R-26266

Chapter 10

Photo Credit: @jellotea on Twitter.com

After a few minutes of sitting with Tubbo I pry myself away from him with a promise of returning to change out of my pajamas and take a quick shower. The warm water is relaxing on my tense muscles and I stand there for a minute in an attempt to relax. This proves very unsuccessful and I continue to go about washing the blood off myself. I take the next 15 minutes to get ready and quickly eat some breakfast before I run into Fundy on the way to my office.

"Just the person I was looking for. Mind taking a watch of Tommy and bringing Tubbo with you? It won't be for another few hours, but Niki and I can't just switch back and forth. Our current exposure to him is too high already but we can't trust people around him other than those mentioned previously by intel." I nod agreeing and smile, which he returns a smaller version of as I walk into my office to grab my paperwork for the day.

Exactly 30 minutes after I originally left Tubbo, I am sitting outside of his and Tommy's unit with my side leaning against the glass, Tubbo sitting directly next to me on the other side of the glass, watching me write a vague report on the attack on Tommy. I had begun teaching Tubbo to fingerspell in ASL, teaching him the names of the other SCPs first as well as his own before moving on to doctors. I point at myself then at Ranboo's unit.

"Ranboo" he signs to me. I nod and give a small smile. He nods slowly and I take this as my que to leave. I place my hand gently on the scanner and step into decontam before entering his unit.

"Good morning N-N/N." I offer him a small smile.

"Morning Ran. How are you feeling today?" He shrugs in response then looks towards Tubbo, who's sitting at the glass of his unit watching us closely.

"Where's T-Tommy?" My smile fades to a frown.

"He's in a medical room. Eret, he... he cut off all of Tommy's vines." Ranboo frowns slightly and walks towards the part of his unit closest to Tubbo and sits facing him. Tubbo offers a small wave which Ranboo quickly returns before turning to me.

"Is T-Tommy going t-to be okay?" I shrug and sit next to him, sitting my paperwork on my lap.

"What should I write about you today Ran? I gotta have something, so what do you think?" He seems thoughtful for a minute.

"Have you t-told t-them about T-Tubbo?" I look at him confused.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean. Like have I told them you're expressing friendship or have I told them I think you would do well in a unit together due to your similarities?"

"First one." I shake my head.

"I haven't yet. I could do that though, maybe we'd be able to get testing done to see how well the second thing would work. I don't think Tommy would approve of a long term switch, but a visit occasionally shouldn't be too terrible." He nods and I begin to write down how Ranboo expressed mild empathy for Tubbo at the loss of Tommy. I write my report on Tubbo while I'm there too, as it was just easier to write similar things for both.

"N-N/N! M-man with g-glasses!" I stand up quickly, reports in hand just in time to see Eret walking up to Ranboo's unit.

"Thank you Ran. You probably just saved my job, maybe even my life. I'll be back in later to check on you, okay?" He nods and I leave his unit quickly to see Fundy coming to get me.

"Wil's shift is pretty much over. Ready to take Tubbo in? Phil will be in after you." I nod and smile, knowing that it is completely safe to be around Phil for long periods of time now. I open the door to Tubbo's unit, getting him through decontam quickly to avoid suspicion from Eret, who's now entered Ranboo's unit.

"Mind helping us get there and then coming back to keep an eye on Eret? If you're not overly busy that is." He nods his head, giving a glance towards Ranboo's unit before waving us to follow.

We arrive at Tommy only a few minutes later.

"Any changes Wil?" He shakes his head.

"T-tom...my" I hear a slight crack in the small voice beside me and wrap one of my arms around his shoulders. Wil shares an empathetic look before going to the decontamination unit at the door and leaving. Tubbo walks up to Tommy slowly, reaching his hand out but pulling back a few moments later.

"You can touch him Tubbo. Be gentle though, okay?" He nods and slowly grabs Tommy's hand. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket with a message from Wil.

"I think he'll wake up soon. He was making small movements before you got there, but I want it to be a surprise to Tubbo." I smile at Wil's message before hearing movement come from the bed. Tubbo is poking me excitedly.

"Yea I saw Tubs. You may just be the thing to wake him up." A small happy sound comes from Tubbo before Tommy moves again, his eyes opening slightly.

"T-Tommy!" A pained smile falls on Tommy's lips before he grimaces, the wrapped vines flinching.

"Hold on Tommy. Don't try to use your vines. They were injured. I don't want you getting more hurt than you already are." I walk over to his side to assist him in sitting up and making sure he's comfortable before sending a quick message to Niki and Fundy letting them know that Tommy was awake. I hear the door open as I put away my phone and see Eret step through. I immediately put myself between the boys and the mysterious man before me.

"Good, it's awake. Should be able to return to its own unit now. Why is T-9226 out of their unit?" A glare remains present on my features as I stare up at the taller male.

"He was having separation anxiety and to keep him from causing himself a medical emergency, I brought Tubbo with me to monitor Tommy."

"Giving them names now, are we? Not smart to attach yourself to them, Dr. L/N. They're dangerous creatures, not human beings. If I hear any more of this I will have to remove you from the property. Consider my offer revoked until you prove otherwise."

"Well, Mr. CEO, I guess we'll just have to see what happens then, won't we?" I seethe. He turns with a huff and leaves the room. What the f*ck did I just do? I could be turned into something like Phil for that. I need to get out of this room, go somewhere to calm my panic down before I send myself into a panic attack. I send Fundy another message asking if he can bring in Phil early, which he responds to almost immediately. A few minutes later Phil and Fundy are walking into the room. I start to bring Tubbo with me, but Phil places his hand on my shoulder and shakes his head.

"I can watch the kids. You go calm down. You don't look good." I nod silently and walk back towards containment, Fundy close behind.

"Hey.. N/N? Are you okay?" I turn to look at Fundy, a concerned look gracing his features.

"I... yeah. I'm fine." He doesn't seem to believe me but lets the topic drop as I walk to Ranboo's unit. He looks surprised to see me again.

"I t-thought it was almost t-time t-to be st-tuck in your room?" I shrug and slide down the glass next to him.

"I mean technically yes, but who'll notice? I mean yeah, Niki will, but no one else. I just... needed some time away from people. Not that you aren't a person or anything, but you're just... I don't know, different I guess?" He nods, not really seeming to understand but going along with it. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing and that of the boy next to me.

"M-man with glasses came t-to see me t-today. H-he did t-this before Furry g-got here." He reaches his hand out in front of me, where I see a fresh white bandage stick out against the black of his skin. My panic now becomes mixed with guilt. I knew I should've just stayed until after Eret decided to leave. Why didn't I listen?

"Ran... I'm sorry. I should've stayed..." He opens his arms, much like he's seen me do countless times for him. I scooch towards him and wrap my arms around his larger figure before he scoops me into his lap, humming a more broken version of the song I used to sing for him.

Extra long chapter of nearly 1,500 words this time :) Probably won't happen again so I hope you enjoyed it! We're finally starting to get some more Ranboo fluff involved here so do enjoy the coming chapters ;)

-Alpa