Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The alarm woke him up as it did for the last 12 years.
A simple short blast, that was sure to wake you from the deepest sleeps.
Stretching, he clambered out of bed, he neatly made the bed tucking in the corners, how they liked it.
counting the seconds and minutes in his head as he went.
It took him 1 minute and 23 seconds to make his bed today, a new record!

He did his business, making sure to wash his hands in the small metal sink across from his bed, and put on his jumpsuit, which had a hole for his tail and a large hole in the back for when his wings were going to grow in, not long now only approximately 5 days and 3 hours.

His room, number 346, had been the same one he had for the last 12 years, it consisted of everything he needed, the room was square, with white walls, floor and ceiling. There was his metal sleeping cot in the corner, with its thin mattress, grey pillow and single blanket and sheets. The blanket had dwarfed him as a kid, and now it barely covered his knees. The only other things were the metal washbasin and toilet that sat in the corner of the room across from the door, opposite to his bed.

the two security cams in opposite corners that covered the whole room blinking every 5 seconds 24/7, and the light that never really went out only dimmed down at night for them to maintain a good sleep schedule.

They had their allotted 4 hours of sleep, that was more than enough, apparently in the wild, hybrids only slept for 2 hours. They were lucky to get double that.
Tommy stifled a yawn as he counted down the seconds until the door would open for morning exercise.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
The door slid open with a ksssh.

Xx——xX

He stepped out of the room, lining up in front of his door next to his neighbours, a goat bee hybrid at 345, and an enderian variant ender dragon hybrid at 347. They exchanged a quick glance in their peripheral vision, all careful not to move their heads a millimetre.

A second alarm, 10 seconds after the doors opened told them to walk down to morning exercise
They all turned in unison and walked in two lines to the exercise room. On the way they grabbed their morning water bottle from the dispenser.

Entering the room they quickly fell into rhythm, stretch, hold, strain, run on the spot, jumping jacks, burpees, plank, drink his water to replenish what he sweated out
He allowed himself to drift, the movements came so easily that he didn’t have to count. Instead he watched, this and meal times were the only times to really see anyone else.

He was part of B wing, B wing consisted of all hybrids with two different animal traits, no matter what percentage each held.

A wing was the largest with all the single animal trait hybrids,

C wing was the smallest, some think it doesn’t even exist. But every now and then a hybrid from B wing would manifest another trait and get carted off to C wing.

These were usually replaced with young outsiders or A wing residents who had flown under the radar and manifested another trait.
They were further segregated by age,

Hatchlings; the 0-5 year olds that required almost constant care, and are usually rescued from the outside, they wear blue jumpsuits
it’s common knowledge that hybrids abandon their juvis and leave them to fend for themselves which is another reason why the facility is the best.

Juveniles; or Juvi’s the 6-10 year olds which get to spend most of their day learning. They wear green jumpsuits
There aren’t many Juvi’s that come in from the outside, but the ones that do are almost always injured and look sad all the time. But they become happy quickly once they realise how great the facility is.

Adolescents; or Ado’s, 11-15 year olds, when you’re an Ado you’re most likely to manifest your hybrids along with your bodies normal changes. We wear yellow jumpsuits, There’s barely any chance of seeing an Ado come in from the outside, this is because they rarely survive past 10, it’s a shame really. He was part of this group, at 14 he was a couple years off the final group.

Graduates; or Grads are 16-20, grads wear red jumpsuits. when they graduated they got to do lots of important jobs. In this age range they would be assigned a job and trained for that job so they could be the best when they graduated. He hoped he could get a job with 345 and 347.

another alarm sounded for the end of exercise, right on schedule. They got back in their lines and marched the 100 steps to the meal hall, on the way depositing their water bottles.

Xx——xX

They collected their trays from the dispenser which held their breakfast, a nutrition bar and another cup of water to wash it down. They sat down in order so he got to sit next to 345 and 347 as he had done for every meal, every day for years.

He had met 345 only a year after his own arrival he had just arrived and had yet to understand the system here, as 345 hugged him in the playroom. 345 got an hour of reflection for that, but he couldn’t forget how that hug felt, when he found that they were neighbours and would hopefully be together until graduation he could barely contain his excitement, but he had to as he didn’t want to go on reflection either.

Any kind of physical contact was banned, as well as any outward show of emotion or instincts, as if they did any of these it would cause them to become violent and kill people, because that’s just what hybrids did.
They were monsters, violent and cruel, they abandoned their children and were slowly dying out. But that’s what the facility was for.
The humans were their saviours of course.

why wouldn’t they be.

347 came in later and quickly joined the duo, 347 was and still is forgetful, something happened on the outside before he came that caused his memory problems, the humans didn’t like this. But 347 was special, an ender variant with dragon traits.

They didn’t like differences, but they liked 347.

Nobody wanted a hybrid with mangled features

Or even worse one who didn’t listen and gave into their instincts.

He had learned that very early on.

Scars could be covered with concealer for inspections,
Bad behaviour had to be corrected.
Broken things fixed.
That’s why he was here.
That’s why he and everyone else were all here.
They needed to be fixed.

Xx——xX

The next alarm broke him out of his reverie as they waited in their seats to be collected, now empty trays neatly in front of them.
The first guards and doctors had arrived and so it was time for them to be taken to their first session of the day.

He started counting again, it usually took 5 minutes for the guards to collect him for his morning session. Probably a doctor visit given the fact his wings were soon to come in and he had been on his best behaviour.
5 minutes and 10 seconds later his guard came to escort him to his appointment before collecting the next hybrid. Another had come up for 345.

“You may speak” the guard said robotically.
“Permission to stand sir” he replied.
“You may stand, collect your tray and follow.” The guard turned to allow him to get up and collect his tray
This was the same script as usual, and came quite easily to him.

He followed the guard as he did every morning to his session, dumping his tray in the bin on the way out.
They spent the two minute walk in silence to the doctors wing, the walls were the same blank white walls as everywhere else in this building. Every 8 steps they would pass another door. The guard stopped, and he stopped right behind to attention.
The guard swiped his card and the door swung open slowly.

The guard turned to him again “you may speak.”
“Permission to enter sir”
“Permission granted.”
He again stepped aside letting him walk into the cool room.

Doctor Dream looked up from his computer and turned to the two with a smile, his mouth was obscured with a white mask with a thin black smile drawn on, but the corner of his eyes crinkled slightly.
The guard quietly closed the door behind him and left.

It was just him and Dream now.
“Hey Tommy” he said cheerfully
“Permission to speak sir” he replied.
Dream sighed, and he flinched slightly “you don’t have to call me sir here.”

A dark room. Electric currents flowing through his body. Him convulsing and blacking out as unforgiving straps held him down. “You will respect me!” A smiling white mask.
The shocks stop. “Say yes sir.” He sniffled.
“Y-yes sir”
“Yes sir!”
“Yes sir” he choked out

“Tommy, Tommy! You with me?” Dreams voice shouted at him.
He snapped out of it and looked at Dream, who was now standing a lot closer.
“Sorry Dream.”
Dream sighed again, but went back over to fiddle with a set of tools. “Tommy, can you sit on the examination table for me.”
“Yes Dream” he replied softly.
The fabric covering the mattress crinkled under him and felt weird against the fur on his tail.
Dream still had his back turned, finishing setting up his equipment. “How has your back been feeling?”
“It’s fine.”
“No pain yet?”
“Not that I can feel” his back had been slowly getting more sore, but it was barely noticeable.
Dream grabbed his tray and began walking over “lay on your stomach for me.”
He complied, shuffling a bit to where he was fairly comfortable, he looked over to where Dream was, as he put down the tray on a small table.
“I’m just going to have a look ok, this won’t hurt.” Dream began poking around his back with cold latex gloves. The skin on his back twitched with the sensation.
Dream moved up to where his wings were situated, under his skin, they were now clearly outlined, a raised bump on his back that warranted the new uniform.
Dream poked the end of the wing and he felt it shift under his skin, followed by a flare of pain that arced up and down his back. His tail reflexively flicking and hitting Dream in the side. He bit down on his cry, choosing instead to bite his bottom lip. Tears pricking his eyes
Dream only hummed, pinning down his tail and moving his hand further up the wing.
The pain only got worse. He let out a cry, back arching in pain.
Dream stopped.
He froze. Heart racing a million miles an hour.
“Tommy. I didn’t want to do this, but you aren’t complying here. I want you to sit still, is that too hard to ask. Look, this shouldn’t even be that painful. So stay still.”
Dream poked around more and he struggled to not move.
It looks like your wings are going to come out now so instead of waiting for them to sprout, where they could get damaged or broken on the way out. We’re going to do this here and now. I’m not very busy today and we can both get this over and done with.”
“Dream wait” he cried
“What.” He snapped, all cheeriness from earlier gone.
He tried to choke out that he didn’t want to do this now, that he was scared, that he knew it was going to hurt, but before he could string a sentence together, Dream interrupted.
“Look Tommy. It’s either now and you get your pretty wings out and you don’t have to worry about getting them out yourself. Have you seen what a normal wing sprout looks like?” He walked over to his desk and picked up an IPad “stay there” he tapped the screen a few times and walked back over to him, he turned the screen around and pressed play.
The video showed another avian, this one a full hybrid screaming as their wings ripped large holes in their back as they forced their way out. The video ended and he looked back at Dream.
“If you’re good I’ll give you some pain meds and you can have the rest of the day off to rest ok.”
He nodded silently, laying his head back down. Counting the seconds as Dream fussed around, Dream exposed more of Tommy’s back, undoing the buttons that kept the back panel isolated, and isolating his wings with a blue sheet.
He was fine laying there drifting until Dream grabbed his ankle. He froze up, realising what was happening as he strapped one leg down then the other. Dream roughly grabbed his tail, tying it to his right leg so it couldn’t move. Dream continued up, strapping down his hips, just above his tail, and chest just below his armpits. Finishing by strapping his wrists down too.
It hit him all at once, Dream wasn’t going to use the pain numbing stuff like some of the other doctors that made him sleepy.

He wasn’t getting anything.

Dream placed a gloved hand on his head, ruffling his hair and stroking his ears. “You better be pretty quiet, because otherwise we’re going to have to stop in the middle of it and I’m going to take even more precautions, and neither of us want to do that,do we?”
He shook his head as much as he could, and Dream got the message, lifting his hand off of his head.

“I’m only doing this because you were bad and moved before and I don’t want to slip.” He traced a hand down his back as he did, at slip his hand ‘slipped’ cutting an imaginary line across his kidney.”
Tommy could do nothing now but wait and hope he could drift off again.

Dream applied a cold liquid to his back that made his whole body shiver. And picked
a scalpel off the tray, Tommy watched it as it left his field of vision. Waiting for it to touch down on his back.
1… 2.. 3-

It burned.
It burned like fire, dreams hands were bad enough, but this was a million times worse.
His whole body convulsed involuntarily, as the pain worsened. He bit down on his tongue, drawing blood and filling his mouth with the taste of metal.
He counted the seconds that the blade cut skin. For 10 gruelling seconds the blade tore through the exposed tissue of his back.

The incision was spread open with another tool which he could barely see due to the tears that filled his eyes and streamed down his face, Dream put the scalpel back down and pulled the wing out.

He made an interested noise, manipulating the wing in his hands which caused even more pain, from the rough hands that dug into the raw new skin.
After a minute he dropped the wing, which twitched feebly as a heavy weight on his back. The pain was only worsening as warmth seeped from the wound. And his mind finally began to become foggy and drift.
He watched as if floating as Dream cut the other wing out and pulled it out.
Grabbing both he mimicked the wings flapping. From his vantage point he could see how the wings were practically draped over the edge of the examination table, and how blood dripped onto the floor, pooling and running into a drain on the floor.
At some point he had stopped floating and instead had the sensation of falling through an empty void.

Xx——xX

He woke up on his bed, wings now roughly draped over him as he lay on his stomach.
He stared at the wall for a good while. His mind still full of fog and cotton.
He eventually passed out again, drifting in and out of a dreamless sleep. this went on for a while, at a few points he was aware of the lights dimming and brightening, and multiple alarms, but he couldn’t move. He just stared at the wall.
He was vaguely aware of the door sliding open and multiple figures entering. He wondered what they were doing and if they were going to help with his thirst, but he merely passed out again.

Chapter Text

-Mmy… tommy…Tommy!
He gasped, eyes flying open, he was lying on his back, hooked up to beeping machines, Dreams worried face hovering above his own, slowly coming into focus.
“Dream” he croaked, trying to sit up, his back was all pins and needles, prickling uncomfortably as he shifted.
A firm gloved hand pushed him back down onto the mattress.
“Thank goodness you’re ok Tommy, you almost died.” Dream said, brushing the hair out of his eyes.
“Wha-, what happened?” His throat was dry and scratchy, and it hurt to speak.
“Your wings sprouted unexpectedly but I was able to save both of them, but you lost a lot of blood.” Dream spoke matter of factly.

He tried to remember what happened but his brain was still full of cotton and any thought drifted away like the steam from the kitchens.
As if to answer his next question a straw was pressed to his lips, and he sipped the cool water hungrily, Dream quickly pulled the water away again,
“Small sips Tommy.”
He was given the water again and he sipped slower as Dream began talking again.
“So it seems like your hybrid traits are really coming in, do you know what comes with your traits Tommy?” Dream asked, checking his vitals.
“Instincts.” he replied, having finished the water.
“That’s correct, and what do instincts do?”
“They cause you to be bad, and act out which is bad.”
“Good, and in what ways do hybrids act out that are bad?”
“They make funny noises, do destructive things, they don’t listen, they touch others, or don’t let others touch them, they make nests or burrows, they steal, they’re loud, they disturb humans. And most of all they aren’t being good hybrids, because good hybrids don’t indulge in their instincts.” He rattled off.
he had remembered the whole thing as that’s all they had learnt about in school for a month. He still remembers the horrible videos of really bad hybrids indulging in their instincts and ruining everything for the nice kind humans who were only trying to help. One hybrid even bit one of the humans.

