They have Clementine.

Okay, okay , this is fine.

Tommy clenches and unclenches his fists.

Manifold is grinning as he waves the bottle, jostling her.

" Clementine,"   Tommy breathes. She stares at him, with those eyes, so perceptive and-

"If you want her," Manifold starts.

"You'll have to come with us," Niki finishes, sidling up beside the man.

It's a trap.

Tommy knows this.

It's a trap and he should turn away.

"Okay," He agrees.

______

"You see, you've been a fucking menace to this city for too long," Manifold monologues like a fucking idiot. "Terrorising the people, playing the hero. Playing the victim when things don't go your way. You're a fucking child, TommyInnit."

Tommy bites his tongue, rolling his eyes.

"You think you own this place, you think everyone will just suck up to you and do as you say, don't you?" Manifold turns to him, eyes narrowed.

Well.

Tommy tilts his head, smirking a little. "Isn't it true though? I'm pog."

"Stop with the shitty catchphrases!" Manifold scowls, "You think everything always goes your way? But not this time."

Oh my god , these kinds of speeches get old after a while. Can't villains do something original?

"Look, sorry for burning your building or some shit, maybe you should have fire proofed the place," The teenager shrugs, eyes darting to Clementine who swims in her bottle just out of reach.

"Stop, stop doing that. Blaming everyone but yourself," The man's eyes are angry, "You fucking set that building on fire."

"I didn't," Tommy protests immediately, frowning in offence. "It was uh-"

"It wasn't Purpled!" Manifold shouts.

Man, this guy has serious problems. Like major anger issues.

"Listen, you really need to let go of the past, you are like, stuck, in the first stage of grief. That's denial," Tommy says matter of factly.

"I'm so sick of you," Manifold glares.

Yeesh.

"Calm down, big man-"

"Don't. You left me in bankruptcy while you ran off to play families with heroes," Manifold points an accusing finger at him.

Damn. This guy took it personal. Like really personal.

Tommy winces, brows sweating.

"And you tried to kill me," Niki adds smoothly.

Tommy frowns. Okay absolutely fucking not.

"You were trying to kill Technoblade. You're literally a murderer," Tommy stresses.

Niki shrugs, "I don't take kindly towards threats."

"You shot me," Fundy pipes up.

Tommy rolls his eyes, "No one cares about you, Fundy."

Fundy wilts, shoulders slumping.

It's awkward for a moment and Tommy kinda feels guilty. But not really.

"Look," He raises his tied hands in surrender, "I came with you to this weird fucking base, now can I just have Clementine and go?" He tries, futilely, of course. Tommy knows he's not leaving so easily. But well, his glock is out of darts, his blade would take too long to pull out and he has a feeling Niki will not hesitate to snap his bones at an escape attempt. Perhaps a bit of gaslighting will do?

"No," Manifold shuts him down, "You're not leaving until we say so."

"What if when you say so is when I say so?" Tommy questions.

The man pauses, "What?"

"Yeah like, what if when you say I can go, is like, also when I say I can go? Then technically I'll be leaving when I say so," He explains.

There's silence for a second or two.

"Just shut the fuck up," Manifold sighs.

"Are you sure you want me to shut up? Because I don't think you do. I think you enjoy my talking, in fact-"

______

Eventually his captors - Tommy doesn't even want to call them that, they're so shitty. But yeah, eventually his captors are driven to insanity with Tommy's gaslighting so they leave him in the weird dark room, locking the door.

Of course the first thing Tommy tries to do is slice the door open with his blade- tied hands be damned. That shit doesn't work though.

The only good thing is that they leave Clementine. Her bottle is in some weird mechanical shit that keeps her attached to the wall. Which fucking sucks.

But she's here. She's with him.

Eventually, when Tommy tires of striking mindlessly at the wall, he crumbles against the floor, tired and forlorn.

" Clementine, " He starts, picking at a piece of lint on the floor.

She swims around to face him, doing a little twirl.

" Clementine, " He says again, and really, Tommy doesn't know what he's supposed to say, what he wants to say.

She stares at him.

" I'm tired," He says instead, tilting his head back to rest against the wall, eyes falling shut.

"Clementine, did I start the fire?" He questions quietly.

She doesn't answer.

"Because," He pauses, "I'm not so sure anymore."

