribly wrong.

He finished his dinner while getting his last preparations in order. Then, to be extra sure, he left a note on his pillow.

It felt kind of stupid, like something out of a cheesy movie or such. Techno found it pretty cathartic to write though, going as far as divulging some stuff about his parents that he hadn't told anybody yet. Best case scenario, he'd be long back before Phil forced his way into his room (he would lock the door again before heading out, of course) and then Techno could crumple it up and throw it in the trash and never face those emotions he'd swallowed down for years. Piece of cake!

When he was out in the hallway putting his plate back where Phil left it, Techno heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

He looked over his shoulder, expecting it to be Phil coming to collect the dishes. He should have known those footsteps were too heavy.

Techno met Wilbur's eyes and quickly looked away, pretending that sliding his knife and fork against each other was an important task swallowing all his attention. In that brief glance, he had already tried to gauge for any obvious injuries. Techno was on probation, yes, but that didn't stop him from automatically doing his job. He was the healer of their team, he was supposed to keep them from getting hurt or patch them up once they did.

He had already failed Tommy pretty miserably in that regard.

Wilbur seemed fine. A little pale, high-strung, with messy hair and bags under his eyes. But that's how Phil looked too, probably Techno wasn't too far off from looking like a walking corpse himself. Those two hadn't found anything today either.

When he dodged Wilbur's gaze, the older man made a noise, a small huff of disapproval maybe. Either because Techno was being a coward or because the mere sight of him made the blood boil in Wilbur's veins. Techno kept his mouth shut tightly, waiting for Wilbur to pass behind him on his way to his bedroom. Only then did Techno turn around to go back into his own.

"What happened to your wrist?" Wilbur asked.

Techno almost flinched, mind too distracted by what he was planning to prepare for Wilbur suddenly speaking. Especially in that tone, grave and annoyed. Like Techno was doing something wrong.

"Nothing," Techno answered immediately. Which was probably the wrong thing to do because it would only aggravate Wilbur more.

Also, Techno's wrist was visibly bruised. He wouldn't be able to hide that.

"I think I slammed it into my desk or something," Techno added, seeing Wilbur open his mouth. "It's fine."

For a moment they stayed like that, Techno's fingers growing sweaty against the doorknob while Wilbur stared at him. Two weeks ago, Wilbur would already be on his way downstairs to fetch him an ice pack, while calling Techno a nerd for injuring himself in such a stupid way.

Two weeks felt like a lifetime ago.

"I didn't feel it," Wilbur muttered, perhaps more to himself than for Techno to hear.

He wanted to delude himself into thinking there was the slightest edge of worry there, buried deep under all the resentment Wilbur had built up towards him over the time Tommy had been missing. They're soulmates, they're supposed to feel each other's pain.

They definitely felt it whenever Dante got bored and decided to hurt Tommy for the hell of it. No matter how obedient Techno tried to be.

But the ties Techno had to them were fraying like a rope pulled too harshly and too far.

"I'm going to bed," Wilbur said a little louder. And he turned around without a second glance.

Techno wasn't hurt by it, exactly. If anything, he should probably be relieved. He waited for Wilbur to close his door fully before finally relaxing his shoulders.

After turning the lock behind him, Techno put on his vigilante clothes. For what hopefully would be the last time, he opened the window and crept out into the night.

The first two places were a bust.

Techno wasn't superstitious, but man was that some poor luck on his part. It was getting late - or, well, early - and Dante texted him an hour ago. Techno left him on read, hoping that it would convince the villain that he was asleep. He knew his source was sound, he didn't doubt his research. So that meant Tommy had to be in this building.

It was an apartment.

Techno would have time to blame his past self for missing something so obvious later. Dante wasn't going to keep Tommy somewhere that screamed 'evil supervillain lair' to the outside world. But the deed for this condo was written out in the name of a fictitious person with absolutely zero traceable leads to Dante, at least at first glance. Sam or the Hero Association would never connect the dots. Techno had only managed to do so thanks to hours upon hours of hard work and having the advantage of knowing where to look.

He moved slowly, prepared for a trap at any second. A little shove of his shoulder into the front door forced it open. Techno stepped inside, weighing his choice between the elevator and the stairs. While the stairs would probably be a little faster, they would leave him exhausted since the condo was on the top floor of this twenty-story building. Anxious as he was about getting to Tommy as quickly as possible, Techno couldn't risk it.

He tapped his foot waiting for the elevator to come down. Did somebody go up recently? Was anybody with Tommy? Techno hadn't felt anything in a while - that could be either good or bad. Tommy not hurting was infinitely better than the alternative, but what if Techno didn't notice he'd already lost the last soulmate who maybe didn't completely despise him?