“Very good Tommy, you are going to, whether you like it or not, develop these traits, and we’re going to help you, to make sure you don’t indulge in these terrible instincts.” Dream answered, removing the multiple sticky sensors from him and packing up the equipment.
“Do you know what happens to hybrids who choose selfishly to indulge in their instincts?”
He nodded, he knew this one as well. “They get put in The chair, to fix them.”
“And if they still continue?”
“They’ll get dunked, or shocked and put in observation until they’re all better.”
“Perfect, well Tommy, that’s everything for now, you can head back to your room, dinner is in an hour.”
Dream helped him sit up and stand up, his legs still shaky, and new wings adding another factor to the table. He made his way over to the door, balancing with the door frame, as he waited for it to slide open.
“And Tommy.” Dream called out.
“Yes Dream?”
“If you do feel your instincts coming on just keep thinking, ‘I will not indulge’ alright.”
“Yes Dream.”

Xx——xX

He walked alone down the empty corridors back to his room, his bare feet padding on the cool white floor.
He quickly found his door and walked up to the scanner, bending down slightly so it could see the chip in his collar, with a beep and woosh the door slid open and he walked inside.
once inside they could only be opened from the outside, it was for their safety of course, if something went wrong they would be perfectly safe inside the self contained rooms. The door also had a slot for food and water if they needed to be in isolation.
Walking over to the washbasin, he looked at himself in the distorted metal,
Dark patches had formed around his eyes, and he brushed his cheek feeling the short, soft fur that now covered a third of his face, the fur had also begun to thicken on his tail, legs and chest, the fur was a golden brown, slightly darker than his golden hair.
He shifted one of his wings around so he could look at the end of it.
It tapered to a point and was covered in a slowly thickening layer of soft fuzzy down.
Stretching the wing out it was already longer than his arm, and he would not be surprised if it got bigger.
He turned to his bed, as it was the most comfortable place in the room to wait for dinner.
He had a sudden urge prickle up his spine, his bed wasn’t right, it needed fixing, he needed to move the sheets here and the pillow over there-
No, No, No! He was about to indulge in his instincts if he hadn’t already.
He shuffled away from the bed into the far corner of the room crouching down in the corner of the room, clutching his head, wings feebly shielding his eyes from looking at it.
I will not indulge.
I will not indulge.
I will. not. Indulge!
He didn’t know how long he sat there repeating the mantra over and over in his head.
But eventually the alarm for dinner rang and he went out as he always did.
He calmed himself down by counting,
1,2,3… 6,7,8,…21,22,23…

He eventually made it, collecting his food and sitting down next to 345 and 347.
There was a crash and something, rather someone slammed into his knocking him to the floor. A piglin avian hybrid twice the size of him, eyes red and hungry as he grabbed at his hair and wings.

He shrieked, and before he could stop himself, terrified chirps bubbled up his throat and spilled out his mouth. This only seemed to encourage the other, who slammed him onto his back wings trapped under him, with a hand wrapped around his throat.

the Piglin suddenly squealed, going stiff before collapsing.
A jolt ran through his collar and he let out a cry, his teeth clicking shut and his body involuntarily convulsing. All that ran through his head was fear, fear, fear.
The shock stopped and he just lay there panting heavily, the other hybrid beside him, still convulsing, the smell of burning flesh filling his nose, before they too lay still. It was only then Tommy realised that the larger hybrid was squishing his tail and one of his wings below their body. The rest of the room is quiet. 345 and 347 looking down at him, looking on the brink of indulging.

That’s when it hit him,
like the piglin had not a minute earlier. He had indulged.
He had indulged, that’s why he had been shocked, he had been bad.
He had been very bad.
Hands grabbed him and roughly dragged him up, taking no care for his trapped wing or tail. His mind was blank as he was dragged out of the room, his feet barely brushed the floor as he was taken away from everything.
His whole body ached, head to toe.
He knew this was only the start and a pit of dread had opened deep in his stomach.

Xx——xX

He was dragged into a new room and shoved into a chair, wings awkwardly squashed behind him.
It took him a second, but Dream and two others stood in the room.
“346. Why am I not surprised?” Dreams' words were cold, no hint of a smile behind his mask, only blue-green eyes that flashed a dangerous shade of bright green. “I thought you could control yourself better. Looks like we’re going to have to start treatment right now, hmm.”
He was at a loss for words, Dream only called him 346 when he was really mad, he shrunk in on himself, wanting to disappear into the cold blue cushions of the chair.
The guards left with a wave of Dream's hand.
“Sapnap.” Dream gestured towards Tommy,
Sapnap strode forward and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him out of the chair and out of the room. And down the hall, into another room. Dream and the other man followed.
Inside this one the walls were black and a single chair sat in the middle facing a large screen.
As he got closer with the overhead lights turning on due to their presence, he noticed the chair was modified with hybrid limbs in mind and had restraints for the arms and legs.
He didn’t try to fight the inevitable, that would only lead to more pain.
Sapnap sat him in the chair and he moved his wings and tail to fit through the holes in the back, he sat still as Sapnap fiddled with the back of his collar, not making a sound as he tugged on the fresh burns, with a noise of success he hooked the back of his collar to the chair, proceeding to restrain his arms and legs and adjust the seat.
Tommy felt Dreams hand on his shoulder, fingertips digging into the flesh there.
“George, can you set up the projector?” Dream said casually. Hand releasing it’s tight grip on his shoulder.
“On it.” Came the voice from the one who was apparently called George, who had moved out of his field of vision and was fiddling around with something in the background.
“Look at how those feathers are growing in.” Dream commented to sapnap, grabbing one of his wings and manipulating it in his hands.
“Yeah.” Sapnap agreed offhandedly, adjusting the headrest so his head could only face the screen, and attaching sensors to his skin.

The screen flickered to life, on it a picture of another avian holding an unseen child and smiling at the screen.
Flock? He thought.
A small jolt rippled down his spine.
The image changed again, a snarling face took up the screen, teeth bared, ears pinned back, full eye contact. He let out a small chittering chirp, shrinking back into the seat. A larger shock, that caused his hands and wings to involuntarily flex.
Another image, another indulgence, another failure…
Again and again and again.
He screamed and chittered and chirped, thrashing around like an animal, like a misbehaving hybrid. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with snot and spit that trickled down his chin and spilled onto his top.
“You’re nothing,” a voice whispered in his ear.
Hands expertly preened the pin feathers on his wings, the images didn’t stop, they changed, photos were replaced with videos, sounds, smells.

He stopped fighting it, the scent of burning flesh filled his nose and choked his throat.
He slumped down, and watched everything slowly flicker by, he faded out of reality and into the safety of nothingness, floating around like a dust mote in the air.
He distantly felt that he was being unrestrained, hands wrapped around his shoulders and he was dragged away into the abyss.

Xx——xX

He was brought back to reality by cold water splashing over back to reality like a harsh tug on his tether to consciousness, he came to on the tiled floor of the shower, now soaking wet from ears to tail.
The cold water relieved the burns slightly, but the pain was still there, a dull ache that pulsed with his heart.
There was no attempt to dry him off, they simply grabbed him, after a few moments of trying to get him to stand, they resorted to just dragging him out of the showers and down the halls. The water left a streak behind him and he watched it with a detached fascination.
Although the shower was cold, warmth pooled under the metal collar and spilled out under the edge down his front.
He was unceremoniously dropped, his head hit the floor and he came back into reality. Sitting up slightly, he watched as the guards opened a small door, all that laid inside was gaping darkness.
One of the guards kicked him towards the open door. “Get in the crate mutt, it’s where your kind belongs.” The guard snarled.
At his hesitance, the guard kicked him again, and he scrambled into the crate, to escape the pain.
As soon as he was inside the door shut with a bang.
He heard the lock turn and he was left in the darkness.
Feeling around he was in a box that wasn’t big enough to fully sit up in, let alone stand up, and too short to lie down.
He was currently facing the wall opposite the door.
The whole box smelt of fear and waste, left by the previous trapped hybrid.
After many attempts he managed to twist around to where he was facing the door.
His throat was dry and scratchy from crying and screaming and the pain in his neck worsened by the second.
The entire box was freezing, cold recycled air blasting his back and wings, his knees hurt from the harsh floor, and his legs and stomach aches from where he was kicked.
Searching the door he found it was mostly smooth metal, apart from a single metal straw that poked out, feeling the end, cold water dripped down.
He sipped at the water greedily, it provided some respite to his throat, but only exacerbated how cold he was, he was shivering.

He started counting to pass the time, when he got to 127 a high pitched painful whine started. He clapped his hands over his ears, but that barely made a difference.
He bashed his head against the walls until spots appeared in his vision and screamed, and chirped, and chittered.
His collar shocked him again and again, until finally he collapsed, the whine not ceasing.
Silent tears slipped down his face and his nose ran.
He couldn’t even sit in a box quietly.
He was just a stupid, selfish, indulgent mutt of a hybrid.

They were all right.

Xx——xX

An unknown length of time passed, the lights remained off. The whine continued and he was given no food.
He was in a constant state between awake and asleep.
His extremities had long gone numb, and he was soiled, a mix of blood, snot, tears, and his own waste covered him.
The door opened with the creak and scrape of metal.
He stared at the boots that stood in front of him.
They didn’t try to pick him up this time, apparently in the time he had been trapped in that dark box they had gotten new tools.
Instead something clipped onto his collar and he was just dragged out, the metal rubbing against the raw festering skin.
He didn’t have the energy to stand so he was just dragged along
An image popped into his mind of him playing with a strange looking object on wheels, the object fell over and was dragged behind him as he ran.
He felt like that, a broken childrens toy, pathetic and impractical. No wonder he was getting this, he deserved it.
He was dragged into the showers first, for another cold soaking
Then back into the dark room.
As he was strapped back into the chair, Dreams face appeared in front of him, smiling. “Hello Tommy, you do better than you did last time and I’ll give you this bar okay.”
He simply nodded, not even having the energy to speak.
“Good boy” Dream stood up and ruffled his hair.
The screen started up again.
He indulged again, Dream fiddled around with the feathers on his wings.
He barely noticed the sting as multiple feathers were plucked out, and the now raw spots were patted gently.
He was tired.
He didn’t know how long he could keep fighting.
Time passed, more indulgences, more pain.
The screen eventually turned off and the lights on,
Dream appeared back in front of him, bar in hand.
“You did better today, but not as good as you should have.” He broke a small chunk off the bar, and held it up to him.
He ate it greedily, too fast.
He choked on it, coughing up the dry bar.
That earned him a slap on the face and a stern look from Dream, before he was dragged Back to the box.
He knew the nether was bad, it couldn’t be any worse than the box.

Xx——xX

This process repeated again and again.
His only food being the bar that Dream so temptingly held in front of his head.
Slowly he got more and more of the bar until he finally got a full one.
“Great job Tommy, I think you’re ready to go back to your big room now, your wings won't fit in the crate at this rate, they won’t fit in your room.” He and sapnap and George laughed at the joke.
He didn’t, he knew better than to laugh.
So after a final shower he was led back to his room.
His bed was gone, only leaving the thin mattress, but he didn’t care.
He practically collapsed on top of it, passing out before his head hit the mat.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up to a blaring alarm.
He snapped awake, jumping up from where he had fallen asleep.
His legs didn’t appreciate that and he crumpled back down.
The entire room was bathed in red and an unfamiliar alarm wailed.
This only spiked his fear. His heart threatened to beat out of his chest.
And he shuffled back until he was crouched in the corner.
Hands clapped over sensitive ears, wings and tail curling protectively around him.
The very ground vibrated and the entire facility shuddered like some great beast.
Fear
Fear
Fear
Fear
Fear
It was an overwhelming feeling that made him want to throw up and rip his hair out, and curl up in a ball all at the same time.
So he did what he did best, he counted.
1, 2, 3, 4. A distant rumble, 5, 6, 7, 8…
He counted and counted…
234, 235, 236, 237…
561, 562…
There was silence.
The silence was deafening, he could hear the blood roaring in his ears and his quickened breaths.
But the world was silent.
Not even the buzz of lights or the Aircon.
Nothing.
The room was still bathed in red, a blood red haze that seemed to cling to everything.

The door slid open but nobody stood on the other side.
He hoped it was all a bad dream, and someone had just messed with the lights.
He just wanted a normal day again.
He stepped outside.
Other hybrids were also making their way out, looking equally frazzled.
Some already stood outside. Desperately trying to appear presentable to the cameras, willing their feathers and fur to smooth.
Standing in front of his door, he stole a glance to 345 and 347.
345, looked like he was going to crack at any moment, bee wings buzzing softly.
347 on the other hand was shaking like a loose sheet of paper under a strong fan, and looked like he was going to faint at any moment. He probably didn’t look much better.
The sound of footsteps caught all of their attention , and they all stood to attention, the ones who weren’t already in front of their door, quickly and quietly rushed out.
“At ease…children.” The man said in a slightly confused but impassive voice. He was a well built wolf hybrid.
Relaxing slightly at that they all looked at the man, who was standing next to a woman.He was a well built wolf hybrid, and she was a similarly built tiger hybrid.
They both wore thick long sleeves and pants with a camouflage pattern, with badges on the shoulders and chest, distinctly different to any he had seen on the Esempi soldiers who occasionally visited the premises. Certainly more blue with a lined circle and an 8 point star.
The woman spoke up. “Alright I understand that you’re all probably pretty scared, hungry and tired, but if you listen to our instructions and do as we say, you can get a good sleep and have a good bite to eat and drink, does that sound nice?” She gave a soft smile.
“Permission to speak ma’am?” They all turned their attention to a horse, avian hybrid girl. She shrunk under the attention.
“You may speak, and please you can call me Sergeant Strauss, and this is Sergeant Jennings’s.” She gestured to herself and the wolf hybrid, Jennings.
“Um, Where are we going? We’re not graduated yet, are we going to fulfill our purpose?” She shrunk away, large brown wings fluffing up with anxiety.
Strauss was quiet for a moment. She looked at Jennings who just shrugged.

