Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"FUCK" Tom screamed in pain. He had just cut his finger on the sharp blade of a bread knife that he was conveniently using to slice through some butter for his toast.

"TOM! What happened are you okay??" a worried Edd peaked his head from behind the kitchen door. "Damn I really have to get used to this huh" Tom mumbled while putting his poor finger under the running tap water.
Instead of being in the same house as his past roommates and best friends he was now stuck being scared shitless by the unrestricted access of these two idiots into his apartment unannounced. So yeah, it would take some getting used to, he guessed.

A couple of months have passed since 'the incident' as they often opt to call the moment they lost a friend that they had literally just regained. At this point said friend could even be dead and they wouldn't have a clue, so it has become kind of a taboo topic between the three boys, especially icky being mentioned around Tom, who seemed to be most affected by it.

"Edd do you have any bandages?" Tom asked annoyed by the small setback from making his, albeit half-hearted breakfast. It was the first time in a while when he actually had the energy to get out of bed since his daily routine consisted of mostly sleeping, crying, and occasionally drinking himself silly at ungodly hours in the morning. So yeah this was kind of a big deal and of course, it was ruined by a 'mishap' just like the rest of his miserable life.
"No actually sorry we just ran out. Matt had a little problem with dinner yesterday which is kinda funny considering your..." he received a deadly stare from Tom, who was really close to just going back to sulking in his room. "O-or! We could go to the store together!". "Store?!" Matt's excited voice came from outside the apartment. Yeah, it will be a pain getting used to this. "Yeah Matt! This way we could get this loser out of the house for once." Edd nagged at Tom.

Sighing dramatically, Tom nodded slowly "Yeah if it gets your annoying asses out of here then sure I guess.".

------------------

"Edd! push me around!" Matt said giggling like a little kid. Edd complied and they both proceeded to make fools of themselves in the medical section of the grocery store, leaving Tom behind looking like an alcoholic single dad that had way too little time to sleep. He sighed and went for the bandages himself, picking up some essentials as well while they were there.

At some point, while they were waiting for the cashier to scan their goods, a tall figure bumped almost a little too hard into Tom and took him by surprise. "Hey dimwit look where you're going" he mumbled angrily to the figure. He looked up to see the dude's face and was met with a very shocked-looking guy. He had a middle part with middle-length hair and was wearing some kind of weirdly color-coordinated uniform. "Oh sorry didn't see you there sir" he said somewhat regaining his composure.

He left in a hurry. 'Sir'? Well, that was kind of weird but a lot of weird things happen around here so Tom brushed it off as just another one of those.

Once they got home, though, Tom noticed some really bizarre texts and calls from an unknown number. The calls were kind of annoying, but the texts, two of them, to be exact, were a little concerning. They read 'Hello Thomas. I am writing on the behalf of an organization that you have no need of knowing a name.'. The next one, sent a couple of minutes after the first, read 'We do not expect you to trust us by no means, but we are in big need of assistance. If you are open to further questioning, we would be very grateful to organize a meeting with you in the park on xxx street somewhere between 4 and 5 o'clock tomorrow. We look forward to your response.'

'Huh' Tom thought. They really seemed like a big deal if they went through all the fuss to write such a formal message. Though it sounded hella sketchy, he decided to ask Edd about it.

"He Edd?" he semi-shouted from his room, seeing as Edd was once again watching a movie with Matt on his couch. "Yeah Tom what's up?" "I just got these hella weird messages from some bullshit organization what do you think?" he asked as he gave the phone to the taller. Edd skimmed the messages, then turned and looked at Tom "I don't know man I mean it seems like they mean business. If you want Mat and I van go with you and watch from afar? Who knows maybe it's important and if something happens we'll be sure to intervene." Edd suggested."Yeah sure I guess? Still lame tho." he said as he slowly turned and made his way back to his room to play something on his bass since he hadn't really played Susan in a while.

This whole ordeal was kind of weird in his opinion, but heck if he would miss out on something that had a chance to bring some spice into his life. After all, he couldn't just stay inside and mope around thinking about him of all people again and again. Ugh.