The door to the condo itself was also locked. Techno sighed, stepped back, then kicked it with his heel, making it fly open and bounce against the wall. Taking another deep breath, Techno stepped inside.

He was immediately hit with the smell of blood.

Techno was used to the scent, having spent as much time in the infirmary as he had. Usually, the sharp acidic tang of disinfectant would drown out at least part of the metallic undertones, but when it coated the walls and floor, every available surface tainted in horrible red, it could only hit him like a truck. Techno stumbled forward, almost slipping on the pool of it.

And lying in the middle, a shape.

Once human, not anymore. Torn to shreds seemingly, or detonated from the inside. Techno's throat closed up too tight for him to inhale.

This couldn't be Tommy. No, no, Techno knew what a soulmate dying felt like, he had it happen to him before. Yet he found it hard to stop staring at the recognizable left in the gore. Part of a scalp with golden-brown curls. A shoe forgotten on its side that was definitely one of those red sneakers Tommy had been so stupidly proud of and had talked Techno's ear off about, since they were designer or whatever.

Had his bond with Tommy broken way earlier than Techno knew? Had he failed Tommy so badly that he'd missed another one of his soulmates dying because of him?

Techno fell to his knees, gasping at a sudden jolt of sharp pain between his temples. When he blinked, the image had already faded. He was kneeling in a clean apartment, not a spot of blood on the walls.

Dante was nearby. He couldn't project his illusions that far.

"Tommy?" Techno called, using the wall for leverage to get upright again. "Tommy, call out if you can hear me?"

No answer, so Techno started opening random doors, looking into rooms. The condo was furnished but not lived in. It looked like something out of an interior design magazine, giving Techno an uncanny feeling. This was nothing but a glorified prison disguised as a home.

Proven by the fact that when he did finally find Tommy, it was in a room that had no windows. Tommy was curled up on a filthy mattress and was either sleeping or unconscious. Techno didn't know which one. He rushed over, ignoring the terrible stink coming from a bucket in the corner that made him want to puke.

"Tommy? Hey, wake up." Techno shook him gently, eyes wandering to try and assess Tommy's injuries. There didn't seem to be many on the outside. But he quickly spotted the band of metal around Tommy's leg, which must be the device Dante was using to give his improvised shock therapy. Techno looked around, trying to find something he could use to pry it off.

He went into the kitchen. Dante had been stupid enough to even load the drawers with kitchenware and cutlery. For once that man's strange perfectionist tendencies would pay off. Techno quickly returned to Tommy's side with a knife he could use to pry into the gap where the device was screwed shut. Normally, this wouldn't work. But Techno was really hoping Tommy's superpower would work to their advantage.

Sure enough, after a few seconds, he forced it open.

The skin of Tommy's ankle was red and blistered, the exposure to electrified metal leaving shallow burn wounds. Techno hovered his hand over them, healing them with his own powers. He ignored the rush of vertigo that came with the action. Tommy's well-being was more important. After that he tried to heal any other internal damage Tommy might have, hard to gauge without a full exam but Techno did his best. Tommy mainly seemed to be suffering from dehydration and starvation, not something Techno's powers could really help with.

"Tommy?" Techno asked when he was done, trying to shake his little brother awake again. "Don't make me carry you out of here."

As if he wasn't planning to do that either way.

Though there might be no need. Tommy groaned, eyes finally cracking open. They swiveled around the room for a moment before settling on Techno, clearing after a few more blinks. "Techno?"

"We don't have a lot of time, let's get out of here," Techno said, standing up. He wrapped Tommy's arm over his shoulder, taking most of his weight.

Tommy's head slanted against him weakly. "Ugh, I shouldn't have been a stubborn asshole and ran off-"

"We don't need to talk about this now," Techno interrupted.

"I bet Wilbur and Phil are worried sick though. Where are they?" Tommy managed a crooked smile. How that kid could keep his positive demeanor despite the circumstances was beyond Techno.

"This was more of a solo mission," he answered uncertainly. Tommy wasn't heavy, but Techno had severely underestimated how much using his powers would take out of him. They needed to move quickly.

Tommy frowned. "What?"

"Now, where do you two think you're going?"

Techno froze at the sight before him. Dante pushed the door shut with his foot, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Maybe I was wrong before. Maybe I did underestimate you, Techno," the man added smugly.

"You know this guy?" Tommy asked, shaking a little in Techno's hold. "That's the bitch who kidnapped me!"