"It doesn't matter though, what's done is done. I can't go back. There's no fixing it. Why can't Manifold just move on? " He grits his teeth. "This is fucking stupid. Like, the worst thought out the villain story ever made. Who made this shitty storyline?"

. . .

"Oh right," Tommy laughs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right, right. Silly me. Sorry, sorry."

"But it's fine," He hums, smiling, "Because we know how these sort of things go. Don't we? The heroes win, the bad guys fall. Happy ending. I just need to reach the happy end. Right, Clementine?"

Clementine turns away.

_______

"Your heroes are on their way," Manifold grins when they re-enter the room.

Tommy tries not to pale.

This- this will be good. That's good.

"Yeah? So they can beat your ass?" He grins, a little wobbly.

"Sure," Manifold hums, "Something like that."

This is good. The sooner Wilbur comes to save him, Technoblade and Philza too. The sooner they come, the sooner they can go home.

This is good.

Tommy avoids Clementine's gaze.

_______

"You're fucking dead," He tells Manifold. When the heroes arrive it's over.

"You know," Manifold hums, "For a vigilante, you didn't really do much good, did you?"

Tommy's shoulders rise.

"I mean, really, when have you actually helped someone? Other than yourself, that is," Manifold scoffs. "You think you're so above everyone here, above the world-"

"That's because I am, " Tommy stares, eyes hard.

_______

...

_______

"I mean, really, when have you actually helped someone? Other than yourself, that is," Manifold scoffs. "You think you're so above everyone here, above the world and everyone in it."

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy rolls his eyes, "I'm the worst, so self-centred. Whatever, can we just skip your stupid monologues?"

"This is why I hate you," Manifold accuses, eyes angry beneath the shades, "Stop dismissing everything I'm saying and then maybe-"

"Oh my god, fuck off, I don't care!" Tommy shouts, "You're annoying me- you're fucking annoying me. I should just kill you myself-"

_______

God. Tommy sighs.

_______

"This is why I hate you," Manifold accuses, eyes angry beneath the shades, "Stop dismissing everything I'm saying and then maybe-"

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'm the worst," Tommy huffs, "I understand. Amazing. But don't act like you're better than me. What was your cereal made of again?" He smirks.

Manifold pauses.

"Yeah, I may not be a hero. But I think I did good getting rid of your business," Tommy says, smug.

Manifold glares, "Fuck you, you're lucky I don't smash your fucking fish to pieces."

Oh fuck.

"Hey, hey," Tommy raises his palms in surrender, laughing nervously, "Let's not be drastic now, big guy, I thought you wanted the heroes?"

"Yeah," Manifold shrugs, adjusting his shades, "But maybe I just want to make you suffer."

"God. Philza, " Tommy exhales, "You are evil. You would kill an innocent fish? My daughter?"

"You are so fucking weird," Manifold grimaces, before turning towards the door, "I'll be back. Stay here," He says before chuckling, "Well it's not like you can go anywhere."

Tommy glares as the man leaves.

What a dick.

_______

" Clementine," Tommy starts, staring up at the dimly lit ceiling, "Remember the time I tried to use you to get on Tubbo's good side?" He grins.

Clementine does a spin.

Tommy laughs, "Yeah, he still defenestrated me anyway. But it was a good idea. One of the best ideas I've had," He sighs, "You know," He hums, "I thought- for a moment there... for a moment, when I couldn't find you, I thought you'd left me. Abandoned me."

Clementine stares.

"Which is stupid, because- because what daughter abandons their father?" Tommy laughs, "Surely it'd be the other way round. The parents do the abandoning. The children- they- they stay. They're meant to stay. So you weren't leaving me, were you?"

Clementine stares.

"Right, right," Tommy nods. "You wouldn't leave me. Not when I raised you. You wouldn't- you wouldn't go find another lake? Or go out to sea? Would you? You like the bottle don't you? That's your thing!" Tommy exclaims, grinning, " Clementine in her Sprite bottle. That's your thing," He stresses, "And I'm the charismatic vigilante. That's our thing. We are a duo. I protect you, you protect me."

Clementine stares.

" Clementine, " Tommy stares back, "You're my beloved."

"And- so- that's why you can't just leave. The world is ours Clementine. We have Philza and Wilbur and Technoblade. We have Ranboob and Tubbo. We have Henry."

"So- so-" Tommy quiets, "So why do you want to leave so bad?"

Clementine turns away.