Chapter Text

The following morning Tom woke up with a pounding headache. "Ugh what.." he stumbled in the kitchen, making his way to the couch and throwing his body onto it lazily. He tried to remember what had happened last night, yet this seemed to be an impossible task.

"Tom! You're finally awake man! While you were enjoying your time being passed out from drinking again Matt and I decided to go get some ice cream for ya!" Edd spoke with a kind of disappointed yet excited tone. "Oh ice cream huh that sounds pretty nice actually." he slowly nodded "Also how long have I been sleeping for? And what time is it I'm too lazy to look up." Tom said while slowly rolling his lifeless body off the couch.

"It's 1 o'clock actually you've been passed out for some time now sheesh you better get up and come to Matt's room we're going to rewatch Jaws again." the taller said. Tom huffed, but finally got up and went to use the bathroom. He really had to control his drinking a bit more, he thought, but eh what the hell he's an adult he can drink however much he wants whenever he wants so suck it world.

When he got back to Matt's apartment, he was met by Edd looking for the infamous shark movie CDs in the cupboard while Matt was cooking something for all of them. The whole room smelt great actually. While Matt wasn't the greatest chef, he could really cook kinda well when he tried or more specifically when he wasn't forced to. "Heya Tom! Glad to see you're up finally now come and help me with these" he said as he was entering the room with three plates of mac and cheese.

"Uh yeah sure Matt here" he took two of the three meals out of his hands. "Soo, you do remember I have that 'meeting' if you can call it that in the afternoon right?" Tom asked and Edd nodded "Yeah Tom we were just gonna watch one or two movies and then we can go to the park together!" he said with a reassuring smile. "Okay then let's get started," Matt said as they all gathered on the couch.

------------

"SHIT EDD I TOLD YOU!" an angry Tom yelled. It was currently exactly 4 o'clock and they just woke up from an unexpected movie-induced nap. "Sorry sorry, I thought I set the alarm! We still have time let's go get ready and we'll meet in the hallway in 10 minutes jow's that?" Edd suggested panicked. Tom nodded and they scurried off to each of their rooms.

Tom sighed as he picked up his wallet and phone and changed his shoes. Now that he had some time to think it really did seem weird that some total strangers would need his help specifically. He didn't have any more time to dwell on it though. He heard shuffling coming from the hall.

"Tom! We're ready to come out already I have plans after this" an annoyed Matt said from behind the door. Tom exited his apartment with a huff and the trio went on to walk all the way to the park.

------------

"How am I supposed to tell who I'm supposed to be meeting with?" Tom sighed. Edd and Matt had left him a while ago and it was already 4:20. It was then when he saw two men shuffling around a little farther from him. Hey, wasn't that the guy from the store?

Tom didn't get to finish his thought as he saw their eyes land on him and the realization spreading on their faces. Tom started walking towards them, as they did the same. "Hello Thomas" The shorter one of the two said "We're really glad you came. I'm Paul and this is Patrick, whom I'm sure you've seen before." 'Paul' said gesturing to an anxious Patrick. "Hi" he said.

"Alright then hi to the both of you but can we skip the formalities and get to the point? Some random organization has summoned me on this lovely day to what? What could I possibly help you with?" he asked annoyed and, frantically, bored by the whole thing. "We're actually here to ask you about a 'friend' let's call him that I guess" Patrick started, folding his arms. "I'm almost certain you know or have come in contact with a 'Tord Larrson' am I wrong?" he asked.

'Oh' Tom thought. Now they had his full attention. He took his time answering, getting over the initial shock of hearing that name again after so much time. "Uh..yeah you could say that" he mumbled, failing to hide his anxiousness from the men in front of him. Thoughts were going a mile a minute in his head. Unimpressed, the men continued their interrogation "So do you happen to know anything about his whereabouts?" Paul asked. Tom took a step back. "Hell to the no that fucker left us a while ago we don't know anything about him." he paused "He may as well be dead" Tom was starting to get downright irritated by them, not to mention the drop of his stomach after thinking about that fucker again. "What's it to you anyway? How do you know him and how do you know I know who you're talking about" he asked, not a breath take inbetween his words.