“Well, what’s going to happen is that you're going to hold onto each other’s tails, hands, or wings, whatever works for you.
And then you’re going to close your eyes and not open them until we tell you too, and we’ll go outside where a nice man or woman will take off your collar so there’s no more shocks, and someone’s going to make sure you're ok.
Then we’ll get to go somewhere together that I’m sure you’ll love. And you’ll meet someone special there who has been looking for you for a long time and loves you with all of their heart, and they’ll look after you and you won’t ever have to be hurt again.”
There was a contemplative silence amongst them.
They knew better than to ask any more questions.
347s tail flicked up into his hands and he grabbed onto it, flicking up his tail for 345.
They started moving forward and he closed his eyes.
It felt strange walking with his eyes closed. Like he was about to bump into something at any minute. 347s tail was a comforting presence in his hands.
Going around corners proved a new challenge, with the sway of the tail, he didn’t know how far off 347s centre he was, he managed not to bump into anything though.
Left, left, right, left, the long winding corridors of the facilities were a maze. A labyrinth of white walls and buzzing lights. Left, right, right, right, left.
There was a hiss of a door and a gentle breeze hit his face.
The texture of the ground beneath his feet changed from smooth to something
rougher.
“You can open your eyes now.” Came Strauss’s voice.
Opening his eyes he looked around. They were in the largest room he had ever seen.
Large floodlights bathed the area in light and hid the height of the roof.
The line had slowed down considerably, and they slowly shuffled forwards.
The two rows of them walked parallel to each other, boys on the left, girls on the right.
As he got closer he could see a man hold up a strange looking device to the collar of 349, with a beep the collar came apart, and the man simply grabbed it and tossed it into a slowly growing pile of collars, next to the man, another stood wrapping the raw necks of hybrids with bandages with practiced ease.
They moved forward one by one.
With a beep of the device 347’s collar was off and he was stepping up to the other man.
He didn’t even realise it was his turn until he automatically stepped forwards and with a beep the collar was gone.
It was gone.
The cool air soothed the raw wounds.
Stepping forward again, still gripping onto the end of ranboos tail, he stood patiently, making sure not to flinch when the cloth hit a particularly sensitive area of his neck.
As 345 finished getting his neck bandaged behind him, the 3 were herded to this great metal beast, it crouched low to the ground on 4 wheels and growled.
He smothered a chirp of fear that bubbled up in his throat.
Moving alongside the beast, they were guided alongside it and up through a doorway .into it.
Going up a steep set of stairs, they were greeted with rows of seats, all the seats at the front were filled and they kept walking single file Down the aisle to the back, where there was a row of 5 seats in the back, that was still empty, they sat down next to each other, 347 at the window Tommy in the middle and 345 on his right in the middle seat.
Two more hybrids got on and took the seats next to tubbo.
A couple of hybrids dressed similarly to Strauss and Jenning’s made their way down the aisle. Handing out a bar and a bottle of water to each hybrid. As well as checking something on their seat.
They eventually made their way down to the 3.
“You kids need to put your seatbelts on.” One of the soldiers said.
At the confusion that must have appeared on their faces, he grabbed at a metal tab above 345s shoulder and pulled a strap that came down, and across his waist, to click into a small box.
“Do you think that you two can do that?” He said kindly, looking at him and 347.
They both nodded silently and twisted to grab the strap and stick the end into the box. After a few moments of struggling he and 347 managed to get it to work.
They got rewarded with a bar and water bottle.
He wanted to eat both as fast as possible, mouth already watering, but he knew better, he had seen another hybrid who had clearly not eaten in weeks eat too quickly at lunch and collapse not long after.
Seizing on the ground before they were carted away by the guards to get better.
He never saw them again.
He ate slowly instead, washing down the bar with the water.
They started moving forward with a grumble that settled into a low rumble they were off, it was a strange feeling, looking out the window they could see little more than shadows flickering past, every now and then though a bright light would flash overhead illuminating the general area.
After a while a strange noise came from the front of the vehicle.
‘The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.’ A cheery voice came through.
he looked at 345 and 347 they were both as confused as he was. Looking for the source of the strange noise.
It was like an alarm but less jarring, and more.. upbeat?
After a while and hushed conversation from the front, it changed to something without a voice, instead nice sounding noises.
He let out a sigh and sank back into the seat.
The realisation came slowly at first, then all at once, they were outside.
They were outside.
He thought it would be brighter outside.
Though maybe this is what they called night time.
Where the sun goes away and takes all the light with it. Something about planetary rotation.
He quickly lost the thought overcome with fatigue, he slipped back into a light sleep.

He awoke as they came to a stop, lights flickering on above him disturbing his sleep.
Looking up it was still dark out, but more lights illuminated the area.
“Seatbelts off.” A voice called from the front.
They fiddled around with the locking mechanism, before pushing in a red button that released the strap, which automatically flew back to where it was from.
One of the adults at the front gestured for them to stand up, so they did, carefully in unison.
Single file, from the front they got off,
By the time they could move, the front of the group was already entering a building.
Following along, they walked inside, although dimly lit the walls were colourful, and covered with different boards and posters, with unused seating lining the space.
Walking back outside on the other side they were on a platform.
A long vehicle made up of multiple carriages sat relatively quietly compared to the last one, there wasn’t as much order in the lines, less organisation, more simply finding a seat.
Stepping on, there were no “seatbelts”, only rows of seats, they walked down the middle passageway finding an empty bay with two seats on either side facing each other.
345 and 347 sat on one side, and he sat on the window seat on the other.
It was still dark out, his internal clock informed him that they would have been woken up at this time anyways, lights on, morning alarm.
There was no alarm.

As the last people filed on, the doors hissed closed and the vehicle jolted forward as it started, quickly picking up speed as it left the platform. He enjoyed the quiet, watching the land outside flicker by.

“Hello” said a calm, gentle voice.
They all snapped to attention, a tall man stood next to a trolley.
He wore dark glasses that covered his eyes, a blue grey shirt and dark grey jeans, he had fair skin and curly brown hair.
“Sorry if I startled you, my name is Eret and I’m here to help you out.” He handed out 3 clipboards with pens and a form on them.
He had seen the scientists carry them around all the time, he never thought he would ever hold one.
“May I ask what your names are?” He asked gently.
“346” he replied simply.
“Did they ever give you a name that wasn’t just your assigned number?”
He thought about whether or not he should tell him, he never really had a name, just the one Dream had given to him, one which could be taken away at any moment whenever he was bad, but it was the only other one he had. “Tommy,” he said quietly.

It’s nice to meet you Tommy.” Eret replied writing the name on a small vial with a sharpie. He pulled out a small thing that resembled a Q tip, and took it out of the packaging “So I’m going to swab the inside of your cheek with this, it’s not going to hurt at all and will only take a sec. Are you ok with that?”
Nobody had ever asked if he was ok with any procedure, these people were weird. He nodded, not wanting to upset him.
Moving over he took a swab of the inside of his cheek and put it into the vial, putting on a lid to secure it in.
“Thank you Tommy.” Eret said with a smile
He preened under the praise.
“Can you please fill out that form whilst I work on your friends.”
He nodded again, and got to work filling out the form, putting in both the name Dream had given him and his identifying code.
Continuing down he filled out the sections,
Age;14.
Allergies; slight allergy to cocoa.
Time spent at the facility; 12 years.
Any known relatives?
He paused at that question, relatives? He tried to think of the time before the facility but it was a gaping hole, a slate wiped clean.
He simply wrote; No, in the neat handwriting they beat into them until their knuckles bled and their hands shook.

“My name is Tubbo.” He looked up from his form. He finally had a name, 345 was Tubbo.
347 turned out to have a stupid name, I mean who would call their child Ranboo.
Eret finished up soon after and they handed in their forms.
“You’ll get more medical attention for your injuries once you’ve arrived, but you doing these forms now really speeds up the process. Here.” He handed them a silver foil sleeve cylinder and 3 bottles of water.
“Biscuits and water, you open the sleeve by tearing open the top, oh and you can speak freely from now on, talk about whatever you want whenever you want.” With that he smiled and left, continuing down the carriage.
“Tubbo and Ranboob huh.” He whispered, opening the biscuits as quietly as possible.
Ranboob had the gall to look offended, ears pinned back and his tail flicked irritably, “it’s Ranboo.” He whispered back,
“Ranboos a stupid name.” He whispered slightly louder
“Is not!” He hissed under his breath.
Tubbo sighed and snatched the biscuits out of his hands, ripping open the packet he stuffed a biscuit in his and Ranboos mouth, shutting them up. “We can talk for the first time in years and you two decide to argue, have you got nothing better to talk about?!” Tubbo whispered angrily, wings buzzing slightly, hooves tapping on the floor.
“He started it-“
“No-“
Tubbo glared at them and he quickly shut up and ate the biscuit.
It was the best thing he had eaten in years.
Tubbo maintained eye contact and stuffed a biscuit in his mouth.
Ranboo avoided eye contact with both of them taking a swig from his bottle.
“Do you know where we’re going?” He whispered “I mean we haven’t graduated yet, why now?”
“Anywheres better than in there” Tubbo replied quietly, and Ranboo nodded silently in agreement.
“They said they were rescuing us, hey do you guys remember when we would imagine all the wondrous things on the outside, I wonder how many are true?” Ranboo replied.
He remembered that, when they still slept in the same room with all the other kids, a chain around their ankle and security cams keeping them from leaving the light during the night, it didn’t stop them whispering and dreaming about their life and possible purpose on the outside.
“Do you remember grass? It’s a big carpet that’s all over the ground on the outside” he whispered, the same excited tone sneaking into his voice that did when they were little.
They all remembered carpet, when they were younger, sometimes they got to go up to the offices and sit there, sometimes so people they hadn’t met before could look at them, they had to be on their best behaviour because these people were important.
After years on cold hard linoleum, being able to dig one’s toes into the soft carpet was a luxury that made up for the unwanted attention from the visitors.
“That’s a lot of carpet.” Tubbo chuckled quietly. “I heard it rains cats and dogs, out of the sky, live ones!”
“What if the sun is like a big light that switches on and off?” Ranboo added.
“So it’s switched off at the moment?” He replied
“Did either of you listen in class?” Tubbo huffed,“the sun comes and goes, it disappears over the horizon and shows back up on the other side because the earth is spinning.”
“Huh, well it wasn’t really like we got to confirm that ourselves.” He replied, grabbing another biscuit from Tubbo
They continued on joking about little things here and there and speculating what’s really out there.
Eventually, the conversation died down and they all settled back into the seats, he slept lightly, jerking awake at every bump and rattle.
He slipped into a deeper, dreamless sleep.
A voice over the speaker snapped him out of any sleep, eyes popping open, practically jumping to attention, before he realised where he was and settling back down.
“All hybrid children may now disembark, we hope you enjoyed your trip. Enjoy the sun, kids.”
The voice cut off with a click.
They all slowly filed out onto the platform.
They noticed a small, slowly growing group looking towards the horizon.
Following their eyes they saw it.
Reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges pushed against a pale blue sky,
a golden orb rose amongst it all.
The Sun.
It was bright.
It was beautiful.

Chapter Text

Slowly, the sun rose up. The rays stretched out along the ground.

The warmth kissed their pale skin, it was a feeling like no other. He figured it would be an odd sight, hundreds of hybrids standing loosely together staring at the bright sun.

Those who found it odd didn’t have to dream about the sun, it was there to greet them every morning.

As the sun rose, light stretched across the ground, slowly warming them as it crept up the sky.

They watched for a while longer as the sun slowly creeped across the blue sky.

“Breakfast is ready! Come get signed in and we can have you with a nice meal soon.” A voice called over the loudspeakers.
That broke them out of their stupor, and they followed the directions of the soldiers, through another hallway, and back outside. There was no metal vehicle here, only an open floor, although the edges were cordoned off with fences. More soldiers were scattered around, directing them to a large building.They didn’t question it, they knew better than that.

A line was slowly forming that stretched out the door and snaked to where they were standing.The line moved forward at a comfortable pace, similar to that of last night.

Eventually they made their way through the double doors, onto a compact carpet not too different to the upper offices of the facility.
They reached a desk, the group split into lines to go to the appropriate groups.
A, B, C, and even a few D class lined up in front of their respective, some adult hybrids. Ranboo was first, and after 27 seconds, the woman at the desk smiled and crossed off his name on the list, giving him a purple duffel bag.

Ranboo stepped to the side and he stepped up to the woman.
A kind faced middle aged woman, her hair was starting to grey, though the feathers framing her face were vibrant, and a long furred tail flicked behind her small wings.
“Hello dear, what’s your name?” She smiled, crows feet cornering her eyes.
“Tommy- Sorry. 347-B AR.” He winced, hoping he wasn’t going to get punished too badly for this.
She simply smiled, going down the list and finding his name under Ranboo’s.
“Ah! Here you are, Tommy.” She crossed his name out and rifled around in a large pile of bags, pulling out one for him, it was red, with white straps. “Go join your friend and get something to eat, you must be starving.”
“Thank you Ma’am.” He replied quietly, and quickly hurried over to Ranboo.