______

"Tommy!"

There's a shout of his name and the door bursts open.

Tommy glances up and his eyes find Wilbur's. The man looks angry. It shouldn't comfort Tommy like it does.

Technoblade and Philza are flanked by the hero's side.

Tommy sighs. Finally. 

They can go home.

Hands are grasping at the teenager's face as Wilbur inspects him carefully.

"Did they hurt you?" The man questions, voice tense.

"No, Wil. Not a scratch. Just fucking tired. These guys are fucking idiots," Tommy rolls his eyes, shrugging out of the hero's hold.

"Okay, okay, we're leaving. This was a shitty trap though, why did you follow them?" Wilbur huffs.

" Clementine," Tommy replies simply.

Wilbur rolls his eyes, "All for a fish? You are an absolute child."

Tommy kicks the man halfheartedly in the shin. "Fuck you, bald man," before Wilbur can protest he continues, "Can you untie my hands?"

Wilbur unties his hands and everything is fine.

They stand up together.

"We need to get Clementine out of the wall," Tommy explains.

"Alright," Technoblade shrugs, already unsheathing his blade to strike at the contraption which-

Which does absolutely nothing.

"That won't work," Manifold says from behind as he enters the room, "Hello by the way, Blade, Willow, Philza," He nods towards the heroes, "I don't think we've properly met before," He grins, "Kinda rude to just barge in though? Isn't it?"

"Look, mate, I'm tired and hungry, so just uh let the fish go and we won't hurt you," Philza smiles that smile that is a little too sharp to be kind.

Tommy grins smugly from behind.

Manifold chuckles, "Yeah I don't think so."

"It wasn't really a choice," Philza remarks cheerfully.

Man, he is so cool. The only man ever. Truly.

" Take the fish out of the shitty trap," Wilbur commands.

"I can't, I lost the key," Manifold replies mindlessly before smirking.

Tommy pales.

"I propose a deal, for you, Tommy," Manifold addresses the teenager.

Tommy straightens up, eyes narrowed. "...What?"

"Leave the fish behind," Manifold smiles, stretching his arms open wide in a stupid dramatic gesture.

That's not a fucking deal.

Tommy scoffs, "Yeah okay," He says before turning to the heroes, "Can we leave now? Just like- fucking pull Clementine from the wall?"

"We could smash the bottle," Technoblade suggests.

"She'll drown, " Tommy gapes, clutching at his heart.

"Suffocate, mate," Philza corrects.

Technoblade averts his eyes, "Well, uh, if we leave soon enough. We can just chuck her in a pond on the way home."

Risky.

"I'll have to get a new bottle," Tommy sighs.

"Can we just hurry up? It's just a fish Tommy, you know we can get another one right?" Wilbur suggests.

How dare he?

Absolutely not.

"Tommy, I'm still waiting on your answer," Manifold reminds him.

"Get fucked," The teenager sneers.

"Your fish or your heroes?" Manifold grins, "Which matters more?"

This is so fucking stupid.

"If you don't answer, you may just lose them both," Manifold hums.

"You're so shit, just take Clementine out of this shit and we'll uh, reimburse you?" He lies. "Build you a new company or something. Just stop being a dick man."

"I already told you  I can't. You have to choose," Manifold ignores him.

"Look man, just be a decent-"

"That's fine then," The man shrugs, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a small box.

"Listen bitch-"

"Ah, ah," Manifold cuts him off, "You've made your decision," The man opens the box, pulling out a stick.

Tommy pales.

Manifold runs the stick along the side of the box. Manifold lights a match.

"You've made your bed," The man grins, raising the lit match, "Now lie in it."

The room goes up in flames.

_______

They can't open the door.

It's locked from the outside and isn't this so fucking stupid?

The room is illuminated in an orange hue that makes Tommy's hands shake.

" Fuck, " He gasps, falling back against the wall, " Fuck, fuck. Shit. "

"Tommy? Tommy, it's fine, we're going to find a way out," Philza tells the teenager, eyes wide as he tries to mask the panic, "It's fine mate. Don't worry."

Tommy has fucked up.

This isn't meant to happen. Right?

This isn't going as planned.

He reaches up to grasp at strands of his hair and pull.

He can fix this.

Tommy can fix this.

_______

Somewhere, something unravels.

_______

The flames are higher now.

Tommy can't bear to look at them, even as it surrounds him.

