Finally, it was Ranboo’s birthday. Tommy had waited for seemingly forever for the day. He could barely conceal his excitement. Tommy left Awesamdude’s floor with Ranboo’s present in hand. He couldn’t wait to give it to him, Ranboo would love it. Tommy got home that night with the gift hidden behind his back. Tubbo’s head popped out of their bedroom and he grinned. Tubbo went over to Tommy and held up a purple patched cat plush. 

“Oh my god! You fixed it? Ranboo’s been looking for that for months, he’s totally gonna love it!” Tubbo looked down at the little plush they’d won Ranboo at an arcade years ago. Ranboo treasured it, but he lost it four months ago and had been borderline depressed since. Tommy pulled out his gift for Ranboo and showed Tubbo. It was a purple hooded cloak with a crown stitched onto the hood. It was a bit thick because it had a thick layer of Kevlar to make it bulletproof. It also had little light purple stars on it for detail. It was made out of some fabric that made it waterproof. 

“Woah when the fuck did you make that?” Tubbo looked it over and Tommy shrugged. 

“At work. I sometimes work with Awesamdude so I’ve been working on this while there as a side project.” Tubbo grinned and felt the cloak, seemingly impressed by Tommy’s creation. 

“He will adore that, it’s just his style and to him it’ll be super light but enough weight to ground him.” Tommy nodded and folded it up again, going over to the coffee table with Tubbo to put their gifts for Ranboo in a cardboard box. They always did it like that, put both their gifts in the same box and didn't tell Ranboo who got him what to see if Ranboo could guess. They'd tried it on Tubbo and Tommy too but they always guessed right. 

“What time does he get home?” Tubbo looked at his phone as he taped the box shut. They usually decorated the box, but Tubbo had foolishly assigned Tommy with getting wrapping paper, so obviously it wasn’t done.

“We have about 2 hours with traffic. We could do a bit of life saving in that time.” Tubbo walked over to his desk and opened one of the drawers, pulling out his radio. Tubbo turned it on and put a headphone on to listen to it privately.

“Tubs, we’re not leaving 2 hours before he gets home. That’s asking for trouble.” Tubbo rolled his eyes and perked up a bit.

“There’s a huge fight on Willows street. Come on Tommy, if we hurry we can make it.” Tubbo set the radio down and ran to their room to grab their costumes. He ran back in and gave Tommy his.

“No, Tubbo, it’s a bad idea.” Tubbo started walking off and Tommy grabbed his arm. Tubbo turned back to Tommy, frustrated.

“What is your job?” Tommy raised his eyebrows, caught off guard by the question and Tubbo’s intense stare. “People could be dying, Tom. You’re not going to help because you’re nervous about time?” Tommy held his breath and let go of Tubbo’s arm. Tubbo walked back into the bedroom and Tommy sighed, getting suited up in his costume. They left the apartment 5 minutes later, making their way to Willows street as fast as they could. 

Being able to use his wings as he used to was a dream come true for Tommy. He could stay in the air for almost ten minutes before needing to land again, which was 12 minutes away from his previous record. Of course, he was younger when he could last use them, so he was sure he'd beat his previous best in no time. They landed near the scene of the crime, observing the fight hidden while their ears rang from the gunshots. 

Tubbo signaled Tommy to rush the backline and began shooting tiny needles at the frontlines, knocking them down swiftly while Tommy swooped past and knocked into three people hiding behind bins before they could react. 

The three's heads hit the ground and Tommy rushed over to another small group, who barely had time to look at him before Tommy reached out his arm and knocked them all in the head, taking them down with one swipe. 

People were dropping left and right, and as Tommy went to take down what appeared to be the leader, he was kicked in the stomach and flew against a wall, hearing a sickening crack as his head bounced against the brick wall behind him. 

He dropped to the ground, head foggy, and pulled himself to a rough standing position. He glared at his attacker and his eyes widened as crazed eyes stared back at him.

"Did you miss me?" 

