So I noticed that I made a little mistake in the last plot-chapter about Fundy being in the bedroom and then suddenly teleporting him to the couch, so now we will ignore that and say that Fundy always was on the couch. OK? 'mkay.

---

"Dream?", False questioned, prompting Fundy to confirm if she had heard right, not wanting to believe her own ears. Fundy, however, was still groggy and delirious from sleep and sickness to response cohesively.

The two anarchists paused in their idle chatter and sharing of the fond memories in the letters. Philza in particular grew worried, his forehead wrinkling as his eyebrows furrowed. Something hit the window and his head snapped towards it; it was a crow. The little feathered creature was pecking at the glass and making noise until the man let it in the house. The crow cared a few times and to False's surprise, Phil nodded his head like he could understand its language.

Technoblade simply moved to the window overlooking the front yard. They had closed the curtains for their little meeting, so he gingerly pulled them back just enough to have a peek outside.

False stayed quiet in her seat, feet perched and bouncing in clear anxiety on the wooden piece connecting the chair legs. She looked at Fundy for a second, who was waving an arm around for something in the air; probably something to latch onto. A pang in her heart guided her to the poor sight and so she reached forth with her own hand. He grabbed onto it immediately, his grip as strong as the bite of a fox and desperate.

"Fundy, are you alright?", she asked quietly. The only indication that he'd heard her was a small flick of a furry ear and a whispered mumble of a word. Touching his forehead with the back of her hand, she found that the fox was still a bit feverish, which was definitely not a surprise, seeing as he had gone out in the snow in the midst of his recovery. "Speak to me champ", she urged and strained her ears for anything the young man would mumble.

"Mmhgh..."

"He's outside", Technoblade announced like it was something to be expected, his demeanor perfectly calm and stoic, a heavy contrast to the ecstatic and animated version False witnessed during their small family moment. The man hums in contemplation. "I still wonder why my dogs don't attack him"

False felt a sharp tingle of dread run down her back, the hairs on her nape raising and nerves prickling like cactus spines. The administrator of the server was outside and he was probably looking; looking for either her and Wels or Fundy but she couldn't know. The method they'd used to sneak into the SMP was one that would allow them to go undetected for a good amount of days, thanks to Xisuma and Doc's combined genius so, Dream was probably not here to check for intruders... That would be if he hadn't found out about Wels already; she hoped her friend was safe in New L'Manburg still.

A hand landed on her shoulder, rough and calloused from years of hard work but not unkind yet she flinched. She'd been so focused on Fundy's incoherent mumbling that she hadn't noticed Phil come to her side. His expression was tone-like, unreadeable and stoic but not worried or morbidly scared; that was reassuring. It helped ease her growing anxiety but her heart was still beating hard, her ribcage aching with each pound.

"He's come for you", the man said. The crow perched on the man's shoulder cawed a sentence and Phil quickly addressed it in an irretated tone. "Yes, chat, I'm getting to it", that same crow must've snitched.

False stood up, eyes wide and soul alert. If Dream was looking for her that meant either of two things: one, he had found out about their arrival sooner than expected or two, he had found Wels. She would've liked if it had been the former but if it had been the latter, she didn't know whether to feel relieved or guilty. Gods, what if Wels was injured, dead or worse?

"Look, there is a basement beneath the basement", Phil informed her and she snapped back into the present. No matter what had happened for Dream to be in the area, she had to focus on the present. She had to focus on protecting her own skin and to make sure that Fundy would make it out alive because Iskall would most certainly kill her if something bad happened to the fox. "Can you carry-"

"I can carry him. He's tall but as lean as a sapling, I'll manage", she cut off the avian, already in the process of getting Fundy on his feet.

Hooking an arm under his back, she sat him up and then passed one of his arms over her shoulders. On the count of three, she lifted him up and off the bed. He was indeed taller but lean and nimble like his hybrid counterpart, making it easy for her to carry his weight.

Phil nodded his head towards a wooden ladder by the front door: the way to the basement under the basement. False hissed internally. She had to help a barely conscious, full-grown man down the ladder without falling off. Sheesh, that was going to be a pain in the butt.

"I''ll distract him while you two make your way down", Techno spoke up and False nodded at his words. After silently moving the straps of her scabbard up to her chest and reorganized them a bit, she pulled the fox closer and the youngin wobbled on his feet, further proving that he could not be trusted to descend a ladder on his own.

"Bring him in through the basement and I'll sneak out through the door up here", the avian told the warrior. There was another exchange of silent words but False was too distracted to pay attention -thankfully, none of the dialog was directed to her.

