Tommy was strolling through the hub while he waited for Tubbo to answer the numerous missed calls and texts he had sent earlier that morning.

"Where is he? He said we could hang out today..." He mumbled under his breath scanning the area for the bee-obsessed boy. He tapped his foot impatiently and let out a sigh after roughly a minute of waiting.

"Maybe his phone died and this is just the wrong spot?" Tommy considered, mumbling again. He was doubtful. He sent one more quick text before deciding to look for Tubbo himself. It wasn't a crowded day and surely he'd be able to spot him if he was just wandering around in the wrong place, right?

"Or he could've overslept, maybe from a long day in the lab?" He added, since Tubbo was known to stay up too late quite often. Fundy had even mentioned he'd slept in a lab on multiple occasions, so oversleeping could definitely be why Tubbo was so late.

He decided to take the longer route around, to ease his stupid nerves and cover more ground. Looking for his so-called best friend, who just happened to accidentally forget about him on the day they promised to hang out, he rolled his eyes and plugged in only one earbud. Putting on some music, he made his way towards the prison as the longest loop around the hub. It was a fairly nice day out, the clouds showing no chance of rain and the crowds being significantly smaller than normal days. It meant Tommy could run or walk as fast or slow as he wanted without having to worry about holding up lines or crashing into people, and it was great!

Hanging out with Tubbo would be the only way to make this day better.

Near the prison, he was debating if he should say hi to Purpled or Ranboo as he passed the prison, whosoever shift it was, like the amazing and extremely kind person he was.

Once he got closer, he noticed a fairly large crowd of people near the side of the prison, which was odd, because if they wanted to get in they would be huddled at the front instead. Curiosity got the best of him so he put his search on pause for a minute to investigate.

"What the-?" He thought to himself as he sneakily and carefully as he made his way closer, trying to not be seen.

No one noticed his presence, so he ducked behind a wall to keep it that way. Peering over at them from behind it. Luckily everyone was too distracted with their conversation to notice him at all. He tried to spot any familiar faces- or rather, backs -and actually noticed quite a few, surprisingly.

"Techno's cape, Philza's wings and hat, Wilbur's beanie and yellow sweater, and wait- Awesamedude?!" Tommy noticed. Sam was facing the crowd, so if he looked past them he could probably see Tommy easily. Tommy made note of it and was more careful to only peek around slightly, ready to jump backwards if needed. It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. Curiosity had got the best of him and it wasn't his fault they were talking so loud.

"Why is he here?" He thought to himself counting them in his head. Philza's wings covered his view of at least a few people near the front, and he didn't think he recognized anyone else for at least a second, before he did-.

"Wait, is that Fundy the furry?" He saw a bright orange tail swish nervously near the back of the crowd.

"If that science nerd is here does that mean-?" His thoughts faded out as he peered closer at the crowd looking for someone specific. He decided to listen to what they were saying to get an idea of what was going on.

"We need to prepare well more than last time too." A cat person said. He was near the back of the group, right in the hearing range of Tommy. He was holding the hand of some guy next to him who Tommy couldn't make out, but he probably didn't know him anyway so it didn't matter.

"Armor, potions, weapons, whatever we can get quickly." The cat man continued.

"What do they need all of that for?" He thought to himself, being careful not to make a sound. This seemed important.

"We want to cure him not kill him!"

It was a british voice that said it, and Tommy recognized it as Gogy, who seemed pretty defensive about whatever they were talking about.

Tommy couldn't hear the next line that George said much more quietly, but it was responded with stuttering from someone more near the front of the crowd. Someone he recognized.

"Tubbo?" He accidentally breathed out, before clamping his hand over his mouth and ducking behind the wall. He stayed there, breathing silently with his hands still over his mouth and his body as still as they could be.

Luckily no one noticed, but he swore he felt the eyes of at least one person glance backwards for a split second.

Tommy sighed silently, and went back to listening to what he could more carefully.

Fundy had started to say something, but Tommy couldn't quite make out the words. It was obviously directed at George with a glare even Tommy could see from behind. More people started to talk a bit more over each other but he got some pieces out. Philza had mentioned tents and food for multiple days, the cat guy had mentioned medical supplies, and another person he hadn't heard yet mentioned something about tracking someone down?

It took him a second to process, but he realized he had heard the name "Dream" being thrown around.

"Wait did she say Dream? That weirdo from the prison?" He was getting more confused by the second, and because the arguing made it difficult to hear more, he tried to piece together what he already had.

Tubbo was there along with other friends, everyone was upset or angry since they were arguing and the air- even outside -felt stiff, they had to prepare on a trip, something about Dream, needing supplies for multiple days, Awesamdude was there, tracking down....?

Ok no-, Tubbo and other friends were in the crowd, they mentioned supplies for a trip, everyone was arguing and/or nervous, Awesamdude had returned from his trip, Dream was involved somehow, and this was confusing.

Then it clicked.

Sort of.