Tubbo wasn’t long after, and they made their way through another set of doors into a large hall, with a hard brown polished floor.
The room was filled with other hybrids. All different species and classes filled the space, some grouped together others alone. Some were sleeping on some of the many beds that filled the area.

Walking through the rows, they found a few empty beds in the corner and put their bags down. The beds were slightly spaced apart but they silently pushed them together, an unspoken agreement they shared. Ranboo fussed with the sheets, organising them into a larger collective bed. They flopped down together, holding their bags to their chests as they stared up at the high ceiling, it was bare with metal beams crisscrossing the span with ventilation ducts snaking around.
He sat back up and assessed the room, in the opposite corner, other kids were lining up for plates of food. Across from them a hallway with an unfamiliar, yet familiar sign overhead.

He noted how most of the groups stayed within species, a sounder of piglins gently braiding each other's hair, a flock of avians preening each other's wings, a herd of hooved hybrids huddled together seeking comfort in each other. It seemed this strange outside world was where the rules came to die, all these behaviours were forbidden. But here, these children were taking part in instinctual soothing rituals from their ancestors, many years ago.

Of course there were a few rag tag groups like theirs. Mainly C and D class, though a few B’s had too much or too little of a certain trait to be welcomed anywhere else, so they had each other.

That was enough in the end.

Tubbo took the initiative in opening his bag, he gasped softly, and began carefully sifting through the contents, like it was made out of the finest glass that would shatter if you touched it too hard.

He looked down at his own red bag, he quickly unzipped it and peered inside.
Inside was a large amount of cloth, it appeared soft, he gently touched the fabric.
It was the softest material he had felt in years, softer than carpet, almost as soft as the downy feathers on his back. Gently pulling it out, it was a soft red blanket, a similar colour to the bag.

He carefully wrapped it around his shoulders, its weight comforted him deeply, he felt the tension leave his shoulders by its mere presence.

Underneath there were clothes, no more jumpsuits, but rather clothes split into two parts.
These clothes held the same bright colours as the blanket, compared to the washed out colours of the jumpsuits they currently wore.
Then he saw it, a red bandanna and accompanying it, a small red cow. It had been sown together out of soft fabrics, with large dark eyes, and small mushrooms sprouting from its back.

He quickly pulled it out and clutched it to his chest. These seemingly miniscule objects, comforted a deep part of him. A part of him that had been left empty for too long, like his stomach when he hadn’t eaten for hours and he had finally gotten his meal. Or one of the few times Dream gave him loving contact.

Tommy looked over to Tubbo and Ranboo, who were both snuggled up in their blankets and holding their own small animals. Ranboo had a small cat, black with white splotches and amber eyes. Tubbo had a fuzzy almost square looking bee, with small antennae on the top of its head.

At the very bottom of the bags were some sheets of paper, a small box, and a small book, not unlike the ones that the doctors and scientists carried around to take notes.
He looked at the papers first. It was stapled together in the top right corner. In large letters, and simple symbols, seemingly printed for all ages and species.

Guide to the reunification centre :D, the title read.
Underneath that was a list of the sections with their accompanying symbols.
Opening to the first page, there was a simple but detailed map of their current location with symbols and the accompanying words above every major landmark.

Food
Toilets and general hygiene facilities
Administration
Sleeping quarters
Visitors centre
Common room
Reunification rooms
Med bay
Emergency exits

He flicked to the next page, the paper rustling.
Why you’re here, read the title.

It is normal to feel upset or scared when you come to a new place, but you don’t need to worry. Here at the reunification centre, we aim to reconnect you with friends, family or guardians who can take care of you and help you adapt to your new life.
Here you will be provided with 3 meals a day, no matter what, a safe and comfortable place to sleep, freedom from harm and access to all proper hygiene products.

Tommy checks out all his new swag (swagger is poggers - frog).
They also get little badges to access food and shit and so they don’t have to state everything every time they want or need to do anything. (Flesh it out a bit and add your frog sparkle.✨🐸✨ -horse being horse cause canon)
Quirked up white boy with a little bit of swag, busting it down sexual style. Is he goated with the sauce?? - frog after meeting her gf >:)

Looking down at the clean new clothes, he was reminded of his current state.
They hadn’t bothered to give him a change of clothes at the facility.
He probably stank.
He sniffed his sleeve and visibly recoiled, nose curling up at the smell as he rubbed his nose quickly.
“I’m going to get changed.” He said flatly.
“Good idea” Tubbo replied, lying on his back holding the bee above him, waving it around.
“Might grab some food later.” Ranboo added, sitting in the corner, looking completely unfazed after witnessing him almost die from the smell.

He grabbed a pair of boxers, a white shirt with red sleeves and collar and khaki pants.
Walking over to the hygiene area as they called it. There were 3 doors, on the right, girls entered and exited, the middle door was for those who were not girls but were also not boys
And the left seemed to be for the boys.

Entering the boys room, he was met with utter chaos.
Utter. Chaos.

Younger hybrids running around, some in new clothes and some in the facilities clothes. Some play fighting with wet towels and dodging the incoming attacks.

The older hybrids were running between stalls and showers, trying (and failing) to not fall on the younger kids darting around.

Wings and tails flicking around everywhere, puddles growing on the floor, socks flying through the air.

Tommy-
Tommy was about to regret several life decisions.

Chapter Text

He considered joining the fray for a total of 3 seconds, before one of the older kids took one look at him and gestured with his head towards the showers.

He scurried off, ducking under projectiles and weaving around the fighters. He made it into one of the stalls and set his stuff down on a small bench to the side.

On the wall opposite the bench, there was a laminated guide to these showers. According to the guide, the curtain was for privacy, the red knob was hot water, and the blue one was cold, turning both on and adjusting changed the temperature.

Huh, whelp. He could figure this out.

Pulling the curtain across, gaining the first bit of privacy he had in what was probably years, he stripped down, and stepped down into the shower area. His wings and tails he held out behind him, wingtips just brushing the curtain.

Red hot.
Blue cold.
Got it.

He turned the red tap, and definitely didn’t yelp as hot water suddenly sprayed him. He quickly twisted the blue one to stop him from getting cooked, and was drenched in cold water. The pipes squealed and he quickly adjusted to a more comfortable temperature, melting under the warmth.

He savoured how the water washed away all the dirt and muck, he didn’t care that it caused his wounds to sting. Nothing could have prepared him for the feeling of being clean again. He scrubbed his whole body, using a nearby bar of soap to get the more stubborn parts clean.

The water quickly drenched his tail, and so he brought in his wings as well to get cleaned. He watched mesmerised as the dried blood and muck swirled around his feet and down the drain, the water pattering down on his skull, like how the scientists had described rain on a roof.

He finished up soon after, drying off with a towel he put on the fresh clean clothes. The bandages had become waterlogged and loose, so he peeled them off and enjoyed the cool air on his skin. Though his neck felt exposed, he had never felt so free.

Getting back out of the washrooms became an even bigger challenge, now in clean dry clothes and with even more kids running around he had to dodge twice as many attacks, he used his wings to shield most of his back. They had grown quite large, the end of the hand part, now reaching bottom when they were fully back. He couldn’t imagine how big they could get with the long flight feathers he had seen in the textbooks.

Xx——xX

He eventually made it out of the chaos and into the small hallway. Too focused on other things, he bumped into what felt like a solid wall.

He looked up to see a Grad piglin staring down at him.

He gulped. “Sorry- I-,” he stuttered.

“Scuse me, kid.” The piglin huffed and walked off into the washroom.

He stood there for a moment collecting himself before he hurried off towards the food area, paying more attention to where he was going.

He spotted Tubbo and Ranboo and waved at them like he had seen the scientists do at each other. Tubbo elbowed Ranboo who was facing the other way and the two waved back.

They stood in a long mixed line, they were still in their jumpsuits.

“Waddya think?” He crowed, puffing out his chest.

“Very nice big man, you don’t smell like death anymore.” Tubbo replied. Ranboo hummed and nodded in agreement

He joined them in line. A kid behind them grunted, upset at the line jumping.

“He’s with us, we all get fed enough here.” Tubbo said.

The kid behind them huffed and turned away. The line slowly shuffled forwards and soon they reached the front.

“Name, dear?” A round-faced older woman asked Tubbo, she was a cat hybrid, who had spectacles perched on her muzzle as she looked at a screen next to her. She had a name badge that read; Hello! My name is Emmie :D

“Tubboo…345.”

She peered at the screen for a few moments. “Ah, here you are, Tubbo.”

Another hybrid behind her grabbed a tray out of a stack and handed it to Emmie. Emmie passed it over to Tubbo, who stood off to the side.

“What’s your name?”

“Tommy, 346.” He replied simply

“Ah you two were neighbours, how lovely.” She turned to Ranboo. “And you must be Ranboo, that makes this simple.” The hybrid behind her grabbed their two trays and brought them over.

“Thank you, Emmie.” He and Ranboo chorused.

“No problem dearies, now go get some food in you.” She shooed them off to serve the one behind them.

They met up with Tubbo, and hurried back over to their beds to eat their food. The food was served on a light brown segmented tray and was covered with a clear plastic lid.

“What did everyone get?” he asked, noting the differences of the tray’s contents.

“I got ‘apple juice’, this beige sauce looking thing, with fruits and vegetables…? I’m not sure, big man.” Tubbo dipped a finger into the sauce and tasted it. “It’s pretty good, better than the grey shit. And a bottle of water, they really want us hydrated, huh.”

“I got… I don’t even know what half this stuff is.” Tommy says while staring at his food.

“They have little labels above the foods.” Ranboo sighs while poking at his own food.

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Tommy hums, still staring at his food.

“This beige stuff is apparently called ‘Hummus’” Tubbo replies, sipping his ‘apple juice’.

“Cool, I got a trail mix, cheese, jerky, carrot sticks and …strawberries?” Tommy sighs in confusion. “I also got this bowl and extra water.”

“I got carrot sticks, too” Tubbo swirls the carrots in hummus before swallowing them whole, no chewing.

“What did you get, boob boy?” Tommy calls out, still eyeing the bowl and water.

“Stop calling me that.” Ranboo sighs in frustration and affection. “I got ‘chorus fruit’ and this thing called jerky, as well as bread.”

They started eating, picking at the different foods.
It was good, better than the food they had been eating all these years, new flavours and textures, and smells that were all so new and different.

Tommy went to eat but stopped himself, he saw a few specks on some of the strawberries. He remembered back in school when the teacher was explaining how to make sure the food was clean and uncontaminated, as they watched a video of a smiling hybrid washing and chopping up different fruits and vegetables for their master's meal.

‘It’s not an instinct,’ he told himself, ‘it’s just making sure I don’t get sick.’ He ignored the voice in his head saying that Tubbo and Ranboo didn’t have the same.

Xx——xX

By the time they had finished their meals and dropped their trays into one of the bins, that was practically overflowing with trays already.

They wandered back over to the beds, they took one look at eachother and pushed the 3 together to make one larger bed like they had seen some of the other groups do. Gathering their blankets and toys together, they just laid there together, happy to talk about everything and nothing in particular.

They got another two trays of food similar to the others and another smaller one after the last which held what could only be described as heavenly. They had seen the humans eat this on occasion, they were never allowed any of course.

Ranboo and Tubbo also went to have showers and change out of their old clothes. By the end of the day, it was practically impossible for them to tell the difference between hybrid groups as everyone was dressed in an array of colours and patterns.

All thought about taking that final step, breaking those final few rules and preen and groom each other. None dared to though. Even in this crowd that offered safety and anonymity, they could not ignore the fear that resided.

None mentioned it when a wing or tail flicked over, none moved though. He pressed down the urge to vocalise like a lump in his throat.

knock, knock.

The sound came from the doors. A sudden silence fell over the group, everyone suddenly on edge.

The doors open swiftly, and in walks one of the women from the check-in, she was a hybrid like them, but that didn’t quite lessen their fear.

“Hello, everyone! It is time for bed, as we have a very busy day tomorrow.” She says to the quiet hall, where all the hybrids sat quietly avoiding direct eye contact, not elaborating on what the “busy day” entails.

She smiles at the group, and then promptly turns to some of the Grads and Ados. They look at her wearily.

“You’ll be in charge of making sure the young kids actually fall asleep, and turn off the lights, if that’s alright?” She says in a calm voice. The group of Ados and Grads nod.

Even though it seems this place is different, it’s comforting how some rules still carry over. He ignores the knot of anxiety as he settles down in his bed, Tubbo and Ranboo do the same, getting comfortable and settling in. He hears the rest of the hybrids do the same.

One of the Grads promptly turns off the lights, and the hall plunges into darkness. All around, he can hear the sounds of breathing, shuffling, and sheets rustling.

Tommy soon falls into a restless sleep, his body rejecting any attempt to be unconscious and exposed, the other problem was trying to get comfortable with two massive fuck off wings on his back that rustled around whenever he moved and itched from where all the new feathers were growing out.

He eventually settled for laying awkwardly on his side, where he got some respite and drifted off.

Xx——xX

The morning went by quicker than expected, time seemed to have no meaning. Stuff just happened, sure there were events and order, but they suddenly had time to themselves.
Which meant stray thoughts, bouncing around his mind and taking up space.

Tommy didn’t like thinking, it made him feel ways that twisted his insides into knots and jumbled around in his head in fear and guilt ridden clumps.

So he spent his time talking to Tubbo and Ranboo instead, about anything and everything, The patterns on the floor, the new clothes, the outside, the sun, what the hell “Reunification" meant.

Ranboo and Tubbo replied best they could, all too eager to fill in the silence with banter and quick remarks.

