Toby was woken up the next morning by his throbbing skull. God, it was worse than it had been last night.

Fuck-

he groaned, not wanting to move, not wanting to open his eyes. It felt like someone was trying to drive in two ice picks in the sides of his head and into his brain-

"Hey, you alright big man?" He heard Tommy ask, and there was definitely concern in his voice.

Toby cracked an eye open to see Tommy, already dressed for school, standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. He shook his head

"I think my brain is trying to hatch from my skull-" he said miserably

"I'll get dad-" Tommy nodded, running off. Toby could hear him barrelling down the stairs, with the call of, "Daaad!"

A few moments later, Phil poked his head in, "Hey mate...Tommy said you had a really bad headache?"

Toby nodded slowly, not wanting to jerk his head too fast. "Mhm..."

"Alright, let me take a look at something real quick, alright?"

Toby nodded again, and Phil walked over to the bed.

"Did you hit your head or anything?" He asked, crouching down by the bed.

"Not that I can think of..." Toby said, "I've been getting headaches more frequently over the last couple weeks...but this is worse than any of them..."

He thought it had just been his powers at first, and some of them probably were, but this...this was something else. Something different.

"Just headaches..?"

"Mhm..."

Philza leaned in closer, looking over Toby's head, frowning a bit. "You've got two bumps here...one on each side of your head"

"What?" That didn't make sense. He didn't know what they were. Weird...

"Yeah...yet look like you bumped your head or something.."

Tommy and Wilbur poked their heads in, Wilber matching Tommy's look of concern on his face. Techno was probably sleeping in still, or out on a morning patrol.

"He's got bumps?" Will asked, walking closer, and gone into full "worried older brother" mode. He gently felt for the bumps, which made Toby wince.

"Sorry, Sorry-" Wilbur gasped, pulling his hands away, "There's definitely bumps there...and if your head hurts so bad maybe you should stay home for the day, right?"

He glanced at Phil for confirmation, and their dad nodded, "Definitely-"

Toby glanced at Tommy, who was making his way over to the bed as the other two backed off "Sorry Tommy, I might not make it to boys night this time if my head doesn't stop trying to kill me-"

"It's alright, just focus on resting and getting better, alright big man?" The blonde boy grinned, giving him a thumbs up, "You can beat a stupid headache, you'll be fine as long as you take care of yourself yeah?"

"Sounds like a plan..." Toby grinned back weakly, and Tommy nodded, waving as he walked out.

"Do you need anything mate?" Phil asked as he and Will started out of his room as well.

"Uhh, something for my headache? Please?"

"Of course.." Phil nodded, smiling at him, "I'll be right back, ok?"

"Thank you..." Toby smiled again, and Phil walked out.

The pain meds did help a little bit, but his head still felt like a drunk dwarf was hammering away at the inside of his skull. His phone was on his bedside drawer, but he was hesitant to grab it, since screens didn't necessarily help with headaches.

Phil came in to check on him every hour or so, which he appreciated, but he also felt bad for worrying him. He hated feeling like a burden. Kristin also came in to check on him occasionally, since Wilbur had college.

For the most part, he tried napping, before finally giving the phone a try. It wasn't too horrible luckily, and he was greeted by several individual texts from his friends hoping he feels better soon, and the occasional assorted memes, especially from Quackity. It brought a smile to his face. It was enough to lift his spirits, especially after last night on top of this. He hadn't gotten the chance to really think and process everything that happened. It had been too close for comfort. He was glad Quackity seemed to be ok after being attacked. He was sending memes and everything.

The rest of the day, the headache subsided a little, but not enough to let him function normally. He really wanted to know what was going on with him. He only hopes Tommy and the guys would be ok, and that the city would be ok with one hero out of commision for a little while.

~.~

"Alright, I'll see you bastards later!" Tommy grinned as he waved to Ranboo, Karl and Purpled on his way out.

"See you Tommy!" Purpled waved back, and the others did the same, calling out different variations of goodbyes.

The boys night had been very successful. They'd all brought their designated items (except for Quackity, as he hadn't been able to make it either. Something about a family emergency, but he had dropped off the drinks earlier. Tommy hoped everything was ok), and the next several hours were spent goofing off, eating junk food, drinking soda, and watching/playing movies and video games that people their age probably shouldn't have been playing/watching. It was a blast. He hoped Quackity was alright too...he'd texted both him and Toby, but only Toby texted back and they'd talked for a bit before Toby went to bed.

Tommy started his way home, it was late at night, and Karl had offered to give him a ride, but he'd declined. He was a big man, he could walk home on his own, he'd done it plenty of times with Toby. Not to mention crime out here was even lower now that Tubbo was around. Sure it was dark, but his phone had a flashlight, it was fine, he was fine. Everything was fine- he shook his head, think of something else Tommy, you're psyching yourself out...

He let his mind wander as he walked. From the fun he'd just had with his friends, wishing Toby and Quackity could have been there too, to his phone battery getting pretty low, too...were those footsteps?

He kept walking, but suddenly he was on high alert. There was definitely another set of footsteps behind him. A good distance from the sound of them, but still close enough, he didn't dare turn around yet. That would alert them to the fact he knew they were there. He kept walking, thinking of a plan. If there was someone following him, he needed to lose them. He kept listening as he walked, taking unnecessary turns, listening. When he walked, the footsteps were behind him. When he stopped, they stopped too.

Alright big man, you're fast, you can do this... he thought to himself, on the count of three, book it-

One..

He took a deep breath.

Two...

He turned his flashlight off. It would make things a little harder but it would be easier to hide

Three-

He suddenly took off, bolting straight ahead, the footsteps starting to run too. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck-

He did his best to remain calm but his heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest. Adrenaline coursed through him as he dodged and weaved through the streets, making sure he didn't go into any dead ends. After several minutes, he turned a corner onto an abandoned street, steadying himself on a wall as he tried to catch his breath. god this sucked- he was not athletic enough for this...Toby would be good at running. On the bright side, he no longer heard the footsteps behind him. Maybe he'd lost them...thank god, he didn't think he could have kept running for much longer.

He took a deep breath, finally able to breathe properly after a moment. He just had to make it home. He could do it. He was a badass. He was Tommy fucking Watson and he wasn't going to let some prick scare him- he straightened his back and started walking, getting his phone to turn his flashlight back on. However, he hadn't taken two steps when suddenly a hand clamped down over his mouth and nose. An arm wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms. His phone clattered to the ground.

He let out a muffled yelp and immediately started struggling, eyes widening in panic. He couldn't breathe, his mind was racing a thousand miles a second. This was not good- so So SO not good- He thought he'd lost them, he should have lost them- his lack of air was making his vision spotty, then he heard a quiet, dangerous voice behind him,

"you're fast, but not fast enough Tubbo..."