Patrick pinched his eyebrows and continued "Alright so I guess we'll have to give you some details first" he sighed " Basically, Tord as you know him, but conventionally known as 'Red Leader' is, as you may have guessed, our leader. We are part of an underground army and were operating under his command up until a couple of months ago when he went missing. No ways of contact, no note, no nothing. We have been able to track his location several times throughout these months through his phone, but to no avail, since he's way smarter than he looks and has done everything in his power to not be found " he once again sighed in defeat "Our last option is to somehow make use of something he holds very dear, and that happens to be your lot, and more specifically, you Thomas."

"Woah Woah wait a second" Tom shuffled his feet "So you mean to tell me that he's, first of all, alive, and second of all, a fucking army leader?" he let out an annoyed huff. "What do I look like to you a moron? And what do you expect to get out of this? Do you seriously think I'll help you find the fucker? I'd rather fall down a well and drown in its' putred oil than think about him ever again" he said with fake yet somehow convincing confidence. Paul and Patrick exchanged unimpressed glances, and then continued "So that's why out of the three of you he only wiped out all of the information about a 'Thomas Riggson' from our database is that correct?" Paul asked. Tom was taken aback by this. He took some time to think. 'What the hell' he thought 'why me?' he pondered "and more importantly, why did he leave them? was he going to come back again?' Tom had way too many questions. He was starting to get sick.

"What would I need to do to get you off my back?" Tom asked, feigning disinterest. "We have a plan" Patrick responded with much more energy than before. "We have an idea of where he's staying at the moment, though he has moved a lot, and we thought that a visit from an old friend would bring him back to us." he explained. "You don't have to though, but we thought that you would want some closure from Tord, seeing the way he left you guys" he finished. 'Huh' Tom thought 'they know about that'. "Let me think..." he said. Paul and Patrick looked surprised but still waited without any questions. After about a minute or two, Tom spoke suddenly "Yeah no I'm not doing that sorry not sorry" he said as he turned on his heel and started walking home. "Wait!!" he heard from behind but didn't look back as he made his way back to Matt and Edd, who were buying ice cream, again.

------------

"So Tom" Edd started while they were walking back home "what was this mysterious and totally not suspicious meeting about anyway?" he asked. Tom stiffened, a fact that was noticed by the other two men, and said "Oh it was nothing just some weird cult thing don't worry I turned them down" he mumbled continuing to eat his ice cream. "Oh...okay then" Edd said, thoroughly impressed by how stupid Tom thought they were. Okay maybe Matt wasn't the sharpest tool in the box but that didn't mean they couldn't spot an obvious lie. They decided to not press any further, but Edd made a mental note to try and figure out what was happening.

As Tom entered his apartment, following his 'good nights' to his friends, he collapsed on the couch. Tears were starting to form in his void-like eyes, his breathing becoming more rapid than before. "This can't be happening" he spoke out loud. He was alive. Tord was alive. He didn't kill him. He was alive and breathing and going about his day somewhere in England. For fucks sake. He wasn't going to sleep that night.

Chapter Text

Tom found himself leaving the house for a walk the following morning. It was fairly unusual for him to wake up that early, though he was the kind of person to drink until he can’t walk straight to avoid thinking about his problems and then the next day be in the mood to go for a walk, not that that was the situation right now. Passing through the park, he once again saw the two guys that decided to ruin his night yesterday. Poll and Peter, was it? He didn’t pay much attention to them though and decided it would be a good idea to go to the store to buy some more cola for Edd and maybe a few drinks for himself.

Actually, you know what? Why not go to the mall today since he also needed a new pick for Susan. Oh and some food as well. Oh and…yeah he was going to do the groceries that week since he couldn’t think of anything else to do except be miserable inside, so sure why not.

After a twenty-minute walk, Tom finally got to the much-anticipated mall. ‘Finally’ he thought bitterly. As he made his way to the record shop near the back of the building, though, a certain tuff of hair and a black coat caught his attention. After a moment, he slowly turned his head in the direction of the figure so as to not get their attention, but they were already gone. ‘Huh’ he thought, ‘It must be yesterday that put these things in my head right? there’s no way…’. Shaking his head lightly he continued walking to the store. This one in particular was one of his favorites. Julia, the lady that was there most of the time, actually recognized Tom once. Yeah pretty neat right? She claimed to have seen some of his, albeit not that popular, covers of one of System of a Down’s songs. They spent a good chunk of time discussing their love for music. She actually played drums, believe it or not. They hit it off pretty nicely the first time they met, and so Tom kept coming to this record shop whenever he needed something or he was sick of staying inside.