The banter was cut short however, by a tall adult hybrid approaching them. He had green hair and a gold vest, with a name badge that read “Hello :D, My name is Sam!” He was a creeper hybrid, a large respirator filtering the air he exhaled.

“Hello, Ranboo was it?” Sam said cheerfully, looking at Ranboo. Ranboo looked like he had been caught indulging and froze. Ranboo nodded slowly and carefully, averting his eyes.

“You’ve got a medical checkup-“

That was all Tommy needed to hear to let out an animalistic hiss, baring his teeth at Sam. Instantly, Tommy realised his mistake as he shrunk back, hoping to anyone who was listening or even cared that Sam didn’t notice.

Sam noticed.

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

Dream would have hit him for even uttering the word, but it was in his head, so it was fine, unless Sam could read minds.

Fuck, what if he’s reading his mind right now.

Tommy looked up. Sam was a lot closer now and had a concerned look on his face.

“Tommy, I’m not going to hurt you, or your friends. I’m just going to make sure you’re all ok.” Sam said gently. The pain and fear that screamed in his mind begged to differ.

“You’re really brave ok, why don’t the three of you come in at the same time, it’s just me and my friend Ponk, there are no scary chairs, or cages, or drugs that make you unable to move, there’s no hitting or yelling. I promise you, and if I do any of those things you can bite and kick and scratch me as much as you want.”

“Until you’re dead?” Tommy asked tentatively.

“If I’m that bad, then yeah.”

Tommy, for the first time at a stranger, grinned.

It was a ridiculous thing, that probably looked even more stupid then he knew.

“Tommyyyyyy,” Tubbo tugged on one of his wings. “I know you’re scheming when I see that look, and you should cut it out.”

Although, Tubbo also did nothing to hide the twinkle in his eyes.

Ranboo untangled himself from where he sat in the corner. and they followed Sam out of the main hall.

Xx——xX

They walk down the halls and eventually reach a simple grey door, the door was ajar showing a small room with a bench, desk and a few chairs with medical supplies scattered about.

Sam pushed open the door and led them inside.

The distinct lack of restraints and scalpels eased his nerves slightly, and he felt like he could breathe more.

A short statured man sat behind the desk, he wore a red mask, his features were distinctly human, but sat on the edge of hybrid traits

“Hello!” The man said cheerily, “you must be Ranboo, my name is Ponk.”

Ponk turned towards him and Tubbo, smiling at them. “And you must be his friends,” Ponk paused and looked back at his computer screen for a few seconds and then back to them.

“Tommy and Tubbo, it’s very nice to meet you all. Why don’t you three have a seat in the chairs and we’ll explain the process here.” Ponk said as he washed his hands and grabbed a clipboard.

They awkwardly nodded and sat down in the mismatched chairs, Sam remained standing in the corner.

“What about Sam?” He said eyeing Sam defiantly.

Both Ponk and Sam chuckled. “Sam can go sit on the bench.”

Sam nodded solemnly resigned to his fate, and awkwardly scooched up onto the bench.

“So, this is just going to be a general checkup, since you all still have your medical records we don’t need to do anything invasive today. We’re just going to check you over and treat you for any injuries you may have as well as prescribe you some different medications and balms for your individual needs-”

Ponk shuffles a pile of papers around, looking for files.

“-so, who wants to go first?” Ponk looks up after pulling up three separate files for each of them.

“I’ll go first,” Tubbo spoke up hesitantly, breaking the silence.

“Alrighty Tubbo, so for starters… I’m just going to have you step onto the scales over here.” Ponk said while gesturing to a flat, grey box on the ground. “This will tell me how much you weigh.”

Tubbo nodded, standing up and walking over to the scales, carefully stepping up with cloven hooves. After standing there for a few seconds, the box made a soft ding. Ponk leaned over to have a look at the tiny number displayed there.

“40.85kg, alright, now Tubbo, could you please follow me over to the height chart on the wall.” Tubbo nodded and followed him over to a chart on the wall, different lines for each height.

“149 cm, that’s fairly average- if a bit short for your hybrid traits, that’s alright though.
So Tubbo, are there any parts of your body that hurt or bother you.” Ponk said gently.

“Yeah, uh, mainly my neck, my hooves, and here.” He gestured to the two horn nubs that had started to poke out from his unruly hair and the right side of his face where the scar tissue from the accident still remained, stretching the skin taught.

“That’s very understandable Tubbo, as your horns grow in there’s going to be some pain associated with growing new bone and keratin out of the top of your head. We can get you some ointments to help with those. As for the other things, can you please sit on the bed for me?” He said shooing Sam off and banishing him to Tubbo’s chair.

Tubbo nodded and sat up on the bed as he slowly kicked his hooves, the paper crinkling underneath him when he scooched around .

“I’m going to have a closer look at this scar and your neck first, is it alright if I touch you?”
Tubbo nodded, gazing past Ponk’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Tubbo.” Ponk moved the hair away from Tubbo’s eye and shone a light in it. “So it seems you haven’t sustained any major damage to your eye, I’ll refer you to an optometrist who will take a closer look at your eyes.”

He looked over the scar, “I’ll also get you a referral to a specialist in facial scars who can help you with the pain and tightness.”

“I can help you with your neck though, so first I’m going to put on some antiseptic cream which is going to sting a little and be cold, but will help reduce the swelling and risk of infection.” Ponk grabs a small tub of antiseptic cream and gently applies it to Tubbo’s neck. He flinched back from the sudden cold and Ponk apologised instead of scolding him which was new.“Now I just need to wrap your neck with these bandages to help it heal.”

“And now I’m going to check your hooves…” Ponk checks the top and bottom of the hooves. “Looks like your hooves have started to become too long. which makes them painful to walk around on, so I’ll make sure to refer you to a farrier, who is going to make your hooves more comfortable to walk on.” Ponk smiles at Tubbo, eyes crinkling at the corners as he pats Tubbo back gently.

Ranboo was next, after an awkward chair shuffle Tubbo sat back in his chair and Sam sat in Ranboo’s seat next to Tubbo. Ranboo followed Tubbo’s footsteps and made his way over to the scales, stepping up onto them.

“Thank you, Ranboo.” Ponk says while writing down on his clipboard. Ranboo nods, looking at the ground as Ponk came over, wings hunched, drawing up his shoulders into his neck along with them.

“43.5 kilos, alrighty then-” Before Ponk could finish his sentence Ranboo was already moving to the wall, standing where Tubbo stood. Ponk looked up at Ranboos' height and gestured Sam over to help. The 3 of them froze but Sam simply lifted up the marker for Ponk.

“186.3 cm” Sam supplied as Ponk nodded while jotting down the numbers. Ranboo moved over and sat up on the bed, clawed feet and tail brushing the ground. “Does anything hurt, Ranboo?”

“Just my neck..” Ranboo said, bruises, open sores, and scars on his neck visible as he tilts his head.

“Alright, I can help you with that, can I touch your neck?” Ponk says while he studies the marks.

“Yeah, sure..” Ranboo says, a bit reluctantly.
“Ok, so this is going to be a bit cold but this will help with the pain, and stop it from getting infected.” Ponk says while holding a cream tube, same as the one he used on Tubbo.

“Alright.” Ranboo says while staring at the labels of the tube.

“Thank you, Ranboo.” Ponk gently dabbing the same cream on Ranboo’s neck.
Ranboo didn’t react, simply sitting there quietly.

‘Like a good subject..’ Dream's voice whispered in the back of Tommy’s mind. ‘..no acting up when it’s your turn, you know what will happen if you do, this is all a facade, an illusion to gain your trust. So just be a good little subject and do what you’re told.’

“Tommy!”

He snapped up and noticed that Ranboo had sat back down, neck bandaged. Ponk had that look on his face that some of the other white coats had given him, when they wanted to help but chose not too, chose instead to ignore or pity, whispers behind closed doors and pitying glances.

Dream hated that look.

He hated it too.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he stood up and walked over to the scales stepping up onto the same box.

The little red numbers climbed as he stepped up and settled on the box. Settling at 41.56.
Ponk noted down the number next to him, though whatever he said blurred together like his head was underwater.

He just went through the same motions as the others until he too sat up on the bed and Ponk asked him the same question.

It was such an innocuous question, so simple yet felt like the hardest question he had ever asked because nobody had ever asked him that before.

“My neck I guess…”He ignored the pain from his wings and paws, and the multiple bruises hidden under his shirt. The way each feather felt like a needle that went in wrong and how tired he was, how sleep dragged at him. But Tommy wouldn’t say anything about that because he knew better now than to bring such trivial things up. Ponk still wanted an answer, so he gave him one.

“Can I touch your neck, Tommy?” Ponk said, holding that same cream again.

“Yes, Ponk.”

Ponk went through the same motions and gently applied the cream onto his neck. He drowned everything out, simply existing just like they wanted him to be, because he deserved nothing more and was not allowed to be anything else.

He wasn’t back in his mind until they were sitting back down on their chairs in the corner, as Ponk was talking as he filled out details on his computer and talked about nothing in particular.
Xx——xX

They were sent back to the main hall after the checkup.

They didn’t have much time to process because they were quickly taken to another part of the centre shortly after. The space was a lot more office-like, with multiple desks and chairs scattered about and separate conference rooms with dividing walls to break up the space.

It looked not too dissimilar to the offices at the facility, although Dream had his own separate room. They were currently seated alone in the middle of the office, on hybrid inclusive chairs.

They sat there with their bags and prescriptions, everything hastily stuffed in there when they were called to the office and told to grab their things.

The woman, Hannah, (going off her name badge), who had put them here had disappeared and had been gone for the past two minutes and 36 seconds.

The only other person in here was the Horse-Avian hybrid girl, who Tommy had only seen glimpses of in his time there and who spoke up when the soldiers came in.

She sat alone, nervously wringing her hands, every now and then she would shake her head and let out a deep breath, and try to calm her breathing. Her eyes kept glancing between the 3 of them and the door where Hannah had disappeared through. They all looked up at the sound of returning footsteps to see an office lady and a much larger and older horse hybrid walk back through the door.

The horse hybrid scanned the room before looking directly at the girl and a look of recognition flashed across both of their faces. The girl didn’t hesitate to jump up and run towards the older hybrid, she leapt into his arms as they both began to cry.

For a second, Tommy felt a deep longing, he wanted that connection, he wanted to be cared about. He pushed down the thoughts as they left the room to a side room for privacy and stared at the carpet.

Hannah returned with another man, he was an Avian hybrid with black wings and blonde hair under a green striped bucket hat that he had taken off his head and was holding in his hands.

“This is Tubbo, Tommy and Ranboo. Tubbo, Tommy, Ranboo, this is your new guardian, he’s going to be looking after you until we can find your biological parents or indefinitely if we can’t.” Hanah said briskly.

There was a beat of silence, then the Avian spoke. “Hullo boys, my name’s Philza. Philza Minecraft.”

Chapter Text

Phil?

Guardian?

The whole week was getting more confusing by the second.

He glanced at Tubbo and Ranboo who shared the same subtle confusion. Tubbo flicked his ear subtly. ‘Go along with it’. They all stood up grabbing their bags and standing to attention.

Should he be crying more like that other girl, or not? Tommy didn't have parents, he wouldn't know. None of them did apparently, that made sense.

“Alright boys, have you got everything, are you ready to go?” Phil said, his cheerful demeanor a bit too much. They all nodded in unison, they had all learned it was always good to be quiet first and not to assume that whoever’s in charge wants them to talk. Phil didn’t seem too bothered by the silence and simply gestured to them to follow.

They followed in a line behind Phil, through more doors and hallways, which were filled with natural light from skylights above.

It was bright outside, they could see it as the 3 of them walked past the desk that they checked in on the first day. Now there was just one receptionist, who smiled and waved as they walked past. The doors were glass and slid open as they walked outside.

A light breeze was blowing and the ground was warm underfoot.

They were out in what he assumed was a car park, given the dark grey ground and cars.
Phil led them to a large white car, which seemed to be a smaller version of the “Bus” they rode on earlier.

The Avian opened the back door showing a row of 3 seats for them to take. He hadn’t been in a car before and so as quickly and quietly as possible he slid across the seats to the far side of the car. The seats had a space where wings and tails could slide In comfortably without them being squished.

Tubbo sat next to him and Ranboo next to Tubbo. This car also had seatbelts, which he dragged around to clip in.

“You boys buckled in back there?” Phil asked cheerily looking through a mirror into the back. They all nodded silently.

Phil smiled, crows feet wrinkling at the corners of his eyes, the car rumbled before humming to life, the entire vehicle vibrating gently like the bus.

“We’ll drop by the chemist first and pick up your prescriptions and then head straight home.” Phil moved the car around with just his hands and drove it out and onto the road with the rest of the cars. “You boys have had a hell of a week and Kristin, my wife, has got some delicious food cooking up for you.”

The car rumbled down the road, now in the daylight they could see the buildings that people lived and worked in rush past. The buildings were colourful with large signs displaying what they sold.

A mix of hybrids and humans walked the streets, none wore collars, some wore things around their neck but it seemed more decorative rather than functional.

The car turned onto a larger road. With two lanes on either side of the road going in each direction divided down the middle by a large green stretch with benches and trees dotted about.

Turning again, Phil parked the car parallel to a white and blue building with a large blue plus sign on the side, written on a hanging sign was the words Greater Pogtopia health + and pharmacy. Phil stopped the cars humming but left the screen in the middle of the dashboard on which displayed the time of 12:43pm.

“Do you boys want to wait in here whilst I get your prescriptions, I’ll leave the radio and air con on, and leave the back doors unlocked so if you want to come inside you can, but I’m guessing you want to wait out in the car.” Phil said, still pretty cheery. They all looked at each other and nodded again simultaneously, remaining quiet.