It was a little tricky but she managed to tangle Fundy in the makeshift harness of leather straps, very much like putting a baby in a harness. He made a vague sound of acknowledgement when his chin rested in the crook of her neck, back slightly hunched to fit her height and legs clutched against the woman's hips. Whether he was aware of their situation or not, False didn't know but she was glad that he didn't put up any resistance, trusting her fully even in his vulnerable state.

With some difficulty, she managed to go down the ladder. She could hear the other two men's footsteps and faint speaking as she balanced Fundy against herself and the rungs as they were preparing to welcome the admin in Technoblade's cabin. Her priority was to hide Fundy as she had been told what had caused the poor guy's sickness and to hide herself, if only to protect until the last breath -in her spot, what else was there to do? Closing the trapdoor of the basement entrance, she was very careful to not jostle Fundy too much as she carried him to a corner of the mostly-empty room.

It was dark and humid in the basement much more than any other basement False had stepped foot into in her life. Well, she was in the tundra but the brick walls had to at least offer a bit of insulation. The only light source was the quaint glow of a lit oil lamp that was resting on a pile of barrels in the far back. While small, there had to be some extra heat where the glow hit, so she settled Fundy close enough that the light wouldn't illuminate him but the heat would still warm him; the poor lad was shivering. Fundy sneezed and pulled his knees to his chest, making the dust and dirt in the room apparent. False could feel her own clothes becoming dump, sticking to her skin. She could only hope that the humidity would not affect Fundy much.

"Fundy, how are you feeling?", she asked in a whisper, crouching beside him. Surprisingly, it wasn't just a warble that left his mouth.

"Sweaty...", he mumbled and while False still had to strain an ear, she heard him crystal clear. That was a good sign. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Is Dream really here?", he asked, a small waver in his tone. He looked up at her with glassy eyes; he looked tired, exhausted even. Poor kid.

False sighed.

"Will you freak out if I say yes?"

"...Maybe?", at False's look of uncertainty, he shook his head to the best of his abilities. "No, no, I won't freak out"

False still had her doubts about the genuinity of his words when she responded. Still, he had to be too tired to yell or shout.

"Yes-", she was quick enough to put a hand against Fundy's mouth when the younger tried to scream. "-but Technoblade and Philza are dealing with it. Do you know where we are?"

Fundy shook his head. False had to squint to distinguish the movement.

"We're in Technoblade's secret basement-", she ignored how weird that sounded, "-All we have to do is stay calm and wait"

And they would wait until Dream left either out of boredom or because he wouldn't find anything.

So, False sat next to Fundy, a little closer to the light to block the young man from the view of the ladder. She didn't know if Dream would be kept out of the second -presumably hidden- basement and if he wasn't, it would be False he'd face first rather than a wounded and weak man. There was no place for unnecessary risk.

She heard a door shut above them and she guessed that it was Phil sneaking out of the house and right after that there were voices. She couldn't hear them well as they were on the first floor and not directly above the two of them but Fundy seemed to be picking up on the words perfectly. His ears were twitching and his face morphing ever so slightly with every new sound. He seemed tired but frightened and that was what was keeping him awake and aware.

"Can you make out what they're saying?", she asked him, vocice barely audible. The ceiling was nothing but the stone floor and a few wooden beams but it wasn't thick enough to be completely soundproof. Especially when the trapdoor leading to the basement was made out of wood that was worn from use.

Fundy nodded. "They're talking about... dogs?"

"Dogs?"

"Mhm"

"Are you sure? That is so random"

The other shrugged. "Dream never was direct about his secrets"

False hummed thoughtfully. So the conversation about the dogs was but a diversion. A diversion from what, she couldn't be sure but she could imagine a few scenarios. Was there someone else with the admin? Or was he simply distracting Technoblade with his words so he could focus on searching?

Suddenly, there were loud footsteps right above them that snapped False out of her thoughts. Fundy yelped, loud enough that False almost slapped her hand over his mouth and made a hasty shushing motion with a finger. A second later, there were voices, clearer than before, right above their heads, only slightly muffled.

The one was Technoblade, monotone and drawling and the other was higher in pitch and excited-sounding; that must've had been Dream, then. False drew in a deep breath and held it for a second, fearful that the admin would hear the tiniest bit of sound under the floor.

"...could get you some tea", was a sentence she caught Technoblade utter, which had probably been meant as a question but it was difficult to distinguish tones.

"No, no thank you", Dream responded with a low hum. Some dust fell from the ceiling as they moved from spot to spot.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am very sure, Techno"

"But-"

"That's the thirteenth time you've asked to make me tea!" -there was a pause, only filled by Techno's mocking laughter.

