30 Quills: An Illusion ~Part I (#19~ The haunting words are a gentle illusion . . .)
A/N: One night in kaciart’s livestream a conversation was struck up by tealgeezus about the possibility Billy having ‘I wanted’ his relationship with Teddy and the repercussions of that, and that little plot bunny has been hopping around my brain ever since … .
Warnings: Aaangst. I usually adhere to a happy ending policy, but well hmm.
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An Illusion
30 Quills: #19~ The haunting words are a gentle illusion.
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“Patriot!!”
Hawkeye fired two arrows in quick succession that hit their mark flawlessly, embedding deep into their opponent’s shoulder and making him stumble right into Patriot’s waiting fist. The massive form staggered from the blow with an angry roar, ripping the arrows out of his skin as if they were harmless pins in a cushion. Immediately the wound started healing, and he launched himself at the next target insight.
Stature stood her ground, quickly outgrowing the angry behemoth rushing towards her and kicking him dead in the sternum. Bricks and other debris flew across the scene as their opponent hit the exterior of a building hard.
“Speed!” Hawkeye called, “Hit ‘em hard!”
Before she even finished the order, Speed was already pelting the gaping hole in the building with exploding debris. He dashed around the street, picking up a second round of ammo only to find his feet suddenly running on air, a halo of blue light surrounding him.
“Stop! Stop!! You’re going to kill him!!” Wiccan was frantic, freezing them all in place for a few moments as the dust settled around the ruined building.
“Putmethefuckdown!Incaseyouhaven’tnoticed, he’s theonetryingtokill us!” Speed threw an exploding brick near his brother just to punctuate his demand, “Besides, thiswasyourplan!”
“I asked you guys to get me close to him, not to maul him!!”
“He’s up,” Vision stated neutrally when movement was heard inside the building. He fired upon an enraged Hulking before he could emerge from the dust cloud, even as he attempted to reassure his friend, “His body is regenerating more rapidly than normal, Wiccan. I fear we are doing little more than tickling him. If we do not weaken his body, you will not be able to free his mind.”
Hulking barreled into Vision, but the synthezoid merely phase through the approaching bull, turning as he passed to continue firing upon him. Hawkeye launch a trick arrow in his path, a net exploding open to trip up him even if it could not take him down. Charging as their target stumbled, Patriot’s shield crashed hard into his face with the loud crack of a broken bones. Stature ripped up a chain link fence, tossing one end to Speed. In the next moment, Hulking was hitting the pavement, rolled up in steel fencing like some kind of urban burrito, roaring and foaming.
“Wiccan now!” Patriot urged.
He rushed in, mouth set in a hard line as he knelt before his raving boyfriend and touched glowing hands to either side of his head, “IwanttofreeTeddy’smind.IwanttofreeTeddy’smind.IwanttofreeTeddy’smind.IwanttofreeTeddy’smind-”
Hulking roared louder, the metal bindings wrapped around him groaning and bending out of shape as his struggles intensified. Wiccan kept his focus, reaching out with his magic, trying to grasp the foreign presence in Hulking’s mind so he could push it out. Suddenly, the skrull-kree hybrid released a sick cackle, a dark energy surrounding his body to counter Wiccan’s blue aura.
“Free?” the voice sounded strange and menacing. It was Hulking’s yet it seemed to contain an echo of someone else that resounded only within the walls of Wiccan’s mind, “He will never be free!”
Another laugh echoed through his mind, louder, saturated with malice so intense it seemed to draw the warmth from his bones. Wiccan grit his teeth, willing his magic to clash against the malignant force that had usurped Hulking’s mind.
The presence suddenly flared up, dark energy taking Wiccan by surprise as Hulking’s body shifted even larger, an arm ripping through the chain link to swing at him fast. A hasty dodge saved him from a broken face, but the blow still glanced his shoulder hard enough to make him hit the ground, the wind rushing from his lungs. Wiccan scrambled to get back on his feet only to find the back of his head in the unyielding grip of a very large, sharp clawed hand and then the pavement was rushing up to meet him.
Pain was blossomed sharp and brittle along the side of face, and he struggled against the darkness swarming along the edges of his vision with a low groan. He heard his name being called by several frightened voices and he held onto those sounds to fight away the inky blackness even as his head was lifted once more. Before it could be cracked into the tar again, Wiccan reached back and thought hard of lightening. The crackle of an electric current resounded loudly between his own ears as he dugs his nails onto Teddy’s arm and pushed the current into him at a voltage that was nearly fatal.
“S-Sorry, Teddy-” he gritted his teeth and kept the current going until he felt the grip on his neck slacken. Whipping around, he grasped Hulking’s face once more and blue light slowly enveloped them as he resumed his chanting.
“IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!”
Hulking twitched in his hold, growling unnaturally, eyes wide and pupils dilated. A dark cloud billowed above his form, swirling rebelliously as Wiccan attempted to drive it away. It was working, he could feel it leaking out slowly even as it resisted his spell until Hulking slumped in his arms with a groan. He pulled him close protectively as the dark cloud of psychic energy swirled around them.
“IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!IwanttofreeTeddy’smind!”
The creature raged with a piercing cry that echoed in all of their minds painfully as the last vestiges of its control over Hulking were ripped away, You may be able to free him from me- but who’s going to free him from you?
It was an amateur move, and hindsight would have him regretting it a million times over, but the question caught him so off guard that Wiccan’s anwser was automatic.
“Wha-”
A feeling like a sharp dagger digging into his brain exploded inside his mind and Wiccan screamed, writhing as the dark psychic presence suddenly invaded his own mind in that single moment of distraction. It’s menacing cackle made him shiver and whimper, dread suffocating him.