“Cool, I’ll be back in 10.” And with that he turned on the radio and closed the driver side door.
The radio was playing a calm upbeat song that soon came to an end at 12:45.

There was a shorter song before a man started speaking.

“Good afternoon, it is 12:45pm and the 15th of March, and here is all the news and weather for today. The combined forces of the Antarctic empire and its allies to the south and west have successfully been gaining ground at a rapid pace, liberating more and more enslaved hybrids every day. Over the past few months they have been taking out so-called hybrid welfare and training facilities, where children as young as 18 months with as little as 1% of their DNA being hybrid, were held against their will and raised to be slaves and indentured servants for the greater Esempi. These hybrids were suffering abuse and what can only be described as torture, at the hands of the staff.

Reports are just coming out confirming that conditions have worsened for the children in these facilities, since the whistleblowers first came out about this 8 years ago when they escaped facilities across Esempi and fled over the borders to safety.

These hybrids have been freed and sent across the borders to reunite with their families, the influx of hybrid refugees has been welcomed with open arms. In other news, the Badlands-“

The radio’s voice drowned out into murmurs, like when your head is underwater and people are talking.

Dream, the Teachers, the staff, they were supposed to be their saviours, rescuing them from their unloving parents and abuse, giving them a better life. So why was the man on the radio saying they were abused and tortured?

He was misbehaving, that was the appropriate punishment, right?

He looked to Ranboo and Tubbo, who shared the same look of quiet shock on their faces.
In a low voice barely a whisper he spoke, “let’s just do whatever Phil says, this is probably just a new system, we’ve just graduated early, right?” It was half a question, half a self affirmation.

Slowly, the other two nodded.

“We don’t get comfortable, we don’t indulge, we just do what they want us to do.”

Tubbo reached across and squeezed his hand, and he in turn squeezed Ranboo’s.

“We’ll get through this.” Tubbo whispered softly.

“Together.” They said quietly in unison.

They were startled out of their moment by the driver's door opening and Phil sitting back inside. A new song was playing and Phil hummed along with it as he placed a large bag on the seat beside him.

“We can go home now, and get you lot settled in.” Phil announced, unaware of the realization that was just dropped on their heads.

They simply silently nodded along, none wanting to speak out of turn.

Phil turned up the music and they drove out of town, slowly the buildings started to thin out as the car went down, driving on a road edged into a cliffside, looking across the valley, multiple flighted hybrids flitted in between houses and buildings, some simply riding the air currents. Tommy’s wings itched at the mere prospect.

Continuing along the road the valley widened and what was once a cliff below them smoothed out into a slope. Trees and bushes crowded both sides of the road now, the occasional driveway and glimpse of a house rushing past.

20 minutes later, they arrived at the end of the road, a large gate and fence separated the property from everything else. Leaning out his window, Phil held out a card, and with a beep and rattle the gates slowly opened.

Phil slowly drove through and as the final nail in the coffin, the gates closed behind them.

This road was less smooth than the ones outside, but still well maintained, the car rumbled as they left the thicket of trees along the fence line, revealing sprawling fenced fields on one side and a cliff face on the other. Multiple animals roamed around inside the fences.

The car rounded a corner revealing Phil’s house… and *wow.*

It was as tall as the cliffside, roughly 7 stories with a glass facade and multiple garden beds and greenery on different layers. The glass reflected the blues and greens of its landscape, blending into the environment.

“Here we are, home sweet home.” Phil said with a smile as he put the car into park under an open air, roofed structure at the side of the house.

Phil turned the car off and stepped out. Taking the cue, they undid their seatbelts and Tubbo got the left door. Awkwardly shuffling out of the, they gathered their bags next to the car.

Phil came around the side of the car to where they were gathered and gestured for them to follow him in, following in behind him, they entered the back of the house, where part of the cliff had pulled back, giving enough room to walk in through.

A welcome mat greeted them as Phil opened the door and they stepped through the threshold into the house.The first room was an antechamber with warm yellow walls and two sliding doors that led deeper into the house.

Phil closed the door behind them and the sliding door to the right opened revealing a raven haired woman with equally dark wings as Phil, that shone and shimmered with a faint purple hue, whilst Phil’s shimmered with green, She wore a long dark blue dress with gold accents.
She had a gentle smile as she addressed the 4 of them.

“Hello! you must be Tubbo, Tommy and Ranboo, my name is Kristin, why don’t we get you 3 something to eat.” She turned to Phil. “Can you go find where Techno and Wilbur are hiding, they ought to meet sooner rather than later.”

She turned back to them. “Getting formalities over and done with so you can settle in and de stress.” Kristin smiles at them gently.

Phil nodded and went through the other door across from the entrance revealing a much larger open space that was lit by the sun. He looked around for a second before with a flap of his wings, disappearing upwards out of sight.

Kristin ushered them through the kitchen, he tucked his wings and tail close, not wanting to ruin anything.
“Would you boys like a cookie?” At their apparent confusion she elaborated. “It’s a sweet, soft and crumbly treat.”

She had a kind face, the trusting kind of face that was rare at the facility, most had the fake kind smiles, ones that promised safety and freedom from pain, but were merely a facade. ‘Like Dream,’ his mind traitorously whispered.

He tentatively reached out his hand, “Yes… thank you, ma’am.” He said softly turning the cookie over in his hand.

“Here you go Tommy, you can just call me Kristin.” Kristin says, all smiles when she beams up at him.

His stomach twisted at his mistake and he turned his attention to the cookie, taking a bite, it was the most incredible thing he had ever eaten. It melted in his mouth, the sweetness tickling the back of his throat. It was heavenly.

Tubbo and Ranboo clearly saw his reaction and also politely asked for cookies, in which she was happy to oblige. His tail flicked happily as he licked the crumbs off his now slightly sticky fingers.

Phil came back not long after with who he could only assume was Wilbur and techno, one was an avian who although had all the features of an avian lacked wings with curly brown hair, round glasses and a yellow sweater.

The other was the biggest piglin he had ever seen, a brute who stood a good head taller and wider than any piglin he had seen before who had long hair tied back in a braid, was dripping with gold and wore a loose flowing shirt.

“Boys? This is Wilbur and Techno, my sons.”

His sons.. of course. It would explain why the piglin, Techno, had so much gold. Techno had a fairly nonchalant look on his face, whilst Wilbur was scowling at the 3 of them. Tommy made a mental note to stay on his good side.

“Hullo.”

“...Hey.”

“Techno was adopted, what was it- 7-“ Phil starts, noticing the awkwardness in the room.

“8.”

“Thanks, 8 years ago now, he came from a very similar situation to you, Wilbur, Techno, would you mind showing Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo around and get them settled in?”

Wilbur hissed something to Phil and Phil gave a squawk back and flared his wing slightly, he subconsciously knew it was a warning to knock off the behaviour. Even though it was directed at Wilbur he shrunk back.

Wilbur stormed off to one of the rooms on the lowest floor that branched off from the main room of the house.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Techno gestured for them to follow and they did. “So on the cliff side here we have the ground floor laundry and bathroom, you can just leave all your dirty clothes here and they’ll get washed, you’ve already seen the kitchen.” Techno didn’t say many words, and he was happy with that, Techno got straight to whatever he was saying and didn’t dance around anything.

“On the yard side there’s mine and Wilbur’s rooms, and don’t worry about Wilbur. He’s pretty harmless, and he’ll warm up eventually. This middle area’s for family stuff…” Techno said while gesturing to each room. “...First floor is mainly just Phil’s office and airspace, if you want to go into a room just knock first.”

“Next floor is more lounge space, the library and another bathroom, as well as a balcony.” Techno said as the group climbed the stairs.

“Up here is the games room, Wilbur likes to practice his music here sometimes, there are also the nets, they’re safe to lay and play on, they can even support me. You just need to be careful with your little wings so that you don’t fall. Over there is one of the rooftop gardens that Phil and Kristin like to launch from.” They looked at the large nets, and a bit of excitement filled Tommy that he immediately squashed down.

“Almost done, here’s Phil and Kristin’s room and their en suite, and the spare bedroom.”

Techno led them up to the top of the last floor. “And these two floors are your floors, do what you like with the space, we all have our own and shared spaces here and this is mainly for you 3. There’s a toilet on this floor so you don’t have to go all the way back down in the middle of the night.”

Techno turns to face them, staring at each of them. “Oh- and one last thing. You're not slaves or servants here, I’m an ex facility kid, back when they used to tag ears.” He pointed to a notch in his right ear. “They’re good people, they would never hurt you.” With that he gave them a small nod, clearly out of things to say and left.

It took a moment for him to process all that Techno had just said, it was all too much, this last week had been too much. He didn’t know what to think anymore so he didn’t think at all and simply stared out the windows at the greenery.

Chapter Text

He shook his head and broke out of his stupor.

Techno headed back down the stairs and they were left alone on the 7th floor.

Whilst everything was fairly open, there were half, full and sliding screen walls that broke up the space into more private areas. The nearest bed was behind the stairs, it was round and taking up the entire space, and covered in so many blankets and pillows he had to bite back a churr.

“This is all ours.” Tommy whispered with disbelief, glancing at the other 2.

“Doesn’t it feel like they’re just testing us?” Ranboo asked quietly

“Definitely, why would they give us all this if it wasn’t some sick test.” Tubbo said bitterly.

“Maybe they just gave it to us so they can take stuff away as a punishment.” Tommy said, memories of the exact thing happening flashing through his head.

“Two options then… 1, use everything until it inevitably gets taken away and enjoy it while it lasts, or 2, leave it untouched and sleep on the floor.” Tubbo explains to them.

The 3 thought for a moment.

“What if they get upset that we’re not sleeping in the beds?” Tommy added thoughtfully.

“We just mess up the sheets a bit so they think we are.” Ranboo pipes up.

“But what if they like everything perfect?” Tubbo shoots back at him.

“Ugh this is too much, I’m going to explore.” Tommy leaves the room swiftly, feet padding down the hall as he looks around the level. This level was fairly simple as far as this entire house went, the entire place felt warm and alive- so different from home…

…was it truly home though?

The thoughts were too big like the large abstract mural on the wall. Rich colours and large brushstrokes defined it, it was beautiful but of no help to their current predicament.

The net at the other end was a different thing entirely, made of blue rope. It stretched across to the large windows and far wall, the whole thing sunk slightly in the middle and the holes were just large enough to fit a few fingers. The rope was thick, and slightly textured but comfortable underfoot. It was clearly made with avians in mind, as there was already a blanket and a few pillows scattered around the middle.

With his flight feathers yet to grow in he decided not to risk it, and headed for the stairs to the top floor.

Tubbo and Ranboo had already headed upstairs, so he followed behind them. His arm had started to get tired from carrying his bag, so he looked around for a place to put it down. He dumped it next to Tubbo and Ranboos at the bottom of the stairs where they clearly had the same train of thought.

They hadn’t taken their things yet, and a small part of him clung to the hope it would stay that way, that this wasn’t another test.

Stairs were also new, the entire facility was built around ramps and elevators, much easier to wheel cages and beds around , rather than up and down stairs as Dream had explained.

The carpet was soft and comfortable underfoot and he had found that his clawed paws had much better grip on them than on the smooth floors of the facility.

As he reached the top floor he realised with a start that he completely forgot about all the rules they needed to follow. They were in deep trouble now. This whole thing was definitely a massive setup and they had clearly been failing.

Tubbo and Ranboo were sitting quietly together as he rushed up, they both looked up in surprise as he approached.

“We’ve broken so many rules.” He whispered nervously.

“Oh shit.” Tubbo and Ranboo whispered, whatever happiness was on their faces before was gone.

“I knew it was all a test.” Tubbo muttered bitterly.

“What do we do?” Ranboo said, twisting his fingers.

“Let’s just be cool and follow the rules and they might not punish us as much,” Tommy whispers.

“Good idea.” Tubbo nods his head.

“Why did they have to do this to us?” Ranboo says, voice trembling slightly.

“I don’t know, Ran.” Tubbo says, patting him on the back.

“I think we should keep out of Wilbur’s way.” Tommy pipes in, and the others look at him then nod in agreement.

“Kristin’s nice...”Ranboo says, a hopeful lilt in his voice.

“There’s always a “nice” one, they’re all out to catch us in the act.” Tubbo mutters gently towards the ender hybrid.

“I hate this.” Ranboo says, mood gone foul.

“What kind do they even want?” Tubbo looks back at Tommy, who just shrugs at him.

“No clue, I was supposed to be Dream’s.” Tommy says, voice with a sour undertone in it ever so slightly.

Ranboo clearly didn’t know that and looked at him shocked.

“I was supposed to be Schlatt’s.” Tubbo replied, who Ranboo turned to as well, shock written on his face.

“Mutton Chops guy?” Ranboo asks in disbelief.

“Yeah him.” Tubbo lets out a long-suffering sigh.

“They were just going to sell me to the highest bidder, I was too rare to be kept by a scientist.”
“What do these people want with us then, I mean this place screams money, so they must have paid a lot, but do they want us to do domestic labour?”
“They said there's lunch soon, maybe they’ll explain everything then.”
“I hope so.”

Xx——xX

If there was anything that could describe the way they did things, it was strange.

Everything they did was unlike anything he had known or done before. For one where he expected separate food for them, maybe some juice if they were lucky, they were met with multiple trays, like those at the centre laid out brimming with food in the centre of the table.

“Come take a seat, you can eat anything here, if you like anything in particular let us know and we can make more for you.” Phil said with a friendly looking smile.
Tommy quietly nodded and sat down. “Permission to eat sir- Phil.”