All of a sudden, her chest was squeezing and her gut was twisting. There was that nasty, foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach she felt every time she was forgetful. Had she forgotten anything upstairs? Looking around, she found that she was missing her backpack; her backpack and the letters were still upstairs! Dang it. Unless Technoblade and Phil took care of them last minute.

"Well, seeing as there is obviously no sign of who I'm looking for here", she heard Dream say and she had to hold her breath. Her anxiety must've had been contagious, because Fundy moved closer to her, almost digging into her side with his elbow. "I'll be taking my leave"

A sharp, continuous and almost silent noise caught False's attention. It wasn't coming from above but it was echoing throughout the room in a way that the center of it could not be detected. As they heard the footsteps above walk towards the door, False stood up. The room was static, all objects unmoving and the oil lamp still lit. She couldn't put her finger on what that noise was.

Until the walls cracked. It was small at first, small little hair fructures that in the dim light went unnoticed. But then there were crumbs of rock and brick and clusters of dust that fell until jagged, ragged spikes broke through. They were hard with an impure black and gray surface. The door shut loudly.

"That's bedrock", False realized with a start. Spikes of bedrock were growing into the room like stalagmites and stalactites, connecting with each other to form an indestructuble prison. "Fundy, get up!", she shouted, careless of who was listening. Fundy barely managed to get up before a spike pierced straight through the spot he was sitting at.

Startled, the young man yelped and stumbled until False was supporting him, half-carrying him to the most stable part of the room. A spike speared through the wall right over their heads and the floor was suddenly shaking, a deep rumble overbearing their senses and sending them both to the stone and bedrock mess of a floor. False hissed, feeling a rip at her side when she lifted herself up.

Looking behind them, she could see the spikes curling and growing, the ladder breaking when the trapdoor opened. The little light that fell through was blocked rather quickly by the overlapping bedrock.

"Fucking hell-", Technoblade's voice was swallowed too.

"What the hell is happening?!", Fundy screeched beside her.

"I don't know!", and she didn't know. That was no natural disaster; bedrock didn't just crawl its way out from the depths of the world. And she could only suspect what was happening but that wasn't important as more and more spikes grew closer and closer, curling and mixing with the preexisting crowd.

The brick wall behind them broke apart, letting the head of a pickaxe in, right between them.

"Holy shit, what's going on here?", it was Phil! Oh, thank goodness, False could not thank lady luck enough!

"Bedrock!", she shouted because that was the only explanation available. She shoved Fundy to the hole, sending the young man tumbling into the small, crammed tunnel.

"Come on!", Phil exclaimed right after he had taken Fundy farther into the tunnel. False tried to crawl through but a spike stopped her, growing right out of the ceiling amongst the hundred thousands.

There was a sharp pain, the spike so sharp it pierced through her arm. There was blood, a scream, the face of a horrified man and the light was snuffed out.

*

It had been days. It had been days since the departure of the hermits and the court date was drawing nearer, looming over all their heads like a curse. Tommy tried to busy himself in the days that False and Wels were gone, frequently visiting the mines, the other hermits and doing anything to take his mind off the fact that the two hermits were still on the SMP. He did so because otherwise, the little voice in his head would speak of deathly predictions of the two's life state.

It was annoying how much he cared but he couldn't do otherwise and he had accepted that. He just wished that his warnings would be heeded for once because his anxiety was making his hands tremble and Shroud looked at him all weird when that would happen. It had been three days, for fuck's sake and Tommy wanted to do nothing else but sock 'em in the nose once they returned and shout many, many curse words in their sorry little faces.

Wandering the shopping district was becoming the norm for Tommy. Either he'd be simply walking around, lost in thought, helping a hermit restock their shop or flying around to clear his mind. That was what he was doing when Xisuma called him down; flying.

"What's up?", he asked the admin, who was looking not better than Tommy. Tommy knew that the little plan was taking its toll on most of the other hermits and even more so on Xisuma, who wasn't just the administrator of the server but the one who'd proposed the plan in the first place.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to ask how you're doing", the older told him.

"I'm doing as fine as I can", he responded, "You look older"

That caught Xisuma by surprise, the bee huffing. Tommy's lips tagged upwards in a teasing grin.

"Do I?"

"Yes, grandpa"

His teasing was rewarded by a quite messy tussle of his hair. Darn it, he'd actually put effort into brushing it that morning!

"Must be the worry wrinkles", the man said before walking away. He beckoned Tommy to follow him.

