.............................................

There is many things Techno was expecting to happen next right after the argument.The tension hasn't quite dropped since the boy left to his room and he's for certain you could hear a pin drop from how quiet the room had become.

Tears were very much expected,hugs and blankets too;generally things he isn't too keen of.Like physical touch or emotions,those things are something he's trying to help with.At least he has Phil with him,otherwise he's for sure done for.He was also expecting sobs,but surprisingly there wasn't any.Not even a muffled one coming from upstairs.

Although...he was trying not to point out the muffled stomping from above.He knew the others were trying as well.

Techno was currently helping the older blonde with making some tea for the people in the room,'something to help them calm down' Phil had reasoned with shaky hands.Tubbo and Ranboo were huddled up together on the couch,tear-streaked and tired.Ranboo had stopped crying,but he could've sworn he could still hear the faint sizzle noise.He winced in sympathy,knowing full well it would scar.Tubbo continues to cry,but it had slowed down.The brunette has yet to say something since his meltdown.

Fundy was just chilling by the table,fidgeting his fingers.Techno couldn't help but feel a little bad for the fox-hybrid—the hybrid that is his nephew—purely because he knew exactly how the boy felt during the entire fiasco;awkward but desperate.How would you feel about one of your family members acting all suspicious,only to find out they were doing something incredibly dangerous?

Ender...Michael is acting too much like Tommy.It made Techno feel...anxious?How do you even deal with these kinds of emotions?Everything was just confusing and it's not helping that the voices were quiet.When Chat is quiet,then something has definitely gone wrong and Techno absolutely knew this.

While a silenced Chat is usually something he wants on most days,he would actually really want them to start squeaking nonsense in his mind.Just anything to distract him from the emotions bubbling in his chest.

Now,Techno is expecting anything from this situation.Anything.Someone mumbling,another round of tears,something to break perhaps?More crying??

His nephew coming through the front door,panicked and distressed,with another child beside him,crying their eyes out;That's something Techno was not expecting.

The moment the front door opens and the two children comes in—one wailing and another calling out to them—everyone gets to their feet.Startled,because Michael was literally in his room,and concerned,because what the fuck is happening and who is this girl and why is she crying!?Hello!?What in the actual fuck!?

"I need your help!",was the first thing Michael spits out and,in an instant,everyone moves.

Phil puts away the tea on the counter,Fundy gets off his seat and dashes towards the door,Ranboo and Tubbo shoves the blanket off of them as they got up,and Techno just follows in pursuit,instincts kicking and voices screaming—finally screaming—about 'calm the little babies'.

Ranboo gets on his knees,momentarily forgetting what had happened earlier,as he tries the assess what was going on,when the girl starts to wail and grips Michael by his arm,pure fear and distress evident.

Everyone froze when Michael immediately turns to the girl—a rabbit hybrid,Techno notes—and places his forehead on hers,using both of his hands to cup her cheeks;"Hey hey,it's okay,buns.That's my boo,remember?I told you about him sometimes.",he whispers to her and Techno would've not heard it if it weren't for his advanced hearing.

Now that was something Techno took note of as well;'Told you about?'.Is this what Michael was hiding?Another child?An orphan perhaps?

The girl still cries and wails,something about her 'papa' and 'he's hurt'.Michael detached his forehead from hers,but keeps his hands on her cheeks,wiping away any tears."Where's the medkit!?The potions!?Clara's dad got poison and I'm not sure what kind!",he quickly summarises,to which Fundy and Tubbo immediately takes off to find the medkit after hearing the words poison.

Not an orphan then.

The girl—her name is Clara?—continues to cry,wiping her eyes with her fists,"Papa fell and wouldn't get up!He's really sick and I'm scared!",she admitted,cheeks blotched with red and eyes tinted pink.

Techno watched as Michael picks the girl up by the armpits.Clara wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist,weeping into his jacket.He was mildly proud at the chuff-chuff-chuff noises he made.Techno was idly glad the kid still uses his hybrid abilities.He should teach him about his instincts when the time is right.

It was then Phil's turn to get on his knees to reach their height level and the rabbit hybrid doesn't wail when he sees him.Instead,she whimpers and whines,hiding half her face using her messed hair of white and black.Phil offers her an assuring smile,"Hello little one,what's your name?".

She looked hesitant,maybe scared even,and Tecnho doesn't blame her.Michael pulls her in and quietly whispers—it was very quiet that Techno couldn't hear it—something to her,causing her rabbit like ears to jolt at whatever he said.She looks at Phil,then back at Michael,who nods at her,encouragingly.