“You may eat, and you don’t need to ask, eat whenever you’re hungry and until you’re full.” Phil said, eyes filled with what looked like sadness.

“Thank you, Phil.” Tommy replied, eyes looking back down at the plate.

“I think this is a good time to go over the rules that will apply to everyone in this house.”
Phil pulled out a board and he almost sighed in relief at the sight of it.

“So this is a board which has everyone’s schedule on a weekly basis. Not everyone is going to be in the house at the same time, so we have different things on at different times.” Phil looked at the three of them, almost as if reassuring they were understanding.

“In this section you can put notes for others, food you might want, and anything you want or need. And this section on the edge is the rules-” Phil points to a section on the board with scarce writing.

“-there aren’t too many, and they aren’t too complicated but we’ll go over them together anyways. Anything in the fridge, freezer, and pantry is up for grabs, unless someone specifically claims it’s theirs, when we start shopping for you 3 you can have your own personal foods/meals as well.” Phil says, and Tommy just thinks about all that information for a second.

“There’s a basket in there for you 3 to enjoy whenever you’re hungry, it doesn’t matter what time of day or night, if you’re hungry, go eat.” Kristin pipes up with a warm smile.

“Did you get any toiletries?” Phil asks, looking around as though he’s calculating something.

“Um..” Ranboo hums, voice slightly more timid.

“You should have some in your bags, use whatever bathroom you want, we will get you your own products.” Phil says with a smile at Ranboo.

“If the doors are closed, knock and wait for a reply, same goes for any sliding doors and screens.” Techno pipes up, his voice deep and slightly awkward.

“We’re an instinct friendly household so everyone including Wilbur has very strong instincts from time to time, if one of us is making you uncomfortable let us know and we’ll deal with it.” Phil says, and Wilbur scowls when mentioned.

“Any questions?” Phil finishes his long rant.

Tommy knew that was a rhetorical question, Dream had always asked those so he stayed quiet.

“Um, no never mind.” Ranboo says quietly.
Tubbo was quiet too, the quiet where he wanted to say something, but years of knowing better than to speak, or having it beat into him.

Tommy knows the feeling, Dream had threatened to cut out his vocal cords on multiple occasions, he was very grateful he didn’t.

Tommy shakes his head. He knows better- he is better than that.

He quietly puts of the small nagging voice in his mind that screams danger.

Xx——xX

“So” Wilbur started between mouthfuls of food. “How did you get your wings?”

Tommy froze at the question and the entire table paused, cutlery stopped clinking against plates and bowls, and the entire room held its breath.

“Uh.” He didn’t want to disobey a superior but the words, the explanation, caught and died in his throat.

“Wilbur!” Phil and Kristin hissed, Techno gave him a sympathetic look.

Wilbur seemingly unfazed by this continued on ignoring everyone else at the table, eyes laser focused in on him, Tommy subconsciously sat up straighter, rotating the knife and fork in his hands to the ‘proper’ way.

“It’s those nanobots, isn’t it… the ones that can change your genetic makeup.” Wilbur studied his face for a response and he studied Wilbur’s, for a reason.

“I’m sorry sir, the finer details of the study are to be kept classified until the research is complete. Until then all public information can be found on the company website under our work.” The words clawed out of his throat and spread like a heavy blanket over the room.

The words had been drilled into him by Dream as he was paraded in front of investors.

A way to keep things…hushed.

Here they were out of place if the looks of horror were anything to go off of, his breath hitched and he clutched onto the cutlery, a lifeline desperately thin and stretched.

He didn’t get to finish his food, he realised guiltily as tears pricked his eyes and Ranboos' tail wrapped around his behind them.

Then everyone moved at once, Phil and Techno immediately started towards Wilbur whilst Kristin made a start towards the trio.

He had messed up, so many unspoken rules broken and it was all his fault, if he was lucky Phil and Kristin would only put him in solitary or slap him.

He never expected the gentle hands to meet his own, uncurling his fingers from where they dug into the metal of the cutlery and bringing them together inside her own.

“It’s going to be ok, I’m not going to hurt you.” Kristin said softly.

He wished he could believe her.

Xx——xX

They changed into the clothes they were supposed to sleep in, the softer, warmer fabrics of “pajamas”. Why they were called that and why they couldn’t just sleep in their regular clothes were strange and unanswered questions.

He had to admit that they were a lot more comfortable to wear and the fact that people didn’t wear them all the time was another strange thing.

Over the two levels there were 3 beds, all piled up with a collection of blankets and pillows.
Clutching their blankets and stuffed animals they stood in the low light in front of the first bed.

“Agreed that we’re not sleeping in the beds.” Tommy says, eyeing the beds distrustfully.

“Yup.” Tubbo says, clutching his stuff closer.

“Yeah.” Ranboo agrees, nodding his head.

“The floors carpet anyways, practically a bed.” Tommy says, shuffling around then laying down.

“Night Ranboo, night Tommy.” Tubbo says, laying down on the floor as well.

“Goodnight.” Tommy says quietly.

“See you in the morning.” Ranboo replies as the lights go out.

Xx——xX

He couldn’t sleep, he wanted the flock.

I need flock, his brain whined.

I don’t need flock, I need flock. It was a fight between his logic and his instincts, and his instincts were winning. He could hear flock. Flock needed him.

He needed flock.

Shrugging a blanket off he crawled up the stairs silently on all fours.

Flock quietly warbled and bleated, they needed each other but they needed to be quiet, others couldn’t hear, they would hurt flock.

He reached flock, flock was happy but not comfortable. Flock needed a nest,

There was an empty nest nearby and he quickly crawled into it, settling in the middle and fussing to make sure everything was perfect.

Flock joined him, nest was done, flock was together.

“Hurt.” Ranboo warbled, gently stroking his haggard wings.

“Us help” Tubbo buzzed after.

Together, the flock started on his wings combing through the feathers, he chirped happily and melted into the nest.

Flock agreed as they worked through his wings.

He chirped contentedly as they continued until they were done.

He then started combing through Tubbo’s hair with his fingers, working gently to undo the knots.

Ranboo opted for simply cuddling him, they threw their wings around each other in a way that let him finish untangling Tubbo’s hair before they settled in.

Flock became a cocoon of warmth and safety.

Flock was good, and for the first time ever the piece he was missing was filled.

Chapter Text

Hey y’all, frog and I have been working on the next chapter of the fic, but as many as you know Shubble came out about her being a survivor of abuse, although she didn’t say who it was Wilbur admitted he did it.

We are both disgusted and disappointed at Wilbur’s actions and stand by Shubble and anyone else Wilbur has hurt.
Abuse is never ok.
Frog and I have decided to continue this fic, though our update schedule will probably remain scattered and once in a blue moon.

Our fic contains and is centred around many forms of abuse and the recovery from trauma.
it’s entirely separated from the Dream Smp at this point and is just using the characters names and rough personalities, none of the characters actions in this fic are related to their real life counterparts actions.

Going off of this Wilbur in this fic and future chapters does hurt and manipulate some of the other characters in this fic.
Going forward Frog and I will further discuss C!Wilburs role in this fic and how he will be portrayed going forward.

Again this fic is first and foremost about the survivors of abuse and the process of healing from it, something that’s very close to me and my own experiences as a survivor.
Frog and I stand with Shubble and always will.

Have a good time zone, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others

Chapter Text

Waking up was slow.

His head was filled with cotton and each thought came slow and simple— he was aware that he was warm and comfortable. It felt like waking up from meds but better, no alarms, clearly it wasn’t morning yet if there were no alarms,

Tommy drifted, quietly aware that he was lying with two other people. But for some reason this thought didn’t alarm him, it was actually comforting.

No alarms.

This bothered him.

Could he have slept in past them?

Cracking his eyes open, he squinted at the warm walls of the dimly lit room. He was lying on his stomach, wings splayed out either side of him.

He looked to his left and saw a mass of curly brown hair, two horns poking through.

Tubbo?

What the fuck was he doing in the same bed as him— let alone the same room?

Tommy shot up, panic shaking off sleep as he clambered out, paws tangling in some sheets. He slipped and fell head first off the edge landing on the ground with a thump that sent pins and needles up and down his neck.

Shit.

He waited in silence for a few seconds— after not hearing anything, he extracted himself and lay on his back, catching his breath.

He looked up to see a bleary eyed Ranboo staring down at him. As they made eye contact, Ranboo too seemed to grasp the situation and quickly shook Tubbo awake.

The 3 exchanged glances, before silently moving away from the bed. (Nest, his traitorous mind corrected.)

Whatever it was, it was not how the Watsons had left it, and even from a distance he could see the feathers sticking out from between blankets.

They worked hurriedly to tidy the space, removing any evidence they had been there and smoothing out the sheets. With the 3 of them they made quick work of the bed, the feathers had been stuffed under the mattress for now.

“What now?” Tommy asked quietly, gently smoothing a blanket down.

“Do we wait here or go downstairs?” Ranboo added.

“If we go downstairs they’re less likely to look too hard up here.” Tubbo murmurs, staring fiercely at the bed as if looking for leftover feathers.

“True,” Ranboo sighs with a flick of his tail.

With that, the 3 set off downstairs, winding down the multiple sets of stairs and walkways as they eventually made it to the ground floor.

Phil was in the kitchen, feathered wings catching and reflecting the warm light that poured through the windows in a brilliant array of subtle greens and blues. It made Tommy’s own heart twinge with envy.

“Oh, hello boys!” Phil said cheerfully, turning off the tap, “You 3 were out for a while, you really must have needed that sleep.”

How long had it been? They must have overslept. Phil would have been awake for hours waiting and they come downstairs still half asleep and unpresentable, they were already making such a bad first impression.

“Well, don’t worry, breakfast is just cereal this morning. I didn’t want to give you anything too complicated since I presume you have been eating fairly simple foods, and you seemed to be a bit unsure about lunch and dinner yesterday.” Phil said as he got out bowls and spoons.

Shit was worse than he thought. He had seen Phil’s type before, pretending to be kind and caring so you would go along easily, and even with this knowledge he had to play along with his mind games.

“Thank you si—“ he choked back the sir, remembering the avian’s earlier comments.

Phil gave him a quizzical look, but continued to pour the golden flakes into the bowls.

“Thank you, Phil,” Ranboo and Tubbo said, clearly taking the hint.

“I’ve also got your meds, let me know if you want any help with the instructions let me know.”
Phil put down 3 blue and white bags with their names on them on the bench.

“Sorry I didn’t get these too you last night, you were absolutely exhausted after dinner and I completely forgot. I also got your appointments for the specialists, Tubbo, they’re mainly just topical ointments and a round of antibiotics, so you’re safe.” Phil smiled, wings wrestling behind him.

“T-thank you Phil” Tommy replied, sitting at the table and started eating the cereal.

“It’s a nice day out today, would you like to explore outside?”

Tommy looked out the window at the blue skies and green grass, birds flying past the windows.

“Is there anything you require of us today?” Tommy asked, watching a butterfly flit past.

“Uh,” Phil seemed confused by the question. “Not really.”

“Kristin’s down the street, Technos out with his horse Carl, I sadly can’t take too much time off work, and I have a call later today. Wilbur should be free, you could go meet him properly.” Phil says, standing up to clear his bowl away.

“Thank you.”

They finished breakfast and took and applied the various ointments, his neck slowly feeling less tender. Tommy awkwardly looked at the dirty bowl, hovering next to the sink.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll do the dishes and clean up here, you go explore outside, the door is sliding, just flick down the switch and pull it right, and it’ll open.” Phil hums, putting on a long pair of pink rubber gloves as he flicks the water on.

The wooden deck was warm beneath his paws in a way that was completely alien, the sun prickled his arms and warmed his fur, the sky was a brilliant blue, with a few small clouds dotted throughout.

He knew enough about the sky not to stare at the sun but he couldn’t stop looking at the expanse of blue— there were no walls, it only disappeared beyond the trees.

Once he broke his eyes away from the blue he looked down at the green, whilst the sky was a simple gradient the ground was a patchwork of colours and textures. The deck was raised above the green, a couple wooden steps leading down to the expanse of green, paths were made from flat stones that connected.

He looked to Ranboo and Tubbo, who pawed with the wood with his cloven hoof, a dull thunk sounded with each footfall.

“It’s… real,” Tubbo murmured, mesmerized by the soft grass swaying further on.

Ranboo seemed about ready to fall back asleep on the warm wood, he decided to venture forth alone to the green— grass? Lawn? Garden, he didn’t know.

But it felt like home.

Stepping down, his wings half open, tail fluffed, he approached the green.

He stopped just at the edge of it.

Then slowly, and all at once he raised a paw and stepped on the green.

It was soft and tickled his paw slightly. The realization that he was standing on something alive swept over him

The facility in comparison felt dead and cold compared to the soft warmth here.

But that was where he was supposed to be wasn’t it?

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

He was supposed to be back in the facility completing his training and attending his appointments, not in some stupid vertical house.

He moved his paw off the grass, flattened his feathers and walked back up to the door, ignoring the part of him that screamed to stay.

He ignored the looks of Tubbo and Ranboo, and ran inside, tears blurred his vision.

He ended up sitting in the corner of the space that felt closest to his proper home— what he assumed was the laundry.

The white tiles and soft blue walls comforted him; If he closed his eyes he was back there.

He wanted to go home.

Tears pricked his eyes and his wings and tail curled around him.

Dream was coming to get him, and everything would be alright.

Phil stood in the doorway, staring down at him with a worried look, “Tommy are you okay?”

He whined, already dreading the punishment, it didn’t matter what he did— he wasn’t supposed to be here, Phil hadn’t given him permission and that was reason enough.

Phil crooned gently.