Quietly, they travelled through the shopping district. The mere presence of the hermit beside him made Tommy feel safer and if he pushed himself closer, that's his problem and no one else's. With an arm covered in plated armor around his shoulder and a hand, gloved, hanging above his chest, Tommy could say that he was content. It was like all his nerves and anxiety were being soothed by an outside force.

Of course, he knew why his nerves were being soothed but he still had some pride to keep stoic about it.

"They'll be fine", Xisuma said, breaking the silence as they neared Aqua Town (a big chunk of land bought off Scar for people to create big buildings and shops).

Tommy thought the man was tying to reassure himself more than he was trying to assure Tommy. The thing was, however, that Tommy knew what the delay of the hermits' return could mean. He was super aware of how hostile the Dream SMP lands were and he had lived -and survived- Dream's mind games and he knew how fucked up that guy was.

The hermits didn't but they had taken him seriously. Maybe, they hadn't taken him as seriously as he'd thought or Dream simply found them... Fuck. Don't think about that, he scolded himself.

Positive vibes was all he needed at the time.

"I hope so. If they listened to me, they're doing fantastic"

And so did the admin beside him. The worry-wort, sympathetic person standing beside him didn't dare show his true emotions and Tommy could only guess there was a hurricane ripping apart his head.

"It just worries me, you know? They've been gone for too long",  Xisuma sighed and Tommy pretended that the arm leaving his bubble didn't phase him as much as it did.

"Phil is probably boring them with old-person-stories, he's old enough to do that"

"Yeah?"

"He never was never a good story teller -at least in the children's stories department"

That got a laugh out of the man, short but real and Tommy was momentarily satisfied.

"Perhaps he's better at normal stories"

"Eh, I prefer Stress now"

Speaking of Stress and the court situation, she was... well, she was handling it. If you could call being anxious to the point where you're pacing through the fucking jungle (where there could be creepers lurking) and reciting every questions the judge could possibly ask "handling it", that is.

The pattern began the day before, when Tommy had brought Shroud to play with Dandelion. Stress was making pumpkin pie and she'd asked him if he liked pumpkin pie and suddenly she'd realized that she didn't know as much as she'd thought she did about him.

And then the sequence of "what if I am asked this?" started, as well as the "What if I don't know the answer?", and she was clearly overreacring but Tommy didn't know how to stop her rumbling.

So, in hindsight, she was handling it but not in the best way. Adding the delayed trip of False and Wels on, her worry must've had grown too.

"I thought you preferred TFC's stories", Xisuma stated with a buzz of his wings.

"Yeah but Stress' are the best to fall asleep to- I mean- Uhhhh..."

Crap, he hadn't meant to say that! T.M.I.! T.M.I.!

Wearily, he looked back at the man, only to see him nod his head.

"Agreed"

Tommy almost let out a breath of relief at that. He had expected to be teased about it, seeing as he wasn't a child to need bedtime stories but to be left alone? And a much older man to agree with him on such a subject? It buffled him -in a good way!

"How is Shroud doing?", Xisuma asked after a moment of silence.

Right as Tommy opened his mouth ro respond, a loud beep came from both of their communicators. They looked down and Xisuma was the first one to bring up the chat, muttering a few words under his breath that did not sound calm enough for the beep to have had been good. Quickly, Tommy did the same, almost choking on air when he saw the automatic welcoming messages in bright yellow letters.

"Holy shit-", Xisuma turned on his heels and ran the opposite direction before Tommy could finish his sentence. He rushed after the man, following him to the server's spawn.

There were two figures hunched by the spawn's nether portal, both dressed in dark clothing, one of them wearing shining, dark armor. It was a man and someone else and Tommy heard Xisuma's breath hitch, the bee almost freezing on the spot. The atmosphere dropped, a lingering feeling of dread making Tommy's heart beat wildly.

That strange man wore black iron armor, almost the color of obsidian -it shined like obsidian with ragged edges and small cracks on the surface. The trim of the armor was gold and the helm had a nice curl of red hair sprouting from the comb. The man shifted a little in an attempt to push himself up and off the other person he had been hunched over, revealing pale skin -paler than Tommy had ever witnessed but not as pale as paper- with scattered bruises and a few scratches along his arms and short tufts of ash blond sticking to his forehead.

The figure beneath the stranger shifted, a familiar mop of brown and a ripped suit sticking out to Tommy. There was blood mixed in with the brown and that raised a bright red flag. Tommy was pushing the stranger away -the man stumbling to the side with a hiss of pain- before helping the other sit up- it was Tubbo. Holy shit, it was Tubbo.