------------------------------

“Well, well if it isn’t the star himself Thomas” Julia sneakily remarked from behind the counter. “Hi, Julia! Got any new stuff?” he asked. “Sure take a look there” she pointed to a stand not too far from the counter. “Thanks, I’ll go take a look in a sec. Do you happen to have any of those really cool picks I got last time? I lost the other one” he started.

As they were chatting the same figure from before quietly entered the store. Tom noticed this and stared holes into their coat. “Hey lover boy see something you like or?” Julia snickered behind him. Paying no mind to that comment, Tom asked “Uh…Julia, do you happen to know who that is? I can’t see their face I think I might know them.” Tom said, his composure dropping by the minute, his mind going a mile a second. “Uh no dude I don’t know who that is maybe go to them and ask?” she suggested looking confused. “Nevermind…” he slid the pick and a couple albums on the counter.

As he was rounding up the street corner after leaving the mall, the same figure appeared once again, as if to taunt Tom. “That’s it” he said as he turned around and pulled the person into an alleyway.

Tom pulled the hood off of the man’s head. "Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, followed by a much more silent “Oh”.

… Silence.

The one standing in from of him was none other than Tord fucking Larrson. “What the fuck?!?!” he asked bewildered “Dude what the hell you just-“ they taller started, but then he looked at Tom, and it looked like a switch flipped in his head. “Oh, so this is how it’s going to be alright” his face darkened.

His scarred face might I add.

“T-Tord??” Tom said, a little too loudly. “Well hello there to you too old friend. Now if you would be so kind as to get off of my tail and forget this happened maybe I won’t kill your sorry ass. Move” He attempted to flee by pushing Tom out of the way.

“Hell no we’re doing this now” he said as he pulled the brunette back. “Tord what the actual fuck?? First of all, you are..." he gestured to his figure "well, ALIVE!" he he huffed, letting go of his composure. "Second of all, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THESE THREE FUCKING YEARS YOU FUCKING COMMIE BASTARD” he yelled in frustration.

Some people heard the commotion, but as people do, they moved on as if nothing happened. “That’s very nice Tom thank you for the warm welcome now that we have had this wonderful reunion I must excuse myself-“ he didn’t get to finish as Tom punched him square in the face.

Tord's face darkened once again. “Ha! You think you’re funny huh commie. You’re not going anywhere this time so fucking answer the question” he growled.

Tord rolled his eyes but complied, rubbing his cheek. He still had the physical advantage over Tom, but he wasn’t about to start a scene for fear of being spotted “You know what this would be easier if we were not in a dirty, filthy alleyway what do you say?” he raised his eyebrow(s?).

Tom blinked one, then twice. He was only now getting to look at the man properly. After a few seconds, he realized he was staring a bit too much and said “Fine come to the park but I expect some Nobel prize-sounding explanation you bastard” Tom said.

---------------------------------------

Making their way to the park, Tord started talking first “So…” he started “How are Edd and Matt holding up?” he awkwardly asked, the tension between them being so thick it was almost visible. “They’re fine." Tom bitterly responded "You know what’s not fine? The fact that you’re avoiding the subject." he complained.

"I’m gonna start from the start. Where have you been and what the fuck is the ‘Red Army’” Tom was losing his temper.

“Ok so I know it must sound crazy but I was an army leader all this time I was gone. Actually kind of from way before I left but that's not important right now." he started, his frustration with the situation being evident. "It was doing really well actually." he said with pride "I’m assuming since you started with this you met someone, or, two of my soldiers, to be exact” he looked down at Tom expectantly. “Yeah, they actually wanted my help with finding you" he explained "why the fuck did you leave them? I thought being an anarchist or whatever it was you wanted to do was your shitty dream.” he asked with a little less bite to his words this time, his anger and initial shock simmering down by the minute.