"...Clara...",she mumbled,voice hoarse from the wailing.

"That's a beautiful name,Clara.",Phil tells her with a gentle and kind tone.

She swallows,a small hiccup following right after;"...Papa chose it...".

"Well your Papa must have good taste in names.",Techno noted how Michael snorts and Clara sniffed,but her tears were slowing down.At least she had calmed down.

Tubbo and Fundy returns not long after that interaction,both carrying a bag of potions and medical supplies.Michael straightens at the sight of the supplies and beckons them to follow him.The little girl,still carried in Michael's arms,buries her face onto his shoulder.They follow him outside,with Phil looking back to lock the front door.

The moment he turns towards the forest,Techno knew what everyone else was thinking.

They continue to follow him,observing his sense of directions with every twists and turns.He notes how Michael would look over his shoulder to check if they were still following,or how he scans the trees with keen eyes—Techno buries away the feeling of pride after seeing the kid using his lessons to good use—as he moves along.

Everyone paused when they finally reached a nether portal,cleverly hidden away by a cave,the numerous bushes and vines covering its entrance."Hurry!",Michael urged,snapping them out of their surprise,"I don't know how much longer uncle has!".

'Uncle?'

Techno follows his nephew,alongside his family,into the portal.He looked back behind them for good measures too,before jumping into the fiery dimension.

The fact there is a clear path of wood from the nether's warped trees,the sights of the familiar blue-flamed lanterns hanging on overhangs,and the numerous flowers from the overworld was enough for them to know that this path had been around for a long while.

How long had Michael walked on this path?Did he help create it?If so,with who?How come they haven't seen this path yet?Was it that well hidden?What are the coordinates??So many questions ran through Techno's brain,but he knew it would be answered soon.

They find the other portal and he idly realised the trip was a little longer than he anticipated.In terms of nether travel,how fucking far does this person even live!?And does Michael visit him so often??

Michael shushes Clara when she whines and the waterworks started again.Something about 'too hot' and 'I miss papa' and 'Go home'.There were a few instances where her dual eyes found Techno's and the two would stare at each other while on the move.

Techno wonders exactly why Clara didn't look terrified of his large build.Could it he because of Michael's piglin features she was used to seeing?That could be it.

They leave the portal and it's clear that they were very far from where they once came from.They were still in a forest,but somehow everything felt foreign to them.Gut instincts he guessed.

"We're almost there!",Michael tells them,clutching Clara securely in his arms,"Do you still have the stuff!?".

"We still got it!",Fundy answers him,while Tubbo nods and gestures the bag of medical supplies they still carried during the journey.

"Papa...!",Clara called out for her father,now leaning heavily away from Michael as if she wants to jump down.She did,eventually,after the boy had settled her down.Clara bolts with Michael trailing behind her,followed by everyone else.

"PAPA!"

Techno finally sees it and the world froze.

There's a body on the ground,lying flat on his stomach.One hand was outstretched towards them,as if he had been trying to reach something far.The other was buried beneath his body,just by his stomach.His blonde hair was undone,strands scattered around his head and Techno could easily spot the white steaks by the front.

The kids rushed towards his side,Clara wailing and shaking,harshly nudging the man on the ground and begging him to 'wake up'.Michael eyes were blown wide as he immediately takes the blonde's wrists,putting two of his fingers above the pulse.He waited....

Michael lets out a breath and turned to face his family,who were still in shock about the reveal.This included Techno because this cannot be real-

"Well!?",he semi-snapped at them,jolting the group out of their stupor,"You wanted to save uncle Tommy before,right!?Well fucking save him now!".

It was enough to get them to move,despite the shock still present in their systems.Techno volunteered to carry Tommy—his baby brother who died he's alive how is he alive his little brother was dead his brother brother brother—back to the cabin nearby,while Michael takes Clara again.

They rushed towards the cabin the children lead them to and Techno tries to ignore the large,thriving farm beside the residence and the barn where all the muffled animal noises were coming from.

The front door was busted open and they were met with a cozy living room and kitchen in the background.Michael quickly settled Clara on the sofa,nudging his forehead on hers,before he turned to the adults;"Well?What's the first step!?".

Right.

"We should do this somewhere clean.",Phil speaks,despite the clear wavering sound from his tone.He glances towards Clara,who was silently weeping as she watches her unconscious father now hold on-,"And maybe somewhere private.For both your sakes,you probably shouldn't watch this."

