Just A Bad Dream | Tom Hanniger X M!reader

Just a Bad Dream | Tom Hanniger x m!reader

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↳ ❝ Rest your head, here's a lullaby

- Male reader with Tom Hanniger ❞

: ̗̀➛ Tom has a nightmare, at least, he hopes that was what happened.

: ̗̀➛ mild injury, blood, swearing, threats of violence, mentions of murder, psychological abuse (manipulation, gaslighting, etc)

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"Rest your head, here's a lullaby."

Those were the last words you had spoken to Tom before he had drifted off to sleep. It had taken him so long to get over the events of what had happened in his hometown on Valentine's Day; being manipulated and gaslighted by Axel into believing that he was a killer. False memories planted in his head, purposefully attacking his delusions to make it even worse for him.

Yet you had stood firmly by him, you were the only one who didn't believe that Tom was a killer; like everybody else in the world, Tom was capable of it if pushed far enough - but he wasn't a serial killer by any means, and he wasn't guilty for what had happened at all.

You stood by his side every moment, drove him to the psychiatrist's office, helped him out as much as you could when he wanted reality checks and for you to double check things for him to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

Nobody else had ever done such a thing for him.

A new town, a fresh start; he did what he did best, he worked in the mines. It was long hours, but he enjoyed it there and he made a fair few good friends.

Now he was all alone. Wandering around an old and worn down hospital that looked like it had not been used for at least seventy or so years.

He called and called, but nothing answered; he searched and scoured every room, fighting cobwebs and dust and rodent droppings to find something, anything that would give him a clue as to where he was and why. But he couldn't find anything.

However, just as he prepared to head down a particularly dull and dark green corridor, he saw someone; a man hunched over a mop bucket, squeezing water out of a long handled mop. He wore a red and green striped jumper, dark brown trousers and matching boots, and a dark brown fedora just to stop it all off.

Relieved, Tom let out a long sigh.

"Oh, thank fuck - hey! Hey, Mister!"

The cleaner turned to him, and waved with a hand that looked like it had knives on the end of it, but surely it was just protective gloves.

Tom didn't think so much of it as he took a few steps forward and gently tapped the man on the back.

"Am I glad I found you!"

The man stood up, glaring up at Tom with piercing light eyes; his skin was burned, stretched and scabbed all over his face and neck. He offered Tom a toothy grin. "I have an axe to grind with you, kid."

Tom furrowed his brows as he took a step back. "Huh?"

"You stole my thunder," the cleaner accused, pressing the knives into Tom's chest enough to make a point. "They don't fear me anymore - they fear you."

"Me?" Tom scoffed. "Why me? What the Hell did I do?"

"That stunt you pulled in Harmony," the cleaner growled. "Everybody fears the miner now - not me! And without fear, I can't keep doing my job!"

"That wasn't me!" Tom hissed, shaking his head. "I didn't do it! I didn't kill those people!"

"No, but people think you did, and that's good enough… so I'll cut you a deal - you get them to fear me again, and maybe, just maybe, I won't play a nice game of slice and dice with your boyfriend."

"You touch him," Tom snarled as he shoved the man against a wall, holding him by the collar of the jumper. "You so much as look at him, and I will kill you!"

The man pressed his glove into Tom's stomach, only enough to make his point clear. "Then do what I want, and I'll leave him alone… c'mon, pretty boy."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Name's Freddy," he grinned, shoving Tom off of him and grinning. "Freddy Krueger."

"You're the sick bastard who killed all those children," Tom breathed out, shaking his head. "You're dead! They burned your sorry ass to a crisp!"

"And yet, I'm their worst nightmare," Freddy chuckled. "C'mon, Tommy, you know what you have to do to protect your boyfriend… just put on the miner costume, head to Springwood, Ohio, and create a little fear in my name."

"And you'll leave my boyfriend alone?" Tom asked quietly.

Freddy nodded, using his knives to gently nick Tom's chest. "Do we have a deal?"

"Fine."

Sitting upright, Tom gasped loudly; his chest was heaving, his eyes wide and wild as he frantically looked around the room, not quite sure where he was for a moment until he laid eyes on you.

Sound asleep beside him, cuddled into his side and wearing one of his old zip up hoodies. Gently, Tom traced your jaw, and hummed as he spent a moment to calm himself down; it must have just been a bad dream, surely. He checked his chest, and when his fingers came away with slick red blood, he winced a little.

"Tom?" You murmured quietly, wearily looking up at him.

"I'm okay, baby," he said softly, gently kissing your forehead as he snuggled back down. "Just a little nightmare, that was all."

You hummed, cosying up to him as you yawned quietly. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I'm good," he told you, shaking his head. "Thanks…"

As he looked at you, Tom knew that he had to do everything possible to keep you safe and to protect you; he could already feel bile in his throat as he swallowed thickly, passing it off as a suppressed yawn. Fuck.

He felt awful already, knowing what he had to do, knowing that the only way to keep you safe was to become the very thing he swore he would never be.

But then… maybe it was just a nightmare, and maybe he just accidentally scratched himself while he was asleep and itched too hard. That was probably it. It was just a bad dream, and he had accidentally knocked himself a little.

"Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," you told him. "I wanna marry you."