“Heh.. about that” Tord stretched his arm forward “Woah wait what is this??” Tom interrupted him by pointing at his very real and very not in the movies and totally real robot hand. “Oh yeah you really didn’t hold back on that harpoon gut huh” he laughed drily. Tom had a look of pure misery on his face.

“You really did deserve that though you blew up our house and fucking KILLED John you bastard” he huffed. “Yes, I suppose I did.” He paused. Tom took this opportunity to look at the taller. He was built. And he meant BUILT built. He had muscles poking from under the coat and a sharper jaw than he remembered. Not that he was paying attention to stuff like that.

“So as I was saying…” he continued. “When I came back, I only did that to get the robot, and sure maybe see you guys. But after that, after this” he gestured to his right side “It took me a while to recover. It’s not easy amputating an arm now is it” he rolled his eye. Tom felt sick.

“And having as much time to think as I did, I started to realize that maybe it wasn’t worth it, so I left.” He adjusted his collar. “Just like that? Just up and left? For what?" Tom's disbelief could be heard in his voice. "You know they aren’t going to give up searching for you, you know?” he added. “I know." Tord paused "I did everything so that they wouldn’t find me, but here you are so i guess that worked out nicely" he mumbled.

“Hey! I’m not here because of them dumbass you think I would have helped them?” Tom said. He turned to Tord “Oh well I just assumed once you knew I was, in fact, alive, you’d want to finish what you started” he looked away from the black eyed man.

‘Oh’ Tom thought. “You know, I didn’t actually ever mean what I said about killing you right?” he said carefully. “Well yeah sure but after what I did? It's only normal that you’d want my head on a stick” he laughed bitterly.

The night was slowly approaching. They unconsciously sat on a nearby bench.

“After you left for a second time I didn’t know what to do with myself” Tom confessed wearily. “I actually thought I killed you Tord it was eating me alive. Even though I act the part, I wouldn’t actually kill a person I care about.” He said as he looked at the taller. Tord looked a bit taken aback by this sudden sincere tone “Well that is very nice Thomas, really, but I don’t deserve any of this. I was actually planning on coming back again but I guess even your stupid brain can get why I couldn’t” he scoffed and stared at the sky.

There was a pause, Tom thinking over his next words. “So are you coming back now? Is this what you want to say?” he inquired. “No no! Of course not Thomas what the fuck kind of monster do you think I am?” he laughed as he tilted his head back to Tom, huge eyebags staring back at him. Now that Tom had a chance to properly look at the taller, he noticed how worn down his coat was, and how disheveled his hair was. "Tord” he got the other’s attention.

“Where have you been staying since leaving the army?”

The question visibly shook Tord. “Well…” he started “I…uh, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like the most pathetic person in existence" he scratched the back of his head. Tom’s eyes widened.

“Tord? Have you been living on the streets?!” he asked, worry seeping through his voice. “Woah there mom! Calm down would you? Yes and no. For the most part, yes, for the other 10% of the time I have been uh, ‘borrowing’ other people’s couches I suppose” he explained.

Tom sighed. “That’s your plan huh to get a drunk man’s sympathy and get me to let you in again?” he asked unimpressed “No no! Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t mind but of course, I won’t pressure you! For fucks sake I wasn’t even the one to start this whole thing you pulled me in a fucking alley remember?” he accused the shorter. “Ok, then we can work with this since I’m not completely lacking empathy, unlike others. I’ll ask Edd. BUT that doesn’t mean I’m ok with this.” He jabbed his finger at Tord.

“I haven’t forgotten what you did, and neither did the others. You will have to pay for the house and-“ he jabbed his finger in Tord’s side once again, but stopped as the man winced "Faen" he muttered. “Uh, you ok there?” Tom asked warily. “Uh y-yeah why wouldn’t I be” Tord said with obviously fake confidence, his accent becoming more prominent. “Tord” a pause “...Yeah?” “Are you hurt?” Tom asked.

Tord streched his arm back “Well, uh, a little bit I suppose” he shrugged “ A gun has its weak points I guess” he muttered. Tom sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since they came here. “Get up, we’ll discuss this with the others…” Tom got up, followed by Tord, and they started heading ‘home’ if you could call it that now. This was going to be brutal.