He could feel his instincts clawing inside him like a wild animal, thrashing around begging to be released.

“No” he whined again, now he was in for it.

He was a stupid baby who couldn’t even keep himself together, when he had been given all these rewards, “so much wasted on such a selfish brat” as Dream would always say.

Phil’s wings mantled him, shading him from the outside world. The world shrunk to the width of the wings and the instincts bubbled his throat and spilled out his mouth, in a series of harsh, frantic, fearful chirps.

Oh, he was getting it now.

A taloned hand reached out and gently stroked his cheek, wiping away the tears. “safe, fledgling,*” Phil crooned, “no bad, no harm, no danger.”

He wanted to scream, why was Phil doing this, why was Phil making him feel this way.

It was new and nice and he hated it so much.

He hated how out of sync his body was with his screaming thoughts,The instincts were threatening to take over, to make him sin, to indulge.

To make him the bad ungrateful child he was deep down.

A wild animal that needed to be beaten into submission.

And Phil wasn’t beating him.

Why?

Gods, why?

Why wasn’t Phil beating him for his crimes?

He sobbed harder, frightened chirps intermingled with his choked sobs. The talons and wings embraced him and suddenly he was pressed against Phil’s chest, held like he didn’t weigh a thing, like a baby cradled to a mother’s chest.

His useless tiny wings flapped, as if trying to help, or escape, he didn’t know. Phil held him close anyway and walked out of the tiled room.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ranboo and Tubbo, pretending not to look, as they busied themselves outside.

“I’m going to take care of Tommy, Will you two be ok out there for a bit?”

“Yes Phil, Sir.” They replied in unison.

“Well if you get bored out there, there’s the library and the games room, where you can hang out.”

“Thank you Phil.”

“I’ll leave you boys to it.”

Turning back around, Phil held him tighter and jumped into the air, his stomach swooping as Phil’s massive wings beat downwards, once, twice, three times, gaining altitude with every wing beat.

Pushing forward, Phil’s claws dug into the soft edge of the railing as his wings stabilized him.
Jealousy curled deep inside of him.

They had somehow traveled up multiple stories in a matter of seconds to where Phil and Kristin’s room was.

He was partly shocked, partly jealous. Phil was cawing something about nests, and him needing to be in one.

That was absolutely ridiculous, he didn’t need nests, and he certainly didn’t need these stupid instincts.
This was probably just Phil’s excuse to properly punish him.

Dream never liked to hit him in front of other people unless he was really mad. Phil was probably the same, putting on a nice front for others.

Normal, understandable, needed.
He could take it— maybe if he was lucky Phil wouldn’t take away the nice food.

He probably would but he could deal with that, he’d survive.

Phil’s room was similar to the room they had accidentally stayed in the night before, cozy with large windows allowing in light when needed that still had the curtains drawn closed, forming a den.

The room was dimly lit. It was smaller, with half the available space taken up by the bathroom and walk in closet.
The bed was nest shaped with high sides, forming a depression in the centre. Phil deposited him in the middle of the bed, and began fussing with pillows and blankets.

He could feel the insatiable tug of instincts grow stronger, threatening to drag him down. All his efforts to fight off the instincts were crushed by a large weighted blanket being thrown over his shoulders.

He practically melted under the weight of it.

The presence on his back like a wing that weighed him down and slowed his racing mind.
Getting more comfortable as he lay there, he could hear Phil fussing, but his face was pressed into the soft nest, and every second that passed, moving felt more and more impossible.

He could taste the salt of his tears as he sniffled pitifully.

Phil replied by throwing another blanket over him, and placing one of his sweaters near his face.

The sweater smelt of feathers and Phil.

What was he even worried about? He was safe here. He was safe and warm, with a full belly, what more could he ask for?

Phil wouldn’t mind if he lay here for a bit, his eyes were so heavy.. and, he was warm.

“safe,” a voice called, it sounded so distant. He drifted, warmth encircling him.

“-stand where you’re coming from, but they’re practically scared to death of me, I had to induce Tommy into his avian instincts to calm him he was so upset….he’s sleeping at the moment….. I just need some information on what happened so I can plan for their triggers… I can’t have them stressed all the time…” Phil was talking with someone, and sounded quite upset at them, dread immediately curdled in his gut, he lay still and listened.

“I have their allergens and dietary preferences and that’s about it, I'm sure that place has some files on them lying around somewhere.. yes I fully understand the risks I took fostering 3 high support needs kids, but you said it yourself, they’re pack bonded and you don’t have details on any of their relatives. Nobody else wanted to take them in.. thanks for your time, have a good day.”Phil hung up the phone and sighed.

“I’m sorry Tommy.” Phil sat on the edge of the nest. “You would think that three high profile hybrids would have some information out there about who you are, but you have nothing, I guess we’re going to have to figure out who you are together.”

Tommy wasn’t sure whether or not Phil realized he was awake yet, he probably didn’t.

“Baby steps Phil, baby steps, you’re coming on too hard.” Phil muttered.

Tommy shifted, “Oh! You’re awake, I’m sorry if I woke you up, you looked like you needed a good nest nap, you should have seen Wilbur when he was a kid, he would get upset all the time— nest naps solve all.” Phil rambled.

“Huh? no ‘m sorry, I go now,” he mumbled, embarrassment and fear curling in his gut. Hoping Phil wouldn’t snap out of whatever good mood he was in and punish him for daring to indulge.

“Mate it’s alright. It’s perfectly normal for someone at your stage of wing development to need nest naps, with your hormones changing and your wings growing you need all the rest you can get, I assure you you’ll feel much better in a couple minutes when you wake up.” Phil soothed.

“Bu’ I’m not supposed to.” Tommy explained, shuffling around.

“What do you mean by that?”

“ ‘m not allowed to indulge in my instincts, is bad”

“Tommy, I don’t know who told you that, but this is an instinct safe space, you’re allowed to express whatever instincts you have safely. I’m not going to hurt you for doing so, I would never do that.”

“But you’re supposed to.”

“I don’t care what I’m supposed to do, I’m doing what’s best for you and your friends, and my family which is allowing everyone to express instincts safely, is that why you were scared earlier?”

“I’m fine, I don’t need your pity.” He huffed hoping to elicit a reaction from Phil, but it didn’t, Phil let him leave.
Going down stairs he found Ranboo and Tubbo lazing around in the space below Phil’s room. A large screen took up a large portion of the wall, it was a darker corner of the house with 3 of the 4 sides being walls, with the only opening being that which led into the rest of the house. The screen was currently on playing a colourful video.

“C’mon, It’s just started” tubbo said staring, enraptured at the screen.

“What?”

“It’s called a movie, Wilbur put it on for us.”

“Oh, ok.”

He could use the distraction and if Wilbur had put it on then they must be allowed to watch it. He settled down next to Ranboo.

“It’s called UP, Wilbur said it’ll keep us busy for a couple hours.”

“Shhh I’m trying to watch it.” Tubbo scolded.

Tommy sighed and began to watch.

Chapter Text

The outside was nothing like what he expected— he expected rules, strict schedules, structured uniformity, yet every day he felt himself slipping further from what he should be.

They should be punishing him for this, they should be punishing all of them.

But when he had dared bring up that simple fact of life, they looked horrified.

He was close to punishing himself, anything but this perpetual feeling waiting for the other shoe to drop. He felt exposed, unbalanced.

Why couldn’t any of them be normal?

There should be a human overseeing all that the Watson’s do— that’s the natural order of everything.

They kept talking about freedom like it was something they were supposed to have, and not a right reserved only for humans, not …things like him.

None of this should be happening, but it was.

Most of all, he wanted to go back.

Back where everything made sense.

Back where they weren’t trying to make him indulge.

He forced himself back into a proper routine, sleeping separately from 345 and 347; names were for those who deserved them, and he didn’t deserve anything.

He did as much as he could with his limited knowledge from the housekeeping classes they had.

He cleaned as much as he could, ignored 345, and 347, ate the meals the Watsons so graciously gave him politely and silently.

Yet there were parts of him that yearned for more, parts he didn’t dare indulge, after watching that movie. He vowed never to do that again, feeling such strong emotions, emotions that could lead to poor behavior, or worse, indulgence.

Whenever he felt any strong emotions or indulgences bubble up, he locked himself away in the closet. There was a small space big enough for him to squeeze inside, and muffle the chirps and chitters with his sleeve. It was a place to hide his shame, and punish himself, since nobody else did.

He had been watching the clock, the hands slowly spinning around and around as time passed.

It was comforting in it’s sameness, every second minute and hour the same length.

Then two things happened one after the other: the hour hand stopped moving, the minute and second hand kept pushing forward despite this, seemingly ignoring the fact the hour hand had stopped halfway between the 5 and 6.

345 approached him. He looked worried.

“Tommy,” He whispered.

“Yeah?” He replied, already looking out for signs that someone could be listening to their conversation— nobody apart from 347 was around, but he knew better.

“Something’s wrong,” the wings on his back buzzed nervously. “I thought you might know because you got your wings most recently, but I already have all 4 of my wings.” 345, no Tubbo, looked back to 347, no, Ranboo, for confirmation before he lifted up the bottom of his shirt.

2 large bumps sat on either side of his stomach just above his belly button. The lumps twitched and Tubbo hissed in pain.

Tommy knew this, it was new limbs, the video Dream had shown him flashed in his mind, the new limbs exploding outwards, the man screaming in pain, blood gushing over the floor.

“You need to go back to the facility, they can help you,” He urged, shivering slightly.

“What? No I’m not going back there,” Tubbo protested .

“But if you don’t, they’ll explode out, and then you’ll bleed out and die.”

Ranboo had come around, and the white side of his face had managed to become even lighter at his comment.

“That’s not how that works.” Tubbo protested.

“Yes it is, Dream showed me.”

Tubbo’s eyes widened. “What did he do to you?”

“He helped me!” Tommy yelled defensively

“Everything alright up there?” Phil’s voice called up from below.

“I’m fin-“ tubbo couldn’t even finish his sentence before a scream ripped out of his throat as the lumps pushed out again from under his shirt.

Phil was up on their level in an instant, wings flapping to slow his descent so he could land safely.

He looked between the trio, concern in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“He needs to go back to the facility so he doesn’t die,” Tommy said quickly.

“I’m not going back, Tommy!” Tubbo yelled.

Tommy’s ears and wings pressed in close to his body as he flinched away from the yelling. Ranboos' tail was flicking as he made an odd warbling noise.

“Tubbo, what’s wrong?” Phil asked gently

Tubbo hesitated for a second before lifting up the bottom of his shirt again.

“How long have these been here?”

“About 2 weeks… they started really hurting today.”

“I think we need to go to the hospital to have these looked at, it looks painful and if nothing else they’ll be able to give you something to help with the pain.”

Tubbo looked nervous but nodded.

His goat like legs shook and Phil noticed, tone softening slightly. “C’mon— we’ll take the express way down, sooner we get these looked at the better.”

Phil scooped Tubbo into his arms and Tubbo didn’t protest, simply wrapping his arms around Phil’s neck. With a couple flaps of his great wings, he was up and over the barrier.

Seemingly without a second thought, Ranboo followed, large wings opening, allowing him to glide down.

Tommy looked over the edge hating his stupid useless wings as he watched, Phil, Tubbo and Ranboo quickly leave the building. A few moments later the sound of the car driving away could be heard, then silence.

He looked at the clock.

The minute hand had stopped ticking.
Xx ———xX

It was late. He laid on the floor, Tubbo and Ranboo were gone, and he had made a scene in front of Phil.

He had waited for them to come back,. Phil was probably taking them back to the facility right now, why not him?

He needed to go back, he had to.

If he didn’t graduate, what kind of hybrid was he?

He’d probably end up like the rest of the failures, cut up into pieces and burnt.

Dream had threatened him with that when he was little, he could still smell it. He bit back a whine, tail and wings curling around him.

Not safe here. The traitorous part of his mind whispered. Tommy tried and failed to ignore it.

The room was too big, he was too exposed, the dark which was usually a comfort only reminded him of the kennels. It was suffocating.

Slowly, quietly, he made his way downstairs. He was standing alone on the ground floor, the moon shining through the windows.

Then he saw it— there was a door, slightly ajar, inside a warm glow, a soft light emanating outwards.

He crept towards it.

Safe, whispered his mind, and for what felt like the first time, he agreed.

He slowly pushed the door open. A large form laid inside, he could see his chest rising and falling, the room was a few degrees warmer than outside, and the sound of breathing soothed him.

He closed the door quietly and moved towards the bed.

Troop, flock! His mind cried happily and he suppressed a chirp.

There was a small part of the bed where he could squeeze on, and he did so, careful not to touch the piglin.

Not daring to touch anything the bed compressed under him, and he lay there for a few moments contentedly.

The piglin huffed and shifted, he felt a hot breath down his neck as the piglin rolled over.

Danger, Danger, Scared, No, Please, Help, the inhuman sounds poured out of his mouth before he was able to clamp his hands around his muzzle.

The piglin let out a sleepy grunt sounding worried, making noises he barely understood.

His mind flashed back to the winged piglin at the facility and he let out more fearful chirps, bracing for the hands tearing at his wings and fur wanting any kind of gold, even if it was part of him.

That’s what piglins were like, they wanted gold so badly they were willing to rip it off their victims and discard the rest.

It never came.

Instead a deep rumble emanated from the piglin as a gentle arm wrapped around him. His whole body seemed to vibrate. He remembered something, golden paws like his combed through his hair, a feminine voice humming something, a song. Sticky juice covering his fingers as he ate something sweet and orange, tiny paws washed in a bowl of water.

A word, a name floated around his brain, just out of reach, he never caught it, instead allowing himself to slip into blissful sleep.