"If Tubbo is there and they are going on a trip, is he going to just leave without telling me!?" He pieced together, feeling a little bit betrayed at the idea. He wasn't getting any more information from the squabbles, and curiosity got the best of him. Without much more thought, he walked out from behind the building and plastered on a fake smile.

"Hey guys!"

The entire group immediately turned around in shock and put all of their attention onto him. It would have been flattering if he wasn't slightly intimidated by half of them, some of which included his friends. There was a demon in the crowd with glowing eyes and a dark cape who looked to be defending a guy in blue behind him. The cat guy from earlier had his claws extended in one hand in a fighting stance at the shock. Technoblade had a subtle surprised look on his face, and mixed with the full armor and broadsword he had in his hand, he looked dangerous. Philza sighed like he half expected it, and let his wings relax from the initial flare of excitement. Tubbo had stepped more to what was the front of the crowd now and had a mix of happiness, shock, and fear in his eyes.

Wilbur was the first to shout, "Tommy!?"

Realising he wasn't a threat, the crowd let out a collective sigh and put their weapons away or back to their sides.

Sam had made his way to the front of the crowd very quickly. "Tommy, what are you doing here?! Your next shift isn't until tomorrow morning."

Tommy was surprised he remembered that so quickly. "Does he read the schedule instead of books or something? I probably wouldn't doubt it actually." He thought to himself.

"Well I was taking the long way around the hub while I waited for Tubbo to pick up," Tommy started, waving his phone out and glancing towards Tubbo who instantly looked like he felt guilty. "And couldn't help but overhear your loud planning to travel for a few days." Tommy slightly taunted.

"How much did you hear?" Sam asked quickly with an edge to his voice. The man that was previously standing next to him took a cautious step backwards.

"Oh not much, just the last few minutes about the top secret plan to travel a few days to hunt down a certain green lunatic? That, if I recall correctly, was in the prison a day ago?" He said slyly. Sam was glaring daggers on him but Tommy's confidence shined through. He averted his attention to Tubbo instead, after Sam was contemplating what to do.

"Hey Tubbo!" He said in an overly friendly tone, "What's this about ditching me today to go and travel for a few days?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh uhm- it's for work and stuff. I can't really say..." Tubbo looked nervous and looked anywhere but Tommy's eyes. The rest of the crowd was just starting at this point, all unsure of what to do.

"Oh but I'm sure you were going to tell Ranboo." Tommy said with acid in his voice, folding his arms across his chest.

"No I wasn't-" Tubbo started, but Sam cut him off.

"Tommy, I need you to promise that you will not tell a soul about this." Sam said in a strict and unmoving tone.

"Ok sure," Tommy said, shrugging. Sam looked a little confused, but relieved, and was about to speak before Tommy kept going to his surprise.

"If-.... I get to come along too. This adventure seems fun and I'm curious and bored." Tommy said with a smile. Tubbo was the only one smiling with him at the deal, tensions had faded very quickly. Sam was about to argue against him, when Wilbur noticed and interviewed casually.

"Ah let the child come. It'll at least be funny to watch him fail at everything on the way." He said with a slight laugh. The tensions were easing down, to everyone's relief.

"I am not a child Wilbur!" Tommy whined, but Sam cut him off.

"This is dangerous!" Sam emphasized. "We can't just have kids running around getting themselves killed!" He argued.

"Last time I checked, he was working at the prison every other day, alone." Philza started, pointing to the building right next to them. "And considering Dream escaped, this place might need a few higher security measures before we can really call it safe. I think Tommy would be more safe in our large group, and it couldn't hurt to have another person to help with the night shifts and scouting." Philza said confidently, nodding. Tommy disregarded the last comment about the night shifts and was smiling bright, eager for a reply from Sam.

Sam just sighed with a defeated look. "Fine, he can come." he said, regaining his composure. "But you need to follow instructions and stay with the group. This isn't a game."

Tommy nodded quickly with a smile. Tubbo gave him a high five and they celebrated quietly together. Sam looked like he was regretting every word he had said, but didn't turn back on his decision. The guy next to Sam previously in a red ninja mask looked like he was holding back slight laughter, and Sam just looked annoyed. Tommy still wasn't too sure what was going on, but he was confident he'd figured it out clearly soon enough.

Probably.

Hopefully.

He seemed to have quite a bit of confidence. Starting to consider the idea that he stole Tubbo's half from him long ago, which might actually explain some things.

And ya know, joining a not-so-legal hunting group with all of his friends on this perfect day was also another way the day could get better. Second to hanging out with Tubbo, just by a bit. 

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Sorry this took so long to get out, and thank you for being patient. This chapter and the next one are sorta transition chapters, which I struggle with, and school has been absolute overloading me with work along with switching up the schedule completely, and it's just been hectic. The next one shouldn't (hopefully) take so long because I already have the basic outline. Thanks for reading and seriously thanks to the 1k reads on the first book! Honestly means a ton, and I hope you are all having a good day or night! (Also do you guys want me to put the number of words at the end of these? I've seen other stories do it, so if you want me to, just ask win the comments!)