"Wilbur? Techno?" He calls out to the heroes who are trying to use brute force on the door.

"Guys," He tries again, coughing lightly, "That's not going to work. There must  be another exit." There must be. There has to be.

Tommy locks eyes with Clementine over the smoke.

She stares for a moment before turning away.

________

He can fix this.

_______

There is no hidden exit.

Eventually, they settle on the wall furthest from the flames.

"What a stupid way to die," Technoblade remarks idly.

"We're not dying," Tommy seethes.

"Tommy, mate-"

"We can't die. You can't die," Tommy turns to the heroes, eyes wide. "You are heroes.  They never lose."

"If we had just left the fish-"

"I'm not leaving Clementine!" Tommy snaps.

It's silent, ignoring the sounds of the burning flames.

_______

Tommy will fix this.

_______

He coughs.

An arm grasps him around the shoulder and drags him down. Wilbur.

Tommy rests his head on the man's collarbone.

"Funny, isn't it. How easily our abilities can be reduced to nothing in the face of natural disasters."

Tommy clenches his eyes shut.

"It's fine. We're not gonna fucking- we're not- everything will work out," Tommy promises.

Wilbur presses a hand to Tommy's curls and it doesn't soothe him like it should.

Tommy remains wide awake.

_______

" Are you tired yet?"

"I'm going to fix this."

"You don't have to do this anymore."

"Shut up, shut up."

_______

It's hard to breathe.

Tommy's lungs protest.

His skin burns.

But everything will be fine, and they will laugh about this particular experience in the future.

_______

"Did the fish mean that much to you?" Wilbur breaks the silence, voice hoarse.

"...Yeah," Tommy hums.

"Why?"

"I love Clementine,"   Tommy confesses.

"More than us?" Wilbur questions.

More than this?

Tommy hesitates, "I don't know," He admits.

_______

"I'm sorry," Tommy says, eventually, when he can feel Wilbur's hand droop by his side.

"It's okay," The man whispers back.

"It's not," Tommy whispers. "I should have saved you. All of you."

Wilbur's chest rumbles with a pained laughter, "You're just a child."

"I wanted to be a hero."

Wilbur is silent. He brushes a hand weakly through Tommy's bangs, pushing the curls up to stare down at him.

"You're not a hero, Tommy."

_______

...

_______

When Philza's head falls to the side limply. When Technoblade's breathing slows to nothing. When Wilbur's hand falls from his head.

Tommy screams.

_______

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," He sobs to the heroes.

"I'm- I'm-" He heaves, fingers shaking and dusted with soot. "I'm sorry dad," He tells his father, "I'm sorry Techno," He tells his brother, "I'm- I'm sorry Wilbur," He tells his brother.

Tommy glances up at Clementine through bleary eyes and finds her staring back.

_______

No.

"No," Tommy seethes, standing on shaky legs.

"No," He tells the flames as he steps into the fire.

"No," He tells the world.

"No," He tells the universe.

"No," He tells himself.

_______

Somewhere, something shatters.

And that's okay.

_______

Tommy awakes to soft sheets and the smell of something sweet.

He sits up abruptly.

He's in his room. He's in the penthouse.

Tommy breathes a sigh of relief.

Man. That was a close call.

He can hear Ranboo and Tubbo arguing over some shit. Hears Phil laughing at something Techno said.

At his bedside, lies Clementine in her bottle. She won't look at him.

But that doesn't matter.

_______

He did it.

Tommy grins.

He fixed it. Everything is fine now.

He feels the universe beneath his palm, thrumming and back in sync.

Everything is fine now.

_______

His door opens.

Tommy's head snaps to the side and he meets Wilbur's eyes.

"Wil!" Tommy grins, easy and filled with relief. "Come here to be a clingy shit?" He teases.

Wilbur smiles.

The man takes a seat at the edge of his bed.

"Toms," The hero starts.

Tommy makes a questioning noise.

"I know what you did."

Tommy pauses.

"Huh?" He laughs.

"I know what you did."

______

Why? Why can't it just-

______

"Wil!" Tommy grins, "Come here to be a clingy shit?" He teases.

Wilbur smiles.

The man takes a seat at the edge of his bed.

"Tommy, stop it."

Tommy falters.

His fingers twitch where he clutches the bedsheets.

"Wil," Tommy says slowly, "I really don't