“You’re a tough kid, aren’t you?” Tommy glared at the thief and kicked the gun away from him. “Smart too. How about you join us? You’d make a good addition to the team.” Tommy rolled his eyes and readied himself to fight.

Tommy's fists clenched at his sides. That bastard, he was meant to be in jail.

"I forgive you for getting me arrested, kid. You're hard to find, I wouldn't have recognized you if not for that dumb mask." Two men approached them, both carrying Tubbo by an arm as he lay limp in their grasp. A small trail of blood leaked from his hairline.

"Let him go." Tommy's voice was no more than a growl, and the man before him laughed maniacally.

"Ok ok, maybe I lied." The man grinned from ear to ear, the crazed look making Tommy shudder. "I don't forgive you for that. My brothers died in jail, the other two thieves you arrested? Now, it's my turn to take someone from you. You're going to watch." 

Tommy's breath hitched, and his mind went blank, as the man pulled out a gun and shot Tubbo without hesitation.

Shit shit shit- why did he let Tubbo talk him into this? 

Tommy held Tubbo close to him as tears ran down his face. 

He screeched until he couldn't breathe, then shoved his ear against Tubbo's chest, listening to his fading heartbeat. 

Tommy pressed on the bullet wound harder, trying to stop the bleeding without actually looking at the wound because if he looked at it he'd pass out and Tubbo would die. 

Tommy heard two sets of wings and three sets of footprints rushing towards him. Hands were grabbing at him and Tubbo and he shook them all off, holding Tubbo closer and backing away from the intruders, dragging Tubbo with him as his back hit a wall. 

Tommy looked up at the intruders and saw The Angel and Eryn slowly approaching him with Themis in the background on a call. The Angel was speaking to Tommy, Themis was speaking to the phone, Tommy couldn't hear either of them. His ears were ringing, his head and chest felt like they'd gone through a paper shredder. 

Tommy took a deep breath and rested his ear against Tubbo's chest, trying to hear past the ringing. Tommy couldn't hear anything and it made him panic more, moving his hands up to Tubbo's neck to find a pulse with shaky hands. 

The Angel crouched next to Tommy and put his hand on Tubbo's head, small green threads loosely connecting his hand and Tubbo's head. Tommy watched in confusion and seconds later he found Tubbo's pulse. 

The Angel cupped Tommy's cheek with his hand and Tommy's vision was tinted green for a few seconds before he calmed down and his hearing returned. 

Tommy could hear sirens in the distance, could hear Themis talk to whoever was on the other side of the phone. 

"It's ok, look at me, it'll be ok." The Angel sat in front of Tommy and Tubbo and put his free hand on Tubbo's wound, keeping the other on Tommy's cheek. Tommy shook his head, his eyes not leaving Tubbo's body. 

He couldn't- he couldn't breathe. Tubbo was dying- he couldn't save him. It was all Tommy's fault, he should've moved faster. 

He felt hands on him, moving him away from Tubbo. He fought the hands as best he could, trying unsuccessfully to crawl his way back to Tubbo. His head was pressed against something soft, and one of the hands forced his head to look away from Tubbo. 

Someone was whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down. The Angel picked up Tubbo and carried him off, out of Tommy's reach. 

Tommy was lifted from the ground, and was carried into an ambulance. Everything went dark the second he hit the stretcher.

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"Dispatch to SBI, gang fight on Willow street in West. 33 armed, 29 casualties." The Angel took off from the cell tower he was perched on, speeding towards the crime scene. Themis should get there roughly the same time as him, but he was starting off in North while The Angel was in East, meaning he had a good advantage on him. Too bad The Angel could fly twice as fast as he could run, that got rid of Themis' advantage.

"Dispatch to SBI, two vigilantes have been identified taking down the gangs. Proceed with caution." The Angel flew into West, high above the barrier East and North put in the intersection between the cities to keep West away. Shouldn't be more than a couple minutes.

Was what The Angel thought, until an ear piercing screech rang through the air, making him lose his focus and roughly land on the roof of a hotel. His adrenaline spiked, realizing he was close enough to hear gunshots and yet there was nothing. 

