Finding Them

        The first thing Tommy felt when he woke up was warmth. Between the thick blanket over top of him and the person behind him, Tommy was practically sweating. He enjoyed the warmth, that said, the moment he remembered what had happened he shot up looking around frantically. His body was in fight or flight mode, panicking.

"Woah! Tommy. Toms calm down," Phil shot up with him, a hand outstretched towards the boy.

"Tommy, I need you to calm down." He couldn't have Tommy passing out on them again. If he did it would just be a continuous cycle. Phil approached Tommy carefully, trying to show him he wasn't a threat.

"Toms, we're not gonna hurt you. Just breathe for me, can you do that?" Phil asked. Tommy nodded, letting the Phil pull him into a seat. Tommy inhaled once, gathering his bearings.

"Sorry, it's just- well, you know." Tommy gestured to the extra appendages. It was going to take some time for him to process them, and learn how to use them. Phil laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, while the latter rubbed his face.

"I know bud, but it's gonna be okay. Don't know if you've noticed yet or not, but you're not alone," Phil gestured behind him. Tommy looked over Phil's shoulder at the matching appendages, his eyes wide.

"What the fuck!? Since when do you have those?" Tommy sputtered. Phil laughed.

"Since I was about seven, I'd say. They were pretty small at that point. Bit awkward at first, but you'll get used to it. I'll show you all the hidden secrets they hold as well." Phil had a gleam in his eye, not mischievous but Tommy felt a little unsettled by it nonetheless.

"Wait, you've had those since you met us?" Wilbur asked pointing to himself and then to Techno. Phil nodded slightly.

"So, you've been hiding them from us for this entire time?"

"I guess you could say that, I was going to show you eventually. Now's a good time as any really, but I just didn't want to spring too much on you guys. After all I am claiming that we're all long lost brothers. Thought the wings might be just a bit much," Phil explained, "But I still have a question for you Tommy. Could you tell us what you were doing outside in the middle of the night with my satchel?" Phil asked gently, he didn't want to sound accusing. Tommy nodded hesitantly before speaking.

"Well, I just wanted to read the scroll you asked me to read when we first met. I wanted to show you that I can read now, that I'm capable and not just holding you back. When I did it was really short and weird, and I said the last line out loud but then my back started hurting, and next thing I know I've got wings!" Tommy retold the events to them. He tried to gloss over the first part but he knew they would be focused on the entirety of what he was telling them.

"As lovely as that story is Tommy, if you could the read the scroll tonight, you should've been able to read the scroll the first time we met," Phil told him.

"But I couldn't read back then, at all! I'm sorry I couldn't but I can now, does that count for anything?" Tommy sounded like he was pleading, not quite picking up what Phil was putting down. Phil chuckled a bit.

"No, Toms that's not what I meant; you didn't do anything wrong. When we first met what exactly did you do when I handed you the scroll?" Phil asked, maybe this would explain what had happened.

"Well, I couldn't read. So, I didn't look at the scroll at all and just told you the story of 'James and the Rabbit,' because that was the only story I knew," Tommy told them. The other three in the room burst out laughing at this causing Tommy to turn beet red.

"Tommy, you are something else," Phil face-palmed, "you didn't need to be literate to read the scroll, it's a magic scroll Tommy. One of the four prophecy scrolls, that just happened to be yours," he pointed at Tommy.

"And that means?" Tommy asked, still confused.

"Tommy, you're our little brother."

"Are you serious?" Tommy laughed. How long had they been looking for their long-lost brother? How long had he helped them look for their brother, look for himself? He felt stupid. Don't get him wrong; he wasn't upset, not in the least. He was happy, he wouldn't be replaced the moment they found their brother. He was happy because this meant he got to stay with them.

"Tommy, trust me. After everything that just happened, I would not lie to you about this," Phil chuckled. Everyone was emotionally drained and laughter was the product of the reactants.

"Yeah, that makes sense, just confused is all. So much has happened in the past couple days." Tommy ran a hand through his hair, his hair line being pulled back.

"It's all good mate," Phil smiled. Tommy glanced over his shoulder at his other brothers. That was going to take some getting used to. Techno was smirking, which was already a drastic change from his normal demeanor. Wilbur only half way tried to contain his smile as he walked over to the winged boy.

"So, the gremlin child is related to me? How wonderful," he said with a sarcastic tone, but the smile on his face contradicted his teasing. Wilbur walked over ruffling the boy's hair. "What are we going to do about these though?" Wilbur directed his question at Phil while gently lifting one of Tommy's wings.

"Oi! Don't touch that shithead!" Wilbur backed off as Tommy swatted his hand away.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Wilbur was genuinely concerned; he didn't know how wings worked. Tommy shook his head pulling his wings closer to his back.

"No, sorry. Just scared me a bit. It felt like, when someone pokes the back of your neck, and your head kinda squished into your shoulders. It felt like that, just jump scared me is all." Tommy tried to think of the right way to explain it, seeing as Wilbur didn't have his own wings to compare the feeling to.

"Well, you did just get your wings yesterday, I'd say they'll be sensitive for the next couple of days yet. Nothing too bad, just sort of like your teeth when you eat something too hot or cold," Phil explained, talking with his hands. Tommy was going to dread this, but he wasn't a baby. Yeah, his wings were practically newborns but that didn't mean he had to act like they were. He couldn't wait until his wings wouldn't be weird and shit. Maybe he could fly, he sure hoped so or else they were just useless. Kind of like those birds that had wings but couldn't fly, Tommy thought they were stupid. By the looks of it though they would most likely be able to hold his body weight, but there was only one way to find out.

"How about we start with some wing lessons, yeah?" Phil asked, snapping Tommy out of his train of thought.

"Okay," Tommy agreed heading for the door, only to be pulled back by Phil.

"Okay lesson number one. No one but the people in this room can know about your wings," Phil sat Tommy down at the table, "second of all, you aren't even wearing a top. Were you just going to go out in the cold like that?" Phil gestured to the pants and socks he was wearing. Tommy smiled sheepishly. He was just excited, thinking lesson number one would be how to fly.

"Yeah," he drug out. Phil rolled his eyes while Wilbur laughed at him, Techno face palmed.

"Okay, this leads us to your second lesson, retracting your wings." Phil stood up, demonstrating. This was the first time Tommy got a good look at Phil's wings. One minute they were outstretched, almost knocking the unlit candle from the table, before they were gone. Phil turned around to show him his back, it looked like normal skin. Tommy stared confusedly.

"How'd you do that?" Tommy was searching for something, anything that would indicate that he had wings before, like a child playing peek-a-boo. Phil chuckled.

"Well let me show you."