Michael nods,gesturing them to follow him,"His bedroom his upstairs.Boo,can you stay with Clara until I get back?",Ranboo nodded at his words,hesitantly approaching the little girl huddled on the couch.

As the boy leads them up the stairs,Techno couldn't help but take a glance at Tommy.His skin was pale and sunken,dark circles were coloured under his eyes,and a tint of brown-ish red stained the edge of his lips.He was still breathing,which is good,but it's slow and almost hollow,his best was barely rising at all.

The voices were screaming at him the exact same words;

"Save him."

By the time Michael shows them the room,Techno gently placed Tommy on his bed like he would wake up annoyed if he just dropped him there.Tubbo nudged his kid outside,saying that they would handle this.Fundy was bringing out the necessary equipment to heal the blonde,ranging from potions to bandages.

Wait,bandages?What would those be for-

Oh wait....that process.

Right,they were going to needs those later on.If this was cave spider poisoning or wither poisoning,they would need to...get the poison out....'manually'.Technically speaking,they could do it with potions and that would make their jobs easier,but they didn't want any long term effects taking place;better safe than sorry,he supposed.And by the looks of Tommy's colourless face and the bite mark on his right arm,Techno could make the assumption its cave spider poisoning that's effecting him.

Fuck.

As Tubbo closed the door,the four huddled together and began the process of healing him.

You wanted to save uncle Tommy before,right!?Well fucking save him now!

On it,kiddo.

.............................................

Clara crashes onto Tubbo's leg by the time they arrived from the second floor.Tubbo easily catches the girl and she looks up to him with red rimmed eyes and big puddles of tears;"Is papa ok!?".

"He's fine...",Techno answered her,surprising most of the people in the room."We got the poison out.He'll be okay.".

It was probably from the pure relief that caused this,as Clara's shoulders slumped greatly and she falls to the ground,landing on her butt and starts crying the rest of her tears out.At least she doesn't seemed as stressed as she was earlier,but seeing her fall down like that startled the adults.

Michael was already on his feet just when Clara collapsed and picked her up with ease,letting his tail wrap around her fluffed one."Can we go see him?".

The four looks at each other,"You can...",Phil tells them,"..but you need to let him rest.".

It was enough for the kids and they both bolted up the stairs while the others followed behind.

When they arrived,Michael had already began to settle Clara next to her dad.The little rabbit girl forced herself between Tommy's side and arm,curling there as she lets out a whimper.Michael takes over the other side,but chose to hold Tommy's hand and stare at his peaceful face,waiting for any signs of waking up.

The young boy could feel their stares drilling holes at the back of his head and sighs,"...wait for him to wake up...",he turns slightly to their direction,"...then I'll tell you everything."

.............................................

Tommy does wake up.

And the first thing he was greeted with was one tearful and wailing daughter and a shaking nephew,both taking places by his sides as they watched him wake.He gives them an apologetic smile and hoarse;"Hey...".

Clara dives onto his chest,wailing his name—or 'papa' to be more specific—and gripping his shirt tightly in her small hands.Michael spews out apologies and Tommy didn't know why he was apologising until his eyes laid on the group-

Oh.

"I'm so sorry,uncle Tommy!",Michael repeats for the fifth time before he started rambling out,"Y-You were really sick and Clara was sca-ared!And I panicked and I didn't know what to do and I-I know I promised you to not tell anyone and I broke it but-but I though you were dying-".

Tommy cups his cheek and he stops.He gives his a small smile,"Don't sweat it kiddo.You did what you had to do...",he sighs,"...it's my fault.I got reckless in the cave and got bit.I didn't want to worry any of you And besides,it was Clara's birthday.I didn't want her to be stressed on her special day after all."

Michael sniffed,"You're stupid."

Tommy chuckles weakly,"I'll take it.".

The young blonde looks over to the group with a hesitant glint in his eyes.They stared at him,a mixture of emotions swirled.Hell,even Techno was desperately trying to hide what he was feeling but is failing badly,as evidenced by the unsure and glossed eyes.

Tommy huffs a breath,"Kids...",he began slowly,"...as much as I want you both here,can you go out of the room for a moment?".

"No!"

Of course she would disagree,but Tommy couldn't really blame her.How would you react to your dad passing out in front of your very eyes?And besides,Clara is five.It's quite obvious she wouldn't leave her father's side for some time.

Tommy sighs,because he needs to talk to the others without the children watching.Just in case things...escalated.

"Buns,I know you don't want to leave.But it's important."

Clara stomps her knee on the bedside,a clear pout etched her lips.

"Clara.."

She stomped her knee again,whining.