"He's quite feisty despite everything, isn't he?" Dante took a step forward, slipping a thin, silver blade out of his sleeve and turning it so it could catch the room's harsh light.

"What's your plan here exactly?" Techno asked. "You really thought forcing me to do your dirty work indefinitely was feasible?"

Dante laughed, cold and cruel. "Not indefinitely. Though I would have preferred to have your help a little longer."

"What?!" Tommy repeated, undoubtedly confused by the situation. Techno didn't have time to explain.

"I'm not done expanding my empire, but I'll be able to do the rest on my own. You've outlived your usefulness to me."

Dante lunged. Techno reacted quickly, pushing Tommy away from him and onto the floor while jumping back in the opposite direction himself. It left Dante coming to an odd standstill between them, as if debating on who to turn first. Before he could decide, Techno punched him.

The feeling of bone breaking beneath his knuckles was immensely satisfying.

Except it faded as quickly as it had come, the illusion melting away into nothing. Techno's wrist was grabbed and his arm wrenched forward. The pain burned as it aggravated the injury already there. He felt the sharpness of the blade slice through his chest, down over the shape of his rib before digging into his stomach.

"Techno?!" Tommy was pushing up on his knees. Dante's face turned and Techno didn't want to give him a chance to refocus. Techno needed to keep Dante's attention on him.

He grabbed for Dante's shirt, fingers curling into the fabric and then spinning him around to slam him into the wall. Dante grunted in pain.

Techno punched him again, his fist meeting flesh for real this time. He tried to do it again but Dante wrapped his free hand around Techno's throat. Usually, Techno was better in hand-to-hand than this but the air was knocked out of him when a knee smashed his stomach. He should have been sleeping more if he was planning to 1v1 a guy. Dark spots swallowed Techno's vision and he was almost certain he was going to pass out.

Until somebody grabbed onto Dante's hair and pulled him off.

Techno sagged to the floor, blinking through the blurriness to see Dante turn around and yank on Tommy's arm, dragging him across the room.

"Fuck! Let go of me, you bitch!" Tommy was struggling but Dante seemed to do it almost effortlessly, heading to the balcony.

A balcony Techno had noticed earlier. The view was spectacular, they were so high up.

"Wait-" He tried to get up but cried out when fiery tendrils of pain shot from the stab wound in his stomach.

Dante smirked at him. "This was always where it was going to end, Techno. I don't need you anymore, but it'll be better if I don't kill you. Then I can see the look on your face if I take everything you have left away from you."

And with a simple shove, Tommy fell over the railing and plummeted downward.

"No!"

Techno's limbs finally worked, though he didn't use them to attack Dante. He shot out of the room, down the stairs, almost falling on his face again. Tommy couldn't die. He couldn't, Techno wouldn't allow it. Not when he got so close to bringing him back home. Not when-

Nobody would survive being thrown off of a twenty-story building.

Ignoring how stubbornly that thought tried to force itself to the forefront of his mind until it could swallow everything else, Techno shouldered into the door.

The sight before him was not too far off from the illusion. Tommy lying in a pool of his own blood, looking horrific. Techno hadn't felt the cold shock of a soulmate dying but he was terrified their connection was too dull for that. Tommy could have suffered and Techno wouldn't even have known.

Except when he kneeled at his brother's side, the first thing he became aware of was that Tommy's chest was moving.

Nobody would survive being thrown off a twenty-story building, except somebody whose superpower was literally an insane amount of luck.

More blood was also pulsing out around an open fracture in Tommy's leg, leaking with every heartbeat. Techno healed it quickly. He healed every single wound he could find, dizzy and nauseous because of how he was overusing his powers. Techno pulled Tommy to his chest, a semi-embrace made of desperation, so he could fix the broken skull.

He needed Tommy to survive so he could apologize.

"Isn't that a touching sight?"

Techno ignored Dante's mocking tone for a moment longer, concentrating only on Tommy. When he was absolutely certain he had healed up everything he could, he carefully put his brother on the ground, forced his unsteady legs to stand up, and turned around.

"You look a little… angry," Dante said, that same insufferable smirk on his face. "Didn't you used to believe soulmates were a liability? They're the reason you're benched, aren't they? So it's really a service if I get rid of them for you."

Techno didn't answer. Fury was boiling beneath his skin, but it would only make him sloppy if he gave in. He stared at Dante, hoping his lethargic blinks wouldn't give away how tired he was. He was basically running on empty at this point.

He would rather die than let this man hurt Tommy again.

