Chapter Text
“Code Red! I repeat, Code Red! Meet me at the base!”
Tommy’s feet were already pounding against the pavement, each push sending him flying forward only for him to harshly crash back down and into the next step.
“I’m on my way!”
The city rushed past him in a blur of ominous shadows cast by orange streetlights and neon signs. Crisp night air bit at his face and pushed his windbreaker back in a billowing mass of red.
His worn converse slipped and skid against the sidewalk and he weaved through the occasional groups of people. He was just barely able to turn a corner by pushing off a building to forcefully change his momentum.
“There isn’t much time!”
Tommy jumped over someone’s dog instead of walking around it.
“I know, I know, I know!”
He shoved his way through a small crowd at the edge of an intersection. Their surprised yells barely caught his ears. The pounding of his feet against the rain slick pavement sent thundering vibrations through his body-
H O N K !
Tommy stumbled forward just as the car stopped where he had been a second ago.
“Watch where you’re fucking going, kid!”
Tommy looked back with wide eyes against the blinding headlights.
“Get off the damn road already!” The driver threw up a middle finger in Tommy’s direction before hitting the horn once against and speeding off. Tommy was only able to block the spray of water from hitting his mouth.
He jumped as another chorus of beeps and honks rang out. Tommy blinked at the cars that had also stopped, frozen, before one of them hit the horn for an exceptionally long time. He stumbled back off the cross walk and onto the sidewalk. After those cars also left in a spray of dirty water, the crosswalk light turned a cheery white with a simple graphic of a person walking. The group of people Tommy had pushed through now took their turn in calmly crossing the street.
Tommy pulled his hood up to hide from the stares and resumed his journey, trying to ignore the hair being blown into his eyes and sticking to his forehead.
“There has been an attempt on my life, big man.”
“Don’t let yourself be followed!”
“Never.”
He breathed in heavy puffs that burned his lungs and throat almost as much as the running burned his calves. His muscles had completely switched to auto-drive, letting his mind partially disconnect from how sore they were and instead focusing on his destination. The destination.
It was in his sight now.
“I’m here.”
“I don’t see you?”
“You will.”
Tommy put on a burst of speed-
And veered to the left, tripping on the curb. His fingertips caught on the cool metal of a lamp post just before he fell off the sidewalk. He pushed himself forward and away from the stranger he had collided with, who was yelling after him.
“I’m in position now.”
He allowed his chapped lips to curl into a small smirk and threw himself up. With a metallic rattle, he pulled himself up onto the tall building’s fire escape. “Oof.” Now it was a simple matter of racing up, up, up the steps.
“You’ve been spotted.”
“By who?”
“Me.”
At just that moment Tommy skid to a stop and smoothly jumped through a window. His bones shook with the impact, but he quickly pulled himself up.
“You got the goods?”
A figure stepped forward, their sinister grin only half lit by a small, weak light.
“If you’ve got yours.”
“We’ll both take them out at the count of three.”
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three!”
Tommy shook out the pockets of his windbreaker, causing several candy bars to hit the floor.
Tubbo moved his hand from behind his back to reveal an unopened, family size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos.
Tommy grinned, “Nice! Dude, you’re the fucking best.” He reached forward and ripped off the sticky note with ‘Wilbur’s DO NOT TOUCH’ scribbled on it. “You’ve got Netflix all set up?”
While reaching down to scoop up the assortment of fallen candy, Tubbo scoffed, “What do you take me for? Of course I did, you fucking idiot. I wouldn’t just call a Code Red and be unprepared.” He aimed his flashlight down at them and wrinkled his nose. “Why’d you get Almond Joy? Nobody eats this shit.”
Tommy threw his hands up. “I was in a rush!”
“Mhm.”
“I was !”
“If you were in a rush, why did it take 15 whole minutes for you to get here?” Tommy scowled down at his soggy shoes as he ripped them off. He didn’t offer an answer, which led to a bout of cackles from Tubbo. After shrugging off his jacket, also soggy, and tugging his earbuds out, he stalked across the bedroom and gave Tubbo a small shove.
“Shut up. Let’s just get started.”
They both fell onto all fours with their snacks and crawled into the large blanket fort marked with a flimsy cardboard sign labeled ‘Secret Base (ask permission to enter) (except you wilbur fuck you) (by dad’s law anyone can come in with permission including wilbur)’ .
The two shuffled into their well-practiced positions, Tubbo sitting criss-cross with one of his legs overlapping Tommy’s long, stretched out legs, and Tommy scooting as close to Tubbo as possible and loosely grabbing his elbow. Tommy pulled a random blanket over the two, which they spread their snacks across.
“I’ve been waiting all week for this,” Tommy whispered excitedly, smacking his feet into each other.
Tubbo leaned forward to open his laptop and grinned back at him. “This will change our entire lives.” He pressed play, surrendering three hours of their night to Hollywood.
~---~
The hallways are always brightly lit. No matter the time of day, they are always bright. This is a solid fact. The lights hum and buzz with electricity. This is not a solid fact. He hasn’t met anyone else bothered by the noise of the lights.
The office is not lit. Through the tinted glass and under the door, no light peaks out. No matter the time of day, no matter if it is occupied, no matter the occupant, the office is always dark. This is a solid fact. There is a lamp at the desk in the office that is on whenever he enters. This is also a solid fact. Does having the lamp on make the office not dark? It doesn’t matter, not to anybody else. There are only facts, and there are only relevant facts in this building.
The hum of lights was the only sound left when the click of his shoes fell silent as he stopped in front of the door of the office. He held his ID up to the scanner before he lost the nerve. The door slid away into the wall, letting him see into the dark office. “Sir?”
The office was dark and the lamp was on and two people were by that lamp. The lamp is always on the desk, so it sat on the desk that had two people sitting on either side of it.
The person with their back to him stood up. Their chair screeched as it was forcefully shoved back. They were tall. “Who is that? You told me this would be just between you and me.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Halo.” The other did not stand up. “That’s just my intern. He’s...very good at keeping his mouth shut.” He tried to straighten his back more than it already was as he was addressed. “Give us a moment, will you? I’m almost done with my client.”
He retraced his steps out of the office and in front of the door that no light came out of. He stood still and silent in the bright hallway. There was no one else there. No footsteps to cover the hum of the lights. He did not tap his feet. Tapping his feet is rude and irritating. This is a solid fact.
He stepped aside when the door opened. The tall person rushed past him, but not before giving him an analytical glance.
“You may enter now.”
He stepped back into the dark office, tracing his previous path. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
A hand was waved and he followed its command, sitting down at the desk. He was rewarded with a response. “Yes.” A manilla folder was tossed onto the desk. He caught it before it slid off into his lap. “With new business opportunities arising, you’re being relocated to the west side of L’Manberg.”
“What?”
“I’ve got all of it handled and taken care of.” He glanced down at the folder. “All you have to do is listen to me.”
“Sir, I…” He set the folder down, but it was pushed toward him again.
“Oh, and keep your eyes out for...subjects of interest. There seems to be an awful lot of them buzzing around in that area.” When someone stands up, it is a cue to also stand up unless told otherwise. This is a solid fact. So he stood up.
He looked down at the folder in his hands then back up. He nodded. “Okay, sir.” He retraced his steps out of the office once again. He was back in the brightly lit hallway alone. He walked away from the dark office.
He follows orders. This is a solid fact.