They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 145

Conner POV:

Conner's legs ached as he stumbled forward along the road. His throat was dry, and he regretted not having anything to drink that morning. His stomach rumbled as he walked, but he did whatever he could to ignore it. He had to keep going. Had to find Puffy and the others. He didn't know if he was walking in the right direction, didn't know if he was even able to walk the whole way, but he had to try.

Conner slowly took another step, wishing he could see some sign, anything, to tell him he was going in the right direction.

With a groan he slumped down curling up in the grass by the side of the road. Maybe he'd feel better after a short rest. He had to hope so. He checked his phone, and still no signal. He would just rest for a few minutes, then he would keep going.

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Tommy POV:

If Tommy had thought the morning was hard, it was nothing compared to the afternoon. There was no rest. No stopping. No circling. Dream had collected three Masked Ones to fight Tommy without pause. It was exhausting. More then once Tommy had missed his chance to block, and more then once the weapons had slammed into his injured arm, clearly being aimed for maximum pain.

Tommy gritted his teeth and did his best to block attacks coming from all sides. He had tried backing against a wall so they were all infrong of him, but Dream had seemed that foul play, resulting in a deep cut sliced across his wrist from Dream's small, yet sharp knife. Not a drill knife. That one was designed to pierce skin. It was designed to let blood flow out. It was a reminder of Dream's threats. A reminder of Tommy's failures. A reminder of what happened when he wasn't perfect.

For each bruise from the drill weapons, another thin line of red would be drawn across Tommy's skin. He wanted to make it stop. Wanted to close his eyes and pretend it was different. Pretend that his sliced arm wasn't a sign of death to come. It had been a sign for Tubbo, why wouldn't it be for him?

No. No. He wouldn't let himself do that. He wouldn't let himself die. He could take pain, but Tubbo had told him to live. He would try to make Tubbo's wish come true. He had to try.

When Dream finally called the end of the training session, Tommy had worked out what he needed to do. There was one person he could talk to, one person who might be able to do something about Finley.

He walked over to Dream, taking a deep breath, and then spitting the words out matter-of-factly.

"My arm is burning, Drista said that was a sign I could lose it if she didn't fix it straight away. I won't be able to win any fight, let alone one against The BloodGod, if I don't have an arm."

"Fine, I'll let her check your arm, but if you are up to anything, I will not hesitate to kill you. You are useful, but you are not necessary or even valuable," Dream replied, and Tommy did his best not to flinch at the words. Dream wouldn't find out what Tommy was planning. He couldn't.

"She said she'd need the first aid kit again," Tommy added, and Dream nodded, uncaring, but taking the information in. Tommy followed the man, knowing he had no other choice. He just needed to be lucky, not Tommy's forte, but maybe he would have enough to get to Drista.

Dream picked up a First Aid Kit, and Tommy had to try hard not to breathe in relief. His arm was fine, but he might need these tools anyway.

Tommy gently tapped his pocket, double checking they were still there. The keys he had swiped during one hand to hand training bout. The Masked One hadn't noticed yet, but if he did, and if he connected it to Tommy, the results would likely be disastrous. If Tommy could get them to Drista, then at least his idea might work. It could be worth it.

Tommy had no clue if this wuld work, and there was no way he'd risk it for himself, but Finley? The poor kid was in this nightmare and she was too young, too innocent, too friendly for this place. She was like Tubbo in that. A perfect, innocent kid living out a nightmare.

"You have 10 minutes, then I'll be back, so don't waste time," Dream snapped, shoving Tommy into a room and slamming the door behind him.

"TOMMY!" Drista yelled, her eyes lighting up as she moved towards him. Tommy flinched back from the movement, waiting for a punch that never came. Drista's chains had snapped tight before she had reached him, but it was the devastated expression on her face that hit Tommy hard.

"I'm sorry, I-" Tommy started, not sure how to explain his panicked reflexes.

"It's ok Tommy, I shouldn't have scared you like that. We don't have time to mess around, what's wrong?"

"My arm is fine, it's not me I'm worried about. There's a girl, maybe 4 years old? Finley. Dream is going to kill her because of me. I didn't mean to drag her into this, please I need you to get her out of here somehow, like how you did with The BloodGod," Tommy begged, but Drista didn't match his panic, seeming more sad and less angry.

"I can't Tommy..." Drista sighed, raising her wrists slightly, noting the chains.

"I stole a Masked Ones keys, maybe?..."

"We can try it, Drista nodded, and Tommy slipped the keys into his hand, slowly pressing it into the lock. This has to work. If it didn't they he virtually no chance. Maybe Drista could pick the lock with something from the first aid kit but Tommy doubted it.

He turned the key, begging it to work.

Words: 1000

A/N: I'm working on making an Etsy shop for merch for this fic (and other stuff probably too) hopefully it'll be out in the next few days! Keep your eyes peeled for author notes at the end of chapters or announcements on my wattpad msg board or in the discord server!