"Buns,it'll be quick.Michael will be with you for the entire time."

At this point,her pout and stomps had become amusing rather than annoying.It's adorable,putting aside the situation right now.Tommy glances to Michael with an apologetic glint in his eye.

The boy caught his message.He warily looks over to his family—not that he's wary of them,but because he's hesitant to leave them all alone in the same room—and sighs.He moves to pick up Clara,who Tommy gave a quick smooch to the forehead,and the two kids leave the room and closed the door.

The atmosphere turned awkward for a good few seconds.

Tommy coughs,awkwardly;"Uhh...he-".

Two—maybe three—bodies piled against him,knocking the air out of his body.He wheezed,not sure whether or not he should push them away so he could breathe,he didn't really want to let them go.Thank ender for Phil,who nudged the others off and Tommy breaths properly.

Tubbo and Ranboo were crying,semi-yelling something about;'We thought you died!' and 'We missed you so much.' and 'Dream killed you!'.Fundy was crying too,relived to see his uncle Tommy still alive after he thought he had lost another loved one.Phil was definitely holding back the sobs,holding Tommy by the shoulders with this unsure look as if he thinks this isn't real.And Techno...

Holy shit,Tommy didn't think he'd seen Techno shed a tear before.

The platonically married husbands kept blurting stuff out and Tommy decided to just let all—most—of his thoughts out,raising his hand in a gesture to shut them up.The did,eyes still teary and wide."Let's take this slowly,yeah?".

He points to himself,"Yes,I did die.By Dream's hands in prison...",he ignored the flinches,"...he wasn't lying when he said he had a revival book...",he tugs at his white streaks,"...apparently,he decided it would be great to test it on me.And he did.".

He sucks in a breath,"To keep things short;after I was revived,the only thing I could think of was to get away and I did.I ran as far as a could and made myself a home here with Clara.Judging by how you all think I was dead,I'm guessing Sam never told you and I'm glad he didn't-"he puts up a finger just as the opened their mouth to protest,"-and before you start,I feel much comfortable without you all knowing I'm still alive.Yes,I missed you all so damn much,shut up,but I wasn't ready to face you all again after that fiasco and I needed time to think."

He paused,sighing as the others watched,"I later met Michael,two months after finding Clara;and since then,the kid's been visiting us almost everyday.",he stops,"...which reminds me..".

He flicks Ranboo's and Tubbo's foreheads and quickly tugged them by the ears,ignoring their helps of pain.Phil and Fundy tried to stop him,while Techno looked amused,despite the tears.

"Why the fuck did you let your grief take over you and neglected your five fucking years old son?Don't you know how I had to save him from dying when I first met him because,apparently,you lot were wallowing in your sadness to even notice he left!?",they all paled at that,especially Techno,"And don't get me started on how it got worse over the years,especially when he got out.Michael told me everything I need know.".

He lets them go,already exhausted from scolding them.They all hung their heads low,almost ashamed because he was right.Tommy sighs,"Look,I get Michael acts like me a lot.I found it cute,but you gotta pull your heads out of your asses and see him as Michael.",he sags,"I understood you missed me a lot.I do too,okay?I missed you all a lot too.".

He offers his hand to them and everyone in the room takes it.Now Tommy's lap is filled with the hands of the people he cares about;"I'm not done with dissing you all yet.But I'm tired and I need a break,so we'll talk about it more later."

The moment he stops talking,the door swings open the two lumps climbed onto his bed.The children were very fast and they were already huddled with Tommy by the time everyone processed their presence.Tubbo and Ranboo looked guilty when Michael curls further onto Tommy's side.

"Are you okay now,papa?",Clara asked him,eyes shined with worry.

Tommy smiles at her,"I'm okay now,buns.Just need some rest and I'll be good.".

There's still a lot to talk about,a lot to admit,a lot of questions to be answered.But that's for later.For now,the family stays in Tommy's room in peaceful silence,taking in the fact that their youngest is,indeed,alive.

...

"Wait,did she just called you papa-"

.............................................

Not very happy with his chapter.
Ending was a little rushed.
I still hope you all still enjoyed the chapter.
I kinda enjoyed the part of Tommy just dissing on both Ranboo and Tubbo,ngl-

Anyways...um.
"Family feels!...Who the fuck threw a rock at my window-"
Yeah,that's the summary.There's more but...
You'll find out :D

Once again,feel free to comment on any misspelling words or grammars.

Don't really got much to say...
Stay safe!Take care of yourselves!Drink and eat!
Have a good day/night everyone!
Later~!

-Hanaki