Same scars, same curled horns, the same friend of his. He couldn't believe it.

"Tubbo?", he more exclaimed rather than asked, shaking the goat-hybrid until he heard him groan. His face contorted in pain, eyelids moving until dim, blue eyes opened. "Tubbo!"

And Tommy was ecstatic, shaking his friend again, his grip strong as if he was trying to convinvce himself that it was real. That was really happening; Tubbo was there, blooded but looking unharmed and goodness was Tommy fucking happy!

"Tommy?", his friend responded. "Tommy, you're here?"

"Yes! Yes, big man, Big T!"

The shorter boy wasted no time punching him in the gut. As he recoiled, Tommy laughed and when he was headbutted, he laughed also.

"You scared us all to fucking death!", that was Tubbo's attempt at being tough and right after, he almost jumped on Tommy, laughing and crying, embracing his friend in a giant hug which Tommy fiercly returned with the exact same emotion.

They almost didn't hear Xisuma approach them, only the man didn't regard them first. He instead turned his attention to the stranger, who was still trying to stand, watching them with bloody red eyes. It clicked to Tommy that it was a clone, someone similar to Evil X, only sharing the same facial features and wardrobe with- with Wels.

The laughter stopped, the tears dried up in an instant. As relieved as Tommy was to have his best friend at his side after such a long time spent apart, he was alarmed by the fact that Wels had a carbon copy of himself and that that copy was the only one present.

"Hels? What happened?", Xisuma asked, voice stern and worried. It only made Tommy worry more and Tubbo looked at the two awkwardly. Whatever had happened, he'd witnessed first-hand.

"Help me, will ya?", the stranger -Hels- said in a sarcastic tone. His voice was deep, almost demonic, sharing only the accent and the tone of Wels'. Xisuma wordlessly helped the dark knight to his feet before urging him to answer his question. "We were ambushed"

"We?", Tommy picked at the sentence. "Ambushed?"

"Wels found that kid and the tall lanky one. That woman accompanying him, she left in the morning to look for someone, so he stayed behind to 'protect', ugh", Hels coughed -he coughed up blood.

"They split up?!", Tommy all but shouted. Tubbo put a hand on his shoulder and told him to shut up and listen. Begrudgingly, he did as he was told. Still, he couldn't believe that False and Wels had split up! Didn't they know that that was a stupid move?

"So he called upon me for backup and then one thing led to the other and we were rapping -it's how it goes with him and I", he did a vague motion with his hand, leaning on Xisuma, clearly putting most of his weight on one leg. A closer look revealed that the armor on his other leg -on his calf to be precise- was cracked and bloody, a blow that had certainly broken a bone or it was an attempt to do just that. "Next thing I know, the admin shows up. Got my leg with a netherite axe"

Tommy felt like the earth had disappeared beneath his feet, the gravity of what had happened landing on his shoulders and pushing him to the ground. Dream had found them. Dream had hurt them. That bastard-

Hels jutted his chin towards Tubbo. "I got him out while I could. Wels managed to lead the dude away long enough for us to exit"

Xisuma was silently observing the two boys on the floor, still tangled up in each other's arms. Tommy wondered what the admin was thinking, what he thought of the situation. He looked worried -Tommy caught that slight hand tremble easily. Tubbo pulled away from Tommy, prompting all heads to turn to him.

"Won't you be accussed of another kidnapping, though?", the brunet asked.

The adults shook their heads. Hels spoke up.

"If that scambag knows what's good for him, he won't even try to contact his lawyer about this"

"What about Wels and False?", Tommy chimed in. "Are they okay?"

The man shrugged and simultaneously, he jerked forward, the armor on his back cracking. It made Tommy jerk backwards. What was that?

"Wels is... he's not doing too hot. I think that was a skeleton", he said with a hiss of pain, Xisuma peeking at the broken armor. "False didn't return"

"No, no, no-", Tommy muttered under his breath. Dream had hurt them, he was hunting them down like they were pigs, like they were nowt but crops, ripe and ready for the picking. They were hurt, False might've had died already- shit-

"We should change the court date", was all Xisuma suggested. "The faster we get this done, the faster and safer we can get them out"

"What?"

"What?"

==================
So, the reason why Xisuma didn't suggest going to look for them is because the way False and Wels entered was illegal and would by all means affect how the trial would go. That, as well as risking the lives of more hermits or even himself and Tommy's life too and asking for a warrant to search for two missing members on another SMP -who had entered illegally- would not look good on their record.

Anyway, I am tired. I shall now log off and have a lazy day. Cya!