Tommy awoke with a start; sweat dripping down his forehead and adrenalin pumping rapidly through him. His shaking body and heavy breathing caused his vision to blur and distort; causing him to see lines, shapes, dots and marks that weren't really there - faces that weren't really there... smiles that weren't really-

"-OMMY!"

"AAAKKK!" Tommy's voice jumped several octaves as he kept backwards, frantically looking around himself - searching for any sign of threat or danger.

"Tommy it's just me. It's ok - you're safe." Phil brought up a gentle hand to Tommy's back, only for the boy to shrink away in disgust.

"Don't touch me! G-get away!" Tommy inched back until he was mere centimetres from falling off the edge of his bed. Phil sighed but nevertheless took a small step backwards and retracted his arm from the quivering blonde.

"Mate... you're ok. Do you want me to go and get Techno for you?" Tommy slowly nodded. "Alright mate, wait here." After casting a rather empathetic glance (over his shoulder) at shaking blonde, Phil left the room in search of his brother. Tommy was left in silence for a few seconds before a frantic Technoblade came sprinting into his room, devouring the still shaking boy into a hug. Phil stood in the doorway with a worried expression plastered on his face, but saying nothing.

"Halloooo," Technobalde slowly released Tommy from the embrace and gently took the boy's shaking hands in his own; trying to make his movements as predictable as possible, "You ok now?"

Tommy hesitantly nodded his head before teasingly pushing Techno away, "Don't tell me you're going soft on me, Pinkie!"

Techno scoffed and dramatically put a hand on his chest, "Me!? Never! Now come here you little gremlin child!" He reached out the the blonde and tickled him with uncharacteristic amounts of energy. A month ago, Tommy would have freaked out at the name Gremlin - or someone intruding on his personal space as much as this - but now it was different. These were people he trusted... people he could rely on... people he could love.

"C'mon mate - as much as you're enjoying this, we need to get ready." Phil flipped the lights on - effectively blinding all three of them for a good five seconds. "Court case starts today." Techno groaned and flopped onto the bed in mock disgust; causing Tommy to let out a loud cackle which brought a smile to all three of the brothers' faces.

An hour later, the three of them were crammed into the backseat of a car on the way to court. Techno sat in the middle, with Tommy on his right and Phil on his left. They were dressed in matching suits; identical except from the colour. They each wore a rather simple, white shirt with a blazer, fitted trousers and a plain coloured tie. It wasn't anything fancy, but after the last couple of months they'd all had, none of them really had the motivation to dress particularly impressively for this court case. There'd almost certainly be distressed and in tears during the hearing so they wouldn't be looking their best regardless of the clothes that they wore.

Phil was dressed in a dark green - almost black. Tommy was in navy blue; he would have liked red but he didn't have the confidence to show up in such a flashy colour. Techno, however, absolutely went in with confidence in a pale pink colour to match his hair.

"Ok boys, we're here," their dad called from the passenger seat as their mum parked the car. "You ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Tommy replied after a pause - confidence only wavering for a second.

"You can always leave the room with me if it gets too much," Phil offered. Although Tommy appreciated the sentiment, there was still a lack of trust that he felt around Phil before he would agree to do so with the man - no, brother, as he had to keep reminding himself.

The family exited the car and made their way into the building. A kind-looking lady (sat behind a receptionist desk) lead them into the room where the hearing would be taking place. There were a couple of people in the room already, but not an overwhelming amount.

A smart-looking, bald man came over to them. He looked like the stereotypical boring lawyer, except from the funky blue and red glasses resting upon the bridge of his nose.

"Hey guys," Tommy recognised this as the man he (and several other people) had been working with over the past few weeks to produce a compelling argument against Dream... not that it was that hard of a task considering how many awful things the man had done. "I hope you're ready for what's about to happen next. Shit's about to go dow-"

"Language!" They turned their heads to see Bad walking into the court room, followed by Principal Ranboo and Tubbo.

"What are you guys doing here?" Phil asked as their parents walked away (deep in conversation with the lawyer).

"We've been requested as whitenesses," Ranboo answered.

"And I'm here to apologise to Tommy" Tubbo added as the others broke off into a separate conversation. Tommy looked up at Tubbo in confusion.

"What for?"

"Well... the last time we had a proper conversation, I ended up shouting at you. I'm so sorry - I didn't realise the situation, andthenIdidsomethingsuperstupidthatIreallyregreatandIdon'twanttoruinourfriendshipandI-"

"TUBS! Relax, it's ok, really." Tubbo looked up at Tommy (slightly out of breath from his rather long apology) "To be perfectly honest with you, I can't really remember what happened between us after all the crazy stuff that followed," Tommy gestured at the room around them, "so you have no reason to apologise or feel bad about it. Besides, I'm pretty sure I shouted at you first."

"So... we're good?"

"We're better than good - we're The Clingy Duo!" Techno (who had zoned out of the other conversation - preferring to keep an eye on his younger brother) couldn't help but let out a snort at the name Tommy just come-up with.

"Correction: you're clingy and I'm the poor poor soul that has to put up with your antics!" Tubbo lightly batted his hand over Tommy's head in response to Tommy stucking his tongue out and teasingly flipping Tubbo off. "But seriously though, friends?"

"Friends," Tommy replied. Their reunion would have undoubtably continued for a lot longer, if a hammer wasn't banged at the front of the room.

"Attention please! Go to your seats - court is now in order." The boys took their seats (Tommy and Techno at the front beside their lawyer and Phil, Tubbo, Bad and Ranboo next to their parents in the first audience row behind them).

Suddenly, the atmosphere went deathly quiet. Dream emerged from behind the witness stand in orang attire and handcuffs. Tommy visibly tensed, but he resisted the strong urge to duck behind Techno. This was the man that abused him his whole life - it was time he took a stance against him. Tommy took a deep breath, and looked him dead in the eyes, smirking slightly.