You will serve me well, much better that pathetic excuse of a half-breed.
His anger boiled at the insult and Wiccan latched on to that emotion to focus himself and gather his power- Don’t you dare touch him again!
Oh I can’t touch him anymore, you’ve made sure of that. You’ve made sure of a lot of things for him … the presence’s dark chuckle made Wiccan feel sick.
W-What the hell are you getting at! -Confusion flooded his senses, weakening his focus.
Stupid, ignorant child! the creature laughed him. We’re very similar, you and I are …
We’re nothing alike!
I have manipulated his mind, but you- You have been manipulating his very will.
Wiccan shuddered, trying to regain his balance, to find his center in this confusing incorporeal plane, but he couldn’t get a sense of anything. The only thing he could feel was the cold grip of the presence in his mind, he struggled against it.
Shut up, you’re lying!
Am I?
The sky was suddenly rushing up to meet him, as if it were going to swallow him into its endless depths, and he screamed again as the feeling of vertigo made his real body convulse. There was his body, pale and twitching, eyes wide and glowing with unnatural blue light as he gurgled incoherently.
Teddy was there too, hovering above his thrashing form, large gentle hands keeping his head from clacking painfully against the asphalt as he yelled at the others for help.
“Billy, oh God, Billy!!” He turned panicked blue eyes to the others, “Do something!”
“Whatthehellarewesupposetodo?!”
“How the hell did you get it out of me?!”
“Billy got it out of you!”
“There has to be something we can do! We can’t just sit here!”
“Te- T-Te-” he tried to utter the name, a shaking hand tightening on Teddy’s collar, but it ended in a pained gasp when the creature shrouded his vision in darkness and agony resonated within his mind. Distantly, he could hear his name fall frantic from Teddy’s lips. He tried to reach for that, but couldn’t seem to grasp hold of it.
Such undying devotion … the creature mocked him, Such a beautifully crafted lie. Tell me, child, don’t you ever wonder what he sees in you?
W-What?
Just look at him …
Teddy was visible to him again, his handsome young face twisted with concern, deep blue eyes pleading with him to hold on, strong arms holding him gently, trying to keep him safe from an enemy he could not see. He was the embodiment of everything he could ever want.
You wanted him the moment you set eyes on him …
Billy couldn’t really deny that. His attraction had been inevitable at first sight.
You wanted him, and you wanted him to want you …
He had. He couldn’t help but dream of what it would be like if somehow Teddy, would return his feelings …
You wanted him to want you, and so you made it into reality …
W-Wait, no I-
He could have had anyone he wanted … but you made him want you.
No, no! I would never- H-He chose this, chose m-me-
Why?
B-Because- Because …
Because you wanted him to …
Shut up!
Because otherwise, there was no way a boy like him would pay attention you …
Shut up! Get out of my head!
Because an awkward, unattractive, bumbling fool could never hope to capture the attention of someone of his caliber …
Getoutofmyhead!!!
Because in the depths of your heart, you enjoy having him wrapped around your little finger, vulnerable to your every whim …
Getoutofmyhead!Getoutofmyhead!Getoutofmyhead!GETOUTOFMYHEAD!
Billy’s struggling form stilled in Teddy’s arms for a moment, until his body suddenly convulsed and the blue light of his magic glowed bright around them. A dark shadow seemed to pass out of Billy as it faded, shooting off into sky and out of sight before any of them could even think to chase after it. He went limp in Teddy’s arms, exhausted and shaking badly, pale as a sheet.
“Billy? Billy!” Teddy brushed sweaty bangs away from a deathly pale skin. “God, you’re freezing!”
He was shivering violently, all the warmth in his body seemingly leaving him along with the spirit. If only Teddy would-
Teddy folded him into his arms before he could even finish the thought and it felt so wonderfully warm as he burrowed into it but … Dread gnawed at his guts.
Even now, he could be doing this only because it was what Billy wanted, but- he just couldn’tstop.
“Oh God. Oh God-” Billy struggled against Teddy, stomach roiling until he was doubled over, Teddy’s arm supporting his chest as he choked on dry heaves.
“Billy? Billy-” Soothing a hand down Billy’s back as he heaved, Teddy tried to comfort him, “Shh, shh, Bee. It’s gone now, it’s over.”
“N-No- Oh God, no-” He heaved harder, choking on bile.
Teddy was at loss, not understanding the cause of the turmoil distressing his boyfriend, “Bee- What is it? Talk to me, tell me what’s wrong, please-”
What was wrong? Everything was wrong. Every moment like this was- was a- a fabrication, of his pathetic needs and wants, and oh God … How could he undo this? How could he possibly stop wanting this?
The answer was simple. He couldn’t.
“Billy, Billy,” Teddy’s arms folded around him, pulling him as close as possible, wrapping him in strong soothing warmth that made him feel protected against the outside world, “Shh, Bee, I got you. I got you, and I’m not letting go, Bee. Shh …”
It was only when calloused hands wiped the wetness from his cheek that Billy realized he was sobbing as he clung to Teddy’s form, too weak and needy to pull away. He wanted this more than anything, but it only made Billy sob harder. If even this was his doing, then what wasn’t? Was there any part of this, of them, that was ever real?
“Shh,” Teddy rocked him gently, kissing his hair, “It’s okay, Bee.”
But it wasn’t okay.
“I promise, it’s gonna be okay …”
Billy clung to him desperately and wept, because in that moment that was all he wanted to do; because in that moment he understood. It was never going to be okay.
Part II -->>