"No talking?" Dante sighed. "Pity, your snark seemed to be about the only amusing thing about you-"

Techno moved, completely disregarding Dante's first counterattack and the second, predicting they were illusions. Dante thought he was so clever, as if he hadn't been using the same tricks since the day Techno started to fight him. The only smart thing Dante had managed this time around was getting a hostage. Techno allowed his speed to barrel into Dante in a half-tackle that landed them both on the ground with Techno on top.

"Fuck, they really taught you to be feral at that place. You used to have some grace while fighting." Dante's words came out choked since Techno clutched him by the collar.

"Stop wasting your words on me," Techno spat. "You will never hurt my family again." Techno pulled Dante up only to slam him back into the concrete hard enough to leave the man motionless beneath him.

He rolled off, coughing and crawling on his knees, before puking out the little dinner he had earlier. It had been a while since he'd overexerted his powers badly enough that it made him physically ill. He felt so faint he could barely think, but he needed to go back to Tommy, he needed to heal the injuries he might have missed. His elbow collapsed on him and he smacked his chin into the ground, forcing a strangled groan of pain out of Techno.

He really needed to get Tommy home before Dante got up again.

When somebody reached for his shoulder, Techno rolled onto his back instantly, cringing away from the touch. But then Phil's hands returned to hold his face gently.

"Techno? Are you okay?" Phil wasn't wearing his hero uniform, he must have been in a hurry.

Techno blinked at him for a moment, half-afraid it was another illusion. Dante was never good at projecting illusions of real people, making them talk and move that way. But he was cruel enough to learn, if just to make Techno's life worse.

Then he blinked, and he saw Sam was there also, yanking Dante up by his elbow. This was real.

"Tommy-" Techno started to say, only for Wilbur to interrupt him.

"He's fine, more or less. Might have a concussion but I don't think we'd be able to tell the difference."

"Fuck you," Tommy grunted in annoyance, not fully conscious yet but coming around to it.

"Yeah, definitely won't be able to tell the difference."

"Let's get him to the med bay anyway, to be sure," Phil said. He looped Techno's arm over his shoulder, lifting him up. "You too."

"I'm fine," Techno answered, only for another cough to send more acidic bile down his shirt.

Gross.

"I'm assuming this won't make Sam unbench me any quicker?" Techno asked, leaning closer to Phil. He could feel the man's shadows wrapping around him, supporting his weight.

"Nope," Phil said. "Though that doesn't make me less happy you did it."

Phil squeezed his hand, soft and reassuring. Techno squeezed back.

Techno's new probation meant he wasn't allowed anywhere near headquarters.

Not that it mattered much, he was forced into bedrest for three weeks anyway. Techno couldn't get up or move around at all without getting dizzy and he had trouble eating. Most of this time, he spent sleeping on the couch.

It was surprisingly nice.

Not the sickness thing - power overuse could have some serious side effects and Techno never knew they could be this bad before, plus he was basically weaning himself off constant painkillers - but hearing his family move around the house. Getting to be there when Phil worked on his schedules or Wilbur read in the armchair or Tommy watched TV. Simply existing in the same space as them had started to feel like a luxury.

They didn't really talk about what happened. Not beyond Phil telling him that he'd found the note, since he went into Techno's room in the middle of the night a lot quicker than Techno would have expected. This meant Phil knew about his parents, about the soulmates he lost before.

Though for the time being, Phil seemed content not bringing it up unless Techno did first. And that was enough for him.

Wilbur was apologizing in his own unspoken way, fetching things for Techno and not complaining when Techno made him go back to get him a glass of water just for the heck of it. He still couldn't entirely blame Wilbur for being angry at him, or his own guilt would have also been misplaced back then. But he appreciated the gesture.

Techno forced himself upright. Bedrest didn't need to mean total immobility. There was a plate left on the coffee table with food Phil prepared for him earlier, when Techno was too nauseous to eat.

He reached for the fork, but clumsily missed and slapped it into the mug left next to the plate instead. Techno hissed when hot liquid spilled on his skin, shaking his hand to get the droplets off.

"Ow, fuck!" Tommy cursed loudly and suddenly from his spot on the other cushion. His ankle was in a cast though they were going to the doctor's later today to get it removed. Techno had been feeling an odd throb in his own leg all day.

"You felt that?" Techno asked.

"Yeah." Tommy rubbed at the spot Techno had burned himself in on his own hand, trying to rid it of the phantom pain. "Wilbur too by the sound of it." They could hear footsteps down the stairs, coming to check out what the soulmate bond was trying to alert him of.

"Sorry," Techno said sheepishly. He probably should start to be more mindful again. Somehow, he wasn't annoyed by it. It was the best feeling in the world.

Because Phil had been right. While it would take some time, things could go back to normal.