The Angel took off again, catching sight of another avian with interesting wings flying in the same direction. His base feathers were green with orange tips, then it smoothed out to orange feathers. 

They both flew to Willow street, where the scream likely originated from, and began searching the bodies littering a section of the street for any survivors. Every body was impaled by black feathers, some small, some big, but none of the people had survived the gruesome attack.

Themis arrived on the scene less than a minute after the avians had, panting and looking at the bodies in horror. He stopped suddenly, and looked at an alleyway in the middle of the bloodbath. He ran over, the two avians hot on his trail. 

There was the vigilante they'd come to know, his wings featherless and head bleeding, hovering over a body sobbing. 

Themis pulled out his phone and dialed 911, backing up and ordering for an ambulance. The Angel stepped forward, putting his hands on the vigilante's shoulders to try and make him back away from the body. The vigilante let out a choked scream, harshly flinching away from The Angel's hands and crawling backwards dragging the body of another vigilante with him. The boy was still breathing, but was bleeding heavily from a bullet wound in his chest. The gravity of the situation struck The Angel, and he realized how dire it was that he step in.

The vigilante looked up at him, eyes clouded over and panting heavily. It looked like he wasn't really aware of anything other than his need to get him and his friend out of there alive.

"Hey, kid, it's ok, you need to breathe. We can help him." The vigilante ignored The Angel, instead resting his head on the unconscious vigilante under him. He stopped breathing, and then raised his shaky hands to the vigilante's neck, looking for a pulse.

The alleyway was eerily quiet, everyone holding their breath as the vigilante began sobbing again, frantically looking for any sign his friend was alive. The Angel walked towards them and crouched down, putting his hand on the vigilante's forehead and activating his power. 

The Angel's power, formally known as 'Mercy'. He could bring someone back to life if they died less than 5 minutes ago, but in return he would die for up to 10 hours. He got better at controlling when he died, but the longer he avoided death, the longer he'd be dead. The Angel's vision went black, and he struggled to bring it back to him. 

The Angel cupped the conscious vigilante's cheek with his hand, using a duller version of his power to bring the vigilante back to his senses. 

"It's ok, look at me, it'll be ok." The Angel sat in front of the two vigilantes and put his free hand on the bullet wound, keeping the other on the conscious vigilante's cheek. The vigilante shook his head, his eyes not leaving his friend's body. 

The other avian finally stepped forward, pulling the vigilante away from the two as The Angel set his first aid knowledge to work. The vigilante kicked and screamed, struggling weakly to get back to his partner's side. The ambulances had already arrived, and before The Angel could actually perform any first aid, the vigilante under him was collected by EMTs. 

An EMT helped The Angel stand, his mind already foggy and short circuiting. The Angel got into the same ambulance as the vigilante who was shot, sitting on a bench watching as the EMTs worked. Themis poked his head into the ambulance before it took off, and The Angel gave him a small thumbs up.

"I'm going to find their other partner. Stay safe, dad. I'll be with you when you come back." The Angel smiled weakly and his eyes fluttered closed, the muffled sound of a siren being the last thing he heard before his heart stopped.

He walked into his apartment, feet dragging behind him. It was his birthday, he was meant to be excited. He was turning 18, shouldn’t he be happy? … of course not. There was nothing to celebrate. His childhood was over, and he could only recount 5 years of it. His body was 18, sure, but he felt like he was 13. 

He didn’t have a memory of his childhood, it basically didn’t exist. Why would he celebrate that? His friends weren’t home, they must have forgotten about him. He didn’t totally mind, he didn’t want to be celebrated anyways. He set down his paycheck with no intention of finding work again. They’d have all the money they needed with him gone, that check was just a final thank you to the people who raised him. 

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And here is my, the author's, thank you to everyone reading. The next chapter will be the last, and after that I'll do a chapter just to answer any questions you as readers may have. So leave them in the comments. I hope you've enjoyed this journey.